![]() ![]() ![]() 1:20-23), and on the sixth day, God brought forth living creatures from the earth ( Gen. On the fifth day, He brought forth fish from the waters and birds from the atmosphere ( Gen. ![]() ![]() On the fourth day, the cycle was renewed: God first created the celestial lights (sun, moon, stars) to mark the seasons and time ( Gen. 1:6-8) on the third day, God separated the earth from the waters and created vegetative life and seeds ( Gen. On the second day, God separated the waters to create the atmosphere ( Gen. God then created the divine light and separated it from darkness ( Gen. The term "heavens" here ( שָׁמַיִם) refers metaphorically to God's exalted throne that was surrounded by innumerable angels who were present at the time of creation ( Job 38:4-7), and the term "earth" ( אָרֶץ) refers to a state of watery chaos (from רוּץ, suggesting running water) that was part of the primordial material of creation itself (indeed the word for "heavens," sha- ( ש) + mayim ( מַיִם), implies a connection with the original waters (mayim) of creation). Genesis 1:1 Hebrew reading lesson (click): The Book of Genesis itself ( סֵפֶר בְּרֵאשִׁית) begins by stating that on the "first day" God created the heavens and the earth: Proverbs 8:22 Hebrew reading lesson (click): "The LORD possessed me at the beginning of his way, All this was for the sake of the Messiah, who built the world in chesed ( חֶסֶד) and who forever reigns as the King of eternal life and love. God "emptied himself" by freely chosing to create the universe in order to share his wisdom, glory, and love with other beings he created. Only the LORD God Almighty receives the glory of creation forever and ever ( Rev. Followers of the Messiah Yeshua do not worship a book, though the LORD our God is indeed the faithful Lawgiver, the Source of all truth and therefore he can never contradict the perfections of his own inner nature. הַכּל נִהְיָה עַל־יָדוֹ - All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made ( John 1:1,3). the manifestation of the "strong arm" of the LORD and his mighty power that created the enormous complexity of the universe yesh ma'ayin, "out of nothing." Indeed, Yeshua is the Living Torah (i.e., ha'Torah ha'chayim: התורה החיה) and the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world - the One revealed before creation as its source and end. In light of the New Testament, we understand the divine wisdom personified as Yeshua our Messiah - the expression of God's will in creation. In other words, wisdom (i.e., chokhmah: חָכְמָה) is personified as the Torah, the Agency of Power that created the universe. Quoting Proverbs 8:22, these sages actually say that God created the world for the sake of Torah, what they call "reshit darko" ( רֵאשִׁית דַּרְכּוֹ). Many of the traditional sages state that "in the beginning" ( בְּרֵאשִׁית) refers to the wisdom of the Torah. Indeed, the word includes the root idea of "head" ( ראשׁ), which suggests the "head of all things," that is, to the Messiah, the Creative Word of God who is the "head of all beginning and authority" and through Whom and for Whom all things were created ( Col. Notice that the word "beginning," i.e., bereshit, comes from the word reishit ( רֵאשִׁית), meaning first or best ( Psalm 111:10), which does not necessarily mean "the beginning" in a temporal sense ( הַרִאשׁוֹן), but rather primacy or rulership over all that exists. This is the first principle and axiom of all rational thinking: "In the beginning ( בְּרֵאשִׁית), God created the heavens and the earth" ( Gen. Ultimately, the concluding book of the Bible, the Book of Revelation, serves as a climactic "final chapter" of the story begun in Genesis, where the Tree of Life ( עֵץ הַחַיִּים) is restored to the midst of the paradise of God, and the presence of sin and death have been forever eradicated.Įverything begins with the foundational truth that Almighty God is our personal Creator ( הַבּוֹרֵא). In Genesis we see the creation and ruin of man through sin, but we take hold of the promise of deliverance through the coming Seed of the woman in the Book of Exodus ( שְׁמוֹת) we see God's powerful redemption secured through the blood of the Lamb in the Book of Leviticus ( וַיִּקְרָא) we encounter communion and atonement in the holy sanctuary in the Book of Numbers ( בַּמִדְבַּר) we experience the leading of God through desert places, and in the Book of Deuteronomy ( הַדְּבָרִים) we are renewed by God's faithfulness before we take hold of our inheritance. The Scroll of Genesis ( סֵפֶר בְּרֵאשִׁית) is truly the "beginning," the "root," and the "seedbed" of all the subsequent Scriptures - including the message of the gospel and the revelation of the New Testament. ![]()
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