for Genesis: Creation to Isaac · Part 1 · Genesis 1–2
8 Adventures40 min
What Happens in Part 1
In Genesis 1, God makes the heavens and the earth. At the start the earth has no shape and is covered in water and darkness. God speaks, and things come to be. On the first three days he makes empty places: light and dark, then sky and sea, then dry land and plants. On the next three days he fills them: sun, moon and stars for the day and night; fish and birds for the sea and sky; animals and people for the land. God makes people in his own image and tells them to care for the earth and the animals. Then God looks at everything he has made and calls it very good. On the seventh day he rests. Genesis 2 then looks closer at that sixth day: God forms the first man from the dust of the ground and breathes life into him, plants a garden in Eden for him to work and keep, and brings the animals to him to be named. Seeing that the man is alone, God makes a woman from the man's own side, and the two become one family — “one flesh.”
What We Will Learn
Section
What you will practice
Word Study
Words the chapters are built from: create, separate, form, bless, image, breath, garden
Bible Study
How to read a list, and how to spot a pattern in a chapter
Scripture Discovery
The land and water of the ancient Near East, and why sea and sky mattered so much there
Chapter Summary
Ch.
What happens
1
The Seven Days — The earth begins dark, deep and without shape. God speaks and light comes. Days one, two and three make room: day and night, sky and water, then dry land with plants and seeds. Days four, five and six fill that room: lights in the sky, fish and birds, then land animals and people. God makes people in his own image, male and female, and gives them the job of caring for the earth. He calls everything he has made very good. On the seventh day he stops working and rests.
2
The Garden — A closer look at the sixth day. God forms the man from the dust of the ground and breathes life into him. He plants a garden in Eden, with a river running through it, and puts the man there to work it and take care of it. God brings the animals to the man, who names them — but none of them is a fitting partner for him. So God makes a woman from the man's side, and the two are joined as one family.
Part 1
Word Study
Study 7 key words from Genesis 1–2, then answer each question.
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💎 Treasure Wisdom · a true fact behind the storyThe Words That Build a World
Word Study · Making and SortingLook at what kind of words these chapters are made of. Genesis 1 has making words: create means to make something new, and separate means to put two things apart. Genesis 2 zooms in and uses closer, hands-on words: to form something is to shape it, the way a potter shapes clay, and breath is the air that makes something alive. Learning both sets of words helps you see how the two chapters work together, one wide and fast, the other close and slow. A garden is where all of it happens — ground that has been made, sorted, and now cared for by hand.
createv.Gen 1:1
To make something new
“The first line of the Bible says that God created the heavens and the earth.”
separatev.Gen 1:4
To put two things apart from each other
“God separated the light from the dark, and called them day and night.”
blessv.Gen 1:28
To wish or give someone good things, especially from God
“God blessed them and told them to be fruitful and multiply.”
imagen.Gen 1:27
A picture or likeness of something
“The chapter says people were made in the image of God.”
formv.Gen 2:7
To shape or make something by hand
“The LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground.”
breathn.Gen 2:7
The air a living thing takes in and lets out
“God breathed into the man’s nostrils the breath of life.”
gardenn.Gen 2:8
Ground where plants are grown and cared for
“God planted a garden in a place called Eden.”
ⓘ The vocabulary words in this list are selected to help you understand and complete this workbook. Some may not appear word-for-word in your Bible.
1To make something new is to ___ it.Gen 1:1
2To ‘separate’ two things means to put them apart from each other.Gen 1:4
3Write your answer in the blank, then click Check.Gen 1:28
Word choices:blesscreateformimage- some words will not be used
To wish God's good gifts on someone is to them.
4Which word means ‘a picture or likeness of something’?Gen 1:27
5To ‘form’ something means to shape it or make it by hand.Gen 2:7
6God breathed the ‘breath of life’ into the man’s ears.Gen 2:7
7Write your answer in the blank, then click Check.Gen 2:8
Word choices:gardencreateimageseparate- some words will not be used
God planted a in a place called Eden, for the man to work and take care of it.
Part 2
Understanding
Show you understood what happens in Genesis 1–2.
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💎 Treasure Wisdom · a true fact behind the storyHow to Read a Chapter That Repeats
Bible Study Skill · Spotting a PatternWhen a chapter says almost the same thing over and over, that is a clue, not a mistake. Try this. Write the six days in two short columns, days 1 to 3 on the left and days 4 to 6 on the right. Light and dark sit beside sun and moon. Sky and sea sit beside birds and fish. Land and plants sit beside animals and people. The left column makes an empty place. The right column fills it. Genesis 2 uses a different trick with the sixth day: it stops and looks closely instead of repeating. Finding a pattern, and noticing when a writer breaks one on purpose, are things a good Bible reader learns to do.
1What is the earth like at the very start of the chapter?Gen 1:2
2What is the first thing God makes?Gen 1:3
3In Genesis 2, what does God use to form the man?Gen 2:7
4What is made on the sixth day?Gen 1:24-27
5Write the numbers 1–5 in the boxes to show the correct order across Genesis 1–2. Number 1 = what happens first.Gen 1–2
God says “Let there be light,” and there is light.
God plants a garden in a place called Eden.
God makes a woman from the man’s own side.
The earth is dark and covered with water.
God forms the man from the dust of the ground.
6God says that it is not good for the man to be alone.Gen 2:18
7The man and the woman become ‘one flesh,’ one family.Gen 2:24
Part 3
Literary Craft
Understanding HOW and WHY Genesis 1–2 tells the story of creation twice, two different ways.
