CREATION - Genesis 1-3
with Annotation

The sun contains more than 98% of
all the matter in our solar system.
Our puny earth is less than 0.1%.

Life as we know it on earth requires this stable water cycle as the 332,500,000 cubic miles of water that has been provided cycles through the atmosphere as the vapor rises into the air where cooler temperatures cause it to condense into clouds. Air currents move clouds around the globe, cloud particles collide, grow, and fall out of the sky as precipitation.

The dry land appears above the water surface and the land masses break up and move around into the present day configuration. Not always fully understood in the past, but the evidences for the continental drift is considered to be so extensive in the sediments and the fossils as to now be firmly established.

man-gorilla-chimp-orangutam-gibbon

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning (at the first) God created the starry sky (heavens) and the rocky earth (both comprise the totality of the universe).

Psalms 33:4 For the Word of Jehovah is right; and all His works are in truth.
5 He loves righteousness and judgment; the earth is full of the mercy of Jehovah.
6 By the Word of Jehovah were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth.
7 He gathered the waters of the sea like a heap, setting the depths in storehouses.
8 Let all the earth fear Jehovah; let all the people of the world stand in awe of Him.
9 For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood.
Psalms 90:2 Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever You had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting You are God. ...
4 For a thousand years in Your sight are as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.
Psalms 104:1 Bless Jehovah, O my soul. O Jehovah my God, You are very great; You have put on honor and majesty,
2 covering Yourself with light as with a robe; and stretching out the heavens like a curtain;
24 O Jehovah, how many are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all; the earth is full of Your riches.
32 He looks on the earth, and it trembles; He touches the hills, and they smoke.
Psalms 147:4 He appoints the number of the stars; He calls them all by their names.
5 Great is our LORD, and of great power; There is no limit to His understanding.

2 And the earth was waste (worthless) and empty (void). And darkness was on the face of the deep waters (due to a dense cloud cover). And the Spirit of God brooded (like a loving mother hen) on the face of the waters.

Job 38:4 Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell if you have understanding!
5 Who has set its measurements, for you know? Or who has stretched the line on it?
6 On what are its bases sunk, or who cast its cornerstone,
7 when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
8 Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it broke forth as it came from the womb?
9 When I made the clouds its robe, and darkness its navel-band,

3 And God said, Let there be light (on the surface of the earth). And there was light (as the cloud cover lessened).
4 And God saw the light that it was good. And God divided between the light and the darkness.
5 And God called the light, Day. And He called the darkness, Night. And the dusky beginning (evening) and the creation dawning (morning) were the first day (Hebrew YOM creation phase one).

In English, per the 1828 Webster's Dictionary, morning and evening can be the first part and the last part of many things, a life, a nation, etc.. But in Hebrew, the evening is the first part or beginning and the morning is the second part or ending and each phase is a break through dawning in the creation process. In the Bible, the Hebrew words appear together in only one other verse, that of Daniel 8:26 And the vision of the evening and the morning which was told is true. But you shall shut up the vision; for it shall be for many days.

6 And God said, Let there be an expanse in the middle of the waters, and let it divide the waters below from the waters above.
7 And God made the expanse, and divided the waters which were under the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it happened.
8 And God called the expanse, Sky. And the dusky beginning and the creation dawning were the second time (second creation phase).

Here we have the establishment of the atmospheric water cycle, atmospheric vapor, clouds, and rainfall thus meaning that by this time most all of the forces of physics, gravity, the principles of thermodynamics, etc., as we know them must have been created.

9 And God said, Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together to one place, and let the dry continents and islands appear; and it happened.
10 And God called the dry, Land. And He called the gathering together of the waters, Seas. And God saw that it was good.
11 And God said, Let the land bring forth (to sprout) tender sprouts (the herb seeding seed and the fruit tree producing fruit after its kind, whose seed is in itself) upon the earth; and it happened.
12 And the earth brought forth tender sprouts, the herb yielding seed after its kind, and the tree producing fruit after its kind, whose seed was in itself. And God saw that it was good.
13 And the dusky beginning and the creation dawning were the third time (third creation phase).

The forming of the extensive land continents, the drying of them, and the sprouting of the many types of plants is a process that requires considerable time. Also all of the many types of climates must have been established, tropic, arctic, desert, swamp, and all of the many regions in between the extremes so that all of the many various plant species can sprout and produce its characteristic foliage and fruit and seed. The fossil records indicate that once there existed many plant species that can no longer be found on the earth. That in areas where there is now productive farm land in Illinois there was once a tropical rainforest that has been fossilized and preserved with stumps standing upright rooted in a 6 feet thick coal layer 250 feet below the present day surface. (see http://www.isgs.uiuc.edu/ research/ coal/ fossil-forest/ fossil-forest.shtml) These records of the coming and going of plant species and changing of climates indicate a very long time frame for day three.

