Adam and the beginnings of sin. Genesis 1-3.

 Let’s begin this study with what I consider “the beginning.”

Genesis 1:1 says, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” This statement opens our look into Genesis, but there are a couple of difficulties, and they are:

If you do a bit of a deep dive into verse one, you will find that the simple word "the" did not exist in the Hebrew. That means that this sentence merely reads, "in beginning." "In beginning" implies a process and an indeterminable amount of time. 

Could God create the entirety of creation with one breath? 

Certainly He could, but we do not see that happening here. 

The second consideration unleashes itself when we get to verse two. It reads like this:

“The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” 
Genesis 1:2 NKJV

If we operate on the basis that God does everything right, then this shouldn’t make sense. We can back up the premise by looking at what Isaiah tells us.

“For thus says the LORD, Who created the heavens, Who is God, Who formed the earth and made it, Who has established it, Who did not create it in vain, Who formed it to be inhabited: “I am the LORD, and there is no other.” 
Isaiah 45:18 NKJV

Since sin is associated with death and destruction, it is evident that sin existed in the world prior to God putting man on the earth and giving him dominion. 

If this train of thought bothers you, then answer this: 

Why was the big, talking lizard (scripture calls him a serpent here, but later on in Revelation, he is referred to as the dragon) hanging out in the tree, which they were forbidden to eat from? 

(Note: Up until Adam ate from the fruit, Satan did not have control of the earth. Through his destructive acts, he created the illusion of control. Adam, by his actions - disobedience of and disregard for God’s command, caused the dominion of the earth to change hands.)

Adam, having set aside God’s commands, created havoc that may have taken days to realize.

“Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.” 
Genesis 3:17-19 NKJV

So, the command, or “law,” was that you shall NOT eat of the tree, and one effect is that the ground is now cursed because of what Adam did.

But what did Adam do? 

He listened to the woman and disregarded God’s command.

The effect of Adam’s actions was a transaction in which the dominion of the earth was handed over to Satan. (There are always those who doubt this, and so I give you the interaction between Satan and Jesus.) 

“Again, the devil took Him up on a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory (the splendor, magnificence, preeminence, and excellence) of them. And he said to Him, These things, all taken together, I will give You, if You will prostrate Yourself before me and do homage and worship me.” 
Matthew 4:8-9 AMP

You cannot legally give away something that is not in your possession; that means that it was in Satan’s possession. Jesus did not argue about who controlled the kingdoms and the glory. (If Satan had stated they are mine to give, he would have been correct, and all because of Adam’s actions.) He merely dismissed Satan with a portion of scripture from Deuteronomy. 

“Then Jesus said to him, Begone, Satan! For it has been written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him alone shall you serve.” [Deuteronomy. 6:13.] 
Matthew 4:10 AMP

The Ultimate Cross-Reference Treasury tells us, "Here, the words are varied by addition, for the words' and him only shalt thou serve' are not quoted from Deuteronomy but added by our Lord.”

Having been raised in the church, I heard multiple times that Jesus quoted Deuteronomy in withstanding Satan. Now I see that what He said is pulled from several locations and, as God's son, took some creative license. 

What does that tell me? 

That I don't have to be so precise in my assertions toward Satan and in my prayers. This is a convenient revelation, seeing as my memory worsens as I grow older.

A side note for free.

Many will try to tell you that Genesis 1:26-29 is where God puts man on the earth; it is NOT. Pay attention to the terminology used as He creates man and woman in His image. 

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 
Genesis 1:26 NKJV

What is the image of God? 

Jesus explained that God is a spirit, and spirits, like the Holy Spirit, don’t have much of a physical image.

God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” 
John 4:24 NKJV

Spirit should be a familiar term to many of us. It is the Greek word pneuma. It is not only wind-air in motion but also the third person of the triune God, the Holy Spirit.

God also happens to be energy and light, among other things. Consider the burning bush that Moses encountered. It burned like fire, but it was not consumed. For all we know, God is nuclear energy, but it is under control. 

