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The Center for Messianic Learning Unashamedly Pro-Israel Irrevocably Zionist |
ב״ה |
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“… out of Tziyon will go forth Torah,
the word of ADONAI from Yerushalayim.” (Isaiah 2:3) |
The summary of the entire Torah is as simple as this:
Love what HaShem loves; hate what HaShem hates. All else is commentary.
בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית • B'resheet
(“In Beginning” or “At First”)
The First Book of Moses,
Commonly Called
Genesis
פָּרָשָׁה בְּרֵאשִׁית
Parashah B'resheet |
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This week’s commentary from First Fruits of Zion (Messianic) |
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Thursday Friday |
Torah
The Blessing of the TorahClick here to listen to this canted byCantor Kenneth B. Cohen of Temple Sholom, Greenwich, CT. |
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| Aliya: (the one who “goes up” to read) | |
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Bar-khu et Adonai
ham-vor-ack. (Praise ADONAI Who is worthy to be praised.) |
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| Congregation: | |
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Ba-rookh Adonai ham-vor-ack
ley-oh-lam vah-ed. (Praise ADONAI Who is worthy to be praised for all eternity.) |
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| All: | |
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Ba-rookh Adonai ham-vor-ack
ley-oh-lam vah-ed. (Praise ADONAI Who is worthy to be praised for all eternity.) |
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Ba-rookh ah-tah
Adonai, Eh-lo-hay-noo meh-lekh hah oh-lahm, ah-sher ba-char ba-noo me-kol ha-ahmeem, v’na-tahn lah-noo et torah-toe, ba-rookh ah-tah Adonai, no-tane hah-torah. Blessed are You, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, Who has chosen us from all peoples and given us His Torah. Blessed are You, O Lord, Giver of the Torah. |
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ETERNITY PAST
A. The Pre-existent Moshiach: John 1:1-2
B. Creation (1-31)
1. Declaration: Psalm 90:2
2. Origin of Creation (v 1)
Rishon (First) 1In the beginning,[1a] Elohim[GN] created[1b]the heavens[GN] and the earth.[1c]
3. Satan Cast out of Heaven: Isaiah 14:12-18; Ezekiel 28:13-18
4. Judgment of Creation (v 2a) (Jeremiah 4:23-25)
2The earth was[2a] formless and empty.[2b] Darkness was on the surface of the deep.
5. Creation for Habitation: Isaiah 45:18; Genesis 2:4
I. From the Creation to the Flood [3975-2319 BCE]
A. Creation
1 The Six Day of Creation
a. First Day (2b-5) [Sun Mar 27, 3976 BCE]
The Spirit[2c] of Elohim was hovering[2d] over the surface of the waters.
3Elohim said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.[3] 4Seeing that the light was good, Elohim separated the light from the darkness. 5Elohim called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” There was evening and there was morning, day one.[5]
b. Second Day (6-8) [Mon Mar 28, 3976 BCE]
6Elohim said, “Let there be an expanse[6] between the waters to separate the waters from the waters.” 7Elohim made the expanse, and separated the waters which were beneath it from the waters which were above it; and it was so. 8Elohim called the expanse “sky.”[8] There was evening and there was morning, a second day.
c. Third Day (9-13) [Tue Mar 29, 3976 BCE]
9Elohim said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, so that the the dry land may appear;” and it was so. 10Elohim called the dry land “earth,” and the collection of waters he called “seas.” Elohim saw that it was good. 11Elohim said, “Let the earth sprout vegitation,[11a] seed-bearing herbs,[11b] and fruit trees, each bearing fruit with seed according to its species”[11c] and it was so. 12The earth produced vegitation and seed-bearing plants according to their species, and trees bearing fruit with seed according to their species; and Elohim saw that it was good. 13There was evening and there was morning, a third day.
d. Fourth Day (14-19) [Wed Mar 30, 3976 BCE]
(A: ii) 14Elohim said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to distinguish between day and night, and to mark seasons, days, and years;[14] 15and let them serve as lights in the expanse of the sky to shine upon the earth;” and it was so. 16Elohim made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He also made the stars. 17Elohim set them in the expanse of the sky to shine upon the earth, 18and to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. Elohim saw that it was good. 19There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.
