For the past four years, we’ve embarked on a deep, chapter-by-chapter exploration of prophetic texts often overlooked by many readers—from the twelve minor prophets to the reformers Ezra and Nehemiah, and the major prophet Ezekiel. Now, we are embarking on a one-year sprint through the foundational texts of our faith: the first five books of the Bible, the Torah.
This series is structured around the Jewish reading cycle. According to Jewish tradition, some 2,500 years ago, Ezra the Scribe established an annual reading schedule that divides the Torah—the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy—into 54 weekly portions. In Hebrew, those portions are called parashot. By following this centuries-old calendar, we will complete the entire Torah in one year. This isn’t just a reading plan; it’s an invitation to join an ancient and ongoing Bible Reading Challenge. I hope to build a bridge between the Bible conversations happening around Christian tables on Sunday lunches and the Shabbat tables of our Jewish friends and neighbors.
Like the Bible Fiber studies of the prophets, this new series will maintain a similar focus—less on personal life application and more on detailed textual exploration. Genesis is the most read book in the Bible because it’s where most people’s journey through the Bible begins and, sadly, where it often stalls out. This podcast, much like Bible Fiber has always done, will serve as your weekly encouragement to stay on track. We’ll find a way to get through the laws of Leviticus and the long sections on how to treat domestic mold. I promise that every section, no matter how obscure it may seem, holds an exciting truth and has a reason for us to celebrate the richness of Scripture.
Bereishit: The Creation Account
This week, we begin a new cycle of readings with Bereishit (Genesis 1:1–6:8), the very first Torah portion, which covers the creation account.
The first few verses of the Bible are simple: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” From chaos, God brought order, life, and light. What is particularly striking is the meticulous, step-by-step process of creation. On the first day, God separates light from darkness, establishing the very first distinction in the universe. On the second, He divides the waters, creating the expanse we call sky. Days three through six see the filling of these spaces with vegetation, celestial bodies, and all living creatures. The narrative builds to a crescendo, culminating in the creation of humanity on the sixth day.
This rhythmic, orderly account stands in stark contrast to the chaotic and violent creation myths of other ancient Near Eastern cultures. While their gods fought battles to create the world from the bodies of defeated foes, our God creates through pure speech, through a divine and peaceful command.
C.S. Lewis’s depiction of Narnia’s creation in The Magician’s Nephew is a deliberate and allegorical parallel to the biblical creation narrative. Just as God spoke creation into existence, Aslan sung Narnia into existence:
It was a Lion. Huge, shaggy, and bright it stood facing the risen sun. Its mouth was wide open in song and it was about three hundred yards away… And as he walked and sang the valley grew green with grass. It spread out from the Lion like a pool. It ran up the sides of the little hills like a wave… Soon there were other things besides grass. The slopes grew dark with heather… And when he burst into a rapid series of lighter notes she was not surprised to see primroses suddenly appearing in every direction… But now the song had once more changed. It was more like what we should call a tune, but it was also far wilder. It made you want to run and jump and climb… Showers of birds came out of the trees. Butterflies fluttered. Bees got to work on the flowers as if they hadn’t a second to lose… And now you could hardly hear the song of the Lion; there was so much cawing, cooing, crowing, braying, neighing, baying, barking, lowing, bleating, and trumpeting… Then there came a swift flash like a fire (but it burnt nobody) either from the sky or from the Lion itself, and every drop of blood tingled in the children’s bodies, and the deepest, wildest voice they had ever heard was saying: ‘Narnia, Narnia, Narnia, awake. Love. Think. Speak. Be walking trees. Be talking beasts. Be divine waters.’
Lewis painted a picture, like Genesis, of creation coming through a beautiful divine expression and effortless power. The world is not the result of a difficult, manual laboring process, but of a sovereign decree.
Created in God’s Image
The Bible says God formed Adam from the dust of the ground. This difference—being formed rather than spoken into existence—is a major point of Jewish rabbinic commentary. Why were humans formed and not just created from nothing like everything else? A common teaching is that this act of direct creation from dust highlights the intimacy and vulnerability of our relationship with God. The great rabbinic commentator, Rashi, notes that Adam was formed from the earth so that humanity would not think it was of a higher, divine origin. We are of the earth, a part of creation. Yet, we are also unique, as we are the only part of creation “made in the image of God.”
This phrase, “in the image of God” (b’tselem Elohim), is one of the most important concepts in both Jewish and Christian theology. It is the Bible’s very first description of humanity. Being made in God’s image is both a blessing and a responsibility. We are to bear His image into the world and care for His image in our treatment of others.
The First Sin and the First Choice
This idea of choice is central to the second half of the Torah portion, with the story of the Garden of Eden. The serpent tempts Eve by asking, “Did God really say…?” This is the first question in the Bible, and it immediately puts the authority of God’s word into doubt. The serpent doesn’t lie outright but he twists the truth, making the fruit appear to be the key to knowledge and godhood. The serpent’s strategy was to sow seeds of mistrust between God and His image bearers.
