God’s Creative Work Explained
Genesis 1:2 – 2:3
By Dr. R Bruce Montgomery
Last week: Ge. 1:1 God’s creative work declared: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” Summary statement
The author goes on and gives an explanation of how he did it beginning in verse 2. Not meant to be an exhaustive account - only one page long. Purpose not to give a detailed science book. Doesn’t answer every question we have. Much about this world we will never understand.
But does answer some basic questions regarding creation. Today we will examine what Genesis says about (1) HOW God did it; and (2) HOW LONG it took him to do it.
How did Moses receive this information? Not in visions, or dreams. God talked with Moses directly, "face to face, as a man with his friend," “mouth to mouth," so must evaluate the book from the manner in which it was communicated by the only eye-witness. This isn’t, as it has been called, "merely religious truth transformed into history," but an actual account of what happened.
The form and style of this account is simple, clear and concrete. It is not written in mythological or fictional manner, as are the “creation myths” of other cultures, but is rather set forth as a carefully structured and worded factual, historical narrative.
Read Text Genesis 1:2 - 2:3
Vs. 2 says the earth was originally formless and void
The Hebrew is rhythmic - tohu wabohu - an expression for something that is disordered and empty. In that form it is uninhabitable - very opposite of what it will be after six days of creation. Spread over this uninhabitable earth was impenetrable darkness. Under the darkness and covering the earth was the "deep," the primeval ocean. However, above the primeval darkness and emptiness hovered unutterable beauty - the Spirit of God.
Some scholars hold there is a long gap between vs. 1 and 2, during which God’s original perfect creation came into a period of chaos through a great catastrophe. (At one point I tended to this view myself). The Hebrew word hayah can be translated was (as here), or became. However, grammatically not the best way to read the Hebrew.
This view has arisen (1) from an attempt to harmonize Scripture with popular scientific theories. How else can we account for the apparent age of the earth? The dinosaurs? Etc.
(2) theologically – a place to put Satan’s fall. When was he cast out of heaven? Can’t have been here, because he is described as a guardian cherub of Eden in Eze. 28:12 -17 vs. 12b . . . “You were the model of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.” Vs. 13 You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone adorned you: . . . Your settings and mountings were made of gold; on the day you were created they were prepared. vs. 14 You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones. Vs. 15 You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you. Vs. 16 Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned, So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, O guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones. Vs. 17 Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings.”
HOW?
As saw last week, the creation of the heavens and the earth wasn’t out of preexisting energy or matter, but was brought into existence by God out of nothing. This includes the existence of matter itself, it’s organization, and the origin and development of life as well.
What was God’s method? - Very simple. The words "and God said" appear 10 times - vs. 3, 6, 9, 11, 14, 20, 24, 26, 28, 29.
Ps. 33:6 By the word of the LORD were he heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth. Ps. 33:9 For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.
Ps. 148:5 for he commanded and they (sun, moon, stars, highest heavens, waters above the skies) were created
Hebrews 11:3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
II Peter 3:5 . . . long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by the water.
When God speaks, something happens!
Verse 2 indicated the involvement of the Holy Spirit. 2nd hint of the triune nature of God (1st was in word "Elohim").
Go to NT to discover another important detail.
All of creation was made through Jesus Christ:
John 1:3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
I Co. 8:6 yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.
Col. 1:16,17 For by him [talking of Jesus ] all things were created: Things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers of authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
Hebrews 1:1,2 In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways. 2but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.
Vs. 1:3-31 give details of his forming and filling the earth
Nb point of grammar. There is only one subject: God himself. Everything else is object. Objects are acted upon: light, air, water, dry land, vegetation, sun, moon, stars, fish, birds, land animals, humans. All are objects in a creative process in which God is the subject. God said. God saw, God separated, God called, God made, God created, God explained.
The account of each day was a polemic against the pagan mythologies of the day, declaring that the pantheon of "gods" weren’t gods at all!
Day 1 - gods of light and darkness dismissed
Day 2 - gods of heavens and sea
Day 3 - earth gods and gods of vegetation - no "mother earth" or "old mother nature!"
Day 4 - son, moon and star gods. Notice that Moses just identifies them as the "two great lights." He consciously avoids using their names, because the Egyptians and many other cultures considered them to be gods. He is saying that the sun, moon, and stars are not gods, but God’s creation.
They are instruments for measuring time – do not have any power to affect human destiny. Why Christians shun horoscopes!
Interestingly, "Allah" was originally the moon god of the Arabs. Mohammed, in order to compete with Judaism and Christianity, realized needed a monotheistic religion. Elevated Allah, to the greatest of the pantheon of Arab gods. Five times a day, call to prayer: "Allah hu Akhbar" means "Allah is greatest."
Our solar system bears witness to orderly, careful design. Consider the slant of our earth, tilted at a 23° angle. If it wasn’t so tilted, we would lose not only our seasons, but life itself, as the vapors from the ocean would move north and south, piling up continents of ice.
Or the distance to the moon. If our moon were closer, our tides would daily inundate whole continents.
