“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (Gen 1:1, KJV)

The seven days of creation

1:1-5

• Day 1 [Saturday night, Sunday daytime]
• God creates Heaven

[Heaven: Moses is describing the Space inhabited by darkness, light & God’s Spirit in v2-3, which is also known as the highest heavens, or the heaven of heavens (see Dt 10:14, Ps 148:4); Contrast this with the firmament (or expanse) in v8 which God subsequently also names as 'heaven']

• God creates Earth: it is made of formless water that is both empty and held in darkness

[Earth: Moses is describing the Planet made entirely of water; 

Contrast this with the dryness (or dry land) in v10 which God subsequently also names as 'earth'; Note that Heaven and Earth were created from nothing by God's Word alone, see Heb 11:3 (cf. John 1:1-3).

God deals with the darkness by creating light on Day One;

God deals with the formlessness by shaping and dividing the water on Day Two;

God deals with the emptiness by creating land and vegetation on Day Three]

• God’s Spirit is brooding above the Earth

[or 'fluttering' or 'hovering', cf. usage in v11 of Deut 32:9-12]

• God creates Light and separates it from darkness

[Light: Moses is describing the Electromagnetic Radiation (photons or light waves) that cause things to be seen in the visible spectrum; 

Contrast this with the sun and moon in v14-18 which God subsequently also names as 'lights']

1:6-8

• Day 2 [Sunday night, Monday daytime]
• God creates a Firmament (by separating water from water) which he names ‘Heaven’

[Firmament: Moses is describing the Expanse, known as the sky or Earth's atmosphere.

-The 'waters were divided': Moses describes some waters remaining 'below' to form our planet with some waters being moved 'above' into the pre-created Space (described by the word 'heaven' in v1) that had been made to receive them.

-The 'waters above': Moses is probably describing the creation of clouds, see 7:11, Jdgs 5:4]

1:9-13

• Day 3 [Monday night, Tuesday daytime]
• God creates Dryness, which he names ‘Earth’, and separates it from the waters, which he names 'Seas'

[Dryness: the Hebrew word simply indicates 'dryness'. The word 'land' is usually added in translation, but the contrast being made in this verse is NOT between solid LAND and formless SEAS. Instead the focus is on God creating (and separating) DRY earth from the WATERS of the seas]

• God creates Vegetation (plants and trees)

1:14-19

• Day 4 [Tuesday night, Wednesday daytime]
• God creates the Greater Light and the Lesser Light which he names as ‘Lights’:

[Lights: Moses is describing the Sun & the Moon]

• They are created to govern the times and seasons of the earth
• God creates Stars

[Day 4 mirrors the events of Day 1 - Where God created Planet Earth on Day 1, he now creates the other planets and stars on Day 4. Where God created light (electromagnetic radiation) on Day 1 , he now creates 'lights' (that emit or reflect the radiation) on Day 4. Where God created time on Day 1 (in the beginning), he now creates a system to govern time on Day 4]

1:20-23

• Day 5 [Wednesday night, Thursday daytime]
• God creates Water Creatures
• God creates Birds
• Blessing #1. v22, God blesses the water creatures and birds that they may be fruitful and multiply

[We may consider that Day 5 mirrors the events of Day 2 - Where God created the firmament (sky) on Day 2, he now creates the birds to fill the firmament on Day 5. Where the 'waters below' began to be fashioned on Day 2, they are now filled with sea creatures on Day 5.

However, Day 5 also mirrors Day 1 in some respects: on Day 1 we saw the Holy Spirit brooding (as a bird, see notes above) over empty waters; on Day 5 we see the results of this brooding as the sea is filled with creatures; the creation of birds may be viewed as a reflection of the glory of the Holy Spirit who brooded over the waters like a bird - Note that, although we must not liken God the creator to being like a mere creature, Deut 4:15-18, birds can be used symbolically to reflect God's character, e.g. Ps 91:4, and the Holy Spirit even took on the form of a dove when Jesus emerged from his baptism waters, see Matt 3:16. On Day 5, God also provides a blessing, which acts as a declaration that the 'brooding' of the Holy Spirit on Day 1 is resulting in fruitfulness]

1:24-31

• Day 6 [Thursday night, Friday daytime]
• God creates Land Animals
• God creates Man in His image
• Blessing #2. v28, God blesses mankind and gives them dominion over all creatures
• God gives the plants as food for mankind and all creatures

[Humans only began eating animals during the time of Noah, see 9:3.

