Bible In A Year: Genesis (Chapters 1 & 2)

In the beginning, God created. In this episode, we explore Genesis 1–2 and discover how the creation story reveals God’s purpose for humanity. Made in the image of God, we were designed to reflect His character, steward creation, and bring life and order to the world. Genesis reminds us we are not accidents, but intentional image bearers called to live out God’s design.

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome And Yearlong Bible Plan
• 1:46 How To Read Genesis As Story
• 4:04 Formless And Void Reframed
• 8:28 God Saw It Was Good
• 12:03 Naming, Dominion, And Purpose
• 16:20 Separating Waters And Making Land
• 20:45 After Their Kind Versus God’s Image
• 26:30 Lights As Signs And “Mashal” Ruler
• 33:40 Fruitful, Multiply, And True Likeness

Transcript

Phil Porter: 0:00

You're listening to Teach Me the Bible podcast. Our mission is to help the people of God understand the Word of God. Join us each Monday and Thursday for new episode releases. Listen to our full library of content at teachmethebible.com or by downloading the Teach Me the Bible app from any app store. You're listening to Teach Me the Bible Podcast. Hey everybody, welcome back to Teach Me the Bible Podcast. I'm Phil Porter here with Dr. David Klingler. Last week we went through uh kind of an overview. Uh you are listening on a Thursday, and that is on purpose because we plan on going through the entire Bible this year. Uh and this is uh episode number one, which is uh Genesis uh chapters one and two. So it's gonna be uh the starting point of a journey that all of us are going on, including myself, uh, to learn uh about this story. And so I'm I'm definitely excited and ready to start. Uh many of us at the beginning of the year always make things to start things, and it we eventually uh have high hopes and we we fall off. Uh but we want to tell you, we will guarantee you this every Thursday we'll be here.

Dr. David Klingler: 1:11

Yeah. Many of us who made New Year's resolution, we've already ditched it. So absolutely. If you're hanging in here, this is week two, you're doing good, right? So stick with us. You know, yeah, you've at least put one foot in front of the other. That's right.

Phil Porter: 1:22

As uh as some would say. And so um today we're gonna start there. And uh, if you want to dive deeper into other books and things that we offer teaching the Bible, you can always go to teach me the Bible Podcast.org or dot com, or you can uh also download our app from any app store that you would like to. Uh but today we're gonna be uh starting the story, so let's do it. Good, yeah.

