I. Introduction The Christian Bible, indeed, the Book of Genesis, is not a science book, and that holds especially for this chapter of Genesis, the origins chapter. Elohim the Creator has no need for it to be so. Please note that the purpose of the Bible is to reveal very God, the God of Relationship, Jehovah, to bring the reader to Him relationally, and to make the same a holy son or daughter of God through the Son of God, the Redeemer, and Savior, the Agent of Creation, Jesus Christ. Nevertheless, the eye of the trained scientist that also reveres God finds plenty of correlation to modern science in this chapter of God’s Word and the Bible per se. It would be astonishing if it were not so The Creator addresses the matter of science exhaustively and exactly by way of His trained scientists whom He raises up and disperses throughout the world and blesses with insights that Godless scientists are not privy to for lack of understanding. These other scientists, secular scientists, disqualify themselves; it is certainly not a matter of bias on the part of the Creator that they receive no insights from Him. And so, Discovery plods along blind alleys, rather than moving at Light speed along blessed ones (Psalms 119:130), precisely because guided by the swelled ranks of the secularists who hold sway these days, it stumbles over the uncaused First Cause Elohim and thus does not get off the starting blocks aright too often. The founders of modern science found themselves in more of a God-fearing environment, and practiced their science accordingly, and Discovery blossomed. They did not have the computing tools that we have in modern times but nevertheless made seminal discoveries upon which science builds to the day. It would be interesting to ratio the contributions to science in that day versus the contributions in our day, considering the computational tools available to each camp. We would guess that the God-fearing age contributed much more given an apples-to-apples comparison. (We speak as a physicist and materials scientist also trained and versed in computer science and electronics engineering and cannot address the area of biology as well as these other areas.) Mathematics, like physics, is a fundamental, pure discipline, and upon these two the rest are highly dependent. The same holds for technology, it gets nowhere without physics leading the way, and without question physics is built upon the discoveries and labors of the great God-fearing physicists from back in the day whom Elohim blessed to see farther than the rest.

We see plenty of science at work in this chapter of Genesis and we are not going to neglect commenting on it as we go along, largely in the endnotes, and with God’s help we shall do so in a way that is easy to read and understand and appreciate by all readers.

A great deal of evidence, as pointed out in various places in the endnotes, points to a relatively recent creation. We think Jehovah God created our universe approximately six thousand years ago. (Not least based on the Ussher Chronology of the Bible and similar chronologies put forth by J. Kepler and I. Newton; but more than that, there is strong independent evidence for a young earth as discussed largely in the endnotes.) We live in a young universe, a young solar system, a young earth, not at all the billions and billions of years in age as posited by evolution and Big Bang Cosmology (Fig. 2). We have dealt with the evidence in the endnotes and are going to refrain from repeating that in the main text. The endnotes are stand-alone, the reader may wish to critique them one by one as a separate read. We do link to the endnotes quite heavily from the KJV text sections in the main text, so the reader can engage them that way as you step through the verse sections of the commentary. The main text will be more heavily focused on the spiritual side of the text, while the endnotes are less so inclined and are more technical but still tethered to the verses.

We will follow this format:

Verse of Scripture utilizing the KJV text followed by an NKJV mouse over of that verse. Key words in the KJV text will be footnoted with a link to a word study based on the Hebrew text, and/or a general discussion relative to the given word (we are not biblical Greek or Hebrew scholars, please consider our grammatical constructions with a critical eye).

Commentary We shall always be commenting on this passage keeping before us the crucial fact that every jot and every tittle comprising these verses came forth under the inspiration of the blessed Holy Spirit. We pray that He, by His grace, helps us along the way.

II. Genesis Chapter One Commentary Verses

 

1:1-2- In the Beginning God Created

 

KJV TEXT: In the beginning[1] God[2] created[3] the heaven[4] and the earth[5]. And the earth was without form[6], and void[7]; and darkness[8] was upon the face of the deep[9]. And the Spirit of God[10] moved[11] upon the face[12] of the waters[13].

