Bible Study Genesis Part 19-Every Green Herb for Meat

Genesis 1 doesn’t end with a science lecture. It ends with a claim about you, your purpose, and a world that was called “very good” for a reason.

We close out the sixth day of creation and follow the text from land animals to humanity, slowing down over the details many readers skip. We talk about why Genesis emphasizes creatures reproducing “after his kind,” why the creation of man is described as a distinct “bara” act, and how that shapes a Biblical Creation view that directly challenges evolutionary assumptions about human origins. We also clear up a common tension between Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 by explaining how “created” and “formed from the dust” can describe different aspects of the same reality: the uniqueness of human life and the physical frame built for the environment God prepared.

Then we wrestle with two ideas that can feel distant from modern life: dominion and the image of God. If humans were given complete authority, why do the world, our bodies, and even backyard wildlife seem so indifferent to our “rule”? We explore the possibility that something real was lost, not because God failed, but because we did. And when the Bible says we are made in God’s image and likeness, we ask what that could mean without turning it into either human pride or empty poetry, drawing on a classic commentary that points to the soul, mind, and moral capacities.

If you care about Genesis Bible study, Christian theology, and what Scripture says about humanity’s place in creation, you’ll find plenty to think about here. Subscribe for the next chapter, share this with a friend reading Genesis, and leave a review. 

Transcript

Welcome And Why Scripture Matters

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Welcome to the program Study in the Chapel. God's Word is supreme at Chapel Ministries. We consider it absolutely essential to a proper relationship with God. We study it, we love it, we rely on it every minute of every day. The following program is an edited recording of the regular Bible studies we hold. And we decided to share these with you in the hope that you too will be able to find inspiration, encouragement, and ultimately salvation through discovering Christ in Scripture. Our intention is to travel all the way through the Bible. It will be a challenging journey, but one that will undoubtedly bring you to a decision. Through this study, you will be faced with either believing or rejecting what God has said to us. It is our intention to provide you with enough knowledge to make an informed decision about God and his word. We strongly encourage you to listen intently and diligently, because though at the moment you may not realize it, these things are truly a matter of life and death. In fact, these are matters of eternal life and eternal death. Never treat what God has said lightly. There's truly nothing more important to you. Now join us as we seek God's will through his inspired word.

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So

Closing Out Genesis Chapter One

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we are, as I was saying in the book of Genesis. We tonight are going to close out chapter one, believe it or not. It's taken us about five months to get this far, but you know, it has been a great ride so far. We have enjoyed every single minute of it. We've learned things that we didn't know existed. And that includes me. As I go through this studying of these things, I'm finding things I had no idea they existed. I hope that you are starting to see how important it is to go through God's word with a fine-toothed comb. I mean, what else do we have to do? These are things that are eternal. These things matter to us eternally, and we should be taking our time. I mean, those that we love, we take our time to get to know them. Why would we take less effort when we're talking about God, whom we love dearly and we owe everything to? So that's why we spend so much time studying God's Word. And besides, it's quite fascinating all at the same time. So let's continue. We're still in the sixth and final day of our creation. We're in the sixth and final day of creation. God has been creating for six days so far. This is the final day. Hang on, genius. I thought it took seven days to create the earth. Well, six days work, one day rest. If you want to call that a seven-day process, I'm fine with that. Verse 24.

Land Animals And Rejecting Evolution

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And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind, and it was so. And God made the beast of the earth after his kind and cattle after their kind, and everything that creepeth upon the earth after his kind. And God saw that it was good. Now, this is the part of the story that talks about the creatures that inhabit the dry land. Now, evolutionists are going to tell you that nothing started on the land. They're going to tell you their theory states that life, all life began in the seas, and then some of it grew legs and got curious and decided to crawl out and moved out to the land to stay. And then they became land creatures. It didn't happen that way. This is how it happened. And God said, Let the earth bring forth, notice that it doesn't say created, just saying. Just the living creature. Let's start again. And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle and every creeping thing, and the beast of his kind after the beast, beast of the earth after his kind, and it was so. Verse 25. And God made, still doesn't say create. Don't know why, it just doesn't. The beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and everything that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and God saw that it was good. Here we see that God continues the practice of declaring that all he's made he approves of. Again, it's not that he needs convincing of that. He's saying all of that for us. God wants us to know that when he created it, it was good. And indeed it was. All of it was good through and through. And by the way, you know that's not the case anymore, right? It's no longer good. It was when he made it. It isn't now. Well, why not? What happened to creation? Well, we're going to find out in short order, but in the meantime, here's a clue.

