Genesis Chapter 1 Commentary by Mark Dunagan

Genesis Chapter One

Outline

I.

Creation of the Universe: 1:1-2

II.

Furnishing the Earth: 1:3-25

III.

Creation of Mankind: 1:26-31

Chapter 1

Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” “It is no accident that God is the subject of the first sentence of the Bible. The passage, indeed the Book, is about Him first of all; to read it with any other primary interest (which is all too possible) is to misread it” (Kidner p. 43).

“In the beginning”: This infers: (a) Prior to Genesis 1:1 nothing material existed.

The whole physical creation owes its very existence to God (Acts 17:24-25). (b) God was already present ‘in the beginning’, i.e. He is eternal (John 1:1). (c) The material universe had a definite beginning. “That is, all of the other ancient religious books and religious systems, as well as all modern philosophies, begin, not with God, but with preexisting matter or energy in some form” (Morris p. 38).

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Hence, the Bible finds itself asserting what true science teaches, that is, matter isn't eternal and the universe had a definite beginning. If the universe had a beginning, it makes sense that it also will have a definite end. “It has often been pointed out that if a person really believes Genesis 1:1, he will not find it difficult to believe anything else recorded in the Bible. That is, if God really created all things, then He controls all things and can do all things” (Morris p. 37).

“God”: As to what God was doing before Creation? We know He was making preparations for our salvation (1 Peter 1:20). Some people complain that the Christian gets to rest everything on an eternal God, without having to explain "origins" any farther, yet once one accepts the existence of God, one must allow Him to be eternal and completely self-sufficient for His existence. For God cannot be God (i.e. all-powerful, all-knowing, etc..) without also being eternal--if God wasn't eternal, then there would be a point at which He would cease to be allpowerful and all-knowing. And it isn't the Christians fault that the non-Christian who believes in Evolution has picked a bad theory to support, i.e. the person who rejects God (an obvious oversight-Romans 1:20), doesn't have any right to complain that their "theory of origins" fails to provide them with any final answers. “The verse identifies God as ‘elohim’, a masculine plural noun which emphasizes His majestic power and glory. It is generally agreed that the noun's root meaning is ‘power, strength, glory’”. 1 We should note that to the Israelites, Genesis 1:1 clearly taught that their "God" was the Creator of the entire Universe and not just some "national" or "regional" god. Thus in the first book of the Bible, every form of idolatry is declared to be a false religious system.

“Created”: Other verses point out that God created the material universe, without using any preexisting materials (Psalm 33:6-9; 148:5; Proverbs 8:22-27; Romans 4:17 “who calls into being that which does not exist”). “The heavens”: Including both the atmospheric and cosmic "heavens", i.e. "space". God created the entire "cosmos". “After practically a lifetime of study, Herbert Spencer (1820-1903), the British philosopher, declared that there are basically five fundamentals of science: time, force, action, space and matter. Little did Spencer know that he was but echoing what had been written more than 3,000 years prior to him! ‘In the beginning (time), God (force), created (action), the heavens (space), and the earth (matter)’”. 2 Genesis 1:1 refutes a number of false doctrines: Atheism, Pantheism (for Genesis definitely separates God from His creation), Polytheism, Materialism 1

Paradise to Prison. John Jefferson Davis. pp. 41­42.

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(for the Ultimate is spiritual and not material), Humanism (because God, not man, is the ultimate reality), and Evolution, because God "created" all things.

Genesis 1:2 “And the earth was waste and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep: and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters” “And”: Note carefully the repetition of the word "and" in Genesis 1:1 and in the following verses. “Hebrew grammar will not allow for a chronological gap between verses 1 and 2” (Davis p. 44). “The earth”: “By all normal usage the verse is an expansion of the statement just made. It sets the scene, making the earth our vantage point--this is our concern” (Kidner p. 44). “Was waste”: This term means to lie waste, a desolation, or without form. “A trackless waste (Dt. 32:10; Job 6:18); emptiness (Job 26:7)’ (Kidner p. 44). “The basic idea of the word is a state of wildness because there is nothing there. Thus is depicts the loneliness and forsakenness of the barren desert”. 3 “The meaning it conveys is that the earth still had not been given the ordered form it now has” (Aadlers p. 54). “A void”: Something empty. “Darkness was upon the face of the deep”: Apparently the earth was originally in a fluid state, (2 Peter 3:5; Genesis 1:9) or, at least covered by one shore-less ocean. “The Spirit of God moved upon”: All three members of the Godhead are active in the Creation (John 1:1-3; Colossians 1:16; Hebrews 1:2). This verse seems to portray the Spirit of God poised and ready for action, i.e. ready to bring form, life and garnish this new earth.

The Gap Theory “The gap theory, more accurately described as the ruin-reconstruction theory, sees an indefinite time gap between verses 1 and 2. This theory, in one form or another, has been advocated for centuries...The gap theory, as generally taught today, asserts that in the dateless past God created a perfect heaven and earth. The earth was inhabited by a pre-Adamic race and ruled by Satan, who dwelt in the Garden of Eden. Satan desired to become like God and eventually rebelled...Thus sin entered the universe, and God's judgment came in the form of first a great flood 2

A Study Course In Christian Evidences. Bert Thompson & Wayne Jackson p. 125 3

Bible Students Commentary. Genesis Volume 1. G. Ch. Aalders pp. 53­54.

