A Chronological Daily Bible Study of the Old Testament 7-Day Sections with a Summary-Commentary, Discussion Questions, and a Practical Daily Application

Week 1

Sunday (Genesis 1:1-2)

The Creation of the World

1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

1:2 Now the earth was without shape and empty,

and darkness was over the surface of the watery deep,

but the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the water.

1:3 God said, “Let there be light.” And there was light!

1:4 God saw that the light was good, so God separated the light from the darkness.

1:5 God called the light “day” and the darkness “night.”

There was evening, and there was morning, marking the first day.

Prayer

Lord, You created, You defined, You imparted value “it was good”, and You created time for Your creation where only timelessness had existed. May I stand in awe of You!

Scripture In Perspective

Moses was the chosen author of God. If one does not take the text to describe any part of pre-Genesis history and one takes the Creation narrative to refer in every detail to literal 24 hour days then it covers approximately 2400 years.

It has been estimated that Moses recorded the essence of the book of Genesis sometime after the time of the exodus out of Egypt in 15th Century BC. While he may have had access to oral history and artifacts, perhaps even some Egyptian documents, it was God who would have inspired and informed his writing. (This does not address when he recorded the Book of Exodus.)

Chapter One introduces the creative expression of God. He sovereignly speaks a linear-time-contained physical reality into existence and summarizes the first six days of His Creation.

There is a good deal of debate in theological circles as to the precise meaning of the words, “In the beginning,” the resolution of which has some significant impact. If one takes them as introduction to a mere allegory or parable they have an impact upon ones understanding of the entire Bible. If one takes the words to refer to the beginning of everything created external to Heaven, and as a literal record, they have a substantially different impact on what follows. This commentary leans toward the latter rather than the former understanding, though with a caveat or two.

“God created” tells us that He did so without help and ex nihilo, a Latin phrase meaning “out of nothing” or without any preexisting resource (that is, no source other than Himself).

“The heavens and the earth” may be taken to refer broadly to everything external to the Kingdom of Heaven or to very narrowly to refer only to the sky and solid ground referenced in verses 6-9. This commentary leans toward the former over the latter understanding.

The phrase, “without shape and empty, and darkness was over the surface,” leads the reader to understand that the Lord God had not yet given definition and purpose to “the heavens and the earth” which He had just created.

We are told that “the Spirit of God was moving,” which both informs us of the presence of a specific member of the Trinity (the Holy Spirit) and alerts us that action is about to take place to transform the shapeless, empty, dark earth.

The third verse describes God’s method in creating and transforming by mere spoken word: He said, “Let there be light. And there was light!” The sovereign power of God to create, transform, give meaning and purpose to, and cause order are all clearly observable in this brief segment of Biblical text.

The powerful phrase, “God saw that the light was good,” shows the Lord assessing what He had created, deeming it worthy of Himself, and establishing the light as “good” in contrast to the prior state of darkness or lack of definition.

Interaction

Consider

Apart from sometimes-esoteric debates about ‘new earth’ versus ‘old earth,’ or 6 thousand years since Creation versus 6 billion years, there may be no question in the mind of a Biblical-Christian as to Who did the creating. The Lord God leaves no room for doubt in His Word.

Discuss

How does the belief that the Lord God literally created everything as described in Genesis impact your view of science?

Reflect

When this fallen world, of which Satan is the temporary Prince, seeks to raise doubt in us about our faith, we need only return to the book of Genesis to find restoration in the words, “In the beginning God.” It is an awesome thing to imagine the majesty and power of the One Who created.

Share

When have you contemplated what it means for the Lord to live outside of the constraints of linear time as we know it?

Faith in Action

Prayer:

Ask the Holy Spirit reveal to you a specific place in your life where you are stuck; stuck because you are trying to deal with a challenge in your own strength and wisdom and keep failing, or stuck because you have asked the Lord God for intervention while at the same time doubting that He has the power to meet and overcome that which challenges you.

