PDF
version (printer friendly)
E-mail
this article
Genesis
1:1-2
Few
topics have been the subject of so much speculation as the topic of
creation. The average Christian view is that there were seven days of
creation during which God, among other things, created the heavens and
the earth. This view has caused terrible headaches to many, since if it
was so the earth would have to be no more than a few thousand years old.
To bridge this "discrepancy" various assumptions have been
made. So, there are those who support that the days of creation in
Genesis 1 were much longer than normal twenty four hour days. As we will
see later, the Bible does not agree with this theory. Others have gone
even further to say that it was all done through......evolution.
However, one cannot support this view without a flat denial of the
Scripture which declares that God is the creator of everything.
Colossians 1:16-17
"For by Him [God] ALL things were created that are in heaven and
that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions
or principalities or powers. ALL THINGS WERE CREATED THROUGH HIM AND FOR
HIM. And He is before all things and in Him all things consist"
This
article will try to shed light on some of the most mistreated passages
of Genesis, examining them without preconceived ideas.
1. Genesis 1:1
The confusion regarding
the first chapter of Genesis is caused, I believe, by the
misunderstanding of the first two verses of the Bible. Responsible for a
large part of this misunderstanding is tradition, that teaches that the
heavens and the earth were created on the first day of creation. Then
immediately we are faced with the following problem: since the
chronological information given in the Bible indicates that man has
existed for approximately 6,000 years and since, according to the
traditional view, he was created only five days after the earth's
creation this means that the earth cannot be more than 6,000 years old.
On the other hand, there are many that feel that this number comes in
stark contradiction with external evidence that suggests that the earth
and generally the universe has existed for several billion years.
Moreover, it contradicts the evidence that comes from the discovery of
fossils that belong to dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals which are
believed to have lived several million years ago. However, the problem
is not a problem of the Bible. For the Bible does not say that God
created the heavens and the earth in the first day. Let's see what it
says:
Genesis 1:1
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the
earth"
This
verse disproves any connection of the big-bang theory with the Bible. It
was GOD who created the heavens and the earth. When did this happen? The
Bible does not say "in the first day". What it says is
"IN THE BEGINNING". The problem is created when instead of
"in the beginning" we read "in the first day". That
this beginning was not the first of the days of creation recorded in
Genesis 1, is evident by reading more of what follows:
Genesis 1:1-5
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And the
earth was without form and void; and darkness was on the face of
the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the
waters. And God said, "Let there be light"; and there was
light. And God saw the light that it was good: and God divided
the light from the darkness. And God called the light day, and the
darkness He called night. And the evening and the morning were the first
day."
(NKJV-KJV)
Before
we say anything else, we must explain that the day of Genesis 1:5, as
well as the remaining days of creation, was a normal twenty four hour
day. Indeed, it is Biblically true that the word "day" has
sometimes been used to denote a longer period of time than a normal
twenty four hour day. For example, Romans 2:5 speaks about "the day
of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgement of God" while
Ephesians 6:13 about the "evil day". As it is evident, the
word "day" that occurs in these passages means much more than
a normal twenty four hour day. However, when the reference is to a day
defined by evening and morning, or when we meet the expression "day
and night" what is meant is a normal twenty four hour day. This is
obvious by taking a look at some of the corresponding occurrences in the
Bible. Thus, the Bible says that the rain that caused the flood of Noah
lasted "forty days and forty nights" (Genesis 7:12) i.e. forty
normal days. When Moses went up into the mountain to receive the law he
stayed there "forty days and forty nights" i.e. forty normal
days (see Exodus 24:18 for the first time that he went up and Exodus
34:28 for the second time). Similarly, "Jonah was in the belly of
the fish three days and three nights" (Jonah 1:17) i.e. three
normal days or seventy two hours. Thus, when Jesus said "as Jonah
was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will
the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the
earth" (Matthew 12:40) he meant what he said i.e. that he would be
dead for three days and three nights1.
From all the above, it is obvious that when Genesis 1:5 says "And
the evening and the morning were the first day" the reference is to
a normal twenty four hour day that starts with the morning continues
with the evening before it is succeeded by the next morning. This
invalidates the suppositions that have been put forward, according to
which the days of Genesis 1 were longer than normal days. What the Bible
teaches is that God made all His works in six2
literal twenty four hour days.