Humanity Created Out Of Nothing

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And God said, Let us make man in our image after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the seas and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. Verse 27, buckle up. So God created man in his own image. In the image of God created he him, male and female created he them. Created Barah out of nothing. Now I want you to note in the next chapter, God does some review of these six days of creation. And when he gets to this point, the point where he recaps with further details, the creation of man, listen to me. He says he formed man out of the dust of the earth. Now, let me say before we get there that this is merely referring to man's physical properties. The word is like making a clay pot. He formed man. Man, in order to be fruitful and multiply, was going to have to be able to physically interact with his surroundings. That's why he was formed of the dust of the earth. He had to be compatible with his surroundings. I mean, that's the sole reason God created it. God created those surroundings so that man could interact with it and be able to thrive. Man's environment was meant to nourish him. It was meant to protect him, meant to allow him to physically prosper. Mankind is a complex creature. Though he was barra created, created out of nothing, he was framed in such a way, structured in such a way, formed in such a way that would allow him to achieve what God placed him in the garden to achieve. And so to ensure that works, God had to make man in a manner that would facilitate that purpose. And so when in the next chapter we see the word formed, formed from the dust of the earth, it means the physical frame. Now I'm bringing all of this up so that anyone who might be at this point familiar with the whole formed from the dust thing knows what's being referred to, and that it is in no way in conflict with the statement of God making man from nothing. You got it? All right, back to these last few verses of chapter one. We are finishing tonight. Verse 25. And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and everything that creepeth upon the earth after his kind. And God saw that it was good. Verse 26. And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image. In the image of God created he him, male and female created he them. So the first thing I want you to notice is something we've already touched on. This is a bara creation. Nothing like mankind has ever existed before. How do I know? Because he was made from nothing. He wasn't made from apes, he wasn't made from fish, he wasn't made from other man-like creatures, not from anything. This is the third and final time bara is used in the creation narrative, which tells us, at least in my opinion, that everything else that came before was just set up for this very moment. Nonetheless, man was made from nothing, just like those other barra creations. But there is one big difference, one important difference. Those other barra creations, the one in verse one and the one in verse 21, we know almost nothing about. He created the heaven and the earth, as we read in verse one. And in verse 21, we're told he created great whales and swarms of other creatures born from the sea. But that's all we get. In both instances, that's the only details we get. In those accounts, God gives us no details other than he created those things. No why, no how, just that he did. But though we don't get a whole lot more, we do actually get a few details about the bara creation of man as one would expect. Now, those details don't come until next chapter, so we'll talk about them then. But my point for this lesson is to simply make sure that you see that we do get more of the how and we get more of the why, which is one more time in contrast to those others. There's nothing about any other creative process. Not a lot about this one, but there are some things that we are told. Now I'm pointing this out to you once and for all to get you to see that this creation account, the one written here in Genesis chapter one, is for us and about us. And that is why the narrative is structured the way it is. God's story is focused on mankind, and therefore the mankind relevant details are highlighted. Jay Vernon McGee put it perfectly when he commented, quote, it's as if God were saying, I would like very much for you to pay attention to your own creation and not be speculating about the creation of the universe. If you know Jay Vernon McGee, that's exactly the way he talks. Probably by this point, you didn't need to be convinced of that. But just in case you did, I think we can now put this point to bed. Probably.

Dominion And Why It Feels Lost

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Next, I want you to notice that God purposely ordered that mankind have dominion. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. Now, what does that mean? Well, to be honest, if we still had dominion, you'd not ask that question. But since we're no longer familiar with this command of God's, let's briefly talk about it. In fact, let me read the amplified Bible version of this verse to give you a sense of the original. God said, Let us, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, make mankind in our image after our likeness, and let them have complete authority over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, the tame beasts, and over all of the earth and over everything that creeps upon the earth. The authors of the Amplified Bible decided to translate this with the phrase complete authority. The King James uses the word dominion, still a good word. We certainly know what it means, and it works here, but the Amplified says complete authority, a more nuanced and targeted rendering. And God said, Let us make man in our image after our likeness, and let them have dominion, complete authority over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

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Dominion, complete authority.

