Genesis 1:1 through 6:8 is only five chapters and a few verses, but there is so much packed into this first potion. It covers the creation, the fall, Cain and Abel, the genealogy of Adam down to Noah, and the mention of the Nephilim. We’ll go through all of that with the upcoming posts, with just a summary listed here.
The account in Genesis shows that the creation took place over six days and that God rested on the seventh. If that is six literal days, then the earth is only about 6000 years old. Some believers accept the ‘billions of years’ theory and say that Genesis is only allegorical or poetic. Others like to use the words of Peter where he reminds his readers that a day is like a thousand years, which means that the creation took 6000 years, making the earth about 12,000 years old. Both of these viewpoints run contrary to other passages in the Bible, making them untenable. But there’s a reasonable explanation for believing in a literal six days of creation. The creation will be covered in three posts.
Adam was the first created human, with Eve taken from his side on the same day. Not long after, the serpent deceived Eve, and she ate the forbidden fruit. Adam also partook, and sin entered the world. God clothed them to cover their nakedness and banished them from the Garden.
Cain and Abel were born, and they grew to be a gardener and shepherd, respectively. They both brought offerings to God, but God only accepted Abel’s offering. Cain killed Abel out of jealousy, and God banished him from Eden.
Eve then bore Seth, and the genealogy of Adam continues from Seth. While we know of the descendants of Cain, Genesis 4 only recounts six generations from Cain. Seth’s line is told in Genesis 5 down to Noah and his three sons.
Chapter six starts with the mention of the Nephilim. There is no English translation for Nephilim, so it stands to reason that there is much controversy and debate over who or what they are. There are two predominant theories. The first is that the Nephilim are the offspring of angels and human women. The other is that they are the offspring of the godly line of Seth and the ungodly daughters of Cain’s line.
There’s a lot to digest in this portion, so let’s get started with the creation account.