Perhaps the best way to explain this is to understand that God made the spiritual entities that would eventually become the male and female—the beginnings of humanity. So, our mental representation of humankind, at this point, is no different from God’s, and to think differently is pure conjecture.

Genesis 1:26 tells us that, in time, they would have dominion. Synonyms for this word dominion include ascendancy and control, which would happen over everything on the earth. 

Did God merely ignore the fact that Satan would wrest control of the earth away from Adam and Eve? 

I don’t think so; therefore, I can see that WE, as descendants of Adam and Eve, still, in theory, hold that dominion. Having been deceived, I think it would be rare to find anyone exhibiting this dominion – but there are always exceptions.

We see a physical Adam created in Genesis 2:7, a time frame well beyond the seventh day. 

“And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.” 
Genesis 2:2 NKJV

Pay attention to the details.

“And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.”
Genesis 2:7 NKJV

Watch what happens next. 

“The LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. And out of the ground the LORD God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” 
Genesis 2:8-9 NKJV

So far, there is only the man, Adam. Once again, God saw fit to restate that He had put the man in the garden. 

“Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it.” 
Genesis 2:15 NKJV

No one seems to think that Adam had anything to do but name the animals, but that was not the case. 

The word keep is the Hebrew word shâmar and is also seen as care for, dress, look after, and guard. Brown-Driver-Briggs’ Hebrew Definitions give us options such as: have charge of; protect; to keep (within bounds); restrain; pay heed to. 

The terminology implies that the man was given control of the garden. 

The other word that jumps out at me is “tend.” This word is also translated as cultivate or dress. The Hebrew word ‘âbad’ means to labor and do work.

There is nothing about Adam being unable to touch the tree. You would almost think that touching the tree may have been part of his job description. God gave Adam a single, direct command, and its importance cannot be overstated. 

“But of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil you must not eat. For when you eat from it, you most assuredly will die!” 
Genesis 2:17 TLV

This command, delivered with such gravity, sets the stage for future events.

The King James Version of verse 17 reads like this. 

“for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”

The Tree of Life Version does not imply a time frame, while the KJV conveys that death would come almost immediately. 

None of this was expressed to Eve by God directly. 

So, how did Eve understand that she was to NOT eat from “that tree”?

Adam had to tell her. 

This information was given to Adam first and then, over the course of an undefined time, to Eve. I can see why Satan’s ploy worked on Eve. Adam, it may have been a different story, but it still worked.

What would the result be if he ate the fruit? 

It is easy to see that a multifaceted death affected even the earth. 

Is it possible that Adam, who had never witnessed death, may not have understood what death meant? 

The effects of eating that fruit meant an instant death, or it meant a slow, lingering death, with the added feature of losing the ability to communicate with the one who brought you into the world. With over 32 translations, obtaining a clear picture of what death meant to them is difficult. 

I am being facetious when I say this, but at least Adam had a good woman to help him keep that one command.

“Then the LORD God said, 'It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.” 
Genesis 2:18 NAS95

You should look up these simple words: “a helper suitable for him.” Here, you will find that the phrase ‘êzer neged can mean one who stands in opposition.

So, again, we lack a direct reference to the time involved until Eve is brought into the picture, and we are introduced to the woman. 

“So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. The LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man.” 
Genesis 2:21-22 NAS95

Genesis chapter two closes by saying they were naked and unashamed.

“Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” 
Genesis 3:1 NAS95

Think back to this thesis, where God instructed the man about the fruit he was NOT to eat. The NAS95 is a weak translation. Compare it to a couple of others.

(AFV) "Now, the serpent was more cunning than any creature of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Is it true that God has said, ‘You shall not eat of any tree of the garden?’ “

(AMP) NOW, THE serpent was more subtle and crafty than any living creature of the field that the Lord God had made. And he [Satan] said to the woman, Can it really be that God has said, You shall not eat from every tree of the garden? [Rev. 12:9-11.]

Was Eve given these instructions by God?

