We begin with the story of creation. God creates everything in six days and rests on the seventh day. This account is found in Genesis 1:1 - 2:3. (The odd thing about the way the chapters and verses are marked is that these divisions are not in any of the earliest manuscripts we have of the Bible. The chapters and verses were added much, much later. And we have no record of why they were divided as they are. So at times, the divisions appear to be very weird. If it had been me, I would have started Genesis 2 at verse 4 of chapter 2. That makes sense to me!)
Beginning with 2:4, we have a second story of creation. It's a different version. Perhaps told by a different person or group than whoever told the creation story as found in chapter 1. Notice that in chapter 1, God is referred to as "God" but in chapter 2 God is referred to as "the LORD God." Notice that the order of the things God created is different in chapter 2 than chapter 1. Notice the way that in chapter 1, many words or phrases are repeated over and over. It's like a poem, if you will. But chapter 2 does not have that same "poetic" feel to it - it reads more like a story. Notice the emphasis or theme of chapter 2 verses chapter 1.
The world as described in chapters 1 and 2 sounds wonderful. Chapter 3? Not so much. Human beings rebel against God in chapter 3. And there are serious consequences... And the story is pretty much downhill from there....
And so we begin our journey through the Bible!
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