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💎 Treasure Wisdom · a true fact behind the storyTwo Ways to Tell One Story
Literary Craft · Wide Lens, Close LensGenesis 1 and Genesis 2 are not two different stories. They are one story told twice, in two different ways. Genesis 1 moves fast through the whole week, like a list: day one, day two, day three, all the way to day seven. Genesis 2 does something different. It slows all the way down and looks closely at just one part of day six — the man, the garden, the animals, the woman — like a scene instead of a line in a list. Zoom out, then zoom in. Both are true, and both are needed to see the whole picture.
Pattern
Something that repeats. Genesis 1 repeats the same shape every day: God speaks, it happens, God sees it is good, evening and morning.
Structure
The way a piece of writing is put together. Genesis 1 moves fast, like a list of seven days. Genesis 2 slows down and tells one day, the sixth, like a close-up scene.
Refrain
A line that comes back again and again, like a chorus in a song. “And God saw that it was good” is the refrain of Genesis 1.
1Something that repeats again and again is a ___.Gen 1
2Write your answer in each blank, then click Check.Gen 1
Word choices:patternrefrainseedimage- some words will not be used
A line that comes back again and again is a .
Something that repeats is a .
3Days 1, 2 and 3 make empty places, and days 4, 5 and 6 fill them.Gen 1
4Genesis 2 tells about the whole week, from day one to day seven.Gen 2
5What does Genesis 2 do that Genesis 1 does not?Gen 1–2
6Why does the writer put the same words at the end of each day in Genesis 1?Gen 1
7Write your answer in each blank, then click Check.Gen 1–2
Word choices:listscenesongpage- some words will not be used
Genesis 1 moves fast, like a .
Genesis 2 slows down and tells one day like a .
Part 4
Wisdom
Four deeper challenges — no single-word recall. Read, weigh the evidence, and reason it out.
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💎 Treasure Wisdom · a true fact behind the storyA Narrow Land Between Sea and Desert
Scripture Discovery · Places & GeographyThe first people to read Genesis lived in Canaan, where Israel is today — a thin strip of land on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean. A great sea lay to the west and a great desert to the east, with little room between. Rain fell in only one season, so towns were built wherever there was a spring or a well. That same geography matters for Genesis 2: the garden of Eden sits in this same world, watered by rivers the first readers knew. Keep that in mind as you read. A story that starts in dark water, makes dry land, and then plants a garden on it was speaking straight into the world its first readers lived in.
Read Genesis 1–2 in your Bible first. Then think about it. Genesis 1 is short but builds a whole world, fast. Genesis 2 slows all the way down and stays on just one day. Notice what each one is doing, and why the Bible needed both.
Original passage written for this workbook — not a quotation from Scripture.
1Claim: “Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 tell one story in two different ways.” — choose the two details that best prove it.Claim & Evidence
2In Genesis 1, or in Genesis 2? Tap each detail to send it left or right. There are 3 details for each side.Sort into two
◄ In Genesis 1In Genesis 2 ►
3Match each detail on the left with what goes with it on the right.Match the Pairs
Day 1 — light and dark→
Day 2 — sky and sea→
God forms the man from the dust→
The man is alone in the garden→
God sees everything he has made→
4Fill both blanks to complete the reasoning.Build the Argument
Genesis 2 slows down to tell about day six because , which shows that .
Part 5
World Discovery (SAT/TOEFL)
Reading passage · Land and Water in the Ancient Near East · practices the same reading-comprehension skills tested on the SAT and TOEFL: main idea, detail, vocabulary in context, inference and synthesis.
📖 Read the passage below (the highlighted words are tested), then answer the questions. Tap an answer to select it, tap again to confirm — you get one chance to change it before it's final.
Original passage written for this workbook — not a quotation from Scripture.
Land and Water in the Ancient Near East
The people who first read Genesis lived in Canaan — the same land where the country of Israel is today. It is a narrow strip of land on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, with a great desert on its other side. Water decided almost everything there. Rain came only in one season, so a village was built where a spring or a well was, and rivers like the Jordan were landmarks everyone knew. The sea to the west was not a holiday place. It was deep, dark and dangerous, and very few Israelites were sailors. That is worth remembering when you read Genesis 1. A chapter that begins with dark water and then makes dry land, and puts a sky over it and light in it, is describing the exact things those readers worried about most.
1What is the passage mostly about?SAT/TOEFL Reading · Main Idea
2Where were villages built?SAT/TOEFL Reading · Detail
3In this passage, a “landmark” is ___.SAT/TOEFL Reading · Vocabulary in Context
4You can guess from the passage that a well was ___.SAT/TOEFL Reading · Inference
5In this passage, “narrow” means ___.SAT/TOEFL Reading · Vocabulary in Context
6Why does the passage say this matters for reading Genesis 1?SAT/TOEFL Reading · Inference
7Which day of Genesis 1 would matter most to a farmer with little rain?SAT/TOEFL Reading · Synthesis
Part 6
Writing
A print-only writing prompt — not part of your online score.
Writing Task — Part 1 “Making Room, Then Filling It”
In Genesis 1, God makes an empty place first and then fills it. Think about a room, a box, a garden or a bag that you filled yourself. What was it like when it was empty? What did you put in it, and in what order? 4–6 sentences. End by saying one thing you were glad you put in last.
You can start with: “When my box was empty, it looked…”
Write your response on paper or in a notebook. This section is for print and take-home use; it is not scored online.
Part 1 Complete!
You finished Genesis 1–2 of Genesis: Creation to Isaac.
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🗣️ Teach It · Just for Fun (optional)
Teach it to someone
The best last step is to teach it. In your own words, explain what happened — retell a favorite scene, teach a character’s big choice, or sum up the main idea for a parent, friend, or classmate. When you can teach it clearly, you truly own it.