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Now let me ask you any of you feel like you have well any authority over what's going on outside your window? My vegetable garden has never made me feel like it cares a thing about my dominion over it. I've had to stop feeding my backyard birds those suet block things because I'm going broke buying them since the squirrels don't seem to respect my authority when I tell them to stop eating stuff that it didn't lay out for them. Ever go camping? If you have, then you know that the raccoons seem to exhibit no regard for mankind's claim of supremacy over them, especially around mealtime. Nobody steals from their king if they think you're the king. When I go camping, there's no indication whatsoever that any of those woodland creatures regard me as their king. Now I don't want to beat this to death, but I do want to make sure that you see that just because it doesn't seem like this part of scripture seems to have any relevance to our current current reality, that you don't think it wasn't somehow true in the beginning. God absolutely, listen to me, he absolutely meant for mankind to be the highest authority over. All right, we're getting back on there again. We we keep having mic failure, but like I said, we're just gonna keep going at it. So we were talking about man's dominion, how we were supposed to have dominion over the earth. And I said right before everything got cut off that there is a very good reason for that. Man's dominion was a necessary part of the whole purpose of creation. We already said it. Everything that was made was made to support humankind. And to make that effective to the fullest extent, we were naturally endowed with the power of authority over all other aspects of God's handiwork. Do you remember in the Gospels how the forces of nature bent toward the will of Christ? Well, some argue that's the way it was supposed to be for us. Some argue that's precisely how you and I should be handling things right now. If all were going as designed, we should, like our Lord, be able to command, for example, the winds and the rains, or the loaves and the fishes, or the forces that affect us physically, like pain and disease. All of those things, along with everything else on earth, were created to serve us, and we were to be its masters. It's all true.

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And God didn't fail, we did, and now it's all gone, but not forever.

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Now we're gonna go over the why it's all gone in another chapter. What else?

The Mystery Of God’s Image

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And God said, Let us make man in our image after our likeness. In a book of incredible statements, this is one of the most incredible. The Bible communicates some amazing things, but there's not many that are more amazing than this. And God said, Let us make man in our image after our likeness. Now, as wonderful as this is, we just aren't sure what it means. Now, that statement I just made about not knowing what it means may make you wonder if it's even possible to say something is incredible without knowing fully what it actually is. I say yes. I have no idea why a flower smells good, but it does. I don't know why the sound of a baby laughing makes me smile. It just happens. At its core, verse 26 tells us that somehow we're like God. The part we aren't sure about is how we're like him. Now I think it's safe to say we're not exactly like him. I mean, there are so many ways man and God differ. God himself says so. Isaiah 55, starting at verse 8. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. And yet God commanded us to be created, or God commanded that we were to be created in his image. He didn't command us, he commanded himself to create us in his image. Well, here I'm faced with a challenge. Though we though we should expect it by now, God has not given us a whole lot to go on. Now I'm certain this is all we need to know, but of course we want to know more. God has made a statement without an explanatory note, and our human weakness rises to the top once again. Though this is an incredible statement, for some reason we're still not satisfied. Let us make man in our image. This is unlike anything ever attributed to the human race. Man is in the image of God. When else in history have we ever been told anything as wonderful as this? I'll answer that. Never. But oddly, it doesn't feel like the statement is complete enough. I must admit, I feel it too. As you can imagine, and as you may know, there's quite a variety of opinions as to precisely what God is saying here. He obviously wanted us to know that he created us in his image. That, too, by the way, is quite wonderful. God didn't just want to make us in his image, he wanted us to know we were made in his image. You know, there's kindness. And mercy and love in that. But the problem is, he didn't really expand the concept. And honestly, it's not his problem, it's ours. I'll say it again. All we need to know is that God made us in his image. Everything that God says here, and everything God has ever said is a complete statement, whether we want to accept it or not. So what do we do? Well, my first answer and bit of advice is don't waste too much time. My second answer is we should be very careful how we try to frame our analysis. This is a place where we can really get off track. A statement like this has potential to get used to exaggerate man's capacity while at the same time, and since it is such an incredible statement with massive capacity for misuse, there are also some who try to downplay the majesty of what we're told here for, well, I guess, safety's sake. In fact, one scholar argues that the statement in the original means nothing more than the fact that we look like God. His analysis of the Hebrew words leads him to conclude that all God wanted us to know is that our physical appearance is like his. Outwardly we resemble the likeness of God's image, but in no other way. Now, there are a few reasons why I disagree with that, but perhaps chief among them is that I just don't see God taking the time to tell us that we look like him. Seems kind of unnecessary. But with the considerable lack of further detail, I suppose anything is possible. Now, rather than continue sharing opinions that I don't agree with, let me skip ahead and share the one I do think is probably closest to God's intention. I plan on quoting a commentary that I think states the correct interpretation. But before I do, I want to give you my reasons. Now, why are you doing that? Why are you telling us your reasons before you read it to us? Because I want you to know the frame of reference I have of this statement about to read, so that you can use it to evaluate the statement for yourself. So quickly, listen to me closely. I think the only way we can truly know how we are like God is by seeing how different we are from the rest of his living creatures. Here's what I mean: it was only to mankind that God compares himself. No other living being was made in his image. Therefore, listen to me, where we are most unlike the rest must be where we're the most like him. I hope that makes sense. But regardless, here's how Adam Clark puts it. And with this I agree. Quote, what is here said, What is here said refers to his soul. This is a long quote, so bear with me. This was made in the meaning the soul, the soul was made in the image and likeness of God. Now, as the divine being is infinite, he is neither limited by parts nor deniable by passions. Therefore, he can have no corporeal image, no body image. This is an answer to the previous theory that we just look like him. This Adam Clark says that's not possible. After which he made the body of man. The image and likeness must necessarily be intellectual. His mind, his soul must have been formed after the nature and perfections of his God. The human mind is still endowed with most extraordinary capacities. It was more so when issuing out of the hands of its creator. God was now producing a spirit, and a spirit too formed after the perfections of his own nature. God is the fountain whence this spirit issued, since the stream must resemble the spring which produced it. God is holy, just, wise, good, and perfect. So must the soul be that sprang from him. There could be in it nothing impure, unjust, ignorant, evil, low, base, mean, or vile. It was created after the image of God, and that image, Saint Paul tells us, consisted in righteousness, true holiness, and knowledge. Hence, man was wise in his mind, holy in his heart, and righteous in his actions. For even the word of God silent on this subject, we could not infer less from the lights held out to us by reason and common sense. None of those traits does anyone else in creation have. Now that may or may not satisfy you, not sure it does me, but I don't think anyone could come any closer. Time to move

