When I exegete a book, I tend to get very bogged down in the details and so, I decided to develop a series of a few short lessons on various chapters of the Bible, where I attempt to simply deal with the primary points of each verse without getting too detail-oriented. Each lesson is 2–5 pages long and designed to be read at one sitting. Although it is always nice to have a Bible open when studying this, I have, in almost all cases, included the actual Scripture within the text.

I began this study with a general introduction, followed by introductory lessons to studying the Bible, followed by some introductory lessons to the book of Genesis. These 21 lessons precede the lessons below. Introduction to the Bible and to the Book of Genesis is found here: HTML PDF

We live in an amazing universe. It is so vast that, it is beyond our ability to grasp its hugeness. The sizes of the various stars, the variety of the planets and their atmospheres, are the stuff which grabs the imagination of a young child as well as that of an old astronomer. One of the few emails which I forwarded, I also posted on my website called the Perspective of the Universe. It is just a succession of groups of planets and nearby stars, so that we can get a feel for their relative sizes. Not only is it difficult (if not impossible) for man to have some grasp of the size of the earth, the size of Jupiter and then of the sun are even further outside our mind’s ability to perceive. But then to find that there are stars whose size dwarfs that our own sun, is completely mind-boggling.

If we go in the other direction, toward the actual molecular makeup of all that is, we come to molecules, which can be broken down into individual atoms, which are made up of just 3 things: protons, neutrons and electrons. It appears as though these might be further broken down into even smaller component parts. We could take the tiniest speck of dust from around our house and examine it and, for all intents and purposes, write a doctoral thesis on this tiny speck, examining its molecular makeup, its structure, and its origins. If we were to take any living organism within our house, choosing one which is too small to see, not only could we easily write a doctoral’s thesis on this living thing, but we would never begin to plumb the depths of the mystery of it and all of its myriad functions.

Whether we attempt to examine that which is infinite (the universe) or that which is seemingly infinite (all that is microscopic), we inevitably find it to be complex beyond our ability to fully comprehend it; strangely beautiful; and subject to a whole host of laws, all of which interact in a manner which, in itself, is strangely beautiful. Even more amazing, all that we see is made up of 3 essential building blocks: protons, neutrons and electrons, which are too small for us to see with the most powerful of microscopes, yet virtually every person reading this believes in these three.

All of this came from somewhere, and the first couple chapters of Genesis give us a primer in the creation of the earth, the universe and man.

With regards to the title of the first book of the Bible, the name Genesis does not come from the Greek or the Hebrew of the first couple verses of the book of Genesis, but from the first verse of the first chapter of the first book of the New Testament, Matt. 1:1, which begins: The Book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the Son of David, the son of Abraham. The first two words in that verse are Biblos geneseôs (βίβλος γενέσεως), accurately translated the Book of [the] genealogy. The Greek word Genesis (γένεσις) [pronounced GHEHN-ehs-iss] means source, origin; genealogy. Strong’s #1078. Quite obviously, the first word is from whence we get the name Bible.

We find these same two Greek words in Gen. 2:4 5:1 in the Septuagint (also known as the LXX, which is a Greek translation made of the Hebrew Old Testament a few centuries prior to the incarnation of Jesus Christ). We find the word Genesis by itself in the Greek of Gen. 6:9 10:1, 32 11:10, 27 25:19 36:1, 9 37:2.

There are all kinds of creation myths in existence, but the Genesis account is clear, concise, and lacks weirdness. It is very similar, at the first, to what science calls the "Big Bang Theory" where all the universe was created suddenly and from a single point (the theory behind the Big Bang Theory is simpler than you may realize—since the universe is expanding, going out in all directions, then, if you reverse this process, you come to a certain point from which all the universe emanated).

Modern science—at least, a very vocal subset of the members of modern science—does everything possible to remove God from the creation of matter and from the creation of life. In previous centuries, scientists were able to maintain a faith in God and still be able to discover the wonders of His creation. In the past century, science has become much more antagonistic toward God, to the point of trying to develop theories apart from God, which theories go against well-established scientific principles. Let me give you an example: we all know that if you throw a grenade into a building, the result will be greater disorder than order. No scientist believes that, if we repeat this experiment enough times, an explosion will result in a better building; no scientist believes that, because all of the ingredients are there for a better building, that a grenade will bring that about. However, many godless scientists believe in the big bang theory where, somehow, in someway, the universe exploded, expanded, and the end result was an amazingly ordered universe with a myriad of natural laws, with incredible beauty throughout our universe. The believer in Jesus Christ can easily believe in the Big Bang Theory (where God created everything from a single point), and this is in line with all scientific law; but it is much harder to have faith in the big bang theory, where the universe began from some unguided explosion/expansion from a single point.

Scientist believe and can demonstrate that mutations are a detriment to any living organism (for both man and animal). They might use a figure like 99% of all mutations do not result in a better organism; however, when it comes to observed science, 100% of all mutations result in an inferior creature. Furthermore, no observable mutation (or succession of mutations) results in a brand new function or in a different species. Yet, evolutionists believe that mutation in man and animals is one of the essential building blocks of all living things that you see today. They teach that every living organism is the result of millions of mutations, which resulted in stronger, healthier, more capable organisms—just the exact opposite of what we actually observe 100% of the time.

Is it wrong for science to pursue our origins or to propose various theories? Certainly not. I have no problem with scientists who propose evolution as a possible theory of origins. However, they ought to be honest about it. When it is taught in school for the first time, there ought to be honest and genuine caveats. For instance, “Evolution is one theory that many scientists believe. In fact, it is the only theory which is seen as a reasonable alternative to the idea that God created the heavens and the earth and man.” They ought to say, “Evolutionists believe that all men and animals are the result of successive mutations occurring over millions of years, some minor and some major. However, it should be pointed out that no scientist has ever observed a mutation which improved the life of any man or any animal; a mutation which resulted in a new and different function of any sort in any man or animal; nor has science ever observed a new species of animal result from a mutation of any sort.” Simple, honest, scientific statements, made to children when they are age-appropriate. Or, “There are three basic theories of the origins of man which are generally accepted today: (1) man evolved ultimately from nonliving matter; (2) man evolved ultimately from nonliving matter as a result of the guidance of God; or (3) man did not evolve, but was created by God. Now, because it has been deemed inappropriate by most adults to teach the idea of a creative God in the classroom in a science class, that leaves us only with the first theory. I promise you that, as we study this theory, I will present to you not only the theory of evolution, but the many objections and scientific counter-arguments which have been made to it.” If words like these were found in scientific textbooks; if the strength and weaknesses of evolutionary theory were taught, side-by-side, there would be virtually no outside movement to teach Creationsm or Intelligent Design in the classroom.

I should point out, science and a belief in God (and, more specifically, a belief in Jesus Christ) are not antithetical; science and the Bible do not define two sides of some intellectual or philosophical battle. There are many modern scientists who do believe in the Genesis account of creation and do not believe in evolution. Such scientists are in at least the tens of thousands if not more. Almost all scientists of note prior to, say 1900, believed in God, and many of them believed in the Genesis account of creation.

There are basic laws of science which line up with the Genesis account and are fundamentally opposed to evolution. Much of science is based upon cause and effect. For everything that exists, it was caused in some way to come into existence. Nothing can cause itself to come into existence (water, apart from heat and pressure, cannot become ice or steam). At some point, we trace everything back to the First Cause, which is God. The book of Genesis recognizes that; some modern scientists today refuse to.

No matter what it is that we observe in this life, it has great structure, intricacy and beauty. It is subject to a series of laws, many of which we do not fully understand, but some of which we can quantify to some limited degree. Whether we see a house, a car or a watch, we recognize that someone designed and built this thing (in fact, hundreds of people were often involved) and that energy was expended in order to build it as well. These things are built to exacting specifications, and it is adhering to these specifications which make these things work. Man is also built to exacting specifications. The earth is built to exacting specifications. The design, structure and intricacy of every living organism on this planet is built to a set of exact specifications, the blueprint of which appears to be found in every part of the organism itself. If we are able to recognize that every random car that drives by had a myriad of designers and builders who built this car to some very precise specifications (all of whom used some kind of energy in the process); then how hard is it to imagine that our bodies, which are wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14), are not the result of a Designer, a Builder and Energy as well? In the Bible, this is God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.

The evolutionist believes that the most complex things on this earth just sort of happened; in fact, they pretty much just caused themselves to occur. However, the person who believes in the creation account of Genesis believes in cause and effect and that things which are made require a Designer, a Builder and Energy—concepts which are completely in line with scientific thought. Just as importantly, these 3 functions or rolls closely mirror the Trinity in the creation and restoration of the earth and all that is in it.

Several times in the Bible, we are told to look to God’s creation in order to recognize God. The heavens [continuously] proclaim the glory of God and their expanse [the ever expanding universe] declares the work of His hands (Psalm 19:1). For since the creation of the world, His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly observed, being understood through that which has been made, so that they [unbelievers] are without excuse (Rom. 1:20). And God has initiated the process by which we are formed today: For You formed my internal organs; You knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are Your works; my soul knows it very well (Psalm 139:13–14). There is nothing superstitious or unscientific about recognizing that we just did not happen; that man is not just the result of an almost infinite series of random events which had no design or originating cause. It is intellectually reasonable to recognize that our very being and existence is based upon the most fundamental scientific principles. If anything, it is superstitious, unscientific and closed-minded to think that there was no First Cause, that we just evolved without a Designer, and that millions of years combined with a fantastic succession of mutations explains who and what we are. It is just as foolish as to imagine our very life (which equals energy) just happened. Any man who is not a fool, recognizes that his thinking is more than just electrical impulses and chemicals sloshing around in our skulls.

The first chapter of Genesis begins with the creation of the heavens and the earth (v. 1), the lapse of the earth into an icy darkness (v. 2a) followed by the restoration of the earth (vv. 2b–26).

In this first verse, we will deal with the creation of the heavens and the earth. The verb used here, which means to create, is not found again until God creates animal life and man.

Gen 1:1 In a beginning God created the [two] heavens and the earth.

The first two words of Gen. 1:1 could be reasonably rendered in the beginning, at the beginning, or at the first. We do not find this combination of preposition and feminine noun except in Jer. 28:1 49:34. Hosea 9:10.

God is in the plural here; the Hebrew word is Elohim; the –im ending indicates a plural noun. God is One in essence but 3 in person. We find this to be the case from the very first verse of the Bible. All 3 members of the Trinity will be involved in the restoration of the earth; we may reasonably assume that all 3 members of the Trinity were involved in the original creation of the heavens and the earth. We will find allusions to the Trinity even in this first chapter of Genesis. The Holy Spirit will be mentioned in v. 2 (the Spirit of God hovered over the earth) and that creation was accomplished by more than one Person is found in both the plural noun Elohim and in Gen. 1:26a, where God [Elohim] said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.” Furthermore, the analogy which I have presented—the Designer, the Builder and Energy—perfectly describe the function of the members of the Trinity in the creation and restoration of the earth, as well as the creation of animals and man. God the Father planned it, God the Son executed it, and God the Holy Spirit provided the energy by which creation and restoration came to pass. We find the exact same functions of the Trinity applied to our salvation, accomplished on the cross.

God, although a plural noun in the Hebrew, always takes a singular verb.

Gen 1:1 In a beginning God created the [two] heavens and the earth. The first verb which we find suggests that the heavens and the earth were created out of nothing (more accurately, created out of energy). One of the fantastic aspects to this first verse of the Bible is, the creation of the universe from nothing (again, more accurately, created from energy).

Mark Rooker, writing in Bibliotheca Sacra, Oct-Dec 1992, speaks to this: “It is the first great achievement of the Bible to present a divine creation from nothing in contrast to evolution or formation from a material already in existence. Israel’s religious genius expresses this idea with monumental brevity. In all other creation epics the world originates from a primeval matter, which existed before. No other religion or philosophy dared to take this absolute first step. Through it, God is not simply the architect, but the absolute Creator of the universe. No sentence could be better fitted for the opening Book of Books. Only an all pervading conviction of God’s absolute power could have produced it.”

Heavens is not a plural noun but a dual noun. Where the throne room of God is, is considered the 3^rd heaven (Psalm 11:4 14:2 2Cor. 12:2 Heb. 8:1 1Peter 3:22) and outer space is often called the heavens (Gen. 1:14–15). The earth does not have an atmosphere designed for man yet (as of Gen. 1:1), which is sometimes known the heavens (Gen. 1:8 7:11) or as heaven (James 5:18). The word heaven, in the Old Testament, is typically found as a dual noun. The two heavens spoken of here would be space and the location of the throne room of God.

There are many unanswered or only partially answered questions. Obviously, God put all of this into motion, but nothing put God into motion. This is not so much an unanswered question as something which is difficult to grasp. Furthermore, we do not have God’s motivation. However, we do have clues. Man is a creative being and we, being made in the image of God, may reasonably assume that God is also a creative being. Therefore, it is His nature to create.

What is left out of the Genesis account of creation is the creation of angelic beings. Satan, created originally as the angel Lucifer, will show up, seemingly out of nowhere, in Gen. 3. That angels are not created in Gen. 1, and barely alluded to in Gen. 1:3 (you’ll see how when we get there), suggests that, at some point in time, prior to man being created, angels had been created. For this reason, many theologians believe that there was an entire creation which predated man which consisted of the angels, which appear to have lived on the earth. These ideas are pieced together by threadbare Scripture. The Bible clearly teaches that there is more to this world and this universe than just man and God. Angels are spoken of again and again throughout Scripture. There are references to angels speaking to God about us and our actions (Job 1–2) as well as references to our being observed by angels (Heb. 12:1 1Peter 1:12). Satan, as a serpent, will insert himself into human history in Gen. 3. That Satan would spend time on earth suggests that he has some sort of tie to this land. God created the earth to be inhabited (Isa. 45:18), so that it is not a great jump in logic to think that angels may have inhabited this earth before us. It is unclear whether they were subjected to the same sorts of physical laws as we are subjected (some angels now are clearly not so bound).

V. 1 is the creation of the heavens and the earth; in v. 2a the earth becomes a desolate wasteland.

Gen 1:2a But the earth became a wasteland and empty, and darkness covered the deep water.

The first thing which I should dispense with is some very basic Hebrew grammar. They did not have punctuation as we do—for instance, they do not have periods to end a sentence. In a narrative passage, the Hebrew uses what are called wâw consecutives to tie thoughts together. We translate this word (which is actually just one letter) and, then or and so. The Hebrew also uses what is known as a wâw conjunction, which is the same Hebrew letter, but with a different vowel point (wâw consecutives precede verbs and wâw conjunctions precede nouns). This Hebrew word is generally translated and. However, in the English, these wâw conjunctions and wâw consecutives are sometimes better conveyed with a period and then beginning the new sentence with a capital letter (things which cannot be done in the Hebrew, as they do not have capital letters or symbols of punctuation). If we put in and’s everywhere that they are found, then a Hebrew narrative would sound like the world’s longest run-on sentence. In the English, it is reasonable to leave these wâw’s out and translate this verse: The earth became a wasteland and empty, and darkness covered the deep water. The Spirit of God was hovering over the water. (I have left out two wâw conjunctions in my translation).

In this case, however, the first wâw conjunction is used to connect adversative sentences or thoughts, and therefore rendered but, yet, however.

The first verb found in v. 2 is important: it is hâyâh (הָיָה) [pronounced haw-YAW], which means to be, is, was, are; to become, to come into being; to come to pass. Strong's #1961 BDB #224. Unfortunately, both was and became are accurate translations here.

What the earth became is the onomatopoetic expression: tôhûw wâ bôhûw (וָבֹהוּ תֹּהוּ) [pronounced TOH-hoo-waw-BOH-hoo], which means a wasteland [or, formless, a place of chaos] and empty [or, a waste, a void, emptiness; and possibly unpopulated].

God did not create the earth a wasteland and empty. Isa. 45:18 reads: For thus says the LORD—Who created the heavens (He is God!), Who formed the earth and made it; He established it; He did not create [bârâʾ = to create] it a wasteland [formless, chaotic, a waste place], He formed [or fashioned, designed] it to be inhabited!— "I am the LORD, and there is no other.”

Gen 1:2a But the earth became a wasteland and empty...

We have this phrase, tôhûw wâ bôhûw (וָבֹהוּ תֹּהוּ) [pronounced TOH-hoo-waw-BOH-hoo] (a wasteland and empty) in one other place in the Bible. Jer. 4:23–28: I looked on the earth, and, lo, it was a wasteland and empty; and [I looked to] the heavens, and they had no light. I looked on the mountains, and, lo, they quaked; and all the hills were shaken. I looked, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens had fled. I looked, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all its cities were broken down before the face of Jehovah, before His fierce anger. For so Jehovah has said, “The whole land shall be desolate, yet I will not make a full end. The earth shall mourn for this, and the heavens above shall be black, because I have spoken, I have purposed, and will not change My mind nor will I turn back from it.” We have to be careful in this interpretation. The context refers to the destruction of Jerusalem during the time of Jeremiah. However, as we find often in the Old Testament, there is a parallel meaning (we will see this when we come to two descriptions of Satan in the next lesson). This suggests, just as God judged Jerusalem in 586 b.c., so He also judged the earth and the sins of the fallen angels before man’s time began.

Gen 1:2a But the earth became a wasteland and empty, and darkness covered the deep water.

The word used for darkness here is the one found in the next several verses. After this chapter, the next time we come across this darkness, it marks God’s judgment of Egypt for not releasing the Jews from bondage. Ex. 10:21–22: And Jehovah said to Moses, Stretch out your hand toward the heavens, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, so that one may even feel the darkness. And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven. And there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days. We have the phrase the wicked are silenced in darkness in 1Sam. 2:9.

It is possible that David even writes of God judging the earth and the fallen angels in 2Sam. 22:8–16: And the earth shook and trembled. The foundations of the heavens moved and shook because He was angry. Smoke went up out of His nostrils, and fire out of His mouth devoured. Coals were kindled by it. He bowed the heavens also, and came down. Darkness was under His feet. He rode upon a cherub and did fly and He was seen upon the wings of the wind. He made darkness coverings around Him, dark waters, thick clouds of the skies. From the brightness before Him were coals of fire kindled. Jehovah thundered from the heavens, and the Most High uttered His voice. And He sent out arrows, and scattered them; lightning, and troubled them. And the channels of the sea appeared, the foundations of the world were uncovered, at the rebuking of Jehovah, at the blast of the breath of His nostrils. Although the context indicates that this is God dealing with the enemies of David, this is yet another example of parallel meanings found throughout the Old Testament.

In any case, darkness is often seen as a part of God’s judgment against His enemies.