Having made this clear let's return
to our topic. When were the heavens and earth created? The text does not
say in the first day but IN THE BEGINNING. Moreover, it tells us that
the earth was (however, see below) without form and void and that the
Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
The first of the six days of
creation described in Genesis 1 does not start in verse one but in verse
three, and it starts with a phrase that characterises the beginning of
the remaining five days as well: "And God said......" (Genesis
1:3, 1:6, 1:9, 1:14, 1:20, 1:24)
Genesis 1:3-5
"And God said, "Let there be light:" and there was light.
And God saw the light that it was good: and God divided the light
from the darkness. And God called the light day and the darkness He
called night. And the evening and the morning were the first day"
(NKJV-KJV)
This
day was not the first day of the existence of the heavens and of the
earth for God created them "in the beginning". When was this
beginning the Bible does not say. If the geologists say that it was
billions years ago it may be so. As far as the Bible is concerned there
is no problem. What the Bible does say is that this beginning was
earlier than the day of Genesis 1:5 and probably, if the existing
evidence is right, much earlier.
2. Genesis 1:2
Genesis 1:2 is another
key verse in understanding what the Word of God says regarding the very
important topic of creation. Let's see:
Genesis 1:2
"And the earth was [Hebrew: hayah] without form and void; and
darkness was on the face of the deep"
The
key word here is the first "was". As you can see, the second
"was" is in italics which means that it was added by the
translators. The same happens with many other passages of the Old
Testament where the verb "to be" is printed
in italics3.
The reason that this happens is because there is no verb "to
be" in the Hebrew language. Thus the translators had to supply it,
when they thought it necessary. Now if this is so, we have to ask why
the first "was" in the above passage is printed in Roman
letters? The reason is because sometimes the translators chose to
translate the verb "hayah" that is used there, as "to
be". However, the verb "hayah" does not mean "to
be". What it means is "to become", "to come to
be" or "to come to pass4".
This is the translation that is given in Genesis 2:7 where we are told
that "man became (hayah) a living soul", in Genesis 4:3
where we learn that "in the process of time it came to pass
(hayah) that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the
Lord", in Genesis 6:1 "and it came to pass (hayah),
when man began to multiply...", in Genesis 7:10 "and it
came to pass (hayah) after seven days, that the waters of the flood were
(hayah, came to be, became) upon the earth", in Genesis 19:26
"but his [Lot's] wife looked back from behind him, and she became
(hayah) a pillar of salt" etc.
The NIV recognising that the verb
"hayah" in Genesis 1:2 should have been translated as
"became" instead of "was", has suggested this change
in the margin, thus very correctly reading:
Genesis 1:1-2
"IN THE BEGINNING God created the heavens and the earth. Now the
earth BECAME [NIV margin] formless and empty"
(NIV)
That
the earth was not created formless and empty but it BECAME like that is
also evident from Isaiah 45:18
Isaiah 45:18
" thus says the Lord that created the heavens; God Himself that
formed the earth and made it; He has established it, He did not
create it in vain [Hebrew: tohu], He formed it to be
inhabited"
(NKJV-KJV)
The
phrase "in vain" in Isaiah 45 is the Hebrew word "tohu"
that in Genesis 1:2 is translated as "formless". Really, God
didn't create the earth "tohu" (Isaiah 45:18) but it BECAME
"tohu" (Genesis 1:2). Moreover, not only the earth became
"tohu" or formless but it also became empty. Evidently, for
the earth to become empty this means that it wasn't empty.
Instead, it must have been inhabited. Then, for some reason, for which
we will refer to, it became formless and empty. That's why God had again
to put things in order, which He did in the six days of creation. Today
man finds fossils of dinosaurs and dates them back to some million years
ago. "Intelligent" men and critics of the Bible say that this
disproves the Bible. Unfortunately for them nothing can disprove the
Bible. The Bible tells us that in the beginning, probably some billion
years ago, God created the heavens and the earth. This earth was not
empty as tradition teaches neither was it formless. For God didn't
create it like that. Instead, it BECAME formless and empty. God does not
tell us what specific animals were in that earth. He didn't consider it
necessary. But if you believe that there were dinosaurs, mammoths etc.
it may be so. The Bible does not exclude it.
To
summarise: what the Bible excludes is:
i) that the earth was made "in the
first day of creation". Instead, what the Bible says is that it was
created IN THE BEGINNING and thus the first day of creation was not
absolutely first but first only in relation to the remaining five days.
ii) that the earth was created formless
and empty. The earth wasn't created formless and empty. Instead, IT
BECAME like that.
iii) that something remained alive from
the earth of Genesis 1:1. That this cannot be so, is evident by the very
definition of "empty". Something is empty when there is
nothing there. If there was, it wouldn't be empty. If a bacteria had
survived from the earth of Genesis 1:1, it wouldn't be empty.