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and then, when the light and heat from the sun ended, a global ice age. All plant, animal, and human fossils date from this great flood and are genetically unrelated to plants, animals, and humans on the earth day” (Davis pp. 42-43). Thompson points out, “Let us point out here that those who advocate the Gap Theory are, of course, anti-evolutionists! They do believe (if they believe in the Gap Theory as it is commonly defined) that God created (or re-created) all things in this present world in the six day week of creation. However, they do not believe that the earth itself is a recent creation...One will never find evolutionists defending the Gap Theory, because the Gap Theory does allow a ‘re-creation’ by God in six days” (p. 171). This theory argues that Genesis 1:2 should be rendered, “the earth became, or had become without form”. Yet many commentators argue that if there is any way of improving the word "and", it should be rendered "now", i.e. Genesis 1:2 is describing the original condition of the earth at the beginning.

While many sources could be cited at this point, allow me to cite one, “The ‘was’ of Genesis 1:2 is translated ‘was’ in all the standard translations (and not ‘became’).

When the context requires, it can be used with the meaning ‘became’. It is the regular Hebrew verb of being, not the normal word for ‘became’. There is certainly no indication in the immediate context that a drastic change of state is intended by the verb. In fact, the use of the waw connective (‘and’) at the beginning of verse 2 seems to emphasize that the action of verse 2 follows immediately after the actions of verse 1, with no ‘gap’”. 4 The Gap Theory does find itself contradicting the New Testament. For the Gap theory requires millions of years of death and destruction (and sin) prior to Adam.

This clearly contradicts 1 Corinthians 15:21-22; Romans 5:12. Thompson points out that we need to remember that the Gap theory has Satan's sin at the end of the billion year period, and not at the beginning. Hence, the Gap theory finds itself advocating a very unbiblical concept, that is, millions of years of death (including human death) before any sin entered the world.  

The Gap theory has "man" before Adam, a contradiction of 1 Cor. 15:45-47.

The Gap theory has Adam and Eve billions of years from the beginning, yet Jesus placed Adam and Eve (the events of Genesis 1:27 and 2:24), “from the beginning of creation” (Mark 10:6). Jesus did not view vast amounts of time as coming between Genesis 1:1 and the rest of Genesis 1 and 2. If Adam and

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Biblical Cosmology and Modern Science. Henry Morris, p. 62.

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Eve are separated from Genesis 1:1 by billions of years, then Jesus was wrong. For Adam and Eve would not be "from the beginning of creation", rather they would be "at the end of creation". Remember, Jesus was there!

He was an eyewitness of Creation, for He was the Creator (John 1:3).  The Gap theory argues that Genesis 1:28 "replenish" means to "refill", when the Hebrew word simply means "to fill". See the NASV.  The Gap theory argues that Genesis 1:2 “formless and void” is the result of God's judgment, when a more logical view is that this verse simply is describing the Universe in its original empty and undeveloped state. “The universe did not become empty and desolate subsequent to its creation, but it was empty awaiting further creative work of God”. 5  The Gap theory argues that Isaiah 45:18 teaches that God originally created a perfect earth, and that the description of the earth in Genesis 1:2 doesn't fit such an original state. Actually this is a rather weak argument. It is more logical to apply Isaiah 45:18 to the finished product in Genesis 1:31.  The Gap theory contracts Exodus 20:11, which places the whole creation within the six day time span of Genesis 1. In this verse God doesn't separate the events of Genesis 1:1 from the rest of Genesis 1:2 and following.  The Gap theory attempts to argue that there is a major distinction between the Hebrew words rendered "create" (bara) (Genesis 1:1) and "made/make" (asah) (Genesis 1:7), i.e. that "create" always applies to creation out of nothing and that "made" always applies to the forming of matter already in existence. The problem is that such a distinction isn't even upheld in this chapter. Compare Genesis 1:26 “make” with 1:27 “create”. One writer points out, “If anyone is impressed by the fact that ‘made’ (Hebrew asah) is used in Exodus 20:11 instead of ‘created’ (Hebrew bara), the phrase ‘all that in them is’ should make it plain that the whole earth structure--not just the earth's surface--is included in the entities that were ‘made’ in the six days”. 6 The “Day-Age” Theory “Many sincere and competent Biblical scholars have felt it so mandatory to accept the geological age system that they have prematurely settled on the so-called dayage theory. By this device, they seek more or less to equate the days of creation 5

The Christian View of Science and Scripture. Bernard Ramm. pp.

139­140.

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Scientific Creationism. Henry Morris pp. 236­237.

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with the ages of evolutionary geology” (Morris p. 53). “They say that the ‘days’ of Genesis possibly are periods of time extending over millions of years” (Thompson p.

127).

Many writers are correct in pointing out that nobody would of ever conceived of the "days" of Genesis being long eons of time, if they hadn't already accepted the Geologic Timetable which is inherently connected with the Theory of Evolution. In studying the Bible, we already know that the Geological Timetable is wrong: (a) The Geological Timetable is based on the theory of uniformitarianism (i.e., all present natural processes being observed have remained at the same rate, the present is the key to the past.) Radiometric dating methods are based on this assumption. Yet Christians already now that such an assumption is false. All natural processes have not remained the same, and everything has not remained constant. The Flood found in Genesis 6-9 was a major disruption in the natural processes of this planet. In fact, the apostle Peter warns us against believing that "all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation" (2 Peter 3:4). (b) The Geological Timetable is based on the Theory of Evolution, which in turn is based on the assumption that Spontaneous Generation happened and it happened only once.