Gen 1:1–2a In a beginning God created the [two] heavens and the earth. But the earth became a wasteland and empty, and darkness covered the deep water.

The most common explanation for the event which occurred between vv. 1 and 2 is as follows: God created angelic beings, a third of hem rebelled against Him, and God judged the angels which fell, the angels who occupied the earth. It is possible that, for a time, the angels were confined to the earth, as twice, Satan is said to have been cast to the earth (Isa. 14:12 Ezek. 28:17—your Bible may read ground); however, in Job 1–2, Satan clearly has access to the Courts of God as well as to the earth. In both passages where Satan is cast to the earth, the immediate context is Satan’s fall.

My hypothesis is, God confined the sinning angels to the earth and then turned the earth on its axis while the angels were on the earth, flooding the earth, freezing it solid, possibly freezing the angels in place (which did not kill them, but kept them in one place). Here are some reasons for this hypothesis: In Rev. 12:4, Satan (the dragon) drew a third of the stars (angels) and cast them to the earth. We have two passages where Satan is said to be cast to the earth. We have some angels being reserved in chains of darkness until the great judgment in Jude 6. Whereas, this is not the same set of angels, this tells us that God may restrain fallen angels in chains of darkness for a time. Darkness covering the deep water may simply refer to God withdrawing His light from the earth and confining all fallen angels to the earth.

Whether God turned the earth on its axis, or simply withdrew His light, it is clear that Satan and the fallen angels were confined to the earth, that the waters of the earth were frozen, and that, for a time, the angels which fell were held by chains of darkness.

As we will find out, much of Gen. 1 will make more sense if we see it from the perspective of being on earth as opposed to the perspective of God the Holy Spirit hovering above the earth. In fact, as we examine the restoration of the earth, what God does is going to be very logical and methodical.

I should point out that there is a slightly different view to all of this, which R. B. Thieme Jr. taught. He has taught that, while the earth was encased in ice, the Satan and the fallen angels were on trial before God, obviously not confined to the frozen earth. Bob, at this time (1971) also taught that there was some sort of salvation offered to angels. Although I would certainly never break fellowship with a believer who believed these things, I have a slightly different opinion. Our opinions of this time between vv. 1–2 in Gen. 1 are based on threadbare Scripture. What we agree upon is, there was a trial and a sentencing; and that God did not carry out this sentence against Satan and the angels who fell. This suggests (1) there was an appeal and (2) man was created to resolve Satan’s appeal. More on this topic in the next lesson.

There are two theories when it comes to the lighting and heating of the earth—one is, the sun was created when the heavens were created, and it provided energy, light and heat for an angel-inhabited earth. In some way, the sun’s light and heat were lessened or withdrawn, resulting in the earth being packed in ice. The other theory, which I am leaning toward, is that God Himself provided the light, heat and energy for the earth. We have a future precedence for this—the New Jerusalem will be lighted by the glory of God rather than by the sun and moon (Rev. 21:23). As we go further into this chapter, keep these two theories in the back of your mind.

This particular doctrine ended up being 10 pages in length, so I have am sending this out as two week’s worth of lessons, and will send out a new lesson two weeks from now.

So far, we have gone this far in the Bible:

Gen 1:1 In a beginning God created the [two] heavens and the earth.

Gen 1:2a But the earth became a wasteland and empty, and darkness covered the deep water.

I have shown logically how the Bible reveals that God first created the heavens and the earth, then He created angels, and then He created man. This order was logically documented in Scripture. The reason that I am going to cover angelic creation in this lesson is, between Gen. 1:1 and Gen. 1:2a, angels were created.

I send these lessons out to a variety of people, some of whom have heard and understand the Angelic Conflict, and many of whom have no clue as to why there are angels or that there is a relationship between man and angels. For most believers, the mention of angels in the Bible seems unscientific, so they ignore the idea of angels, or they understand angels to be like they are seen on television, invisible, superhuman creatures who watch over us.

Insofar as I know, Lewis Sperry Chafer was one of the first men to present a clear and concise doctrine of the angelic conflict, which doctrine R. B. Thieme Jr. has taught for years, with some extremely important and invaluable additions.

It is important to know that angels do exist, that they have a relationship to both God and man, and that their existence prior to man is related to the creation of the heavens and earth, and the earth becoming a waste place devoid of life.

In covering the Angelic Conflict, I may introduce a few terms which you may not be familiar with.

This study does not even begin to exhaust the concept of the Angelic Conflict; however, it is good to find out just what Satan and fallen angels are up to, so that we can recognize it when Satan tempts the woman in the garden, or when we see examples of it around us.

What we have covered so far is: God created the heavens and the earth, along with all angelic creation. A third of the angels have sinned, apparently following their leader, Lucifer, son of the morning. Their fall affected the earth, causing it to become a vacant waste place, encased in ice (one might even hypothesize that God withdrew His light from the earth).

Gen 1:1 In a beginning God created the [two] heavens and the earth.

Gen 1:2a But the earth became a wasteland and empty, and darkness covered the deep water.

At this point, the restoration of the earth begins (the various creation theories will also be discussed in this lesson). The earth will be restored and repopulated in 6 days; vv. 2b–5 cover the first day of restoration.

Gen 1:2b And the Spirit of God was hovering over the water.

The reason that we know that the Spirit of God hovering over the earth is actually warming the waters is, the same verb used for a mother hen laying atop of her eggs warming them (Deut. 32:11). At some point in time, after Gen. 1:1 (the creation of the earth) and after v. 2a (the earth falling into a frozen chaos)—maybe millions of years later—God the Holy Spirit warmed the earth: The Spirit of God brooded [as a mother hen] over the [frozen] waters (Gen. 1:2b).

What you have observed in these first few verses of the Bible is a very precise use of language. However, even with that precision of language, one can take v. 2b in two ways: (1) the Holy Spirit enveloped the earth, holding everything in place until the restoration process was to begin. Or, (2) this describes the first step of the restoration process, which is the heating of the earth.

Ichthys.com renders these two first two verses: Before all else, God created the heavens and the earth. But the earth came to be ruined and despoiled - darkness lay upon the face of the abyss while God's Spirit brooded over the surface of its waters. This interpretation does not suggest the beginning of the restoration as of yet. The language of the Holy Spirit brooding over the earth may be reasonably understood as a hen sitting atop her eggs; she is waiting for the time that they will break forth out of the shells, exposing themselves to the light. Once the chicks come out of their shells, the mother hen remains on the scene, but she no longer fully covers her young (and, perhaps I have taken this analogy too far).

The word translated waters can refer to water in any state—as ice, liquid or vapor. Given all that happens, I am going to suggest that the earth was packed in ice—an Ice Age—which was the earth becoming tohu wa bohu (v. 2a). The ice that the earth was packed in became water and steam because of the warming effect of the energy of the Holy Spirit. A second option is, when God said, “Let there be light,” that began the actual process of restoration. In any case, the end result would have been a great deal of steam, and, for a time, the earth was very humid, the entire earth enveloped by steam.

It is also important to note that nothing is said about God creating the water in the first place; the water was a package deal with the earth and the chemical composition of the earth. When God created the heavens and the earth, He created the entire molecular structure of things, and all that was on the earth. The earth fell into a chaotic frozen state with the fall of the angels, which suggests that was a part of the judgment of the angels who sinned. If the earth is judged along with the angels, then it is only reasonable that the earth was the primary angelic habitat.

Before we take this any further, let’s look at the various theories which have developed over the years:

Either v. 2b or v. 3 begins the first day of restoration (called, incorrectly, the first day of creation). In either case, there was likely a gap of millions and even billions of years between God’s creation of the heavens and the earth (v. 1) and God’s restoration of the heavens and earth (vv. 3–31).

There are many men of God who believe otherwise who, despite that mistake in their theology, are excellent teachers of God's Word. However, paraphrasing what J. Vernon McGee would say, “There are other viewpoints held by brilliant men of God; but if you're interested in the correct viewpoint, then here it is.”

Gen 1:2b And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. I believe that the actual mechanics here, are as follows: the Holy Spirit hovers above the earth, as the earth spins on its axis, turning much of the ice instantly to steam. One entire revolution of the earth (24 hours) would allow the Holy Spirit to heat the entire earth. Associated with the heating of the earth is light, which is v. 3.

Bear in mind that, during this time, the fallen angels have likely been held immobile in the ice.

Day One:

Gen 1:2b And the Spirit of God was hovering [as a mother hen] over the surface of the waters.

Gen 1:3 Then God said, "Let there be light!" So there was light.

From the standpoint of being on earth, suddenly, there was light. This is in contrast to the darkness over the deep water ([and there was] darkness on the face of the deep water). This did not mean that, during this process, there was no light anywhere above the earth. However, if a person stood on land upon the earth, this land would have been under a chunk of ice and it would have been pitch black dark. From a vantage point above the earth, there may have always been light from the sun on the earth; but from the vantage point of the earth, all would have been dark.

There is the other theory that, there was no light at all and God created (or restored) light at this point in time. The problem with this idea is, we do not have any verb here which means to make, to create. Therefore, God is not necessarily creating something here where was not here already. On the other hand, God does not necessarily need to create light since He Himself is light. The Holy Spirit brooding over the earth may have provided both light and heat. I’ll discuss these various theories in a moment.

I should first deal with chronology and Hebrew writers. You and I tend to think sequentially or chronologically. First this happened, and then this happened, and that is how we often present our perception of anything which we have seen. Therefore, when we read: Gen 1:2b–3 And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. Then God said, "Let there be light!" So there was light. we think in terms of God hovering over the water, heating the earth and then, once that is done, then He makes it light. God the Holy Spirit can be hovering over the earth, and then, suddenly, there is light and heat applied to the frozen earth. You will recall how I made the analogy between the Trinity and the Designer, the Builder and Energy. The Holy Spirit, being energy, may be reasonably seen as producing the heat and light which are applied to the earth.

The Hebrew is actually very simple and poetic here.   And so says Elohim,

“Light be.”

And so light is.

In the Hebrew, the verbs are first and the subjects are second; which is typical Hebrew. In both cases, we have the 3^rd person masculine singular, Qal imperfect of the verb to be followed by the substantive light. The first time the verb is used, it is a jussive, which is often used for a 3^rd person command. This is where we get the common translation, “Let there be light.” It may be more accurately rendered, “Let light be.” After God calls for there to be light, we have 3 very short words And light is. The imperfect is either future or ongoing action; and the perfect tense is completed action. The imperfect tense is used here to indicate that light came about as a command from God, but that this light continues to be.

Interestingly enough, the verbs to create or to make are not found in vv. 2–15. This does not mean that there was no creative activity taking place; it is just not called that.

One of the few particular objections to the Genesis record of creation and restoration (apart from those who simply reject it out of hand) is that God says, “Let there be light” and there is light on day one, but the sun is not mentioned until day four. This also distinguishes the thinking of man from the thinking of God. Ancient man and ancient religions have always seen the sun as the great life-giver, and, for this reason, many have worshiped the sun. Today, we have a more full understanding as to the importance of the sun, the light, energy and the heat which it provides; and we know that the sun has a life span which will far outlive the earth, and that the earth and the sun are in a perfect juxtaposition with one another as well (the earth at an axis, spinning around the sun, a perfect distance from the sun, with the perfect amount of atmosphere upon the earth). Quite obviously, for this period of time, the sun is necessary to our very existence. And, if we do not believe in God, it is, quite frankly, even reasonable to worship the sun.

Putting these views aside for a moment, let me ask you a question: why is light of any sort necessary? God is fully capable of doing all that we find here in the light, in darkness, or in a very dim light. God does not require light in which to work. He may want to turn on the lights before man walks on planet earth, but prior to this, why is there light? Three answers: (1) God is light and in Him is no darkness, so it is His very nature to be light. (2) Light is needed so that God can reveal to angelic creation just what He is doing. Although the fallen angels have been temporarily restrained in chains of darkness, God reveals to the elect angels what He is doing (as well as to the fallen angels, who have probably been confined to the earth). (3) It is possible that the light and the heat are both from God the Holy Spirit is principally His light which heats the earth.

We do not know the exact nature of angels and how much this nature has changed over time, nor do we know the exact restrictions which God has placed upon angels throughout their history. In Gen. 6, angels are able to have physical relationships with women, and that women bear their children. In Job 1–2, we have angels speaking to God in the throne room of God. Therefore, angels have a mode of travel available to them which may be related to the composition of their bodies and physical changes which their bodies can go through.

It is possible and even reasonable that God created the universe and the earth, and either gave the angels the earth to live upon and/or, gave them full access to all the universe. In my opinion, the earth was originally made for angelic creation, and that it was packed in ice when a third of the angels fell (this done as a part of the judgment of the angels which fell, which judgment has not been brought to its fruition yet). Quite obviously, the ability of angels to live and move is not based upon the earth or upon the sun.

In any case, the light of God being shown upon planet earth—particularly if this was once an angelic habitat—would certainly get the attention of all angels. That God, from the very beginning, would make it so that His work on earth could be seen by all the angels, makes perfect sense.

In case you question whether God could or would restrict or affect the physical nature of angels, bear in mind that we will be given resurrection bodies at the resurrection, which bodies will be like the resurrection body of Christ, capable of many things which our bodies cannot do now (Jesus walked through a closed door and He ascended into heaven in His resurrection body). Adam’s body was originally designed to live forever. However, he will be subject to death when he eats the fruit in the garden, which is another dramatic physical change, as well as a very serious restriction placed upon the physical body. Therefore, it is reasonable to suppose that fallen angels have, from time to time, been restricted as to what their bodies were capable of (for instance, fallen angels being frozen upon the earth; fallen angels being allowed physical contact with man and then having that privilege revoked).

Quite obviously, you may question the existence of angels in the first place, because you have never personally seen an angel. My belief in angels comes solely from the Bible. I have never seen one before either nor have I even talked to an angel. There are a lot of things which I believe in which I have never seen with my own two eyes: Australia, Uranus, bacteria, the expanding of the universe, atoms, my own kidneys, and the souls of the people I know—I have never actually seen any of these things myself (although I have obviously seen photos of the first three), but I strongly believe that they all exist.

In any case, at least one passage suggests that the angels observed the creation and restoration of the heavens and earth. God speaking to Job, said, “Where were you [spoken not just to Job, but to mankind in general] when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell [Me], if you have understanding. Who determined the measures of it, if you know? Or who stretched the line on it? To what were the foundations of it fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars [angels] sang together, and all the sons of God [angels] shouted for joy?” (Job 38:4–8).

There is a lot which we can say about angels based upon the Bible; however, suffice it to say that the light of God shown upon the earth is, in part, for their benefit. When Satan drops in on the woman (in Gen. 3), we will examine angelic creation again—and Satan himself—in greater depth.

Twice now, in 3 short verses, angels are implied, yet not spoken of directly. They have already been created, and I would postulate that has occurred around the time the earth was created (in Job 38, the angels are apparently observing and shouting about the foundations of the earth (the physical laws associated with the earth). Secondly, God makes the earth light, which implies that He shown a light upon the earth for a reason. I have suggested that reason is, angelic creation.

Interestingly enough, in a December 2008 Harris poll survey of Americans, 80% of Americans believe in God and 71% believe in angels.

Gen 1:4 God saw the light was good. God separated [or, distinguished] the light from the darkness.

The light which God produced either directly (with God being the light) or indirectly (if this is the ability to perceive the light of the sun from the earth) was judged by God to be good. This means that, God’s creation of light was exactly what He wanted it to be. It satisfied God’s criteria for being exactly what it should be.

The earth, instead of it being entirely encased in ice, to the point of it being dark below the ice, now has light upon it, so that those upon the earth can see this light. The ice was melted and there was light and warmth upon the surface of the earth, which is still all water and ice. Rising from the earth would be a huge amount of steam, from all of the water being evaporated as the ice is quickly melted. Light could be seen from the surface of the earth through all of this fog, but not necessarily the exact source of the light.

On the earth, at this point in time, light could now be distinguished from darkness. The covering of ice was mostly melted, there was steam in the air as we have never seen before—the thickest fog you could imagine—but even in this thick fog, light could be distinguished from the darkness. As the earth rotates on its axis, each portion of the earth goes from darkness to light to darkness once again.

Gen 1:5 God named the light day, and the darkness he named night. There was evening, then morning—the first day.

From the very beginning, God developed a vocabulary—a technical vocabulary, if you will. Furthermore, scientific studies have shown that man is hard-wired for language (since we are made in God’s image, this would make sense). And, if the human brain is not exposed to language during the critical years, the brain will be unable to develop any real language skills (as we have seen in studies of wild children). Therefore, from the very beginning, God will name things and do things, and this information will be conveyed to man with language when man is created.

Let me add that God has chosen to communicate with man through language. The Bible does not tell us to put ourselves into a religious trance; it does not require us to work up some sort of an emotional fervor; and there are no formulas provided for us to have a so-called deep and non-verbal connection with God. However, God does communicate with us through His Word, the Bible. That is language. All that we understand about Who God is and what He has done and what He will do is all found in the Bible, and all of this information is communicated with language. God made certain that we have been created with verbal skills; that we can understand language and that we can develop our intellect through the use of language. And once we reach a certain point—called God-consciousness—then God often communicates with us (those who have an interest in God will be presented with the gospel, spoken to them in words, which they can then either accept or reject).

Let’s put all of Day One together now:

Gen 1:2b And the Spirit of God was hovering over the water. God the Holy Spirit heats the earth as it turns on its axis.

Gen 1:3 Then God said, "Let there be light!" So there was light. God was the light over the earth as is turned on its axis.

Gen 1:4 God saw the light was good. God separated [distinguished] the light from the darkness. As the earth turned on its axis, there was a distinction between light and dark.

Gen 1:5 God named the light day, and the darkness he named night. There was evening, then morning—the first day. God develops a vocabulary later to be used with man.

This creation narrative appears to be that which is seen from the point of view of someone on the earth, and not someone in the sky looking down. We may either envision God the Son standing upon the waters on the earth and calling for these things to come to pass; or we may envision angels upon this earth observing all of the changes that the earth is gong through. There is a period of time when it is light, there is a period of time when it is dark. This sounds a lot like the rotation of the earth on its axis. The sky is filled with thick clouds, porous enough to allow light to come through, but opaque so that the sun and moon cannot yet be seen in the sky (if, indeed, they are even there at this time). Or, as has already been covered, God the Holy Spirit (and perhaps God the Son or God the Father) is hovering over the earth providing light and heat while the earth turns on its axis. The sun and moon may be seen as being created or revealed on day four.