3. "The
world that then was"
Further evidence
regarding what was said above is also given in other parts of the
Scripture. Thus II Peter tells us:
II Peter 3:3-7, 13
"Knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days,
walking according to their own lusts, and saying, "Where is the
promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things
continue as they were from the beginning of creation. For this
they willingly forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old,
and the earth standing out of water and in the water, BY WHICH [i.e.
water] THE WORLD THAT THEN WAS [or as the Greek reads:
"the then world"] PERISHED, BEING FLOODED WITH
WATER. BUT THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH WHICH ARE
NOW by the same word are kept in store, reserved for fire until the
day of judgement and perdition of ungodly men...... Nevertheless we,
according to His promise, LOOK FOR NEW HEAVENS AND A NEW EARTH in
which righteousness dwells."
In
this passage of II Peter, we learn for a "world that then was"
and which perished being flooded with water. The reference here is not
to the flood of Noah. This flood didn't perish all the world but the
world of the ungodly only (II Peter 2:5). Also, since all the
animals were preserved by Noah, God didn't have to re-do things after
the flood. In contrast, in the case of II Peter 3:6 ALL the THEN world
perished. The word "but" in II Peter 3:7 makes a contrast
between "the world that then was" and the world that succeeded
it and which is the world that is now ("the world that THEN was
perished, being flooded by water, BUT the heavens and the earth which
are NOW....."). Moreover, II Peter 3:13 tells us that the world
that is now will be succeeded by NEW heavens and a NEW earth i.e. by a
new world (see also Revelation 21:1).
From all the above, it is clear that
the Bible speaks of three worlds. The first world, "the world that
then was", perished being flooded by water. The second world, the
world that is now, is "reserved for fire" and it waits for the
day of the Lord, "in which the heavens will pass away with a great
noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and
the works that are in it will be burned up" (II Peter 3:10). The
third world is still future and will succeed the world that is now.
The fact that the there are three
worlds: one that then was, one that is now and one that is to come, is
also evident from II Corinthians 12:2 where Paul says:
II Corinthians 12:2
"I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago - whether in the
body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows
- such a one was caught up TO [or as the Greek reads: "as far
as"] THE THIRD HEAVEN"
What
does Paul mean by "third heaven"? According to what we have
learned, it means the NEW heaven that is still to come. It is this new
heaven that John also saw by revelation (Revelation 21) and about of
which Peter speaks in II Peter 3:13. Is it therefore right that the Word
of God speaks here of a THIRD heaven? Absolutely yes: the first was the
one that THEN was, the second is the one that is NOW and the third is
the one THAT IS TO COME.
After making clear all the above,
and taking into account what we learned from Genesis 1:1-2, it is
obvious that "the world that then was" is the world of Genesis
1:1. God created the heavens and the earth in the beginning (Genesis
1:1). He didn't create the earth formless (Isaiah 45:18). It became
formless and empty (Genesis 1:2) which means that there were living
beings on that earth that died when that world, "the world that
then was", perished. The way that it perished was by being flooded
with water (II Peter 3:6). That's why there are findings that suggest
the existence at some time in the past, of fishes that are not known
today in high mountains like the Alps, the Andes etc. There was sea
there sometime when "the world that then was perished being flooded
with water".
Also that's why there are fossils of
animals that are called prehistoric and it is supposed that they lived
many million years ago: they lived in "the world that then
was". In this world lived also the prehistoric, so called
"man". This "man" as well as all the living beings
that used to be the inhabitants of that first world, perished when that
world perished.
The problem with scientists is that
they ignore the dividing line between "the world that then
was" and the world that is now. Consequently, when they find
fossils of beings that lived in that world and see that they are
different from the beings that live in the present world, they try to
explain the differences through such assumptions as the theory of
evolution. But the truth is that there was a world that God created,
which lasted for the period covered by Genesis 1:1. However, that world
perished being flooded with water and thus God had again to put things
in order in the six days of creation. Hence, He made the plants, the
animals and finally man. Many times He chose to make things in a similar
fashion as in that world. Thus for example, the elephant took the place
of the mammoth. In other cases, He chose to make again things that were
also in that first world as turtles probably. This is not strange at
all. If you had a home that you liked and which for some reason was
ruined, you may very well have chosen to make things in a similar
fashion as they used to be.
