Genesis 1 Scofield
Read Genesis 1 · Matthew Henry on Genesis 1
1:2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
“without form and void”
Jer 4:23–27; Isa 24:1; Isa 45:18 clearly indicate that the earth had undergone a cataclysmic change as the result of divine judgment. The face of the earth bears everywhere the marks of such a catastrophe. There are not wanting imitations which connect it with a previous testing and fall of angels.
See Ezek 28:12–15; Isa 14:9–14 which certainly go beyond the kings of Tyre and Babylon.
1:3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
“Let there be light”
Neither here nor in Gen 1:14–18 is an original creative act implied. A different word is used. The sense is, made to appear; made visible. The sun and moon were created "in the beginning." The "light" of course came from the sun, but the vapour diffused the light. Later the sun appeared in an unclouded sky.
1:5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
“day”
The word "day" is used in Scripture in three ways:
(1) that part of the solar day of twenty-four hours which is light Gen 1:5; Gen 1:14; John 9:4; John 11:9.
(2) such a day, set apart for some distinctive purpose, as, "day of atonement" (Lev 23:27); "day of judgment" Matt 10:15.
(3) a period of time, long or short, during which certain revealed purposes of God are to be accomplished, as "day of the Lord."
“evening”
The use of "evening" and "morning" may be held to limit "day" to the solar day; but the frequent parabolic use of natural phenomena may warrant the conclusion that each creative "day" was a period of time marked off by a beginning and ending.
1:6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
“firmament”
Lit. expanse (i.e. of waters beneath, of vapour above).
1:8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.
“firmament”
1:11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.
“bring forth grass”
It is by no means necessary to suppose that the life-germ of seeds perished in the catastrophic judgment which overthrew the primitive order. With the restoration of dry land and light the earth would "bring forth" as described. It was "animal" life which perished, the traces of which remain as fossils. Relegate fossils to the primitive creation, and no conflict of science with the Genesis cosmogony remains.
1:16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.
“greater light”
The "greater light" is a type of Christ, the "Sun of righteousness" Mal 4:2. He will take this character at His second advent. Morally the world is now in the state between; Gen 1:3–16; Eph 6:12; Acts 26:18; 1 Pet 2:9. The sun is not seen, but there is light. Christ is that light John 1:4; John 1:5; John 1:9 but "shineth in darkness," comprehended only by faith. As "Son of righteousness" He will dispel all darkness. Dispensationally the Church is in place as the "lesser light," the moon, reflecting the light of the unseen sun. The stars Gen 1:16 are individual believers who are "lights"; Phil 2:15; Phil 2:16; John 1:5.
A type is a divinely purposed illustration of some truth. It may be:
(1) a person Rom 5:14
(2) an event 1 Cor 10:11
(3) a thing Heb 10:20
(4) an institution Heb 9:11
(5) a ceremonial 1 Cor 5:7
Types occur most frequently in the Pentateuch, but are found, more sparingly, elsewhere. The antitype, or fulfilment of the type, is found, usually, in the New Testament.
“made”
The word does not imply a creative act; vs. Gen 1:14–18 are declarative of function merely.
1:17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,
“heaven”
i.e. the "heaven" of the stars; e.g. Gen 15:5; Luke 23:43.
1:21 And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
“every living creature”
The second clause, "every living creature," as distinguished from fishes merely, is taken up again in Gen 1:24, showing that in the second creative act all animal life is included.
1:24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.
“living creature”
"Creature," Heb. nephesh, trans. soul in Gen 2:7 and usually. In itself nephesh, or soul, implies self-conscious life, as distinguished from plants, which have unconscious life. In the sense of self-conscious life animals also have "soul." See verses; Gen 1:26; Gen 1:27; Gen 2:7; Gen 2:21–23. (See Scofield "Gen 1:26").
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.
“make man in our image”
Man. Gen 1:26; Gen 1:27 gives the general, Gen 2:7; Gen 2:21–23 the particular account of the creation of man. The revealed facts are:
(1) Man was created not evolved. This is
(a) expressly declared, and the declaration is confirmed by Christ Matt 19:14; Mark 10:6,
(b) "an enormous gulf, a divergence practically infinite" (Huxley) between the lowest man and the highest beast, confirms it;
(c) the highest beast has no trace of God-consciousness--the religious nature;
(d) science and discovery have done nothing to bridge that "gulf."
(2) That man was made in the "image and likeness" of God. This image is found chiefly in man's tri-unity, and in his moral nature. Man is "spirit and soul and body" 1 Thess 5:23.
