Introduction
Genesis is a foundational book for the Bible since it sets the stage for many of the great themes of the Bible. Genesis means “beginning.” It is a book of beginnings (our world; humans; sin; salvation), and is mandatory to a proper biblical world-view.
Genesis is particularly important to understanding our origins of the universe, earth and man and God's relationship to them all. This topic is so important that I thought we could look at some of the key verses and some of the word origins for clues for a better understanding of this most important book from God. Let’s begin with Genesis 1:1
Genesis 1:1 (New International Version)
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
This declaration is of the primeval act of God, by which the universe was called into being. Now we know right off that the heavens and earth have not existed from all eternity, but had a beginning; nor did they arise by themselves from an absolute substance, but were created by God. These verses have traditionally been understood as referring to the actual beginning of matter, a Creation out of nothing.
Hebrews 11:3 (New International Version)
“By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.”
That the universe is God’s creative work is perfectly expressed by the statement God created the heavens and the earth. It is by faith that we even begin to comprehend how he did it. The vocabulary and grammar of this section requires a closer look, so we will need some scholarly resources.
Our Research Tools
Let’s begin by using the Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon Copyright © 1995 from Woodside Bible Fellowship. It is keyed to the Strong's numbering system (The first bold numbers in front of the Hebrew word) and combines selections from Strong's famous Greek and Hebrew definitions enhanced with word study information from Thayer's Lexicon and the famous lexicon from Brown, Driver and Briggs. It basically provides readers with detailed meanings of biblical words in the original languages.
After each Lexicon definition, we will review a summary that I derive from the Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (TWOT) from Moody Press. This resource offers extensive, scholarly discussion of every Hebrew word of theological significance in the Old Testament. Utilizing these tools should give us a scholarly foundation to beginning to understand the book of beginnings; Genesis.
Let’s look first at the word Beginning:
7225 רֵאשִׁית [re’shiyth /ray•sheeth/] n f. From the same as 7218; TWOT 2097e; GK 8040; 51 occurrences; AV translates as “beginning” 18 times, “firstfruits” 11 times, “first” nine times, “chief” eight times, and translated miscellaneously five times. 1 first, beginning, best, chief. 1A beginning. 1B first. 1C chief. 1D choice part.
Typically translated first, beginning, choicest, or first/best of a group, it primarily means “first” or “beginning” of a series. This term may refer to the initiation of a series of historical events (Gen 10:10; Jer 26:1). It is used frequently in the special sense of the choicest or best of a group or class of things, particularly in reference to items to be set aside for God’s service or sacrifice
Next let’s look at the word Created:
1254 בָּרָא, בָּרָא, בָּרָא [bara’ /baw•raw/] v. A primitive root; TWOT 278; GK 1343 and 1344 and 1345; 54 occurrences; AV translates as “create” 42 times, “creator” three times, “choose” twice, “make” twice, “cut down” twice, “dispatch” once, “done” once, and “make fat” once. 1 to create, shape, form. 1A (Qal) to shape, fashion, create (always with God as subject). 1A1 of heaven and earth. 1A2 of individual man. 1A3 of new conditions and circumstances. 1A4 of transformations. 1B (Niphal) to be created. 1B1 of heaven and earth. 1B2 of birth. 1B3 of something new. 1B4 of miracles. 1C (Piel). 1C1 to cut down. 1C2 to cut out. 2 to be fat. 2A (Hiphil) to make yourselves fat.
The root bārā˒ has the basic meaning “to create.” It denotes the concept of “initiating something new” in a number of passages. In Isa 41:20 it is used of the changes that will take place in the Restoration when God effects that which is new and different. It is used of the creation of new things (ḥădāšôt) in Isa 48:6–7 and the creation of the new heavens and the new earth (Isa 65:17). The Psalmist prayed that God would create in him a clean heart (Psa 51:10 [H 12]) and coupled this with the petition that God would put a new spirit within him (See also Num 16:30; Isa 4:5; 65:18).
The word also possesses the meaning of “bringing into existence” so it is not surprising that this word with its distinctive emphases is used most frequently to describe the creation of the universe and the natural phenomena (Gen 1:1, 21, 27; 2:3, etc.). The usages of the term in this sense present a clearly defined theology. The magnitude of God’s power is exemplified in creation.
Since the word never occurs with the object of the material, and since the primary emphasis of the word is on the newness of the created object, the word lends itself well to the concept of creation although that concept is not necessarily inherent within the meaning of the word.
You will often find in theological texts the Latin phrase ex nihilo which means "out of nothing". It often appears in conjunction with the concept of creation, as in creatio ex nihilo, meaning "creation out of nothing".
Finally let’s look at the word Heavens:
8064 שָׁמַיִם [shamayim, shameh /shaw•mah•yim/] n m. From an unused root meaning to be lofty; TWOT 2407a; GK 9028; 420 occurrences; AV translates as “heaven” 398 times, “air” 21 times, and “astrologers + 1895” once. 1 heaven, heavens, sky. 1A visible heavens, sky. 1A1 as abode of the stars. 1A2 as the visible universe, the sky, atmosphere, etc. 1B Heaven (as the abode of God).
The usage of šāmayim falls into two broad categories, 1) the physical heavens, and 2) the heavens as the abode of God.
The physical heaven includes all that is above the earth, and any given passage may include all or merely a part of the whole. Heaven and earth together constitute the universe (Gen 1:1). They yield rain (Gen 8:2), snow (Isa 55:10), frost (Job 38:29), fire (II Kgs 1:10), dew (Deut 33:13), and thunder (I Sam 2:10). They hold the sun, moon, planets, and stars (Gen 1:14; 15:5; Isa 14:12; Amos 5:26). Zechariah 2:6 [H 10] speaks of the four winds of the heavens, and Ps 135:7 says that God brings forth the wind from his storehouses.
Heaven is also the abode of God (Deut 26:15; I Kgs 8:30), and it is from there that he reaches down to do his will on earth. As the heavens are infinitely high above the earth, so are God’s thoughts and ways infinitely above man’s ability to comprehend (Isa 55:8–9). God is in sovereign control (Ps 2:4). He is able to reach out in judgment (Gen 19:24ff) and in salvation alike (Ps 57:3 [H 4]; Deut 33:26). Jeremiah 23:24 states that God fills heaven and earth, and Solomon recognizes that all of heaven and the highest heavens themselves (“heaven of heavens”) cannot contain the Almighty God. As vast as the heavens are, they are merely part of God’s creation, and he stands above it all.
Conclusion
So there you have it. In just the first verse, we see God as the Founder and Creator of everything that exists. This creation was a free will act of God where he created the beginning of time and space for his own glory. Then he made, without the use of preexisting materials, the whole visible and invisible universe.
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