There are a couple of technical literary points to attend to. Gen 1:5b There was evening, then morning—the first day. God did not warm the surface of the earth, make light shine upon the earth, and then there was evening and then there was morning, day one. God began this process in the dark (the warming of the surface of the earth) and He continued throughout the period when it was light, when God said, “Let light be.” My point is, the final half of v. 5 does not describe what happened next; it summarizes the time frame from vv. 2b–5a. This is very common to Hebrew writing—a summary is often presented before or after the actual narrative.

It is a normal inclination to say, “It got dark, God stopped working; it got light, and God started back to work again.” However, that is not what is being said in this text. We know this for two reasons: Jews look at each day as beginning at night and going until the evening of the next day. This is because it parallels creation, which began when the earth was enshrouded in darkness (and in ice), and then there was light—evening first and then light, one day. The Jews looked at each day in this way, because they were closely tied to the creation of the earth by their knowledge of Scripture.

The second reason we understand the final half of v. 5 to be a summary of time, because it reads: And so the evening is, and so the morning is—Day One. We do not have, then it was evening, and then it is morning, day one ends and day two begins. Nor do we have, and then it was evening, so ending day one; and then it is morning, the beginning of day two. Throughout this chapter, each creative period ends with the statement, And then it was evening and then it was morning, day ____. The simple numbering of the day always looks back to the day which has just passed.

Also, in approximately 360 instances of days being associated with numbers in the Bible, the sense is, nearly always, a particular day in time rather than a long duration of time (Hosea 6:2 may be the lone exception to this; examples: Gen. 27:45 30:32 34:25 40:20). Unless you have strong reasons for interpreting day X in Genesis as referring to more than a 24 hour period of time—a strong literary reason—then you do not get to impose your idea of how long it should take for God to do this or that.

As I previously mentioned, some like to take these days in the first chapter of Genesis and speak of them as creative periods of time; so that each creative day in the Bible might stand for a million years or so. The problem is, the text speaks of one evening and one morning and classifies that as a day. This simply does not sound like 1000 days and 1000 nights or like 300 million days and 300 million nights, it sounds just like one 24-hour period of time. Suggesting that and so evening is and so morning is—day one, really means, 300 million days and 300 million nights have transpired, violates the text, and is an imposition of your preconceived notions upon the text.

Some might assert, but this is poetic language. As a matter of fact, it is poetic language. However, simply because this is poetic language does not mean that we can twist the words to mean whatever we want them to mean.

When justifying the Sabbath, we find a reference to the 6 days during which the Lord made the heavens and the earth and all that is in them. Ex. 20:8–11. Again, there is no reason in the context of that passage to see these as anything other than 24-hour days.

I have read many opinions on this matter, including one where the author suggests better ways that God could have said that these were 24-hour days. However, we do not find the verse, from evening to evening, exactly 24 hours passed, and within that exact time frame, God did thus and so. However, we do have two markers, two words which describe day turning dark (evening) and night turning light (morning). Given these two words along with the numbering of the days, the most reasonable conclusion is, we are speaking of 24-hour days. No other interpretation really makes sense.

Dr. James Barr (Regius Professor of Hebrew at Oxford University), who himself does not believe Genesis is true history, nonetheless admitted as far as the language of Genesis 1 is concerned that, So far as I know, there is no professor of Hebrew or Old Testament at any world-class university who does not believe that the writer(s) of Gen. 1-11 intended to convey to their readers the ideas that creation took place in a series of six days which were the same as the days of 24 hours we now experience.

There are a few things I am not positive about, e.g., the source of the light on this first day (the ultimate source, of course, is God); but that we are speaking of 24-hour days here seems as if there is no doubt. Or, in the alternative, this is exactly one rotation of the earth, given some concentrated light source. Once the sun and moon are created, which are used to mark days and years (Gen. 1:14), then we are speaking of 24-hour days.

Personally, I would never break fellowship with someone who believes that these are creative periods of time, where there are many days and many nights for each creative period of time. However, I would have the following concern: if such a one attempts to stretch these verses in order to fit with his pre-conceived notions, then where else will he compromise the clear reading of Scripture?

There are things which are difficult to understand in the Bible, and I can understand how two intelligent men can come to two difference conclusions in some areas. However, there are fundamentals which can really have no other reasonable interpretation. That we are speaking of one rotation of the earth is one of those things. Whether you choose to believe it or not is another thing; but that is what faith is—it is a choice.

God created the heavens and the earth (v. 1); the earth becomes a waste area (v. 2a); God warms the earth and provides light for it—day one of the restoration of the earth (vv. 2b–5). All of the earth needed to be warmed, so God the Holy Spirit brooded over all the earth, as the earth rotated on its axis. This takes us to day two.

Day Two:

On day two, God produces the atmosphere for the earth.

Gen 1:6 Then God said, "Let there be an atmosphere in the middle of the waters in order to separate the waters."

The word "waters" can refer to water in any form—ice, vapor or water. There became a separation between the surface water and the vapor in the air (clouds), which is the atmosphere.

What occurred at the very beginning was, the ice encasing the earth was suddenly warmed, which caused water vapor to rise and fill the surface above the earth. This water vapor does not simply float out into space, because the earth has gravity and the earth holds these clouds in place. The earth was encased in a huge cloud of water vapor, which began right at the surface of the earth. Essentially, we are talking about fog—a thick, dense fog. On day two, God separated this fog from the earth’s surface, so that there would be an atmosphere between the seas and the very thick clouds.

One thing which ought to strike you about v. 6 is the stated necessity for atmosphere. It is something which we take for granted, something which ancient man would never have thought to include in some creation myth, but something which God spent an entire day making. This is the second very untypical thing in creation. First, we have light but no mention of the sun; and now we have God creating an atmosphere. If a man were to write this, we would expect the sun to play a prominent, first-day role, and for the creation of the atmosphere to be ignored. Why would some ancient cave man or even some Greek philosopher look up into the sky and distinguish between the earth’s atmosphere and the deep, empty space beyond? We understand that concept, because we have been taught this from grade school on; but ancient man had no reason to specify that the earth needed to have an atmosphere.

You may think that I am making too big of a deal out of the earth’s atmosphere, but, bear in mind, God spent one entire day on it. God spend one creative/restorative day making something that ancient man did not appreciate. Here, we are, maybe 5000 years later, and we appreciate and understand, to some extent, our atmosphere; and obviously, its absolute necessity. The Bible makes further reference to the atmosphere in Isa. 40:21–22: Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is He [God] who sits above the sphere of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers; [it is God] who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. God surrounds the earth with an atmosphere, which is like a tent for us to live in. As we know now, the earth’s atmosphere is absolutely necessary for our survival.

Gen 1:7 So God made the atmosphere and separated the water above and below the atmosphere. And so it was.

You may recall the 4 verbs of creation, and this 4^th verb is ʿâsâh (עָשָֹה) [pronounced ģaw-SAWH]. It means to do, to make, to construct, to fashion, to form, to prepare, to manufacture. Some say this means to make something out of something else. So God is taking the materials at hand and using them to make the atmosphere.

So, on the first day, God warmed the waters of the earth, as the earth was packed in ice. This caused a great deal of steam to rise. This covered the earth in a great fog, which fog was lifted on the 2^nd day. The air still had humidity, but God separated the water on the earth from the clouds filled with water vapor above. God took the chemicals which were at His disposal (nitrogen, hydrogen, and oxygen) and made our atmosphere from these gases. Obviously the hydrogen and oxygen are taken out of the water. However, most of the atmosphere is made out of nitrogen, which is commonly found in decayed plant matter.

Given the amount of water versus the amount of prehistoric plant life, the natural result, it would seem to me, would be to have more oxygen and hydrogen in the air than nitrogen—if left to natural processes. However, here we have God making the atmosphere so God is making use of the chemicals He had originally created in order to make the atmosphere. Generally speaking, the verb here means to make something out of something else.

I have an interesting proposition. Oil is said to have an organic source, so, is it possible that the extraction of the nitrogen from rotted matter would have resulted in a huge amount of oil? Crude oil is a complex mixture of compounds composed of (mainly) carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and sulfur (notice, no nitrogen). So, if the earth has all of this plant and animal matter, which has been destroyed and is rotting (prehistoric life, apart from angels), and if God extracts the nitrogen out of this for the atmosphere, what remains? Since we are a carbon-based life form, that leaves carbon; since we are 70% water, that would leave oxygen and hydrogen. Sulfur is also an essential component of all living cells. So if God removes the Nitrogen from all this vegetable and animal remains, that would leave behind Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen and Sulfur, the primary components of oil. This is just a theory.

Gen 1:8 God named the atmosphere "sky" [lit., (two) skies]. There was evening, then morning—a second day.

On the second day, God made the atmosphere, where there was water on the earth and water (steam, fog and clouds) in the sky; and that there was a division between the earth and the clouds, which is the atmosphere. Above our atmosphere is space, and the words in Hebrew used to refer to the sky or to heaven is typically dual nouns. Today, we may understand this to refer to our atmosphere and space.

This is the third great oddity of Biblical creation. Why would the Hebrews look up in the sky and name it two skies? You and I, after a proper schooling, look up in the sky, and we understand that there is the atmosphere wrapped around the earth, held by gravity; and then, above that, is space. However, why would ancient man think that? So far, the 3 oddities of Biblical creation make sense if creationism is true and this information came from God; and they make very little sense if this is just some made-up myth.

We finish vv. 6–8 with the backward-looking refrain, And so evening [literally, day turning dark] is and so morning [lit., night turning light] is, day two. This again summarizes the time frame.

Day Three:

Gen 1:9 Then God said, "Let the water under the sky come together in one area, and let the dry land appear." And so it was.

As the water began to evaporate, this revealed some dry land. There were probably volcanic eruptions and earth quakes, which caused land to separate, land to rise, and volcanic activity. This resulted in land coming to the surface. Whatever kind of sculpting of the land which God did, is not told to us. Given that this takes place in the space of a day suggests that these are not all natural processes, although they may approximate natural processes to some extent.

Gen 1:10 God named the dry land earth. The water which came together he named sea. God saw that it was good.

Again, God develops a working vocabulary to accompany that which He has created. God also recognizes that what He did was accomplished, complete, and the end result was exactly what He had desired to make.

One of the things which has concerned me, and has been at the back of my mind, is, what about all the salt in salt water? Won’t that essentially destroy the land in terms of growing crops? When the water was frozen solid over the earth, this is probably (and reasonably) salt water. However, for it to go from being suddenly frozen to suddenly melted and turned to steam, in the period of one day, would not really allow for saturation of the soil by the salt water. Now, could part of the creation process involve pulling some of the sodium chloride out of the earth and placing huge chunks of salt here and there? Possibly. We just do not have a detailed description here of everything which God did when it comes to separating land from sea.

Speaking of odd theories: there has always been this theory out there that the land masses of the earth used to all be one. There is nothing in the Bible which necessarily contradicts this. In fact, if anything, these few verses seem to support such a theory. If the seas are gathered into one place and dry land appears, this sounds more like one great ocean than several oceans and several land masses. It is possible and reasonable that the original land was one continent, which became several continents during the flood of Noah. This is not something which is spoken of in the Bible. However, it is always fun to speculate.

Gen 1:11 Then God said, "Let the earth produce vegetation: plants bearing seeds, each according to its own type, and fruit trees bearing fruit with seeds, each according to its own type." And so it was.

Now that there was dry land, there would be vegetation (plants and trees). It is unclear whether the seeds were there already and God allowed them to grow, or whether He simply covered the land with plants and trees. In the Garden of Eden (where God will meet with Adam and the woman), it is clear that we have fully grown vegetation, including trees. As we will find out, outside of the Garden of Eden, it is clear that fruit-bearing trees as well as other produce-vegetation will require some cultivation.

Gen 1:12 The earth produced vegetation: plants bearing seeds, each according to its own type, and trees bearing fruit with seeds, each according to its own type. God saw that they were good.

Each seed, no matter how small and no matter how it looks, is genetically predisposed to produce a specific type of plant or tree. What sort of a plant or tree it is, is hard-wired into the seed itself. Trees are designed to produce some sort of a seed and God will design a number of ways for these seeds to be distributed.

We have all of the basic ingredients here for flora growth. There is light, water and soil, as well as a proper temperature. There are some things which ought to cause you to ask—did plants and trees sprout up immediately? Why has God not yet made the sun? Isn’t this a good argument for each day lasting hundreds or thousands of years?

Here’s the deal: something has to come first, the chicken or the egg; the plant or the seed; the man or the baby. On the one hand, it would seem logical for prehistoric land to emerge from under the seas, for time to pass, and for the seeds of previous plants to begin to grow. Quite obviously, when left to natural conditions (which is not unheard of in the plan of God), land emergence followed by plants growing might require several thousand years (there is the problem of salt water here, which God may have taken care of on day 2).

On the other hand, once God caused the dry land to appear, He could have immediately caused plants and trees to grow to full size within one day, just as He created man and animals (He creates the chicken before the egg). On the other hand, we define a day as one rotation of the earth about its axis. Without a sun, there is no reason to assume that this is a 24-hour period of time. However, when the sun is created, then we are locked into a 24-hour day. However, we are reasonably locked into whatever time frame the rotation of the earth takes, whether this has always been a 24 hour occurrence or whether God is starting this process at Day One.

Gen 1:13 There was evening, then morning—a third day.

This should become a familiar refrain by now.

There is an odd order here, which I quite frankly do not follow. Thinking as a man, I would have created the sun, stars and planets on day one, begun to defrost the earth on day two (which would require more than the sun could provide), and made the atmosphere on day three. At that point, the earth would be ready for life, and plants, animal life and man would be my next 3 days. Do you see the beauty and logic in my approach? Get the earth ready for life in the first 3 days, and then populate the earth with life on days 4–6.

However, God did not seek my counsel for the order in which things ought to be done. Had some ancient man been writing this, he might have come up with the same order, except that I doubt that any man would have thought to make the atmosphere. I know there is a reason why God did things this way, however, all I can come up with at this time is, God is making it clear that He, and not the sun, is the Creator and Maker of all life. Let me suggest one more reason: most men would have re-ordered these days as well. There are a lot of skeptics who think the Bible was worked and reworked and worked again by various religious types over the ages. There is a lot of evidence that this did not occur, and these days of restoration is the first bit of evidence: if religious types rewrote and reworked the Bible, why didn’t they change the order of restoration?

There is another theory of creation and restoration which I did not present earlier because, insofar as I know, no one has ever considered this theory until now. The more I have thought about the order in which God did things, the more I tried to wrap my brain around why did God do things in this order? God is not arbitrary; God is not random. However, we have the creation of the sun, moon and stars on day four, and these are given to man for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years. Man will use the sun and the moon to mark days and years; so just what has been happening until now on days 1–3? I will discuss this further when we come to day four.

I have presented several theories about our beginnings, including the literal 6-Day Creation, the Day-Age Theory and the Gap Theory. To review, some believe that the first 2 chapters of Genesis describe how God created the world in 6 literal days. Those who believe in the Day-Age theory take the language of Genesis to be poetic (which it is, but they take that to mean that they can distort it in any way that they want), and that each day really stands for a creative period of time (a thousand years or more). Those who like being correct in their thinking, believe the Gap Theory, which maintains that the heavens and the earth were created at one time by God, probably for angelic creation to live in, and that, because the angels fell, the earth became a waste area, devoid of life. Then, God, in 6 literal days, restores the earth.

It is very possible that you have read much of this so far, and have decided that this examination of the book of Genesis is decidedly unscientific. All scientists believe in evolution; that is the only sensible explanation for how we have come about; and that is the only theory for which there is any actual scientific evidence. So, you may be thinking, if Genesis chapters 1 and 2 are going to make any sense, they will need to somehow line up with evolution.

Let me introduce 3 new terms: evolution, Creationism and Intelligent Design. Evolution believes that, somehow, matter began (or always was); and that somewhere on earth, a mixture of chemicals and outside forces (lightning?) turned non-living matter into living matter. This living matter, a single cell, joined with other single cells to form a many-celled living thing, which eventually, after millions of years, evolved into man. The evolutionist may or may not believe in God (I suspect that most modern evolutionary scientists do not believe in a personal God). However, evolutionists tend to make a god out of time and nature. Given enough time, and given nature, anything can happen. A fish can roll up on shore, decide, “I need to grow me some lungs” and, after a million years, this happens, and that fish becomes the first reptile (evolutionists really believe this). A million years later, a reptile looks up in the air and thinks, “Hell, I’d like to fly.” His scales turn into feathers and he flies. These things do not occur suddenly, of course, but, given a million years and the marvels of nature, throw in a little survival of the fittest, and these things happen (in the estimation of the evolutionist). Long periods of time to the evolutionist make anything possible.

Some evolutionists liken evolution and time to a 1000 monkeys pounding on keyboards for 1000's of years. Of course, most of them will produce nothing but gibberish and some might even eat the keyboards; but, there will be that lone monkey who types out the first chapter of Genesis on his keyboard—given enough time. Time is the magic ingredient for the evolutionist. We can stick 1000 monkeys in a room and watch them, and when none of them type anything which makes sense, the evolutionist says, “You need more time. We need a million years.” The creationist says, balderdash! 1000 monkeys typing for a million years will not produce the first chapter of Genesis, and a fish, after a million years, will not develop lungs.

The creationist believes in the first chapter of Genesis. He believes that God created the heavens and the earth. Some creationists even believe in evolution or that God used evolution in order to bring about His creative purposes. Some creationists believe that God created the heavens and the earth in 6 literal days; some believe that these represent creative periods of time; and some believe that God first created the heavens and the earth, and then restored the earth in 6 days (or 6 creative periods). Whatever the creationist believes, he does not believe in random evolution. Some believe in evolution, but they believe that God directed it, and they believe that there are creative aspects to it (e.g., the soul of man).

A person who believes in Intelligent Design believes that there is a great Designer who designed our bodies, designed the bodies of animals, and designed the interactions which would occur between various life and non-life forms.

There can be overlap here. A person can believe in Creationism, Intelligent Design and Evolution, all at the same time. However, logically, all Creationists would have to believe in Intelligent Design. Many people who believe in Intelligent Design believe in Creationism, but it is very possible and reasonable to believe in Intelligent Design and to be an evolutionist, and yet, not believe in Creationism. Any evolutionist who believes in God is, almost by definition, a person who believes in Intelligent Design (however, it is possible for a person to believe in God, but to believe that we have no relationship to Him, either by creation or any other personal connection). My point is, we do not have 3 distinct camps or 2 distinct camps.

However, for the most part, people will divide themselves into two camps: on one side, there are the godless Evolutionists and on the other side, the Creationists and believers in Intelligent Design. People do not have to be on one side or the other, but most who have thought about it in any detail, generally place themselves on one side or the other.

