The Beginnings

Asher Chee | 27 September 2016

Creation

Biblical History began when God created the world at around 4000 BCE. When God first created the earth, it was “formless and empty” (1:2). So, over the next six days, he gave it form and filled it up.

Form	Fill
Day 1: Light and Darkness; Day and Night (vv. 3–5)	Day 4: Sun, Moon, Stars (vv. 14–19)
Day 2: Sky and Waters (vv. 6–8)	Day 5: Birds, Fish (vv. 20–23)
Day 3: Sea and Land with Plans (vv. 9–13)	Day 6: Animals, Human Beings (24–28)

On the sixth day of Creation, God created the first man, Adam, and gave him dominion over the earth (1:26–30; 2:7). Seeing that “it is not good that the man be alone,” God created the first woman, Eve, to be “a helper corresponding to him” (2:18, 23). God gave Adam the Cultural Mandate (1:28).

The Fall

God had commanded Adam not to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil lest he die (2:17). However, the serpent successfully tempted Eve to eat from the Tree, the fruit of which she then gave to Adam, who ate it also, thus disobeying God (3:1–6). For Adam’s disobedience, God drove the First Couple out from the Garden of Eden (3:23).

The First Couple gave birth to their first two sons, Cain and Abel (4:1–2). However, Cain killed Abel, and was driven out from the land by God (4:8–16). Adam and Eve would continue to give birth to more children, who would in turn also give birth to more children. Thus, at least they obeyed the Cultural Mandate to “be fruitful and multiply!”

The Flood

It was at this time when man began multiplying that the “sons of God” bore children with the “daughters of man,” thus producing as offspring the Nəphiliym (which means “wonderful ones” in Hebrew) (6:4). God saw this as an act of rebellion, and an outward indication of how sinful man was on the inside (6:5). Because they corrupt beyond hope, God wanted to destroy mankind and the rest of Creation (6:6–7).

However, one man, Noah, stood out from among the rest and “found grace in the eyes of God” (6:8). God reset Creation by sending a flood which destroyed all living things except Noah, his family, and the animals he had taken on board with him on the ark (Genesis 7–8). When the floodwaters resided, Noah stood upon the dry ground of the new earth as the head of a new human race, the new master of the new Creation. God blessed Noah, and re-affirmed the Cultural Mandate to him (9:1–7).

Chronology of the Flood
In the 600th year of Noah’s life, on the second month, seventeenth day, the flood began (7:11). It rained for forty days and forty nights (7:12, 17). On the seventh month, seventeenth day, 150 days after the flood started, the waters had receded such that the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat (7:24–8:4). Forty days later, Noah sent out a raven and a dove (8:6–9). Over the next fourteen days, Noah sent out two more doves (8:10–12). In the 601st year of Noah’s life, on the first month, first day, the water had dried up (8:13). On the second month, 27th day, God lets Noah disembark from the ark (8:14–15).

Chronology of the Flood

In the 600th year of Noah’s life, on the second month, seventeenth day, the flood began (7:11).
It rained for forty days and forty nights (7:12, 17).
On the seventh month, seventeenth day, 150 days after the flood started, the waters had receded such that the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat (7:24–8:4).
Forty days later, Noah sent out a raven and a dove (8:6–9).
Over the next fourteen days, Noah sent out two more doves (8:10–12).
In the 601st year of Noah’s life, on the first month, first day, the water had dried up (8:13).
On the second month, 27th day, God lets Noah disembark from the ark (8:14–15).

The Scattering

However, Noah’s first descendants were not the adventurous kind. They built a city, a comfort zone for themselves, so that they would not have to spread out over the face of the earth like God wanted them to (11:3–4). But God, being God, always has his way of getting his way. Through the natural process of language evolution, he scattered mankind so that they could more fully exercise dominion over the earth which he had given them, and fulfil the Cultural Mandate.