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God Creates Heavens and Earth

God Creates Heavens and Earth

Genesis 1:1-13
Golden Text: In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. Genesis 1:1-2

Rev. Clifford W. Burks

Lesson Outline:
I. The Big Picture
Genesis 1:1-2
II. Day One
Genesis 1:3-5
III. Day Two
Genesis 1:6-8
IV. Day Three
Genesis 1:9-13

Lesson Context
Cosmology refers to ones concept of the universe. The cosmology of the ancient Near East, which was the historical and cultural context of the Old Testament, was different from popular cosmologies today. Michael S. Heiser has described the ancient cosmology as envisioning three realms: (1) the heavens, the place where the gods are; (2) the earth, the place of humans and other creatures; and (3) the region below the earth. (For a variant that took into account only immediate sense experience, see commentary on Genesis 1:20 in lesson 2.)
This three-tier concept was held by the peoples of Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Canaan; it was also assumed by the writers of the Old and New Testaments (see Psalm 33:6-8; Proverbs 8:27-29; Philippians 2:10; Revelation 5:3). This cosmology may be compared with a flat plate that has an upside- down bowl atop it. People and animals lived on the plate underneath the bowl. The arc of sun, moon, and stars across the sky (the surface of the bowl) marked where the gods lived. The depths and supports of the earth were below the plate; the dead were located there as well.
The basis of this cosmology was how the earth appeared in relation to everything else as one stood on the ground, not as one looking at the earth and galaxies from the vantage point of an orbiting space station. For ancient peoples, the mountains seemed to reach up to the heavens and support it (2 Samuel 22:8). Bars and roots of the mountains formed the lower regions to support the earth and provide depth for the seas (Jonah 2:5-6).
Such language is not meant to describe the geology of creation in a scientific way, but rather its appearance. This is no different from our speaking of the suns “rising” when we’ve known since childhood that the sun does not actually rise but only appears to do so from our vantage point on the earth. When we speak of the sun’s “rising,” we are not speaking untruthfully from ignorance; rather, we (and the Bible authors) are speaking phenomenologically.
Skeptics often put Genesis in the same category as ancient Near Eastern myths. But Genesis does not borrow from those myths; the Genesis creation account stands alone, in stark contrast to rival accounts of the ancient world.
I. The Big Picture
Genesis 1:1-2
la. In the beginning.
Neither the peoples of the ancient world in general nor the Scriptures in particular assert innumerable beginnings. Only one beginning is in view, and it is that which commences in the first verse of the Bible. The concept of the beginning is not limited to a singular point of time, but rather includes the span of events that are described through Genesis 2:4.
lb. God created.
The Hebrew word translated God is actually plural in form. Some well-meaning believers, knowing that Scripture clearly teaches there is only one true God (Isaiah 46:9; etc.), assert that this plural form demonstrates that God is a trinity. Unbelievers claim that this plural form indicates that the Old Testament teaches the existence of many gods.
Neither view is necessarily supported by this plural form, for two reasons. First, though a plural noun in Hebrew may indicate “more than one,” a noun may be plural to signify honor; this is similar to the royal “we” spoken by a king or queen. Second, the Hebrew behind the verb created is singular, indicating only one subject. The best explanation is that God is viewed as a single essence who is honored above all other beings.
lc. The heaven and the earth.
This expression is roughly equivalent to our term universe. In Hebrew, two words with opposite senses are often paired to indicate a totality. For example, “great and small” in 2 Chronicles 34:30 means all kinds of people. Therefore Genesis 1:1 is expressing quite clearly that all we call “matter” today is not coeternal with God. Rather, God brought it into existence.
2a. And the earth was without form, and void.
We move to the description of the situation after the creation of matter in verse 1. The exact phrase (in the original Hebrew) of earth’s description without form, and void also occurs in Jeremiah 4:23. There it describes the moral chaos of a chosen people who do not know the Lord, who do not know how to do good, and who are wise only in knowing how to do evil. The phrase seems to describe a situation that is without moral boundaries. In parallel, Genesis 1:2 implies that physical boundaries are not yet fully defined (compare 1:4).
2b. And darkness was upon the face of the deep.
Here, the word darkness communicates the absence of light in a physical sense. Later writers and Jesus himself will use this word to communicate the absence of light in a moral sense (Isaiah 9:2; 50:10; Matthew 4:16; John 1:5; 12:46; etc.). 2c. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
The word translated Spirit is elsewhere translated “breath” (Genesis 6:17), “wind” (8:1), “spirit” (45:27), “courage” (Joshua 2:11), and others. Regarding a choice between translations of Spirit or spirit, the translators were faced with a difficulty in that the Hebrew language does not distinguish between uppercase and lowercase letters. So translators must interpret the meaning, and they capitalize when the reference is to God personally as divine being.
