-Evening-
Genesis 1-3
Wow, entire books and debates have been written on these three chapters. Gen 1 documents the creation of the world, 2 talks about the creation of man and 3 documents the tragic fall of mankind.
JM (here and forever more in this series will stand for John McArthur) notes that the Hebrew use of the word Day in Gen 1 leaves no doubt that it was a twenty-four hour period, not an age. He gathers this because anytime a numerical value was used in conjunction with the word "Day" in Hebrew always meant a twenty-four hour period; Exodus, the next book, establishes the order of the "week" (Ex 20:8-11) which is further evidence that Gen 1 is speaking of a literal seven day week. JM also notes that the phrase "after their kind" is used when talking about reproduction; a creation theory that features cross-species' propagation and mutation is inconsistent with Scripture (ie... theistic evolution)
Gen 2 discusses the creation of man and woman. It is interesting to note that God, for the first time uses the phrase "not good"; he uses it when commenting on Adam's aloneness. While this doesn't necessarily mean that every man needs to be married to be complete (see 1 Cor 7) it does mean that no one is meant to "go it alone" and that we all need "a suitable helper". Gen 2 also introduces us to both the tree of life as well as the infamous "tree of knowledge". Contrary to popular belief, Man already had the knowledge of "good" but disobeying God was something he did not have knowledge of aka "evil". Finally, Ch. 2 discusses marriage using hetrosexual, singular terminology according to JM.
Gen 3 tells the saddest story ever written, the fall of mankind. It introduces the serpent (who would later be identified as Satan [see Rev 12:9;20:2 and 2 Cor 11:3]). Satan lies to Eve by telling her "You shall not eat from any tree of the Garden?" Thus Satan establishes himself as a liar from the very start. JM poses the theory that the reason Eve misquotes God (God told Adam and Eve not to eat the fruit of the tree whereas Eve tells the serpent they are not even allowed to touch the tree) is possibly because Adam told Eve this for her own protection. I had never heard such a theory posited before. Eve is deceived eats the fruit; Adam was not deceived and he still ate the fruit. This act is clear proof that Adam and Eve, along with all their offspring, were created with free will. They had the choice to obey or disobey God, and chose the later. It is because of this "Original Sin" that all men are born into Sin and in need of a Savior. It is also because of this Sin that we are stricken with the effects of the curse which include but are not limited to:
- Painful Child-Birth (sorry ladies)
- Toiling for food
- Rain (before the curse a mist rose from the ground)
- And of course Death (from dust you came, to dust you will return).
Interesting side note for my plant loving, meat hating friends; before the fall animals and man were vegetarians. (see Gen 1:30)
