Kay Arthur - Gods Amazing Creation: Genesis, Chapters 1 and 2

H ey! Its great to see you again. Guess what? Molly and I are going on an archaeological dig, and we want you to come, too! Our Uncle Jake is an archaeologist, and since being an archaeologist is a lot like being a detective, he thought Molly and I would like to spend part of our summer helping him out on a dig. Isnt that exciting? We get to go on a real dig, and Jake says we can bring Sam (the great detective beagle) along, too. Remember how Sam loves to sniff out clues?

While were on this dig we need to do some crucial research and discover HOW this world began, WHO created the earth, and HOW we got here. These are some very important questions that everyone needs to know the answers to. Youll be able to find the answers to those questions because you have Gods Word, the Bible, the source of all truth, and Gods Spirit to lead and guide you. You also have this book, which is an inductive Bible study. That word inductive means this study will help you investigate the Book of Genesis and discover for yourself what it means, instead of depending on what someone else says it means. Isnt that awesome?

So are you ready to become a member of a real archaeological dig team, able to dig out the truth in Gods Word? If so, then pack those suitcases and well meet you at the site. Heres a list of some things youll need as we begin our journey to the Fertile Crescent to find out WHEN and HOW it all began.

See you at the site!

Youre here! Uh-ohwatch out! Here comes Sam, and he is sooooo excited to see you once again.

Sam, stop that! Get down, Sam! Quit licking their faces! They see you.

Sorry about that. Sam had so much fun working with you in How to Study Your Bible for Kids that he is just a little excited. Why dont we head on over to our tent and give Sam a chance to settle down? Uncle Jake and the team have our tent set up, so we can put away our gear. Then well be ready to get started on our new adventure in Genesis, Part One.

THE ADVENTURE BEGINS

Hey, you look great in those khakis! The first thing we need to do today is get our instructions from the site boss. We need to check in with Him the first thing each day before we begin our work. Do you know WHO our site boss is? Thats rightits God! Before we can do anything, we need to go to God in prayer and ask Him for His wisdom and guidance so that we will be able to understand the truths that we will dig out in His Word.

So, first things first. Pray and thank God for this great opportunity to spend time with Him digging out His precious truths. Then ask Him for His help. We will never arrive at our destination without God leading us and showing us the way. Now grab those backpacks and lets head over to Site #1.

SITE #1

Now that we are at the site, lets talk about what an archaeologist does. An archaeologist tries to uncover the whole story of how people lived in the pastsort of like a detective who solves the mystery by searching for clues at the crime scene. Archaeologists try to solve the mystery of the past by locating a site. Then they study and research the history and written records that deal with that site. After they finish their research, they carefully plan a dig so they can search for clues to find evidence that shows what really happened in the past. We are going to do the same thing as we study the Book of Genesis. We will study the history and written records (the Bible), then dig out the truths that give us the evidence of WHAT really happened in the beginning and HOW the world came into being.

Since Uncle Jake and the team have already located our dig site, our first job will be to get some pictures of the site before we start to dig. We need to see the big picture of what is happening in the book we are studying by doing an overview of the book. To do an overview, you usually read the entire book that you are studying. Since Genesis is such a long book, in this study we will only read chapters 15 to do our overview. The overview will help us understand the authors reason for writing the book, and what the main events are in the book. It will also help us to see the context of the book we are studying.

Context is very important in studying the Bible because it helps us make sure that everything is interpreted correctly. So what is