That's just bad science. (c) No reliable long-term dating method exists: “It is obvious that radiometric methods may not be the reliable dating methods they are often claimed to be. Age estimates on a given geological stratum using different methods are often quite different (sometimes by hundreds of millions of years). There is no absolutely reliable long-term radiological clock”. 7 As proof that Uniformitarian Estimates cannot be depended upon, the above book contains a chart which provides the reader with some 68 ways to date the earth based on "uniform" rates of different physical processes. The dates given range from an earth millions of years old to thousands of years old and even hundreds of years old.

The wonderful thing about believing in God and Creation is that you aren't "locked into" a young earth” or an “old earth. You are free to examine the evidence. Yet, anyone who believes in evolution is "locked into" a earth that must be billions of years old--just for evolution to look somewhat credible. Hence, there exists no pressing need to harmonize Genesis 1 with the Geological Timetable. After reading the above, seriously consider the following: “Whenever ‘science’ and the Bible are 7

What Is Creation Science? Henry M. Morris/Gary E. Parker p.

285.

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in conflict, it is always the Bible that, in one manner or another, must give way. We are not told that ‘science’ should correct its answers in the light of Scripture.

Always it is the other way around...And on whatever subject the Bible speaks, whether it be creation, the making of the sun, the fall, the flood, man's redemption, it is authoritative and true”. 8 Christians accept the fact that “let God be found true, though every man be found a liar” (Romans 3:4). All claims of ‘science’ which find themselves in opposition to the Bible (whether in the realm of creation, genetics, behaviour, ethics, morality, relationships, etc..) are false conclusions. We cannot allow ‘science’ to sit on judgment on the Bible, rather, we must let the Word of God sit in judgment upon all human theories.

Problems with the “Day-Age” Theory The word "day" in Genesis 1, is defined in the context: (a) God called the light day (1:5). (b) The expression "evening and morning" is attached to each day (1:5,8,12). (c) These were specific days “first day, second day”, etc.. (d) The word "day" is contrasted with "seasons and years" in 1:14. (e) Ancient man could tell time.

Seriously consider the that the months of Noah's day contained 30 days (Genesis 7:11,24; 8:3-4).

Very serious problems start happening when you try to make the "days" of Genesis fit into long eons of time: 

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“For instance, if there is textual justification for interpreting each of the six days of Genesis parabolically or figuratively, what defense can be offered for not doing the same with the language descriptive of God's creation of man in Genesis 2:7? Where does the figurative or parabolic end and sober history begin? In the light of the confusion which presently prevails in Christendom concerning origins, it is not surprising that some young people who were students at a certain Christian college asked...’Don't you think we could just forget the first eleven chapters of Genesis and still be Christians?’”. 9 Jesus was wrong, for He placed Adam and Eve from the "beginning of creation" (Mark 10:6). The day-age theory must place Adam and Eve

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Studies in Genesis One. Edward J. Young, pp. 53­54.

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The Genesis Account of Creation. Arthur F. Williams pp. 24­ 25.

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millions of years from the beginning, i.e. not even close to the beginning.  The day-age theory finds itself inherently connected to the Geologic Timetable, and no good reason exists to believe in such a theory, if one isn't intimidated by the claims of evolutionary scientists. The Geological Timetable has millions of years of life and death prior to sin entering the world. A violation of Romans 5:12.  Making the "days" of Genesis doesn't fix the supposed problem. For even after you have made the "days" of Genesis into long geologic ages, Genesis chapter 1 still doesn't harmonize with the Evolutionary Theory/The Geologic Timetable. Genesis has "life" beginning on land, not in the ocean (1:11). Birds before Reptiles, which is the exact opposite advocated by Evolutionary theory (Genesis 1:20,25). In addition, Genesis claims that creation has ceased (2:1-3) and that the "kinds" are fixed (1:11).  The day-age theory doesn't harmonize with Exodus 20:8-11, which parallels a "real week" with the Creation week. Exodus 20:11 'For in six days', infers (demands) that whatever the word "day" meant to the Israelites, is what it meant in Genesis 1. Remember the books of Genesis and Exodus were written, at the most within 40 years of each other. The exact same generation received both books.  If the days of Genesis lasted for millions of years each, and God said that each "day" consisted of light and darkness (1:4-5), then how did the vegetation created on the third day survive eons of darkness and light  If the days of Genesis lasted for million of years each, “then the seventh day would also be a long period of time”: Which means: (a) God rested for millions of years and how can that parallel a "day" of rest? (b) “If the ‘dayage’ theorists accept day seven as an ‘age’...’What about day eight, or day nine...?...let the ‘day-age’ proclaimers circle the day which began the normal 24 hour-day” (Thompson p. 157).  Adam then lived through THREE GEOLOGIC AGES-Part of day six, all of day seven and into day eight.

If you argue that day seven has ended, then Adam and Eve lived in the Garden for millions of years without giving into temptation. If you argue that day seven never ended, i.e. that day seven is the current geologic age, then: You place yourself at odds with the language that is associated with day seven (2:3 “He rested”-past tense; Exodus 31:17 “and was refreshed”).

