These are proofs of the evergrowing sway of man. They take off over the thousands of miles without suitcases, without spare gas tanks, without compasses or navigational equipment. And the evening and the morning were the fourth day. Men have been planting grains of wheat for millenniums and he has yet to plant a grain of wheat and have a corn stalk grow out of it. Other seeds surround themselves with a luscious tasting juice and all, and a little bit of meaty stuff, and so you eat, or the bear eats the berries, then later on he propagates the seeds in other areas.The way that seeds are designed to propagate themselves are fascinating indeed. The human mind is still endowed with most extraordinary capacities; it was more so when issuing out of the hands of its Creator. "First, Gods deliberation shows that he has decided to create man differently from any of the other creatures-in his image and likeness. As with the rest of the Bible, the book of Genesis was written in the everyday language of the people of the time. May we confide not only in scripture, but in Him who gave it! Hitherto they had been of one lip; but combining to make a name to themselves, lest they should be scattered, not to exalt God nor confide in Him, they had their language confounded, and themselves dispersed. Hence He orders that two of every kind should be taken into the ark. Ed. Then began men to call upon the name of Jehovah. In Genesis 7:1-24 we have another order of facts. So designed, so constructed, that you can fly off of that page, and just the wide variety! In the Pentateuch the Hebrew term "image" occurs also in Genesis 5:3 and in Numbers 33:22. This was acquired (have you never known, or have you forgotten, the solemn fact?) Being the truth, whatever man discovers that is true will never clash with it. The word , which indicates that God created the man and woman as two human beings, completely overthrows the idea that man was at first androgynous (cf. See more on this in my commentary on Hebrews 2. 56. De Opificio, p. 16. h Tikkune Zohar, correct. Forced to discover himself, Adam tells the humiliating tale: "I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself." Ed. All evil is due to this as its spring; it begins with God as the object attacked or undermined. He makes a religion from his own mind, and brings of the fruit of the ground now under the curse; whilst Abel by faith offers the firstlings of the flock, and of the fat thereof. Truly there are many things in this corrupted nature which may induce contempt; but if you rightly weigh all circumstances, man is, among other creatures a certain preeminent specimen of Divine wisdom, justice, and goodness, so that he is deservedly called by the ancients , a world in miniature. But since the Lord needs no other counsellor, there can be no doubt that he consulted with himself. For it is a day when all things are in question, even the surest. him), ( Proverbs It is man as the head of creation. It is the same inspired historian who presents the subject in more than one point of view, but always consistently, and with a divine purpose which governs all. )Gods rest after the creation of the first human couple signified not that he had become tired or inactive (for he continues to care for what he has created), but that he had brought his work to its goal. In any case it was mercy to confine the curse certainly earned by Ham within the narrowest limits, instead of extending it to all his posterity. The highest, the holiest, the only suitable way, once it is laid before us, evidently is what God Himself has employed in His word. It accounts for the manifestation of light on the first day, and of the luminaries of heaven on the fourth, and traces the orderly steps of a majestic climax throughout the narrative. The present article analyses the plural forms occurring in Genesis 1:26, 3:5 and 3:22 which might appertain to God and which acted as focal points for theological and exegetical . I. All of the things were created or reformed within this six-day period. 2. The first chapter does not speak of special relationships, does not treat of any peculiar dealings of God with the creature. I'm so glad that I serve Him. "The earth was without form and void." The next chapter (Genesis 8:1-22) shows God's remembrance of Noah and every living thing. Not only the Hebrew idiom forbids it, but our own, and no doubt every other language. "Jehovah." likeness. I do not venture on any opinion as to this. But I have the capacity to love.So man was made in the image of God and in the likeness of God. Its basic design is to divide the creation story into two groups of three days each. [Note: See James Jordan, "Rebellion, Tyranny, and Dominion in the Book of Genesis," Christianity and Civilization 3 (Summer 1983):38-80. Clarke's Commentary. middle: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and It remains yet to be seen whether he will be good in act and habit. With us saying and doing are two things; but they are not so with God. He says bloop, "you can't do that." Scripture describes it, and mentions two rivers which unquestionably exist at the present day. 15 My frame was