Last 5 Days
In the beginning
1:1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
6 And God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” 7 And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. 8 And God called the expanse Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.
9 And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.
11 And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. 12 The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.
14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. 16 And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. 17 And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.
20 And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.” 21 So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” 23 And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.
24 And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. 25 And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
27 So God created man in his own image,in the image of God he created him;male and female he created them.
28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 29 And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. 30 And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2 And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” is a simple declaration, but contained within it, a wealth of meaning.
In the beginning. What does this phrase refer to? In the beginning of what? Does it mean the beginning of time, history, matter, story, or human race? The Hebrew word that had been translated to “beginning” certainly refers to the beginning of something, but scholars have also pointed out the unique function of the term as referring to an initial period or duration rather than to a specific point in time. From a literary perspective, this was an introductory summary, describing and summarising the remaining verses of creation. Therefore the “beginning” is described in the entire of chapter 1 (up till Chapter 2:1, “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished”), and does not refer to just one point in time or one particular day.
God created. The Hebrew word bara’, translated in English as created, takes only God as its subject, and therefore must be identified as a characteristically divine activity. It describes something that is brought into existence but its focus is not on the manufacture of materials. It may be better represented by the word design, however, bara’ in itself also means both planning and implementing the design. Hence, the word bara’ brings through the meaning of creating, planning, implementing etc. Regardless, the existence of matter was not the concern of the author. The author’s concern, much like others of the Ancient Near East, was the power of in the fixing of destinies. Here in Genesis, Yahweh God demonstrates his power by the assigning of roles and functions. This is an affirmation of his exclusive sovereignty.
In talking about bara’ of the heaven and earth, it suggests that the bringing of heaven and earth into existence is to focus on operation through organisation and assignment of roles and functions. James Barr puts it this way, “Genesis is interested in an organized world, as against a chaotic world, and not in the metaphysical question of something against nothing.” God brought the cosmos into operation, He made chaos into order. The chaos, as described in verse 2, tells us of three elements – without form and void, darkness, deep. There is nothing sinister or menacing about this chaos in Genesis; it is simply the indication that God has not yet done his work. And so the rest of chapter one tells of how God, in an organised manner brought order into this chaotic cosmos.
Therefore, God being the Creator of heavens and earth tells of His sovereignty and His power to give meaning to life. Dear brothers and sisters, God our Creator is above all emptiness, darkness, chaos, nothingness. In our lives, we go through mountains high and valleys deep, sometimes we go through seasons of emptiness, meaninglessness, directionless, sometimes we go through seasons of darkness, deep valleys, stress, of hopelessness. However, just like how God created order in chaos, brought life into darkness, and forms into emptiness, He too brings life to us, and will bring us through all the mountains and valleys of our lives. He, who was there in the beginning, who created heavens and earth, who is the order of life, will bring us through all difficulties and life challenges, because He is not bounded by them and is above them. He is sovereign and gives meaning to life. Let us trust in our Creator, our life-giver, our Lord and Saviour.