As a result, the phrases Spirit of God and spirit of God occur 10 and 4 times respectively in the King James Version of the Old Testament. Many Christians think the phrase Spirit of God always refers to the Holy Spirit. But passages where the identical Hebrew is properly not translated that way are 1 Samuel 16:15, 16, 23; 18:10.
The phrase Spirit of God in the passage before us refers to the same one known as “the Spirit of the Lord.” This Spirit can be present (Judges 11:29), take action (13:25), speak messages (2 Samuel 23:2), and depart (1 Samuel 16:14). These are the qualities of a personal being, not an impersonal force.
II. Day One
Genesis 1:3-5
3. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
Creation begins! The phrase And God said occurs at the beginning of each day of creation, and here it serves to separate Genesis 1:3 and following from 1:1, 2. Let there be is a command or desire for something to take place. Presumably those hearing this command are the inhabitants of Heaven, the abode of God.
The first thing created is light. Since the sun, moon, and stars are not created until the fourth day, some think that the light referred to here may be what scientists call energy. Addressing such an issue is not the aim of the book of Genesis. The stress, rather, is that light stands in positive contrast to darkness (next verse).
4. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
God acts in and on His creation, and His light pushes back the darkness. The word good describes the value of the light. The Scripture may be using the acts of creation to teach a spiritual lesson that there is a difference between good and evil just as clearly as there is a difference between physical light and darkness. Foolish, sinful humans will later blur those distinctions. “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil” (Isaiah 5:20).
5. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
From the perspective of the ancient world, naming brings things into existence; unnamed things do not exist. Modern, scientific ideas about the nature of light are not in view. Just as dark-ness is merely the absence of light, and light is the creation of God, so also Day and Night are portrayed as impersonal creations rather than as rival gods. In naming light and darkness, God exercises His authority and power as Creator.
The meaning of day has been interpreted in various ways to calculate the age of the earth. The word day in some contexts refers to the part of a 24-hour period that has light (Exodus 13:21). In other contexts it refers to entire 24-hour periods of time (Genesis 7:10). In still other contexts, day refers to a longer period of time (Genesis 2:4). One commentator has identified 20 creation accounts in the Bible. In so doing, he notes that the goal of the authors is not to describe the age of the earth, but rather to describe the orderliness of creation and the lordship of the Creator over all that exists.
III. Day Two
Genesis 1:6-8
6a. And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters.
The word firmament refers to the bowl-like dome mentioned in the Lesson Context; see discussion there.
6b, 7. and let it divide the waters from the waters. And 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.
Of particular interest here is the firmament s function as a boundary to divide the waters from the waters.
Those waters which were under the firmament are all the bodies of water on the earth and below the earth (rivers, lakes, oceans, aquifers). The waters which were above the firmament refer to the clouds from which rain fells.
8. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.
The word translated Heaven can be used for the air where the birds fly (Genesis 1:20); the location of sun, moon, and stars (Deuteronomy 4:19); or the abode of God and other heavenly beings (1 Kings 22:19; compare 2 Corinthians 12:2). In any case, again God asserts His authority by naming. Paul Kissling notes that this serves to oppose the ancient Near East belief that creation of the firmament is a battle between warring gods. Instead, the Bible depicts the unique Creator God calmly forming everything as He alone wills.
IV. Day Three
Genesis 1:9-13
9. And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.
The gathering of the waters… unto one place refers to the seas on the surface of the earth. The result is that landforms appear. Again, the account does not say how, or how quickly, God does this. It simply happens at His command.
10. And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called the Seas: and God saw that it was good.
One of the deities of the ancient world was Yam, a name equivalent to the Hebrew word for seas. The verse before us stands in sharp contrast with such a myth as it credits the one, true God as Creator of the seas. The seas are simply inanimate water, neither sentient nor divine.
11-12a. And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind.
Various kinds of plant life appear continuing the preparation of the earth for human habitation.
Now there is renewable sustenance of the earth necessary for survival of humans and animals.
The phrase after his kind is important and remarkable in indicating that watermelon seeds result in watermelons, etc.
If we pause to consider the consistency of this, it is remarkable yet today.
12b-13. And God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the third day.
The account of the third day concludes with a refrain found throughout the first chapter of Genesis: God approves of what He has created (1:4, 10, 18, 21, 25, 31).
Thought to Remember, Praise the Creator!

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