14 And God said, Let there appear lights in the expanse of the sky to divide between the day and the night. And let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years.

Psalms 8:1 O Jehovah our Lord, how excellent is Your name in all the earth! You have set Your glory above the heavens!
3 When I look at Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars which You have established;

15 And let them be for lights in the expanse of the sky to give light upon surface of the earth. And it happened.
16 And God made appear two great lights: the greater light (sun) to rule the day and the smaller light (moon) to rule the night, and the stars also.
17 And God gave them in the expanse of the sky to give light upon the surface of the earth (as He caused the cloud cover to become more transparent),
18 and to rule over the day and over the night; and to divide between the light and the darkness. And God saw that it was good.
19 And the dusky beginning and the creation dawning were the fourth time (fourth creation phase).

All of the celestial bodies were created in phase one, but only now can all of them be clearly seen from the surface of the earth as the atmosphere is becoming largely transparent as it is today. We can see the extremes in the planet Venus which has a heavy cloud cover of sulfuric acid and the planet Mars which has almost no atmosphere and almost no clouds having only 0.03% water vapor compared to earth's about 1%.

20 And God said, Let the waters swarm with living creatures having a living soul; and let birds fly over the earth in the sky.
21 And God created great sea-animals, and every living soul that creeps with which the waters swarmed after their kind; and every winged fowl after its kind. And God saw that it was good.
22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters of the seas and let the fowl multiply on the earth.
23 And the dusky beginning and the creation dawning were the fifth time (fifth creation phase).

The fossil record indicates that at one time weird and unusual species existed both in the seas and flying in the air.

Despite its central role in biology, sexual reproduction is a bit of a mystery to evolutionists. Reproducing without sex like microbes, some plants and even a few reptile would seem like a better way to go. Every individual in an asexual species has the ability to reproduce on its own. But in sexual species, two individuals have to combine in order to reproduce one offspring. That gives each generation of asexuals twice the reproductive capacity of sexuals. Why then is sex the dominant strategy when the do-it-yourself approach is so much more efficient? Recent research with snails may have shown the answer. Asexual clones that were plentiful at the beginning of the study became more susceptible to parasites over time. As parasite infections increased, the once plentiful clones dwindled dramatically in number. Some clonal types disappeared entirely. Meanwhile, sexual snail populations remained much more stable over time. Indicating sexual reproduction provides a great advantage in parasite rich environments.

24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after its kind, cattle, and creepers, and its beasts of the earth after its kind; and it was so.
25 And God made the beasts of the earth after its kind, and cattle after their kind, and all creepers upon the earth after their kind. And God saw that it was good.

The fossil record also indicates that at one time large and weird land creatures roamed the earth. Nearly everyone knows about the extinct dinosaurs and the most famous T-rex. At one time species now found only in Africa roamed Nebraska like the many rhinoceros skeletons found buried in up to 10 feet of volcanic ash at the Ashfall Fossil Beds State Historic Park. Fossilized giant rhinocerotoid bone fragments have also been discovered in Central Anatolia (west of Eden) equal in size to the largest mammoths with a height to the shoulder estimated to be 5 meters or more, and a body weight of 15 to 20 tons. (see http://www.sciencedaily.com/ releases/ 2008/03/ 080310095806.htm)

Fossils of the elephant like mammoth have been found in all 93 of Nebraska's counties, and it is estimated that the remains of ten mammoths lie buried in an average square mile of Nebraska landscape, it is the state fossil!

26 And God said, Let Us make man in Our image ( a shadowing ), after Our likeness ( a representation ). And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the heavens, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over all the creepers creeping on the earth.
27 And God created man in His image; in the image of God He created him. He created them male and female.
28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, Be fruitful, and multiply and fill the earth, and subdue it. And have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the heavens, and all animals that move 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 which is the fruit of a tree bearing seed; to you it shall be for nutrition.
30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the heavens, and to every creeper on the earth which has in it a living soul every green plant is for food; and it was so.
31 And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And the dusky beginning and the creation dawning were the sixth time (sixth creation phase).

Psalms 8:6 You made him rule over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet:
7 all sheep and oxen, yes, and the beasts of the field;
8 the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, and all that pass through the paths of the seas.
9 O Jehovah, our Lord, how excellent is Your name in all the earth!

It is through farming that man demonstrated his dominion as he selected and cultivated the best of the plants for the production of food and he domesticated the animals to be used for his benefit.

