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I've been praying and pondering this topic, and God has blessed me with a few gems of knowledge. It is a branch off of this post by Lou in the thread The three acts of creation - the 3 parts of our being - the three steps of salvation: #9 Something innocent has to die for us to have life, and a light response in #14. I welcome you along on this journey, and hope to hear your feedback, especially if any of it needs serious correction.
As an approach to this question, "Where is death in Gen 1?" it helped me to first ask, "Where is life?" which really means, "Where is Christ?"
In Gen 1 life is evident as God makes the land that will bring forth living things, and then He makes the living things. And God sees that they are good, of significance to us that His first eloquent words are about His good works.
God is light and in him is no darkness at all (1Jn 1:5). Good is not a mixture of some good and some evil. It is purely good! Remember this for later.
Jesus, the Creator, is equated with life and the light of men (Joh 1:4; Gen 2:7; and many others). He is the Word, He was in the beginning, with God, and He was God (Joh 1:1-3). In Gen 1, God said a lot: there is God's Word.
Here is another aspect of Jesus, our Savior, in Gen 1,2 and mirrored in Eph 5:
Gen 1:27
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
Gen 2:23-24
23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. 24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
Eph 5:28-32
28 So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. 29 For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: 30 For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. 31 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. 32 This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
And God saw that it was good, as evidenced in His creation and witnessed by His Spirit:
Gen 2:25
25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
Tit 1:15
15 Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.
The tree of knowledge of good and evil is a peculiar device. It provides a solid choice between good and evil. The infamous tree itself is good:
Gen 1:11-12
11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. 12 And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
Gen 2:9
9 And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
Now, where is death among all the life, light, and goodness?
(In fact, God does not speak plainly about evil in Gen 1, even though He boldly takes credit for it elsewhere (Isa 45:7; Pro 16:4)).
God's commandment about the pivotal tree indicates that death exists, and implies that man knew its ramifications, at least as far as the body. Keep in mind that Gen 2 drills down into the overview provided in Gen 1. Later, after Adam and Eve have eaten of the tree, we learn it did not bring forth physical death; and the serpent's deception took full advantage of obfuscation to make a legally valid pretext. If that death penalty was not physical, it must have been spiritual--a fundamental conclusion supported by a large portion of the Holy Bible.
Gen 2:16-17
16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
Gen 3:3-4
3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. 4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
So where might death have first appeared?
Gen 1:3-8
3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. 4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. 5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. 6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. 7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. 8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.
(I don't think this is an act of creation or making. I believe it is a covenant (Jer 33:20-21; Jer 33:25). Covenants are an iron I have in the fire that I hope comes to a finish soon, the good Lord willing.)
On the first and second day: 1) light and darkness, Day and Night; 2) the firmament (Heaven). Everything after the second day, God remarks in his holy scripture that He saw that it was good. Why does He not say the same thing about first two days? Remember the previous comment: good does not mean a mixture of good and bad? This may be of relevance here.
On the first day, the earth was "without form, and void". There are scholars who take significant meaning from the Hebrew words, which can imply destruction and ruin, as if life had been present and was brought to an end. Death is the end of life. If so, then here is death. If not, then at least here is an absence of living things and a potential that the life of living things might end.
Also on the first day, light and darkness were set apart (Gen 1:4; Joh 1:5). They cannot come together. They are a fundamental antithesis.
Later, in Gen 1:16 we see the two great lights each "rule" (Strong's H4475, dominion, government, power, rule) over their respective times. In other places in the Old Testament this word is more commonly translated as "dominion". This is not the same original word as describes Adam's "dominion" in Gen 1:26,28 (Strong's H8278, subjugate, tread down, rule). The light that rules the day is said to be greater than the light that rules the night; we can see with our eyes this is so (Rom 1:20). This is a shadow of the enmity in Gen 3:15, and in that same judgment sin entered into the world and death by sin.
In the natural, darkness is the absence of light; it cannot fight against light in any way, because it is powerless against it. So also, in the spiritual.
Joh 1:5
5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
Ecc 2:13
13 Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness.
(The Greek word for "comprehended" in Joh 1:5, G2638, has a much richer meaning: take eagerly, seize, possess, apprehend, attain, find, obtain, perceive, (over-) take.)
We can see the excellence of light and the utter folly of the love of darkness in the natural, as well as throughout the Holy Bible.
On the second day the firmament is a shadow of the dominion of Satan, prince of the power of the air. It is the realm where his minions roam, from where they besiege God's creation in order to (spiritually always, and sometimes physically) kill, steal, and destroy. Here also is death.
Death is also there in the potential of sin, which had not yet entered, but lieth at the door.
Gen 4:7
7a If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door.
Apparently, eating the forbidden fruit was not punishable by bodily death, though it does bring the curse of corruption: I infer aging, physical death, and eternity in death in the natural (this seems like a very deep topic, and I'm already running long so I will let it dangle). We know that the natural comes first:
1Co 15:46
46 Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
The Gen 3:17-19 pronouncement by God was the punishment, and man's spirit died under satan's dominion (government, power, rule) who man chose over God. Death of the body must have been present from the beginning. It must provide the antitype of spiritual death which entered upon the act of disobedience. Hence, "dust to dust" would not have been the consequences, rather the context, the term of the just sentence: for life.