Like many people who believe in Creationism and Intelligent Design, I originally believed strongly in evolution, because I was taught this early on in school. It was a fundamental belief which public schools attempt to inculcate, and even more so, for me, once I got to college (evolution was taught to me in several non-science courses). So when I was young on up to age 21 or so, I believed the whole evolution thing, despite having gone to church on many occasions in my youth. When I believed in Jesus Christ, then, like almost every new believer, I adjusted Genesis to reflect the reality of evolution. So, for awhile, I believed in the Day-Age Theory, thinking that I personally had cleverly found how Creationism and Evolution could intersect in a mutually agreeable way. I have since found out that many believers have come to that same conclusion; they have been taught from their youth up that the only scientific explanation for things is evolution; and when they are told that the Bible is the Word of God (after they believe in Jesus Christ), then they strive to find some sort of agreement between evolution and the Bible. The result is, a huge number of believers still believe in evolution; they simply believe that it was God-directed and that Genesis is allegorical or poetic, so, in their minds, Genesis can mean pretty much anything that they want it to mean.

Now, in case you did not know this, most people who reject the theory of evolution outright, do not do so because their parents beat creationism into their brains from age 3 on up. Most believers who reject evolution do not simply walk into a church, are brainwashed by Christian doctrine, and then, like some kind of a pod-person, say, “The Bible says it, so I believe it; so I reject evolution.” Most believers who reject evolution, do so because they have been convinced that evolution is a false theory.

As I began to read, as a young believer, I found that there were those who actually did not believe in evolution, and I found their tracts and writings interesting. I did not think that I was reading arguments from flat-earthers, who essentially argue for debate’s sake; but from people who had scientific reasons to reject evolution, rather than theological reasons. Because I believed in evolution, I found this topic quite interesting. For a very long time, I never heard the argument, “Here is what the Bible says; so it must be true.” In fact, only one book that I read, argued for Creationism and against evolution based upon the Bible. Their argument was much more complex than, the Bible says it, so I believe it; however, when I first read this book, I admit its approach surprised me, as almost all other books on creationism versus evolution argue from a scientific standpoint.

Creationism, Intelligent Design and Evolution have become very emotionally charged issues. When the movie Expelled! came out (a movie about Intelligent Design), you should have seen the message boards online (most of them are still posted). Before the movie came out, there were bitter arguments and angry epithets being thrown about. People who had never prayed before, were praying that this movie fail, and fail big. Roger Ebert, the film critic, refused to even review the movie (and posted a review-sized column explaining why). Roeper and the other guy on Ebert and Roeper’s At the Movies would not review Expelled! on television, not wanting to give this movie any advertising whatsoever. Movie critics who reviewed Expelled!, blasted it as one of the worst movies ever made. However, the new kids now on At the Movies would not even include this movie in their Top Ten Worst films of 2008, not wanting to give it any sort of publicity. This is how emotional this issue is. Those who reviewed this movie, almost universally panned the movie, and on RottenTomatoes or on MetaCritic (where the reviews of dozens of reviewers are averaged), Expelled! received one of the lowest overall ratings of all time (not just this year).

Expelled! did not necessarily tout Intelligent Design as the only valid belief system, but asked a few questions about I.D. and evolution, and showed what happened to educators and scientists who made reference to Intelligent Design. It also tied Hitler’s concept of a super race to survival of the fittest, a Darwinian axiom (and Darwin’s actual theories as related to race would surprise you). To anyone but a radical Muslim, the idea of Hitler helping survival of the fittest along by killing off the inferior Jewish race was quite distasteful. The evolutionist is fine if nature kills off the unfit in favor of the fit; but when man begins to do this (making judgments of who is or is not fit), that is a whole different thing. Many believers in evolution (i.e., almost all of the movie critics) were so offended by this relationship that they did everything that they could to bury this movie.

However, there was nothing about the movie’s production, pacing, and subject matter which would make this a bad movie. Most people watching this movie become thoroughly engaged in it, even if they disagree vehemently with it. However, the message is so strong, that those who disagree with some of the things which are presented in the movie fault the movie because their disagreements are so visceral.

My point: Intelligent Design, evolution and creationism are very emotional issues. When it comes to anything to do with I.D. or creationism, many evolutionists become extremely angry to the point of unreasonable hostility in many cases.

When I became interested in the Creation versus Evolution debate, the battle was raging, and various groups of scientists and/or theologians would battle out this issue on many a college campus. I missed the debate at the university that I went to, but I asked an archeological professor how she thought it went. She admitted that the creationists won the debate, but that they still know better.

I want to caution you about what I will present next—I will present some scientific arguments against evolution. I am not arguing for argument’s sake. I am not taking the position of a person who believes the earth is flat (something which is not taught in the Bible) and arguing simply to see how well I can debate the issue. These are some arguments which question the scientific validity of evolution.

Debate and disagreements are good things. Many evolutionists do not care to have these debates because, too often, they are defeated. There was a class in a southern California university where the classes were split roughly 50-50 between a creationist teaching what they believe in and an evolutionist teaching what they believe in. Surveys were taken before and after this class to see if anyone had a change of mind. At the end of the course, more people believed in creation than did at the beginning of the course. This was very disconcerting, so the time the creationists were given was cut every single year until they had only 2 class periods to present their arguments. What was the end result? More people believed in creationism at the end of the course than at the beginning. To the best of my knowledge, this course no longer exists.

For me, this is a fascinating topic. If you have also developed an interest, may I suggest Lubenow’s book Bones of Contention. The evidence for evolution is a lot less compelling than you have been led to believe.

There are also a number of internet sites which deal with Creationism and Intelligent Design:

http://www.rae.org/revevlnk.html is a list of creationist websites.

http://www.evolutionisdead.com/quotes.php?search=rate is a list of quotes from scientists (most of them, believers in evolution), who say things which may surprise you.

http://www.icr.org/article/bible-believing-scientists-past/ is a list of scientists from the past who believed in Jesus Christ and that God created the heavens and the earth. The idea that the Bible is anti-science is a myth perpetrated by those who simply hate the Bible.

Here is where we resume our study:

Day Four:

Because there are at least two basic theories about Day 4, it will be a good idea to get a literal translation of these next several verses.

Gen. 1:14–18 And so says Elohim, “Let [there] [continue to] be lights in [the] firmament of the heavens to distinguish between the day and the night, and they are [lit., have been] for signs [or, remembrances] and for seasons [or, specific times] and for days and years [or, measures of time]. And they are [lit., have been] for lights in the expanse [= firmament] of the heavens to shine upon the earth. And so it is so. And so makes [or, produces, prepares; ordains] Elohim two of the lights, the great ones—the light the great to rule the day and the light the small to rule the night—and the stars. And so gives them Elohim in [the] expanse of the heavens to shine upon the earth and to reign in the day and in the night and to distinguish between the light and the dark. And so sees Elohim and it was good.

That is my literal translation; let me also give you the Concordant Literal Version:

Gen 1:14–18 And saying is the Elohim, "Become shall luminaries in the atmosphere of the heavens, to give light on the earth, to separate between the day and the night. And they come to be for signs and for appointments, and for days and years. And there come to be luminaries in the atmosphere of the heavens to give light on the earth. And coming is it to be so. And making is the Elohim two great luminaries, the greater luminary for ruling the day, and the smaller luminary for ruling the night, and the stars. And bestowing them is the Elohim in the atmosphere of the heavens to give light on the earth, and to rule in the day and in the night, and to separate between the light and the darkness. And seeing is the Elohim that it is good.

Or an updated Young’s translation: Gen. 1:14–18: And God says, “Let luminaries be in the expanse of the heavens, to make a separation between the day and the night, then they have been for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years, and they have been for luminaries in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it is so. And God makes the two great luminaries, the great luminary for the rule of the day, and the small luminary—and the stars—for the rule of the night; and God gives them in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth, and to rule over day and over night, and to make a separation between the light and the darkness; and God sees that it is good.

A literal translation does not always solve every disagreement, but it is a good place to start. This particular literal rendering may serve to help solve our theories concerning the creation of the sun.

Literally:

Gen. 1:14 And so says Elohim, “Let [there] [continue to] be lights in [the] firmament of the heavens to distinguish between the day and the night, and they are [lit., have been] for signs [or, remembrances] and for seasons [or, specific times] and for days and years [or, measures of time].

Less literally:

Gen 1:14 Then God said, "Let there be lights in the sky to separate the day from the night. They will be signs and will mark religious festivals, days, and years.

There are two basic theories here: (1) the sun, moon and stars were always there, but could not be seen from the land before. The idea is, first the land was packed in ice and under the ice. Then, after God melted the ice, the earth was covered in fog (water vapor) so one could see the light, but not discern the stars or the sun or the moon. This would mean that, on the 4^th day, God essentially clears up the earth’s atmosphere to the point where, these previously created luminaries become visible. Or, (2) the original light of Day One was God; and God then created the stars and the moons and the sun on the 4^th day. (3) A third theory is, these luminaries already existed, but it was God’s light which originally heated the earth.

Let’s look at these theories and follow them out logically:

Theory One: When God had created the heavens and the earth, the stars, sun, planets, moon, etc. were all a part of this package. However, from the earth, these things could not be seen, as the earth had been covered first with ice and then with a thick fog. They were all there, but, for 3 days, one could not actually see the sun or the moon. On this 4^th day, God makes them all specifically visible upon the earth. The problem with this theory is, God’s primary focus on Day Four would not be the sun, moon and stars, but cleaning up the atmosphere and gathering the waters of the skies into clouds, so that there is some open sky, through which these heavenly bodies could be perceived. Now, although I could make some reasonable arguments about the language of these verses which would allow for these verses to mean this, but, we are missing in these 5 verses what God actually did on Day Four. If all the stars, planets and moons are already there, in motion, with the laws of the universe in play, then God gathers the waters over the earth into clouds, so that the sun could be seen where there are no clouds. However, not word one is said about God doing anything with the atmosphere of the earth. If you were to argue God making the atmosphere on Day Two, that, by Day Four, there is enough open sky to allow for the sun to be seen, we have several problems: (1) There is nothing said about just what God is actually doing on Day Four. (2) God is not really doing very much in this 4^th day, compared to the other days. He is moving clouds around. (3) What God is not doing is that which the Bible speaks of. That is, it sounds as if God is making the sun, moon and stars; but, if they already existed, then God is not really doing that. Even if we use the argument that this is taking place with regards to the perspective of a person on the earth, those 3 objections still hold. The strongest argument for this position is, the verb tenses found in Gen. 1:14–18 are fully in line with this theory.

Theory Two: the original light over the earth was God Himself; and God actually created all of the stars, planets, moons and the sun on Day Four. This is a game changer. If the earth was there, previously lighted by God and now presently lighted by God; and suddenly, there are all of these luminaries in space; then we have a whole new set of planetary laws which all come into play on this 4^th day. Although this is not stated, when God creates the planets and stars, He must also create a whole new set of physical laws (unless the earth is rotating about God). Even if the earth is rotating around God as a light and heat source, there are still a great many physical laws which would be reasonably created with the sun, moon and stars.

With the second theory, there are other considerations—if God creating the heavens and the earth is equivalent to the Big Bang Theory, then how exactly is heaven expanding if there are no stars or planets? Or, is this day, Day Four, equivalent to the Big Bang Theory, where a whole new universe is created, in essence, around the earth?

In many ways, this second theory sheds some light upon Job 38:4–7 Where were you when I founded the earth [notice that the verb create is not used]? Tell if you know with understanding. Who determined its measurements--for surely you know! Or who stretched out a tape upon it? On what were its sockets sunk? Or who directed its cornerstone in place, when the stars of the morning jubilated together, and all the sons of Elohim shouted with joy? God is setting up the physical laws for the earth, and the angels of God are there, but man is not. This would allow for God to have created the heavens and the earth, and to then create the angels. After all of this, God changes things (some of the physical laws), and makes the heavens into a vast ever-expanding universe with a whole new set of laws, spoken of in the Job passage.

There is another consideration with respect to Theory Two: at what point did the earth begin to rotate and to spin on its axis? Let me submit to you that this begins on the 1^st day, even before the creation of the sun. God begins the spinning of the earth in orbit around Himself as the light and heat source on day one—which He will replace with the sun on day four.

Theory Three: is a hybrid of these previous theories, where God is the light of the earth for the first 3 days, but that, the planets, stars and sun already exist. The problem with this approach is identical to the problems cited under the first theory. God is doing very little on day 4, and what He does is actually not even spoken of on day 4.

Learning the Word of God should never turn your mind to mush. Although it is fine to affirm, “God said it, so I believe it;” this does not mean that you turn your mind off; this does not mean that you no longer consider logic. God designed our minds to think, to observe and also to believe. Although our salvation is dependent upon our faith in Jesus Christ, that faith should not turn us into mental zombies.

Before we proceed further, let me propose a related question: why would God create the heavens and the earth and then pack it in ice for thousands or millions of years? The most logical answer is, God created the heavens and the earth for angelic creation (which would logically be created after the earth was created). There are a number of passages which suggest that there is another set of beings of angels and demons (fallen angels). When the Bible does mention both angels and demons, they seem to always be in existence. When they are spoken of, their existence is just taken for granted. I will come back to this question later in this lesson.

There are other things which have been rattling around in my brain for the past several weeks. The order in which God works was not logical to me at first. Why not get the planet ready for life (days 1–3) and then fill it with plants, animals and man (days 4–6)? Why do we have plants on day 3 and then the sun (et al) on day 4? Why is that order not reversed? Surely, had a human written this, or planned it out, even, preparing the earth would have been the first half of the project and then populating the earth would have been the second half of the project. And, as I have argued before, why not create the sun on day one? This seems to be the most logical thing to do, from a human perspective. Let me suggest to you a theory which you have not heard before, which may help to explain the order in which God has done things.

I do not feel as if I have addressed the order of creation in such a way as to explain it fully. If most of us were told that we were going to order the 6 days of restoration, similar to the Bible, it would have been: (Day One) Sun, moon and stars. (Day Two) The melting of the ice. (Day Three) The making of the atmosphere and dry land appears. (Day Four) Plants. (Day Five) Animals. (Day Six) Man. God prepares the earth on days 1–3 and then populates it on days 4–6. However, God did not restore the earth in that order, and Gap Theory III more or less addresses this.

Now, back to our text:

Literally:

Gen. 1:14 And so says Elohim, “Let [there] [continue to] be lights in [the] firmament of the heavens to distinguish between the day and the night, and they are [lit., have been] for signs [or, remembrances] and for seasons [or, specific times] and for days and years [i.e., measures of time].

Less literally:

Gen 1:14 Then God said, "Let there be lights in the sky to separate the day from the night. They will be signs and will mark religious festivals, days, and years.

So, although we may disagree as to specifics, on Day Four, the sun, moon and stars became visible to anyone on earth. They will be used by man to mark time with.

Literally:

Gen. 1:15 And they are [lit., have been] for lights in the expanse [= firmament] of the heavens to shine upon the earth. And so it is so.

Less literally:

Gen 1:15 They will be lights in the sky to shine on the earth." And so it was.

There is a verb which is often used to create something out of nothing. That verb is not used in this passage about the 4^th day.

Here is what we have so far:

Gen 1:14 Then God said, "Let there be lights in the sky to separate the day from the night. They will be signs and will mark religious festivals, days, and years.

Gen 1:15 They will be lights in the sky to shine on the earth." And so it was.

Quite obviously, if God creates the sun, moon and stars on Day Four, He also has to make provision for light to reach us from these heavenly luminaries to occur immediately. Given the speed of light, if God created the stars 6000–10,000 years ago, we would be unable to see most of them because the light would not reach us yet. So God creates these things and makes them visible at once. The grand laws of the universe are set in motion by God (including the speed of light) and are subject to God’s purpose. God is not bound by the laws of the universe.

The phrase scientific laws is a misnomer, since science did not originate these laws nor does science enforce these laws. What we call scientific laws are really God’s laws, as they originate with Him and He enforces them, and, now and again, He overrides these laws (e.g., turning water into wine). Christ Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn [or, preeminent] of all creation. For by Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things held together (Col. 1:15–17). One of the things amazing about this statement, is the holding of all things together. Ancient man did not really appreciate or understand gravity, nor the idea as to how and why molecules bond. However, as we begin to understand more about science, we develop more and more of an appreciation for many of these concepts, which actually enhance that which we read in the Bible.

Back to Day Four:

Gen 1:16 God made the two bright lights: the larger light to rule the day and the smaller light to rule the night. He also made the stars.

Or, literally:

Gen 1:16 God makes the two bright [great] lights: [He makes] the larger [great] light to rule the day and [He makes] the smaller light to rule the night. And [He makes] the stars.

We have the verb ʿâsâh (עָשָֹה) [pronounced ģaw-SAWH], which means to do, to make, to construct, to fashion, to form, to prepare, to manufacture. This verb was used in v. 7 when the atmosphere of the earth was made. Even though this verb is only found once in this verse, it is properly applied 3 more times. In the Hebrew, there is the sign of the direct object, which is never translated—it is an actual Hebrew word. Before the greater light, the lesser light and the stars we have the sign of the direct object, which means that a verb must act upon these three things. Logically, in the Hebrew, we simply go back to the last verb used (along with its tense and morphology) and apply it to these three things. You see He makes 3 times in brackets. More accurately, this ought to be God makes. And, even though that phrase does not occur 4 times in this verse, it is applied 4 times because of the Hebrew syntax and the untranslated particle found 4 times in this verse indicating a direct object. .

This verb can also mean to do; to prepare; to make (an offering); to attend to, put in order; to observe, celebrate; to acquire (property); to appoint, ordain, institute; to bring about; to use; to spend, pass. Quite obviously, the sun and the moon are made by God on this 4^th day or made visible on the 4^th day. This verb allows for the idea that God made the sun and the moon; but it also allows for God to ordain an existing sun and moon to have dominion over the day and the night, respectively.

Gen 1:17 God gave them in the sky to give light to the earth,...

Some translations read: God put them in the sky to give light to the earth,... However, the verb used here does not mean that they were in one place, and then God put them in another. The verb used here means to give, to grant. So the sun and moon were given by God in order to provide light upon the earth. The idea here is, God gave these for specific reasons, which are herein enumerated.

Gen 1:18 ...to dominate the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. God saw that it was good.

God set up the sun, the earth and the moon so that there would be day and night on a 24-hour cycle, and that the sun and the moon would mark day and night. This is a logical conclusion, since the sun and moon are given to mark days, years and seasons.