We have nothing to indicate that she was; therefore, it is understood that the instructions came from Adam's mouth.

Satan's ploy at deception was meant to provoke the idea that Adam fabricated this elaborate narrative to dominate Eve. Even if it wasn't true, that does not eliminate the possibility that God was lying. If you can't trust God, this narrative about the fruit may also be a fabrication.

The fruit had the ability to damage and change the DNA (With the advent of the COVID-19 vaccines, we have seen evidence that demonstrates this very thing.) Its effects would be distributed throughout humanity and all generations until an all-encompassing redemption was found. Fortunately, God had a plan the entire time.

“but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.'"
Genesis 3:3 NAS95

Satan added an untruth, for God never said not to touch it. Adam may have needed to touch it as part of his maintenance program, but God never said don't touch it. Look at the explicit instructions given to Adam in Genesis 2:17 (BSB).

      "16And the Lord God commanded him, 'You may eat freely from every tree of the garden, 17but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.”

Eventually, they ignored God's directive (command) and ate.

“When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.”
Genesis 3:6 NAS95

Saw is the Hebrew word râ'âh and means to inspect, perceive, or consider.

She weighed all the things Satan said and shoved that fruit in her mouth.

This next aspect is disturbing, as men I have known from church have said to me, Adam was not there, or he was a long way away. Look at what the Holy Spirit intended for us to see.

“she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.”

And then.

“Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings.”
Genesis 3:7 NAS95

Eyes are the Hebrew word 'ayin and refer to the physical eye and mental qualities.

Knew is the Hebrew word yâda‛ and implies that they could perceive, discern, distinguish, and experience (what God had already informed them would happen), and not in the best ways.

In all of this, did we see the terminology sin at any point?

No, and while we consistently put human emotions and tendencies on God, we don't see God displaying those emotions either.

How do you define what happened next?

God merely shows up.

“They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. Then the LORD God called to the man, and said to him, "Where are you?"
Genesis 3:8-9 NAS95

We do not see violent, angry reactions, nor does the scripture tell us that God went on a rant.

The God of the universe calmly and respectfully called out to the man He created, where are you. He knew precisely where they were, but they were naked, and they knew it. Even amid a treasonous act (which will affect every generation that is to come) God is still showing them respect and allowing for at least Adam to acknowledge his failure/sin.

So, God gave Adam a commandment to live by, just one, and he failed. And Adam didn't have a disposition to sin as we do. He was confronted by the foremost of deceivers.

Try to picture Adam standing there watching, the woman made from his side and brought to Adam as the finest and only woman on the face of the earth, and she just took a big bite out of the only thing on the earth that brings death to them. What goes through your mind?

• Where do I get another woman like this one? This is assuming that there is no replacement. (This opens a massive can of worms I won't go into now.)

• How do I live without her?

• What happens next, because, for all he knows, she may just die in front of me?

The questions could have been endless, and sadly, I can see the human frailty that Adam did not suffer from until after he bit into the fruit, integrated into my every thought. 

Was there a punishment for breaking that command? 

Yes, death, but even though we can see the effects, we do not see God having any conversations describing how the broken fellowship between Adam and God would be the most catastrophic aspect of this death. And all these years later, I still struggle communicating with the Father.

As we know, Adam lived 930 years beyond that moment when he ate the fruit ( and death came). We foolishly make the assumption that this was all that Adam lived. If that is your logic, you would be wrong. The why is entwined in the fact that time was not accounted for until the day that Adam partook of that fruit (there was no reason). What you do not consider is that Adam walked this earth for an untold number of days, during which time he named all the animals on earth.

And yes, many of you think the Earth is only a few thousand years old. You seem to be ignoring information such as: 

• God did not set the sun in the sky until the fourth day. This should have a horrendous effect on your understanding that God functioned within 24-hour periods.

• God did not wear a Timex watch, nor did He concern Himself with time as we know it. Time, as we see in the creation, was relative and defined by associated words. Most of what we see in the creation narrative is described in terms of eons (which happen to be open-ended segments of time).