not hidden from you. Could they so made have carried themselves otherwise than is here described? This passage, of course, refers to the humiliation of Christ, whose being made "a little lower" than angels actually means "made lower for a little while," in the matter of his passion and death; for the same passage indicates that man, as he was created, ranked higher than angels, for, "Not unto angels did he subject the world to come," an honor reserved for man. Then the earth is described as void and waste, and (not as succeeding, but accompanying it) darkness upon the face of the deep, contemporaneously with which the Spirit of God broods upon the face of the waters. Genesis 26:1 Parallel Verses [ See commentary ] Genesis 26:1, NIV: Now there was a famine in the land--besides the previous famine in Abraham's time--and Isaac went to Abimelek king of the Philistines in Gerar. The exposition of Chrysostom is not more correct, who refers to the dominion which was given to man in order that he might, in a certain sense, act as Gods vicegerent in the government of the world. 2. 1. That explains why humans can actually imitate God's personality. This is of immense importance. Then that isn't' free choice. [Note: E.g., Claus Westermann, Genesis 1-11 : A Commentary, p. God is here styled Jehovah-Elohim; and so uniformly to the end of the chapter. Chapter 1. Needless to say, the divine image has been grossly eroded in many of Adam's rebellious and sinful children. 1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. See Wenham, pp. What does this precisely mean? Man alone, as deriving that which gave him the breath of life not from his body but from the breath of Jehovah-Elohim, gives an account to God. God has the capacity to reason, so He created us with the ability to reason. Christ only is the express image of God's person, as the Son of his Father, having the same nature. The great point, my brethren, is to hold fast the truth. It is evident therefore that in the one case we have that which was generally necessary, in the other case that which was special and due to the relationship in which man was placed with Jehovah. 23 And the evening and the morning were the fifth day. Then, fromGenesis 2:4; Genesis 2:4, we have the subject from another point of view, not a repetition of the account of creation, but what was even more necessary to be brought here before us, the place of relationship in which God set the creation He had formed, not mutually alone, but above all, in reference to Himself. God was now producing a spirit, and a spirit, too, formed after the perfections of his own nature. I do not of course enter into details, but here is the inspired account, which shines in the midst of the horrors of that dark scene which fabulists portrayed. numerations. The biblical text of Genesis 1:26 announce that God makes us in his image and likeness (Bryson, 2011). "This is the book of the generations of Adam. Fifth, it is in keeping, as far as it goes, with the facts of botany, zoology, and ethnology. How true of the energetic Japhetic race that pushed westward, and not content with the east, pushes round again to the west anywhere and everywhere. But it is, secondly, in Gods likeness, which implies something closer and more inward. The sun, moon and stars, previously hidden, now became clearly visible. It is really the basis of fact for not a few tales of mythology which men have made up. We'll send you an email with steps on how to reset your password. The environmental conditions have been placed here for man, the trees, the vegetables have been placed here for his food. All Commentaries Videos Images Devotionals Other Translations Sermons Related Scriptures Podcasts Blogs. Now, the word light here is "meor". Those who enter on them had better be cautious, and well weigh alleged facts, and above all their own conclusions, or those of other men. - Man is a new species, essentially different from all other kinds on earth. 28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. Jehovah, meaning "the becoming one" as God relates to man and man's needs, and He becomes to man whatever man may need.Now it has caused some of the critics of the Bible to see Genesis not as the work of one Author, but the work of many authors. Here again how observable is the transparent and self-consistent truth of scripture. We might with interest pass through the account of the various days, and mark the wisdom of God in each; but I forbear to dwell on such details now, saying a word here and there on the goodness of God apparent throughout. And God said, Let us make man in our image, and after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. When a compendious statement of what follows is intended, the "and" is never put. Moral relationship? let them be for lights in the firmament in the heavens to give light upon the earth: and it was so. But there is more than this, though this be of exceeding interest; because we see with equal certainty and clearness why Jehovah-Elohim is introduced not before but here, and why man's becoming a living soul by the inbreathing of God was said here and not in the first chapter. Now, there are a lot of life forms that I can't even see, the waters are teeming with life forms. They leave room consequently for a state or states of the earth long before either man or time, as man measures it. He created the heaven and earth at the beginning. In the beginning matter did not co-exist with God. