Genesis 1:26-2:9

Genesis

Genesis 1:26 - 2:9

      We should have a clearer picture as to the actions described by our Holy Father dealing with the 'putting back' of the glorified state of this earth, by the 'cleansing' of that first earth age that He accomplished in the beginning verses of Genesis Chapter 1. Again as before stated, that first earth age had become a state of 'ruin' due to Satan's rebellion against God. Thus, everything that followed Gen.1:1 is a 'new beginning' of this "...heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgement and perdition of ungodly men." 2 Peter 3:7.
     Well what about the flood of Noah? We learned in Jeremiah 4 that the destruction of that first earth age was a full cleansing, for there was no man, the birds had fled, etc. This was not the condition described with Noah's flood. Also, when we get to Genesis 6, the knowledge of God's Word taught in the Hebrew, and Massorah notes of the Hebrew manuscripts will give a clearer meaning than what is normally taught, as to God's purpose of the flood of Noah's time. If you're not aware of the significance of The Massorah, please read my Massorah page.
      In the last Letter we also covered some of Peter's insight into the setting up of this second earth age of now, with 'the earth standing in the water and out of the water' (II Peter 3:5), taking that verse back to the Greek for a deeper meaning. Then God began the re-establishing of the 'seed' of herbs, etc., and the creation of the various animal species that are still present today. We now begin with Genesis 1:26 and we ask a word of wisdom from our Father, in Jesus' Name, Amen.

Gen 1:26 And God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, 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."

This word 'Our' is 'Elohiym' in the Hebrew (Strong's 430), and is plural of 'elowahh' (Strong's 433). Elohiym is also translated 'angels' in Ps.8:5. Elohiym refers to God as dealing with the creation. In this verse, its meaning is God, or The Godhead including His Son Jesus Christ and The Holy Spirit (see John 1, Hebrews 2, Ps.8, Proverbs 3, especially Proverbs 3:18). Since this 'elowahh' is plural here, it means that all the angels, or 'sons of God' were also present (I'm not saying the angels helped in the actual creating). This is one of the reasons why the King James translators would use the wording 'Let Us make..." and 'Our image'. The next question might be then, "Who are the 'sons of God'?" Let's turn to the Book of Job for some clues:

Job 1:6    Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them.

Job 1:7    And the LORD said unto Satan, "Whence comest thou?" Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, "From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it."

      If you remember why God destroyed that first earth age as written, then you should realize that Satan and the fallen angels are these 'sons of God' here in Job. These here in Job are not the only ones known by that name though. All those who come to Christ and believe on Him have the name 'sons of God' also (see John 1:12; Romans 8:14; Phill.2:15; 1 John 3:1-2). How can this be? Because, as this verse of Gen.1:26 states, 'Our image', 'Our likeness', for all of God's children were made in His image. This is why Jesus would say in John 14:9 that if you have seen The Son, you've seen The Father, for Christ was made in the 'likeness' of God, even in the flesh, for He was and is God; Immanuel, which translates from the Hebrew 'God with us' (Matt.1:23; Isaiah 7:14). Let's look at one more place in Job before continuing in Genesis:

Job 38:4-7
4    Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.
5    Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it?
6    Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof;
7    When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

      God is telling Job here in this Chapter 38 to pick himself up and act like a man of God, a child of The Living Father. Note verse 7 where 'all the sons of God shouted for joy'. This was when God created all of His children and His creation, so this shouting for joy occurs somewhere after Gen.1:1, and before Satan's rebellion at Gen.1:2, for we were (past tense) all 'sons of God' in that first earth age, before Satan and the 'fallen ones' rebelled, causing the earth to become 'tohuw va bohuw' (a desolation and ruin). This is why we are again called 'sons of God' when we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior. This is the true meaning of the word 'convert' and to 'return', as our Father speaks in Isaiah. By believing on His Only Begotten Son that He sent for us, we return to that 'spiritual' state of grace we had before Satan's rebellion. We must wait for Christ's return and the chance for all others to 'return' that will, before that similar first earth age condition, called 'God's eternity', which will be set up again upon this ancient earth (see Rev.20 through 22).

Now continuing with Gen.1:26:

This word 'man' is 'adam' in the Hebrew and it has no article before it. When this happens in Hebrew grammar, it means 'in general, mankind', not a specific man named Adam. Since all souls were in that first earth age, i.e., they had already been created at Gen.1:1; God is now making 'man' flesh. Note that this is on the 'sixth day' of creation (during the establishing of today's second earth age). Here he 'makes' the hunter-gatherer, and fisherman types of all races, not just one man. This is how the many different races came into being, and God will tell us that 'it was very good' in verse 31.

