Whole Bible Plan - Day One
Todays Reading
Proverbs 6
Genesis 1
Genesis 2
Genesis 3
Matthew 1
Proverbs 6
In Proverbs, we explored the danger of rash promises. If you've made a promise to someone, you must honor it—you're indebted to that person, so free yourself quickly from such obligations. It's vital to consider situations where you promise something you can't deliver. In these cases, approach the person and humbly plead for release from that promise; otherwise, it could lead to your downfall.
Another section outlined the characteristics of a wicked person: proud looks, lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart plotting wickedness, feet rushing toward evil, false testimony, and someone who stirs up division among brothers. We should examine ourselves and ask, "Do I display any of these traits?" Yet remember that Jesus teaches in Matthew and throughout the gospels that a good tree cannot bear bad fruit. Since the Holy Spirit dwells in us, we shouldn't manifest any of these characteristics.
The passage also addresses adultery. One verse that particularly struck me was "whoever commits adultery with a woman lacks understanding." When we view women, or anyone, we should see them as sisters in Christ or children of God. This perspective matters deeply. Many men struggling with lust fail to make this connection—that women are created by God (woman formed from man, as we'll explore in Genesis). We're called to live in community, recognizing others as siblings in Christ. Proverbs specifically states that an adulterer "lacks understanding"—lacks comprehension of who she truly is and what marriage means, where two become one flesh.
Genesis 1
I spent about 30 to 45 minutes on just the first chapter because it's so rich with meaning. Each year I read Genesis, I discover something new. My first reading focused on the overall narrative and God as Creator. The second year, I explored how everything was described as "good" and contemplated God's beauty in creation. This year, while reading through it, I concentrated on God's holiness—how He is set apart, separate, sanctified.
We read that "God created the heavens and the earth." The heavens and earth were already created out of nothing on the first day. According to some rabbis and theologians, everything was technically created on the first day, though things were still yet to be formed. This concept is challenging to comprehend fully.
What struck me was how our holy, separate, set-apart, sanctified God is shown separating things. He created light and then separated light from darkness. He called the light "day" and the darkness "night."
Then, my Bible describes how He created a firmament, also known as a void or separation. He took the waters that were already on the earth and separated them, creating the sky, heavens, or atmosphere. He called it "heaven," and that's when we get the first label of "the heavens."
The heavens were already created on the first day—He didn't create them on the second day. On the first day, He created everything, then separated light from darkness. On the second day, He created the separation between waters. So the "heavens," as in the atmosphere or first heaven, was established on the second day but created on the first.
Then He said, "Let the waters under the heavens be gathered into one place, so there is dry land." You can picture this earth forming with water covering it completely. Then He took some of the water and lifted it into the atmosphere, creating something like a mist, not physical water as we know it today. Some older studies suggest these were tiny floating water particles suspended in the air. This mist would eventually form rain, which would water seeds and allow them to grow.
When we read about the land, we see things coming together. But fundamentally, we see God separating things. He separated light from darkness, separated the waters, and then separated the water from the dry land, calling the water "seas" and the dry land "Earth." And then He spoke to the earth, saying, "Let the earth bring forth..."
What I find really fascinating is that when God created, He spoke things into existence. "Let there be light." "Let there be life." And then He began speaking to certain things, commanding them to do something. This got me thinking about how God is our Creator, but He created everything that needed to exist on the first day. Then He started making things after that.
This led me to consider the profound difference between creating and making. Creating brings something into existence from nothing, while making uses existing resources to produce something new. I find that distinction incredibly meaningful.
He spoke to the earth, saying, "Let the earth bring forth for us the herb that would yield seed." What strikes me as particularly amusing is the emphasis placed on this point. Every word serves a deliberate purpose, reinforcing this concept. The herb yields seed, and the fruit tree yields according to its own kind, whose seed is in itself on the earth, and it was so. The earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind.
This reveals the profound beauty of God's order and justice. When you plant an apple tree, you don't unexpectedly harvest a mango fruit containing a banana tree seed. Everything follows a logical, consistent order. God embodies order and justice. He's not only set apart, but He creates systems that function with perfect logic. Plant an apple seed, and it grows into an apple tree, which produces apple fruit, containing apple seeds. When those seeds return to the soil, the cycle continues unbroken.
This cycle itself illuminates what God means by "Be fruitful." The entire apple tree demonstrates fruitfulness, while "multiply" occurs when the seed enters the ground. When God later instructs humans, sea creatures, and land animals to "be fruitful and multiply," He's actually directing them to follow His established natural order. This represents the first principle we encounter about being fruitful and multiplying.
Then we read about lights in the firmament, the void. I've also been exploring Maori mythology regarding their gods of stars and land. Fascinatingly, the Hebrews had their own star and moon mythology, which I found completely captivating.
