Genesis 1:1

Genesis 1:1-5 "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 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. Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day."

Structure

Ancient literature was often organized with the first sentence describing what will be further detailed in the supporting sentences. If you have ever written an academic paper, you are aware of the need for a thesis which describes the overall argument. Each supporting sentence must point back to the initial thesis. Usually there will also be a concluding paragraph, within which will be a repitiion of the thesis. Therefore, the paper may be described as a sandwich, with each piece of bread being the thesis and the insides being the supporting arguments, pointing back to the thesis. A brief look at Genesis 1:1-2:1 includes an introductory "thesis" (1:1) and then repeats it (2:1).

Notice this similar organization:

• Genesis 1:1 "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."
• Genesis 1:2-31
• Genesis 2:1 "Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished."

Why might structure be so important in the book of Genesis? Because for the last 100 years, an attack against the bible has been attempted by liberals seeking to discredit the claim that the bible is inspired and inerrant in its original manuscript. That argument began as what was called the "Documentary Hypothesis". In short, this theory questioned the validity of the pentateuch (first 5 books of the bible) as being authored by Moses. Instead, the Documentary Hypothesis said four different "redactors" (a fancy word for editors) have altered the pentateuch for their own political or personal gain. These editors were called "J", "E", "D", "P". Each letter was a person or group of people that had their part in changing the document over the millenia. Nowadays, the arguments have changed and so have the letters, so be aware of anything involving letters like those as a similar theory to the Documentary Hyposthesis.

The primary "evidence" that proponents of this theory or similar ones point to is the seeming repetition of phrases in the pentateuch. I do not feel it beneficial to go into their specific arguments here and challenge them point by point. I simply ask you keep in mind two things:

1. Jesus attributes the first five books to Moses 17 times in the gospels. (Mt 8:4; 19:8; Mk 1:44; 7:10; 10:3; 12:26; Lk 5:14; 16:29, 31; 20:37; 24:27, 44; Jn 3:14; 5:45, 46; 7:19, 22, 23)
2. The structure of many ancient works are repetitive. This is not evidence that they went through editing by later sources. It means the structure of ancient texts is slightly different than modern ones.

So the structure of Genesis is certainly worth looking at if we may defend the word of God from those who would discredit it.

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Gen 1:1 "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth."

God created the world out of nothing. In Latin, the phrase is "ex nihilo". This is a theological doctrine of the church and contradicts many Eastern religions that claim the universe simply has always existed. Heb 11:3 "By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen is not made out of things that are visible."

"In the beginning..." -- [See Genesis Chapter 1 Overview]

"...God..." - Heb: "Elohim" - A name for God, translated "God" into English. This word is also used in the bible for other "gods" and also used to refer to judges. The word only occurs in the plural form. Why might the plural form refer to God? Two possible reasons:

1. Expressing the doctrine of the trinity in the first verse of the bible!
2. A term in the Hebrew language called the "Plural of Majesty." It means when the ancient Hebrews used this term, they were not thinking of God is being plural, but esteemed him so great, his "name" could not simply be in the singular.

It is possible the Holy Spirit's intent was for this plural form of God to cause the ancient Israelites' minds to be thinking about a triune God. Though we do not know how the ancients took this word, by the time Hebrew Rabbis began to write "commentary" on their scripture, the thought of a triune God had become offensive to them. Therefore, they strongly argue [2] to this day.

"...created..." - Heb: "bara" - Verb: "To create (from nothing)" This verb is only used when God is the subject. In contrast, the word "asa" refers to the type of creation man can acoomplish. (Ex: Molding a pot out of clay.) It also occurs in the singular form though "God" is plural in the Hebrew.

The two words put together are meant to surprise us. If I made a statement such as "The dogs runs to their food." You might either suspect I do not have a very high education or that I made a mistake. Yet Genesis 1:1 is planned an perfect. It is meant to draw our attention to the "error", causing us to think deeper. Can you see God's heart for the ancient Israelites as he speaks loudly through this text, "I am not simply one God, but Three in One." Yet, perhaps understanding will not be theirs until the Holy Spirit comes into their hearts and shows them the truth.

"...the heavens and the earth..." - A Hebrew idiom (figure of speech) referring to all creation.

Genesis Chapter 1 Overview

Questions to be Answered:

1. What does a thoughtful, spiritual look at Genesis 1 reveal?
2. What do we learn about God from Genesis 1?
3. How ought we to live our lives in view of Genesis 1?

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1. God is "introduced" as being completely outside of time. The phrase in 1:1 "In the beginning" refers to the beginning of creation. Since God is acting on creation as its Creator at the moment of its beginning, he is set apart from that which is created. It is not, therefore, the beginning for Him. From this we form the doctrine of God's eternal being. God simply always was.

2. From this "introduction" to God in the bible, we are to understand that each and every time God is spoken of in His word, it must be with the perspective that he is the eternal God. He is outside of time and beyond the realm of man.