Dr. David Klingler: 1:43

So um stories begin in the beginning. Isn't that good? So profound. Yeah, that's just profound. Yeah. Uh I get paid to state the obvious, right? Um so Genesis is what we're gonna talk about today is Genesis chapter one and Genesis chapter two. These are the this is the quote setting of the Bible, a setting of a story. What the setting does is it it orients the reader to to the situation. Everything before the conflict or the problem that comes into the story is the setting. Now, the author controls the setting, right? So whenever we we read a story, you know, uh last week we talked about the who's down in who will Dr. Seuss controls everything that the reader sees in his story. Okay, and now uh Moses is the writer, Israel is the reader, but Moses is going to control everything that he presents to the reader. And that's important. It's important to realize. Uh, we were talking before we uh began about a movie, and you watch a movie and and you watch it again, you watch again about the third, fourth, fifth time, the tenth time, the twentieth time, you're still seeing new things. Absolutely. It was there the whole time, it was intentionally there the whole time. You just didn't see it. But it's that doesn't mean the author didn't intend you for you to not see it for the first 20 times. It's just you didn't see it. That's your fault, not the because um uh in story is very different, literature is very different than movie, because movie, there's a lot of things in a screen capture uh that has to kind of fill the you know, kind of fill the frame. Yeah. Uh but what's important in that frame will show up again and again and again, right? Uh so it is also in story. But here the author gets to show you through his words, you only see what the author tells you. And that's a big difference between uh narrative literature and movie, right? And scene. And so uh, you know, you think about you go from a from narrative to a to a play or to a presentation of it. Now it's interpretive. You got to present the things to the to the see or to the audience in a different way. But in story, all you have is the words. Does that make sense? And so every word counts, every word matters, and it's all there for a reason. And so Moses begins in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and void. Now, this is we for those of us who've been around the Bible a little bit, these are pretty common verses, and and it's almost like we read them so fast they don't make any sense. Uh, I remember years ago I was looking at the Septuagint translation. I said, okay, I'm gonna read through the Bible in Hebrew, and and uh, and of course, when you translate it in you, that's exactly how you translate it. The the earth was formless and void. But then when I read it in the in the Greek, it didn't translate it the same way. It said, uh the earth had not yet been formed and wasn't it hadn't it hadn't appeared. Of course it hasn't. Why not? Um because darkness was on the face of the deep and the the uh the the waters covered the surface. The land hadn't appeared. Well, duh. The earth was formless in that it hasn't been formed and it was void. That means it wasn't there yet. Why wasn't it there yet? Because it hadn't been formed. See, see how this works. Yeah, well duh. Uh formless and void. We I don't know, we tend to think uh, you know, it was like chaos or you know, whatever that's taught. So no, no, just the Moses is saying the the land hadn't been made, hadn't been formed yet. The water was on the surface of the earth. That's the truth. Uh and the Spirit of God was was moving over the face of the waters, and God said, Let there be light. And there was light. And God saw that the light was good. Now that God saw that the light was good, that's really important language because anything that's repeated in story uh is important, right? And we don't know that it's gonna be repeated yet, but it's going to be in verse 10. God saw that it was good. Verse uh verse 12, God saw that it was good. Verse 18, God saw that it was good. Verse 21, God saw that it was good. Uh verse 25, God saw that it was good. Uh, God saw that it was very good. And so uh I think this means something, right? God saw that it was good, God saw that it was good. Um uh and so uh God is pointing out, He's determining what's good and what's not, and and you know, let there be light, and God saw that the light was good. Now, one of the things that happens in story things are introduced. It's like you watch the first scene of a movie, it never makes any sense, right? Um all of us know someone, you're watching a movie with someone, and they say, Wait, what's going on? I don't know what it's the first scene, watch the movie. Yeah, the second scene has something to do with the first scene. You you don't know what you gotta watch and see how this is gonna play out. And so um, so the meaning doesn't change. Your understanding changes as you watch from scene to scene. Does that make sense? And so you're realizing, oh, that's that's why that was there. Okay. And so we don't know what this light's doing, we don't know this God's all that was good yet. But as we continue to quote watch the movie or read the story, it's gonna make more and more sense as we go. And so uh so don't kind of backload this. Don't take all of your theology and all of your views of this, that, and the other thing and dump it in here. In the beginning, God, no, God's sovereign and he's omniscient and omniscient. You don't know that yet. You don't know anything yet, other than there's this God, and uh he created the heavens and the earth. And the earth had not yet appeared, because water was over the face of the earth or face of the land or the face of the planet, and the Spirit of God was moving over the waters. And then he said, Let there be light. And there was light. This is all you know, you don't know anything else, right? And so so don't bring all your systematic theology in here. Just just read. Just read the story and keep it going as a story. Let's let's approach the Bible as as a story. So God saw the light, and that it was good, and he separated the light from the darkness, and he called the light day, and the darkness he called night. And there was evening and there was morning. Day one. Yom, day one. Uh now, notice uh that he called the light day and the darkness he called night. In verse eight, he called the