Introduction

Earth from SpaceMore details about the start of our world.

Verses
1The heavens, the earth, and all their vast array were finished.
2On the seventh day God finished his work which he had done; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done.
3God blessed the seventh day, and made it holy, because he rested in it from all his work of creation which he had done.
4This is the history of 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.
5No plant of the field was yet in the earth, and no herb of the field had yet sprung up; for the LORD God had not caused it to rain on the earth. There was not a man to till the ground,
6but a mist went up from the earth, and watered the whole surface of the ground.
7The LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
8The LORD God planted a garden eastward, in Eden, and there he put the man whom he had formed.
9Out of the ground the LORD God made every tree to grow that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food, including the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
10A river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it was parted, and became the source of four rivers.
11The name of the first is Pishon: it flows through the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold;
12and the gold of that land is good. Bdellium and onyx stone are also there.
13The name of the second river is Gihon. It is the same river that flows through the whole land of Cush.
14The name of the third river is Hiddekel. This is the one which flows in front of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates.
15The LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate and keep it.
16The LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden;
17but you shall not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.”
18The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make him a helper comparable to him.”
19Out of the ground the LORD God formed every animal of the field, and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. Whatever the man called every living creature became its name.
20The man gave names to all livestock, and to the birds of the sky, and to every animal of the field; but for man there was not found a helper comparable to him.
21The LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. As the man slept, he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place.
22The LORD God made a woman from the rib which he had taken from the man, and brought her to the man.
23The man said, “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh. She will be called ‘woman,’ because she was taken out of Man.”
24Therefore a man will leave his father and his mother, and will join with his wife, and they will be one flesh.
25The man and his wife were both naked, and they were not ashamed.

Questions

1.  How was the weather different when God made everything?

v 5 and 6 ... the LORD God had not caused it to rain on the earth. ... but a mist went up from the earth, and watered the whole surface of the ground.

2. What were the two trees in the middle of the garden, and of which one should they not eat the fruit?

v 9  Out of the ground the LORD God made every tree to grow that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food, including the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

and v 17 but you shall not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die."

3. What did God say was not good about what he had made, and what did he do about it?

v 18 The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make him a helper comparable to him.”

v 21 and 22 The LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. As the man slept, he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. The LORD God made a woman from the rib which he had taken from the man, and brought her to the man.

Summary Points

  • v 1 to 3 God rests on the seventh day
  • v 4 to 6 Before vegetation grows and man is created, there is no rain, but a mist waters the ground
  • v 7 God makes a man from the dust of the ground who becomes a living soul
  • v 8 to 15 God plants a garden in Eden and puts the man into the garden to look after it
  • v 16 and 17 God gives one restriction and explains the consequences of disobeying his one command
  • v 18 to 23 Woman is made as a suitable companion for man
  • v 24 and 25 The principle of marriage between men and women is established

Timeline to 2000 BC

Audio