Jesus accused the Sadducees of not “understanding the Scriptures, or the power of

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God” (Matthew 22:29). Seeing that God will bring the whole physical universe to an end in a matter of seconds or less (1 Cor. 15:51ff; 2 Peter 3:10). Taking six whole days to create and furnish it seems like a very easy task for God. That's why believing Genesis 1:1 is so crucial. If you believe that God created everything out of nothing and that He simply spoke it into existence, then you will have no problem in accepting that the days of Genesis are nothing more than what the text says they were. “Suppose the writer of Genesis wished to teach his readers that all things were created and made in six literal days, then what words would he use to best convey this thought?” (Thompson p. 132).

The Age of the Earth A tremendous amount of good material exists for the Christian in dealing with the claims that the universe is billions of years old. Again, let it be remembered: (1) The credibility of Evolution dies without vast amounts of time (of course the Christian and the objective scientist realizes that it is dead already, regardless of how much time you throw at it.) Creation has more flexibility: (a) Apparently God created everything full grown and fully functional (1:11,14-16,26-27). Hence, the "real age" of the creation will never be the same as the "apparent age". (b) The Bible doesn't give us a complete list of ancestors going all the way back to Adam.

(2) All dating methods must concede error: (a) All present processes haven't remained the same, the early chapters of Genesis describe an earth that was very different ( 1:7; 2:6, 10-14; the life-spans of chapter 5) (b) A major change has happened in the climate, environment of this planet (Genesis 6-9), and even Evolution concedes this. (3) The Bible is the infallible Word of God, the same God who created this Universe, is the same God who authored Genesis. Therefore, every theory and human point of view must be judged by the Bible and not the opposite. The Bible is the standard for accuracy, even when we are discussing "origins", because the Bible discusses origins (2 Cor. 10:4-5). Remember, the author of Scripture was there, modern evolutionists were not.

The Creation of Light: 1:3-5

Genesis 1:3 “And God said, Let there be light: and there was light” “And God said”: “This simple phrase...precludes some far-reaching errors and stores up a wealth of meaning. These eight specific commands, calling all things

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into being, leave no room for notions of a universe that is self-existent, or struggled for, or random, or a divine emanation” (Kidner p. 46). See Psalm 33:9. “Let there be light”: “The result was not sunlight--the sun was created on the fourth day (1:16)-but light from a fixed source outside the earth” (Davis p. 49).

Genesis 1:4 “And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness” Genesis 1:5 “And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night.

And there was evening and there was morning, one day” One writer says, “How could there be a ‘day’ before the sun existed? Answer-Easy, because the length of a day depends not on the sun but on the earth's rotation on its own axis”. 10 .Each day had distinct boundaries. “To some of the ancients, day and night suggested warring powers; to modern man, merely a spinning world. Genesis knows nothing of either conflict or chance in this: only the watchful Creator who assigns to everything its value (4a), place (4b) and meaning (5a). Darkness is part of the whole that is ‘very good’ (31a,b); it is not abolished, only subordinated” (Kidner p. 47).

The Second Day Genesis 1:6 “And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters”

“Firmament”: Properly an expanse. “The basic idea is ‘to spread out’--something that is spread out either by stretching (e.g., a tent) or by hammering (e.g., metal)” (Hamilton p. 122). “In the midst of the waters”: “He divided horizontally the mass of waters in which the earth was situated. One body of water was suspended above a ‘firmament’ and another completely covered the earth” (Davis p. 57).

Genesis 1:7 “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” 10

Myths and Miracles. David C. Watson p. 7.

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Genesis 1:8 “And God called the firmament Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day”

“Heaven”: The atmospheric heaven. The simplest explanation of the "waters above the firmament" would be this water that is found in the clouds. “Though Genesis was written in the Near East, where the annual rainfall is only a few inches, the description of clouds as ‘waters’ is strictly accurate from the point of view of modern-science. It has been computed that there are 45,000 thunderstorms daily somewhere in the world, and each thundercloud carries about 100,000 tons of water” (Watson p. 11). “The firmament referred to in this particular passage is obviously the atmosphere. Unfortunately the English word has been interpreted by many to refer to a solid dome across the sky; consequently this idea has been used by liberal critics as evidence of the ‘prescientific’ outlook of Genesis. Neither the original Hebrew word nor any of the passages in which it occurs suggests such an idea, however. A ‘firmament’ is simply ‘thin, stretched-out space’” (Morris pp.

58-59).

Davis points out: “Students of biblical cosmology have developed the theory that above the pre-Noahic earth was suspended a vapor or ice crystaline canopy...Whitcomb and Morris suggest that on the second day God suspended a vast body of water in vapor form over the earth, protecting it from the destructive rays of the sun. This might explain the longevity described in Genesis 5, and it provides a water source for the great, universal flood described in Genesis 6-9...This theory is primarily an attempt to explain the tropical conditions that apparently characterized the early earth. Areas that are now arctic were inhabited by animals whose natural habitat is tropical or semitropical...According to the canopy theory, the canopy distributed heat around the earth, making regions now arctic at least semitropical. During the great flood, the canopy broke up (‘the windows of heaven…opened’ (Genesis 7:11)” The Third Day

Genesis 1:9 “And God said, Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so”

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“Waters under the heavens”: The shore-less ocean. “Into one place”: See Psalm 33:7-9. The water may have been in different ocean basins, and yet all interconnected.