Action:

Today I will confess my lack of faith, remembering that it was He Who created everything from nothing, and repent (turn away) from my doubt. I will request and receive His forgiveness and allow Him to be my strength as He is Lord of my life.

Be Specific ______________________________________________________

Monday (Genesis 1:6-8)

1:6 God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters

and let it separate water from water.

1:7 So God made the expanse

and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it.

It was so.

1:8 God called the expanse “sky.”

There was evening, and there was morning, a second day.

Prayer

Lord, You first created a physical reality, then You created time-itself, then You created an atmosphere – resulting in an ‘atmospheric shell’ around the earth which then resulted in an expanse called “sky” with the water-covered earth at the center. May I respect Your power as I marvel at Your engineering.

Summary & Commentary

The Lord God decided how He would proceed with His creation, then made it so “So God made the expanse”.

The Lord God altered the climate system by separating, with an “expanse” translated “sky,” the moisture in the outer atmosphere above the earth from the water on the earth’s surface.

With a word God created the climate system: The cycle of moisture from the surface of the earth moves in to the upper atmosphere, around the earth, and is then deposited elsewhere – keeping the balance of humidity without occurrence of flooding or drought (prior to the ‘Fall’).

Interaction

Consider

In later chapters of the book of Genesis we observe the horror of the Fall, the consequences of which all life on earth continues to live with. At Creation everything worked in perfect symetry.

Discuss

How might you help someone to recognize the literal physical massiveness of each step in Creation?

Reflect

Summer and winter, spring and fall, rain and snow, sunshine and darkness; each now far less perfect than the original pre-Fall creation, yet each necessary to the balance of the Created system a miraculous work of God.

Share

When have you paused to consider the perfect balance of God’s original climatology and praise Him?

Faith in Action

Prayer:

Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you in contemplation the sky and the clouds, whatever is the weather, and inspire you to be grateful that even in an imperfect state God’s Creation is amazing!

Action:

Today I will share an encouraging word to someone about the beauty and complexity of God’s Creation, I will openly reflect, along with another Believer, on the amazing, unique, and powerful attributes of our God, the One Who creates merely by speaking a word, and I will share these Genesis verses with a Seeker or new Believer as an encouragement.

Be Specific ______________________________________________________

Tuesday (Genesis 1:9-13)

1:9 God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place and let dry ground appear.” It was so.

1:10 God called the dry ground “land” and the gathered waters he called “seas.”

God saw that it was good.

1:11 God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: plants yielding seeds according to their kinds, and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds.”

It was so.

1:12 The land produced vegetation – plants yielding seeds according to their kinds, and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds.

God saw that it was good.

1:13 There was evening, and there was morning, a third day.

Prayer

Lord, You designed Your Creation with each species unique, and that was Your perfect plan. May I be mindful that in Your economy of things everything has a unique purpose, even in a fallen-away broken condition, and that brings harmony.

Summary & Commentary

After creating an atmospheric shell so that the surface (covered by water) was surrounded by sky and contained by that shell the Lord God then separated bodies of land and sea.

Each part, atmospheric shell, sky, water, and land served a different function, just as parts of the human body do, and each contributed to the whole ecosystem in a unique but critical way.

The Lord God then called the plants and trees into being, each also with a unique purpose, and each reproducing only its own kind.

“There was evening, and there was morning, a third day” (vs 13).

Interaction

Consider

The plants and trees were given the gift of life then set free to multiply remaining true to their unique created form. Land and sea are both source for the critical elements of water and dry surface needed for growth; each were created in perfect balance and order.

Discuss

How might you use the various functions of members of a local fellowship to illustrate the value of clear purpose for each and the confusion, perhaps even conflict, that results when roles are unclear – or ignored?

Reflect

If we are to be blessed in the midst of the imperfection of the post-Fall world it is to look at the original plan of God and reclaim as much of what was lost – balance and order; synchronicity.

Share

When have you experienced an organization with clear roles where things worked efficiently?

Faith in Action

Prayer:

Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you a fellow believer, who is struggling against the notion of roles or who may be frustrated with a chaotic system, with whom He wants you to share this text.