expanse heaven, he called the dry land earth, he called the waters sea, he's calling things all, he's naming things all the way through this chapter one. Now, uh what he doesn't name in chapter one are the animals that he makes. In chapter two, uh the Lord is going to present these animals, he's going to bring these animals in front of uh of Adam, and whatever uh he would call them, that's what their name was. Okay. So God has dominion, he rules over the uh, you know, the the earth and the heavens and the sea, um, and he fills the heavens and the earth and the sea. We're gonna get to that here in chapter one, but he doesn't name the things in the heavens and the earth and the sea because God creates man to rule over the birds, the ear, the fish, the sea, the beasts in the field, and so uh to rule over uh and naming go hand in hand. Does that make sense? So we don't know that yet because we're just in verse five. Yeah. But I want to point that out. God called the the light day, the darkness he called night, and there was evening, there was morning day one. Then God said, let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let them separate the waters from the waters. The the uh the waters from the waters. And in Hebrew, waters is Mayam, in uh in heavens is Shemaiam, right? So it's the from the same root word, the waters and the waters. He separates the Mayam from the Shemaiam. That's what where this thing is headed. And God made the expanse, and he separated the waters which were uh below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse, and it was so, and he called the expanse Shemaiim, heavens. And there was evening and there was morning day two. Notice that there's going to be seven days. Now, remember, Moses is writing this to Israel, and on the seventh day the Lord is going to rest from his work, and this is going to kind of set the template for Israel's uh week. They're going to work for six days, but on the seventh day they're going to rest as well, because the Lord rested on the seventh day. So this is where the Sabbath comes from, right? From these seventh days and the seventh day of rest. Right. Um, and then God said, Let their waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, uh, and let dry land appear. And it was so. And God called the dry land earth, Erit. Uh the the earth had not yet been created. It was formless and void in verse 2. Now it's been created. How is it created? Because the waters were gathered together in one place. They were kavah to gather together. It's called a mikveh, is uh is like a bath. Uh um the there were mikvas uh in front of the temple where they bathed themselves. Uh it was just a gathering of water. It's where the water gets. So it's the same word, right? The waters are gathered together. And the the gathered waters, uh, the Lord called seas, right? And the Lord, uh, so he called the dry land earth, uh, and the gathering of the waters he called the seas, and God saw that it was good. And then God said, Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit after their kind, with seed in them on the earth, and it was so. Now, this this is another phrase that shows up repeatedly, after their kind, after their kind. And so uh so the uh the the plants are going to reproduce uh yielding seed according to their kind or after their kind, and and the animals are going to reproduce after their kind, after their kind, after their kind. Hold on to that because um, you know, the uh the the wingbirds are going to be made after their kind, the fish multiply after their kind, the bird, the animals on the on the land, the living creatures after their kind, the creeping things, the beasts of the earth after their kind. God made all the beasts of the earth after their kind, everything that creeps on the ground, it's repeated again and again and again. But then God says, Let us make man in our image according to our likeness, according to our kind. In other words, so uh so animals reproduce animals. Fish produce fish, and chickens produce chickens and so on and so forth. Yeah, so yeah. Uh but man was not to reproduce according to his kind, but man was to repro reproduce according to God's kind, to do, to be an image bearer, to represent him. And that's going to be important, right? And so that after uh their kind thing is uh is important. And so the the it was so the earth produces vegetation according to its kind, and God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, day three. Uh and then God said, Let the lights and the expanse of the heavens uh separate the day from the night, and let them be as signs for seasons and for days and for years. Uh, let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light uh on the earth. And it was so. And God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night. And he made the stars also. Okay, so this is where the Lord makes the sun and the moon and the stars. The sun and the moon and the stars were there. It says, Why? Uh let them be as uh signs to separate the day and the night, and to be signs for seasons and for days and for for years. Um verse 16 uh the great lights, the the greater light to uh to govern the day. Uh this is an interesting word, this govern word. It's the Hebrew word mashal, um uh which means uh in every other Semitic language and every other place that we find this throughout the ancient Near East, it were the word means to be like. Um and there's a debate on in the Hebrew Bible, this word takes on this meaning of to rule or to govern. Okay. Uh and the question is, is that unique to Hebrew? What why is it there? I think the reason it's there is because uh this light is a bee-like light. The light's already there, right? So the sun isn't the product, it isn't the first produce of light, the light was already there. And as the story develops, we're gonna see light equals life. Light, right? So and darkness is death, and that's gonna develop through the whole story. Um think about the sun. What would happen if the sun went out? Well, uh, the sun you know gives food for the plants, the plants produce oxygen for us, we eat that, you know. So if the sun goes out, all life dies. It's a bee-like light. Does that make sense? Right. Um now that word mashal um is going to be used of a ruler. Right? Um now remember, God is going to make man to be an image bearer, to be like God, to do what? To rule. Let them rule over the birds of the air, the