e. Fifth Day (20-32) [Thur Mar 31, 3976 BCE]
20Elohim said, “Let the waters teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the sky.” 21So Elohim created the large sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters teemed, according to their species, and every winged bird after its species. Elohim saw that it was good. 22Elohim blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters of the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” 23There was evening and there was morning, a firth day.
e. Sixth Day (24-31) [Fri Apr 1, 3976 BCE]
(A: iii) 24Elohim said, “Let the earth produce living creatures according to their kind, livestock, creeping things, and wild animals of the earth accordiing to their kind;” and it was so. 25Elohim made the animals of the earth according to their kind, and the livestock according to their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. Elohim saw that it was good.
26Elohim said, “Let’s make humans in Our image, after Our likeness,[26] to have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the livestock, and over all the earth itself, and over every creature that crawls upon the earth.” 27Elohim created humankind in His own image. In Elohim’s image He created him; male and female He created them. 28Elohim blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it. Have dominion[28] over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every creature that moves on the earth.” 29Elohim said, “Hinneh,[GN] I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the surface of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit contains seed. They will be your food. 30To every animal of the earth, and to every bird of the sky, and to everything that creeps on the earth in which there is the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food;” and it was so.
31Elohim looked upon everything that he had made, and it was very good indeed.[31a] There was evening and there was morning, a sixth day.[31b]
Here’s What Christians
DON’T Realize About Dinosaurs
Answers in Genesis
1a. Hebrew בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית (bə·rê·šîṯ),
“in the beginning” or “at first.” The text is speaking about before the
beginning of space/time (before the “Big Bang”), in all eternity before
anything except God existed. “Science” is now saying that God
is no longer needed because quantum physics claims that it is possible
for the universe to be created spontaneously out of nothing. But in order
for quantum physics to allow for the creation of something from nothing,
it requires particles known as “quarks.” But the Bible text is talking
about an eternity past before even quarks existed! So who created quarks?
“Science” is embarrassingly silent.
[BACK]
1b. Hebrew בָּרָ֣א, bara', to shape, fashion, or create, always with God as the subject. It is often taught that bara' means to create out of nothing. While it is true that God did create everything from nothing, that is not the meaning of the word, and so it may not be legitimately used to form the basis of a point of doctrine. The primitive root bara' has the basic meaning “to create.” It differs from עָשָׂה 'asah, “to fashion, accomplish” in that 'asah primarily emphasizes the shaping of an object or accomplishment of an objective, whereas bara' primarily emphasizes the initiation of something new. [BACK]
1c. Two Jewish versions of this phrase are somewhat different and create a different sort of picture in the mind when they are read. The Sefaria reads “When God began to create the heaven and earth …” and the Artscroll Translation reads “In the beginning of God’s creating the heaven and earth …” It is critically important to study the text very carefully and open your mind to the possibility that the Hebrew text does not alway say what we have been taught and conditioned to believe it says. [BACK]
2a. The word translated “was” may also be translated “became.” If this is the case, it opens the possibility of a pre-Adamic creation over which Lucifer, the Anointed Cherub, was appointed ruler. This is known as the “Gap Theory,” which has many problems discussed in this article. It is of little importance when Lucifer fell, only that he did. (Ezek 28:13-14). [BACK]
2b. Unformed and empty. Hebrew תֹ֙הוּ֙ וָבֹ֔הוּ tohu v'bohu. Tohu, unformed, denotes a total state of confusion and lack of order; a condition of utter chaos; bohu indicates a void or emptiness, a total waste. [BACK]