So, why can we not see that God's moral law ruled over everything? 

Maybe the things I have talked about are some of those “mysteries” that scriptures speak of. I was aware that there was an admonition to not eat from “that” tree, but I never, until I wrote this paper, saw it as a commandment with as much clout as the ten that were to come.

And another thing. I can't ignore how lovingly God treated them even after they sinned, or should I say, broke the law.

An interuption of the laymans commentary of Matthew 24. Let's talk about the age of the earth from a Biblical point of view.

We had a house guest recently, and I try not to overwhelm them with my deep dives into scripture. But a family member had also stopped in, and that person instigated this conversation under the pretense of pointing out the lack of understanding in someone else. This explosive delivery on the age of the earth was clearly directed at several of us because we do not adhere to the to a young earth orientation. Amid raised voices and argumentation, I want to take a moment for sanity and present a, not so familiar view of the creation; this point of view, which I am sure clashes with the beliefs of many, allows me to see creation in a larger time frame and a magnificence in God that I rarely saw when I was younger. 

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”
Genesis 1:1 AFV (A Faithful Version)

If you wish to challenge the italicized word “the,” then perhaps you should sharpen up on your Septuagint Greek, and we can do just that. 

enG1722 PREP archeG746 N-...Genesis 1:1 LXX-BYZ

“en” transliterates to in, and “arche” transliterates to beginning. We can, therefore, read verse one as “in beginning.”

The Septuagint (LXX/Greek Old Testament) 

The Romans banned the Hebrew language and all written forms, forcing the Jews to learn Greek around 200 BC. This initiated the secretive process of documenting the Torah and the Tanakh - the Old Testament to us rookies- into the Greek language. 

Imagine the difficulties in transliteration where the original language - Hebrew, which does not transliterate well into English - must now be turned into Greek, Aramaic, and back to Hebrew. The difficulty level increases as Hebrew, which for a long time was a dead language. 

It was not until the 1500s that we were introduced to the King James Version - a product of Roman Catholic influence upon King James’s royal throne. They pushed this change to influence those leaving the State Church and the Catholic church and going to Protestantism and Martin Luther. All this was done even though an English version of the Bible was published almost a year before this effort.

If you were to argue that most translations read “In the beginning,” you would be correct, but merely mimicking incorrect translations because of tradition does not make it a good idea. A few translations put the word “the” in italics to indicate that the word the is added to enhance clarity. 

I am not a grammarian, but I perceive that a read like this conveys alternatives, such as:

• The phrase “in the beginning “attempts to force the reader to understand this creation process as beginning and possibly completing at a specific moment in time. 

• A reading of verse one without the added word the, suggests that the Genesis creation took place over a period of time. 

The time frame of verse one, lacking other descriptive words, could have been more precise and may have transpired over billions of years. 

Genesis 1:2 intelligibly informs us that something cataclysmic transpired; the question is, what? 

“and the earth was formless and void, and darkness was on the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God was fluttering on the face of the waters,” 
Genesis 1:2 LSV.

Accepting verses one and two as a chronological description is far too elementary. Are we expected to take it for face value? Verses one and two need to make more sense. The implications are that God created all creation through some swirling mass technique. This technique still allows for an undefined period, or else it was a quick creation and something tumultuous intervened. 

Regardless, I lean toward an intervention, and here is why. 

“For thus says the LORD, Who created the heavens, Who is God, Who formed the earth and made it, Who has established it, Who did not create it in vain, Who formed it to be inhabited: “I am the LORD, and there is no other.” 
Isaiah 45:18 NKJV

Notice the words “Who did not create it in vain, Who formed it to be inhabited.” 

Genesis 1:2 tells us that all of creation was now:

• Formless - is the Hebrew word tôhû. The meanings include: confusion, unreality, emptiness, nothingness, wasteland, wilderness, or a place of chaos. 

Vain is a word we saw in Isaiah 45:18. It means Empty, worthless, having no substance, value, or importance.