Gen 1:27 So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them.

The actual 'creating' of all the different races happen with this verse. This word 'man' is 'adam' in the Hebrew, and with the article (Hebrew 'eth'Ha'adham'), meaning a particular man Adam. Since the last verse carries over to this one, both male and female were 'created', both at the same time, not necessarily separate with 'adam' and then the 'woman' as in Gen.2:21-23. I realize that these two verses of Gen.1:26 and 27 are taught to mean a general explanation of the creation of man, with the actual details in Gen.2. There is a distinction with the word 'man' in Hebrew here in Gen.1:26-27 and Gen.2:7-8 which our Father calls to attention. We'll soon cover these distinctions pointed out in the Hebrew manuscripts.

Gen 1:28 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."

God blesses all these created in the flesh, and tells them to 'replenish' (fill) the earth, since the first earth age had become a 'ruin', and now this was the re-establishing of the second earth age, and all souls are to pass through the flesh once, being born of woman (see Hebrew 9:27). All these blessings from God to these are dominion over the sea, fowl of the air, and every living thing upon the earth, but...nothing concerning a 'garden' until Gen.2:8.

Gen 1:29 And God said, "Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

Notice these were given the fruit from 'every tree' for 'meat', i.e. food? We will discover that the specific 'Adam' placed in God's Eden was commanded not to eat from a particular tree in the midst of the 'garden'. This is another distinction between the 'adam' of Gen.1:26 and the 'Adam' of Gen.2:7. Notice that nothing has been said of farming, or tilling the soil. The food given here is in the 'field' of the world, not the 'garden of Eden', or 'paradise', where God dwelt on earth.

Gen 1:30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat:" and it was so.

      Was flesh man possibly a vegetarian at this time? There's nothing here about eating animal meat, for the word 'meat' is 'oklah' in the Hebrew, meaning 'food' (Strong's 402). So also, the animals possibly were vegetarians. (You'll find in Isaiah 11 that in God's eternity, the bear will 'feed' like an ox, and the lion will eat straw.) This is where the idea of vegetarianism comes from. However, God gave man 'meat' for food, as we know it today, in Gen.9 after the flood of Noah's time. If you can be a vegetarian, fine, but eating 'clean' meats that God gave commandments for are fine also. Notice that I said 'clean' meats (see Deut.14 for a list). That God gave us certain foods to eat, shunning others, is part of His Law, specifically His health Law. If you're starving and in order to survive, you have to eat an alligator, so be it. But, His health Law will not be fooled. The wrong food will cause you problems if you eat enough of it. Pork is the best example of this. It may taste good, but it 'ain't' healthy. This is why God gave us His Law. If you follow it, your life will benefit under a near perfect set of conditions for maintaining this flesh, and also gaining spiritual food for your soul. If we break His Law, we won't escape, for His Law is set up naturally in this earth's 'nature'. This is why so many create a miserable life for themselves, because they listen to the confusion of Satan's evil teachings dealing with the flesh, going against God's Law. He (Satan) well knows that God's Law will not be mocked, and if not followed, it will go against the 'nature' of even the flesh's creation. (That's right; God's Law still stands even today for us Christians, meaning only those ordinances which our Lord Jesus fulfilled upon the cross were done away with. See Colossians 2 and the Galatians studies.)

Gen 1:31     And God saw every thing that He had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

      Our Heavenly Father, Jehovah, was pleased with all the re-establishing of the earth and His creation. Again, remember that this is the 'sixth day' creation of the races of 'adam' in the Hebrew. When we get to Gen.2:7, we will find that the 'man' 'formed' and not 'created' there is 'eth'Ha'adham' in the Hebrew, with the article and particle. The particle 'eth' is always emphatic, and 'Ha' is for extra emphasis, pointing to a special condition.

Genesis 2

Gen 2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.