fish of sea, the beasts in the field. So God's gonna create man. So God rules, He's the ruler of the universe, and he creates man to be like him, in that man was to uh be a be like, uh a little g God, right? Um Jesus is gonna say this, the Psalms say this, um uh to to represent this creator God and to be like him, to be an image bearer. Now the problem is man's not gonna do it, and so the story is going to look for one who's going to come on the scene who is a be like one, a mashal, that's the word, a a ruler, uh an exact representation of the character of the father one. So this looking for this mashal uh is gonna be pretty important through the whole story. For unto us a child is born, the government will rest upon his shoulders, Isaiah chapter 9, Micah 5, 2, uh oh Bethlehem of Bethel, too small among the uh the tribes, uh one will come forth from you who is a ruler. That's the that's our word, a mashal, a ruler, a bee like God one. Okay, so that that's uh just an introduction to that word, and and uh so this is a bee-like light. Uh and there was evening and there was uh uh morning day four, uh evening and morning. Uh we usually think of a day as morning and begins in the morning and ends at night, but but not in uh not in Hebrew Bible, not in the Old Testament. Uh the day begins in the evening and it uh goes to the uh to the morning, right? And so this is where Shabbat, you know, this is the where they get the the Sabbath and it begins in the evening. Anyway, so um chapter one, verse 20, let the waters teem with swarms of living things. And so so here the Lord fills the heavens and the earth and the sea with all the living creatures. Uh, and they're all going to multiply according to their kind, according to their time uh kind, the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, the fish of the sea, the beasts of the field, all multiply according to their kind. And God saw that it was good. And in verse 22, he tells them, be fruitful and multiply. So they're to multiply according to their kind, according to their kind. Now, the Lord's gonna tell man to be fruitful and multiply as well. But man is not to multiply according to his kind, but according to God's kind. And that's introducing the story. This is what's gonna happen in the story. Um, man's gonna reproduce according to his kind rather than according to uh to God's kind. He's going to reproduce those who do what's good and right in their own eyes rather than reproducing those who do what's good and right in the eyes of the Lord, right? And so, uh, and so hold on to that because that's gonna come right into the story. Uh, it's important that we cover all the details here in the first two chapters, because this is the setting, right? And we'll pick it up uh here uh a little faster. But uh chapter one, verses twenty six through twenty-eight, key verses. Let us make man in our image according to our likeness, and let him rule over the birds of the air, and over the uh the uh cattle of the earth, and over the creeping things on the earth, and all the fish of the sea, right? Uh and God created man in his own image. In the image of God, he created him, male and female, he created them. Now we haven't made the female yet, so that's kind of a foreshadowing, right? It's it's given a heads up. Chapter two is going to go back and say, let me tell you how he made man and woman. Uh, and so end of chapter one, God uh tells uh the man that uh that uh he has been given all of the the the uh the plants for food. Uh and they're allowed, you know, he can eat uh everything from uh from the plants is food for you. Um and God saw all that he had made, that it was very good, and there was evening and there was morning the sixth day. Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all of their hosts. The word host there, that Lord of hosts, um, it's the uh it's where used for armies, the the Lord of the armies, the Lord of hosts. Hosts can refer to the angels or to the stars, and and the book of Job actually connects those two. The seventh day God completed the work which he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done, and he blessed. Blessed the seventh day and sanctified it because he'd rested from all of his work, which God had created and made. And so this is Israel needs to know this because coming up in Exodus and Leviticus and Numbers and Deuteronomy and the law, the seventh day, the Sabbath is going to be the day of rest. And so, right from the very beginning, the reason why they do what they do is because God does what he does. Chapter 2. Now, this is the account of the heavens and the earth on the day they're created. God made the heavens and the earth. Now there was no shrub. So he's gone back. So there was no shrub. And what happens here is God, uh verse uh verse 7, he formed the man, formed Adam out of the dust of the ground. Now, one uh thing to note here. All the way through chapter 1, chapter 2, and chapter 3. Whenever your English Bible you're translating says says man, then the Lord God formed man out of the dust of the ground. That word is Adam. Okay, they're they're just translating it, right? So God formed Adam out of the dust of the ground, and he breathed into the nostrils of uh the breath of life, and Adam, man, became a living being. And God planted a garden east of Eden, and there he placed Adam, uh, whom he had formed. Uh, and out of the ground he caused every tree to grow which is pleasing uh for food, and the tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Now the river flowed uh out of Eden to water the garden, uh, and from there it was divided into four rivers, and it goes through these four rivers. Then God took the man, took Adam, verse 15, uh, and he put him in the garden of Eden to cultivate it and to keep it. Let's take a moment on this verse. The Lord God took Adam and he knowed him. Now that's a name that we're gonna come back up. He uh He rested him. That the Noah means rest. They translate it put, uh He knowed him, he rested him in the garden uh to they translate uh New American Standard to cultivate it or to serve it, Avad, and to shamar, keep it or guard it. Okay, so Adam was placed, he was formed in the land outside of the garden. Uh he was formed out of the dust of the ground. Uh ground means Adama. Adama is ground, and so Adam, his name actually comes from Adama, so his name means dirt man, right? He was formed out of the dirt.