COMMENTARY: Who exactly is the Creator? He is Jesus Christ, the Word of God, the Agent of Creation (John 1:1-3, Ephesians 3:9, Colossians 1:16, Hebrews 1:2, Revelation 4:11).

 

The beginning. In the beginning. (“In the Beginning.”) In the beginning was (imperfect, indicative) the Word of God.

“The Jewish Rabbies have a saying, that there were seven things which God created before the world, by which they only mean to express the excellency of these things: The law, repentance, paradise, hell, the throne of glory, the house of the sanctuary, and the name of the Messiah. But to us it is enough to say, In the beginning was the Word.” (Matthew Henry)

Space, time, and matter have a beginning, Jehovah God does not. He is eternal. Jehovah is not “in the box” (1Kings 8:27, Isaiah 66:1, Acts 17:24). That makes sense, because God, as God, must be outside of space and time and, as God, He is certainly not a material Being (John 4:23-24), because that would put Him “in the box,” the very box that He made. That would be theologically and logically inconsistent.

God has no beginning, everything else does. The notion that the universe is eternal is, as it were, a stench in His nostrils therefore, for it puts the material on par with God. God has no beginning, everything else does—that is what one would expect the sacred text to convey, and it does via the inspired words and the inspired grammar (=construction of the words):

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

But why, why did God create? (Evolution would not pose such a question, it disdains the very thought—there is no “why” behind the universe in that camp, it just “is,” everything is chance and happenstance arising out of nothing going nowhere in particular except toward a catastrophic heat death at the end of it all.) Jehovah did not create for His own sake; well, not entirely. He created because He is a Giver (Genesis 1:29-30, Psalms 8:3-4, 115:16, Isaiah 40:28-29, John 3:16, Acts 17:24-25, 20:35, James 1:17, et al.). Jehovah gives, He gives freely. (Who could pay Him?) It is divine giving. Giving is characteristic of deity. And He created not least for another reason, one in which He manifestly enters, and that is Relationship. He created human beings in His image, with whom He may best relate, therefore. And so, the heaven and the earth He created for us, for human beings, with whom He wishes to fellowship. All this glorious creation work was done for us praised be His Name. The universe was created and made serviceable—for human beings (Psalms 8:4-6). It bears that signature; the universe is ours (1Corinthians 3:22) and thanks be to God who made it for us and graciously gave it to us.

When God created the earth, it proceeded the way one would expect it to proceed, namely, from the elements to a mechanism for the same, to materials. The latter is not possible without the former two in that order. Following that pattern God created ex nihilo (Hebrews 11:3). The elements arose from the finger of God (Psalms 8:3-4). A matrix of elements appeared first, but no mechanism by which physics and chemistry might proceed just yet; we have the elements, but no molecular bonds (outside of the seven simple diatomic building block molecules of hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, fluorine, chlorine, iodine, and bromine—there is no substantive form to any of these—bromine is a liquid at room temperature, while the others are gases); more complex chemical bonding and substantive form requires a mechanism, and hence there is no macro form right here, and that is what the text is referring to , i.e., macro form:

And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. (Cf. Jeremiah 4:23.)

 

But now enters the Timeless Worker, great and grand, the breath of God, His strong right hand. And indeed, through Him comes the mechanism. The Hebrew TEHOM is utilized for both “deep,” and “waters,” it is the same matrix of elements referenced in each case, and the mechanism that operates on it and animates it is feedback, negative and positive feedback, which is discussed at length regarding its role in creation in various endnotes, particularly endnote eleven:

 

And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

 

It follows that now, given a mechanism, physics and chemistry and the rest may proceed, and we get materials, and the familiar properties of materials—feedback is the dynamic, it is the mechanism, coming from the DUNAMO Himself. Feedback shows up mathematically as a second derivative, and it is ubiquitous, it pervades the Creation as discussed in the endnotes. No longer is the earth void and without form, nevertheless it is dark; it is still literal day one of the creation and we have some semblance of an earth—beds of basalt that soon will house the oceans, the bedrock granites upon which the continents will rest (Job 38:4). It is all coming together in lockstep with the utterances issuing from the Word of God (Proverbs 8:23-29, 30-31, Hebrews 11:3).