• And Void. Void is the Hebrew word bôhû and means to be empty, an undistinguishable ruin.

What seems obvious to me is that creation was once distinguishable, and at this moment in time, it is no longer.

What could have caused such damage? 

Don’t say the fall of man because man has yet to be spoken into existence; even though there is an inference of man and woman in Genesis 1:26, it is only spiritual. Man's physical presence on earth does not show up until Genesis 2:7.

“And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” 
Genesis 2:7 NKJV

And, we don't see the woman until Genesis 2:20-25. 

There is, however, a character who may have contributed to this chaos. 

Jesus told the disciples: 

“...I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” Luke 10:18 NKJV

Consider the physics of lightning for a moment.

“While the flashes we see as a result of a lightning strike travel at the speed of light (670,000,000 mph) an actual lightning strike travels at a comparatively gentle 270,000 mph.” (https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/learn-about/weather/types-of-weather/thunder-and-lightning/facts-about-lightning)

At least two known meteorite strikes were large enough to affect the atmosphere globally. Strangely, both struck in the vicinity of the Yucatan Peninsula.

Genesis 1:2 goes on to say:

• “and darkness was on the face of the deep.”

Darkness is the Hebrew word chôshek, which also means misery, destruction, death, ignorance, sorrow, and wickedness. 

So, it is safe to assume that this has gone far beyond merely not having light. Everything about this sounds like Satan inflicting death and misery.

If, as Isaiah 45:18 states, the creation was habitable before Genesis 1:2, then there was adequate light for plant life, and one of the arguments that was thrown out at us that day.

“Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light.” 
Genesis 1:3 NKJV

Obviously, the light was taken away.

Go back to the definitions of darkness I just gave. You will find misery, destruction, death, sorrow, and wickedness here.

Is there any place in God's creation where He installs such grief?

The answer is no. 

Light, as used here in verse three, is the Hebrew word 'ôr. While one of the definitions implies the light of day, we have yet to see that defined. As its primary usage, Strong's concordance defines the word as illumination. That could be provided by any number of sources, such as stars, typically suns much larger than ours, or reflective bodies, like Jupiter and Saturn. The Word Study Dictionary defines light in this manner, “In a literal sense, it is used primarily to refer to light from heavenly bodies.”

Nope, no Sun, as we know it, yet.

“And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness.” Genesis 1:4 NKJV

Having just covered light, the thing that grabs my attention is this, “God divided the light from the darkness.” Without any additional definitions, my mind noticed that if a disruptive entity put out the lights, God did not destroy that entity.

Good is the Hebrew word ṭôb. Its meanings include pleasant, agreeable, and having value. But those terms also include welfare, benefit, and prosperity. 

So far, this speaks to mental welfare as well. 

Divided is the Hebrew word bâdal, which means to separate, partition, set apart, and make a distinction.

Making a distinction makes more sense when a Sun is involved, but we don't have that yet.

The last word I want to talk about is darkness. 

Darkness is the Hebrew word chôshek  and can also mean obscurity. The Word Study Dictionary tells us that chôshek  is associated with disorder, and in subsequent uses, whether used in a physical or a symbolic sense, it describes confusion and uncertainty (Job_12:25; Job_37:19); evil done in secret (Job_24:16; Proverbs_2:13; Ezekiel_8:12).

“God called the light Day and the darkness He called night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.” 
Genesis 1:5 NKJV

“God called the light day,” 

Light is the Hebrew word 'ôr, which we already covered, but I will repeat, illumination (used primarily to refer to light from heavenly bodies.) (See Jeremiah_31:35; Ezekiel_32:7.)

Day is the Hebrew word yôm. The Brown-Driver-Briggs' Hebrew Definitions tell us that the word can mean day, time, year, a lifetime, or an undefined period of time.

 “So the evening and the morning were the first day.” And still no sun.

Lacking a sun, I think that most can see how ridiculous it is to try and assign a twenty-four hour time frame to what appears to be God's second creation event.