3. It is from this perspective that we gain our "Theology of Worship." It is simply this... We worship Him because He is greater than us. If I may preach for a moment, in our churches we are lacking a Genesis 1:1 perspective of God. The people are not grasping the concept that worship of God comes from who he is, not from what he has done (or can do) for us. Creation does not ask the creator "why?" Creation simply worships because it knows it was created. Job learned to put his hand over his mouth after God made this idea very clear in Job 38-42. After Job complains about the state of life he is in... Job 38:2-4 "Who is this that darkens my counsel by words without knowledge? Now prepare yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer Me. Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me if you have understanding." Let this put to rest our "fair-weather" following. Genesis 1 cries out for us to worship God as the eternal one, who is, was, and will always be greater than ourselves.

What to Expect From This Blog

I believe very strongly that God has put on my heart a desire to teach His word. I feel sometimes like Jeremiah must have felt when he proclaims in Jer 20:9 "His word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I was weary of holding it back." Of course, Jeremiah was put in the stocks for preaching the word in his day... so I suppose the comparison ends there. Nevertheless, I believe God has called me to always be "toiling" in his word. This blog is a chance to give out what His Spirit has given me in my studies. May you be blessed by it. My prayer for you is that the God of the universe shatters your life for His glory!

A quick note about the title of the blog, "The Berean Call." In Acts 17:10-15, the Bereans (people from the city of Berea) were praised for their desire to study the word of God. Acts 17:11 states, "These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with readiness, and searched the scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so." Imagine how their lives were changed as the Holy Spirit began to open their eyes to Jesus in the word of God! Are you ready to be changed in that same way? Then let us be Bereans and study the word of God with open and soft hearts.

The goal of this blog is to begin a verse by verse study of God's Word, beginning at the beginning. There will be thematic studies of each chapter, followed by a verse by verse commentary. The hope is that it will supplement your studies of the word of God. The goal is that you will interact with the posts as well, providing questions, comments, personal stories, etc. If you disagree, please say so. If you do it in an edifying way, then we are both challenged as we "spar" using the Word of God in its proper context to come to proper theological conclusions. If you are not edifying, unfortunately you have not learned much from the book you are arguing out of... and your post will be deleted. So lets challenge each other in love!

My desire is for the Lord to speak to us and not to simply regurgitate what some commentary says about each verse. There is a positive and negative to this. I will start with the negative. For thousands of years, brilliant and Godly men and women have been studying the bible and coming up with brilliant things to say about it. When they publish their findings, their work passes through the fire of public and academic opinion. The idea is that bad theories are refuted and "burned" up, while good theories with strong biblical backing stand. Therefore, a good commentary has a way of "legitimizing" thoughts about the word. And because there is "Nothing new under the sun", what we all come up with in our studies has most likely been covered before. So, if I come up with something that NO ONE has ever come up with before, most likely it is some hair-brained idea that will never stand in the "fire." So, that being said, commentaries have a way of forming the rubric for our theological thoughts. I have used many and I understand their value. But now for the positives for not using them in this blog. Many students of the word, including myself, have used commentaries as a substitute for their own time spent in communion with the Holy Spirit. I have said in the past, "I am going to spend time with Jesus", when I only spent time with Calvin, Edersheim, Keller, etc. Those are great men, but no substitute for our Lord. Therefore, what comes out of this study will be out of the intimacy of a man desiring to listen to the voice of the Spirit. I will use commentaries... sparingly. But you might ask, "How will ideas presented in this blog pass through any "fire" of collective thought?" This is where you come in. Be a Berean! If I am off, tell me. Perhaps I will debate with you... or perhaps I will agree. If I cannot defend it, then it should not be here for people to read.

Below I will list some theological platforms I stand on. If you disagree with these, see the above paragraphs and stay with me. I am not looking for people just like me. But you must understand there are primary doctrines and secondary doctrines when it comes to Christianity. The word of God has given me every right to be dogmatic about primary doctrines. If you do not believe one of these primary doctrines, such as, for instance, the deity of Christ, I will say to you right now there is a major flaw in your theology which will affect everything about your life and in many cases your salvation. Secondary doctrines are different. Though you or I may have strong biblical backing for a certain doctrine, such as the pre-tribulational rapture of the church, you and I can disagree and still live Spirit-Filled lives. I welcome debate over differences in both primary and secondary doctrines.

Theological Platforms: (These are some of the basic ones. Certainly there are many more)

The triune God - Personal, Uncreated, Omniscient, Omnipresent, all loving, all providing
God the Father - 1st person of the trinity, see line above.
Jesus - The son of God, 2nd person of the trinity, came to earth to live as a man, lived a perfect life, died a sacrificial death for the world through which the world may receive salvation through faith.
Holy Spirit - 3rd person of the trinity, a "helper" to the Christian, convicts of sin and righteousness both to the Christian and the non-Christian.
Man - Created to walk in fellowship with God, fallen, sinful by nature, needs Jesus.
The bible - Holy Spirit inspired, inerrant in the original manuscripts, literal except where poetic expression is used, historical. The entirety of God's written word and the basis for all theological thought.
Salvation - Offered to all by God through faith in Christ alone.
Resurrection of Christ - Real, historical, bodily.
2nd Coming of Christ - Real, future, bodily.
The Church - The body of believers who have been united together through faith in Christ. Christ is the head.
The Rapture - Pre-tribulational, Imminent



Andrew Murray - "A great many Christians delight to read about the Spirit-led life, but that is not enough. It now becomes a matter of the will. I must "buy" it. At what price? Give up all!