Genesis/Revelation Bible Study Week 3
Dinosaurs, mammoths, fossil records, moon dust, tectonic plate action, magnetic shift, sun shrinkage, and simply a plethora of scientific facts support both a short duration of earth history and a long duration of earth history. It’s difficult to make sense out of both of these things from a pure scientific point of view, but is quite evident if you use the biblical point of view along with the scientific. Here are two examples to consider.
Dinosaurs: Well there is a rather obscure reference to “behemoths” and “leviathans” in chapter 40 of the book of JOB. I will grant that this sounds like Dinosaurs, but in all of the most ancient writings, and cave pictures, and man’s historical references, as flawed as it is sometimes, I would expect something as awe-inspiring as dinosaurs to be made reference to more often. Though there are flaws in the scientific practice of dating objects, Dinosaurs and the fossils of many plants and animals are just too ancient, in reference to the last 6 thousand years, which is what creationist subscribe to. Do a little research on your own, but it just isn’t practical and therefore it’s a stumbling block to say that they were walking the earth in this earth age, however, they certainly could have walked with man in a prior earth age…
Sun Shrinkage: The sun shrinks at a fairly constant rate. You can go to the Internet and read all kinds of scientific data and research this information. Interestingly, even at the lowest end of shrinkage amount, as early as 1 million years ago the earth would have been so hot that no life could have been possible on this planet and the closer planets would have simply been swallowed up.
If we use the concept that the earth is really old, then how do we reconcile the very obvious ambiguity that comes from even the most casual skeptic? Well, in my humble opinion, the issue is that we don’t know the Bible and the creation story as perfectly as we think we do and hold to traditions, that will come into direct conflict with science in such a way that credibility is lost. We must avoid that and understand the Bible as it is written.
So, as we progress, keep in mind that there may be something to consider between Genesis 1 vs. 1 and vs. 2. When we get to vs 3, then everything is back to “normal” and we can follow God’s plan for creation, as we are accustomed.
Its time for another sanity check statement. Salvation comes from what Jesus Christ did on the cross, not from any order of creation. Why do we insist on holding to thoughts and teachings that may be a barrier for others to believe in Christianity and the Bible? Why don’t we allow what the Bible says to speak for itself and trust that we are searching scriptures appropriately?
Continuing
Genesis 1:3
And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
What is this light? It’s certainly not the sun. That wasn’t created until later. Well, how about this?
John 8:12
Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
Lets see what God says about the light.
Gen 1:4-5
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.
KJV
He certainly didn’t call the darkness good, but here is our first reference that light/day is good and the implication that night/darkness is bad. Both day and night exist and how many references can you think of in scripture that points out this fact from a spiritual one and not just a factual one?
How does one have an evening and a morning without what we think of as sunshine coming in the morning and setting in the evening? I believe that this is the beginning first reference to God’s plan for sorting out the good from the bad, whether it be wheat/tares, or figs, or fish. Those that studied the parables with us will remember that at the end of the age, the wheat will be harvested and the tares burned, the good figs will be kept, but the bad figs will be thrown out, the clean fish kept, but the bad fish thrown away, and it comes down to our choice. We can choose the day, Jesus, or we can choose the night, Satan.
Is this over spiritualizing?
Is this reading too much into a couple of little verses?
IF there weren’t so many references to day being good and night being bad as far as our behavior listed time and time again throughout the Bible, then I would agree, but also, all truths are outlined in Genesis. It’s just hidden a little better and not as forth-coming, but this foundation is set.
For example, look at the following scriptures;
John 11:10
10 "But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him."
Luke 12:3
3 "Accordingly, whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in the inner rooms will be proclaimed upon the housetops.
John 11:10
Luke 11:34
34 "The eye is the lamp of your body; when your eye is clear, your whole body also is full of light; but when it is bad, your body also is full of darkness.
NASU
So, lets move on to the following scriptures…
Gen 1:6-7
6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
KJV
OK…. So what’s a firmament? Here is what Strong’s concordance says.
OT:7549
raqiya` (raw-kee'-ah); from OT:7554; properly, an expanse, i.e. the firmament or (apparently) visible arch of the sky:
Which is from OT 7554, which helps us…
raqa` (raw-kah'); a primitive root; to pound the earth (as a sign of passion); by analogy to expand (by hammering); by implication, to overlay (with thin sheets of metal):
KJV - beat, make broad, spread abroad (forth, over, out, into plates), stamp, stretch.
Atmospheric conditions have been established for the earth, and potentially a lot different than we have today. Ozone layers are in existence, atmosphere that can support life as we have today, etc…
8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.
Heaven – This is the same word as used in Verse Gen 1:1. Re-create the Heaven???
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