Day 6 mirrors the events of Day 3 - Where God created 'dryness' of land on Day 3, he now creates creatures and mankind from the dust on Day 6. Where God created vegetation on Day 3, he now gives it as food to the animals on Day 6]

2:1-3

• Day 7 [Friday night, Saturday daytime]
• God rests [Hebrew: God ‘sabbaths’; the word 'sabbath' means 'rest']
• Blessing #3. v3, God blesses the seventh day and makes it holy [because it is a day of rest, cf. Ex 20:11]

“These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth” (Gen 2:4, KJV)

Adam & Eve

2:4-7*

• Before specific plants [created on Day 3] had grown, God created Adam from earth [on Day 6]

2:8-17

• God plants a garden in Eden
• A river flows out of Eden then splits to become four rivers (Pishon, Gihon, Tigris, Euphrates)
• Adam must not eat from the tree of knowledge of good & evil or he will die [This is not just an instruction; Adam makes a covenant with God (which he later breaks) see Hosea 6:7]

2:18-20

• Adam names the animals; he does not find a suitable help-mate [companion & wife] for himself

2:21-25*

• God sends Adam into a deep sleep, then creates a woman [Eve] from one of Adam’s ribs

The Fall

3:1-6

• Eve is tempted by the Serpent to become like God
• Eve & Adam eat forbidden fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil [cf. 2:16-17, and thus they break the covenant, see Hosea 6:7]

3:7-24

• Adam & Eve hide because of nakedness but are found by God, cursed & expelled from Eden

Adam & Eve’s children: Cain & Abel & Seth

4:1-2*

• Cain and Abel are born
• Abel becomes a shepherd
• Cain becomes a worker of soil [a farmer]

4:3-16

• God accepts Abel’s offering, not Cain’s [cf. Heb 11:4]
• Cain murders Abel; Cain is cursed

4:17-24*

• Descendants of Cain (including Lamech who is also a murderer)

4:25-26*

• Seth is born (acting as a substitute for Abel)
• People begin to call on the name of Yahweh

“This is the book of the generations of Adam” (5:1, KJV)

ch. 5*

• List: Descendants of Adam from Seth to Noah
• v24, Enoch did not die! [cf. Heb 11:5]

6:1-4*

• Unauthorised marriages bring God's judgement
• The ‘Nephilim’ [meaning ‘bullies / tyrants’] were born [cf. Num 13:33]

6:5-7

• Mankind is totally wicked
• God is grieved that He created people, so He will destroy His creation

“These are the generations of Noah” (6:9, KJV)

6:8-13

• Noah is righteous and he walks with God, but all other men are corrupt so God will destroy them

6:14-22

• God instructs Noah about building an ark to save himself (and the animals) so Noah builds it [cf. Heb 11:7]

ch. 7

• God instructs Noah to enter the ark (with the animals)
• It rains for 40 days, and all the creatures on earth die

[The flood is used in the New Testament as an example to demonstrate how it will be when Jesus returns on the Day of Judgement, e.g. see Matt 24:36-44]

8:1-19

• The floodwaters subside and Noah sends out birds [to see if they can settle on dry land]
• God instructs Noah to leave the ark (with the animals)

8:20 – 9:17

• Noah makes a sacrifice; God promises to never curse the Earth again
• God blesses Noah and his sons; they may eat animals but not the blood
• God makes a covenant promise that there will be no more world floods; the rainbow will act as a sign of God's covenant

9:18-19*

• List: Sons of Noah

[introducing Canaan who is Ham’s son; the land of Canaan was named after him]

9:20-27

• Noah plants a vineyard and gets drunk
• Ham (father of Canaan) is disrespectful of Noah
• Canaan is cursed by Noah

[Ham had already been blessed by God, see 9:1, and if Noah had then cursed his son such a situation may have brought even further dishonour upon Noah (cf. example of David and Solomon in 1 Kgs 11:9-12). Canaan himself prospered and had many sons (see Gen 10:15-19) so the curse was not personally against Canaan as an individual, but was prophetically designed to show Ham that the curse would affect his future lineage through his son]

9:28-29*

• Noah’s death

“Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah” (10:1, KJV)

ch. 10*

• List: Descendants of Japheth, Ham and Shem (Noah’s sons) and the places they lived

11:1-9

• People build the tower of Babel but God confuses their languages & they become scattered

“These are the generations of Shem” (11:10, KJV)

11:10-26*

• List: Descendants of Shem [Shem = father of Semites]

[v15-16, Eber = father of Hebrews? cf. 10:21]

GEN / Ex / Lev / Num / Deut