Thursday 122624
Don’t let me or my writings influence or scare you in any way, instead, allow me to be used as a vessel to open the Word, just a little bit, and hopefully, together we are going to read and study His Word, and let God teach us what He wants us to hear.
Since the beginning of this study, our vision has been that we are ONLY going to follow what is found in the Holy Bible, that pertains to us, and we realize that it’s ONLY from our own effort that we put into this study, that we’re going to take anything away for our own use.
The verses we are going to study tonight:
Genesis 1:1-31.
I just seen an amazing television show asking the question: ‘Is Genesis History.’
About a month ago, I started to write a lesson, and my intentions were to begin in Genesis and work my way through the Bible hoping to find some sort of sense that involved how I was living my life.
From my recent study in the book of Genesis, and after watching this program, I have discovered a new sensation of hunger to re-study the book, once again.
In the past I’ve taught, if we cannot find something in the Word, we should leave that something alone since it apparently isn’t meant for us to discover what we thought we might be looking for.
So, as we are about to begin, let’s say a short prayer and ask God for His guidance:
Help us Jesus and keep us on track. Guide us and assist us in our search for what we do not know.
Genesis 1:1 ‘…In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth…’ NASB (New American Standard Bible)
From the very beginning, and we are only on the 1st verse, we have to ask ourselves, is verse 1 a title or is verse 1 claiming what has already happened?
‘…In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth…’ KJV (King James Version)
‘…In the beginning, when God created the universe…’ GNT (Good News Translation)
‘…In the beginning, God made the heavens and the earth…’ EASY (Easy English Bible)
All four versions are basically the same, except in the GNT version, vs1 and 2 are separated by a comma and not a period as in the other three versions.
I think this is going to have me look in several different versions just to see if I can find an answer to my original question, is vs1 a title or is the verse claiming that it has already happened.
Genesis 1:1-2 ‘…In the beginning, when God created the universe, the earth was formless and desolate. The raging ocean that covered everything was engulfed in total darkness, and the Spirit of God was moving over the water…’ GNT (Good News Translation)
Totally different from the other versions. I think we should throw out the anchor and stay right here for a little bit and check out some other versions of the Bible.
After throwing out the anchor I decided to look at many different versions … and I found similar variation like the GNT version, the difference.
Genesis 1:1-3 ‘…In [the] beginning God created the heavens and the earth, and the earth was formless and void, and darkness [was] on the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God [was] fluttering on the face of the waters, and God says, Let light be and light is…’ LSV (Literal Standard Version)
Genesis 1:1-3 ‘…In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth — and the earth was without form or shape, with darkness over the abyss and a mighty wind sweeping over the waters—Then God said: Let there be light, and there was light…’ NAB (New American Bible)
Genesis 1:1-2 ‘…In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters…’ NRSV (New Revised Standard Version)
Genesis 1:1-3 ‘…In the beginning of God’s preparing the heavens and the earth — the earth hath existed waste and void, and darkness [is] on the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God fluttering on the face of the waters, and God saith, Let light be and light is…’ YLT (Young’s Literal Translation)
So, it has become apparent there are some similarities in the different versions but at the same time, there is still this eerie difference looming out there.
If I were to use the YLT version, it seems the earth was previously made and it was just sitting there …
Genesis 1:2 ‘…the earth hath existed waste and void, and darkness [is] on the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God fluttering on the face of the waters…’ YLT
A couple of questions immediately arise, was there an earlier flood than in Gen 6? Why was the earth covered in water?
In Genesis 1:2 (YLT), what is meant when the words ‘waste and void’ are used?
In the Bible, the words ‘without form’ and ‘void’ are translations of the Hebrew words tohu and bohu, which are often used together to describe a ‘place of chaos, formlessness, emptiness, a wasteland.’
It almost sounds as if God had given up on an earlier attempt at creating the earth as we know it today.
In a way, it’s almost like a science project that had failed in the first attempt(s).
After stepping over this first hurdle, we are going to continue in the week of creation.