Phase six requires considerable time since we know more about the number of events that took place during it from chapter two that follows. During which the Lord caused to sprout a garden of the most desirable plants, created and put Adam in the garden, brought the fowl and animals to Adam for him to inspect, observe and name. A considerable task for there are many fowl and animal species. And the Lord observed that Adam was "alone" even though surrounded by the many animal species. Then when Adam had time to observe that none of the animal kingdom was a suitable companion for him Eve was created and united with him as his helper. To which Adam said "at last" here is my companion ! As many have observed, how could all of this take place in 24 hours ?

Gen 2:1 And the heavens and the earth (the total universe) were finished, and all the gathering of them.
2 And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made. And He rested on the seventh time from all His work which He had made.
3 And God blessed the seventh time and sanctified it, because in it He had rested from all His work which God created to make.
4 These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth (the total universe) when they were created in the time (Hebrew YOM indicating all phases 1 thru 6) that Jehovah God made the earth and the heavens.

Note that the usual evening and morning summary statement is not given for the seventh time ! This seems to be an indication that the rest from creation continues even until today. And will end only when it becomes time to create a new heavens and a new earth.

5 And every shrub of the field was not yet on the earth, and every plant of the field had not yet sprung up, for Jehovah God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no man to till (farm) the ground.
6 But there went up from the earth a mist (vapor, fog, streams) and watered all the face of the ground.

Job 36:27 For He draws up the drops of water; they distill rain into mist (vapor, same Hebrew word as in verse 6 above),
28 which the clouds pour down and drop on man plentifully.

7 And Jehovah God formed man of the elements of the soil, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Psalms 8:4 what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man, that You visit him?
5 For You have made him lack a little from God, and have crowned him with glory and honor.

8 And Jehovah God had planted a garden eastward in Eden. And there He put the man whom He had formed.
9 And out of the ground Jehovah God caused to sprout every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food. The tree of life also was in the middle of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and bad.

"The great majority of the cultivated plants of the world trace their origin to Asia. Out of 640 important cultivated plants, about 500 originated in Southern Asia. In Asia alone we have established five of the principle regions of cultivated plants.... The fifth region of origin in Asia is the Southwestern Asiatic centre and includes Asia Minor, Trans-Caucasia, Iran and Western Turkmenistan. This region is remarkable, first of all, for its richness in numbers of species of wheat resistant to different diseases...There is no doubt that Armenia is the chief home of cultivated wheat. Asia Minor and Trans-Caucasia gave origin to rye which is represented here by a great number of varieties and species...."

10 And a river went out of Eden to water the garden. And from there was the source of four head waters.
11 The name of the first is Pishon (Pizhun, Uizhun, the modern Qezel Uzun, flows down from the mountains of Kurdistan and empties into the southern basin of the Caspian Sea.) ; that is it which surrounds all the 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 (Gaihun-Aras, also known as Araks, Arax, Araxi, Araxes, Araz, or Yeraskh); it is the one that surrounds the whole land of Cush (Not Ethiopia, but the land of the Cushites before they migrated from the area of Eden.).
14 And the name of the third river is Hiddekel (Which is Hebrew for Sumerian Idiglat from which the Greek Tigris derives.) it is that which goes toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Perath (Which is simply the Hebrew version of Arabic Firat and Greek Euphrates.).

see http://www.ramsdale.org/dna6.htm

15 And Jehovah God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to work it and keep it (farm it).
16 And Jehovah God commanded the man, saying, You may freely eat of every tree in the garden,
17 but you shall not eat of the tree of knowledge of good and bad. For in the day (Hebrew YOM) that you eat of it you shall surely die.

God decided to provide a test for mankind to see if they would use their intellectual ability to make independent decisions to follow His instructions or be disobedience !
And here we see another instance where the Hebrew word YOM does not mean a 24 hour period, since Adam and Eve did not die within that 24 hour period !

What a Difference !!

18 And Jehovah God said, It is not good that the man should be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.
19 And out of the soil Jehovah God had formed every animal of the field and every fowl of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name.

From the names of the animals that we have listed in the Bible in Hebrew the names are derived from characteristics or behaviors. Such as the serpent from its hissing ( nachash #5175 ), the ant from its bisected form ( nmalah #5244 ), the fox as a burrower ( shu'al #7776 ), the cormorant from casting itself into the sea ( shalak #7994 ), the lion in the sense of violence ( 'ariy #738 ), and the hawk from its flashing speed ( tachmac #8464 ). This means Adam had to have had time to observe the behaviors of all of the animals that he named, even violent behavior !

20 And Adam gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the air, and to every animal of the field. But there was not found a suitable helper for Adam.
21 And Jehovah God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept. And He took from his side, and closed up the flesh underneath.
22 And Jehovah God made the flesh (which He had taken from the man) into a woman. And He brought her to the man.
23 And Adam said, This is now (at last) 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 to his wife and they shall be one flesh.

