Day 1: Genesis 1-12

The stories in this section contain some of the most familiar biblical stories to many people; Creation, Adam and Eve, Noah and the Flood, the Tower of Babel, the cursing of Canaan, and the introduction of Abram's promise of blessing.

Of note is the working of grace---Adam and Eve are not killed for their disobedience, Cain is not put to death for murder, Noah and his family are selected to repopulate the race of humanity, and Abram is chosen by God, for reasons that will be examined in greater debt the further we enter Genesis.

Observations on the Chapters:

Through The Bible in Ninety Days

Day 1: Genesis 1-12

Genesis 1: The Hebrew parallelism is very noticeable. Day 1 tells of the creation of Day and Night, while Day 4 mentions the creation of sun, moon and stars. Day 2 tells of the creation of the waters above and the waters below, and of the sky which separates them while Day 5 mentions the creation of birds and marine life. Day 3 tells of the creation of land, its vegetation, and the seas while Day 6 tells of the creation of all other animal life. Finally, God creates mankind.

Genesis 2: Here the narrator holds up his magnifying glass, so to speak, allowing us to see with greater detail how the creation of man and woman came about. It is important to note that the names of our two protagonists are "Ish" and "Isha"--Man and Woman. Even the English word "Adam" comes from the Hebrew word for "Man".

Genesis 3: The woman is deceived by the serpent; Adam is with her, but it is not recorded that he responds to the serpent. After they both eat of the fruit, they recognize they are naked and sew leaves together to cover their nakedness. Hearing God's voice, they hide themselves. God pronounces the curse on all three participants--the serpent, the woman, and the man. The woman's desire has been the source of debate, but since the same Hebrew word for desire will be used of sin's desire to have Cain, it seems to refer to a controlling desire--the woman will desire to control her husband, but he will control her instead. Genesis 3:16 is not giving a picture of "God's will" for marital relations. God's desire for proper relationship between a husband and wife will be revealed later in the Scriptures. God's pronouncement is initiated in Genesis 3:20, when Man boldly changes the name of Woman to Eve. God gave Man the authority to name the animals--not to assign his wife a name. Elsewhere in Scripture, it will be seen that to give someone or something a name is to claim authority over it. The now fallen father of humanity is exerting his authority over his wife. Both are expelled from the garden, so that they will not eat from the tree of life. This is an act of mercy; had they eaten from the tree of life, they would never have died, and lived forever in sin.

Genesis 4: Two of the children of Man (Adam) and Eve offer sacrifices to God. The point is not the content of the sacrifices, but the attitude of the two offering sacrifices. When Cain kills his brother Abel, God rhetorically questions him, connecting the earlier rhetorical question he asks of Eve in 3:13 to this question. Just as his parents were punished, so now, we expect Cain to be punished. Punishment is given, but it is mixed with mercy--God will exact seven times vengeance on anyone who kills Cain. Once again, God is showing mercy.

Genesis 5: Note that there are ten generations (Adam is the first generation) from Adam to Noah, and ten generations (Noah is the first generation) from Noah to Abraham. It is important to remember that Hebrew genealogy doesn't necessarily include all branches in the family tree. Names of a person's father or grandfather may be deliberately excluded in order to make a point within the text. If the genealogy here has been edited to deliberately make a parallel, it would seem that both Noah and Abraham have been selected to deliberately fall on the tenth generation.

Genesis 6: God is grieved over fallen humanity. It is noted parenthetically that the Nephilim are on the earth at this time (and also after this time). Their identity is debated, as is the identity of the "sons of God" and the "daughters of men". What is known is that God decides he must start anew, wiping humanity off the face of the earth. But in God's grace, he selects one man, Noah, his wife, his three sons, and their wives, to live and repopulate the earth.

Genesis 7: Noah obeys God's commandment to enter the ark with the animals, taking with him a pair of the unclean animals, seven (or seven pairs) of clean animals, and seven (or seven pairs) of birds; all of which come to (or are gathered to) the ark over a period of seven days. The waters above and the waters below unleashed their torrents for forty days and forty nights; the chaotic deep has once again returned to creation. For 150 days, the ark floats upon the waters, which are so high that they are over twenty feet above the highest mountains.

Genesis 8: But the deep is not permitted to permanently remain and the flood waters recede. From the seventeenth day of seventh month to the first day of the tenth month, the waters receded until the tops of the mountains can be seen. After an additional forty days, Noah sends a raven out of the Ark. Seven days later, Noah sends out a dove, which returns to him; he sends it out again seven days later; again the dove returns, this time with an olive branch. Noah sends the dove out a third time seven days later, and the dove does not return. Noah and his family are in the ark for over a year!

Genesis 9: God makes a covenant with Noah. Noah and his family are blessed and commanded to multiply and fill the earth. God then informs the remnant of humanity that they are now permitted to eat animals, but they must not eat meat that has not been drained of blood. He concludes with a promise to never destroy the earth by flood, giving a sign of that promise via a rainbow. After this covenant is made, Noah plants a vineyard on the earth. What happens next is not surprising, in my view. Undoubtedly, just as modern floods are destructive; this flood of floods left nothing behind. Noah, remembering how beautiful creation was before the flood, starts to put together some order in the chaotic aftermath, and plants a vineyard. After he harvests the grapes, he drinks too much wine and becomes drunk, and uncovers himself within his tent. Later, Ham sees his father's nakedness, and instead of respectfully covering it, reports what he has seen to his brothers, who cover their father. When Noah awakes he learns of his son's disrespect and curses his grandson. The implication seems to be "Just as you have become a disgrace in my eyes, so your son will disgrace you".

Genesis 10: Moses gives us a description of the various family lines, ending the Abrahamic line at Peleg in order to note that “in his day the earth was divided”. Given the events of Genesis 11, it would appear that the genealogy stops here in order to give the account of the division of the nations.

Genesis 11: The Tower of Babel is recounted, and having established the division of mankind into peoples speaking different languages, Moses now returns us to Shem’s family line, recounting Abram's genealogy.

Genesis 12: God gives Abram a promise of blessing; specifically, Abram receives the promises of a land (v.1), a great nation (v.2), divine blessing (v.2), a great name (v.2), blessings on those who bless Abram (v.3); curses on those who treat Abram lightly (v.3), and the families of the earth will bless one another by Abram’s name (v.3). Abram travels through the promised land, arriving in Egypt. Fearing for his life, he tells Sarai to identify herself as Abram’s sister. She complies. When Pharaoh takes her into his harem, God intervenes with a plague, preserving the promised line. Abram and Sarai depart Egypt, wealthier than when they came.