Action:

Today I will plant something, indoors or out, as is seasonally practical and nurture it. I will take note of the elements necessary to growing the plant or tree: light, water, nutrition, and firm anchor from the soil. I will thank God for His provision. I will also share what I am doing and learning with at least one other person.

Be Specific ______________________________________________________

Wednesday (Genesis 1:14-19)

1:14 God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night,

and let them be signs to indicate seasons and days and years,

1:15 and let them serve as lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth.”

It was so.

1:16 God made two great lights – the greater light to rule over the day and the lesser light to rule over the night.

He made the stars also.

1:17 God placed the lights in the expanse of the sky to shine on the earth,

1:18 to preside over the day and the night,

and to separate the light from the darkness.

God saw that it was good.

1:19 There was evening, and there was morning, a fourth day.

Prayer

Lord, You created day and night as we know it, and each has its purpose. May I listen closely to Your Holy Spirit so as to discover my purpose in Your great plan.

Summary & Commentary

As Moses recorded the story of Creation he used descriptive images and phrases from a primitive era, it is important as we read to not misunderstand his limited experience-based vocabulary as mere allegory, but rather allow the Holy Spirit to enhance our understanding.

The Lord God created the sun “... the greater light”, moon “... the lesser light”, and stars. The interaction of these bodies resulted in “... seasons and days and years.” As humankind has studied the relationship between the sun, moon, stars, and other planets their location has been found to be associated with day, night, season, and years and they have also been valuable in land-based geo-location and water-bound navigation.

Until this moment in Creation, the earth was held together by the Lord-alone. He set in place the rest of the cosmos in order to make it a self-sustaining yet highly interdependent system, though at all times it exists only as He empowers and permits. In its fallen-away broken state all of Creation would collapse without His constant intervention. [Colossians 1:17]

“There was evening, and there was morning, a fourth day” (vs 19).

Interaction

Consider

What has now become imperfect a ‘machine’ barely held together with loose and broken parts, surrounded by debris flying through space, and dark comets all-but invisible to detection threatening to slam into planet earth and wreak terrible havoc was once a beautiful and perfectly balanced galactic system when the Lord God designed it.

Discuss

How might your fellowship teach an appreciation for the difference between the original flawless Creation and the fallen-away remnant in which we live?

Reflect

Prior to day four of Creation God had held everything in place by mere thought; now He adds a multitude of interdependent solar systems each with gravity, in perfect harmony, and contributing to the balanced whole.

Share

When have you experienced the inspiring teaching of someone contrasting perfection with imperfect and the promise that one day we will know the perfection for which we were created?

Faith in Action

Prayer:

Ask the Holy Spirit to help you to look past the broken and imperfect world around you and instead dwell upon God’s amazing Creation.

Action:

Today I will learn something new about how the solar system maintains balance, I will study the internal workings of a mechanical watch or some other complex machine or system, and I will use that knowledge to share the wonder of God’s Creation with someone.

Be Specific ______________________________________________________

Thursday (Genesis 1:20-23)

1:20 God said, “Let the water swarm with swarms of living creatures

and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky.”

1:21 God created the great sea creatures and every living and moving thing with which the water swarmed, according to their kinds,

and every winged bird according to its kind.

God saw that it was good.

1:22 God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.”

1:23 There was evening, and there was morning, a fifth day.

Prayer

Lord, You decided that the air and sea should have life, then You created it. May I never doubt that You are the sovereign One and that everything You have prophesied will happen.

Summary & Commentary

The Lord God looked upon His Creation, water separated from sky and space, water and land separated, then plants and trees created upon the land; all of it deemed good – perfect in harmony.

He then decided that the sky and sea should also have living things, so the Lord created sea creatures and birds.

The Lord God did as He had with the plants and trees and equipped the creatures of the sky and sea to reproduce, multiplying from the few to the many, “each according to their kind”.

“There was evening, and there was morning, a fifth day.” (vs 23).