Genesis 1:10 “And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called Seas: and God saw that it was good” “Good”: “Probably in two senses. One would be aesthetic, the other sense would be that of purpose” (Davis p. 62). Thus God creates things that are both beautiful and useful. Consider the brevity and ease which Bible describes tremendous events. “Again it should be noted how sober and simple the account of God's creative acts is. Not a single word is said about how this was all accomplished.

The enormous transformation of the earth from a fluid mass to its present form of land and seas is reported without one detail of how this was brought about” (Aalders pp. 61-62). Clearly this shows divine restraint upon the writer. "It is probable that the highest mountains were not ‘pushed up’ until after the Flood, and the deep ocean basins were hollowed out at the same time to hold the vast quantities of surplus water (Psalm 104:5-9)...So the pre-Flood world was (probably) flatter than ours (though still round, of course!) and the seas shallower" (Watson p.

12).

Genesis 1:11 “And God said, Let the earth put forth grass, herbs yielding seed, {and} fruit-trees bearing fruit after their kind, wherein is the seed thereof, upon the earth: and it was so” Genesis 1:12 “And the earth brought forth grass, herbs yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit, wherein is the seed thereof, after their kind: and God saw that it was good” Genesis 1:13 “And there was evening and there was morning, a third day” “Let the earth put forth”: “This does not allow, as some have contended, for evolution. On the contrary, the biblical order of trees before marine organisms contradicts the concept of tress evolving from marine organisms” (Davis p. 63).

“Yielding seed…bearing fruit”: Plants and trees with external and internal seeds (inside the fruit). “After their kind”: While this does not demand the creation of

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each specific variety, let's say of "apple trees", it does demand that all varieties of apple trees will always remain in their own basic kind, i.e. apple trees will never evolve into a higher form of life. “You can cross an orange with a lemon and produce (no, not a grapefruit) an ‘oramon’, but it is still the same kind of fruit, i.e. citrus” (Watson p. 15). Evolution cannot be woven into Genesis 1 and Genesis 1 cannot be adapted to the theory of Evolution. The phrase "after their kind" is a blow to the most basic premise of Evolution, i.e. spontaneous generation and new kinds developed by genetic mutations and natural selection. Evolution argues that every "kind" came from one "kind". Evolution cannot be woven into "science" either. For the theory of Evolution contradicts the most basic laws of science. “In 1864 Louis Pasteur proved conclusively that life comes only from life...Every time a surgeon does an operation he relies on this universal truth, that no bacteria can reach a wound so long as his instruments are ‘sterile’” (Watson p. 16).

We sometimes forget that for "life" to survive upon this planet, all forms of life had to be in place in a very short interval of time. “Many trees an planets depend on insects for pollination; in some cases the insect in turn depends on the plant for its larva's food” (Watson p. 16). In school all of us learned about the "food-chain" and "ecosystems", such good science demands that: (a) The days of Genesis were not eons of time, for the plant life of day three desperately needed the insect life of day six (1:24). (b) That a Great designer was behind the creation of every form of life, seeing that so many forms of life are so dependant upon one another for survival.

The permanence of the created "kinds" is further supported by 1 Corinthians 15:3839.

The Fourth Day

Genesis 1:14 “And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years” Genesis 1:15 “and let them be for lights in the firmament of heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so”

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“Firmament of heaven”:' This same expression that was used of the atmospheric heavens is now used of the celestial heavens. This infers that the author of Genesis understood that the universe was spreading-out, i.e. an expanse. “To divide the day from the night”: This is the primary purpose of the sun, moon and stars. Since this is the same basic purpose as stated for the "light" mentioned in 1:3-5, “This can only mean that the two regimes were essential identical. The duration of the days and nights was the same in each case” (Morris p. 65). Therefore the "days" which included the sun, were the same as the "days" prior to the sun's functioning as the primary light source for this planet. Some people have a problem about "light" coming to the earth, without the sun, but Morris notes, “If such a concept sounds strange, let it be remembered that it is as easy for God to create waves of light energy as to create generators to produce such waves. There is not need for such generators except to serve the addition function (after man's creation) of marking ‘signs and seasons, days and years’. It therefore did not take a billion years for the light from a star which is a billion light-years distant from the earth to reach the earth after the star was created. The light-trail from the star was created in transit, as it were, all the way from the star to the earth, three days before the star itself was created! As noted earlier, the universe was created ‘full-grown’ from the beginning. God did not require millions of years to develop it into its intended usable form. The purpose of the heavenly bodies was ‘to give light upon the earth"; so this is what they did, right from the beginning’” (pp. 65-66).

“Signs”: The heavenly bodies declare the existence of God (Psalm 19:1; Romans 1:20). They also serve the useful purpose of getting bearings for long journeys.

Seeing that the Bible condemns astrology (Jeremiah 10:1; Isaiah 47:13), is it clear that the heavenly planets do not speak for "fate". And the only truth they proclaim is that “God Is”. Hence all astrologers are found guilty of missing the only message found in the stars. “In these simple sentences the lie is given to a superstition as old as Babylon and as modern as a newspaper-horoscope” (Kidner p. 49).

