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Date Posted: 15:22:45 05/17/99 Mon
Author: Kevin
Subject: Genesis 1:1-5

First, the hermeneutics definition I stated in my last post came not from me but from my computer encyclopedia.  It was not intended to belittle the tool, rather to aid me in my understanding - just thought someone else might benefit as well.

Second, Daniel mentioned Martyr and Irenaeus.  Are you not aware they did support a creation date older than 4004 BC?  They (among many others) used Psalm 90:4 to interpret each of the days of creation as 1000 years long. They arrived at this conclusion based on Scripture alone.

Now, on to the Scriptures;

(1:1 )  In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

In the beginning of all that this, our physical universe, is made of.  The universe is not eternal.  It had a beginning.  We learn from God's work that this beginning is not limited to matter alone.  It also marks the beginning
of space and time.  God exists outside of space time and matter. The Bible speaks often in the New Testament in terms of 'before the world was made', this is better translated in the NIV as 'before time began'.  God is
Spirit - though He most certainly did became physical in the flesh of Jesus. God is not limited in space - Omnipresent. God knows the future as well as the past - Omniscient.  Having created the universe and being able to keep His promise of raising the dead to life, He is Omnipotent.  Amen and amen.

Created  in the Hebrew is  'bara.  This is a term that is Biblically applied only to God.  He alone can create.  The term implies out of nothing - creation Ex Nihilo.

The heaven and the earth - our universe.  It is not speaking of the third heaven in this verse as we are never privileged to know the details of it's creation.  Though certainly God is the author of the heavenly realm as well,
since He alone is God; besides him there is no other.

Earth -  most likely refers to the totality of the planet.

This verse refers to the creation event which currently aligns with the big bang theorized to have occurred 15 billion years ago.  Note the big theory may one day be replaced by another theory, BUT, the replacement will have to satisfy the data better than the current theory.  Regardless, general relativity is one of the most proven theories of science.  It is as close to fact as anything in science can be.  General relativity mandates a beginning.  Even atheist Steven Hawking agrees - time had a beginning.  He attempts to eliminate God and the need for a creator by introducing imaginary time.  His theory of imaginary time is speculation squared.  It allows for a singularity event (the big bang) from our perspective looking back in time.  But proposes our universe is but a bubble, an offshoot of an
infinite collection of bubbles in a foaming universe.  The singularity does not really exist from the imaginary time of the foaming bubble universe, thus no beginning of time really occurred.  It is an interesting theory but in no way destroys the God of the Bible even if the theory were true.  A first cause is not avoided.  The laws of physics (even in the imaginary universe) still need explanation.  Time as we understand it still had a beginning.  God is.

(1:2)  And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

Verse 1 limits the text to the known universe, yet it is understood, Scripture speaks elsewhere of the spiritual realm beyond the measurable. Verse 2 further narrows the context.  Whatever worlds may exist besides our own is no longer germane to the rest of the creation narrative.  Our focus is now earth bound.  The point of view of the Scripture must necessarily be understood from an earth bound observer position.  This is essential if we are to remain consistent in our interpretation.

Without form and void - an empty waste. Yet from Jeremiah we know it was not created in vain, it was created with a purpose; to be filled to the glory of God.

Darkness - gap theorists suppose this darkness to be the wickedness of Satan and pre-Adamic man, who's world is flooded by God at this point.  It seems wise to understand this darkness simply as darkness; the absence of physical
light, not the light of God.

Face - face is the surface of; in this case the earth.

The deep - the abyss (as a surging mass of water)

Waters - has a variety of usage’s, can mean waters, juice, urine, semen. Taken in context of this verse it probably means waters, but is it that much of a stretch to see it as semen, in terms of the seed in which all else physical will be made.

So we see the formless earth shrouded in darkness.  We also must recognize the presence of God brooding over His work.

(1:3)  And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

Notice first what is not said here.  It does not say God created light in this verse, although certainly He is the author of light. Light would have been the first recognizable particle of matter to have formed after the big
bang, so if verse 2 is understood as the appearance of the earth in unrecognizable pre-matter form, then and only then should this verse be seen as the creation of light.  If the earth at this time is understood to now exist in chaotic but physical form, then this verse is the presenting of
light upon the surface of the deep.  Not the creation of it.  As it certainly existed before but is not visible from the earth bound point of view.

(1:4)  And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

Good - since only God is good in the totality of the expression in the sense of perfection, we must rather understand this term in a more common way. When you or I do the will of God, we are observed as good.  Yet, we humbly
acknowledge, it is not us, but God through us who is good. In the same way, the light is good as it does the perfect will of the Father of light.

Divided - separated.  Darkness is not the opposite of light, rather it is the absence of it.  The two are forevermore separate, yet darkness is dependant on light for it’s existence.  Without light, there is no darkness.
Yet, there are many varying amounts of light.

(1:5)  And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

The separating of Scripture into chapter and verse occurs at the will of the translators.  It was not part of the original text.  1:5a and 1:5b must be seen as distinctly separate actions.

Called - since day and night are English designations, we obviously do not expect God to have declared these words as His proper names for the observed phenomena.  In the same manner, it should be understood that God does not call the events by the Hebrew words, rather the text is speaking of the pronouncing of day and night on the earth.  Scripture is not naming, but proclaiming, day  and night.

The evening and the morning were the first day - herein OEC and YEC officially part ways.

In Hebrew, 'ereb boqer 'echad yowm (simplest reading - the evening, the morning, the first day)

No one denies the simplest reading should be the preferred reading whenever possible.  If only it were possible.  Placing this verse in the context of the real world setting, the Work dictates how the Word must be understood.
In can not be fully understood in the reverse order.

The Scriptures do not exist in a vacuum.  They exist in a real world, part of a much larger universe, that can be observed and measured.  Verse 1 describes an event that occurred about 15 billion years ago (measuring time by our standard).  Verse 2 describes an event that God brought about approximately 5 billion years ago.  When you look into space, it is not the present that is observed but the past.  We actually are witness to events of incredible antiquity.  This is an undeniable truth.

Demanding the simplest reading forces the interpreter to deny physical reality, thereby claiming the observable witness invalid.  Denying the witness denies the Work of the Creator.  Embracing the witness as a part of the whole we are free to reexamine this perplexing verse.

‘ereb - usually translated evening, also night, darkness is implied.

boqer - dawn, the coming of light.  A dispelling of the darkness.

The text viewed in a real world context becomes a parable of the darkness giving way to the coming light.  That which was incomplete made whole.  The empty and void being formed by Creator, accomplishing the will of God. The speaking of His command and the witness of the commands fulfillment.

This view is not original to OEC.  It was held by at least one of the great commentators of the past, St. Augustine.

As for the length of the first day, again reality dictates. The insistence that an attached ordinal must indicate a 24 hour day does not hold up under inspection.  It is true only in verses describing human activity, not the Work of God.  No where else does the Bible have a similar opportunity to number sequential epochs as in this chapter, so there is nothing to compare the argument with.  Most importantly, there is no Hebrew grammatical rule mandating the attaching of an ordinal to day must limit the usage of day to 24 hour periods.  As I began this discussion, I will conclude by noting many commentators of the past understood the days of creation to mean something other than the simplest reading of the text.

Peace
Kevin

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