From a Rabbi's teaching, I learned that some Hebrews believed God initially created the sun and moon as equals to govern together. However, the moon grew jealous, desiring more power than the sun. God responded by diminishing the moon—making it lower, dimmer, and smaller—while elevating the sun. As compensation, God gave the moon stars to govern as satellites.
This distinctive mythology highlights something truly remarkable about stars. Now that we understand astronomy and recognize the vast distances between stars and ourselves, it emphasizes God's immensity even more profoundly. I still find it fascinating that mankind developed its own wisdom around the sun and moon story, especially since these specific details don't appear in our Bible. It's simply one intriguing insight into Hebrew cultural traditions.
Throughout creation, God speaks to the sky, to the land, and to the sea as He creates all creatures. But in verse 16, something shifts: "Let us make man in our image." Instead of saying "Let the earth," "Let the waters," or "Let the sky," suddenly He says, "Let us."
The first time I read "Let us," I wondered, who's "us"? Who's "we"? "Let us make man in our image" - who's "our"? It's Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We see at the beginning that the Spirit of God hovers over the waters. And whenever God's voice appears on earth, that is the Son of God speaking, just for perspective.
We are made in God's image. That's the most beautiful thing imaginable. When God created sea creatures, He looked at the sea and spoke to it. When He made land creatures, He looked at the land and spoke to it, and from the land they emerged. But then He looked inward and said, "Let us create man." Isn't that amazing? Wow.
So we're created according to God's image and likeness, then given dominion over literally everything that was created. What an incredible privilege!
As we continue to chapter two, verse two, we get a complete recap of everything from chapter one. You might wonder why we're covering it again. The first chapter is actually a poem - in Hebrew, it translates to a "butterfly poem."
There's much more to unpack in chapter one, which explains why I spent so long with it. Essentially, you have days that mirror each other. I encourage you to revisit it, asking God what He's revealing to you. You can discover something new every time you read it, though it's getting quite dark right now.
Genesis 2 & 3
In chapter two, we move through the creation story more literally, exploring the details. We read how God formed man from the ground. This reflects the whole pattern of creation. God created everything on day one, technically speaking—creating everything from nothing—but then He began forming and making things from what He had already created.
For example, with the stars: He created light first, then separated it into one light for day, one for night, and one for the sky. Isn't that incredible? It's like an epiphany. But with man, He didn't just say "poof, there's man." He carefully formed him from the earth. What made us in His image is that He breathed the breath of life—which is also the Holy Spirit—into us. That's another fascinating aspect.
Then we read about the Garden of Eden. I had a misconception growing up: I thought the garden itself was called Eden. Actually, the Garden of Eden is located in Eden, specifically to the east in Eden. Think of Eden like France, and the garden like Paris. If you look at France, you have Paris inside of it. That's like Eden—it's more like a region, with the garden being a specific place within that region. Now that we understand that, we see that God placed Adam inside of the garden, which leads into the Garden of Eden story and eventually to the fall of man.
One thing I found really amazing is this: when we read about the fall of man, that moment when humans first ate of the tree of good and evil, God's initial command was actually quite generous. He said, "Of every tree in the garden you may freely eat." Let's just pause there. His first command emphasized freedom. We can eat of every tree in the garden. We can freely eat. We live free, and we may eat freely.
But then came the one restriction: "of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die." So basically, He's saying you can enjoy every single tree—there are so many trees here for your enjoyment—just don't eat from this one tree. That's the only instruction they were given.
Between that moment and the sin, God creates woman. Now, woman wasn't present when the instruction was given, so Adam had to pass this information to Eve. Then we read about the serpent, Satan—the deceiver tempting the woman. We witness the temptation and the fall into sin in chapter three.
The enemy first approaches with doubt. He says, "Did God really say, 'You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?'" He's twisting things here. God said they may eat freely, but Satan flips it by asking, "Shall you not eat of every tree in the garden?" I'm thinking, wait a minute. No. God clearly stated they could eat freely.
The woman replies, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, but the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God had said, 'You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you surely die.'"
The fascinating thing is that in her response, we see fear taking root. They've projected their own fear onto that tree in the garden. They created their own rules, their own boundaries around it. They added extra restrictions—"nor shall you touch it"—to avoid temptation, which I find really interesting because this is exactly what the enemy uses against them.
God never said touching the tree would cause death. Humans manufactured this fear themselves. They built their own boundaries, thinking, "I won't even touch it," ultimately setting themselves up for failure. God simply instructed, "Eat freely, just don't eat from that tree." You could touch it—just not eat from it. Be free. But they started creating their own rules, and this became the beginning of sin.
The enemy tempted us into sin, as he always does, which is why we have a sin nature. Eve twisted God's word when the serpent said, "You surely won't die. God knows that when you eat it, your eyes will be opened, and you'll be like God, knowing good and evil."