As stated before, the biggest problem with the idea that God did not create the sun, moon and stars on Day four is, just what is God really doing on this 4^th day? If God does not create the sun, moon and stars on the 4^th day (which is what it sounds like in v. 16), but merely reveals them, by clearing up the atmosphere or moving aside and allowing the sun to shine through, there is nothing in vv. 14–19 which says this. There is language which could have been used to indicate that God revealed the sun, moon and stars on the 4^th day; there is language which could have been used to indicate that God moved aside the clouds, so that the sun and moon could be seen on day 4; there is language which could have been used to indicate that God moved aside, allowing the sun and moon to be seen. However, no language like that is found on this 4^th day. God makes the sun, moon and stars; God calls for these things to be; and the purpose is for them to be given to man to mark time with. For this reason, I have to agree with those who believe that God waited until the 4^th day before creating the sun, moon, and all other celestial entities.

Now, how do I reconcile God creating the heavens and the earth in v. 1, but not creating the sun, moon and stars until the 4^th day of restoration? God created the earth and all matter in the very beginning. However, He then took the available matter on day 4 and then used it to make the sun, moon and stars.

It should become apparent that even these simple words found in the first few chapters of Genesis allow for a great deal of discussion, theorizing, and thinking.

I want you to recognize that this is all a teaching moment for angels. They are observing this, and God takes their former stomping grounds (the earth) and begins to restore it by warming it, creating an atmosphere, bringing land to the surface and then growing plants, trees and grasses. However, Day Four is rather dramatic, in that, God creates all that we see in the heavens (and even more that we do not see), almost instantly. It is not that God is less creative on days 1–3, but He demonstrates a creative power on Day Four which is staggering. Our human brains are unable to even conceive of the size of the various luminaries and planets which God conceived, let alone, their vast numbers or the distances between them, or the idea of an ever-expanding universe; yet, God does this almost instantly.

To me, one of the great proofs of God is, no matter which direction that you go in, whether it is out into space to contemplate the vastness of it all, or to the smallest building blocks of this earth, the protons, neutrons and electrons, all that is associated with either the greatest or the smallest parts of God’s creation is beyond our ability to fully comprehend. The single cell, once thought to be an incredibly simple, basic living creature, turns out to be quite complex, with each cell being unique, carrying out a vast number of functions, some of which we slightly understand, others of which, we observe, but are almost clueless about. Then, the idea that, these cells are made up of millions of molecules, which, under other circumstances, do not have life, is also a conundrum for man. Science is only beginning to understand the mysteries of what God has put before us, and do not expect man to ever fully understand even the simple living cell. However, as we find out again and again in science, nothing is random. There are laws which matter, organic and inorganic, all adhere to. Even though evolutionists try to present the evolution of life as being some sort of a random process, everything which we know about life, indicates quite the opposite, that there are laws that, when understood, explain how we go from point A to point B (cause and effect).

Gen 1:19 There was evening, then morning-a fourth day.

By the 4^th day, we have land and sea, an atmosphere around the earth, and lights in the sky (the sun, moon and stars). The way I understand this passage is, God created the heavens and the earth, which creation probably included material later used to make the stars, planets and moons. The earth was originally created to be inhabited, but it was packed in ice, probably in judgment, by God (as discussed earlier, the earth was probably inhabited by angels at one point in history). In the first 3 days of restoration, God Himself provided the warmth and the light. Now, for Day 4, God provides a different source fo light and heat.

Now we begin Day Five:

Gen 1:20 And God said, "Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens."

It appears as though God did not create a pair of this and a pair of that, and let them continue from there; He apparently created a great many creatures of the sea and creatures of the air.

Gen 1:21 So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

The great sea creatures would refer to sharks and whales, primarily. God filled the seas with an incredible abundance of marine life. The animals were all created to interact and to be interdependent. At this point in time, animals did not eat other animals. They all ate plants. Furthermore, there is no indication that animals died. When Adam sins, death will be brought into the world, and thereafter, the consumption of animals as food. We ascertain this from examining the Millennium and the New Heavens and the New Earth. Ferocity between animals is eliminated (the lion will lie down with the lamb—Isa. 11:6 65:25) as is sorrow and death (And God will wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there will be no more death, nor mourning, nor crying out, nor will there be any more pain; for the first things passed away—Rev. 21:4). Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that, under perfect environment before the fall, the same conditions existed. God will, after the flood, authorize the eating of meat by man (Gen. 9:3).

Gen 1:22 And God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth."

Prior to the fall, God apparently made it possible for birds of the air and the creatures of the sea to multiply, which means they could procreate. However, one might argue that they are given this potential to procreate which will not kick in until Adam sins.

There are several things which stand out in v. 22: first of all, God blesses this aspect of creation and then He speaks to them. God is not said to bless anything until this point in time. To bless is found here in the Piel stem, imperfect tense. The Piel stem in the Hebrew generally denotes intensity; however, it is also used to indicate an accomplished state of being without regard to the process. When God is doing the blessing, this often means to prosper in the Hebrew. The imperfect tense often refers to something which is ongoing or continuous. God prospering animal life could be seen as an intensive, ongoing process, but without focusing on the process itself.

We also find the first imperative mood of the Bible, and God directs this imperative mood toward animal life in the skies and seas. This indicates that God is setting something into motion here; in this case, it is procreation. This would be reasonably seen as sexual function between animals, which would be a part of their nature, even prior to actually having offspring.

The alternative approach is, animals do procreate in perfect environment. Reasonably assuming three things—that animals procreate and they do not die and they do not eat one another—these things seem to indicate that God knows there is a timer on perfect environment. We know this by God’s attribute of omniscience, but we also know this by the first 3 chapters of Genesis. If there is no death among animals, how fast would they multiply? I would assume that there are insects as well at this time. Could they be given as food, allowing for death in the insect world? I have no idea, myself, although I doubt it, as they are part of the animal kingdom as well. We are given limited information about perfect environment.

Personally, I would assume that there is no procreation among animals until the fall; although the potential for procreation is there (this is true of Adam and the woman, who bear no children until after the fall). The verbiage found here (And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply...”) is found almost word-for-word after man is created (Gen. 1:28).

We are given precious few details of man and animals under perfect environment. Direct statements, like, and neither man nor animals bore offspring, are not found. Therefore, we examine the options and determine which seems most likely (did animals produce offspring or not?).

Gen 1:23 And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.

Day Six:

On the 6^th day, God creates land animals, which are principally mammals and reptiles. Then He creates man.

Gen 1:24 And God said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds--livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds." And it was so.

In an instant, God created a great many species of animals, and within each group, God allowed for a great deal of sub-species (I don’t know if I am using these terms correctly). God may have created 1,000,000 dogs, but within this group of dogs, certain traits may be brought to the forefront and certain traits may be removed from a sub-species of dog (which seems to have taken place principally over this past millennium).

Gen 1:25 And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

God created animals so that they could not breed outside of their species. He created animals so that those of the same kind could breed. He made things so that, for instance, when two cows breed, the result is a calf and not a lamb.

Gen 1:26 Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."

God is a plural noun (Elohim) and we find this exact same noun in other places translated gods. However, in places like this, Elohim takes a singular verb. This, in fact, is what tells us that we are speaking of the God Who created us. However, suddenly, here, God is speaking to someone else, someone Who is a part of the creative process. God says that We are going to create man and that man will be in God’s image and likeness.

The first thing that we need to know is, Who is with God? Now, I have capitalized the nouns and pronouns, but, in the Hebrew language (the original language) there are no capital letters. Capitalizing letters of names and pronouns which refer to God is a tradition in our society, a tradition which, unfortunately, is not followed in all Bible translations.

We have another account of creation in John 1:1–4, 14, 17: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him was not any thing made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

So the Person with God is Jesus Christ, called here, the Word. All things were made by means of Him and nothing was made without Him. In the fullness of time (at the proper time, according to God’s plan), the Word became flesh and lived among us; He is full of grace and truth, and this grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

From the very beginning, God is more than One person, even though He is One in essence. You may have some familiarity with the Bible and you know that, Deut. 6:4 reads: Listen, O Israel: Jehovah [is] our God [Elohim], the Jehovah [is] one. The word for one used here is not used to refer to absolute singularity. We find the exact same word used in Gen. 2:24: Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. The singularity here refers to unity between the man and the woman. They remain two separate personalities, but they form (for lack of a better term) a corporate unity in marriage. Similarly, the Godhead or the Trinity is one in essence, yet plural in person and function.

The Spirit of God is mentioned back in Gen. 1:2 and Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit are mentioned here in Gen. 1:26. We confirm this by looking at John 1.

I have mentioned the division of labor, and what is required in order to make anything. You need a plan, someone who will do the actual work, and the energy involved to make whatever is being made. God the Father planned it all; God the Son executed the plan, and this was all done in the power (energy) of God the Holy Spirit. 3 different persons, 3 difference functions, yet one in essence and purpose.

Item #2 from this verse is the fact that God gave man authority over the earth. Throughout man’s history, there have been those who worship the earth. The current environmental movement has morphed into what has essentially become a cult-worship of the earth. At one time, the environmental movement had some fairly reasonable members, who petitioned in a variety of ways for cleaner air, cleaner water and cleaner land. Although a balance must be struck between man and nature, this balance is always in man’s favor, because God has given man dominion over the earth. Man should never be seen as subservient to the earth or to any part of the earth. Nor should man be seen as some sort of an aberration of nature or as some sort of a destructive, anti-nature force. Man is not an intruder in nature nor is man a destructive force, destroying nature. God gave man the authority over the earth, which means authority over all nature.

Man has done several things when it comes to subduing the earth: (1) we grow crops and breed animals for our own specific needs; (2) we build homes to live in and buildings to work in; (3) we build roads to go from point A to point B; (4) we build water supplies. These 4 things have been with us since time immemorial, and these are 4 ways in which we subdue the earth.

Is it a good thing to preserve clean air and water? Of course, because we as man breathe that air and drink that water. Are there national parks which we should preserve? Of course, because there are many people who want to visit these parks and camp out in them. This is a part of subduing the earth. In this, we strike a balance between a pristine area and an area accessible to man. I have been to several beaches where the intention is to keep these beaches as pristine as possible. However, there are roads and trails which lead us to these beaches. The preservation and the access both fall under man’s authority over the earth.

However, it is quite another thing to preserve a plot of ground that no one goes to and that no one has a desire to go to. That sort of thing falls into more of a cult-worship of the earth. We have a place called the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in Alaska. There are very few animals in this area and even fewer people. There is probably not a better place on this earth to drill for oil, because no one will ever see these oil derricks. If anything, animal life would increase in these areas, as they did along the great oil pipeline which was laid back in the 1970's and 1980's. This is also a part of man’s authority over the earth.

The key is, God has given man dominion over the earth, and man gets to decide what to do with it. If China follows the United States and its economic evolution, there will be a point at which the Chinese will decide that, cleaner air to breath and rivers which cannot catch on fire to be priorities.

There are those who like to commune more closely with nature and see less of mankind, and I can fully sympathize with such an approach to life, man being what he is. If such a person has the wherewithal, they can purchase a substantial plot of land and live there, isolated, to some degree, from other people. However, no matter how in tune with nature such a one sees himself, he is going to make changes to portions of this land in order to live. That is, he may clear away a place to live, cut down trees for fuel or for shelter, and perform a number of other things which substantially changes the environment. There is nothing wrong with this, and even the most ardent environmentalist will change the environment around him to suit his own taste. Being man, we get to decide how to subdue the earth. This includes the environment in which we live. The key is a balance between man and nature and between man and society. This means that, if you want to have complete control and authority over your own environment, then you need to buy that huge plot of land and do with it what you believe is a proper balance between you and nature, because, 99% of the time, our concept of how the environment ought to be has to be tempered by the opinions of others who share the same environment as you.

Gen 1:27 So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

Item #3: the Bible tells us that man is made in God’s image. What does this mean? Man has a reflected essence or a shadow essence which is an image of God’s essence. Jesus will later tell us that, “God is Spirit; and those who worship Him must worship in Spirit and in Truth” (John 4:24). So, when it comes to being made in the image of God, this does not mean that God has 2 eyes, a nose, a mouth, etc. God is immaterial and the immaterial part of us is a shadow-image of God.

As perfect creatures (we were created in perfection), we are a reflection of God; we are created in His image and likeness.

Gen. 1:26–27: Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

This previous passage speaks of God creating man in the image of God; and then it speaks of God creating man and woman. As we will find out, this was not simply a process of God saying, “Let there be man” and man came to be. However, we are given few details here. The details of the creation of man will be given in the next chapter.

Providing the details after a few general statements is common in the Hebrew Bible (the Old Testament). In a narrative, sometimes basic occurrences are stated first, and then details are given afterward. We tend to think chronologically. We’re born, we live and then we die. Things happen in a chronological order. Now, although the Hebrews do not ignore chronology, they will often list some general statements first, and then they will expand on those general statements. Think of this as analogous to an introductory paragraph, a preface or a table of contents. You are given a brief outline of what is to come, and then the author launches into the details.

I mention this simply because, critics of the Bible claim that there are two creation stories here; Gen. 1 and Gen. 2. Not true. Gen. 2:4–25 gives us some more details which are not given in Gen. 1:1–2:3. In Gen. 1, we are simply told that God created man in His Own image; and that God created man as male and female. Gen. 2 gives us more specifics as to how God created man and how God created man as male and female.

We have a problem here: when did God make the woman? Most understand this passage to mean that God created the man and the woman on this 6^th day, which makes this a very eventful day. God creates the land animals and then Adam, and has Adam name all of these animals (along with the birds), and then, later on, that same day, God will form the woman out of Adam’s rib (Gen. 2:18–25). That is a lot to happen on one day. However, that is not an impossible task for one day.

This text (along with the following verse), makes it sound as if God certainly did create the man and the woman on the 6^th day and that God speaks to them and tells them to be fruitful and multiply—hardly the sort of thing that God would say to Adam alone.

Gen 1:28 And God blessed them. And God said to them [the man and the woman], "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue [conquer, subjugate] it and exercise dominion over [rule over, subjugate] the fish of the sea, the birds of the heavens and every living thing that moves on the earth."

We have parallels between v. 22 and v. 28. In both verses, God blesses them (animals of the sea and air; and man), and, God tells them to be fruitful and to multiply.

That man is to subdue the earth is an imperative mood. This is the first mandate given by God to man. The Qal stem of this verb means to bring into bondage, make subservient; to subdue, force, violate; to subdue, dominate, tread down. In the Hebrew, this imperative mood is addressed to the 2^nd person plural. That means that this is an order from God issued to both the man and the woman.

God gives man dominion over the earth. God is specific: he tells man to be fruitful and multiply (that is, to have a lot of children) and to fill the earth and to subdue it, and to have and exercise authority and power over all animal life.

God gives man dominion over all animal creatures, and this is the imperative mood again; God requires man to rule, to subjugate, to have dominion over all of the animals.

Gen 1:29 And God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You will have them for food.

God gives man plants which produce food; and man is to eat from these. Interestingly enough, man is created as a vegetarian. Even though God gives man authority over the animal kingdom, this does not yet mean that man can barbeque and eat the animals. God will allow for that, but not under perfect environment. God will allow man to eat animals after the flood (see Gen. 9:3).

This introduces a problem: do all plants originally grow from seeds? Did God cause some plants to grow super-fast? Did God create some plants fully grown? In Gen. 1:11–12 2:5, 8–9, it sounds as though plants grow naturally, beginning just as sprouts from seeds on the 3^rd day. In this verse, if we understand plants to grow naturally from seed, then what God describes herein is potential. We have discussed previously that the first 3 days may have been longer than 24 hours, as there was no sun and moon by which to measure time; and we will later find out that God places Adam and the women in a garden, so to speak, where food will be available from the trees and plants. Whether God allowed for a normal growth cycle or whether God grew the Garden of Eden in a 24 hour period, we do not know. However, we will find out later, that outside of the garden, there are fewer plants (Gen. 2:5—I should warn you, by the way, that your translation of this verse may be incorrect).

Our original bodies, uncorrupted by sin, were probably far more phenomenal than we realize. We should recall that Jesus fasted for 40 days and was still able to resist Satan. Jesus was also subject to the most horrendous beating a man could be subjected to, then placed on a cross, and then He was judged for our sins in His own body on the cross—and yet, at the end, He had to dismiss His own spirit in order to die. Therefore it is reasonable to assume that, in perfect environment, that man had perpetual life and that our bodies were virtually indestructible. Under sin, our bodies grow old; apart from sin, our bodies are phenomenal in what they can do and what they can achieve. Our bodies are designed to regenerate every 7 years (if my memory of this aspect of biology is correct). Whether God build this into the human body as a potential for after the fall or whether this has always been a part of man’s biological being, I could not say.

In any case, even in this fallen environment with our corrupted bodies, we regenerate a great deal. Over my years as a child, I have had broken arms, black eyes, bruises and a myriad of cuts, as well as 2^nd and 3^rd degree burns. You cannot identify where 99% of those things were. In fact, it has only been since I have become an adult where some cuts and bruises have left any scarring. So, our uncorrupted bodies must have been quite phenomenal.

Gen 1:30 And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food." And it was so.

God also gives plants to the animals for food as well. Animals were not created originally to eat one another, nor were they created originally for us to consume (although God, whose omniscience extends to all things future, realized that man would eventually eat animals for food).

It is unclear whether food was a requirement of mankind at this time, or simply a pleasure. From all the information available, I assume that it was the latter.

Gen 1:31 And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

This sets up a time frame for much of the next chapter. Most of the next chapter will center in on God’s creation of man, and we know that this all occurred on the 6^th day.

There are several theories in this world concerning the creation account of Genesis. Some dismiss the Genesis record out of hand, believing that science has clearly shown evolution to be a natural process and our true means of origin. Some would further state that our evolution occurs without God being involved in the process.

The approach of Darwinists is, science tells us that man evolved. Somehow—we do not know how—there was the earth, the sun and the universe. On earth, there was something—we don’t know exactly what—and some process—we don’t know exactly what, which resulted in inorganic material becoming organic. Some goo of unknown origin went through a sudden, almost miraculous transformation, from non-living matter to life. One moment, everything is lifeless; and the next, there is a living cell.

At one time, the single cell was thought to be relatively simple. I mean, hell, you could barely see the thing with a microscope, so it had to be simple. Today, as science discovers more about the single cell, the more we recognize how little we actually know about it. It has such processes as: mitosis, meiosis, endocytosis, phagocytosis, pinocytosis, and exocytosis. We can find crude models of any of these processes on the internet. There are a great variety of cells, and if one scientist was to take one cell and spend his entire lifetime studying that one cell (or that particular type of cell), he could never fully plumb the depths of the complexity of that cell. And yet, one moment, on earth, according to the Darwinist, there was nothing living; and the next moment, poof, a thing so complex that the world’s greatest scientist today could not understand everything that there is to know about it.