Blessing Fruitfulness And Original Food

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on. Verse 28. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the air and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. Once again we see God bestowing blessing on one of his creatures. As before, when we brought this up, this is a very targeted and purposeful action. There's a reason behind this blessing. God is giving special assistance and focus on mankind in the form of a blessing for a very clear reason. He is blessing them and telling them to be fruitful and multiply. Now, what's rather humorous is that this entire creative process is one big blessing geared toward this very same purpose. Everything we've read in chapter one of Genesis, with the exception, in my opinion, of verse one, is a part of this one blessing referred to in verse 28. God created everything from verse 2 down with the express purpose of providing mankind a place in which he can flourish and grow and expand and all of that so that God could be glorified. Not sure I can add much more to this that I've not already said over the past few months. Let's finish this one up. Verse 29. Listen to this. And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb-bearing seed which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed. To you it shall be for meat. Now, let me quickly say that the King James language here is a bit misleading to our modern ears. Now, this isn't me being all vegan on you, but the word meat does not mean the same thing it does today. It doesn't mean what it meant in the 17th century when the translation was produced. The original word, the original Hebrew word just means food. At the time of the writing of the King James, the word meat didn't mean just flesh of an animal exclusively. It was often used to refer to anything eaten. It's not meat necessarily, but food, as I said. Moving on. Verse 30, and to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to everything that creepeth upon the earth wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat, and it was so.

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I told you we'd get here, didn't I?

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It would appear, this is the Bible, that the only food necessary for all living creatures was every green herb. You know what that means? Plant-based. No mention of anyone eating anyone else. Verse 31, and God saw, I let you off the hook quickly in that one. I don't want you throwing tomatoes at me. Plant-based food, of course. And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. And with that, we close out this first chapter of Genesis.

Why God Calls It Very Good

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Now it I know it's taken us months to get here, but believe me, I have this uncomfortable sense that we could have said more. But whatever's left over, you're going to have to investigate on your own, which I do sincerely encourage. That notwithstanding, six days have been completed and God has recreated the heavens and the earth. Now, many are going to argue with me that this is not a recreative anthology, but rather a creative one. But we're not going to debate that again. In fact, I don't think it's too terribly necessary to argue about, but these facts remain. God created the heavens and the earth, and he put mankind in it. Between those two facts, God gives us some details, the sum of which give us the direct impression that this was not a random thing, that there was not one random act in the lot. Throughout this narrative, we swung from without form and void all the way to it was very good in six actual days. God cleared out the chaos and made it all. Once again, very good. I mean, that's what makes this very good. Before this, God stopped from time to time and remarked that what he had done was good. He removed what was once chaotic and accomplished a step in this first of many plans. And each was indeed good. Not because I said it was good, not because you said it was good, not because science said, well, they probably wouldn't say it was good anyhow. They'd say it was probably good luck or good timing, but never intrinsically good. Doesn't matter what they said or anyone says, because God said each of these things was good. But now, following the creation of mankind, he says it's very good. Now, in the past, I've cautioned you to avoid assuming that God was simply overjoyed that humans had finally arrived. God wasn't sitting there staring out the front room window of eternity like Kermit with a cup of tea, waiting for us to make an appearance. It wasn't the sight of man that pleased God to the point that he declared his creation very good. Yes, the creation of man was important, but not important because we're so special. Creation finally earned the very good badge because God's plan was about to begin. Well, I don't know about you, but I think this is terribly exciting. Next time, chapter two.

Next Time And Ministry Resources

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