After they ate the fruit, God initiated that conversation with Adam and Eve. Though God already knew where they were and what they did, He still asked, "Where are you?" and "Who told you that you're naked?" This demonstrates how God maintains a relationship with us even when He knows exactly where we are.
This story contains so much depth I could explore further. A few years ago, I discovered how sin operates as established in chapter three. Sin manifests in several ways. First, you notice and desire it—Eve longed for the fruit. This initial desire is like the first exit door; when you feel it, you should flee. Second, she agreed with the lie. She saw the tree as desirable, believed the enemy was right, then took and ate the fruit.
Scripture then says, "She gave it to her husband," teaching me that sin influences sin. When you sin, you can lead others into sin through your actions or even your words. That's why both speech and behavior hold such power. Sin brings forth shame, and the cycle continues: you want to feel good, you pursue the desire, you sin, you might involve someone else, and the pattern repeats.
The other fascinating thing is, when they're having a conversation with God, Adam blames Eve—just straight up throws her under the bus. But in our blame culture, we need to remember that we're responsible for our own actions. It's not like someone manipulated you or physically guided your hands as you stole. At the end of the day, you have the choice to do what you want. Yes, others can influence you, but you need to own up to your actions. And when Eve talks to God, she actually does own up, saying it was the serpent who deceived her. It's still blame in a way, but it's truthful—she acknowledges her sin while explaining she was deceived by the serpent. She doesn't claim the serpent forced her to do it. Very interesting. So that's chapter three.
Matthew 1
And then lastly is the genealogy of Jesus. This part can be such a skim-over, but if you did skim it, I would ask you to go read it again because there are so many hidden figures in there. I remember my life group leader in my last year at university really broke it down for us.
The first verse alone is significant: "The Book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the son of Abraham." If you know your Bible, David and Abraham are two very prominent figures, but I find it interesting that these two people are specifically named—why David and why Abraham?
When reading the Bible, it's essential to ask: What is this book about? Who wrote it, and who was the intended audience? These questions help us uncover deeper meaning beyond what's on the surface.
Take Genesis, for example. It's about the creation of Earth and its beginnings. Moses wrote the book of Genesis while he was with God on Mount Sinai. The book was written specifically for the Israelites, which explains why it references many Rabbi teachings.
Now, consider Matthew. This book was written by Matthew, the disciple and apostle. He wrote it primarily for Jewish readers so they could understand the genealogy and kingship within their own culture. Gentiles might not fully grasp this deeply embedded tradition. The genealogy, with names carrying special meanings, would resonate powerfully with Jewish readers. It's actually structured as a poem, and these genealogies were sometimes chanted, making them truly meaningful in that context.
King David ruled as king, and Abraham served as the father of all Israelite nations. By placing Jesus in this same lineage, Matthew fulfills prophecy. You journey through the list from Abraham to Isaac to Jacob and encounter important figures like Boaz and Ruth, King David and Solomon, and all the rulers before them. Then you read about Hezekiah, a king often compared to David, and after his reign, the people were taken into exile.
As you move through these names of people who accomplished significant things, you finally arrive at Jesus. From King David onward, these names were recognized as leaders and kings. Jesus stands in this lineage, as if God is declaring him the King of kings and Lord of lords, heir to David's throne, existing under Abraham's sovereignty, the father of all nations, while simultaneously being the Son of God—truly the king of kings.
Jesus couldn't belong in any other genealogy. He wasn't the prophet of prophets. He wasn't the leader of leaders. He wasn't from another nation or a Gentile. No, he stood in the direct line of kings, and if the kingship had continued through the Babylonian Empire and through the exile, he likely would have ruled as an earthly king. More importantly, because he's also firstborn of a virgin birth, he is truly a king in the most profound sense—fulfilling prophecy in the process.
There's incredible depth in verse one. Joseph, while not Jesus's biological father (since Jesus's Father is God), was Mary's husband and played a vital role. His faithfulness shines through when he discovered Mary was pregnant. According to Jewish law, he had two options: publicly take her and her suspected partner to the gate for stoning, or privately have her drink muddy water as a test—if her body became cursed afterward, it proved guilt in God's sight, warranting stoning. Even if nothing happened, proving her innocence, she would still face challenges before having another child. This is all outlined in Levitical law. Yet Joseph's faithfulness led him to refuse exercising these rights.
Scripture shows him wrestling with these thoughts internally. It reminds me of spiritual warfare—how the enemy tries to confuse us and cloud our thinking. But while Joseph struggled with this mental battle, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, confirming everything: this was truly the Son of God, a virgin birth, with Mary carrying the Holy Spirit.
That's my recap of today's reading. It only took a few minutes. This is probably the longest one because there's so much packed in there, and I can't even break down all of it, but hopefully it gives you some insight about these scripture passages. I received so much revelation while reading this, and I wanted you guys to understand it too. Thanks for making it to the end if you've read this far—hopefully this gives you a deeper understanding of the beginning of creation and Jesus.
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