      So God finished the heavens and the earth 'which are now' (see II Peter 3:7, and my last Letters on Genesis). This word 'host' is 'tsaba' in the Hebrew, meaning 'a mass of persons, especially organized for war (an army)' (Strong's 6633). This then refers to all the 'sons of God', or all souls created in the beginning, and now sides were chosen for the spiritual battle to take place for this second earthly age today (Eph.6:11-12).
     Paul relates to us the story of Jacob and Esau, and how God loved Jacob, but hated Esau, before either of the children were yet born in their mother's womb, before either had the chance to do good or evil (Rom.9). In Jeremiah 1:5 God would say to Jeremiah: "Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations." Also see Isaiah 45 where God also calls Cyrus His anointed, and that God surnamed him.
     The point I'm trying to make is that these Scriptures are some of the many in the King James that refer to 'predestination' of the soul. Many of Paul's writings in the New Testament refer to the idea that God 'foreknew' and 'predestined' certain chosen ones. This is the true meaning of 'chosen', as Christ would say of Paul in Acts 2, for Paul was persecuting Christians before Jesus struck him blind on the road to Damascus, showing that Paul didn't come to Christ; He came to Paul and intervened. Paul's free will was not 'in play'. This intervention happens all throughout God's Word, if you're open to it and look closely. God will, and has stepped in directly to cause certain events, in order to position His elect for His purpose. This should be a sign to you from our Father's Word that even before Jesus died on the cross, God has chosen, or 'pre-ordained' certain ones to help carry out His Plan. Hence, no big mystery if these certain 'chosen' ones were selected in the first earth age, the time of Satan's rebellion, because they followed and served God at that time instead of turning to Satan. Since a third of the stars ('sons of God', but these known as 'fallen angels') followed Satan in that first earth age (Rev.12), where were the rest of the 'sons of God' after that rebellion and before the cleansing of that age of Gen.1:2, and the setting up of this earth age?

Gen 2:2    And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made.

Gen 2:3   And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made.

      The Samaritan Pentateuch (Old Testament), and The Septuagint Version of the Hebrew Old Testament have 'sixth day' instead of 'seventh' in verse Gen.2:2.¹ The 'seventh day' is when God rested, the Sabbath, which is our Saturday and is reckoned from Friday dusk to Saturday dusk.

Gen 2:4 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,

This word 'generations' is 'towledah' in Hebrew, and means 'family history, or descendents' (Strong's 8435). This is important because it is going to single out a 'particular family history' coming up later in this same Chapter, the 'family history' of the man named 'Adam', or 'eth'Ha'adham' in the Hebrew manuscripts. This our Holy Bible is mainly a 'family history' of God's 'chosen' people, the 'elect', as they come into contact with the Gentile nations. That same 'family history', or 'generations' of the 'chosen' are the ones who God selected to put His Word down in writing, for the sake of all families upon the earth, not only the 'chosen'. It is important to keep this idea in mind for what is to follow, which is a greater purpose for this 'particular Adam' being made separate from the 'adam' of Gen.1.

Gen 2:5 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,

Gen 2:6 But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.

      In Gen.1:26-27 there is mention of the 'creation' of man ('adam' without the article meaning 'mankind' in verse 26, or the various races of mankind, but with the article in verse 27), and what their specific domain or dominion was, the 'field' of the world over all the animals and plant life upon the earth. Nothing was ever said about 'tilling' the soil there. God is getting us prepared for a revelation dealing with a specific 'Adam' in the next few verses.
     In the next verse of Gen.2:6, the word 'But' is 'ed' in the Hebrew, meaning 'mist' (Strong's 108). The word 'And' should have been used there instead of 'But' by the translators, to carry all the previous cases of 'And' for emphasis.²
     God had not caused it to rain upon this re-established earth yet. The seed and the plant shoots were already there in the earth from Gen.1:1 when He first created it. The earth was totally overflowed with water, destroying that first earth age, the waters then separated to make the dry land appear (re-appear), and now rain was needed to make everything grow again. You'll find in Isaiah 65:17 that when God destroys the earth age we are now in, setting up His eternity, the word 'new heavens' and 'new earth' is from the root word 'chadash' in Hebrew, meaning 'to rebuild' (Strong's 2318). So likewise was the destruction of the first earth age. The earth itself was never destroyed, but cleansed of Satan's destruction only.

Gen 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 soul.

This word 'man' here in the Hebrew manuscripts is 'eth' Ha' adham'.³ You thus have the article, and the particle. This means a 'specific' man, not mankind in general. The particle compounds more emphasis on top of that idea, so God wanted us to know that He had a particular reason for 'forming' this 'eth' Ha' adham' separate from those 'created' in Gen.1:26. It has nothing to do with whether one race of people were made better than others, for God said in Gen.1:31 that 'it was very good' as He loves all His children and wants them 'all' to return unto Him, not following Satan. This is not a discriminatory teaching. Our Father put this 'eth' Ha' adham' in His Paradise for a special reason; it would be the bloodline that Jesus Christ would come from. Let's continue.