1: 3-5- Let There Be Light

 

KJV TEXT: And God said[14],

Let there be[15] light[16]: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good[17]: and God divided[18] the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day[19], and the darkness he called Night[20]. And the evening[21] and the morning[22] were the first day[23].

COMMENTARY: Let us recap: we have the elements, and that means we have the strong and weak nuclear forces as well as the gravitational force in place, it must be the weak force’s kin that comes next, and that is the electromagnetic force. And since the weak force is in place (as also the elements and feedback of course), we have all that is necessary to build a star, because the weak nuclear force jump starts the nuclear fusion (four hydrogen atoms fuse to make one helium atom) by which stars burn (“Little Baby Finger”). And once we have a star that burns, we have light:

 

And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

 

Recapping again, we have a First Cause (Father God), we have the elements (by Jesus), of necessity we have concurrently the four fundamental forces of the Creation (by Jesus), we have next a mechanism (by the Spirit of God); it follows that next we realize some semblance of an earth (by Jesus—on the order of the half-life of polonium 218—three minutes—after the elements were created), we have a star and light (by Jesus). And necessarily with the light comes a great contrast, the one good, the other not so good by inference—let not the two mingle (2Corinthians 6:14, 1John 1:5):

And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

“Light is the great beauty and blessing of the universe. Like the first-born, it does, of all visible beings, most resemble its great Parent in purity and power, brightness and beneficence; it is of great affinity with a spirit, and is next to it.” (Matthew Henry)

Who dispels the darkness but God (Psalms 18:28, Isaiah 45:7)? There is a greater darkness that must needs be dispelled, that ever lurks within, and it is a far greater work by very God to dispel it (John 1:9, 3:19-21, 9:5).

The light of the sun was created for humankind and made serviceable precisely for us, we who are tethered to the earth and its God-ordained cycles—twelve hours thereabouts of light, and twelve hours without it (Psalms 74:16, John 11:9):

And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

Day and night, night and day, repeatedly, thus it repeats down here in the land of the living. We work by day and do things; we sleep by night and not much gets done. (Hardly, in modern times, nevertheless, that was the original design, and without question that pattern is best for one’s health.) So too Jesus utilized the metaphor with more profound applications (John 9:4).

Day and night together make a twenty-four-hour day on earth. It is the kernel metric upon which are built weeks, months, years, decades, centuries, and millennia. Some two-million-one-hundred-ninety-thousand kernels since the first one here related by our text give or take and counting as it were (365×6000=2,190,000).

1:6-8- Let the Firmament be Stretched

 

KJV TEXT: And God said,

Let there be a firmament[24] in the midst[25] of the waters[26], and let it divide[27] the waters from the waters. 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. And God called the firmament Heaven[28]. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

COMMENTARY: A terrific switch in verbiage hits us now as we move along and learn about how things came to be in this universe and particularly on our home earth. The Word of God had been referring to a matrix of elements above via the Hebrew TEHOM (“deep,” “waters”), but now that God put a mechanism into play, He switches to the Hebrew MAYIM, i.e., literal water. We have at this point said water and the earth’s bedrock granites and basalt (the latter two both being igneous rock types). These are instantaneous creations, to which inherent polonium-218 radiohalos unequivocally testify in the case of the granites (it is impossible to leave discernible radioactive damage tracks in molten material, moreover the half-life—three minutes—is so short that the radioactivity would be long extinct before the magma solidified). Given the basalt and the granites, we have a place for the waters until the next command issues from the lips of the Word of God, the Creator. But please notice that these events are happening rapidly, there is hardly a lag here from speech act to action—the time from the creation of the elements to the creation of the granites being on the order of the half-life of polonium-218, three minutes. To recap: the focus had been on the elements and the creation thereof first and foremost, then a mechanism for physics and chemistry and whatnot followed, then and only then came materials—the granites and basalt and water, and now an atmosphere (Job 37:18). The division of the waters by the atmosphere was and is in flux in some odd ratio, and the upper waters are to be incorporated into the atmosphere which extends upward to the edge of inner space, and the lower waters are soon to be gathered into one place and comprise the earth’s oceans, and together with the upper waters comprise the life-essential water cycle without which life could not survive on earth (Ecclesiastes 1:7, Isaiah 40:12):

Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament.