The world’s greatest mind could take just one living cell and he could spend his entire life studying and writing scientific exposition about this single cell, and after a lifetime, no genius would fully understand everything there is to know about this single cell. At this point, we are able to describe certain processes fo a cell, but we do not fully understand all of them.

Apparently—and I am not sure exactly how this happened according to evolutionists—this live cell must have morphed into a variety of different kinds of cells, some of which decided to team up and form a gang, giving us our first multicellular living thing. Eventually, this morphed into a fish (remember, millions of years are involved here, so anything is possible to the evolutionist), and, over the course of time, this fish decided that it wanted to live on land, so it landed on the shore, grew lungs and arms and legs, and turned into a reptile (of course, this happened gradually over millions of years, and whenever you add the phrase gradually, over millions of years, then this no longer sounds foolish). This reptile, over time, sprouted wings and flew, its heavy scales turning into ultra-light feathers (again, this is made believable because we assume that this took place over millions of years).

That is one theory, and one which many scientists prefer to call the scientific theory of evolution. This is a theory which requires a tremendous amount of faith, far more than I am able to sum up. Any one change (like a fish developing lungs from their gills) would be quite miraculous on its own and require phenomenal faith to believe in. Evolutionists believe in millions of such changes and their faith is strong. I have argued in vain with many evolutionists, and it is almost impossible to rattle their faith, regardless of their knowledge of evolution (some know a lot and some know very little; but they have stronger faith than do most Christians in what they believe).

There is a second theory is called the Day-Age Theory. Here, each day in Genesis is seen as a period of time. In fact, some theologians who believe this, remark how well this matches up to the creation process in evolution. Throughout the Bible, day does not always refer to a 24-hour period or a 12–13 hour period of daylight. Sometimes it can refer to just a point in time and sometimes it can refer to a longer period of time (longer than a 24 hour day). Therefore, those who believe in this theory, would argue that we are speaking of long periods of time here which are called days, and that such an opinion is not inconsistent with the use of day elsewhere in the Bible. Essentially, this point of view is taken by someone who has been convinced both that evolution as described above is the only reasonable explanation for the origin of life; and that the Bible contains some truth as well. Therefore, in their mind, this theory allows for both to be true.

My own personal opinion here is, the author of this chapter seems to be trying very hard to indicate that these are 24-hour time periods (at least from Day 4 on). We have the creation process followed by, and so there is an evening, and so there is a morning, the sixth day. If this was a long period of time, the author instead would have written something like, and so was the day of the creation of the land animals.

I am trying to keep this study fairly simple; therefore, I am not going to go into the concept of evolution in any great depth (I covered it to some degree in lesson #10). I was brought up to believe in evolution, and I believed in it firmly into my early 20's. At age 21, I believed in Jesus Christ and was saved. When I began to study the Bible, I also developed an interest in evolution. Now, no pastor and no church told me, you cannot believe in evolution and be a Christian. In fact, early on, I pretty much adopted the Day-Age Theory in my thinking (which is a very common view among Christians), but then I began to read books critical of evolution, and found out that there is more scientific evidence against evolution than there is for evolution. The solid evidence for evolution is not near as solid as some would have you believe. On my own web page, I examine some specifics of evolution (www.kukis.org/page14.html), and I refer you to that if you have an interest. Also, if you are to read just one book on this topic (and there are hundreds), I suggest Lubenow’s Bones of Contention.

The way Genesis 1 is written, days 1–6 indicate the rotation of the earth for at least days 4–6.

Before we move into day 7, it may be instructive to see what the rest of the Bible has to say about creation. Does the Bible say anything at all about God creating the heavens and the earth? Does the Bible say anything about God creating man? Does the Bible look back on this first chapter of Genesis as allegorical? Does the Bible move forever without looking back one way or the other?

As we examine the passages which deal with creation in the Bible, bear in mind that the creation and restoration of the earth involved the entire Godhead. God the Father was the Architect—He designed and planned out all that would happen (which includes free will in His creatures). God the Son, the Revealed Member of the Trinity, did the actual building and creating. God the Holy Spirit provided the power or the energy. All that man creates involves these 3 things: a plan, someone to execute the plan, and the energy involved in executing the plan. Whether one builds a doghouse, a road or a symphony, there needs to be a plan, the energy to execute the plan and someone who executes the plan. All things created by man contain those three components. I mention the triune function of the Godhead because this is essential to our lives as believers in Jesus Christ.

A literal 6-day creation/restoration:

But the seventh day is the Sabbath of Jehovah your God. You will not do any work [on this day]—not you, your son, your daughter, your manservant, your maidservant, your cattle, or the stranger within your gates. This is because Jehovah made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them in six days, and rested the seventh day. Therefore Jehovah blessed the Sabbath day, and sanctified it (Ex. 20:10–11). The word made here is the verb ʿâsâh (עָשָֹה) [pronounced ģaw-SAWH], which means to do, to make, to construct, to fashion, to form, to prepare, to manufacture. This verb was used in v. 7 when the atmosphere of the earth was made. It is difficult to interpret this in any other way than, 6 periods of daylight and 6 periods of night.

God made the heavens and the earth:

When Hezekiah prayed to God, he said, “You alone...made the heavens and the earth.” (2Kings 19:15).

My help comes from Jehovah, the Maker of the heavens and the earth (Psalm 121:2).

May Jehovah bless you out of Zion, He Who made the heavens and earth (Psalm 134:3).

God created and made all that is on the earth:

So the LORD said, "I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them." (Gen. 6:7). There is creation factor and a making factor. Making means, out of the materials which exist, these things were made. Creating refers to giving life to something which had no life.

God created and made the heavens and the earth and all that is in them:

A prayer in the book of Nehemiah includes the lines: "You are the LORD, You alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and You preserve all of them; and the host of heaven [angelic creation] worships You.” (Neh. 9:6).

By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and by the breath of His mouth all their host [all of angelic creation and the stars and planets] (Psalm 33:6).

The heavens are Yours; the earth also is Yours; the world and all that is in it, You have founded them (Psalm 89:11).

Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD from the heavens; praise Him in the heights! Praise Him, all His angels; praise Him, all His hosts! Praise Him, sun and moon, praise Him, all you shining stars! Praise Him, you highest heavens, and you waters above the heavens! Let them praise the name of the LORD! For He commanded and they were created. And He established them forever and ever; He gave a decree, and it shall not pass away (Psalm 148:1–6).

Do you not know? Have you not heard, that the everlasting God, Jehovah, the Creator of the ends of the earth, does not grow weak or weary? There is no limit to His understanding (Isa. 40:28).

I will open rivers on the bare heights, and fountains in the midst of the valleys. I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water. I will put in the wilderness the cedar, the acacia, the myrtle, and the olive. I will set in the desert the cypress, the plane and the pine together, that they may see and know, may consider and understand together, that the hand of the LORD has done this, the Holy One of Israel has created it (Isa. 41:18–20).

Thus says God, the LORD, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it...” (Isa. 42:5).

“I have made the earth, and created man on it; I, with My hands, have stretched out the heavens; and all their host [the stars and all other celestial things] have I commanded.” (Isa. 45:12).

I have made the earth, man, and the animals on the face of the earth, by My great power and by My outstretched arm, and have given it to whom it seemed right to Me (Jer. 27:5).

Inspired, people listening to John and Peter, stood up and said [to God], “Lord, You are the God who made the heaven and earth, and the sea, and all that is in them.” (Acts 4:24b).

Paul writes to the Ephesian church: To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places (Eph. 3:8–10).

For every house is built by someone, but He who built all things is God (Heb. 3:4).

By faith we understand that the ages were framed by the Word of God, so that the things being seen not to have come into being out of the things that appear (Heb. 11:3).

God’s incredible creation glorifies Him:

The psalmist is amazed that, given all that God has created, that He gives any thought to man: When I look at Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have set in place, what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You care for him? (Psalm 8:3–4).

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims His handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them He has set a tent for the sun, which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy. Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them, and there is nothing hidden from its heat (Psalm 19:1–6).

“To whom then will you compare Me, that I should be like anyone else?” says the Holy One. “Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who brings out their host [the stars and planets] by number, calling them all by name, by the greatness of his might, and because He is strong in power not one is missing.” (Isa. 40:25–26).

“O Lord, You are worthy to receive glory and honor and power, because You created all things, and for Your will they are and were created.” (Rev. 4:11).

And I saw another angel flying in mid-heaven, having the everlasting gospel to proclaim to those dwelling on the earth, even to every nation and kindred and tongue and people, saying with a great voice, Fear God and give glory to Him! For the hour of His judgment has come. And worship Him who made the heaven and the earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters (Rev. 14:6–7).

God created heavens and earth, but He is not confined by or to the heavens and earth:

Of old, You laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands. They will perish, but you will remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away, but You are the same, and Your years have no end (Psalm 102:25–27). This is the first time that it is suggested that the heavens and earth would pass away, becoming old like a garment.

God is far greater than His creation and is not confined to His creation: But, the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says, "Heaven is My throne and earth is My footstool. What house will you build Me, says the Lord, or what is the place of My rest? Has not My hand made all these things?" (Acts 7:48–50). The Jews, from the earliest times, understood that their God was not One Who could be confined to a particular place, nor could He be made with human hands (as an idol could be).

Paul explains to some heathen God’s nature: The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of Heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands, nor is served with men's hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives life and breath and all things to all.” (Acts 17:24–25).

God created the earth to be occupied:

For so says Jehovah the Creator of the heavens—He is God, forming the earth and making it; He establishes it, not creating it empty [a wasteland], but forming it to be inhabited—, “I am Jehovah, and there is no other.” (Isa. 45:18). God created the earth for the purpose of being inhabited. From the beginning, the earth was designed to be inhabited.

God set up specific laws and measures by which all things interact and function:

[God is speaking to Job, and, essentially, to all mankind]: "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have a full understanding [of what I did]. Who determined its measurements--surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars [angels] sang together and all the sons of God [angels] shouted for joy? Or who shut in the sea with doors [the oceans were frozen solid] when it burst out from the womb [God began to heat the surface of the earth], when I made clouds its garment [the earth was covered by clouds] and thick darkness its swaddling band, and prescribed limits for it and set bars and doors, and said, 'Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stayed'?” (Job 38:4–11). In another life, I did some basic auto mechanics, and every part of an automobile is designed to interact with the rest of the automobile. There are specific measures, specific temperatures, and specific materials which must be used, matched, and designed to interact together. It is the same for the laws of this universe. Slight changes in our atmosphere, our earth, the sun, the orbit, etc. would cause cataclysmic changes in life here on earth. Not only did God set up specific measures, laws and interactions, but He also designed stabilization factors as well. The oceans stabilize the temperatures of the earth; the winds and the atmosphere keep the air clean and fresh; the water cycle is designed to cleanse and purify as well. The gravity of the moon, pulling the oceans as the moon orbits the earth, keeps our oceans from becoming stagnant. There is an amazing interaction between millions of factors, all of which have specific measures, specific temperatures and are designed out of specific materials, so that they interact in such a way as to put the earth through a series of interdependent cycles.

O Jehovah, how many are Your works! You have made all of them in wisdom; the earth is full of Your riches. This is the sea, great and wide on both hands; there are creeping things even without number; living things, small and great (Psalm 104:24–25).

Bless the LORD, O my soul! O LORD my God, you are very great! You are clothed with splendor and majesty, covering Yourself with light as with a garment, stretching out the heavens like a tent. He lays the beams of His chambers on the waters; He makes the clouds His chariot; He rides on the wings of the wind; He makes his messengers winds, His ministers a flaming fire. He set the earth on its foundations, so that it should never be shaken [caused to totter] (Psalm 104:1–5). God stretched out the atmosphere around the earth, so that it is like a tent for us to live in. He sets up the laws of science so that the earth remains in its orbit without being shaken or dislodged from this orbit.

The LORD by wisdom founded [established, began] the earth; by understanding He established the heavens; by His knowledge the deeps broke open, and the clouds drop down the dew (Prov. 3:19–20). There is a complex set of laws of solar bodies put into motion by God.

Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, and measured out the heavens with a span? And who has shut up the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance? Who has directed the Spirit of Jehovah, and what man taught Him counsel? With whom did He take counsel, and who instructed Him and taught Him in the path of judgment, and taught Him knowledge, and made known the way of understanding to Him? Behold, the nations are like a drop in a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the scales; behold, He takes up the coastlands as a very little thing (Isa. 40:12–15).

“I form light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity, I am the LORD, who does all these things. Shower, O heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain down righteousness; let the earth open, that salvation and righteousness may bear fruit; let the earth cause them both to sprout; I the LORD have created it.” (Isa. 45:7–8).

My hand also has laid the foundation of the earth, and My right hand has stretched out the heavens. I called; they stood up together (Isa. 48:13). God designed the earth and its atmosphere as a contiguous whole, to function together.

I, even I, am He who comforts you. Who are you, that you should fear a man. He will die, or from the son of man? He will be made as grass? And you forget Jehovah your Maker, who has stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth (Isa. 51:12–13a). God is the Creator of man and the heavens and earth.

He has made the earth by His power; He has established the world by His wisdom, and has stretched out the heavens by His judgment (Jer. 10:21). The heavens and earth were made by God’s omnipotence and His perfect knowledge.

He has made the earth by His power; He has established the world by His wisdom, and has stretched out the heavens by His understanding. When He utters His voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens; and He causes the mists to ascend from the ends of the earth. He makes lightnings with rain and brings forth the wind out of His treasures (Jer. 51:15–16). By God’s power and knowledge, He made the earth, and established the laws for it (e.g., the water cycle, referred to here).

Seek Him who created the Pleiades and Orion, and who turned the deep darkness into the morning and He darkened the day into night. Seek Him who calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out on the face of the earth; Jehovah is His name (Amos 5:8). The God Who created the great constellations also created the water cycle, which is essential to life on this earth.

The earth is out in space, circular, and hanging upon nothing:

He stretches out the north over the void and hangs the earth on nothing. He binds up the waters in his thick clouds, and the cloud is not split open under them. He covers the face of the full moon and spreads over it his cloud. He has inscribed a circle on [encircled, encompassed] the face [surface] of the waters at the boundary between light and darkness.” Job speaking to his friends in Job 26:7–10. The first sentence is quite remarkable, that God hangs the earth upon nothing. The final sentence is also quite interesting. There is some sort of curvature ascribed to the ocean’s surface, as well as this great boundary between light and darkness (which is quite obvious from an aerial view, but not quite so obvious from the ground).

God has made the earth to orbit the sun:

Say among the peoples [or, the Gentiles], “Y^ehowah reigns [over all]; furthermore, the [entire] earth is firmly established [by Him]—it is not tottering [or, it will not be dislodged; it will not be thrown into disarray]—He judges [all] the peoples with righteous decisions. (Psalm 96:10). The verb used here makes perfect sense if speaking about the earth in motion and on a particular path. The psalmist continues: The heavens rejoice and the earth goes in a circle [in joy]; the sea and its fulness roar [like thunder].” (Psalm 96:11). The verb used here means to dance in a circle in joy.

God both made and created man:

When God created man, He made him in the likeness of God. Male and female He created them, and He blessed them and named them Man when they were created. (Gen. 5:1b–2b).

"For ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether such a great thing as this has ever happened or was ever heard of. Did any people ever hear the voice of a god speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and still live? Or has any god ever attempted to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, and by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great deeds of terror, all of which the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?” (Deut. 4:32–34). The point of this paragraph is about God taking the Jews out of Egypt with great signs and wonders. However, God’s creation of man is alluded to. Here, the verb used is bârâʾ (בָּרָא) [pronounced baw-RAW], which means to create (always with God as subject); to shape, to fashion; possibly to create out of nothing.

“The Spirit of God made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.” (Job 33:4).

Remember how short my time is! For what vanity you have created all the children of man! (Psalm 89:47). This is rather an amazing psalm; the psalmist is asking, what good is the Davidic Covenant (a contract which God made with David) if man simply dies out from generation to generation, and God fulfills this covenant thousands of years later.

The hearing ear and the seeing eye, Jehovah has even made both of them (Prov. 20:12). Our very senses are from God.

So says Jehovah, your Redeemer, and He who formed you from the womb, I am Jehovah Who makes all things; who stretches out the heavens alone; who spreads out the earth; who was with Me? (Isa. 44:24).

I have made the earth, and created man on it; I with My hands have stretched out the heavens; and all their host have I commanded (Isa. 45:12).

God knew us from eternity past: Before I formed you in the belly I knew you; and before you came forth out of the womb I consecrated you, and I ordained you [Jeremiah] a prophet to the nations (Jer. 1:5).

The burden of the Word of Jehovah for Israel, says Jehovah, who stretches forth the heavens, and lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him (Zech. 12:1). Not only did God create and found the earth, but He formed the spirit [the immaterial part] of man.

Is there not one Father to us all? Has not one God created us? (Mal. 2:10a).

In answering a question posed by the pharisees, Jesus said, “Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, 'Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two will become one flesh'?” (Matt. 19:4–5; Gen. 2:24).

We are likened to a lump of clay formed into a living being by God:

“Your hands fashioned and made me, and now you have destroyed me altogether. Remember that You have made me like clay; and will You return me to the dust?” Job is speaking to God in Job 10:8–9.

You turn things upside down! Is the potter be made equal to the clay? Should the thing made should say of its maker, "He did not make me"; or the thing formed say of him who formed it, "He has no understanding"? (Isa. 29:16). The Maker and the Creator is superior to that which they make, and what they make is for their pleasure.

Woe to him who fights with the One who formed him, a potsherd among the potsherds of the earth! Ought the clay say to its maker, What are you making? Or your work, He has no hands? (Isa. 45:9).

But now, O Jehovah, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You are our Former; and we all are the work of Your hand (Isa. 64:8).

God created Satan:

“You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, emerald, and carbuncle; and crafted in gold were your settings and your engravings. On the day that you were created they were prepared. You were an anointed guardian cherub. I placed you; you were on the holy mountain of God; in the midst of the stones of fire you walked. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created, till unrighteousness was found in you. In the abundance of your trade you were filled with violence in your midst, and you sinned; so I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God, and I destroyed you, O guardian cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. Your heart was proud because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. I cast you to the ground; I exposed you before kings, to feast their eyes on you.” (Ezek. 28:13–17). In a future lesson, we will examine in more depth Satan’s intrusion into the Garden of Eden.

All life is from God:

“But ask the beasts, and they will teach you; the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you; or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you. Who among all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this? In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.” Job speaking to his friends in Job 12:7–10.

“The Spirit of God made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.” (Job 33:4).