Gen 2:8    (And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there He put the man whom He had formed.

      The word 'man' in this verse is again, 'eth' Ha' adham' in the Hebrew manuscripts. This 'particular man Adam' would be the seed line generation that Christ would come from, as we are given this knowledge even by Paul in I Cor.15:45 that Jesus Christ is there called, the 'last Adam', meaning the 'mission' and reason for this 'eth' Ha' adham' bloodline was fulfilled when Christ died on the cross, as Savior for our salvation (There's a lot of spiritual 'meat' in this message, take some time with it and chew well.).
       This word 'Eden' is derived from 'adan' in the Hebrew meaning 'to be pleasant, to live voluptuously' (Strong's 5727). The Septuagint Old Testament Greek, which is older than the King James of 1611, uses the word 'paradise' for Eden.⁴ In this Chapter 2 of Genesis, you'll find that God also dwelt there in this 'Eden' or 'paradise' on earth, with this 'eth' Ha' adham', and also with 'The Tree of Life' (Jesus Christ, The Bread of Life), and 'the tree of knowledge of good and evil' (Satan). The existence of God on earth should not be a shock, because He has told us in His Word that He will dwell on earth with man (again), in the eternity which is the third and last earth age (see the last nine Chapters of Ezekiel, and Rev.20-22).
      Until the student grasps this idea of a specific 'eth' Ha' adham' 'formed' by Jehovah, separate from the races created at Gen.1:26-27, for the purpose of providing a bloodline seed of the 'Woman', from whom Christ Jesus would be born from, then all the Commandments by our Father to Israel on not taking wives of the Canaanites and 'nations' (i.e., non-bloodline Israelite), and staying apart from the nations, will not fully be understood. For this reason also, it is important to realize the events of God's intervention when that bloodline of 'eth' Ha' adham' became endangered, which if destroyed, would prevent the birth of His Savior in the flesh (this is why God did intervene in the lives of His chosen lineage; Christ's birth would never be prevented by Satan, but Satan did try, many times, even up to the time when Christ was an infant, using Herod to command the deaths of many infants in the hopes of including the baby Jesus). We are also going to learn in Gen.6 with the 'sons of God' taking wives from the 'daughters of men' creating the hybrid 'giant' race, that the word 'men' there in the Hebrew manuscripts is again, yep... that's right, 'eth' Ha' adham'!

Gen 2:9   And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

      This 'Tree of Life' is Jesus Christ. 'Wisdom', the subject of God's Word through Solomon's writing in Proverbs 3, is really about this 'Tree of Life' Who was with God in the beginning, and Who was God (see John 1). In Rev.2:7, Jesus stated that He would give to those who 'overcome', that is, those who pass trials by Satan, to them He would give The Tree of Life. In Rev.22, this Tree of Life will have twelve manner of fruit (symbolizing the twelve tribes of Israel), yielded each month, and the leaves are for the healing of the nations ('ethnos', meaning Gentiles, or ethnic peoples). This other tree, the 'tree of knowledge of good and evil', is Satan himself.
      I'm not going to do it for you, but if you're having trouble understanding how a 'tree' in God's Word has other meanings, here's a study assignment if you're interested. Research the following verses and Chapters on other meanings of 'trees': Gen.3:6 along with 1 John 2:16; Judges 9:8-15; Job 19:10; Job 24:20; Ps.1; Ps. 37:35; Ps.52:8; Isaiah 6:9-13; Isaiah 66:17; Jer.11:13-19; Jer.17:7-8; Ezekiel 15; Ezekiel 31; Daniel 4; Matt.7:17; Matt.24:32; Luke 13; Romans 11; Rev.2:7; Rev.6:13; Rev.9:4; Rev.22:2.
      I ask the new student to not skip these first Chapters in Genesis, for this is the foundation for understanding much of God's Word. If you don't get these Truths here, then Revelation will remain a mystery, and even Christ's condemnation of the 'scribes and Pharisees' won't be properly understood.

Peace be unto you in Christ Jesus,
Dave Ramey.

Footnotes:

¹   The Companion Bible. Kregel Publishing, Grand Rapids, MI, 1990, margin note, p.5.
²   Ibid. p.5.
³   Ibid. p.5.
⁴   Ibid. p.5

All references to "(Strong's nos.)" are from Strong's Exhaustive Concordance, PC Study Bible, Biblesoft, 1993-1996.

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