Phil Porter: 22:35

Wow, this is good.

Dr. David Klingler: 22:36

And he was placed into the garden, Noah into the garden, he was rested into the garden to serve it, Avad, and to guard it or keep it, right? Now, in chapter three, he's going to be expelled from the garden uh to serve the ground outside of the garden. He was taken from the ground, he's going back to the ground. Uh, and now to guard, he's not guarding the garden anymore. Actually, an angel is posted at the edge of the garden so that Adam can't get back to the tree of life. And so the irony here is is going to be great, right? The story then is going to be looking for one who's going to come who's going to return Adam to the garden, to the tree of life, and bring rest again, Noah. And so when Lamak has a son and names him Noah, that's what he's looking for. So if we don't get the setting right, oh yeah, then we're missing the whole story, right? So there's a lot here. So God commanded the man, Adam, saying, From any tree of the garden you may freely eat, from but the tree of knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat. For in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die. Verse 17. You cannot say that Hebrew construction any more strongly. In the day that we achieve it, you will surely die. Dying you will die, surely die. Uh then God said, Uh, it is not good for man to be alone. I will make him a helper, suitable for him. Um Ebenezer, Ebenezer, uh, Eben means stone. Uh uh, Eben Azur, the Azer means uh help, helper. Uh the Lord is Israel's helper. So helper is not a term of inferiority here. Uh it is a term um to help him accomplish his mission. What's his mission? To be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it with image bearers. He can't do it by himself, right? Um uh and and we're gonna see that the animals can't help him do that either. He's gonna bring the animals in front of uh, the Lord's gonna bring the animals in front of Adam, whatever he names them, that's what they are. But there was no helper suitable for him so that he could accomplish his his task of multi making image bears. And so um, so that's what's coming. Out of the ground, the Lord uh formed every uh beast from the field and every bird of the sky and brought them to the man, and whatever he would call him, that's what uh they were. That was their name. Uh and the man gave names to all the cattle and all the birds and everything of the beasts of the field. For Adam, there was not found a helper suitable for him. Notice that this the fish of the sea are missing from this this uh what he's naming, which is interesting. Actually, as this story progresses, the sea is going to be where the serpent, uh, the the serpent's domain, the Leviathan, the serpent of old, the twisty serpent of the sea. Uh that's where he's going to, the Tanim. Uh actually, the Tanim, uh, they're introduced uh back uh in chapter one, the the the sea monsters, the great the you know, the sea monsters and the Tanim, and that's going to be referring to Satan when we get over there into chapter 27 of Isaiah. So we the story's gonna develop. Hold on to these categories. You can't forget the setting as you continue to watch the movie, so to speak, right?

Phil Porter: 26:07

Uh and so um well, I think of how exhausting would it be to name every animal. Yep. I mean, what a task. I mean, that's uh we get I mean, I I get up and do chores, you know, every day or whatever, but for for this, I I saw a comedian one time, he said, um uh he said, think about this. You've named, I don't know how long it takes for do this. By the end of it, you're probably just going uh zly. That's it's flying. Okay, you're a fly, you know. You're just naming basic things of what they're doing because you've got no more brain space. You know, you are a man, and it's like, okay. Cow, cow, uh, horse, chicken, dog. You're just making stuff up. Yeah, you're just going along, but what a task, man. I mean, for a God to give man, it's an incredible task. Yeah, and then we're gonna watch um yeah, how's that play out, right?

Dr. David Klingler: 27:05

Yeah, tell you, yeah, tell somebody else's dog to sit and see how that goes.

Phil Porter: 27:09

Yeah, that's right. That's right. So we're supposed to have dominion over the animals, yeah. I just was like, man, this is this is huge. You know, he's he's not God is now identifying that he needs a helper. Um, and but he gives them this huge task. Yep.