Jesus Christ is the Creator of all things:

Blessed is he who has the God of Jacob in his help; his hope is on Jehovah his God, Who made the heavens and the earth, the seas and all that is in them (Psalm 146:5–6a). The God of Jacob, Jehovah his [Jacob’s] God is the one who made the heavens and the earth. Notice what comes next: [Jehovah] Who keeps truth forever; Who executes judgment for the oppressed; who gives food to the hungry; Jehovah sets free the prisoners; Jehovah opens the eyes of the blind; Jehovah raises those bowed down; Jehovah loves the righteous (Psalm 146:6b–8). During Jesus’ ministry, John the Baptizer will send messengers asking Him, “Are you the One we are looking for [the Messiah], or should we look for another?” Jesus answers by quoting this verse, in part: “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news [the gospel] proclaimed to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by Me.” (Matt. 11:4b–6). In this way, Jesus is not merely connected to the Creator of all things, but He makes Himself the Creator of the heavens and the earth.

In the beginning was the Word [Jesus Christ], and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and without Him not even one thing came into being that has come into being. He was in the world, and the world came into being through Him, and the world did not know Him. (John 1:1–3, 10).

For all things were created in Him [Jesus Christ], the things in the heavens, and the things on the earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers, all things were created through Him and for Him (Col. 1:16).

God, who at many times and in many ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, Whom He has appointed heir of all things, by Whom also He made the worlds, Who being the shining splendor of His glory, and the express image of His essence, and upholding all things by the word of His power, through Himself cleansing of our sins, He sat down on the right of the Majesty on high, being made so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they (Heb. 1:1–4).

The 24 elders fall down before Jesus on the throne, and say, “Worthy are You, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things, and by Your will they existed and were created.” (Rev. 4:11).

And the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven and swore by him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it,... (Rev. 10:5–6).

God will create a new heavens and a new earth:

Of old You laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands. They will perish, but you will remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away, but You are the same, and Your years have no end (Psalm 102:25–27). This is the first time that it is suggested that the heavens and earth would pass away, becoming old like a garment.

“For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things will not be remembered or come into mind.” (Isa. 65:7).

“For as the new heavens and the new earth that I make shall remain before me, says the LORD, so shall your offspring and your name remain. From new moon to new moon, and from Sabbath to Sabbath, all flesh shall come to worship before me, declares the LORD.” (Isa. 66:22–23).

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace (2Peter 3:10–14).

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more (Rev. 21:1).

And allow me to add these bonus Scriptures:

In us, as believers, God has created a new thing:

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me (Psalm 51:10).

So that if any one is in Christ, that one is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new (2Cor. 5:21).

For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision has any strength, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation (Gal. 6:15).

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them (Eph. 2:10).

And you should put on the new man, who according to God was created in righteousness and true holiness (Eph. 4:24).

One of the points I am making here is, the book of Genesis—specifically the first two chapters—do not present some creation fable or parable which is clarified or straightened out elsewhere in the Bible. God’s creation of the earth and all that is in it is portrayed from beginning to end in the Bible.

As we begin Gen. 2, let me point out that, chapter and verse divisions were imposed on the Bible until much later in the Bible’s history. Originally, the Hebrew had only consonant letters, one written after the other, without spaces, without periods or commas, and without chapter, verse or word divisions. In order to help us with the pronunciations, the Masoretes inserted what are called vowel points—this was hundreds of years later; and these vowels tell us what is happening between the consonants (that is, how to pronounce the words). Since the Jews, for hundreds of years, read the Scriptures aloud, they knew what these words were and how to pronounce them (with the exception of the name Jehovah), so inserting vowels was not a difficult thing to do. However, at the time of the Masorites, the Hebrew had become a dead language, and fewer and fewer people could read from such a manuscript. These vowels which the Masorites added are called vowel points because they were inserted above and below the consonants to help with the pronunciation, and so that they did not interfere with the text as it has been handed down (if you ignore the vowel points, which are small jots and tiddles above and below the consonants, then what remains is the text as it was originally written down. Today, if you take a contemporary Hebrew manuscript of the Bible, and block out the spaces and the markings above and below the letters, you are seeing the Hebrew text just as it has stood for over 2000–3000 years. The reason that these vowel points are above and below the text is so that the text is preserved letter for letter from the original text.

Chapter and verse divisions were imposed on the Old Testament hundreds of years after it was written, so it is not uncommon to find a verse whose thought continues in the next verse; and it is also not uncommon to find a chapter which comes to an end, but shouldn’t. This is one of the places where that has occurred. Gen. 2:1–3 are properly a part of Gen. 1.

Gen 2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.

In the 6 days of restoration, God went back to the earth, which had been packed in ice (we refer to this as the Ice Age), and He thawed the earth and, in a matter of 6 literal days, restored the earth.

Gen 2:2 And on the seventh day God finished His work that He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work that He had done.

God did not rest because He was tired; but God rested (stopped working) because He had completed what He chose to do.

The word translated to rest is the word shâbath (שָבַת) [pronounced shaw-BAHTH], which means to rest, to keep a day of rest, to celebrate the Sabbath; to sit down [still]; to cease, to desist, to leave off, to discontinue. Strong’s #7673 BDB #992. Quite obviously, this word is the origin of the English word Sabbath, which is a transliteration of the Hebrew word shâbbath (שָבַּת) [pronounced shawb-BAHTH], whose exact meaning has been lost, but, given the verb, it likely means a ceasing, a leaving off, a discontinuation; a rest. Strong's #7676 BDB #992. Quite obviously, we have held onto this word since the 7^th day of creation.

What the Bible appears to assert is that human history on this earth is 6000–10,000 years, and that our time on this earth is quite recent. The earth itself may be millions if not billions of years old, but man, descended from a literal Adam and Eve, has not been here for very long. Population growth is studied today, and we have mathematical equations to approximate the population of man growing. These population equation models are consistent with man being on this earth for 6000–10,000 years. These models are not consistent with man living on this earth for 1,000,000 years, as evolution supposes. These models are not at all consistent with the idea that each type of man (homo habilis, homo erectus, and homo sapiens) lived on the earth for approximately 1,000,000 years each. In fact, there is no animal on earth whose population is consistent with being on this earth for a million years.

Gen 2:3 So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all His work that He had done in creation.

The Sabbath is a fascinating human event. I should point out, from the outset, that the Jews rightfully recognize Saturday as being the 7^th day of the week, as the historic Sabbath; and most calenders are set up that way as well (with Sunday as the 1^st day of the week).

What is more fascinating is, virtually every civilized society, with any sort of a history, has operated on the 7-day week for as long as we know. Since a year is 365 days, a 5 day week would be logical, as 365 is divisible by 5. Or, because the number 6 is considered in mathematics to be a perfect number, and it is divisible by 2 and 3, 6 would be a nice period of time to be designated as a week. The number 8 is a great number: it is the cube of 2 and it is divisible by 2 and 4 (which is 2 squared). 5, 6 and 8 all divide evenly into 360, which is a lunar year, and how years were marked in many cultures (including in the Jewish culture). However, societies do not operate on 6-day or 8-day weeks. But, the Bible tells us that, from the very beginning, God established a 7-day week, and that is virtually universal on this earth.

Human traditions die hard. If some nation had a 5 or 6 or 8 day week, and if they functioned under this week for hundreds of years, then it would be quite difficult for them to change their traditions. You may say, “But, we live in a world economy; they have to have a 7 day week just like us.” Our world-wide economy is actually a relatively recent event in human history. There is nothing which requires some other nation to follow a 7-day week simply because England and the US have a 7-day week. For instance, if business really needed to match up, why aren’t our stock markets all open during the precise same hours? Stock markets are open during working hours in each country where they reside, including the United States. Japan has some holidays peculiar to their culture which are holidays for the stock market there; and we have holidays in this country which are not celebrated elsewhere, and our markets our markets and closed then. I’ve been to Thailand, a country which is about 95% Buddhist, and they operate on a 7-day week. I am unaware of some recent point in time where they changed their culture from a 6-day week or an 8-day week. Their present-day calendar was adopted in 1888, which is associated with the Buddhist Era (2009 a.d. = 2552BE). Today, many Thais use the western calendar for business purposes, but both calendars are based upon 7-day weeks. What about the Hindu calendar? 7-day weeks. Now, there are marked differences as to the months, as to how and when leap year began to become considered; they are different with regards to their starting point; but these are all 7-day a week calendars. Wherever we go on this earth, most nations have the 7-day week standard. This is almost hard-wired into the souls of men. That is because, from the very beginning, God restored the earth in 6 days and rested on the 7^th; and then, from the very beginning, promoted this.

Critics do not get to have things both ways. Critics will argue that Israel is this small nation with an overblown history; and yet, somehow, some try to argue that Israel caused the entire world to function on a 7-day week? In fact, it is exactly the opposite. Israel was a small nation but with a very important history during a specific time period. However, there is no way that Israel, in itself, could have exported the 7-day week throughout the world, even at its peak as a nation.

In the next lesson, we go back to Day 6 and see all that occurred on that day.

Gen. 1:1–2:3 should have been chapter 1 of Genesis. This gives us the time frame during which all things were made and/or created, followed by the 7^th day of rest.

At this point, we go back and take a closer look at Day 6, when God created man. This is not some internal contradiction in the Bible, but something which is found throughout the Hebrew Scriptures. An outline or a heading is first given (Gen. 1:26–31), and then the author goes back and fills in the details Gen. 2:7–25).

In Gen. 2:4–14, we are told in some detail about the environment into which man was brought.

Gen 2:4 These are the generations [results, proceedings, genealogies, course of history] of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.

We find this introductory statement (These are the generations of...) in Gen. 2:4 5:1 6:9 10:1, 32 11:10, 27 25:12, 19 36:1, 9 37:2. Most of the time that we find this statement, what follows is a genealogy. It may be a long or a short genealogy. These also appear to be markers throughout the book of Genesis, and may even point to a new author each time, or a new source.

Also, in v. 4, we have the first occurrence of the proper name for God, which is found as Lord, Jehovah or Yahweh. Literally, this is Jehovah Elohim, or, possibly, Jehovah of the Elohim; or, Jehovah of the Gods (or, Godhead). Interestingly enough, we find this title throughout Gen. 2–3, once in Gen. 9 and then scattered from Gen. 14 to the end of Genesis 16 times.

In Gen. 2–3, we have direct and continual contact between Jehovah of the Godhead and man; but after the fall of man, there will be sporadic contact between Jehovah Elohim and man.

When we come to v. 7, I will explain what I believe the pronunciation of His name actually is.

There is an apparent but not real problem with Gen. 2:5. There are times when we run into a verse or a passage which sounds like a contradiction. My English Standard Version reads: Gen 2:5 When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up--for the LORD God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground,... Several other prominent translations are quite similar (e.g., A Conservative Version, the Bible in Basic English, the CEV, the NASB and even the Exegesis Companion Bible). When I first read this, I thought back to Day 3 and how God had all of these plants growing, and here we are, in what will soon become Day 6 (see Gen. 2:7), and there are no plants at all. Although this is a legitimate reading of the Hebrew, the more literal rendering follows:

Gen 2:5–6 And every shrub of the field was not yet on the earth, and every plant of the field had not yet sprung up; for Jehovah God had not sent rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the ground, and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground--...

We twice have a very common word here, kôl (כֹּל) [pronounced kohl], which means every, each, all of, all; any of, any. You will note that this word is found in the more accurate translation directly above. We also have negative adverb not yet, which is properly applied to the verbs rather than to the nouns. I have correctly applied every to the two nouns it precedes and have correctly applied the adverb to the two verbs it precedes (as is found in the Modern KJV, Green’s Literal Translation and the Literal Translation of the Holy Bible).

As an aside, you may wonder, how do I know which Bible is accurate? There are a number of very good and accurate Bibles out there (The Amplified Bible, NKJV, NASB, MKJV, AKJV, Green’s Literal Translation, ESV, the Literal Translation of the Holy Bible) and these Bibles are quite accurate about 98% of the time. However, now and again, we come across a verse which is not translated as well as it should be. This is one reason that every believer ought to be under the authority of a pastor-teacher who knows the original Greek and Hebrew of the Bible so that he can reasonably interpret and explain problems such as we have in this verse. Knowing the Hebrew here quickly and simply explains what appears to be a contradiction.

Now, what appears to be the case is, there is this oasis, this garden, where Adam and the woman will be placed, but outside of this area, we have some vegetation, but not everything necessary for man’s subsistence. So, the Garden of Eden had everything necessary for man’s subsistence; and outside of the Garden of Eden, we have a limited amount of flora, and man is going to have to work in order to provide for his own life. Every plant in the field had not yet sprouted. Some have.

If you have had the experience of moving into a brand new house on a lot just zoned residential, then you may have had the experience of planting your lawn or planting a few shrubs and trees. The house might look great, but not every exterior plant, tree and/or grass has sprouted so that the outside of your house looks as you think it ought to look. This is the world outside of the Garden of Eden.

We do not know is the size of the Garden of Eden. My guess is that it is several hundred square miles at least. It is not is just an acre or two of foliage.

Another thing which we do not know is, if there are continents or if there is just one continent. The idea that land could rise or fall in just a generation seems quite radical; however, the flood which will come (Gen. 7–8) will be unprecedented. In any case, this is not an issue brought up in Scripture. Was there a continental drift because of the flood (Gen. 9) or was there a continental drift because of the ice age and the breaking up of the ice? It is interesting to theorize about, but we do not know.

There is another thing which stands out here: the writer of this passage tells us how the earth is watered—this is a very unusual touch. Most people have a very difficult time with history. As I have heard one person say, history begins, for most people, the day that they are born, and they have a difficult time with what came before (which is why a nation can change direction in one generation). However, the writer of this portion of Genesis describes the way the earth was watered in an unusual way—a mist arose from the ground, and that there was no rain. Given how the earth began and what steps God took to restore the earth (the melting of the ice), the earth in general would have been very similar to a greenhouse with a high humidity throughout. In any case, had someone wrote down these words in 3000 b.c. or 1400 b.c., it would be quite unusual for them to make mention of such an environment, let alone, even conceive of such an environment.

In Gen. 1:1–2:3, we examined God creating and making the earth and the universe, and most of this process was laid out for a 7-day period of time. All of the events were placed into a particular time slot. The rest of chapter 2 is going to deal with some specifics here and there, without setting up any sort of a sequence of events. The sequence of events was already laid out; so that does not have to be repeated. The subject matter of each passage will indicate the day we are speaking of. Since this is subject matter which is arranged topically, some subjects will extend beyond the 6 days of restoration.

We do this kind of thing all of the time. Our life occurs as a series of chronological events. However, if you tell someone about the flat tire that you had to fix on the way to work, you don’t backtrack and tell him when you bought this car and whether this particular tire came with the car or not; and, if not, when you purchased it. The fixing of your flat tire incorporates within the narrative a number of things which occurred on various days in previous years, and these events are not enumerated when you tell this story. However, if the flat tire was a tire which you bought 2 months ago, and the problem was the construction of the tire itself, well then, you are going to go back and incorporate that little bit of news into your story. When telling others about your flat tire, you do not recount every single detail every single time, and recount every detail in chronological order. You walk into work late, you have grease and grime on your arms or on your clothes, and you tell your boss, “Sorry I am late; I had a flat tire on the I-10 when driving in to work today. I’m going to clean up.” Here, you speak first of the present (I am late), of the past (I had a flat tire) and then of the future (I am going to clean up). In other words, even though your life is a series of chronological events, that does not mean that, every time you speak of this or that event, that you always put that event into a chronological sequence. That is all that is happening here. The writer knows about Adam’s original environment and about these first few days (logically, this is Adam speaking to one of his sons, who passes this information to his sons), and, at some point, a writer writes this stuff down. This does not mean that information is necessarily lost or inserted, but that we recall portions of our lives chronologically and other portions of our lives topically, without much thought given to chronology.

In v. 4, we are told that this is an account of the heavens and the earth. In vv. 5–6, we are told about the plant life (that there was not much of it) and how it was watered. In v. 7, God makes man:

Gen 2:7 Then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of lives, and the man became a living creature.

This is a fantastic statement which is consistent with known science. Simply put: we are made out of the chemicals of the earth with life breathed into us by God. Being constructed of the chemicals of the earth is not something which ancient man would have automatically figured out. In fact, only since we mid-1800's have we had a periodic chart. I have no idea at what point science figured out that man is made up of the same kinds of chemicals as are found in the earth. Obviously, it would have been after the mid-1800's. But here, in a document written thousands of years ago, God uses the chemicals found in the earth to form man.

In the Hebrew, we have the verb yâtsar (יָצַר) [pronounced yaw-TSAR] which means, to form, to mold, to sculpt, to fashion; to destine, to predestine, to foreordain; to form in the mind, to devise, to plan. Strong’s #3335 BDB #427. This verb is often used of a potter working with clay (this is the verb which actually means potter when found as a Qal active participle). What is fascinating is, this verb is found in the imperfect tense, which can either refer to action in the future or continuous action. At the very least, this refers to an extensive process. At the most, this refers to an ongoing process. In case you were unaware of this, your body is constantly renewing itself, and, if memory serves, we essentially have a completely new physical body every 7 years, as cells replicate and die off.

Allow me to admit two things—when I first began to study the Bible, there were two things which I initially doubted—the ages of Adam and his progeny (measured in hundreds of years) and Jesus fasting for 40 days. Both seemed a little fantastic. However, with what we know of the human body today, it is somewhat of a curiosity why we only live 60–100 years. Our bodies are constantly replicating individual cells and constantly throwing off dead cells. There is a regeneration mechanism in place on the cellular level which is quite fantastic. We have all had bumps and bruises. As a very young boy, I had a foot covered with 2^nd and 3^rd degree burns. A year later, you could not even see a scar. Psalm 139:14: I praise you, for I am reverently and distinctly made. Your works are extraordinary; my soul knows it very well. Our bodies as originally made were quite incredible. Sin affects both our moral choices and our physical bodies. When Adam is corrupted by sin, his body is so well-made that it will take over 900 years for it die. Passing along the sin nature reduced our life expectancy. However, Jesus was born without a sin nature. His body was uncorrupted by sin, and therefore was able to endure extraordinary abuse, including a 40 day fast.

Gen 2:7 Then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of lives, and the man became a living creature.

In the Hebrew, the word for dust is ʿâphâr (עָפָר) [pronounced ģaw-FAWR], and it means dry earth, dust, powder, ashes, earth, ground, mortar, rubbish; dry or loose earth; debris; mortar; ore. Strong’s #6083 BDB #779. Pretty much, it is anything which one might find in the ground.