The sin of Adam and Eve was not merely eating a piece of fruit. It was a choice to seek knowledge and wisdom apart from God’s guidance. They chose their own way over God’s way, and in doing so, brought a fundamental brokenness into creation. Their punishment was not just expulsion from the garden, but a life of toil, pain, and distance from God. This separation, however, is not final. God makes a way for them, providing them with clothes and promising a future redemption through the seed of the woman.
Christian theology diverges from Jewish tradition in our interpretation of Adam and Eve’s sin in the garden. In Judaism, Adam’s sin is seen as a catastrophic moral error that introduced mortality, suffering, and a heightened struggle into the world, but it did not corrupt the moral nature of his descendants.
In Christian teaching, Adam’s sin represents the Fall of Man. That Original Sin caused the spiritual disease that is inherited by all humans. Because every person is born morally incapacitated, they are incapable of initiating their own salvation or perfectly obeying God’s commandments or keeping God’s standard without an act of divine Grace.
Although Christians believe humans are inherently guilty, we also know the solution is redemption and rebirth. Only the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, seen as the perfect and unblemished “image of the invisible God,” can remedy the inherited guilt and corruption and restore us to the intended relationship with God.
Apostle Paul: The New Self
The Apostle Paul gives Christians their marching orders for what it means to fulfill our original purpose in being God’s image bearers, but to do so through the sanctification of Jesus.
In his letter to the Colossians, Paul wrote:
“Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.”
Bereishit sets the stage for everything that follows in the Bible. It introduces a God of order and care, a humanity created in His image with the power of choice, and the devastating consequences of that choice. It shows us that even in our moments of brokenness, God’s love and redemptive plan are still at work, as seen in the promise of a future redeemer and the preservation of a remnant of humanity. This weekly portion is more than just a historical account; it is a narrative about our identity as God’s creatures, the sacredness of our free will, and the enduring hope of redemption. It invites us into a unending dialogue about who we are and who God is.
Conclusion
Being made in the image of God is what allows us to know and be known by our Creator. As we go into our week, let’s ask ourselves: How can we bear the image of God in our world and care for others who bear that same image?
That’s it for this week. Join me next week in reading Genesis 6:9–11:32, the portion on Noah and the Flood.
Shabbat Shalom and Am Yisrael Chai.
Welcome to Bible Fiber, where we explore the textures and shades of the biblical tapestry. I’m Shelley Neese, president of The Jerusalem Connection, a Christian organization dedicated to sharing the stories of Israel’s people, both ancient and modern. I’m also the author of the book Bible Fiber, a 52-week study of the Twelve Minor Prophets, available on Amazon.
For the past four years, we’ve embarked on a deep, chapter-by-chapter exploration of prophetic texts often overlooked by many readers—from the twelve minor prophets to the reformers Ezra and Nehemiah, and the major prophet Ezekiel. Now, we are embarking on a one-year sprint through the foundational texts of our faith: the first five books of the Bible, the Torah.
This series is structured around the Jewish reading cycle. According to Jewish tradition, some 2,500 years ago, Ezra the Scribe established an annual reading schedule that divides the Torah—the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy—into 54 weekly portions. In Hebrew, those portions are called parashot. By following this centuries-old calendar, we will complete the entire Torah in one year. This isn’t just a reading plan; it’s an invitation to join an ancient and ongoing Bible Reading Challenge. I hope to build a bridge between the Bible conversations happening around Christian tables on Sunday lunches and the Shabbat tables of our Jewish friends and neighbors.
Like the Bible Fiber studies of the prophets, this new series will maintain a similar focus—less on personal life application and more on detailed textual exploration. Genesis is the most read book in the Bible because it’s where most people’s journey through the Bible begins and, sadly, where it often stalls out. This podcast, much like Bible Fiber has always done, will serve as your weekly encouragement to stay on track. We’ll find a way to get through the laws of Leviticus and the long sections on how to treat domestic mold. I promise that every section, no matter how obscure it may seem, holds an exciting truth and has a reason for us to celebrate the richness of Scripture.
Bereishit: The Creation Account
This week, we begin a new cycle of readings with Bereishit (Genesis 1:1–6:8), the very first Torah portion, which covers the creation account.
The first few verses of the Bible are simple: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” From chaos, God brought order, life, and light. What is particularly striking is the meticulous, step-by-step process of creation. On the first day, God separates light from darkness, establishing the very first distinction in the universe. On the second, He divides the waters, creating the expanse we call sky. Days three through six see the filling of these spaces with vegetation, celestial bodies, and all living creatures. The narrative builds to a crescendo, culminating in the creation of humanity on the sixth day.
This rhythmic, orderly account stands in stark contrast to the chaotic and violent creation myths of other ancient Near Eastern cultures. While their gods fought battles to create the world from the bodies of defeated foes, our God creates through pure speech, through a divine and peaceful command.
