#Genesis 2 #BibleForBeginners #Bible #BibleStudy #KnowYourBible
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Yesterday we learned that God’s teaching tools are embedded within the text of the Bible. This was the doing of the Holy Spirit, and not man, for the Holy Spirit of God inspired man to write God’s words and not man’s words. Just one proof is the myriad of amazing prophecies recorded in Scripture, hundreds or thousands of years before the events which fulfilled them. The words of man cannot tell the future with such accuracy. The Hebrew paragraph divisions are:

Gen 1:1-5 {p} First day of Creation
Gen 1:6-8 {p} Second day of Creation
Gen 1:9-13 {p} Third day of Creation
Gen 1:14-19 {p} Fourth day of Creation
Gen 1:20-23 {p} Fifth day of Creation
Gen 1:24-31 {p} Sixth day of Creation
Gen 2:1-3 {p} Seventh day of Creation
Gen 2:4-3:15 {s} …

Another common teaching tool is Comparison and Contrast. An example of this teaching tool is right here in Gen 2. When we compare the creation accounts of Gen 1 with Gen 2, we find that they make a contrast. Gen 2:5 seems to begin a new narrative, another account of the Creation, however not similar to the account in Gen 1:1-2:3. Because of it, many have charged that the Bible is full of contradictions. However, if the Bible is the true Word of God (for example, see Psa 119:160), logic tells us that truth cannot contradict itself and remain true. Instead, the two accounts contrast because there has been a change of author.

“These are the generations of the heaven and the earth …” Gen 2:4

The word “generations” is the Hebrew toledoth, meaning account, or history, or even, book. Genesis contains many toledoth signatures, a custom of the ancient Near East when the author signed his eyewitness testimony at its end. It means that Gen 1:1-2:3 is the account of one author, with Gen 2:4 the signature or toledoth of that author. Gen 2:5 forward is the account of another author. Who wrote down the second account? Well, the only man alive to witness the events recorded in this section was Adam (and we will see Scripture bear this out going forward). He is the author, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, so it still remains the Word of God.

That Genesis is a very ancient written record, and not an oral record until the time of Moses, has been proven by linguistic evidence embedded in the text, which has remained unchanged since Moses compiled it.

That begs the question, who wrote Gen 1:1-2:3? The answer must be, logically, the only one alive to witness the events recorded – God. The Bible itself says, in the toledoth, that what preceded was the generation, or origin, of the heaven and the earth (Gen 2:4). God gave the history from Gen 1:1-2:3 to Adam, and Adam then added his own eyewitness account in Gen 2. The two accounts are not contradictory, but instead the same event witnessed from two different perspectives. God relayed His account in Gen 1:1-2:3 chronologically; however, Adam relayed his account according to a different criteria. We get in trouble when we expect every narrative in the Bible to be chronological. Understanding this eliminates half the charges of contradictions that come up.

If there are questions, these are good resources:

Genesis: Finding Our Roots – Ruth Beechick
amazon.com/Genesis-Finding-Roots-Ruth-Beechick/dp/094031911X/

Do Genesis 1 and 2 contradict each other? – Answers in Genesis
answersingenesis.org/articles/2010/09/03/feedback-genesis-1-and-2

Linguistics, Genesis, and Evolution – Answers in Genesis
answersingenesis.org/articles/cm/v4/n1/linguistics-genesis-and-evolution

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