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Genesis 1: 1–5 — The Beginning and the First Day · A Tithe of Time Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to a tithe of time, verse by verse.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_00: Today we begin reading from the ESV, Genesis 1, 1-5, The Beginning and the First Day.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_00: In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: And God said, Let there be light, and there was light.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: And God saw that the light was good.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: And God separated the light from the darkness.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: God called the light day, and the darkness he called night.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: And there was evening and there was morning the first day.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: Now let's look closer.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: Genesis 1, 1-5 opens with God already present as creation begins.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: The Bible does not introduce him as part of creation.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: He is the one creating it.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: And the phrase the heavens and the earth points to the whole created order, everything that exists apart from God.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: Verse 2 says the earth was without form and void.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: At this point, the world is not yet arranged and filled the way it will be later in the chapter.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: Darkness covers the deep, but notice that God is not absent.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: The Spirit of God is hovering over the waters.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: Before anything on earth is formed, God is already present over it.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: Then God speaks.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: One important detail is that the sun, moon, and stars have not been introduced yet.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: They appear later in Genesis 1.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: So the light in this passage comes before those heavenly lights are appointed.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: The passage also does not tell us how much time passed during every part of this process.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: It tells us what God did and ends the first day with, there was evening and there was morning.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: But it does not give us a duration for each individual action described within the passage.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: God then sees that the light is good and separates it from the darkness.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: That pattern will continue through Genesis 1.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: God creates, separates, names, and organizes what he has made.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: And notice who names day and night, God does.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: In the biblical world, naming can show authority.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: From the first day, the passage presents God not only as creator, but as the one who determines the order and boundaries of what he has made.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: The first day ends with a pattern we will hear again.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: There was evening and there was morning.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: Genesis is beginning to establish the rhythm that will organize the rest of Creation Week.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_00: This concludes Genesis 1, 1 5.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: Next, we'll continue with Genesis 1, 6 13.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: And remember, tithe your time.