2c. Spirit: Hebrew רוּחַ, Ruach is the same word for breath or wind. In correct Trinitarian theology there are absolutely not three separate Gods, as some would understand it, but rather there is one, and only one, absolutely indivisible and eternally unchangeable God as declared in the Shema, (Deut. 6:4) Who, from our extremely limited understanding, appears to function or manifest as three primary “Persons” — the Father (haAbba), the Son (haBen), and the Holy Spirit (Ruach haKodesh). HaAbba is all the fullness of HaShem[GN] invisible; HaBen is all the fullness of HaShem manifested; Ruach HaKodesh is all the fullness of HaShem acting immediately upon creation. Thus, what the Father decrees, the Son declares, and the Spirit executes. In the first two verses of the Torah, in fact of the entire Bible, we have the first indication of God’s triune nature. (MORE HERE) [BACK]
2d. The picture here is of a mother bird flying stationary above a nest full of chicks. Many think that when Yeshua walked on the surface of the sea of Galilee, He was reenacting the time when, as pure spirit, He hovered over the primordial oceans of the newly-formed and featureless earth. [BACK]
3. “Let there be light,“ Hebrew יְהִ֣י (yə·hî) א֑וֹר (’ō·wr); literally, “Light, be!” HaAbba (the Father) decreed that there would be light, HaBen (the Son, also called the Word, or Greek Logos, in Greek philosophy the eternally pre-existing intelligence) declared (spoke) the Father’s decree, and Ruach HaKodesh (the Spirit) brought light into being from nothing through the power of the Son’s spoken Word. Astrophysics claims that following the “Big Bang” the first particles to exist were photons, so that for the very earliest portion of the Creation event there was nothing but light. [BACK]
5. The phrase translated “first day” can also be rendered as “one day” or “day one.” Note that in the creation account, “day one” begins with evening followed by morning. Thus in the Hebrew method of time reckoning, the day begins and ends at sunset. Since the Torah clearly states that this day and the five which immediately follow all begin with evening followed by morning, we can safely assume that “day” refers to a single 24-hour day. In the phrase, “The earth was unformed and empty” in verse 2, some say that the word “was” (הָיָה, hayah can also be translated as “became,” leaving the possibility of a vast expanse of time between verse 1 and verse 2. This “accommodates” the so-called “Gap Theory” of creation, which has many problems discussed in this article. I do not personally subscribe to the Gap Theory, but you are certainly welcome to disagree with me. [BACK]
6. Expanse: Hebrew רָקִ֖יעַ, raqiya', an extended solid surface, a support, base, or firmament. This suggests that originally there was a solid enclosure of ice around the entire planet literally separating the waters below it from the waters above it. It is theorized that much of the water from the Flood of Genesis 7 came from this shell of ice suddenly melting. The fact that it is now known that cosmic radiation is the leading cause of aging supports the idea that because this shell of ice was very effective at filtering out radiation, people typically lived 600 years or longer before the flood. Since reptiles continue growing during their entire life span, this may also explain how reptiles grew extremely large before the flood. Consider how large a Komodo dragon, for example, might grow if it lived to be 500 or 600 years old. [BACK]
8. Sky or heavens: Hebrew שָׁמַ֫יִם, shamayim. [BACK]
11a. Hebrew דֶּ֫שֶׁא, deshe; grass, new grass, green herb, (non-edible) vegetation. [BACK]
11b. Herb: Hebrew עֵ֫שֶׂב, edible herbs, vegetables, edible plants. [BACK]
11c. “After their kind”: מִין, min, species? (maybe, but I don’t think so). I have rendered this phrase as “according to its/their kind” throughout. God ordained that each life form reproduces within its own particular “kind.” Science has created six “taxonomic categories” of all living things (in descending order largest grouping to smallest): Kingdom, Phylum/Division, Class, Order, Genus, and Species. If biblical “kind” refers to the “genus” level, new species or sub-species (variations on the original species) may develop from environmental conditions. However, science has yet to produce a single iota of evidence that one species has ever transformed into another. If “kind” refers to genus, then Noah had a lot fewer animals to deal with.