1:9-13- Let the Waters be Gathered, Let the Land Appear

 

KJV TEXT: And God said,

Let the waters under the heaven be gathered[29] together unto one place, and let the dry land[30] appear: and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth[31]; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas[32]: and God saw that it was good. And God said, Let the earth bring forth[33] grass, the herb yielding seed[34], and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind[35], whose seed is in itself[36], upon the earth: and it was so. 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. And the evening and the morning were the third day.

COMMENTARY: Next God calls for the lower waters to be gathered into one place and calls for the dry land appear. The “and” is revealing, it suggests a runoff of the lower waters to yet lower levels, to the deep basalt basins that support the earth’s oceans. (To the day the earth’s oceans are connected, water ever moves within and between them driven by currents and tides.) And it follows that per the runoff the dry land appears, the continents, themselves anchored by the earth’s bedrock granites that bear the telltale polonium-218 radiohalos which betray a young earth:

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.

 

One can see that God is bringing His good earth along so that it might harbor life. The sun, the dirt, the water, all necessary ingredients to sustain life are in place, and it follows right here that God would call forth vegetation and all manner of herbs and fruit:

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. 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. And the evening and the morning were the third day.

Things are coming together—our home earth is becoming the beloved home we are familiar with and cherish. Its basic constituents that concern biology, chemistry, geology, and physics are falling into place one by one in good order and with God’s speed. And it is not hard to figure out given the essential ingredients for life that God has called forth to this point that He has in mind to call forth yet higher orders of life.

1:14-19- Let the Celestial Heaven be Established

 

KJV TEXT: And God said,

Let there be lights[37] in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs[38], and for seasons, and for days, and years: And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. 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. And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, 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. And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

COMMENTARY: We have already had the creation of the sun and by association the stars, we have already had the creation of the earth and by association its moon, so why repeat this aspect of creation? It is not a repetition at all. As said in the endnotes, God here assigns/fixes their position in the celestial heaven. It is as it were a projection of the luminaries onto the celestial sphere which has a rotating earth inside it—everything is with respect to the earth (literally and figuratively). The luminaries as everything else in the creation were created for humankind and made serviceable for, specifically us. The order is obvious enough: first one creates, then one assigns relative positions to optimize the goal of serviceability. Everything one reads in this verse set bespeaks said serviceability (night, day, signs, seasons, days, years, lights):

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: And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. 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. And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, 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. And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

The earth is tethered to the sun, the moon is tethered to the earth (Job 26:7 and gravity/negative feedback/attractors spoken of here a couple of millennia before the Creator and Savior visited His good earth and walked about anchored by gravity). And everything is in motion, spinning, revolving, mathematically precise motion. It is the Creator’s preferred mechanism, feedback, on display (attractors in this context, curvature in the extreme in other creative contexts). And here He utilizes it as a plaything to order His heavens:

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. And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, 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. And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

1:20-23- Let the Fish and the Fowl Bring Forth after their Kind

 

KJV TEXT: And God said,

Let the waters bring forth[39] abundantly the moving creature[40] that hath life, and fowl[41] that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. And God created great whales[42], and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly[43], after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

COMMENTARY: All has been made ready for the earth to harbor various kinds of life, a given habitat—land, sky, water—for a given kind of creature, and God begins by creating an abundance of creatures for the exceeding abundance of waters that cover the earth (slightly more than two-thirds of the earth is covered by water according to today’s measure, and the sky is over it all that land and water, so it makes sense that the first creatures were created for these environments and to thrive therein). Of itself, water has no creative power. Here God creates fish for the water and birds for the sky/land—two different commands issue here and the water is not the cause for either effect—the fish are henceforth to breed and swarm in the waters (Psalms 104:25), the fowl are henceforth to fly in the sky (Matthew 6:26):

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.

