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In the Beginning | Part 5: Day One - Continued
IN THE BEGINNING
Part 5
Day One - continued
As we learned in Part 4 of our study, God also created light on that first day in addition to the earth and the space in which to put it. “And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. (Gen. 1:4) We know that light dispels darkness. We see this happen when we flip on the light switch in a dark room and suddenly the darkness is displaced. Earlier (in vs. 2) we read that “...darkness was on the face of the deep...[or] the face of the waters.” Prior to the creation of light, the water-covered earth was in darkness. Now, there was light. That is hard for us to comprehend without the existence of the Sun (which would not be created until the fourth day), yet, in spite of that fact, God was able to divide the light from the darkness. And, “God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.” (vs. 5)
So, how did God divide the light from the darkness? The answer is simple. We don’t know! But because we don’t know the answer to that question does not discount the fact that God did it. If you had asked someone just a few hundred years ago what the most basic elements the earth was made out of, no one could have told you it was made out of atoms. And, today, if we are to ask how God made atoms, our answer would have to be - we don’t know. You can be sure that there is a whole lot of things we still don’t know about this earth and our universe. The proof of that is the fact that we continue to learn about things we previously didn’t know. So - don’t let the fact that we don’t under-stand every facet of the creation account cause you any doubt as to its truth or the factualness of all the science that is behind it - which we have yet to discover. You can be sure that there are yet many questions to be asked that we can’t answer - like these for example: “Where is the way to the dwelling of light? And darkness, where is its place, that you may take it to its territory, that you may know the paths to its home? Do you know it, because you were born then, or because the number of your days is great?” (Job 38:19-21) Those are just a few questions that God asked Job - which God knew Job couldn’t answer. And that was the point! We don’t have all the answers - but we know Who does. God!
Obviously, the other question that is the “elephant in the room” that everyone wants to ignore is this: How did God distinguish Day from Night when there was no Sun to rise in the morning and set in the evening? Again, the answer is - We don’t know. But here is something to think about. What is God trying to convey to us finite beings by describing Day and Night as being an evening and a morning - and then telling us that this was the first day? All of us are familiar with what a day is. What better way could God have described the short amount of time that He spent creating these things than by using a measure of time that we are familiar with? Now, I know that there are many who want to claim that this is all metaphorical language having reference to extremely long periods of time (like millions or billions of years). But what is the real problem here? Isn’t it the fact that there are those who don’t want to believe in an all-powerful God who is the Creator of the universe and everything in it - including you and me? And if anyone accepts this as being true, then that’s going to mean that we are accountable to Him - and there are a whole bunch of people who don’t want to be accountable to anybody and especially to a God that they can’t see.
Let’s just be honest here. It doesn’t matter what people think about the amount of time it took God to do His creative work, because, in the end, man’s think-sos will never change the truth. How foolish is it to argue for the millions-of-years theory of an evolutionary process of creation (as the theistic evolutionists do) when we’re reading the biblical account of how God could merely say, “Let there be light; and there WAS light”? If God could create from nothing the complexities of this universe by merely speaking them into existence, why in human reason would we think He needed millions or billions of years to do it in!? As for me and my house...we believe without doubt - that God’s days of creation were just like our 24-hour days that mankind has been marking off on his calendar since time began to be counted. So what if we become the minority who believes the truth? We’re in good company, because “...wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it...[but] narrow is the gate... which leads to life, and there are FEW who find it.” (Mt. 7:13- 14) Never bow your head in shame or cower before the agnostic teacher or scientist who claims otherwise or who denigrates you or the God you serve. Always remember that we serve an AMAZING God!!!
Day Two
Now that space, earth and light had been created, God continued His work of creation. On this second day He created one thing. “Then God said, ‘Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.’” (Gen. 1:6) What God created at this time was a firmament. But what is that? By definition, a firmament is an expanse or spreading out. The location of this expanse was “in the midst of the waters” which covered the earth. It served the purpose of “divid[ing] the waters from the waters.”
For a long time this caused me to scratch my head in wonder of what God was trying to convey - until - one day when I was reading the account of Moses dividing the waters of the Red Sea by the command of God so that His people (the nation of Israel) could pass to the other side. (see Ex. 14) Then I understood! That account of the dividing of the Red Sea is recorded in this way; “...and the waters were divided. So the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on the dry ground, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on the left.” (Ex. 21b-22) If you can picture the water of the Red Sea being divided vertically, creating an expanse in between the two walls of water - then think about the water that surrounded the earth being divided horizontally, creating an expanse that divides the surface water from water suspended above the earth. The expanse in between (which is referred to as the firmament) became what we now know as the sky. “And God called the firmament Heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day.” (Gen. 1:8) As pointed out earlier in our study, we noted the fact that the word heaven or heavens is used three different ways in the Scrip-tures. This is one of those instances in which we understand which meaning is being used based on the context. The heavens (universe) had already been created on the first day - and obviously He wasn’t referring to His own heavenly dwelling place.
What God formed on this second day was the atmosphere which is necessary for plant and animal life to be able to breathe in order to live. This again reminds us of the logical sequence in which God made everything. Before He could make living things, He needed to have an atmosphere in place to support their existence. Before He could make birds that could fly, He had to make the air on which they could be supported and lifted up on their wings.
But what about this water that was suspended above the sky? You can be sure that it didn’t look like what you would expect to see if you were able to stand underneath an aquarium and look up at the contents of its rippling waters. Actually, the water that is suspended above the earth is a very familiar sight. We know it as clouds. Clouds are made of innumerable tiny droplets of water that are so lightweight that they are lifted up by a process called evaporation. As air is heated, water rises in the form of microscopic droplets called water vapor. As this accumulates (or condenses) it can be seen visually as white, puffy clouds. Now just think about the science behind such a process! Then, think about how much those clouds weigh. You might think of them as light and airy. But think about how much rain can fall from just one storm cloud. How many buckets could be filled (at about 17 pounds per bucket)? - and yet clouds just hang in the sky - tons of water suspended by nothing. Or is it?
To be continued...
- Gary V. Womack -
- In The Beginning - Part 5 2.doc (40.45 kB)