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day (Gen 1:31). During the summer, they take off from Hawaii and they fly all the way up into Alaska where they mate. Each severally the man, the woman, the serpent stand evidently convicted by the presence of Jehovah-Elohim. Genesis 1:26. It is the old familiar story, man tried and found wanting as always. The real and only force of the "and" is another fact; not at all as if it implied that the first and second verses spoke of the same time, any more than they decide the question of the length of the interval. But, after all, it is the positive truth of God which it is the all-important business to hold, and this God has put in the heart of the simplest child who believes in Jesus. Thank you for joining me for the Monday Marriage Message. The Statement before us may look at first unaccountable; but when carefully weighed and reflected on, the propriety of it becomes manifest. And let them have dominion (92) Here he commemorates that part of dignity with which he decreed to honor man, namely, that he should have authority over all living creatures. There is something striking in the introduction of the expression "and over all the earth," after the different races of animals have been mentioned, especially as the list of races appears to be proceeded with afterwards. JANUARY 11- DAILY READING THROUGH THE ONE YEAR BIBLE- GENESIS 24:52-26:16; MATTHEW 8:18-34; PSALM 10:1-15; PROVERBS 3:7-8 Commentary written and read by Pastor David K. MacAdam. Genesis 1:26-28. We pray, Give us this day our daily bread (Matthew 6:11), but we do not expect God to work instantaneously and drop food from heaven on to our plates. The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord. 27-28; Charles Feinberg, "The Image of God," Bibliotheca Sacra 129:515 (July-September 1972):235-246, esp. The very absurdity that God is a sexual being renders this interpretation highly unlikely. the creation, and much less in the more noble part of it: nor are Now, if they would drop straight down under the pine tree, they would probably never survive very long because the mother pine would be taking too much of the nutrients from the soil. And to ascribe the least portion of a work so exquisite to angels, is a sacrilege to be held in abhorrence. . This is that form of God in which he has created man, and condescends to communicate with him. Darius, "I make a decree" Ezra 5:8. [Note: E.g., Keil and Delitzsch, 1:63. 27 So God created mankind in his own image, Now comes in the shadow of what God would do fully another day. The process of creation, as Moses described it, typically follows this pattern for each day of creation: announcement, commandment, separation, report, naming, evaluation, and chronological framework. Others have spoken spoken rashly and wrongly. 119. We can easily see the propriety of this. MAKE MAN IN OUR IMAGE Man. If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted?" So, that seems to lend credence to the "gap theory" that the heavens and the earth were created in verse one, this is an account of re-creation.Now the fog cloud's removed and the sun and the moon becoming visible and are now used to mark off years and days and months; used as time indicators and the greater light to rule the day, the lesser light holder to rule the night. 163. We don't know. Psalms 8:5. I wonder how long the pine tree could have existed before it decided, "I need to get my seeds out further" and it developed the little wing on the seed.There are other seeds that when the pod dries out they explode. Genesis 47:1-50:26 Chapter 47 1 So Joseph went in and told Pharaoh, "My father and my brothers, with their flocks and herds and all that they possess, have come from the land of Canaan; they are now in the land of Goshen." 2 And from among his brothers he took five men and presented them to Pharaoh. A person is held out the Seed of the woman; for the manner most expressly bespeaks the tender mercy of God. Infidelity takes increasingly an apostate form, and those that used to revere both Old Testament and New are abandoning the truth of God for the dreamy but mischievous romances of so-called modern science. It was sin not as such against God in leaving Him, like Adam's, but against man, his brother accepted of God. The genealogy of Shem, with gradually decreasing age among his seed, follows down to Abram, the remainder of the chapter being thus the link of transition from the history of the world as it then was, and in its principle still is. If divine power separated the earth from the waters, why should it remain saturated? "And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon earth." Not how did He say it, or to whom did He say it, but what did He say. And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and the fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.