It would appear that as Adam observed and named all of the animals he observed the male to female relationships they had and that there was yet no suitable mate for him and then when God provided the woman he expressed his satisfaction with what he had been given. To be blunt about it, some of the female animals could have provided a measure of physical sexual pleasure, but not the satisfaction of a companion that was of his intellectual equal. She was not just a clone of Adam, scientific tests have shown that there are many subtle differences in the way the brains from men and women process language, information, emotion, cognition, etc.. Women are better than men in human relations, recognizing emotional overtones in others and in language, emotional and artistic expressiveness, esthetic appreciation, verbal language and carrying out detailed and pre-planned tasks. For example, women generally can recall lists of words or paragraphs of text better than men. The Hebrew words "'exer neged" have been translated as "help meet for him", "a helper correspondent to himself", "helper - as his counterpart", "help to be a companion for him", "helper suited to him", "mate of his own kind", "suitable helper, completing him".

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

Having not yet exercised their independent choice of disobedience they are at this time still as innocent as animals.

Gen 3:1 Now the hissing creature (serpent) was more cunning than any beast of the field which Jehovah God had made. And he challenged the woman, Is it so that God has said, You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

The exact species indicated is unknown even though many traditions identify it as the snake. Isaiah 27:1 " the sea-monster, the darting serpent, the sea-monster, that twisting serpent;" for the description of leviathan using the same Hebrew word as used here.

2 And the woman expressed to 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 middle of the garden, God has said, You shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.
4 And the serpent charged the woman, You shall not surely die,
5 for God knows that in the day you eat of it, then your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be as God, knowing good and bad. (The words of the serpent are confirmed in verse 22 below.)
6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasing to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make wise, she took of its fruit, and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.

How did Eve see that the tree was good for food and desired to make wise, these are not things that one sees by just looking at the tree ! Thus it would appear that most probably she saw the serpent actually eating of the fruit and surmised that since the serpent was most cunning that it was due to the fruit and it was not poisonous since he could safely eat it.
Poor Adam, he had a big dilemma, if he did not also eat of the fruit he would not undergo the same change that Eve had from eating the fruit and would probably then lose this lovely new companion !

7 And the eyes of both of them were opened. And they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made girdles for themselves.
8 And they heard the voice of Jehovah God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. And Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of Jehovah God in the middle of the trees of the garden.

The went from having a close relationship to God to hiding in the bushes !

9 And Jehovah God called to Adam and said to him, Where are you?
10 And he said, I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I am naked, and I hid myself.
11 And He said, Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree which I commanded you that you should not eat?
12 And the man said, The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.
13 And Jehovah God said to the woman, What is this you have done? And the woman said, The hissing creature beguiled me, and I ate.
14 And Jehovah God said to the hissing creature, Because you have done this you are cursed more than all cattle, and more than every animal of the field. You shall go upon your belly, and you shall eat rubbish all the days of your life.
15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He will bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.
16 To the woman He said, I will greatly increase your sorrow and your conception. In pain you shall bear sons, and your desire shall be toward your husband, and he shall rule over you.
17 And to Adam He said, Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree, of which I commanded you, saying, You shall not eat of it! The ground is cursed for your sake. In pain shall you eat of it all the days of your life.
18 It shall also bring forth thorns and thistles to you, and you shall eat the herb of the field.
19 In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread (grain) until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken. For dust you are, and to dust you shall return.

The promised death sentence is pronounced on disobedient mankind !
Large scale farming originated and spread out from just to the west of the land of Eden about 12,000 years ago. The migration from Eden was first to the west per Genesis 11:2 "as they traveled from the east".

20 And Adam called his wife's name Eve, because she became the mother of all living.
21 And for Adam and his wife Jehovah God made coats of skins, and clothed them.
22 And Jehovah God said, Behold, the man has become as one of Us, to know good and bad. And now, lest he put forth his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever,
23 therefore Jehovah God sent him out from the garden of Eden to till the ground (farm) from which he had been taken.

Large scale farming and animal domestication developed at the same time.
Genesis 4:2 And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.

"How the First Farmers Colonized the Mediterranean" the New York Times August 11,2008

24 And He drove out the man. And He placed cherubs at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.

Psalms 8:1-9 (A Psalm of David) O Jehovah our Lord, how excellent is Your name in all the earth! You have set Your glory above the heavens!
2 Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings You have ordained strength, because of ones vexing You, to cause the enemy and the avenger to cease.
3 When I look at Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars which You have established;
4 what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man, that You visit him?
5 For You have made him lack a little from God, and have crowned him with glory and honor.
6 You made him rule over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet:
7 all sheep and oxen, yes, and the beasts of the field;
8 the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, and all that pass through the paths of the seas.
9 O Jehovah, our Lord, how excellent is Your name in all the earth!

Disclaimer: artistic illustrations used may not always be factual representations.