“Seasons”: '"Primitive" man was a lot cleverer than most of us today; by looking at the moon he could tell exactly how far the month (29 days) had progressed” (Watson p. 18). This would include "seasons" to plant and harvest. “Days and years”: “The Egyptians measured their year by the rising of Sirius, the brightest star, over the Nile at dawn. We call this a Sidereal Year and our most accurate clocks--atomic chronometers--are adjusted by reference to it” (Watson p. 21). “Once

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again we see the vital importance of Time in the life of man. God could have implanted an automatic (instinctive) clock in the head of every human. But instead of this He set the world spinning and made a fixed point in space (the sun) by reference to which we can organize our lives” (p. 25).

Genesis 1:16 “And God made the two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: {He made} the stars also”

“The greater light”: The Sun. “This does not mean, of course, that the sun is the biggest star in the universe--only that it gives us more light” (Watson p. 25). “The lesser light”: The moon. “The fact that both sun and moon are called ‘light-givers’ does not suggest that they are of the same substance. One actually generates light, whereas the other only reflects light; but both ‘give light’ as far as their functions relative to the earth are concerned” (Morris p. 67). “To rule the day”: “They rule only as lightbearers, not as powers” (Kidner p. 49). The writer deliberately avoids naming the two lights. He mentions their "function", impressing us that the "sun" and the "moon" are not to be worshipped. Consider how this chapter is so simple, pure and accurate compared to ancient and modern theories. The ancient oriental idea was that the world rests on the back of an elephant standing on a tortoise. The Bible presents an earth suspended in space (Job 26:7). “As one wise man has written: ‘In the first page of the Bible a child may learn more in one hour that all the scientists of the world learned without it in thousands of years’” (Watson p. 16).

Genesis 1:17 “And God set them in the firmament of heaven to give light upon the earth” Genesis 1:18 “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”

“To give light on the earth”: “Popular science often tells us that ‘our Earth is no longer the center of the universe. There may be other inhabited planets and they may be more highly developed than ours’” (Watson p. 26). Yet this verse makes the "earth" the center (i.e. the most important planet) in the universe. The purpose for the sun, moon and the stars is to "serve" this planet. It all exists for the inhabitants of this earth. The Christian has nothing to fear from "life" on other planets. Seeing

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that God created everything in the universe, if any other life exists, it is "created" life. Yet Evolution has a lot to fear from "other life forms" in the galaxy. For if the mathematical chances of life evolving on one planet is zero! What are the chances of life evolving on two planets? Seeing that God's only begotten Son died for the sins of the people on this planet, proves that this earth is the main stage in the universe (John 3:16). So many people are wasting their time searching for life on other planets that they have completely missed the fact that "extraterrestrial" life has contacted us, i.e. God (Hebrews 1:1-2). Hey, the Creator has spoken to us, He has died for our sins, wake up! Many have pointed out that life on this earth is no accident. So many exacting conditions are needed for life to survive: “If the average temperature of the earth were raised only two or three degrees, the ice sheets and glaciers would melt, and London and New York would be 200 feet under water. If the earth were only 10% smaller or larger, life as we know it could not exist on this planet” (Watson p. 25). “If the moon were set at less distance from the earth tides would submerge all continents twice daily”. 11 The Fifth Day Genesis 1:20 “And God said, Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven”

“Let the waters swarm”: This carries the idea of swift movement, “the swift chaotic hither-and-thither motion of such things as fish, but it carries with it overtones of abundant fertility” (Wenham p. 24). The KJV here is somewhat misleading, “Let the waters bring forth”. “The sense is simply ‘teem with’, indicating the place and element in which the swarming creatures abound” (Davis p. 66). “Swarms of living creatures, and let birds”: “The text seems to imply that aquatic life and fowl appeared simultaneously...then the evolutionary sequence of reptiles before birds must be rejected” (Davis p. 66). “As used in Genesis 1:20...it evidently refers to all kinds of marine animals: invertebrates, vertebrates, reptiles” (Morris p. 69).

Genesis 1:21 “And God created the great sea-monsters, and every living creature that moveth, wherewith the waters swarmed, after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind: and God saw that it was good” 11

Bulwarks of the Faith. F.E. Wallace. pp. 332­333.

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“The great sea monsters”: In Genesis we have Whales (and other huge seacreatures) prior to land animals (1:24-25), yet Evolution claims that Whales are the ancestors of a land animal. Who are we to believe? “Once again it is obvious that the orthodox evolutionary order is not the same as the order of creation recorded here in Genesis. Evolutionary theory says that marine organisms evolved first, then land plants, later birds. Genesis says that land plants came first, then marine creatures and birds simultaneously. Furthermore, if anything, the largest sea animals were the first, again contrary to evolutionary theory” (Morris p. 70).

Carefully note that the largest whales weigh 150 tons (more than any dinosaur).

The largest fish, the whale shark, weighs up to 15 tons, twice as much as an African elephant, and these are some of the first animals created!!! Genesis has the biggest first and not last. The "great sea monsters" could also include some of the dinosaurs. See Job 40-41.

The Sixth Day Genesis 1:24 “And God said, Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind, cattle, and creeping things, and beasts of the earth after their kind: and it was so” “Let the earth bring forth”: The bodies of these animals were composed of the same elements as the earth, and when they died, they would go back to the earth.

“Cattle”: Domesticated animals.

This might include “sheep, oxen, donkeys, camels and horses, cats and dogs” (Watson p. 33). “Creeping things”: Small mammals, insects, smaller reptiles, and most amphibians. “Beasts of the earth”: Large wild animals, including the huge land dinosaurs. “One of the interesting discoveries of this century has been human foot-prints alongside dinosaur tracks in the Paluxy river-bed, Texas. This proves that man lived at the same time as the monsters, not 60 million years later as many scientists say. Other human footprints have been discovered in Utah…crushing trilobites, which are supposed to be 500 million years old” (Watson p. 36).