1:24-25- Let the Earth Bring Forth after its Kind

 

KJV TEXT: And God said,

Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle[44], and creeping thing[45], and beast[46] of the earth after his kind: and it was so. 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.

COMMENTARY: We have arrived at day six of the creation, let us recap (Fig. 1). And now God directs His attention to the land, the third great habitat He created on His (very) good earth, a special habitat, intended for the jewel of His creation, humankind. He made everything serviceable for humankind, the habitats, and the creatures therein. This is man’s special day, but first must come the land-dwelling creatures that we share this magnificent habitat with (walking shoes go on the feet before taking a walk, for the former is serviceable to the latter, and it is no different here):

And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind.

“After his kind.” What does that mean? It means within a given family. (For example, dogs were created to comprise the Canidae family: wolf, coyote, schnauzer, peacock?) Moreover, it means that subsequently dogs (wolf, coyote, schnauzer) should bring forth dogs (wolf, coyote, schnauzer). (Not finch, fish, peacock, etc.). Please notice the decided intentionality of God in creating living creatures according to singularly their kind that should henceforth bring forth specifically after their kind; hardly could it be otherwise, either for the animals or the plants as concerns propagating the kind:

. 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.

Creation in many respects reads like an excellent algorithm. It is an empirical fact of software engineering that the most efficient codes are modular (in this context—dogs, fowls, insects…kinds), with independent, loosely coupled modules (fowl eats insect), that are tightly coupled inside themselves (kind begets kind).

1:26-28- Let us Make Man in our Image after our Likeness

 

KJV TEXT: And God said,

Let us make[47] man[48] in our image[49], after our likeness[50]: and let them have dominion[51] 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. So God created[52] man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male[53] and female[54] created he them. And God blessed[55] them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful[56], and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue[57] 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.

COMMENTARY: Now comes the pinnacle, the crowning achievement of God’s creative work. Humankind. Why is that so? Why is humankind the crowning achievement of God’s work in Creation? It is because nothing else was created in His image, in His likeness (Genesis 5:1, 9:6, Acts 17:29, Ephesians 4;24, Colossians 3:10). That is singularly why—His image. It has nothing to do with us of ourselves other than the fact that we are created in His image. That is why He says to us ‘…be ye holy so that I might be your God, for I am holy…’ (Leviticus 11:44-45, Colossians 3:10). That is why He redeemed us and lifted us up onto that lofty plane of holiness at Calvary, thus realizing His very image in us. And because He created us in His image motivated by an incomprehensible love for us, there necessarily had to be a Cross, for He created us with free moral and otherwise agency—such as these legitimate Relationship:

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.

 

Notice how that God takes counsel with Himself in this, notice the plural pronouns: “…Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…”.

 

One looks in a mirror and sees one’s outward appearance. That is not the sort of “image” that is meant here, that fits more with the next phrase about God’s likeness. How others perceive us maybe gets a little closer; what portrait is being painted? Hard-working or lazy? Prudent or reckless? Anxious or calm? Sacred or secular? It all adds up over time and constructs a personal “image.” God is God, He is deity. He is perfect. He is holy. He is just. He loves mercy. He embraces humility. He is sacrificial. He has unfathomable intelligence and wisdom and certainly power. One could go on and on with the accolades because the good list is literally endless. That is His image, and that, beyond flesh and blood, good looks or not, poverty or wealth, achievements, or failures, is our rightful image through creation. It is an image lost because of willful Sin, and yet an image regained because of a Savior, the very One who created us and imparted said image:

 

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. (“A Letter of Invitation.”)

