GENESIS 1 AND 2 - CONTRADICTIONS?
When I first read Genesis chapters one and two at age 7, in the Church of England school my parent sent me to, I never thought of them as being contradictory with each other. I did not know the full detail truth of Genesis one as I came to find out later when 19 and 20. But one thing I knew was that Genesis one is chronological; it was very clear to me at even 7 years old that it is a 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 chronological events. It is a 7 day week being spoken about. that I had no doubt at all.
I had no problem with genesis chapter two either at a young age.
Through the decades after I was 20, now and again I would hear that Genesis 1 and 2 were contradictory to each other. I never took the time to try and figure out why some people talk such an idea, not until recently.
Now, using some logic, if a person was writing one chapter after another, and wanting people to believe this was inspired and coming from the God of the universe, it would be crazy ill-logical for someone to give a contradiction in shall we say the same breath. It does not make logic sense to claim you are writing from God, inspired, and give right off the bat, a contradiction within the same section, right after each other. That would not give anyone confidence you were writing from a God who was above error and contradictions.
Now even as a kid I somehow knew {I truly believe it was the Spirit of God telling me] that some things in the Bible are chronological and some things, even related to the general same subject are not chronological.
This is the exact case with Genesis chapters one and two.
Another pretty simple rule to read the Bible correctly, is to read and believe the simple verses first; then in their light tackle the harder verses of the same subject. Again even as a kid I could see the straight forward simple to understand verses should be read and believed first on any subject of the Bible.
So with all that in mind, read what happened in the chronological 1 to 6 days of Genesis one.
Coming to the fifth day we have all that is in the sea created, and all that fly in the air. Kinda very logical. Many of the flying birds eat things in the sea; you know, you've seen the birds that come like a dive-bomber down from the air into the sea to catch fish, some can dive down to 50 feet or more to catch fish.
On the sixth day the beasts of the earth are created; AND verse 26 to 28 man and women are created. All this on the sixth day. Then into chapter two, the 7th day is sanctified and God rests from the work He has just done. So we have the 7 days of the week, in chronological order and what was done on each of them. Pretty simple I would say, sure was to me as a kid of 7 years old.
Now we go in in chapter two.
This is where things get "un-chronological" but this is written mainly to AMPLIFY the 6TH DAY; god telling us what else He did with this man and woman He had created on the 6th day of the week.
I will quote from the Farrar Fenton translation: verse 7, "The ever-living God afterwards [after creating the beasts of the earth - on the 6th day - Keith Hunt] formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the life of animals....The ever-living God THEN planted a garden in Eden - in the East - and there He placed the man whom He had formed."
Just reading this as Fenton gives the Hebrew, simply means on the 6th day, after creating man, God makes a garden to just appear....bingo....just with the word of His mouth, there is a garden in a place called Eden. What's so hard for God to do that? The Bible states, "Is there anything too hard for God?" The answer is well...NO! So a garden is created by the command of the ever-living God. Just that simple.
Verse 9. "Out of the ground the ever-living God caused to grow all the trees that were beautiful and good for food, as well as the tree of Lives in the center of the garden; and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil."
It was an orchard God created, and the sense is, as we read the translation from Fenton, it was on the 6th day, same day as God made man, and the garden, that god made an orchard in the garden, as well as the tree of life and tree of the knowledge of good and evil. All then, in context, on the 6th day. What's so hard for god to do that? Not hard at all, He just speaks and it is done....bingo not there one second and there the next second.
Verses 11 - 14; the ever-living God makes a spring in the garden to supply the garden with water. It was divided into four sources, and names are given to them. Wow, no big deal for God; on the 6th day He speaks and it is done....one second not and the next it is. Just that simple for Him.
Verse 15-17. "The ever-living God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden for the purpose of cultivating and taking care of it." Sense is the man was not in the garden, but God took him to the garden, put him in it to look after it. Then god gives some instruction to him about the tree of life and the other "not so good" tree; guess not for if he eats of it he shall die.
Verse 18-20 "The ever-living God also said, 'It is not good for man to be in solitude; I will make a comforter to be with him.' There the ever-living God, who HAD FORMED out of the ground every animal of the field as well as every bird of the skies, took them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man with the living soul called them, that was their name. So the man gave names to all the quadrupeds, and all the birds of the skies, and to all the wild animals; but it was no comfort for the man to be with them."
THIS WAS STILL ON THE 6TH DAY!!
The birds and animals [note some "wild" ones also....wild animals were wild from their creation] which already God had made on the 5th day and on the 6th day, before man was made, came to man to be named. But they did not console man, did not fit with man to really be his comfort.
Verses 21-25 "So the ever-living God threw the man into a stupor, and he slept. And taking one of his ribs, He closed up the flesh in its place. And from the rib, which the ever-living God had taken out of the man, He constructed a woman, and brought her to the man. And the man said, 'This form is bone of my bone, and flesh of my flesh. This shall be called woman, because she was taken from man.'
Man shall therefore leave leave his father and his mother, and shall unite with his wife; and they shall be one body. And they were naked, the man and his wife, but they were not ashamed."
THIS WAS ALL ON THE 6TH DAY!! NO CONTRADICTION AT ALL WITH CHAPTER ONE, JUST A MORE DETAILED ACCOUNT OF WHAT GOD DID ON THE 6TH DAY WITH MAN, AND ALSO HE CREATED WOMAN FROM MAN ON THE SAME 6TH DAY.
WHAT FOLLOWS THAT TAKES PLACE IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN, TILL GOD EXPELLED ADAM AND EVE FROM THE GARDEN, WE ARE NOT TOLD THE TIME FRAME; COULD HAVE BEEN DAYS, COULD HAVE BEEN WEEKS, COULD HAVE BEEN MONTHS. THAT SECTION DOES NOT MATTER IN WHAT WE ARE DISCUSSING.
WHAT MATTERS IS I HAVE JUST PROVED TO YOU THERE IS NO CONTRADICTION IN THE FIRST SECTION OF GENESIS TWO WITH GENESIS CHAPTER ONE - NO CONTRADICTION WHAT-SO-EVER!!
IT ALL HARMONIZES WHEN YOU UNDERSTAND GOD NOT ONLY CREATED MAN AND WOMAN ON THE SIX DAY, BUT THE GARDEN OF EDEN AS WELL, AND THE FRUIT TREES IN THE GARDEN AND THE SPRING OF WATER TO WATER THE GARDEN.
LIKE I'VE SAID THROUGH THE DECADES I WOULD HEAR NOW AND AGAIN HOW SOME WOULD SAY GENESIS ONE AND THE FIRST PART OF GENESIS TWO, CONTRADICTED EACH OTHER; I WOULD SCRATCH MY HEAD AND THINK, "HOW ON EARTH ARE THEY FIGURING A CONTRADICTION HERE, I SEE NO CONTRADICTION AT ALL."
NOW YOU SHOULD SEE NONE ALSO, IF YOU THOUGHT THERE WAS, BECAUSE SOME PEOPLE PUT THE CART BEFORE THE HORSE, OR GOT THINGS SO TWISTED UP, THEY COULDN'T SEE THE TREES FOR THE FOREST.
NOW YOU KNOW THE TRUTH OF THE MATTER.
Keith Hunt (July 28 2014)
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