Beginning in vs6, day two begins and by vs8, day two is finished.
vs6 ‘…Then God said, let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters…’
vs7 ‘…God made the expanse, and separated the waters that were below the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse; and it was so…’
vs8 ‘…God called the expanse ‘heaven.’ And there was evening and there was morning, a second day…’ NASB (New American Standard Bible)
vs9 ‘…God said, the water that is under the sky will come together in one place. Then dry ground will appear. And what God said happened…’
vs10 ‘…God called the dry ground ‘land’. He called the water that had come together ‘sea’. God looked at what he had made. He saw that it was good…’
vs11 ‘…Then God said, the land will cause plants to grow. There will be plants with their seeds and trees with their fruits. Each kind of plant and tree will have its own seeds and fruits. And what God said happened…’
vs12 ‘…All kinds of plants and trees began to grow in the ground. The plants made seeds. The trees made fruits with seeds in them. Each plant made its own kind of seeds. God looked at what he had made. He saw that it was good…’
vs13 ‘…Evening passed and then it was morning. That was the third day…’ NASB (New American Standard Bible)
vs14 ‘…God said, there will be lights all across the sky. They will make the day different from the night. They will show the seasons, days and years…’
vs15 ‘…The lights in the sky will give light to the earth. And what God said happened…’
vs16 ‘…God made two great lights. The brighter light ruled over the day. The less bright light ruled over the night. God also made the stars…’
vs17 ‘…God put all these lights in the sky to shine their light on the earth…’
vs18 ‘…They were to rule over the day and night. They were to make the time of light separate from the time of dark. God looked at what he had made. He saw that it was good…’
vs19 ‘…Evening passed and then it was morning. That was the fourth day…’ NASB (New American Standard Bible)
vs20 ‘…God said, the waters will become full with many living things. Birds will appear and fly above the earth, all across the sky…’
vs21 ‘…God made big animals to live in the sea. He made every different kind of living thing that filled the sea. He made every different kind of bird to fly in the sky. God looked at what he had made. He saw that it was good…’
vs22 ‘…God blessed the animals and the birds. He said to them, give birth to many young ones, so that you grow in number. Fill all the water in the seas. The birds also should become very many, all across the earth…’
vs23 ‘…Evening passed and then it was morning. That was the fifth day…’ NASB (New American Standard Bible)
vs24 ‘…God said, different kinds of animals will now appear on the land. There will be farm animals and wild animals. There will also be other small animals that move along the ground. There will be many kinds of animals, and each kind will be different. And what God said happened…’
vs25 ‘…God made the different kinds of wild animals and the different kinds of farm animals. He made all the different kinds of animals that move along the ground. God looked at what he had made. He saw that it was good…’
vs26 ‘…Then God said, we will make humans so that they are very much like us. They will rule over the fish in the sea and over the birds in the sky. They will rule over the farm animals. They will rule over the whole earth and all the animals that move along the ground…’
vs27 ‘…God made humans. He made them to be like himself. He made some of them males and some of them females…’
vs28 ‘…God blessed them. He said to them, give birth to children. Grow in number. Fill the earth and rule over it. Rule over the fish in the sea. Rule over the birds in the sky. Rule over every different kind of living animal that moves along the ground…’
vs29 ‘…Then God said, Listen! I now give to you every plant on the earth as your food. I give you every plant that has seeds in it. I give you every tree that has fruit with a seed in it. I give them to you for your food…’
vs30 ‘…I give to the animal’s, green plants for their food. It will be food for all the animals on the earth, all the birds in the sky and all the animals that move along the ground. Everything that has life may eat every kind of green plant. And what God said happened…’
vs31 ‘…God looked at everything that he had made. He saw that it was very good. Evening passed. And then it was morning. That was the sixth day…’ NASB (New American Standard Bible)
Day 1 = earth, formless, light = day and darkness = night. vss1-5.
Day 2 = expanse, ‘heaven’ (that space above the earth). vss6-8.
Day 3 = land, plants (adult plants that produced seeds). vss9-13.
Day 4 = stars, planets (lights in the sky). vss14-19.
Day 5 = sea animals, birds. vss20-23.
Day 6 = animals (farm, wild and small), humans (male and female). vss24-31
Genesis 1:1-31 are all of the Creation week, the first six days.
I love all of y’all. Keep your Bibles opened at all times and study the Word that God has given us.
Jesus, I pray that those ears and eyes, either listening or seeing this message today would be opened to the very fullest and allow Your love to come inside their lives and comfort them. Teach us Jesus. Protect us. We love You. Amen
InHIM. ><)))o>