“Then God said, “Let there be a space between the waters, to separate the waters of the heavens from the waters of the earth.” And that is what happened. God made this space to separate the waters of the earth from the waters of the heavens. God called the space “sky.” And evening passed and morning came, marking the second day.”
Genesis 1:6-8 NLT

And still no sun.

“Then God said, “Let the waters beneath the sky flow together into one place, so dry ground may appear.” And that is what happened. God called the dry ground “land” and the waters “seas.” And God saw that it was good. Then God said, “Let the land sprout with vegetation—every sort of seed-bearing plant and trees that grow seed-bearing fruit. These seeds will then produce the kinds of plants and trees from which they came.” And that is what happened. The land produced vegetation—all sorts of seed-bearing plants, and trees with seed-bearing fruit. Their seeds produced plants and trees of the same kind. And God saw that it was good. And evening passed and morning came, marking the third day.” 
Genesis 1:9-13 NLT

Plants and trees, but no sun and no weeds.

“Then God said, “Let lights appear in the sky to separate the day from the night. Let them be signs to mark the seasons, days, and years. Let these lights in the sky shine down on the earth.” And that is what happened. God made two great lights—the larger one to govern the day, and the smaller one to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set these lights in the sky to light the earth, to govern the day and night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And evening passed and morning came, marking the fourth day.”
Genesis 1:14-19 NLT

Finally, the Sun, the moon, and the stars govern their skies alongside His creation; it is the end of the fourth day.

If this is the first place we see stars, what were the luminaries that filled the skies and brought light to the world? 

Here is some interesting food for thought about Satan and light.

“And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.” 
2 Corinthians 11:14 NKJV

The word transform is the Greek word metaschēmatízō and can also mean disguise, change the figure of, or change the outward form.

If Satan is changing his outward form into an angel of light, then there must be other, more noble, angels of light, and based upon what we have seen in scripture, these angelic beings may have been the light or at least added to the light.

At this point, I want you to pay attention to the emphasis on the “day” in which a thing or aspect is created. (Remember how this conversation started with God creating a habitable, perfect earth on the day He spoke it into existence.) Obviously, to me, all of it got corrupted.

“Then God said, "Let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the firmament of the heavens." So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its 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 birds multiply on the earth." So the evening and the morning were the fifth day.” 
Genesis 1:20-23 NKJV

Notice how we are focused upon the waters, which are abounding with abundant living creatures. I have had my moments where I understood that the waters produced birds. There are certain birds that are well adapted to water and can fly, dive, and swim to feed themselves. By looking at other translations, which some people would wholeheartedly reject, I understand that God merely spoke the birds into existence. 

“And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, land crawlers, and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that crawls upon the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.” Genesis 1:24-25 BSB

Here, the passage speaks of land creatures according to their kinds. Keep in mind that the curse that came with Satan is here and has been since Genesis 1:1.5. I know there is no 1.5. Since Jesus witnessed Satan being thrown to earth, and it appears that Satan had a destructive goal, it is easy to understand that the chance to annihilate God's perfect creation was just waiting for its opportunity. Since humanity is not yet on earth, this means that the evil and destructive plans Satan had for humanity and the land have yet to occur. 

Now, how can I say this? 

All you have to do is go forward in scripture to where we find Adam and Eve in the garden, where the four-legged serpent, which speaks, is already there hanging around in that tree – the only tree for which they have a restriction of NOT eating. 

When did Satan get here on earth? 

"Long before the events in the Garden." I already pointed out that Jesus told the disciples that He beheld Satan fall like lightning from the sky. The precise date associated with that date is NOT given to us. But Genesis 1:1 tells us that "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." While that does not define how He went about creating or how long it took. 

Hebrews 11:3 can be rather eye opening for some as their is a little weight put back on us as we are required to apply some faith.

By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen did not come from anything visible. 

