Synthetic Bible Studies by James Gray

• Title Page
• Pentateuch
  • Lesson 1: Genesis 1–11
    • The Word Outline
    • The First Great Fact
    • The Law of Recurrence
    • The Second Great Fact
    • The Third Great Fact
    • The Fourth Great Fact
  • Lesson 2: Genesis 12:1–28:15
  • Lesson 3: Genesis 28–50
  • Lesson 4: Exodus 1–19
  • Lesson 5: Exodus 20–40
  • Lesson 6: Leviticus
  • Lesson 7: Numbers 1–19
  • Lesson 8: Numbers 20–36
  • Lesson 9: Deuteronomy
• History
• Poetry
• Prophets
• Post Captivity Prophets
• Gospels, Acts
• Pauline Epistles
• General Epistles

Notice, that light was created four days before the sun. Objectors to the Mosaic record used to laugh at that, and say there could have been no light before the sun, since the sun was the source of light. But later scientific discoveries indicate that there is a light separate from the sun—that the earth itself is luminous. This gives authority for the use of the word “light-holders” as applied to the creation of the fourth day.

Notice, that the word “firmament” means the expanse or atmosphere that is around the earth supporting the clouds.

Notice, that in the case of “the dry land” the herb and the tree came first and the seed in each case afterwards, different from what we observe now, and yet as science shows, inevitable at the beginning. Here again we have a comparatively recent confirmation of the authority and inspiration of the Mosaic record.

The Law of Recurrence

But this does not exhaust the word “creation.” What have we in Genesis 2 different from Genesis 1? After referring to the hallowing of the seventh day, the writer describes more in detail one of the acts of creation spoken of only in a general way before. What act is it? “The creation of man.” Here then we meet for the first time a peculiarity of the rhetoric of the Holy Spirit with which it is necessary for us to become acquainted at once. We shall need to recognize it many times in the course of our work, especially in the more difficult books of the prophets, and to understand it is vital either to get at their facts or the interpretation of them. This peculiarity is defined as the “law of recurrence.” Look at the name well, and get it fastened on your mind. Now, what is the law of recurrence? It is that peculiarity of the Holy Spirit as an author by which He gives first the outlines of a subject, and then recurs to it again for the purpose of adding details. To quote the language of a great authority on Bible exegesis, “Many have quite overlooked this, and read Scripture as if the order of narration were always the order of accomplishment, and, as if consecutive chapters were necessarily consecutive as to time. But if Scripture be read so, confusion and mistakes are certain.”

In the first chapter then, we have the account of creation in outline, and in the second, part of the same account in detail. The part thus given in detail concerns the creation of man. There is a reason for this detail about man in all that follows, for the Bible is not a history of the world, but a history of man, especially the redemption of man. But what are these details about the creation of man? There are at least four, (1) the nature of his being,