GENESIS 1–3, READ CLOSELY

In the beginning, God came to dwell with man.

The Bible's first pages, read the way the rest of the Bible reads them: a covenant world being founded, in the language of a temple.

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We affirm that God created the material universe. The question this site asks is different: what is Genesis 1–3 actually about?

ONE EDEN · ONE HEBREW DAY — EVENING, THEN MORNING
NIGHT SCENE 1 · GENESIS 1

In the beginning

A world framed, filled, and rested in. Light shows up three days before any sun. The six days read like the Bible's own table of contents.

 ✦ THIS SCENE'S SKY — THE HEAVENS · 15 FIGURES LIT
SUNRISE SCENE 2 · GENESIS 2

Eden, the sanctuary

A man formed from dust and brought inside. A garden that faces east, a river running out, and a priest's job in two verbs. Read it with Exodus open beside it.

 ✦ THIS SCENE'S SKY — THE RIVER OF EDEN
DUSK SCENE 3 · GENESIS 3

The breach

One question turns a gift into a grievance. A guard takes his post at the gate. And three mercies walk out the east door with the exiles.

 ✦ THIS SCENE'S SKY — THE SERPENT
DAWN — AND NO MORE NIGHT SCENE 4 · THE LAST ADAM

The garden at dawn

The gardener Mary mistook him for. The breath of John 20. The tree, the river, and gates that never shut. Every thread from the first three scenes, gathered here.

 ✦ THIS SCENE'S SKY — THE TREE OF LIFE
✦ WALK THE WHOLE DAY →

Every word study, evening to dawn, one unbroken path.

The journey opens with two minutes on talking foxes, because that's how old true stories work. Already know? Go straight to the first sentence.

Bring the verse that's bothering you

Most people don't come to Genesis with a theory. They come with a verse somebody handed them. Start there.

Genesis 1:1 Doesn't "created" mean out of nothing? Genesis 1:1 Isn't "the earth" the planet? Genesis 1:3 Light before the sun? Genesis 1:14 Seasons: weather, or feast days? Genesis 1:26 Was Adam the first human? Genesis 2:17 "In the day you eat, you die." Did he? Genesis 3:1 Is the serpent Satan? Genesis 3:15 Who crushes the serpent's head? 2 Peter 3:10 Doesn't the earth burn up? Revelation 21:1 A new heaven and earth: what's new?

Not on the list? Ask the Scribe. It answers only from this site's pages, and it shows you which ones.