"Spirit" is that part of man which "knows" 1 Cor 2:11 and which allies him to the spiritual creation and gives him God-consciousness. "Soul" in itself implies self-consciousness life, as distinguished from plants, which have unconscious life. In that sense animals also have "soul" Gen 1:24. But the "soul" of man has a vaster content than "soul" as applied to beast life. It is the seat of emotions, desires, affections Ps 42:1–6. The "heart" is, in Scripture usage, nearly synonymous with "soul." Because the natural man is, characteristically, the soulual or physical man, "soul" is often used as synonymous with the individual, e.g. Gen 12:5. The body, separable from spirit and soul, and susceptible to death, is nevertheless an integral part of man, as the resurrection shows; John 5:28; John 5:29; 1 Cor 15:47–50; Rev 20:11–13. It is the seat of the senses (the means by which the spirit and soul have world-consciousness) and of the fallen Adamic nature. Rom 7:23; Rom 7:24.
“us”
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.
“DISPENSATION”
A dispensation is a period of time during which man is tested in respect of obedience to some specific revelation of the will of God. Seven such dispensations are distinguished in Scripture. (See Scofield "Gen 1:28"), note 5.
“And God blessed them”
The First Dispensation: Innocency. Man was created in innocency, placed in a perfect environment, subjected to an absolutely simple test, and warned of the consequence of disobedience. The woman fell through pride; the man deliberately. 1 Tim 2:14 God restored His sinning creatures, but the dispensation of innocency ended in the judgment of the Expulsion Gen 3:24 See, for the other dispensations;
Conscience (See Scofield "Gen 3:23")
Human Government (See Scofield "Gen 8:21")
Promise (See Scofield "Gen 12:1")
Law (See Scofield "Ex 19:8")
Grace (See Scofield "John 1:17")
Kingdom (See Scofield "Eph 1:10")
“Be fruitful”
The Edenic Covenant, the first of the eight great covenants of Scripture which condition life and salvation, and about which all Scripture crystallizes, has seven elements. The man and woman in Eden were responsible:
(1) To replenish the earth with a new order--man;
(2) to subdue the earth to human uses;
(3) to have dominion over the animal creation;
(4) to eat herbs and fruits;
(5) to till and keep the garden;
(6) to abstain from eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil;
(7) the penalty--death. See, for the other seven covenants:
ADAMIC (See Scofield "Gen 3:14")
NOAHIC (See Scofield "Gen 9:1")
ABRAHAMIC (See Scofield "Gen 15:18")
MOSAIC (See Scofield "Ex 19:25")
PALESTINIAN (See Scofield "Deut 30:3")
DAVIDIC (See Scofield "2 Sam 7:16")
NEW (See Scofield "Heb 8:8")
Public domain (1917). Text from the BibleSupport.com e-Sword module.
Introduction to Genesis
GENESIS is the book of beginnings. It records not only the beginning of the heavens and the earth, and of plant, animal, and human life, but also of all human institutions and relationships. Typically, it speaks of the new birth, the new creation, where all was chaos and ruin. With Genesis begins also that progressive self-revelation of God which culminates in Christ. The three primary names of Deity, Elohim, Jehovah, and Adonai, and the five most important of the compound names, occur in Genesis; and that in an ordered progression which could not be changed without confusion. The problem of sin as affecting man's condition in the earth and his relation to God, and the divine solution of that problem are here in essence. Of the eight great covenants which condition human life and the divine redemption, four, the Edenic, Adamic, Noahic, and Abrahamic Covenants are in this book; and these are the fundamental covenants to which the other four, the Mosaic, Palestinian, Davidic, and New Covenants, are related chiefly as adding detail or development. Genesis enters into the very structure of the New Testament, in which it is quoted above sixty times in seventeen books. In a profound sense, therefore, the roots of all subsequent revelation are planted deep in Genesis, and whoever would truly comprehend that revelation must begin here. The inspiration of Genesis and it character as a divine revelation are authenticated by the testimony of Christ (Matt 19:4–6; Matt 24:37–39; Mark 10:4–9; Luke 11:49–51; Luke 17:26–29; Luke 17:32; John 1:5; John 7:21–23; John 8:44; John 8:56).
Genesis is in five chief divisions: Creation (Gen 1:1 to Gen 2:25) The fall and redemption (Gen 3:1 to Gen 4:7). The Diverse Seeds, Cain and Seth, to the Flood (Gen 4:8 to Gen 7:24). The Flood to Babel (Gen 8:1 to Gen 11:9). From the call of Abram to the death of Joseph (Gen 11:10 to Gen 50:26).
The events recorded in Genesis cover a period of 2,315 years (Ussher).