 

There is no creature in the universe that bears the image of God besides humankind, because with that image necessarily comes free moral and otherwise agency, and no creature can steward that aright except a perfect creature, of which there is none, for if there were, then it would be as God. But there is only one God, Jehovah God, the Creator whose image humankind alone bears. Hence, had God imparted His image to other creatures, they would be fallen too, which would demand recurring Redemption/Salvation because God cannot be biased, and a recurring Redemption/Salvation is out of the question not least on shoddy planning grounds. Humankind alone bears the image and likeness of God, and this universe was created for us, and us alone. (Modern day fascination with aliens is neo demonism, the most palatable sort of demonism to date—not a few moderns embrace this fascination, and if not, they nevertheless fawn over it quite googly-eyed with the imagination running wild. If only for their sake they thus fawned over their Creator, even the Eternal LogoS.)

 

Humankind, created in the image of God, thus stands head (intellect) and shoulders (capacity) over the other creatures God created, because humankind was intended to take charge of this earth which after all was made serviceable to humankind—he must get busy, and take control of it—it is made for him, but he must get after it because he has responsibilities (learning via his exceeding intellect and doing via his exceeding capacity):

 

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.

 

Created in the image of God, male and female thus created. (Genesis 2:7, 21-24 give us the particulars.) Created and blessed. Blessed to be fruitful (procreate), and multiply (greatly increase), and to replenish the earth (populate it, a form of dominion):

 

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.

 

From two (Adam and Eve), upward for a while, then down to eight (Noah and family), back up again to 7.7 billion (2019). So it is when God purposes a thing and blesses it. (Ever bless us Lord, amen.)

 

Taking control of a fallen earth requires much thought, and learning, and hard work built upon hard work built upon hard work. The former two of these prerequisites were provided (through humankind’s exceeding intellect), but not the latter, the hard work part, that had to come from us, yet, ever fueled by God; indeed, the blessing would keep the ship afloat and steadily moving forward down through the ages. And so it went, not always with the wind full in its sails: from a garden paradise to thorns and thistles, notwithstanding, by and by, to molecular biology, to supersonic travel, to a golf game on the moon. Thus has humankind subdued his environs on the back of a blessing long ago that guided much thought and learning, and fueled much hard work built upon hard work built upon hard work:

 

 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.

Praised be your Name Eternal LogoS, Creator, Savior, who exceedingly blesses us fallen.

1:29-30- I Have Given You Everything

 

KJV TEXT: 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[58]. 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.

COMMENTARY: Humankind is mortal, yet outfitted for success is that mean frame of finitude, thus outfitted spiritually and physically:

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. 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.

And of course, the very issue of our finitude is more than made over, is more than a mere outfitting, it has been laid to rest once and for all time at Calvary. God has given us everything. He has given us everything to live an abundant life now, and on into eternity. What qualifies abundant living? Oneness with the divine Oneness now, and on into eternity; oneness with the divine Oneness qualifies abundant living, and that is what our Creator, Savior, and Champion offered us in the beginning, offers us in the interim, and offers us going forward. Let us ever embrace that blessed gift and enter into that Oneness—it is there for the asking (“A Letter of Invitation”). Let us ever praise His great Name.

 

1:31- And Behold, it was All Very Good

 

KJV TEXT: And God saw[59] every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very[60] good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

COMMENTARY: The “saw” in “…And God saw…” is Qal, imperfect. The imperfect is revealing (past tense+imperfective aspect=continuous action in past time). It is as though the whole of God’s work from its beginning, to what it would be going forward, was all in His mind (the action), and He dwelled on it (the continuity in the action). The imperfect seems to convey that. God saw it all and He dwelled on it. That dwelling greatly qualifies what comes next, for behold, it was very good. Not just good, but very good. Thus says the Eternal Mind, and so it is. What mind can dwell like the Eternal Mind can dwell? There is none other that can dwell like that. And if He says it is very good, we can mark it down, it is in fact very good:

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.

Very good was everything that God made. Sin changed that. From very good, to accursed. So sad. But O my, praised and thanked be our great savior God, the same who created and beheld, and dwelled, and said it was all very good, for He made it all very good again. He saw that too when He beheld and dwelled, that yea, in Him, “very good” is ever upheld.

It is all very good great creator God. We rejoice in your handiwork, and even more so in your Salvation, nay, even more so in you.

Praised be your great Name my Lord; we do love you so. Amen.