In the past, students of the Bible have not been sufficiently critical in studying God's Word.
Today's newsletter on the Genesis account of creation illustrates this.

The first verse of the Bible states, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Do these “heavens” refer to the whole universe or to the atmosphere of earth? The Hebrew word “heavens” can also be translated “air,” as in the example of Gen. 1:26, “the fowl of the air.” The first verse of the Bible in its proper context refers specifically to the creation of earth and its atmosphere, or air, and not the creation of the universe.

The condition of the earth is stated in the second verse of the Bible, “And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.” The remainder of the first chapter of the Bible mentions six creative days. At the close of the sixth day, Adam and Eve were created, and then God rested on the seventh day from all his work. The Bible does not say how long a period elapsed between the beginning when God created the atmosphere and the earth and the first of the six creative days in which the earth was brought to a suitable condition to support human life.

The Bible mentions days of various lengths; for instance, "the day of temptation in the wilderness" - forty years (Heb. 3:8, 9); "A day with the Lord is as a thousand years" (2 Pet. 3:8); our Lord's "day," etc. (John 8:56). While God could have accomplished the great work of ordering the earth for man in six 24-hour days, or in six minutes, for that matter, there is no reason to think that such short days are meant.

God arranged a great week of seven days for His great work of bringing man to perfection. The first six of these days were used in preparing our planet to receive Adam as its earthly king. The seventh day of the creative week began after Adam’s disobedience and fall and when God rested. The seventh day is not yet completed and has already lasted over six thousand years, according to Bible chronology, and is to be completed with the thousand years of Christ's reign. The seventh creative day will be 7000 years long. During this period, the Bible tells us the earth will be brought to a paradise condition and man will be restored by his Redeemer to God's image.

Another detail of the creative week that is frequently misunderstood concerns the work of the fourth creative day. Genesis 1:16-19 states: “And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.”

If the sun was not created until the fourth day, what was the earth orbiting around? What gravitational force held it in place? How can we harmonize God’s Word?

It is not necessary to suppose that the sun and the moon were created after our earth. Instead, there is a much more reasonable way of viewing the matter. The sun, the moon, and the stars were created long before, but had never, up to this time, cast their light upon the earth because of the impenetrable veil which surrounded it. At the creation of the earth, it stated darkness was upon the face of the deep. The atmosphere cleared as each creative day went by, until the fourth day when, viewed from the earth, the light of the sun and moon could be seen.

We are not to assume that the sun and the moon shone on the earth then as now. But they were discernible even through heavy banks of fog and carbon-laden atmosphere. It wasn’t until after the flood that sunlight could directly strike the earth. This is the reason that Noah could observe a rainbow in the sky for the first time in earth’s history.

An appreciation of the infinite power of the Creator and of our own littleness should make us teachable. The study of creation is the "key of knowledge." Using this key, we begin to realize that the only worthy ambition is to cooperate with our Creator's beneficent designs respecting His creation.

In The Beginning (41-page booklet)................................................free
Discover the fascinating facts about the Creative Week

The New Creation (738-page hardcover book)........$4.00 postpaid
The first chapter deals with the Genesis account of creation. The remainder of the book discusses the laws,
duties, privileges, and hopes of the consecrated followers of Jesus, which is a new creation.

Hartford Bible Students * P.O. Box 493 * Manchester, CT 06045

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Last modified: 09/19/09