Interaction

Consider

The land was self-sustaining without creatures in the air and water, it was only the creative Spirit of the Lord God Who envisioned, and then perfectly created them,

Discuss

What might earth be like without birds and sea creatures?

Reflect

Diversity, independence, peaceful coexistence this was the design. And then the Fall.

Share

When have you observed a creative person at work and how they envision something in their mind and then create it with their body?

Faith in Action

Prayer:

Ask the Holy Spirit to inspire you to take time to pause and observe a bird or water creature, either directly or via a live Internet cam.

Action:

Today I will celebrate the beauty and incredible detail of the creature(s) I have observed and the way it/they interact(s) with its environment. I will then find opportunity to share with another, in person or electronically, the amazing evidences of the Lord God’s creative touch that I observed in His created creature (despite the impact of our fallen-away world).

Be Specific ______________________________________________________

Friday (Genesis 1:24-25)

1:24 God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds:

cattle, creeping things, and wild animals, each according to its kind.”

It was so.

1:25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds,

the cattle according to their kinds,

and all the creatures that creep along the ground according to their kinds.

God saw that it was good.

Prayer

Lord, Your power and vision are beyond anything known to mere man, You not only designed an entire planet and populated it with life – You did so in a way that was perfectly harmonious. May I find joy in the knowledge that our Lord Jesus is preparing a place for us that is as You originally intended.

Summary & Commentary

The Lord God followed His decision to populate the sky and water with life-forms specific to those environments with a decision to populate the land with creatures as well.

The text describes three rough categories; crawling creatures (e.g. insects and lizards), large animals – with an implication of suitability to be domesticated (e.g. buffalo, camels, cattle, goats, sheep), and a variety of other wild animals.

As before the Lord spoke them into being then, as He did the fish and fowl, empowered them to reproduce “according to their kind” without the need of His direct Creative action.

Created first on the sixth day are “living creatures according to their kinds” (vs 24).

Interaction

Consider

Despite many unsupportable details imposed upon the text by mere men (some fanciful, some venal, and some carelessly conjectured by a rare few actually seeking truth) the Bible is essentially silent as to details of the creatures the Lord God created and set loose upon the earth. We see only the distortions of His perfect Creation resulting from the Fall. We must remember that Eden was sealed – so nothing of perfection is visible to us.

Discuss

How might you help believers to understand those who invent notions about the animals in pre-Fall Eden, and those who deny Eden entirely, in their scientifically-challenged belief in a Godless and random evolution-by-accident? (When challenged with mathematical, physical, and observational realities, those who challenge creationism retreat to magical thinking (aliens from space deposited life on earth) while ignoring the obvious rhetorical ‘elephant in the room’ (aliens would still require an ‘ex nihilo’ origin sometime in the past).

Reflect

The land animals are different in kind and purpose from the plants and trees, birds and sea creatures that came before them, yet are similar in that they are equipped and released to live and multiply. All of Creation to this point is either non-sentient, unable to experience pain or pleasure, or sentient (able to experience pain or pleasure but all are non-reflective/non-sapient.

Share

When have you paused to ponder what must have been the magnificence of God’s creation and then mourned the mess that we’ve made of it?

Faith in Action

Prayer:

Ask the Holy Spirit to inspire you to invest the time to pause and to observe a land animal, either directly or via a live Internet cam, and as you do so to celebrate the beauty and incredible detail of the creature and the way that it interacts with its environment. Also observe the obvious differences between the creature and the higher form of a human.

Action:

Today I will make the time and I will then find an opportunity to share, in person or electronically, the amazing evidences of God’s creative touch that I observed.

Be Specific ______________________________________________________

Saturday (Genesis 1:26-31)

1:26 Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, after our likeness, so they may rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move on the earth.”

1:27 God created humankind in his own image,

in the image of God he created them,

male and female he created them.

1:28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply! Fill the earth and subdue it!

Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every creature that moves on the ground.”

1:29 Then God said, “I now give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the entire earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.

1:30 And to all the animals of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to all the creatures that move on the ground – everything that has the breath of life in it – I give every green plant for food.”

It was so.

