Just notes. This series on the blog are just the notes from the margins of my Bible, hopefully the comments, observations, cross references, etc. will be helpful. I don't intend this to be a commentary or an exhaustive treatment of the passage.
Mondays will be an exploration through Genesis.
Days of Creation
- Day One: Creation of light
- Day Two: Division of waters; creation of the heavens
- Day Three: Division of water and dry land; vegetation
- Day Four: Creation of light sources; stars, sun & moon
- Day Five: Creatures, fish and birds
- Day Six: Creeping beasts; creation of man: male and female
- Day Seven: (chapter 2) Rest
Form and Filling
Genesis 1:2, Genesis 1:22 & Genesis 1:28
The earth was formless and void corresponds to the command to fill the earth. The author is driving us to conclude that God’s creative process informs his intention for man in creation. The structure of the chapter emphasizes this theme. Creation brings substance out of formlessness and a void, so man is to “fill the earth.” God creates “forms” and subsequently fills them.
| FORM | FULLNESS | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| DAY 1 | Light/Dark | DAY 4 | Lights of day/night |
| DAY 2 | Sea/Sky | DAY 5 | Creatures of water/air |
| DAY 3 | Fertile Earth | DAY 6 | Creatures of land |
Sea creatures, birds to fill sea and earth (Genesis 1:22).
Man is commanded to fill the earth (Genesis 1:26) – see Isaiah 45:18
God Said…
Repetition of phrase “God said” in vs. Genesis 1:3, Genesis 1:6, Genesis 1:9, Genesis 1:11, Genesis 1:14, Genesis 1:20, Genesis 1:24, Genesis 1:26
God speaks and creation comes into being. That is the Genesis pattern. Hebrews 11:3; Romans 10:17; Isaiah 40
Light
Genesis 1:3
- Light = life (John 1:4)
- Light = truth (2 Corinthians 4:6)
- Light = good (Ecclesiastes 11:7)
- Light = purity (1 John 1:5-7)
- Light created, then the sun >>>Revelation 22:5 light outlasts/supersedes the sun
Good
Genesis 1:4; Genesis 1:10; Genesis 1:12; Genesis 1:18; Genesis 1;21; Genesis 1:25; Genesis 1:31
The phrase “God saw that is was good” is not included after day 2 and 5.
Image of God in mankind
Genesis 1:26: Cross references (NASB list): Genesis 5:1; Genesis 9:6; 1 Corinthians 11:7; Ephesians 2:4; James 3:9
Genesis 1:27: creation of mankind as male and female. Cross references (NASB list): 1 Corinthians 11:7; Ephesians 4:24; Colossians 3:10. Interesting choices as references here, always remember that the reading of the English Bible always has a bias – here the inclusion of these verses attempts to connect these verses with a view of the relationship between man and woman as portrayed by Paul in the NT.
Image & likeness – Cross References (Mine): Genesis 9:6; James 3:9; I John 3:2
Ownership and image go together – Mathew 22:20, 21
Toledoth
elleh tol’ dot – “these are the generations”
This phrase serves as an organizational que in Genesis. Serves as the natural outline of the book
Genesis 2:4; Genesis 5:1; Genesis 6:9; Genesis 10:1; Genesis 11:10, Genesis 27; Genesis 25:12, Genesis 19; Genesis 36:1, 9; Genesis 37:2
The verses in the chapter
Genesis 1:1: this famous opening will be replicated/referenced in three NT books: Matthew, John, 1 John.
Genesis 1:2: “formless and void” much has been written about this: tohu wa boh
I have marked a cross reference for the phrase “was moving” – NASB lists Deuteronomy 32:11 as a cross reference and as an alternative translation: “hovering.”
I have added a cross reference: Job 33:9
Genesis 1:3
Genesis 1:21-22: compare with Exodus 1:7 and the corresponding usage of 4 words: “swarmed,” “fruitful,” “multiply,” & “filled.”
Genesis 1:26: “Let Us make man in Our image” is the translation in the NASB. Many trinitarians have used this verse in their apologetic regarding the Bible’s teaching of the trinity. They would call this a “plural of fullness” revealed in the future to include the Trinity. John 14:23 where the “we” is used in reference to Jesus and the Father.
Genesis 1:28: “subdue” cross reference (mine) James 3:7-8
Blessing = commanding v. 28 (???) the phrases at the beginning of this verse, are they intended to be separate things, or a continuation? Is the blessing in the commandment?
with blessing comes function (?? don’t know what I meant with this note, which raises a “note to self moment:” Write your notes in such a way that you will understand them in 10 years).
Genesis 1:31: After Day 6 the affirmation moves from “God saw that it was good” to “God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good.”
Any questions, comments, conversations? Make a comment below.