Groups of living organisms belong in the same created 'kind' if they have descended from the same ancestral gene pool. This does not preclude new species because this represents a partitioning of the original gene pool. Information is lost or conserved not gained. A new species could arise when a population is isolated and inbreeding occurs. By this definition a new species is not a new 'kind' but a further partitioning of an existing 'kind'. [“according to its kind”, לְמִינ֔וֹ (lə·mî·nōw) Strong’s Hebrew 2233 defined at biblehub.com/strongs/ genesis/1-11.htm, accessed 27 June 2021] [BACK]
14. This does not mean that God created the sun, moon, and stars after He created the plants. It does mean, however, that He specifically ordained that humanity should use them to tell time and to “mark seasons, days, and years.” That is, to serve as the basis for our calendar and the timing of the Moadim, or Appointed Times of YeHoVaH. [BACK]
26. Consider for just a moment what it means to be created in the image and likeness of God. What does man have that all the other creatures do not (so far as we know)? We have self-awareness — the ability to have “conversations” with ourselves, like, “Oh my! What was I thinking?” Of course “made in the image of God” cannot possibly mean that God is a bipedal humanoid. God is invisible (Rom 1:20; Col 1:15; 1Tim.1:17), but He is able to take any form He desires: a burning bush, a humanoid (the Angel of Yehovah, Yeshua), a pillar of fire, a pillar of smoke, etc. So His “image and likeness” cannot be referring to visible, physical attributes. But God is sentient; He has intellect, will, and emotion. Mankind is sentient: we have intellect, will, and emotion. God is tri-partite: He exists invisibly as the Father; He manifest visibly and physically as the Son; His Spirit interacts directly with His creation. Man is tri-partite: we exist invisibly as mind, will, and emotion; we exist visibly in a physical body of muscle, bone, and blood; we exist spiritually as that part of us which interacts directly with our Creator. For a simple example, GO HERE. [BACK]
28. Dominion, Hebrew רדה, radah, is to have dominion, rule, subjugate. Adam was created to rule over the earth and everything in it. “Ruling over” includes the responsibility for properly caring for that which is ruled over. [BACK]
31a. As God finished each phase of creation, He paused, looked at what He had created, and declared that it was good. But after He created humanity, He declared that it was very good. [BACK]]
31b. Nuclear physicist Gerald L. Schroeder, Ph.D., has demonstrated in The Hidden Face of God: Science Reveals the Ultimate Truth (May 9, 2002) how by using Einstein’s Theory of Relativity he has calculated that when viewed from the point of creation looking outward (God’s perspective) the Bible’s six days of creation are identical to the 14 billion years since the “Big Bang” as viewed from earth looking back toward the center of the universe.
“We look at the universe, and say, ‘How old is the universe? Looking back in time, the universe is approximately 14 billion years old.’ That’s our view of time and those years went by. But what is the Bible’s view of those billions of years looking forward from the beginning? How does it see time? …
“We look back in time, and measure of the universe to be 14 billion years old. But as every scientist knows, when we say the universe is 14 billion years old, there’s another half of the sentence that we rarely bother to state. The universe is 14 billion years old as measured from the time-space coordinates of the earth, that is, from our current position in the universe.
“The key is that from the creation of the universe to the creation of the soul of Adam, the Bible looks forward in time, from time-space coordinates when the universe was vastly smaller than it is today. Since then, the universe has expanded out. Space stretches, and that stretching of space totally changes the perception of time. …
“Today, we look back in time and we see approximately 14 billion years of history and those years went by. But how would they be perceived from the Bible’s perspective of time? Looking forward from when the universe was very small – billions of times smaller – the Bible teaches that six days passed. In truth, they both are correct. … The biblical text shows us (and the Talmud confirms) that the soul of Adam was created five and a half days after the big bang creation. That is a half day before the termination of the sixth day. At that moment the cosmic calendar ceases and an earth based calendar starts. How would we see those days stretched by a million million? Five and a half days times a million million, gives us five and a half million million days. Dividing that by 365 days in a year, comes out to be 15 billion years. NASA gives a value of just under 14 billion years. Considering the many approximations, and that the Bible works with only six periods of time, the agreement to within a few percent is extraordinary. The universe is billions of years old but from the biblical perspective those billions of years compress into five and a half, 24 hour days.”
The calculations are also explaned on his website, geraldschroeder.com/wordpress/?page_id=53, last accessed 09 August 2020. [BACK]
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