1:31 God saw all that he had made – and it was very good!

There was evening, and there was morning, the sixth day.

Prayer

Lord, You made us in Your partial image, and You gave us stewardship of Your Creation. While we made a mess of things may I remember that Your work was flawless and Your unique and eternal flawlessness is to be praised.

Summary & Commentary

The text uses the plural term “us” when the Lord God refers to Himself, it is the first of many occasions from Genesis through Revelation where the plurality of the “Godhead” or “Trinity” is expressly or indirectly testified.

The NET translator’s notes share several of the perspectives upon the plural reference to the Lord God but all but a Trinitarian view, consistent with the rest of the text – as is the case throughout the Bible - every major matter is affirmed elsewhere, thus this study will not quibble with the natural meaning of the plural.

The Lord God created humankind, unique and separate from all of the other creatures, in His own image (“... after our likeness” means a partial reflection of features of the Lord God).

Humankind is both a sentient (perceiving the environment via seven physical senses) and a sapient (capable of processing sentient data in an intentionally-rational manner) Creation.

Humankind was plural in form, male and female, linked spiritually to the Lord God in a type of Trinitarian essence. (Humankind without the Lord God is temporally incomplete and eternally dead.)

Humankind is capable of sensing pain and pleasure as well as engaging in intentionally reflective, thoughtful, and volitional relationships.

Humankind is more than merely instinctive as is the case with all other living things.

Humankind alone was given the capacity for relationship in the spiritual realm.

Humankind alone was purposed to receive the delegated authority and responsibility to rule over the rest of Creation.

Humankind was given the fruit of the seed-bearing plants and seek-bearing fruit of the trees as food. (Note that there is an implicit absence of permission to eat non seed-bearing fruit, apparent of only a single tree in the Garden, and also note that a seed-bearing fruit is incapable of reproduction (without artificial human intervention e.g. via budding or grafting – it is an inherently single-generation tree.)

“God saw all that he had made – and it was very good! There was evening, and there was morning, the sixth day” (vs 31).

Interaction

Consider

This is still pre-Fall, so man is innocent and lives in perfect harmony with the Lord God and everything in His Creation.

Discuss

How might you lead others to a greater appreciation of the Lord God through a comparison of attributes in real world application? (e.g. Humankind may maintain few truly intimate relationships and typical is limited to about 12 in a meaningful group interaction whereas the Lord God may have an intimate relationship with 6 billion humans and communicate with each individually as well.)

Reflect

Mankind is male and female living in harmony; they are different yet of the same spiritual essence, in that they are partially reflective of the uniqueness, yet essential unity of, the Trinity.

Share

When have you observed answered prayer - raised by one believer for another – where the one praying made plans based on the expectation of answered prayer?

Faith in Action

Prayer:

Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you something new about His Creative genius through our scientific observations about the human body, something that will underscore my understanding that His Creation that is too-profound to have happened accidentally – even over billions of years.

Action:

Today I will stand in front of a mirror and be amazed that, considering the ravages of the Fall, the Lord God's creative hand remains so visible in my complex bio-mechanical machine (my physical self) and in the indwelling Holy Spirit (the perfect Counselor to my spiritual self). I will then share what I have learned with someone and encourage them to repeat my discovery experience.

Be Specific ________________________________________________

All Bible text is from the NET unless otherwise indicated - http://bible.org

Note 1: These Studies often rely upon the guidance of the NET Translators from their associated notes. Careful attention has been given to cite that source where it has been quoted directly or closely paraphrased. Feedback is encouraged where credit has not been sufficiently assigned.

Note 2: When NET text is quoted in commentary and discussion all pronouns referring to God are capitalized, though they are lower-case in the original NET text.

Commentary text is from David M. Colburn, D.Min. unless otherwise noted.

Copyright © 2012 by David M. Colburn. This is a BibleSeven Study –“Genesis 3. Prepared by David M. Colburn and edited for bible.org in August of 2012. This text may be used for non-profit educational purposes only, with credit; all other usage requires prior written consent of the author.