Genesis 1:25 “And God made the beasts of the earth after their kind, and the cattle after their kind, and everything that creepeth upon the ground after its kind: and God saw that it was good”

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“And God saw that it was good”: “There was no evolutionary struggle for existence among these animals...Neither could one kind evolve into a different kind” (Morris p. 71).

The Creation of Mankind Genesis 1:26 “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth”

“Let us”: We have already noted that all three members of the Godhead are involved in Creation (1:1,2; Job 33:4; John 1:1; Colossians 1:16; Hebrews 1:2).

Various groups, in attempting to undermine the Deity of Jesus Christ, try to argue that God in this verse is talking to the angels or abstract truths, such as justice and mercy. Yet the phrase "our image” and “our likeness", rules out such a view. Why would the Father speak to the angels, when two existed who were much higher than any angel? (Hebrews 1:5-14) “He (man) shares the sixth day with other creatures, is made of dust as they are (2:17;19), feeds as they feed (1:29,30) and reproduces with a blessing similar to theirs (1:22, 28a); so he can well be studied partly through the study of them: they are half his context. But the stress falls on his distinctness” (Kidner p. 50).

Theistic Evolution?

Some argue that God worked through Evolution. In response, Watson gives a simple reply, “If Evolution is said to be like a factory, with Man as the end-product, then God must be the most inefficient, stupid and wasteful factory-builder that ever existed. According to evolutionists, millions of ‘experimental’ animals have been produced, only to die off when conditions changed” (p. 38). Davis notes, “Russell L. Mixter asserts, ‘Genesis 1 is designed to tell who is the creator, and not necessarily how the full process of creation was accomplished.’ This statement has had wide appeal, but it does not come to grips with the text of Genesis. If the design of Genesis 1 were limited to that, the text would stop after the first verse. When the Christian agrees that living organisms were the result of chance factors, he has

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abandoned de facto a biblical concept of origins...If, indeed, natural processes and chance factors adequately explain the origin of life, then what need is there for God?” (pp. 74-75). Jesus won't allow us to hold such a view and still believe in Him, because Jesus plainly stated that God created them male and female from the beginning of creation (Mark 10:6; Matthew 19:1-6). Genesis 1:26-27, is not millions of years from the beginning. And someone has cut through all the complicated arguments, when they said, “If we allow God to place a ‘soul’ in man at the end of some supposed evolutionary cycle, and why not just allow God to do everything in Genesis that He said He did?' And that's the bottom line.

In the “Image of God” Genesis 1:26 “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth”

“Image”: “The image of God in which man was created must entail those aspects of human nature which are not shared by animals--attributes such as a moral consciousness, the ability to think abstractly, an understanding of beauty and emotion, and, above all, the capacity for worshiping and loving God” (Morris p.

74). “Both terms (image/likeness), therefore, point to spiritual qualities shared by God and man...the capacity for self-consciousness, speech, and moral discernment” (Davis p. 81).

Since God is a Spirit, this plainly teaches that man has a spiritual nature to him, i.e. he is a spirit who will survive the death of his physical body (James 2:26; Matthew 10:28). God is a Spirit (John 4:24; Luke 24:39), therefore we do not physically look like God. All men and women have this "image". “It is well known that in both Egyptian and Mesopotamian society the king, or some high-ranking official, might be called ‘the image of God’. Such a designation, however, was not applied to the canal digger or to the mason who worked on a ziggurat...In God's eyes all of mankind is royal (valuable)” (Hamilton p. 135). After the Fall, man is still said to be in God's image (Genesis 9:6) and likeness (James 3:9). There was never a time when there existed a "man" who didn't contain this image. “Manward, it requires us to take all human beings infinitely seriously (Genesis 9:6; James 3:9). And our Lord implies, further, that God's stamp on us constitutes a declaration of ownership

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(Matthew 22:20,21)” (Kidner p. 51). “The Hebrew terms ‘image’ and ‘likeness’ are best regarded as essentially synonymous” (Davis p. 81).

Certain logical ramifications must follow from this very basic truth concerning our true nature: I will never "find" myself or the true purpose for my "being", until I first find God (Ecc. 12:13-14). We are going to miss the boat if you adopt any view of life which ignores or minimizes the "spiritual" side of life (Matthew 6:24-34). We will never find true happiness, contentment and fulfillment, if we ignore our spiritual needs.

Physical things can never completely satisfy a "being" who is much more than physical (Matthew 4:4; 16:24-26). Man can understand God's will, man can serve God acceptably, man can live God's way of life, man can have the attitudes which God demands, and man can embrace God's morality and enjoy it---for every man and woman has a soul, a spirit, which can learn to appreciate and value spiritual things. There is a "need" in everyone's life that only a relationship with God can fill--hence, everyone is a good prospect for the gospel message. Since God created us, inside and out, and we are “like” Him, He truly knows what will make us happy (Matthew 11:28-30). Since everyone is created in the image of God, 'loving my neighbor as myself', makes perfect sense, because every human being has eternal value. Since God created the "souls" of men, He has the moral right to punish souls which defy what is eternally right.

