This detailed creation account in chapter 2 is not, as skeptical scholars claim, a second one patched from a later source into the original narrative in chapter 1. Genesis is by no means a patchwork quilt of narratives, but a carefully crafted document of accounts or generations that move the story forward.
Genesis is organized by the author around 10 divisions. These ten generations are clearly marked by the Hebrew word toledoth, which is sometimes translated “account,” i.e., the successive accounts (lit. “generations”) of the family of the man down to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who were the patriarchs of God’s chosen people. The first of those divisions is demarcated at Genesis 2:4, “This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made earth and heaven.”
Editor’s note: Pastor Jim used Dr. Bruce Waltke’s GENESIS: A COMMENTARY (2001) as one of his resources for teaching Genesis, which is doctrinally sound. Waltke had enjoyed a sterling reputation for scholarship and theological integrity for over half a century. However, in 2010, he endorsed evolution as part of God’s creative process, which is contradicted by the textual, biblical evidence. He resigned from Reformed Theological Seminary, Orlando shortly thereafter. This development was unknown to Pastor Jim at the time of recording.
Thus, to avoid appearing to endorse Waltke’s views, we have edited out his name, replacing it with “a well-known OT scholar” in programs #5 and #6 (today’s). There will be future programs as well.