The idea that we come from the dust of the earth is not some lucky, one-shot statement which some imaginative author of thousands of years ago penned. We find this same sentiment expressed throughout Scripture. After the man sins, God tells him, “By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” (Gen. 3:19). Abraham, when speaking to God, understood what he was: "Listen, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes.” (Gen. 18:27). Job, when praying to God before his friends, said, “Your hands fashioned and made me, and now you have destroyed me altogether. Remember that you have made me like clay; and will you return me to the dust?” (Job 10:8–9). Elihu, who spoke for God, told Job, “If God should set His heart to it and gather to Himself His spirit and His breath, all flesh would perish together, and man would return to dust.” (Job 34:14–15). Once God removes His breath, man no longer exists in this mortal body. The body returns to the dust from where it came (see also Psalm 90:3 104:29 Eccles. 3:20 12:7). God knows what we are and He remembers that we are but dust (Psalm 103:14). And more than a thousand years later, Paul writes: The first man [Adam] was from the earth, a man of dust; the second Man [Jesus Christ] is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the Man of heaven (1Cor. 15:47–49).

We find many things begun in Genesis, which theme continues throughout the rest of the Bible.

Gen 2:7 Then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of lives, and the man became a living creature.

Whereas, the idea that man came from the chemicals of the earth was later shown by science to be true, the second aspect of this verse has just the opposite historical perspective. Men for centuries have believed that God gave life to man; or that life is something which is placed into or thrust upon our human bodies. As of late, there are some who assert that our thinking is simply a jumble of chemicals jostling around in our brains, set off by electrical current. Many scientist would have you believe that we are just advanced monkeys (okay, primates) with a slightly more developed brain, which is somehow capable of abstract philosophy, moral concepts, love, duty, patriotism and self-justification—but a brain which is only a little better than that of a primate.

Science really has no clue exactly what life is or when it begins in man. No scientist is able to say, with any certainty, when human life begins. In fact, this is where evolutionists who allow for abortion are extremely inconsistent. If life is merely the firing of electrical synapses and chemicals sloshing around in the brain—if life is simply a biological process, having nothing to do with the divine spark—these same biological processes are also present in fetuses. Therefore, it is unscientific and inconsistent for an evolutionist to arbitrarily assign birth as the moment life begins, as all of these brain processes are already in place long before a child is born (if memory serves, these electrical signals in the brain can be measured in a 3 week old fetus). Therefore, a scientist who believes that human life is important can only be consistent if he believes that fetal life is equally important. After all, if there is no intervening divine spark—no breath of lives given by God—then birth is not an accurate place to draw the line between unimportant human life and important human life. It is arbitrary, unscientific, theological line. How can a scientist who does not believe in the breath of lives from God make any distinction between the human fetus, 1 second before birth and 1 second after birth? If a baby who is born is fully human, then no scientist or doctor can suggest that what is inside the womb a few seconds earlier is somehow different and not fully human. If a woman has the right to choose, why should she have to choose before giving birth? Why not give her an additional year or two after giving birth to decide whether she wants this child to live? This is no less logical or scientific than saying the woman has the right to terminate any life which is in her womb.

My point is, if we want to remove theology from science and ignore all revealed truth in the Bible, then we cannot view a fetus as substantively different from a child who is born. They are both entirely dependent upon their mother for continued life. Apart from the revealed truth of the Bible, the scientific differences between a fetus and a child with regards to humanity do not exist. They both have electrical impulses running through their brains. If this is considered a sign of life by science (which it is; lack of electrical signals from the brain indicates death), then a scientist who does not want to give any consideration to things theological cannot consider a fetus, whose brain controls a whole host of physical functions, as something other than human. If it has human DNA and if it has brain wave activity, and if left unperturbed, will turn into a living, breathing, talking and thinking human being; then science has no basis for distinguishing a fetus from a born-child, apart from a few minor characteristics; which characteristics cannot be tied to humanity without inserting morality, theology or philosophy into the picture. Human life is human life, and if it is considered to be important after one is born, then there can be no scientific argument against its importance prior to birth.

On the other hand, if a scientist cavalierly considers no life to be important or meaningful, then believing in abortion is completely consistent with his philosophy, as is genocide, euthanasia, and child sacrifice. However, this takes us into theology and/or philosophy and not science. What such a philosophy logically leads to is making judgments on quality of life, convincing, say, old people that it is their duty to mankind, to remove themselves from this earth when they are no longer of value to society. If life in the womb is not seen as valuable, and if embryonic stem cell research is seen as valuable, then we are making philosophical judgments concerning the sanctify of life.

We have not gone so far as for some to suggest that a recently born child is okay to experiment on or to take various parts from for other people. However, if a scientist can justify experimenting on embryos and can also justify older people removing themselves from society when they are no longer productive, how long will it be before someone decides that a crack baby has no real future and is therefore a candidate for experimentation which benefits others, but not the child? I may be pushing this, but when you take theology, philosophy and morality out of the picture, then there is no real reason to make distinctions between a born child and a child not quite yet born.

What many Christians believe is, life actually begins when God breathes the breath of lives into each person as they are born; in fact, the idea that true human life begins at conception is only a recent theological position. The historical position of the church is that life begins at birth. This does not automatically mean that abortion is okay; birth is simply the beginning of full and complete human life. One may reasonably argue that, if God is spending 9 months preparing a body to be born into the world, then we ought not to disrespect that process and treat it as if it is nothing more than a sub-human or non-human growth.

Let’s go back a few verses now:

Gen 2:4 These are the generations [results, proceedings, genealogies, course of history] of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens.

Gen 2:5–6 And every shrub of the field was not yet on the earth, and every plant of the field had not yet sprung up; for Jehovah God had not sent rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the ground, and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground--...

Gen 2:7 Then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of lives, and the man became a living creature.

God breathing life into man is consistent with the fact that men and women universally like to kiss.

Gen 2:8 And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom He had formed.

The growing of the Garden of Eden appears to be a more gradual process. God does not appear to have created the Garden of Eden fully grown, and then thrown man into the midst of it. We do not have the verb for create or the verb for make, we have, instead, a verb which means to plant. Most of us have had a garden or planted a few plants here and there, and we know what that is all about. You go down to your local home and garden place, you choose a few potted plants and you bring them back and plant them. Although God could have created this garden fully grown or He could have made this garden out of the elements of the soil, we have a verb here which suggests more that God collected plants from here and there and planted them in a particular geographical location.

Into this geographical location, God placed man, whom He had formed. Again, in the Hebrew, we have the verb yâtsar (יָצַר) [pronounced yaw-TSAR] which means, to form, to mold, to sculpt, to fashion; to destine, to predestine, to foreordain; to form in the mind, to devise, to plan. Strong’s #3335 BDB #427. So, we have man, who has been formed and sculpted placed into a garden which God had planted. This garden appears to be fully grown, as the next verse indicates.

Gen 2:9 And out of the ground the LORD God caused to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

In the Hebrew, we have the Hiphil imperfect of the verb tsâmach (צָמַח) [pronounced tsaw-MAHKH], which means, to cause [make] to sprout [up, forth]; to cause [deliverance] to exist or to spring up. Strong’s #6779 BDB #855. We do not find the words to create or to make here. So God did not just create plant life; He did not use the chemicals of the ground to make plant life.

In the Hebrew, we have the perfect tense and the imperfect tense. The perfect tense is used for a past action or for a completed action (it can also be used of a certain action in the prophetic future). The imperfect is used for a future action and/or for a continuous action. We also have the Hiphil stem, which is the causative stem. Often, you can take the meaning of the Qal stem, affix to that meaning caused to and you have what the verb means in the Hiphil. In other words, the verbiage found here means God caused trees to spring up, to sprout up. Furthermore, this was a process; this was a continuous action. God did not say, “Plants be” and plants were suddenly all there.

Gen 2:9 And out of the ground the LORD God caused to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

We have 4 categories of trees here. The first are trees which are pleasing to the soul—they are pleasant to look at. The second category are trees which produce food. Eating was as much for pleasure as for sustenance, and Adam had trees with fruit that were pleasurable to eat. Think back to that third day—there was no sun; God provided the light. Then God devised a way to take His energy, put it into the plant life on earth, and when we eat the resultant fruits, we receive this energy from God. It is an amazing process which we take for granted. The first two categories of trees were for the soul and body of Adam.

The 3^rd category of tree is the Tree of Life. This tree is associated with man’s spirit. Whereas the soul allows for us to interact with other people and with our environment, our spirit is the basis for our interaction with God.

The fourth category of trees is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and it is related to volition, sin, the sin nature and the Angelic Conflict. Eating from this tree was the only prohibition in the garden. We will examine it in greater detail in v. 17.

Gen 2:9 And out of the ground the LORD God caused to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Again, plant and tree growth appear to be a natural process; the trees and the plants of the Garden of Eden appear to be growing up out of the ground, rather than to be suddenly formed. In exegeting this passage, I have two areas of difficulty: did all trees and plants grow naturally or did God create some fully grown? At what point was the woman built? Was she constructed on the 6^th day or was she made much later?

The plant and tree growth here appear to be normal, as opposed to God creating the flora of His garden suddenly. There are two reasons for this. Again, let’s look at the verb. The verb means to sprout, to grow, to spring up. This verb is in the Hiphil stem, which is the causative stem in the Hebrew, which means that God did not necessarily do this directly, but He caused these plants and trees to grow, to sprout, to spring up. This is the imperfect tense in the Hebrew, indicating a continuous action rather than a completed action. Back in Gen. 1:11, God called for the earth to bring plants forth and here, God is said to cause these plants and trees to spring up and to grow. The verbiage is quite different than we find for animals or man, which are both created and/or made by God directly (Qal stem). Although we could allow for God to have done this almost instantaneously (plants and trees to spring up like time-lapse photography), there is nothing in Gen. 1–2 which suggests that God did that.

As has been discussed earlier, it would not contradict Scripture for Day 3, when plants were grown, including those in the Garden of Eden, to occur over a more lengthy period of time. Days 4–6 occur after the sun, moon and stars, which mark time, making Days 4–6 24 hour days; Days 1–3 occur before there were such things to mark time. All we have for these first 3 days is and dusk and morning, day ___.

In any case, there were plants and trees in existence, ready for man and animal life, which came along on days 5 and 6.

Gen 2:8–9 And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom He had formed. And out of the ground the LORD God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Now, there is no reason to see Gen. 2:4–9 as a strict chronology. That is, God did not necessarily put man into an open field, and then start growing the trees while man sat around and watched. The chronology was given to us in Gen. 1:1–2:3. The days and events of each day were clicked off, one by one. We have God growing things on Day 3. Vv. 8–9 are consistent with this, as long as we do not require v. 8 to occur first and then for v. 9 to occur next. Gen. 1:1–2:3 proceeds in a clear, chronological way; however, since we are going back to plants growing and man being created and made, all we need to do is to place these events into the time slots which has already been laid out for us. Plants and trees growing begins on Day 3; man is made and created on Day 6. We already know this. Also, plants continued to grow on Day 4, Day 5, and on and on. So there is no reason for vv. 8–9 to indicate a different chronological order than is found in Gen. 1. Throughout the Hebrew Old Testament, it is going to become clear that not everything is laid out in a chronological order. Many times, the order will be arranged according to the thinking of the author, who does not always think chronologically. As I have pointed out earlier, we think, speak and write in this way as well. In the previous lesson, I gave the example of getting a flat tire on the way to work, walking into the office and saying, “Boss, sorry I am late but I had a flat tire. I need to go wash up before I start working.” We have a present event followed by a past event followed by a future event. Your boss does not look at your grimy hands and ask, “Now, what happened first?” We have the ability to process information which is not given in a chronological order without being confused.

Gen 2:10–14: A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers. The name of the first is the Pishon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. And the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there. The name of the second river is the Gihon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Cush. And the name of the third river is the Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

God set up an irrigation system for His Garden, and here we have 4 rivers which the primary river breaks down into.

http://www.yorku.ca/kdenning/images/civilizations%20images/Near%20East%20Museum_ANE_Map.gif

This is the pre-deluvian era (before the flood). Some of what we find here is possibly known to us, such as the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, which area was once known as the fertile crescent, and today is modern-day Iraq, thought of as anything but fertile. Cush and Havilah are roughly equivalent to the present-day Egypt and the Sudan, and there are two rivers which flow throughout those two areas in this pre-deluvian world. These areas are fairly far apart, and if connected together by a river out of Eden, it would be difficult to identify that river or its origins (remember, the earth has just been formed and there is no rain), and that a flood unlike anything we could ever imagine will change this landscape forever. Could this river flowing out of Eden be the Jordan River or connected to what is now the Red Sea? At this point, we can only speculate. However, it is not out of the question to possibly connect the Garden of Eden with the Middle East, understanding full well that a flood of unimaginable proportions has radically changed this area as well.

There has been a great deal of speculation as to where these rivers are. Since there are modern locations for the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, and since the are not far from the Arafat Mountains, those same mountains are thought by some to be the location of the origin of the 4 rivers, 2 of which no longer exist. Another theory is that there are fault lines near the Persian Gulf, making that the origin of these 4 rivers.
http://www.jonchristianryter.com/IMAGE/FourRivers(l).jpg	http://www.jonchristianryter.com/IMAGE/fig3.jpg

There is also the possibility that these names from a pre-deluvian world were later given to rivers and lands of a post-deluvian world, as the sons of Noah would have all been familiar with these names from their era.

In any case, it is fascinating that a writer from thousands of years ago had a map in his head from which he describes lands and rivers which existed before the great flood.

So far, God has planted a garden with 4 categories of trees in this garden. God also set up an irrigation system for this garden. Although these 4 rivers had names in the pre-deluvian (pre-flood) era, it is not clear whether these bear any resemblance to the rivers with the same names after the flood.

Gen 2:15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and keep it.

The Garden of Eden was not just a self-sustaining thing. This was not Palm Springs for Adam to go to, retire, and get a little golf in. God put man in this garden to work it and to keep it. Understand that, under perfect environment, physical work was not a burden. If you have children, and you let them run around and be active, they will do this naturally. Trying to make your children sit still is unnatural. They want to run about and to use their muscles.

I personally go to the gym, and, most of the time, I am less than enthusiastic about working out, but I do it. However, once in a great while, it feels really good to work my muscles. I’ve done moderate physical labor in my life, and once and awhile, when I am working outside, and the temperature is cool but not too cold, it feels really good to work my muscles. Under perfect environment, as man was originally designed, work was enjoyable; using one’s muscles felt good. Adam loved to wake up in the morning and go out to the garden, and to feel the rich soil in his hands, and to plant and prune and arrange these plants to his liking (or whatever man did as a part of his gardening chores).

The Hebrew word for Eden means pleasure, and being in the garden and working the garden was very pleasurable for Adam.

So that you understand the narrative, this is not completely chronological; we are going to double back and God will build the woman. This is the first few months if not years or centuries of man’s life (with the woman) and how God dealt with them.

Gen 2:15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and keep it.

Man is clearly fully formed and alive; and it appears as if the Garden of Eden is a going concern as well. The other implication is, there is no woman yet on the scene. We have God, man and the Garden of Eden.

God placed the man in the Garden of Eden, and man was to work in this garden. The word often translated work is the Qal infinitive construct of ʿâbad (עָבַד) [pronounced ģaw^b-VAHD], which means to work, to serve, to labor; to be a slave to. Strong's #5647 BDB #712. In the Qal form of this verb, Adam is to work, serve or be a slave to her (the Garden of Eden). The word slave comes from this verb.

Adam is also supposed to keep, to guard, to protect, to watch, to preserve her (the Garden). This is also a fascinating verb to find here—Adam is both the caretaker and the security guard for the Garden of Eden. This is a fascinating verb to find here because, in this perfect environment, what is there to guard the garden from? What is out there, somewhere, is Satan and the fallen angels, who are observing what God is doing here. The earth was theirs at one time, and then it was packed in ice. Now the beautiful earth is being restored, and elect and fallen angels are watching this process with great interest.

What is not mentioned here is tools, interestingly enough. When I work in my yard, I like to have a shovel, a rake and a lawn mower, at the very least. It is not clear what Adam had to work with, if anything. However, I think that Adam’s relationship to the soil is closer to that of a lifetime farmer more than it might be to our relationship to the soil. We get our hands dirty and we want to immediately wash them off. However, Adam was formed out of the soil and from the soil grows all of the trees around him, so soil may have felt wonderful in his hands (if you have a garden, you may feel the same way about the soil).

It is also unclear as to exactly what Adam did in the garden. Did he move plants around to his liking? Did he make hiking trails throughout the Garden of Eden. Did he bring water in some way from the rivers to these plants? It would seem that decay was probably not a part of garden activity because Adam had not yet sinned (Adam’s sin will affect all things, including the earth). Did he feed animals in the garden? Adam’s exact duties, beyond working and guarding the Garden of Eden are a matter of speculation.

In any case, this gives us a general view of Adam’s life, which may account for many years. However, we will now need to go back to that first day (the first day of Adam’s life), and God’s commands to Adam.

Because this is not chronological, we do not know if we are simply studying man and his life in the garden, and whether this actually takes us past when Eve was built. What was described in his one verse is Adam’s responsibilities with respect to the Garden of Eden.

There was a period of time when there was only Adam and not the woman. Whether this was for a few hours or for a considerable amount of time, I don’t know. Although it is interesting to ponder Adam on earth alone for many years, the plain language of Gen. 1:27 (He created them male and female) suggests that Eve was created on the 6^th day along with Adam (that God rests on the 7^th day suggests this as well).

It appears as though these are whether man’s duties and life in the garden which are given here and establish a pattern for man over a period of time, apart from the woman. That does not mean that the advent of the woman changed these duties. For instance, you might describe your own life, and how you were hired at a particular company where you worked for 20 years, and you might specify your duties. During this period of 20 years, you might meet a woman and marry her and that might be a part of your story that your double-back and tell about. My point is, these duties are assigned to the man and we do not know how long he attended to these duties. Obviously, he continued this way until the fall, but we do not know how long that time was nor do we know when the woman came on the scene (although, it does appear that she was built on the 6^th day).

Gen 2:15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and keep it.

We are created in the image of God. I recall that, when I was quite young, I had a lot of toy soldiers, which I would play with incessantly. Part of this involved creating an elaborate environment for them (hills, rivers, trees). So, even though I knew little or nothing about the Bible at this point in time, when I played with my soldiers, I also tried to set up an environment for them as well. Now, my soldiers were much more involved in shooting one another and fighting, than they were in gardening and building bridges; but the general idea was, I would develop an environment and then take my toy soldiers and put them into this environment. This was inherent in my nature, as I am made in the shadow-image of God. It is my understanding that little girls do the same thing with dolls and doll houses, although, from what I have heard, their dolls tend to do less fighting and killing.