Wenham observes, “The image is a capacity to relate to God. Man's divine image means that God can enter into personal relationships with him, speak to him, and make covenants with him...There is a special kind of creative activity involved in making man that puts man in a unique relationship with his creator and hence able to respond to him” (p. 31).

“Let them have dominion”: “Verse 26 has begun by stating man's relationship to the Creator. It now progresses to spelling out man's relationship to the rest of the created order. He is to exercise dominion” (Hamilton p. 137). See Psalm 8:7-9. “ Dominion over all creatures is ‘not the content but the consequence’ of the divine image (Delitzch). James 3:7-8 points out that we still largely exercise it” (Kidner p.

52).

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Genesis 1:27 “And God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them” “Male and female”: Both sexes have this image (1 Peter 3:7). The contention that the Bible is degrading to women is either a view proclaimed out of ignorance or plain dishonestly. “Sexuality is not an accident of nature, nor it is simply a biological phenomenon. Instead it is a gift of God...Unlike animals, man is not broken down into species (i.e. ‘according to their kinds’), but rather is designated by sexuality: male and female he created them” (Hamilton p. 138). Since God created human sexuality, that gives God to right to regulate it. It gives God the right to declare what is "loving" and what is "selfish". What is true giving and what is nothing more than exploitation (1 Cor. 6:9; Hebrews 13:4). This verse serves as the foundational truth for so many human relationships: To others: “All races of men can intermarry, and children of ‘mixed’ race can in their turn their children of their own (unlike the mule). This shows that, as Paul said, we are one race and of one blood, whatever the color of our skin (Acts 17:26)” (Watson p. 42). Marriage: Jesus based marriage on the fact that mankind was created into two genders (Matthew 19:4-5).

Genesis 1:28 “And God blessed them: and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth” “Be fruitful and multiply”: God was not worried about "over-population" problems. In addition, over-population is not the inherent cause for poverty, pollution, crime, etc...Rather, human selfishness and sin are.

“Replenish”: That is, fill (NASV). “The King James translation used the term ‘replenish’, but this does not suggest the idea of ‘refilling"’. The Hebrew word means simply ‘fill’” (Morris p. 76). “Subdue”: “The term ‘subdue’ implies a degree of sovereignty, control, and direction over nature. This call to rule is a call to advance civilization and regulate natural forces...The gift of dominion and the effective exercise of power over nature was designed to enable man to enjoy his environment fully” (Davis p. 81). God is noy against technology. The Amish need to read this passage. We are created in God's image and God is a Creator. God

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expects mankind to invent things which makes his life here easier. Such only glorifies the God who created man which such potential in the first place. God also expects mankind to use the natural resources of his earth for his own benefit. The selfish and greedy use of nature is wrong (for all forms of greed are condemned), but just as sinful is the view which says, “We can only use what is needed for our survival”. .It is clear that man is superior to the animals, and that man has a much higher value than any animal. Jesus endorsed this view (Matthew 12:12). Genesis provides the basis for avoiding extremes when it comes to the use of natural resources: (a) The materialist worships all the products which are made from this creation and doesn't really care what is left for others. (b) Most environmentalists worship the creation itself. (c) The Christian worships the God who created all things, and sees himself as a steward of God's creation, using its resources and using them wisely.

Genesis 1:29 “And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for foo”

Carefully note that God is very good to mankind. Look at the abundance of choices for good found in the above verse. Anyone who claims that serving God means that you must live a "deprived" life, needs to read verses like the above.

A very common view is that originally mankind only ate a vegetable diet, and that the right to eat meat not being given until after the flood (Genesis 9:3). Hamilton expresses the view as follows, “The dominion assigned to the human couple over the animal world does not include the prerogative to butcher. Instead, mankind survives on a vegetarian diet” (p. 140). If this is true, then all the animals only existed on such a diet as well (1:30). This seems to bring up some problems in the food-chain. Personally I have always viewed 1:28 as giving the original couple and any pre-flood people the right to eat meat. For it seems to me that the command to "subdue” or “rule” over the fish, birds, and over every living thing" is the biblical authority to use them, i.e. plow with them, use their eggs, skins, meat, and so on, just as mankind also had the right to use the other natural resources of this world.

One writer said, “Man is expected to rule over the animals. The Lord provided

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Adam with garments of skin (3:21). Abel kept and sacrificed sheep (4:2-4)” (Wenham p. 34). “God's provision of food for newly created man stands in sharp contrast to Mesopotamian views which held that man was created to supply the gods with food” (Wenham p. 33).

Genesis 1:30 “and to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the heavens, and to everything that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, {I have given} every green herb for food: and it was so” Genesis 1:31 “And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day”

“It was very good”: “Old and New Testament alike endorse this in their call to a thankful acceptance of things material (Psalm 104:24; 1 Timothy 4:3-5)” (Kidner p.

53). God was excited by His new creation. God does care what happens to us (John 3:16). Someone has said, "If the stars came out only one night in a century, the whole world would turn out that night and stare and stare and marvel at their beauty, tell it to their children and grandchildren. But because it happens every night, nobody cares or stares!” (Watson p. 44). The repeated phrase in this section is “and God saw that it was good”. That phrase constitutes just one more contradiction between the book of Genesis and Evolution. There is nothing "good" in Evolution. It is a supposed story of survival, death, extinction, mutation, chance, and dead-ends.

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