Sample Issue of Morning By Morning's Daily Bible Study and Bible Devotional

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Genesis 1:1 - 2:3

ear Friends,

Good morning! Over the coming months, I would enjoy walking with you through the events of Genesis. It is, of course an immense Word, covering many centuries. Genesis also sparks much argument and controversy. What I am particularly interested in learning about in this encounter with Genesis is the phrase, “The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

A word about the book – this is the book about beginnings, about the source. The book introduces us to God and to the people to whom we belong. I assume its author is Moses, though the actual document called Genesis was assembled from his writings some centuries later. The book is very skillfully edited and consists of two major sections – Primeval history, in which we are introduced to God and watch both the creation and the fall; and the history of the Patriarchs. Most of the argument about Genesis revolves around the early material, the Primeval history, which runs from chapter one through chapter eleven. I will be taking this material in big chunks, for it is the background for the great stories – cycles of stories – about Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

1 1In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

3And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. 4God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning--the first day.

6And God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water." 7So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. 8God called the expanse "sky." And there was evening, and there was morning--the second day.

9And God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear." And it was so. 10God called the dry ground "land," and the gathered waters he called "seas." And God saw that it was good.

11Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds." And it was so. 12The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13And there was evening, and there was morning--the third day.

14And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, 15and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth." And it was so. 16God made two great lights--the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, 18to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19And there was evening, and there was morning--the fourth day.

20And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky." 21So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth." 23And there was evening, and there was morning--the fifth day.

24And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind." And it was so. 25God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

26Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth,B and over all the creatures that move along the ground."

27So God created man in his own image,

in the image of God he created him;

male and female he created them.

28God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."

29Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground--everything that has the breath of life in it--I give every green plant for food." And it was so.

31God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning--the sixth day.

21Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.

2By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

Here is a work by William Blake showing God at work creating the world. I love this because God is shown using a compass of light, getting the work done right –

The opening of Genesis immediately causes us to begin forming a doctrine of the Word of God. Here is the short version of my understanding of the Word of God:

The Word of God is living and active, calling into being all that is.
The accounts of the Word of God are what we call the Bible; God has arranged for us to have exactly the accounts He wishes to give us.

I'm looking out the window as the dawn lights up the trees. My family is sleeping, but soon will be stirring. Soon I head into the hill country and will enjoy the bluebonnets. A grandchild is stirring within my daughter-in-law's womb. All day, the eyes of human beings will be in front of me, shining with life. My dog wants some petting. God is calling all of us into being, into knowing Him, into our own speech. I shall use my speech today for praising Him and loving the others. The story will soon take us into a steep plunge – I know, I know. But today, just focus on the sunrise. It's all good.

Love,

Jeff