THROUGH THE BIBLE IN THREE YEARS

This program of daily devotions is designed to take you through the Bible in three years. It is our desire to help you gain a better general understanding of God's Word.

Please understand that in a study this brief, we will be concerned with only the major emphases and context of the Scriptures.

Each day a devotion for one or two chapters is posted, beginning with chapter one of Genesis and going through chapter twenty-two of Revelation. You are free to print each page as it appears. If you miss a day, you may contact us and request that devotion. Please send your request, along with $.50 (p&h) for each page to:

Bruce McGee
P.O. Box 69
Columbia, LA 71418

GENESIS
CHAPTER TWO

1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. 3 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.

This is the account of the creation of the Sabbath. God did not need rest, but men do. The rest man needs is GOD. Therefore, this seventh day was created for man to cease his daily labors for himself, and concentrate fully upon God.
We must realize that the Sabbath was created for man; man was not created for the Sabbath. Therefore, too many regulations concerning the Sabbath will encumber the man and not allow the real work of the Sabbath -- which is to give man REST. We only need one real rule for the Sabbath: come to God. (see Matt. 11:28-30)

4 These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens, 5 And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground. 6 But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.

Note there is no rain. The "greenhouse" effect brings a mist from the ground each day, supplying all the plants with enough moisture.

7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Man's life comes from God's breath. Man is God-breathed, and contains an individual spirit that has been given from God.
Since man is "inspired to exist" (so to speak) by God, man's only real joy is found in fellowship with God.

8 And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9 And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. 10 And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads. 11 The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; 12 And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone. 13 And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia. 14 And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates.

God created a special garden for man. It was a perfect place to live. Notice that man's only work is to "prune."

15 And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

God gave man a free will. This is the command of "eat/don't eat."
One tree was placed in the garden to test man's free choice.

18 And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. 19 And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. 20 And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.

Notice that the man names all the animals. Man, at his creation, had a tremendous ability to use his mind. He had great knowledge.

21 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; 22 And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.

God realizes that the man is without a close companion. The woman is created as a "help meet" (see vs 20). She is to be one like him, and one to complete him.
Note that God created Adam and Eve, not Adam and "Steve."!!
This is God's plan for man: one man with one woman for one lifetime.

23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. 24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

Note Adam's acceptance speech. This lays down the foundation for the acceptable marital lifestyle.
Each family should be an independent unit, and yet work cooperatively with others.

25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

This is a transitional statement. God is moving from this point to another point in His self-revelation.
The man and woman are naked, and are not ashamed, because they have no sin.

God has revealed that He knows the desires of our heart, AND He knows how to supply those desires perfectly.
(See Matt. 6:33)

GENESIS
CHAPTER 3

This chapter deals with the "FALL OF MAN."

1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? 2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

Satan poses the question in such a way as to cause a feeling of EXCLUSION. He inferred that God was keeping something from the man and woman.

4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

Now Satan uses the previous statement to point toward the GAIN of something mankind is missing. Satan, in effect, is calling God a liar, and implying that God is withholding wisdom and power from the man and woman.

6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

Her failure, and Adam's failure, weren't the same; but they came from the same source: the SIN nature of mankind. That is the ability of man to make a free choice even against God.

7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

Knowledge DID come; but, it was the knowledge of evil.

8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. (cool: Heb. wind) 9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? 10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.

Along with THAT knowledge comes the fear of God, and an attempt to hide sin.
Here, I believe, we should realize that sin is like a pebble thrown in a calm pool. The ripples continue to move until they reach the bank.
Once sin begins to move in a person's life, it continues until it reaches the END. And the END of sin is DEATH (Rom. 6:23).

11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? 12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. 13 And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. Notice the "blame game." We cannot blame sin upon the devil or upon other people. It is an individual determination. The responsibility for sin rests squarely upon each person.

14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:

God establishes punishment for Satan.
He will be constantly thought of as ugly and dirty.

15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

God tells us that there is constant war between mankind and Satan.
It is the war of "dominion." God gave it to man. But everytime we sin, we give dominion to Satan.
Satan is constantly nipping at the heels of mankind trying to take away the dominion.
However, there is an END to the war!
One day, a "seed" from the woman will crush the head of Satan!
This is called the "proto-evangelum." It is the first mention of a Savior in the Bible.
One day, God promises here, the WOMAN will have a child that will destroy Satan. This verse makes Isaiah 7:14 a lot more understandable.

16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

Because of her participation in the sin, the woman will forever be drawn to her husband's affections even though child-bearing will bring her pain and suffering.

17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; 18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; 19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art , and unto dust shalt thou return.

The man too receives punishment for his participation in the sin. He will have to work all his life. The ground will not be easy to farm; but, he is consigned to work for his bread by the "sweat of his brow."

20 And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living. 21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.

The woman was named "Eve," because she is the mother of all who will come after her.

22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: 23 Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.

Note that God provided clothes for the man and the woman by killing an animal.
The cost of sin is death. From this point on, sacrifices were made to God as a form of worship. Men would be continually praying that God would "impute" their sins to the sacrifice.
Sins can only be forgiven by the shedding of blood. Jesus shed his blood for the remission of all man's sins ((Matt. 26:28))

24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

Driving man from the garden was an act of MERCY. If man had eaten of the "tree of life" in his sinful state, he would have become eternally sinful. But God took away that opportunity in His great mercy. God's desire is that man will come to repentance and salvation, then he will be able to partake of the "tree of life" in a forgiven and eternal state of being.
(See 2Pet. 3:9) God has reveled that He knows our sin; and He has provided the gift of forgiveness. Sin cannot be hidden from God, and God comes looking for the sinner; calling him to repentance and salvation. It is GOD Who does the work of salvation. And He gives it to us as a free gift.
((See Rom. 5:8))

Please continue in Bible study with us tomorrow.