The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Genesis 1:3-5,
"And God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light 'day,' and the darkness he called 'night.' And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day."
Here is the account of the first day of God's creation week. This passage follows the first two verses of Genesis which says, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters." I note days and nights were not yet a feature the earth existed in, just a formless and empty and dark existence. The circadian 24 hour cycle of day and night was not yet in place as we read Genesis 1:1-2..
I note the first two verses are provided us without reference to time. We don't know when God created the heavens and the earth and what the period of time was between the account provided us of that and the first day of God's creation week as quoted above. Minutes, days, weeks, months, years, millenia? No reference to the time frame between Genesis 1-2 and Genesis 3-5.
We do read the following in Genesis 2:1-3, "Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done."
A careful reading of Genesis 2:1-3 doesn't add much to our understanding of the time that transpired between Genesis 1:1-2 and God's first day of his creation week provided in Genesis 1:3-5. It simply tells us that God completed the creation of the heavens and earth, as well as his six days of creation (which fills the remainder of the first chapter of Genesis) and then he "rested" on the seventh day.
God's first day of creation does provide for our 24 hour day. That it is a 24 hour day is further expressed as "there was evening and there was morning, the first day."
There is a lot to be said here and there is a lot to be learned here. One thing I am quite certain of is most everything I learned in public school in the 50's and 60's regarding the origin of things, an old earth of millions of years, evolution of the species... all that stuff, it all turns out to be junk science. The geological column with strata identifying epochs measured in the hundreds of millions of years, the clues the fossil record provides us, the ages of dinosaurs, etc. all junk science.
I encourage everyone to get informed on what it is you think you know about the origins of things. Things like the processes that created the Grand Canyon, the formation of petrified organic material, coal, etc. are all having to be reconsidered based on what today's science is learning from the processes observed (yes, observed!) from the volcanic activity of Mount. St. Helens, as well as other evidences that advancements in scientific observations and conclusions are providing.
It turns out that Moses had it all right all along. I suspect the fake science I was exposed to was an effort to distance our culture from recognizing the hand of God in creation. In quoting Psalm 19:4, Paul tells us the creation speaks to us of God's existence, "Their [the heavens and the skies] voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world." Romans 10:18. Their voice tells us of God's existence and that we are accountable to him.
Anyway, there is no legitimate view of the Scriptures apart from recognizing God's creation as that of an initial creating of "the heavens and the earth" and then a subsequent period of six twenty-four hour days of creation, followed by a day of rest. As for me, I am entirely convinced of a "young earth" - 6 to 8 thousand years? - that has been shaped and formed by a world-wide cataclysmic flood that took place maybe 5,500 years or so ago.
"And God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light 'day,' and the darkness he called 'night.' And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day."
Here is the account of the first day of God's creation week. This passage follows the first two verses of Genesis which says, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters." I note days and nights were not yet a feature the earth existed in, just a formless and empty and dark existence. The circadian 24 hour cycle of day and night was not yet in place as we read Genesis 1:1-2..
I note the first two verses are provided us without reference to time. We don't know when God created the heavens and the earth and what the period of time was between the account provided us of that and the first day of God's creation week as quoted above. Minutes, days, weeks, months, years, millenia? No reference to the time frame between Genesis 1-2 and Genesis 3-5.
We do read the following in Genesis 2:1-3, "Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done."
A careful reading of Genesis 2:1-3 doesn't add much to our understanding of the time that transpired between Genesis 1:1-2 and God's first day of his creation week provided in Genesis 1:3-5. It simply tells us that God completed the creation of the heavens and earth, as well as his six days of creation (which fills the remainder of the first chapter of Genesis) and then he "rested" on the seventh day.
God's first day of creation does provide for our 24 hour day. That it is a 24 hour day is further expressed as "there was evening and there was morning, the first day."
There is a lot to be said here and there is a lot to be learned here. One thing I am quite certain of is most everything I learned in public school in the 50's and 60's regarding the origin of things, an old earth of millions of years, evolution of the species... all that stuff, it all turns out to be junk science. The geological column with strata identifying epochs measured in the hundreds of millions of years, the clues the fossil record provides us, the ages of dinosaurs, etc. all junk science.
I encourage everyone to get informed on what it is you think you know about the origins of things. Things like the processes that created the Grand Canyon, the formation of petrified organic material, coal, etc. are all having to be reconsidered based on what today's science is learning from the processes observed (yes, observed!) from the volcanic activity of Mount. St. Helens, as well as other evidences that advancements in scientific observations and conclusions are providing.
It turns out that Moses had it all right all along. I suspect the fake science I was exposed to was an effort to distance our culture from recognizing the hand of God in creation. In quoting Psalm 19:4, Paul tells us the creation speaks to us of God's existence, "Their [the heavens and the skies] voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world." Romans 10:18. Their voice tells us of God's existence and that we are accountable to him.
Anyway, there is no legitimate view of the Scriptures apart from recognizing God's creation as that of an initial creating of "the heavens and the earth" and then a subsequent period of six twenty-four hour days of creation, followed by a day of rest. As for me, I am entirely convinced of a "young earth" - 6 to 8 thousand years? - that has been shaped and formed by a world-wide cataclysmic flood that took place maybe 5,500 years or so ago.
No unproven, unreproducible, and unobserved "evolution". The universe and all it contains, including everything we see on earth was a personal creation, by the Son of God, "In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven." Hebrews 1:1-3.
If those are not six consecutive twenty-four hour days (as we know them today) of God's creative activity in Genesis 1, I'll eat my hat!
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.
If those are not six consecutive twenty-four hour days (as we know them today) of God's creative activity in Genesis 1, I'll eat my hat!
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.
No comments:
Post a Comment