Elul 25, 5783; from sunset September 10, 2023, to sunset September 11, 2023

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.  In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.  And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. – John 1:1-5 (NKJ)

Today, according to Jewish tradition, is the anniversary of the first day of creation.  In the verses above, the Apostle John reminds us that Jesus was right there with His Father and the Holy Spirit.

The beginning seems like an appropriate day to start a new blog focusing on biblical events.  Today in the Bible grew out of a desire to better understand the biblical calendar. A desire to connect with God and the events, people, and places mentioned in the Bible. By placing as many of those events as possible on the biblical calendar, we hope to do just that.  Some events are specific to the day, some are placed by Jewish or Christian tradition, some are a best guess, and some are seasonal – an “it would have happened sometime around now” kind of thing.  Let’s read the text for today…

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.  The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep.  And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.  Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.  And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness.  God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night.  So the evening and the morning were the first day. – Genesis 1:1-5 (NKJ)

“Bereshit bara Elohim et-hashamayim ve’et-ha’aretz.”

What a great first verse to memorize if you’re interested in learning Hebrew. In this blog, we’ll occasionally touch on Hebrew words. It’ll be fun to expand our vocabulary and add to the depth of our studies. Let’s read these verses again and, this time, plug in a few Hebrew words.

In the beginning (בְּרֵאשִׁית – bereshit), God (אֱלֹהִים – Elohim) created (ָּבָּרָא – bara) the heavens (הַשָּׁמַיִם – hashamayim ) and the earth (הָאָרֶץ – ha’artez). The earth (הָאָרֶץ – ha’artez) was without form (תֹהוּ – tohu), and void (וָבֹהוּ – vavohu); and darkness (חשֶׁךְ – choshech) was on the face of the deep (תְהוֹם – tehom). And the Spirit of God (רוּחַ אֱלֹהִים – Ruach Elohim) was hovering over the face of (עַל-פְּנֵי – al-penei) the waters (הַמָּיִם – hamayim).

“And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.”

Let’s take a closer look at the word “Spirit.”  In Hebrew this word is רוּחַ – ruach (pronounced like “roo-ahkh”).  Ruach can be translated as wind, breath, or spirit. In John chapter three, Jesus compares the “wind” to the “spirit” during his nighttime meeting with Nicodemus.

The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” – John 3:8 (NKJ)

We’ll return to the all-important chapter of John 3 in a minute; but, first, let’s finish out our verses in Genesis…

Then God said, “Let there be light (אוֹר – or)”; and there was light (אוֹר – or).  And God saw the light (אוֹר – or), that it was good (טוֹב – tov); and God divided the light (אוֹר – or) from the darkness (חשֶׁךְ – choshech).  God called the light Day (יוֹם – yom), and the darkness He called Night (לָיְלָה – lailah).  So the evening and the morning were the first day.

“This is the ‘history’ of the heavens and the earth…”

If we move a little further on in the Bible, Genesis 2:4 explains, “This is the “history” of the heavens and the earth.” Depending on which version of the Bible you are reading, the word “history” may be translated as story, account, or generations.  The Hebrew word is “toldot” (תוֹלְדוֹת).  Toldot comes from the verb ילד (“yalad”).  The TWOT lexicon tells us that yalad means “to bear, beget, bring forth, or travail,” in other words, “to birth a child.” The Young’s Literal translation of the Bible picks up on this meaning and renders…

These are births of the heavens and of the earth in their being prepared, in the day of Jehovah God’s making earth and heavens. – Genesis 2:4 (YLT)

With this understanding in mind, let’s go back and review Genesis 1:1-3, reading between the lines to see an alternate interpretation of the text.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And, like a baby in the womb, the earth was without form and void (tohu vavohu), surrounded by waters (mayim) and existing in darkness (choshech). The Ruach Elohim was hovering overhead, waiting to give the baby its first “breath.” And, like a baby departing the birth canal, there was light for the first time.

If we return to the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus, we see that it, too, revolves around the topic of birth, that is…being born again…and a separation of light and darkness. Let’s read their conversation in its entirety.

There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”

Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”

Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, `You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

Nicodemus answered and said to Him, “How can these things be?”

Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things? Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.” – John 3:2-21 (NKJ)

When we believe in Jesus as our Messiah, we are like a new creation. We don’t have to be the person we’ve been in the past. It’s a new start, a new birth.