...
But thanks and all praise be to God that He provided for our every need from the beginning!
Gen 2:9
9 And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
As an approach to this question, "Where is death in Gen 1?" it helped me to first ask, "Where is life?" which really means, "Where is Christ?"
In Gen 1 life is evident as God makes the land that will bring forth living things, and then He makes the living things. And God sees that they are good, of significance to us that His first eloquent words are about His good works.
God is light and in him is no darkness at all (1Jn 1:5). Good is not a mixture of some good and some evil. It is purely good! Remember this for later.
Jesus, the Creator, is equated with life and the light of men (Joh 1:4; Gen 2:7; and many others). He is the Word, He was in the beginning, with God, and He was God (Joh 1:1-3). In Gen 1, God said a lot: there is God's Word.
Here is another aspect of Jesus, our Savior, in Gen 1,2 and mirrored in Eph 5:
Gen 1:27
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
Gen 2:23-24
23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. 24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
Eph 5:28-32
28 So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. 29 For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: 30 For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. 31 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. 32 This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
And God saw that it was good, as evidenced in His creation and witnessed by His Spirit:
Gen 2:25
25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
Tit 1:15
15 Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.
The tree of knowledge of good and evil is a peculiar device. It provides a solid choice between good and evil. The infamous tree itself is good:
Gen 1:11-12
11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. 12 And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
Gen 2:9
9 And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
Now, where is death among all the life, light, and goodness?
(In fact, God does not speak plainly about evil in Gen 1, even though He boldly takes credit for it elsewhere (Isa 45:7; Pro 16:4)).
God's commandment about the pivotal tree indicates that death exists, and implies that man knew its ramifications, at least as far as the body. Keep in mind that Gen 2 drills down into the overview provided in Gen 1. Later, after Adam and Eve have eaten of the tree, we learn it did not bring forth physical death; and the serpent's deception took full advantage of obfuscation to make a legally valid pretext. If that death penalty was not physical, it must have been spiritual--a fundamental conclusion supported by a large portion of the Holy Bible.
Gen 2:16-17
16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
Gen 3:3-4
3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. 4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
So where might death have first appeared?
Gen 1:3-8
3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. 4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. 5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. 6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. 7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. 8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.
(I don't think this is an act of creation or making. I believe it is a covenant (Jer 33:20-21; Jer 33:25). Covenants are an iron I have in the fire that I hope comes to a finish soon, the good Lord willing.)
On the first and second day: 1) light and darkness, Day and Night; 2) the firmament (Heaven). Everything after the second day, God remarks in his holy scripture that He saw that it was good. Why does He not say the same thing about first two days? Remember the previous comment: good does not mean a mixture of good and bad? This may be of relevance here.
On the first day, the earth was "without form, and void". There are scholars who take significant meaning from the Hebrew words, which can imply destruction and ruin, as if life had been present and was brought to an end. Death is the end of life. If so, then here is death. If not, then at least here is an absence of living things and a potential that the life of living things might end.
Also on the first day, light and darkness were set apart (Gen 1:4; Joh 1:5). They cannot come together. They are a fundamental antithesis.
Later, in Gen 1:16 we see the two great lights each "rule" (Strong's H4475, dominion, government, power, rule) over their respective times. In other places in the Old Testament this word is more commonly translated as "dominion". This is not the same original word as describes Adam's "dominion" in Gen 1:26,28 (Strong's H8278, subjugate, tread down, rule). The light that rules the day is said to be greater than the light that rules the night; we can see with our eyes this is so (Rom 1:20). This is a shadow of the enmity in Gen 3:15, and in that same judgment sin entered into the world and death by sin.
In the natural, darkness is the absence of light; it cannot fight against light in any way, because it is powerless against it. So also, in the spiritual.
Joh 1:5
5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
Ecc 2:13
13 Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness.
(The Greek word for "comprehended" in Joh 1:5, G2638, has a much richer meaning: take eagerly, seize, possess, apprehend, attain, find, obtain, perceive, (over-) take.)
We can see the excellence of light and the utter folly of the love of darkness in the natural, as well as throughout the Holy Bible.
On the second day the firmament is a shadow of the dominion of Satan, prince of the power of the air. It is the realm where his minions roam, from where they besiege God's creation in order to (spiritually always, and sometimes physically) kill, steal, and destroy. Here also is death.
Death is also there in the potential of sin, which had not yet entered, but lieth at the door.
Gen 4:7
7a If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door.
Apparently, eating the forbidden fruit was not punishable by bodily death, though it does bring the curse of corruption: I infer aging, physical death, and eternity in death in the natural (this seems like a very deep topic, and I'm already running long so I will let it dangle). We know that the natural comes first:
1Co 15:46
46 Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
The Gen 3:17-19 pronouncement by God was the punishment, and man's spirit died under satan's dominion (government, power, rule) who man chose over God. Death of the body must have been present from the beginning. It must provide the antitype of spiritual death which entered upon the act of disobedience. Hence, "dust to dust" would not have been the consequences, rather the context, the term of the just sentence: for life.
...
But thanks and all praise be to God that He provided for our every need from the beginning!
Gen 2:9
9 And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
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