Hebrews 11:3 TLV

And, as  I have pointed out in this post,

For thus says Adonai—He is God who fashioned the heavens, who formed the earth and made it, He established it and did not create it desolate but formed it to be inhabited—“I am Adonai—there is no other!” Isaiah 45:18 TLV

I see no room for a void and formless creation. If I wanted you to take anything away from this, it would be verse Genesis 1:25, where it states, “And God saw that it was good.” Considering the damage that is to come at the hand of Satan, I would not have said it was good considering all his treasonous actions imply.

“Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness, to rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, and over all the earth itself and every creature that crawls upon it.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every creature that crawls upon the earth.” Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the face of all the earth and every tree whose fruit contains seed. They will be yours for food. And to every beast of the earth and every bird of the air and every creature that crawls upon the earth—everything that has the breath of life in it—I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.” Genesis 1:26-30 BSB

“Let Us make man in Our image.”

Who is doing the talking? 

Here are two versions of an answer: 

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him, all things were made, and without Him, nothing was made that has been made.” 
John 1:1-3 BSB

So, here, all three were talking, but primarily, Jesus, the living Word. 

“In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him.” 
John 1:1-3 NLT

Saying that Jesus was the Word is as good as saying Jesus has been here for a long time. Remember, we really don't know how long ago the world was spoken into existence. So, the NLT merely tells us that “the Word,” Jesus, already existed. The narrative was not waiting for God to send Jesus to the earth so He could become the physical expression of the Word. Note that God created everything through him (the Son.)

What is the image of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit? 

Well, before the Father sent the Son, as a human, to recover His creation, they were all Spirit beings. Consider the possibility that God is more like a ball of energy. I got this idea from Moses, who asked to see God. 

God's response:

“Then Moses said, “Please show me Your glory.” “I will cause all My goodness to pass before you,” the LORD replied, “and I will proclaim My name—the LORD—in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” But He added, “You cannot see My face, for no one can see Me and live.” The LORD continued, “There is a place near Me where you are to stand upon a rock, and when My glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. Then I will take My hand away, and you will see My back, but My face must not be seen.” 
Exodus 33:18-23 BSB

“ but My face must not be seen.” 

We are not told why, but there is the potential that God is nuclear energy that burns brighter than the sun.

Oh, but wait, didn't Adam hear God walking in the garden, in the cool of the day, after the fall? 

Yes, that is what we are told, but why is it necessary for God to define, in great detail, all the pre-incarnate appearances of Jesus Christ. 

Do massive balls of boiling hot energy make footstep sounds? 

The answer is NO, but you should realize I am being facetious, for we have evidence that Jesus showed Himself repeatedly throughout the Old Testament. He did so as the Angel of the Lord in most of these occurrences.

Ah, there it is, the sixth day.

“And God looked upon all that He had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.” 
Genesis 1:31 BSB

Lacking the physical existence of the man on the earth, God called it quits in terms of restoration. He was done, and it was done right, once again.

“Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. And by the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing; so on that day He rested from all His work. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because on that day He rested from all the work of creation that He had accomplished.” 
Genesis 2:1-3 BSB

“He rested from all His work.”

Did He rest because He was exhausted? 

“Look up into the heavens. Who created all the stars? He brings them out like an army, one after another, calling each by its name. Because of his great power and incomparable strength, not a single one is missing.” 
Isaiah 40:26 NLT

Seriously, could such a being get tired?  

Try this verse on for size. 

“Look up to the skies above, and gaze down on the earth below. For the skies will disappear like smoke, and the earth will wear out like a piece of clothing. The people of the earth will die like flies, but my salvation lasts forever. My righteous rule will never end!” 
Isaiah 51:6 NLT

Rested is the Hebrew word shâbath. 

Who would have thought that this Hebrew word was the basis for the word Sabbath? 

It means to repose, that is, desist from exertion. It also means to celebrate or rest. The Word Study Dictionary conveys that “this example of rest by God at creation set the requirement of rest that He desires for His people in order that they may live lives pleasing to Him, full of worship and adoration (Exodus_31:17).”

“These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens, “
Genesis 2:4 KJV

Created is the Hebrew word bârâ‘, and it also means shape or form. 

