THROUGH THE BIBLE COMMENTARY
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
We have a great friend in Gary Godard. He has set up an archive page.
To view ALL the prior devotions by Scripture, just click
Bro. Bruce's commentary for the books of Genesis through John are
now available in hard copy for $7.50.
Just mail your request for COMMENTARY ON GENESIS to the address above.
GENESIS
CHAPTER 1
1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
This book, the Bible, is the self-revelation of God Almighty, Creator
Remember, as God reveals Himself to you throughout the Bible that He beganby using a name that is PLURAL.
God was in the beginning.
God is timeless, without beginning or end.
It was God Who created all things.
of all things, Who is and was and is to come!
Revelation 1:8 says,
"I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the
Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty."
The name for "God" in the Hebrew in this text is ELOHIM, which is plural in nature.
2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
Much discussion is made about these two verses.
First, God's Spirit moved - or hovered.
The Father had a plan; His Spirit moved in preparation; then, His Word spoke, and it happened!
God created something from nothing.
However, the main point is that God created, and this is how He created.
God is not the Author of confusion (or chaos); rather, He is the Author of order and symmetry.
The important thing here is HOW God created the universe.
Then, God SPOKE.
This is the way God creates.
Perhaps this gives more meaning to what Jesus said in John 6:44.
"No
man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him; and I will
raise him up at the last day."
He spoke the universe into existence.
And then God's Spirit continued to hover over His creation while He continued to speak and mold it into what He wanted.
And that's the way God creates a new YOU!
2Corinthians 5:17 says, "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new
creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."
The FIRST order of creation is LIGHT.
Since God is light (1John 1:5), He
cannot dwell in darkness.
And God here is creating mankind who will, of his own choice, dwell in sin -- and that is darkness.
At this point, God already shows that one day He must come into the darkness of man's sinfulness;
yet, His Light shall not be overcome (see John 1:4-5).
4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night.
And the evening and the morning were the first day.
Day 1.
This is the creation of Day and Night.
There is a division of the day from the night time.
Notice the statement, "And the evening and the morning were the first day."
This is certainly a statement concerning a 24-hour time period!
YES!! God created all heaven and all earth and all in them in SIX days!
6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.
Day 2.
The envelope of water formed around the earth provided a "greenhouse effect."
In God's creation of the earth, He separated water from water and formed an envelope around what would be the earth.
The two sections of water were divided by a firmament.
This is the first heaven of three which are mentioned in the Bible.
That firmament is our atmosphere.
The second heaven is the residing place of the stars, and the "heaven of heavens" is the residing place of God (third heaven).
At this time there was no need for rain. (See Genesis 2:5-6)
9 And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.
10 And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.
Day 3.
Now God forms the ground and the seas and determines their placements.
11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.
12 And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
13 And the evening and the morning were the third day.
During day 3, God also created all the plants of the earth.
In His wisdom, God performed the creation of these plants in such a way that they would reproduce.
14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:
15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.
16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.
17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,
18 And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.
19 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.
Day 4.
All the work of placing the stars and planets was done on this day.
The tremendous work of symmetrical gravitational forces were all designed to bless this earth (vs 17).
The universe was formed to sustain mankind, who will be formed later.
20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.
21 And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his 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 fowl multiply in the earth.
23 And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.
Day 5.
These brief verses describe the work of creating all animal life in both the sea and the air.
24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.
25 And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
Day 6.
All the animal life on land was created on this day.
26 And 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 fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.
The crowning work of God's creation is mankind.
Notice that man is given dominion over all the earth (vs 28).
On the sixth day
God created man in the likeness and image of God Himself (vs 26).
God again uses a plural term for Himself: "..let us make man in our image..."
God creates a tripartite man.
He is spirit; but is formed in flesh, and accompanied with a mind for knowledge and rationalization. (see Genesis 2:7)
Notice also that man is a vegetarian (vs 29-30).
31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
God looks over all He has done and pronounces it "good."
It is PERFECT!
Everything is in perfect balance, and God already has a plan in place for the redemption of sinful man.
For He is LIGHT, and one day will permeate the darkness of man's sin with His LIGHT - JESUS CHRIST. (See John 1:4-5 again)
God has begun, in this first chapter of the Bible, to reveal Himself.
He IS!
He is Self-existent.
He is Creator, Sustainer, and the LIGHT of the world.
Please continue to follow along in Bible study with us.