That's how clearly the Word of God
explains the things. The Word of God does not have any problem with
genuine facts and true science. The problem is with false
"facts" and false "science". True science gives the
facts and stops there. False science goes forth and draws conclusions
based on unreliable assumptions. Evolution belongs to the second
category, for it is based on entirely unreliable assumptions. It is thus
similar with the ancient mythologies that were dreamed up to explain the
creation of the world. Today we speak of them as mythologies but in
their age they were respected as people today respect evolution.
However, evolution is nothing else than another mythology or better
"assumptiology" if there is such a word. In the future it will
be listed in the mythologies that the mind of men that deny God invented
to explain what the Word of God so clearly explains three thousand years
now.
4. What caused
the end of "the world that then
was"?
After all the above, the
question that the reader may have is what caused the earth to become
formless and empty as Genesis 1:2 says? Before we answer this question,
it will be helpful to first have a look at what happens with the world
that is now. This world, as "the world that then was", when it
was created it was very good and perfect. God creates everything
perfect. Genesis 1:31 tells us:
Genesis 1:31
"Then God saw everything that He had made, and INDEED IT WAS
VERY GOOD"
However,
this perfect situation didn't last for ever. For Romans 8 tells us:
Romans 8:20-22
"For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly,
but because of him who subjected it in hope; because the creation
itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into
the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole
creation groans and travails in pain together until now"
(NKJV-KJV)
Futility,
bondage of corruption, groaning and travailing in pain are not things
that one would expect from a situation that God describes in Genesis
1:31 as very good. Something therefore must have happened in the
meantime that turned what was very good to something that is under the
"bondage of corruption". What was this? The fall of Adam. The
fall of Adam not only cost him the loss of the one third of his
being5
i.e. the spirit, but it also affected the whole creation of God. Genesis
3:17-19 describes the beginning of this change of the creation from
something that was very good to something that was under the bondage of
corruption.
Genesis 3:17-19
"Then to Adam He [God] said, "because you have heeded the
voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded
you, saying, you shall not eat of it: CURSED is the ground for
your sake; in TOIL you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both
THORNS and THISTLES it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the
herb of the field. In the SWEAT of your face you shall eat bread till
you RETURN TO THE GROUND, for out of it you were taken; For dust you
are, and to dust you shall return"
Furthermore,
though God made Adam boss of the world that is now (Genesis 1:26), by
his fall he passed on all his rights to the devil who is the one that is
now called the ruler, the boss, of this
world6
(John 12:31, 14:30, 16:11). That's why all the creation groans and
travails in pain and waits for deliverance. What caused this situation?
THE FALL of Adam. Similarly, as the
fall of Adam disrupted the world that is now, so another fall that
preceded that of Adam disrupted, much more that time, the world of
Genesis 1:1, i.e. "the world that then was". The effects of
that fall were so devastating that the world couldn't even wait for
deliverance. Instead, it needed to be succeeded by a new world, the
world that is now, where again everything was initially perfect. The
fall that we are speaking about, and which is the only event that the
Bible describes as an event that could have such devastating effects, is
the fall of Lucifer who used to be one of the archangels of God,
commanding a third of the total number of angels.
Regarding the fall of Lucifer the
Bible describes it in three places: in Isaiah 14, in Ezekiel 28 and in
Revelation 12. Let's start from Isaiah 14:
Isaiah 14:12
"How are you fallen from heaven, O Lucifer son of the morning! How
you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you
have said in your heart: "I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt
my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the
congregation, on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above
the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High"
Ezekiel 28 also refers to the same
events and tells us:
Ezekiel 28:15-17
"You [Lucifer] were perfect in your ways from the day you
were created, TILL iniquity was found in you. By the abundance of your
trading you became filled with violence within and you sinned; Therefore
I cast you as a profane thing out of the mountain of God; And I
destroyed you, O covering cherub, from the midst of the fiery stones.
Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; You corrupted your
wisdom for the sake of your splendour, I cast you to the ground"
According
to Isaiah 14, Lucifer wanted to usurp the throne of God. This was the
iniquity that was found in him. However, his expectations weren't
realised. The book of Revelation describes the war that followed his
attempt, in a historical review given in chapter 12:
Revelation 12:3
"And another sign appeared in heaven: behold a great, fiery red
dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads.
His tail drew a third [that was the proportion of the angels committed
to the Lucifer, called dragon here] of the stars of heaven and threw
them to the earth......And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his
angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but
they did not prevail, nor was a place for them in heaven any longer. So
the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and
Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth [Greek: ge],
and his angels were cast out with him."
