Genesis 1 is a commentary on the awesome majesty of God, who created the
universe His way, not ours. This commentary on Genesis 1 draws back the
curtain on the fascinating pattern and order in each day of His creation.
Genesis 1:1 1
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
"In the beginning" (Genesis 1:1), who was already in
existence?
"God" (Genesis 1:1). And the
combination of בָּרָ֣א (bara), the original Hebrew verb
translated "created" (Genesis 1:1)
being singular, and אֱלֹהִים (elohim),
the original noun translated "God"
being masculine plural indicates the triune Godhead of God the Father,
God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, who is also mentioned in Genesis
1:2 (below).
What did God then create "in the beginning"?
All of the material that He fashioned into our "earth" (Genesis 1:1) and the
"heavens" (Genesis 1:1), which includes the rest
of the universe.
Genesis 1:2 2 The earth was without form, and
void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the
Spirit
of God
was hovering over the face of the waters.
What was the earth like before God began to fashion it?
It had no "form," was "void"
(Genesis 1:2), dark, and had water molecules.
Genesis 1:3-5 3
Then God
said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.
4 And God saw the light, that it
was good; and God divided the light from the darkness.
5 God called the light Day, and the
darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first
day.
What did God create on Day 1?
“Light” (Genesis 1:3).
Genesis 1:6-8 6
Then
God said, “Let there
be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters
from the waters.”
7 Thus God
made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the
firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so.
8 And God called the firmament
Heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day.
What did God create on Day 2?
“Waters” (Genesis 1:6) and the
“firmament” (Genesis 1:7) that divides “the
waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the
firmament” (Genesis 1:7) - i.e., the sky that divides the waters on
the earth's surface below from the water vapors, also known as clouds, above.
Genesis 1:9-13 9
Then
God said, “Let the waters
under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry
land appear”; and it was so.
10
And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the
waters He called Seas. And God saw that it was good.
11 Then
God said, “Let the earth
bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that
yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the
earth”; and it was so.
12 And
the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to
its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself
according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
13 So the evening and the morning
were the third day.
What did God create on Day 3?
“Land” (Genesis 1:9) and its plant cover.
Genesis 1:14-19 14
Then
God
said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the
day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days
and years;
15 and let them be
for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth”;
and it was so.
16 Then God made
two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser
light to rule the night. He made the stars also.
17 God set them in the firmament of
the heavens to give light on the earth,
18
and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light
from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.
19 So the evening and the morning
were the fourth day.
What did God create on Day 4?
Sun, moon, and stars:
“God made two great lights: the
greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He
made the stars also” (Genesis 1:16).
Genesis 1:20-23 20
Then
God
said, “Let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures, and
let birds fly above the earth across the face of the firmament of the
heavens.”
21 So God created
great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the
waters abounded, according to their kind, and every winged bird
according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
22 And God blessed them, saying, “Be
fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds
multiply on the earth.”
23 So
the evening and the morning were the fifth day.
What did God create on Day 5?
“Sea creatures” (Genesis 1:21) - i.e., fish - and
“birds” (Genesis 1:20).
Genesis 1:24-31 24
Then
God said, “Let the earth
bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and
creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind”; and
it was so.
25 And God made the
beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind,
and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God
saw that it was good.
26
Then
God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness;
let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the
air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping
thing that creeps on the earth."
27
So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him;
male and female He created them.
28
Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply;
fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea,
over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the
earth.”
29 And God said, “See, I have
given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the
earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for
food.
30 Also, to every beast of the
earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the
earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food”;
and it was so.
31 Then God saw
everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening
and the morning were the sixth day.
What did God create on Day 6?
“Beast of the earth” (Genesis 1:24) - i.e.,
animals - and
“man” (Genesis 1:26).
When you compare the first three days to the subsequent
three days, what pattern do you notice?
| |
God Formed: |
|
And Filled
With: |
|
| on Day 1, |
Light |
← |
Sun, Moon & Stars |
on Day 4 |
| on Day 2, |
Waters & Sky |
← |
Fish & Birds |
on Day 5 |
| on Day 3, |
Land |
|
Animals & Man |
on Day 6 |
What God formed on day 1, He filled on day 4. What He formed on day 2, He
filled on day 5. And what He formed on day 3, He filled on day 6. This may
not be the order in which we might have done it. For example, we might have
had the sun, moon and the stars precede the light, but we are not God, whose
ways are much higher than ours, as He told us:
“For My
thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than
your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9).
The only one who can create light without a light source is God.
Did the above really only take six days as the Bible claims?
Yes, and only as the Bible claims:
“But, beloved, do not
forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years,
and a thousand years as one day” (2 Peter 3:8). So those six days
could have been six 24-hour days or include days - perhaps days 1 and 2,
which precede the creation of life - that represent a huge number of “years,”
especially if χιλια (chilia), the original
Greek word translated
“thousand,” is being used figuratively to mean
“innumerable.”
