Today we are discussing Genesis chapters 1 through 3; the creation. The first thing I want to point out is that the earth was without form, and void (verse 2). Before God there was confusion and darkness, just as our lives are before Him. But He put order to this world just like He can bring order and peace to our lives, if we let Him. The first thing He did was create light. If we turn to Him we turn away from the darkness and He gives us light. God created a perfect world; He saw that everything was good (verse 31). Different people interpret chapter 1 differently. People wonder if the days it speaks of are the length of day as we know it, or if they are perhaps longer. Because it speaks of a morning and night, I am led to believe that it is a normal day, but some say that the bible uses the word “day” to mean a special event, as in ‘the day of the Lord’ or ‘the day of the judgment’ so it could be describing the event of creation. But the fact that it describes 7 days; the 7th being the day of rest (Gen 2:2), makes me think it is talking about a normal week. I try to keep in mind that the bible was not written to give us knowledge of everything but to give us a guideline of what God has done for us and how we should live for Him. With that said, all the details are not important, as long as we know that we come from Him. We will have all our questions answered one day, but by then it won’t matter!
Chapter 2 is another subject of argument among people; some believe that it is contradicting chapter 1 by giving a different order of creation. I do not think chapter 2 is describing the order of creation; it is just giving a more detailed account. One thing I want to point out is verse 21, which says “And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh thereof.” He did this so that He could make Eve out of Adam’s rib. The point I’m trying to make is the deep sleep; before man sinned, he was not caused any pain. God had a perfect plan for this world; a plan of no pain and eternal life in the Garden of Eden. His only condition was that man follow His rules (verse 17). So he created Eve as a companion for Adam, and so began the holy union of marriage. God created one man and one woman to be married for life-to love and support each other. In verse 23 you can see the loving way Adam describes his new wife.
In chapter 3 we see the first record of evil. Amanda questioned the fact that we are often taught that the serpent is the devil, but the bible does not say that is true. I believe it is more of a representation of the devil and the temptation he brings to man. Just as the devil sends temptation to us in the form of peer pressure or other things, he sent the serpent to tempt Eve. Another thing Amanda pointed out was that the serpent was talking to Eve, so shouldn’t Eve be frightened that an animal was talking? I don’t know if the serpent was talking like you and I do, but it definitely had a way of communicating with Eve. This could have been normal for all animals as part of God’s plan, since Adam was the ruler of all animals and named them. He could have had a way to communicate with them as part of naming them. If it was not normal and the serpent was the only one who could communicate, Eve probably wouldn’t have known that it wasn’t normal. She had not yet eaten from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, so just like she didn’t know she was naked, maybe she didn’t know the serpent wasn’t supposed to talk. One thing to keep in mind is that this was not the serpent we think of today. As part of his punishment for tempting Eve, his legs were removed and he was cursed to slither the ground on his belly (verse 14). So Eve listened to the serpent and ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and tempted Adam to do the same (verse 6). This shows the nature of humans. God had given them everything and only gave them one rule: do not eat from this tree. But instead of being happy with what they had, they wanted more, as we as humans often do. When they ate the fruit they realized they were naked so they hid from God (verse 8). Another thing I noticed that we will see throughout the bible is that God gave Adam and Eve a chance to confess (verse 9). Even though He knows everything, He gives us a chance to tell Him what we have done. This goes back to what I said yesterday in the study of Romans 1-2; it is important to admit the sin. Adam blamed his sin on Eve and Eve blamed her sin on the serpent. This is another quality of human nature, for we often try to place the blame on others. It is important to realize that while the devil may tempt us, he can not force us to act; it is of our own free will that we commit the sin. So God punished the serpent for tempting Eve, then He punished Adam and Eve. It is because of this sin that we were cast out of the Garden of Eden and that we have to work for what we have, and that we have painful child birth (so ladies, we have Eve to blame!). The plan God had of us all living in harmony in the garden was destroyed the second Eve took a bite of that fruit. It is also important to realize that from this earliest record, we see that the devil is a liar! He sent the serpent to tempt Eve and told her that she would not die if she ate the fruit (verse 4). While she did not die instantly, her death was decided by the fact that she went against God’s will and ate from the tree. God cast them out of the garden so they would not eat from the tree of life, for that would have made them immortal. The garden was then guarded by a cherubim and flaming sword so that no one would be allowed back in. I believe that is why to this day, no one has been able to find the exact location of the Garden of Eden. God made sure that we never would!