The
word "earth" here is the Greek word "ge" that in our
context means the earth as opposed to the heaven i.e the earth as a
planet. It is exactly this word that the Septuagint uses in the other
two references of Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 and which the NKJV
unfortunately renders as simply "ground". The Hebrew word that
is used there, is the word "erets" that means "the earth
in the largest sense, both the habitable
and the inhabitable parts7"
or in our context, the earth as opposed to the heaven. The NIV corrects
this mistake by translating the word "erets" in Isaiah 14 and
Ezekiel 28 as "earth" and thus reading:
Isaiah 14:12
"How are you fallen from heaven O Lucifer son of the morning! You
have been cast down to the earth"
(NKJV-NIV)
Ezekiel 28:17
"Your heart became proud on account of your beauty and you
corrupted your wisdom because of your splendour; So I threw you to the
earth"
(NIV)
All
the passages agree that after his defeat the devil and his angels were
cast out of heaven to the earth. This earth is the earth "that then
was" i.e. the earth of Genesis 1:1, since in the earth that is now
and as early as Genesis 3:1, the devil is already an enemy. I do not
know if it was as a result of this casting that the earth of Genesis 1:1
became formless and empty or if it happened during the fight. The Bible
does not say. What I do know is that the fall of the Lucifer is the only
event that could have such devastating effects on the creation of
Genesis 1:1. However, though the
adversary caused the overthrow of "the world that then was"
and, through Adam, the bondage of the world that now is there is one
more world, the world that is to come.
Revelation 21:1
"And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first [not
absolutely first, but first in relation to the new i.e. former] heaven
and the first earth were passed away"
(NKJV-KJV)
II Peter 3:13
"Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens
and a new earth in which righteousness dwells"
In this earth:
Revelation 21:4
"there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall
be no more pain, for the former things [the bondage and the corruption
of the world that is now] have passed away"
In this third world the devil will
continue to exist, but I bet that no-one would be envious of his
position:
Revelation 20:10
"The devil....was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where
the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented
day and night forever and ever"
Amen!!
Tassos Kioulachoglou
Footnotes
1.
Obviously, this disproves the tradition that wants Jesus to die 3 p.m.
on Good Friday and arise early Eastern Sunday morning, since a simple
counting shows that in no way you can have three days and three nights.
However, the problem is not a problem of the Word of God but a problem
of tradition. I hope that in a following issue we will have the
opportunity to handle such cases that people have decried as
"contradictions" and which are contradictions of tradition
only and not of the Word of God (press here to
return where you stopped).
2.
Though the NKJV reads "And on the seventh day God ended His
work which He had made" (Genesis 2:2), giving the impression that
there were seven days of creation, both the Septuagint and the Samaritan
Pentateuch, which are supposed to be based on more ancient manuscripts
than the ones available today, read: "on the sixth day", which
is evidently correct since God didn't do any work on the seventh day. He
only rested on that day (press here to return
where you stopped).
3.
In fact, only in the first chapter of Genesis there are 11 cases where
the verb "to be" is in italics. (press
here to return where you stopped).
4.
See E.W. Bullinger: "The Companion Bible", Kregel Publications,
Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1990, p. 3 and W. Wilson: "Old Testament
Word Studies", Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1978,
p. 30. That the meaning of the verb "hayah" is "to
become", "to come to pass", or "to come to be"
is also supported from the evidence of the Septuagint, the ancient Greek
translation of the Old Testament. In contrast to the Hebrew, the Greek
language has a verb equivalent to the English verb "to be",
the verb "eimi", and a verb equivalent to the English verb
"to become", the verb "ginomai". The Septuagint
almost exclusively translates the verb "hayah" as ginomai i.e.
"to become", "to come to pass". Indeed, it
translates it like that 1,341 times. When it uses the verb "eimi"
("to be"), it almost always uses it as an addition to the text
and today it would have been printed in italics. (press
here to return where you stopped).
5. See:
The
Journal of Biblical Accuracy, Vol.1, Iss.5, 6 (press
here to return where you stopped).
6.
See The Journal of Biblical Accuracy, Vol.1, Iss.7 (press
here to return where you stopped).
7.
See W. Wilson: "Old Testament Word Studies", Kregel Publications,
Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1978, p. 140. The Hebrew word that means
"ground" is the word "adamah" a derivative of which
is the name "Adam" (press
here to return where you stopped).
PDF
version (printer friendly)
E-mail
this article