Gen 1:3 And God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.
4 And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness.
5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
Observe that the act of creation from here on until the creation of man is spoken by God. And God said...
God did not lift a finger to create the world. He spoke it into place. It was God said.
"that by the Word of God the heavens were of old" 2 Pet 3:5
"In the beginning was the Word...All things were made by Him" John 1:1-3
God created light and there was light. God says what He means and means what He says. And all He says comes to pass.
Strangely, why did God have to create light? In 1 John 1:5 tells us that "God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all." So, what did God actually do here? It is most plausible that God made visible light that we can see. Up until now, we are told that "darkness was upon the face of the deep". We cannot see what is really happening except what God tells us that His Spirit "moved upon the face of the waters".
We now know that there is light that we cannot see like infrared, ultraviolet, gamma, etc. They are part of the electromagnetic spectrum. We can only see visible light with our eyes but God can see everything.
It may very well be that God was making things to be visible to us as He develops the creation. As darkness was on the face of the deep (Gen 1:2) and the Spirit of God was hovering (vibrating) upon the face of the waters, we will not be able to see what God is doing until He creates visible light.
Hence, darkness is not just the absence of light but the absence of visible light. God wants us to see what He is doing in His creation acts from hereon.
The First Day
Then God gave us the description of the first day, not just any day. It was the first day of creation and God defines it by the context of the evening and the morning. Many newer translations depict this as "a first day". But that is because the translators believed in the theory of evolution as well as the Gap Theory such that this is a renovation of the earth and not the original creation account.
Anyone who has no knowledge of the Theory of Evolution will read the text very simply as a 24 hour day and nothing else. In fact, prior to 19th century, nobody ever thought of this any differently until Darwin came to the scene. From then onwards, this theory allowed man to latch on to attempt to explain away the Creator God.
Anyone who has no knowledge of the Theory of Evolution will read the text very simply as a 24 hour day and nothing else. In fact, prior to 19th century, nobody ever thought of this any differently until Darwin came to the scene. From then onwards, this theory allowed man to latch on to attempt to explain away the Creator God.
There is also the age old argument that the Hebrew word ם (yowm) for day may mean long periods of time and so it is not six 24-hour days but 6 very long periods of time. This seems to fit the millions of years geologic ages. Some even attempt to use the passage of 2 Peter 3:8 "But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." But Peter was not talking about the creation but the patience to the judgment of God. And the text is in Greek, not Hebrew. Furthermore, the evolutionists are contending millions and billions of years, not thousand.
But the meaning of any words must be governed by the context they are used. In this verse and the following verses, God describes the day having evening and morning and defines as the first day. This limits the meaning to a normal 24-hour day. Unfortunately, many Christians refuse to accept this and contends that although the word "yowm" means a normal day everywhere else, they insist that it means long periods of time only here in Genesis 1.
Jonah was in the belly of the fish for 3 thousand years? Jesus was in the tomb for 3 million years? The Israelites walked around Jericho for 7 billion years?
Let us let God's word mean what He literally says.
Ex 20:11 "For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day."
God said it. You better believe it. And He wrote it as part of the 10 Commandments in STONE too. Who are we to argue with God?
But the meaning of any words must be governed by the context they are used. In this verse and the following verses, God describes the day having evening and morning and defines as the first day. This limits the meaning to a normal 24-hour day. Unfortunately, many Christians refuse to accept this and contends that although the word "yowm" means a normal day everywhere else, they insist that it means long periods of time only here in Genesis 1.
Jonah was in the belly of the fish for 3 thousand years? Jesus was in the tomb for 3 million years? The Israelites walked around Jericho for 7 billion years?
Let us let God's word mean what He literally says.
Ex 20:11 "For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day."
God said it. You better believe it. And He wrote it as part of the 10 Commandments in STONE too. Who are we to argue with God?
How Can We Have A Day Without The Sun?
Many have pointed out that the sun was not created until the 4th day. So, how did the day come about?
During those days when it has been raining or snowing and you cannot see the sun, you can still tell that a day has passed. Of course, we have our clocks to inform us. But technically speaking, all you need to define the day is when the earth revolves around its axis once.
The Earth Starts To Revolve
Perhaps the 1st day is also the time when the earth begins to revolve. Not only do we get the 1st day of evening and morning, we also get the natural laws in motion like gravity, centrifugal and centripetal forces. The laws of thermodynamics will already be in place. So would the magnetic field of the earth. God must put all the laws in place on the very first day to ensure the rest of His creation can be properly developed.
But the earth is not in orbit until Day 4 which is the same day as the creation of the Sun, Moon and Stars.
The Jewish Day
The Jews based their day from sunset to sunset as taught in this passage of the day. It was evening and morning and that is considered a day. Hence, the Jewish Day is from 6 pm to 6 pm the next day while our standard day is from midnight to midnight, off by 6 hours.
This will have an important bearing in the calculation of Christ in the tomb for 3 days and 3 nights starting from the Day of Passover.
Many have pointed out that the sun was not created until the 4th day. So, how did the day come about?
During those days when it has been raining or snowing and you cannot see the sun, you can still tell that a day has passed. Of course, we have our clocks to inform us. But technically speaking, all you need to define the day is when the earth revolves around its axis once.
The Earth Starts To Revolve
Perhaps the 1st day is also the time when the earth begins to revolve. Not only do we get the 1st day of evening and morning, we also get the natural laws in motion like gravity, centrifugal and centripetal forces. The laws of thermodynamics will already be in place. So would the magnetic field of the earth. God must put all the laws in place on the very first day to ensure the rest of His creation can be properly developed.
But the earth is not in orbit until Day 4 which is the same day as the creation of the Sun, Moon and Stars.
The Jewish Day
The Jews based their day from sunset to sunset as taught in this passage of the day. It was evening and morning and that is considered a day. Hence, the Jewish Day is from 6 pm to 6 pm the next day while our standard day is from midnight to midnight, off by 6 hours.
This will have an important bearing in the calculation of Christ in the tomb for 3 days and 3 nights starting from the Day of Passover.
No comments:
Post a Comment