In closing, I want to point out is that even though Adam and Eve went against God’s will, God still had compassion for them. He provided them clothing since they now knew they were naked. Even though we are all sinful creatures, God has compassion and kindness for us. He even sent His son to die for us!
I hope you enjoyed the way I interpreted Genesis chapters 1 through 3. If you disagree with any of the points I made, or you have something to add, please share your thoughts!
Chapter 2 is another subject of argument among people; some believe that it is contradicting chapter 1 by giving a different order of creation. I do not think chapter 2 is describing the order of creation; it is just giving a more detailed account. One thing I want to point out is verse 21, which says “And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh thereof.” He did this so that He could make Eve out of Adam’s rib. The point I’m trying to make is the deep sleep; before man sinned, he was not caused any pain. God had a perfect plan for this world; a plan of no pain and eternal life in the Garden of Eden. His only condition was that man follow His rules (verse 17). So he created Eve as a companion for Adam, and so began the holy union of marriage. God created one man and one woman to be married for life-to love and support each other. In verse 23 you can see the loving way Adam describes his new wife.
In chapter 3 we see the first record of evil. Amanda questioned the fact that we are often taught that the serpent is the devil, but the bible does not say that is true. I believe it is more of a representation of the devil and the temptation he brings to man. Just as the devil sends temptation to us in the form of peer pressure or other things, he sent the serpent to tempt Eve. Another thing Amanda pointed out was that the serpent was talking to Eve, so shouldn’t Eve be frightened that an animal was talking? I don’t know if the serpent was talking like you and I do, but it definitely had a way of communicating with Eve. This could have been normal for all animals as part of God’s plan, since Adam was the ruler of all animals and named them. He could have had a way to communicate with them as part of naming them. If it was not normal and the serpent was the only one who could communicate, Eve probably wouldn’t have known that it wasn’t normal. She had not yet eaten from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, so just like she didn’t know she was naked, maybe she didn’t know the serpent wasn’t supposed to talk. One thing to keep in mind is that this was not the serpent we think of today. As part of his punishment for tempting Eve, his legs were removed and he was cursed to slither the ground on his belly (verse 14). So Eve listened to the serpent and ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and tempted Adam to do the same (verse 6). This shows the nature of humans. God had given them everything and only gave them one rule: do not eat from this tree. But instead of being happy with what they had, they wanted more, as we as humans often do. When they ate the fruit they realized they were naked so they hid from God (verse 8). Another thing I noticed that we will see throughout the bible is that God gave Adam and Eve a chance to confess (verse 9). Even though He knows everything, He gives us a chance to tell Him what we have done. This goes back to what I said yesterday in the study of Romans 1-2; it is important to admit the sin. Adam blamed his sin on Eve and Eve blamed her sin on the serpent. This is another quality of human nature, for we often try to place the blame on others. It is important to realize that while the devil may tempt us, he can not force us to act; it is of our own free will that we commit the sin. So God punished the serpent for tempting Eve, then He punished Adam and Eve. It is because of this sin that we were cast out of the Garden of Eden and that we have to work for what we have, and that we have painful child birth (so ladies, we have Eve to blame!). The plan God had of us all living in harmony in the garden was destroyed the second Eve took a bite of that fruit. It is also important to realize that from this earliest record, we see that the devil is a liar! He sent the serpent to tempt Eve and told her that she would not die if she ate the fruit (verse 4). While she did not die instantly, her death was decided by the fact that she went against God’s will and ate from the tree. God cast them out of the garden so they would not eat from the tree of life, for that would have made them immortal. The garden was then guarded by a cherubim and flaming sword so that no one would be allowed back in. I believe that is why to this day, no one has been able to find the exact location of the Garden of Eden. God made sure that we never would!
In closing, I want to point out is that even though Adam and Eve went against God’s will, God still had compassion for them. He provided them clothing since they now knew they were naked. Even though we are all sinful creatures, God has compassion and kindness for us. He even sent His son to die for us!
I hope you enjoyed the way I interpreted Genesis chapters 1 through 3. If you disagree with any of the points I made, or you have something to add, please share your thoughts!
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