Do you realize that God, who initially spoke the world perfectly into place, now has to reshape and reform all of creation? 

This may explain why the moon and Mars have oddities on them that cannot be explained by any human means. Verse four is also curious, for it speaks of generations (in the KJV) when they were created and associates these generations with the “day” that the Lord made the earth and the heavens. Reminder: day, according to Strong’s concordance, can mean “pace of time defined by an associated term.” In this case, the relational phrase is “in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens.” We make no assumption that God created man on that day, so I have to presume that this refers to the entirety of the time, most of which is unconstrained by a Timex watch, which is what He is talking about.

With two potential beginnings of the earth, where would the men be that could be considered in these generations?

Generations is the Hebrew word tôledâh and means descendants, results, proceedings, and genealogies. Brown-Driver-Briggs says it is an “account of men and their descendants.”

It becomes evident that men get most of the acknowledgments in the Old Testament; however, when we get to the New Testament, we see Jesus lifting women up and giving them dignity.

So, here we are in verse four, talking about generations. Still, we will not yet see the physical manifestation of a human via the handmade version of Adam for several verses. All this makes this conversation about generations even more peculiar.

The earth means just that, but the heavens open a can of worms. 

Heavens are the Hebrew word shâmayim, and it implies sky, heaven, abode, firmament, air, and stars. The Word Study Dictionary explains that there is a singular or a plural version. “The word describes everything God made besides the earth: God made the heavens of the universe (Genesis_1:1; Genesis_14:19); the firmament or expanse which He created around the earth was named sky or heaven as well (and this is what we see in Genesis_1:8). Isaiah the prophet tells us that He stretched out the heavens (and we find this in Isaiah_40:22.)”

I have already covered this, but Genesis 1:2 tells us that the heavens were void and darkness was upon the face of the deep. Take a deep dive into those two words, void and darkness, and you will come to find out that the destruction that Satan brought with him turned the lights out through his associated devastation.

“And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.” 
Genesis 2:5 KJV

The NLT states, "neither wild plants nor grains were growing on the earth.” I am assuming this is after the destruction that Satan brought with him, and God is now having to replace him. So God reseeds the earth, but perhaps without weeds. (Free information: According to my Horticulture teacher at the college, weeds are any plant growing where it is NOT needed or wanted.)

There was a point to this: we make massive assumptions based on tradition, which are unfounded and non-biblical.

Do you want an example? Well, you are going to get one. 

A brother in Christ asked the men’s group, one evening, how tall do you think David was when he killed Goliath? No one responded, so I threw in my two cents. I said, about six foot seven inches tall. After the angered tones had settled, I said, I can prove it. Remember King Saul? He was head and shoulders above every man in Israel when he was anointed to be King. I told them that I had a contractor come to the door, and in short order, I found out that he was an Israeli, taller than me, and I was 6’4” tall. In a short period of time David came to work for Saul. He not only played soothing music but he was asked by Saul to be the armor bearer. The man who asked the question that night strongly suggested that David was about four feet tall and tried to demonstrate how ridiculous David would have looked with Saul’s armor clattering on the ground around his feet. I stated how absurd it would be to suggest such a thing or to even propose that Saul would do that. Still, it wasn’t unusual because David, a young man, happened to be large enough to wear Saul's armor and test the straps and buckles before Saul put it on.  

Time seems irrelevant to a God that made time and yet lives outside of it. 

Nothing here in the creation narrative tells me that God is restricted by our traditions and misconceptions, and He is fully capable, without harm, of using any method of His choosing to create this planet and the heavenly lights that we used to enjoy. I said we used to enjoy because of smog and light pollution, which prevents our ability to see stars.

The word yôm, transliterated as day, has multiple meanings covering vast and extensive periods. 

Does it matter to me? 

Not at all, nor does it diminish who my God is or how He made the earth.

Since I know that Satan was thrown out of heaven, then it makes far too much sense that Satan would try to destroy all of creation and may give us clues as to why God had to make a specific garden of beauty in Eden.