C.S. Lewis’s depiction of Narnia’s creation in The Magician’s Nephew is a deliberate and allegorical parallel to the biblical creation narrative. Just as God spoke creation into existence, Aslan sung Narnia into existence:
It was a Lion. Huge, shaggy, and bright it stood facing the risen sun. Its mouth was wide open in song and it was about three hundred yards away… And as he walked and sang the valley grew green with grass. It spread out from the Lion like a pool. It ran up the sides of the little hills like a wave… Soon there were other things besides grass. The slopes grew dark with heather… And when he burst into a rapid series of lighter notes she was not surprised to see primroses suddenly appearing in every direction… But now the song had once more changed. It was more like what we should call a tune, but it was also far wilder. It made you want to run and jump and climb… Showers of birds came out of the trees. Butterflies fluttered. Bees got to work on the flowers as if they hadn’t a second to lose… And now you could hardly hear the song of the Lion; there was so much cawing, cooing, crowing, braying, neighing, baying, barking, lowing, bleating, and trumpeting… Then there came a swift flash like a fire (but it burnt nobody) either from the sky or from the Lion itself, and every drop of blood tingled in the children’s bodies, and the deepest, wildest voice they had ever heard was saying: ‘Narnia, Narnia, Narnia, awake. Love. Think. Speak. Be walking trees. Be talking beasts. Be divine waters.’
Lewis painted a picture, like Genesis, of creation coming through a beautiful divine expression and effortless power. The world is not the result of a difficult, manual laboring process, but of a sovereign decree.
Created in God’s Image
The Bible says God formed Adam from the dust of the ground. This difference—being formed rather than spoken into existence—is a major point of Jewish rabbinic commentary. Why were humans formed and not just created from nothing like everything else? A common teaching is that this act of direct creation from dust highlights the intimacy and vulnerability of our relationship with God. The great rabbinic commentator, Rashi, notes that Adam was formed from the earth so that humanity would not think it was of a higher, divine origin. We are of the earth, a part of creation. Yet, we are also unique, as we are the only part of creation “made in the image of God.”
This phrase, “in the image of God” (b’tselem Elohim), is one of the most important concepts in both Jewish and Christian theology. It is the Bible’s very first description of humanity. Being made in God’s image is both a blessing and a responsibility. We are to bear His image into the world and care for His image in our treatment of others.
The First Sin and the First Choice
This idea of choice is central to the second half of the Torah portion, with the story of the Garden of Eden. The serpent tempts Eve by asking, “Did God really say…?” This is the first question in the Bible, and it immediately puts the authority of God’s word into doubt. The serpent doesn’t lie outright but he twists the truth, making the fruit appear to be the key to knowledge and godhood. The serpent’s strategy was to sow seeds of mistrust between God and His image bearers.
The sin of Adam and Eve was not merely eating a piece of fruit. It was a choice to seek knowledge and wisdom apart from God’s guidance. They chose their own way over God’s way, and in doing so, brought a fundamental brokenness into creation. Their punishment was not just expulsion from the garden, but a life of toil, pain, and distance from God. This separation, however, is not final. God makes a way for them, providing them with clothes and promising a future redemption through the seed of the woman.
Christian theology diverges from Jewish tradition in our interpretation of Adam and Eve’s sin in the garden. In Judaism, Adam’s sin is seen as a catastrophic moral error that introduced mortality, suffering, and a heightened struggle into the world, but it did not corrupt the moral nature of his descendants.
In Christian teaching, Adam’s sin represents the Fall of Man. That Original Sin caused the spiritual disease that is inherited by all humans. Because every person is born morally incapacitated, they are incapable of initiating their own salvation or perfectly obeying God’s commandments or keeping God’s standard without an act of divine Grace.
Although Christians believe humans are inherently guilty, we also know the solution is redemption and rebirth. Only the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, seen as the perfect and unblemished “image of the invisible God,” can remedy the inherited guilt and corruption and restore us to the intended relationship with God.
Apostle Paul: The New Self
The Apostle Paul gives Christians their marching orders for what it means to fulfill our original purpose in being God’s image bearers, but to do so through the sanctification of Jesus.
In his letter to the Colossians, Paul wrote:
“Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.”
Bereishit sets the stage for everything that follows in the Bible. It introduces a God of order and care, a humanity created in His image with the power of choice, and the devastating consequences of that choice. It shows us that even in our moments of brokenness, God’s love and redemptive plan are still at work, as seen in the promise of a future redeemer and the preservation of a remnant of humanity. This weekly portion is more than just a historical account; it is a narrative about our identity as God’s creatures, the sacredness of our free will, and the enduring hope of redemption. It invites us into a unending dialogue about who we are and who God is.
Conclusion
Being made in the image of God is what allows us to know and be known by our Creator. As we go into our week, let’s ask ourselves: How can we bear the image of God in our world and care for others who bear that same image?
That’s it for this week. Join me next week in reading Genesis 6:9–11:32, the portion on Noah and the Flood.
Shabbat Shalom and Am Yisrael Chai.