Dr. David Klingler: 27:26

So so there's a distinction between what he is to rule over. And of course, when we think rule over, we think boss around. Uh, that's not how uh that's going to be how some in the Bible, it's how Team Satan views uh views rule. That's what's coming in chapter three, to dominate, to domineer, to suppress. Uh rule, uh in the biblical sense, in in the good sense, in the God sense, in the messiah sense, is to bless. Right. And so uh to rule is to bless, it's to care for, protect, provide, provision, right, protection, all those things that are uh that's what a shepherd does. A shepherd rules over the sheep. Uh he didn't boss around, he cares for them, he protects them, right? And so so the shepherd really captures that that imagery. Yeah. Um, but uh, but all the animals, so he names them all, but uh, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him to multiply image bearers of God. And so the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall over Adam, and he slept, and he took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh uh in the place. And the Lord uh built uh fashion, they translate it fashion, he actually built into uh woman the rib which he had formed out of the man, and he brought her to the man. Again, all Adam through here. He brought her to Adam, brought her to Adam. And Adam said, This is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman. Uh here the the word is Esha, woman, because she was taken out of Ish. Now they translate that also as man, but my point is there's two words here that are being used for man all the way up until this point. Every single time it says man in your Bible, it's Adam. In 223, this is the first time that man is the word Esh. She shall be called Esha woman because she was taken from Esh, man. For this cause, uh the uh the Esh, the man will leave his father and mother and cleave to his Eshaw wife, they translate it wife, to his woman, and they shall be one flesh. And the man and his wife, Adam and his wife, were both naked, and they were not ashamed. And so in chapter three, uh, we're going to be introduced to this uh this Eshaw language again. So I want to just give you a heads up uh because that's gonna become relevant for our next time. So chapter one, chapter two, that's the setting. Uh everything is rolling along just fine. The rules of the garden have been given. Uh notice that the man was given the rules, the woman wasn't there, she was made after the rules were given. Uh, and so it is gonna be Adam's responsibility to hear the rules and to convey them to his wife, and and that's gonna become a problem. So, so um just as it is in any story, you have to know the first scene to understand the second. You have to understand the second scene to interpret the third and the third for the fourth, and so forth and so on, right? Yeah, uh, and so so all of this, you know, we we kind of read through this so quickly, but this this stuff is really important because it's setting up the stage for what's about to happen in chapter three, which is the fall, we call it the fall, the conflict of the story. And from chapter uh chapter three, uh all the way until Revelation chapter 21 and 22, uh that's the fix the problem part of the Bible, right? And we're in it, right? So after the fall, uh the world's a mess, and we're still waiting for this one that's going to be promised in chapter three to come and fix the mess. He has appeared, he has been born, but the mess hasn't been fixed yet. But when he returns, he will begin to fix it.

Phil Porter: 31:25

So that's what we're what we've got coming in the story. Yeah, and I liked how you pointed out the beginning. Don't come in with all of these preconceived ideas, just read it as a story. Yes. Like from the very beginning. In the beginning, God created you, give that like a little water, nothing was formed. It was like, oh, so if I just read it for what it is, not trying to think about what I've heard, right, uh, what I perceive myself, but just read it. Uh, yeah, it it is it it actually becomes a really cool like form of imagery if you can create that story in your brain.

Dr. David Klingler: 32:01

Yes, absolutely. That's what you do when you read any other story, you track right along. You don't read any other story and think about theological principles. Yeah, you're right. You read a story and you you you enter into the world of the storyteller, and he controls the story, and you you you see what he wants you to see, and you hear what he wants you to hear, and so you've entered into the world of Moses' story. You haven't entered into some theologian systematic theology, 21st century uh American theologian systematic theology. That's not what you've entered into here, and so let's not do that to the story. Let's let Moses tell his story and let's listen to it. Now, as the story goes along, we're gonna learn about God uh and uh God, Theos, uh, and we're going to uh study him. We're going to learn about him, we're gonna study him. And so we're going to develop a theology, an understanding, a study of God or a theology of God because of the story that he tells, that the Lord tells through Moses. But let's let him tell the story before we come to any conclusions. And so that's where we're headed. Absolutely.

Phil Porter: 33:15

Well, thank you, David, for your time today. And uh, for the listeners, this is uh the first one of many. Obviously, this is the beginning of the story as we're walking through it this year. And uh just never forget this is I can't, we just can't say it enough. It's a story. Remind yourself all the time, this is a story. Moses is telling you a story. He's inviting you into this story to understand all the details. And so thank you so much again. And uh we'll be back again next week uh in Genesis chapter three. For more resources, visit teachmethebible.com or download our app from any app store. You can partner with Teach Me the Bible in helping the people of God understand the Word of God by subscribing and sharing with others. Thank you for listening to Teach Me the Bible Podcast.