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These days, a Creator Who made the heavens, Earth, plants, creatures and people is scoffed at by many, including increasingly more in the Body of Messiah. But this week’s Torah portion, בְּרֵאשִׁית B’reisheet (“in the beginning,” Genesis 1:1-6:8), reminds us why Yeshua (Jesus) taught that this is important real history undergirding our faith.
We need to frame this discussion carefully and not get lost in the weeds. This section of Torah tells us how the world began and sets the stage for all that follows in the Bible. If you were to chop off Genesis 1–5, you will not be able to competently answer this about the instructions and teachings of the Father and Messiah: “Why should I do that?”
This question is a huge topic of conversation in today’s culture. Why are American children falling out of the church after graduation from high school? Two-thirds of children from Christian homes will walk away from their faith to varying degrees, and one of the main reasons for that fall off is they are not given honest answers about the authority of the Scriptures. 1 They are taught a version of history and origins that totally contradicts the Scriptures.
Genesis 1–2 and the standard models of origins — cosmological, chemical and biological evolution — are completely flipped from each other. Genesis shows us that God used a very structured, methodical approach to creating our universe. It was not random or based on chance.
Is the explanation in Genesis 1-2 better than the world’s explanation of the origins of our world? The secular world is being dragged to the conclusion that order begets order. One can’t create order from chaos.
The Book of Hebrews and the basics of Hebrew grammar are proof that there’s no gap of millions of years between Gen. 1:1 and Gen. 1:2. The “waw consecutive” feature of Hebrew grammar chains Gen. 1:1–2 together like this “this happened, and while that was happening, this happened.” 2
We live in a world that is laid out in a very methodical manner. Basic observation shows us that everything in our universe was very carefully and methodically designed. The way the real world works is that intelligence begets intelligence, and order begets order 3.
A number of people have looked at the order that God used to make the world, looking for patterns. Here’s another explanation for this structure: The depiction of creation is divided into a number of different “panels” 4:
- Day 1 – realms of light & dark
- Day 4 – realms filled w/ heavenly lights (sun & moon/stars)
- Day 2 – realms of waters & sky
- Day 5 – realms filled w/ fish and birds
- Day 3 – realm of dry land
- Day 6 – realm filled w/ animals & humans
- Days 1–3 filled correspondingly in days 4–6.
In other words:
- Realms: Days 1–3
- Stuff to fill the realms: Days 4–6
The creation starts with light. God is the source of light (1 John 1:5-7; Rev. 22:5; John 3).
The Scriptures more closely match the world as we can observe it, while evolution doesn’t. For example, in the realm of genetics, we know that the human genetic codes has degraded over time. For example, there was a time when humans could make their own Vitamin C, but somehow at some point, that gene got turned off, so we must get it from our food, otherwise we will get sick.
In the beginning, humans could marry close relatives, such as siblings, and there were no genetic problems. But by the time of Moses, God had to prohibit marriages between close relatives.
The last person listed in Cain’s family line is Na’amah and the last person listed in Seth’s family line is Noah, which is an example of the “daughter’s of men” with the “sons of God.” We also see that in the story of Israel sinning with the women of Midian.
As things progress further away from God’s realm, the world goes downhill. You see that in Lamech’s boast about killing people for trivial reasons and claiming that he should be avenged if he were to be punished for it.
The problem with the acceptance of Abel’s sacrifice v. the rejection of Cain’s sacrifice was not just an issue of what was brought but how they were presented and why they were brought? Cain’s reaction to God’s rejection shows us what was really going on with him. The offerings are always an expression of what is in the heart. It has always been that way, it was not a change from Malachi to Matthew. There’s is light and there’s darkness, God vs. not-God.
Cain could fool Abel, but he couldn’t fool God.
There’s no power on earth that can keep God’s people away from God.
There will always be defects and cons, but to have genuine wisdom and discernment, we need to concentrate on studying the truth so we don’t become confused. That is a gift from God.
“And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.” (Genesis 2:25 NASB)
“Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings.” (Genesis 3:7 NASB)
Once they had disobeyed God, they felt they had to hide from God. God wasn’t separated from man when they were evicted from the garden. That happened immediately after Adam chose to eat of the fruit and disobey God. That’s when the separation between God and man began.
They decided to know what good and bad is without God. They dismissed God’s standard to seek their own.
God has given us a way to be able to be “naked” before him without shame, which is through Yeshua. If we walk away from God’s remedy, which is in Yeshua’s sacrifice, there is no other way to return to God.
When we work on our own strength, there is always someone stronger, but when we work through God’s strength, we are unconquerable.
“Then Moses said, ‘I pray You, show me Your glory!’ And He said, “I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the LORD before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.’ But He said, ‘You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!’ Then the LORD said, ‘Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock; and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. Then I will take My hand away and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen.’” (Exodus 33:18–23 NASB)
“Then the LORD passed by in front of him and proclaimed, ‘The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.’ Moses made haste to bow low toward the earth and worship. He said, ‘If now I have found favor in Your sight, O Lord, I pray, let the Lord go along in our midst, even though the people are so obstinate, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us as Your own possession.’” (Exodus 34:6–9 NASB)
When Moses asked God to show him His glory, God proclaimed His true glory is in His character. God tells us what He is known for. We need to take this message into the world around us and tell others to come to the real Source of Light. There’s nothing in darkness, except more darkness.
Summary: Tammy.
- Britt Beemer and Ken Ham. “Already Gone: An Epidemic on Our Hands.” Already Gone: Why Your Kids Will Quit Church and What You Can Do About It. 2011. No compensation was given for this reference. ↩
- Robert V. McCabe. “A Critique of the Framework Interpretation of the Creation Account (Part 1 of 2).” June 6, 2007. ↩
- Werner Gitt. In the Beginning Was Information. No compensation was given for this reference. ↩
- Accordance Bible Software notes on Genesis 1. No compensation was given for this reference. ↩