Or the circular orbits of our planets around the sun, all on the same plane. In the past half a dozen years some twenty planets have been discovered outside our solar system, and half of them move in egg-shaped "killer orbits" that lead to potential cosmic collisions.
Days 5 & 6 - animal kingdom gods. Finally, make clear that humans aren’t divine (next week will examine what it means to be made "in the image of God”).
According to their kind
Macro evolution requires transmutation of species - one species changing to another.
Genesis says everything , flora and fauna, was created according to its kind:
Vs. 11, 12 – vegetation.
Vs. 21 - water creatures and birds created "according to their kind." Vs. 24, land animals "according to their kind" - three groups:
• "domesticated livestock,"
• "creatures that move along the ground," - wild herd animals that often serve as prey for hunting, and
• "wild animals" - predatory animals - each being further broken down into "kinds" (not spelled out further by author).
Even though English sometimes translates it plural, Hebrew îéï meen always singular. Talking about basic life forms – no exact correlation with modern classifications. Sometimes equivalent what zoologists would classify as species, or genus, or family, or order. Pointing out that it is not disorganized, but well-ordered, sub-divided role. No development across these boundaries, as evolution would require.
HOW LONG:
Literal days
According to Genesis 1, all creation began and ended in a six day period.
Hebrew for day is éåí "yom." As in English, word can have variety of meanings. If I say "those were the good old days," talking about a period of time. When Job says "my days are vanity," or Ps. 90:9 says "our days are passing away," it’s not a defined period of time.
But if I say, "I’ll be gone four days," mean four days - light and dark. So "yom" when modified by a number, without exception, refers to a normal solar day.
Even when we use “day” as term for a period of time, we have in mind some finite succession of normal days, not some vast age of millions of years.
Can’t arbitrarily assign a word with the meaning we’d like for it to have. Must determine what author meant from context.
As though in anticipation of a future misunderstanding, God carefully defined his terms. To make sure we know exactly what he meant by "day" from very first time he uses it he defined it as the light to distinguish it from the darkness called night. Having separated the day and night, God had completed his first day’s work. He tells us it had an evening and morning. Just to be sure we don’t miss it, he says at end of vs. 5 it was one day. What kind of day is that? Well, hard to imagine anything else in view than a 24 hour solar day! Just a plain old normal common every day day!
Same formula on each of succeeding five normal days. From beginning with first day there is cyclical succession of days and nights, periods of light and periods of darkness. No other way to interpret it.
So where come up with idea that it took millions of years?
Not from Genesis - from factors from outside Scripture. False scientific theory imposed on the Bible. No need to torture the text. Nothing whatever on pages of Genesis 1 and 2 allows anything but a six 24 hour solar day creation.
Don’t need billions of years if things don’t evolve. If matter doesn’t randomly organize itself by chance upward and upward (and there’s no evidence it does that), what does more time achieve? If accept creation as what really happened, six days is all it takes!
Estimating Earth’s Age
But what about the various disciplines that all seem to point to a very old earth and an even older universe?
Various explanations have been given: (1) Just as God created plant and animal life fully mature; so he could have called into being an earth with various strata, layers, etc. giving an appearance of age. (2) A worldwide flood would certainly have had a great effect – will examine when we come to chapter six. (3) Our best scientific assumptions about our physical universe continue to be proven incorrect.
Moon dust.
Don Bierle, in Making Sense of Creation and Evolution, p. 46:
"During my own scientific research in Antarctica, Dr. Werner Von Braun, scientist and former head of NASA, came to Antarctica preceding the projected Apollo moon landing and spoke of his concern that scientific measurements of the rate of cosmic dust settling on the moon (ten-millionths of an inch per year) projected overly nearly 5 billion years (alleged age of the moon) would result in a layer 54 feet deep over the entire surface of the moon. Hoping to prevent the lunar module from slowly disappearing into the moon dust, they equipped its landing gear with large pad feet."
"On 21 July 1969, more than 600 million people watched as astronaut Neil Armstrong responded to Walter Cronkite concerning the depth of the dust he was walking on: ’The surface is fine and powdery. I can pick it up loosely with my toe. It does adhere in fine layers like powdered charcoal to the sole and sides of my boots. I only go in a small fraction of an inch, maybe an eighth of an inch.’ Yet, not one comment dared to be made by scientists that this absence of a great depth of dust is evidence that the moon is not old. In fact, the amount of meteoritic dust and debris supported an age of only thousands of years."
Radiocarbon dating
Cf. Bierle, 43 ff – points out that the ratio of carbon-14 to carbon-12 is not constant, as has been assumed.
Heavy metal dating
Cf. Bierle, p. 44 ff. Half life of elements.
Decrease in speed of light
Cf. Sutterfield and Davies. Speed of light has been slowing down since the creation of the universe. Setterfield, an Australian physicist, argues that the fact that the speed of light has been slowing down and thus traveled exponentially more rapidly in the past indicates a very young universe – 1,000s instead of billions of years old.
In my science classes in High School and College taught that could depend on atomic constants. Now well established that indeed they are not constant! Velocity of an electron in orbit is in proportion to speed of light.
Questions re 4th day
At first glance, seems confusing that we don’t have the creation of sun, moon and stars until day 4, when there is light on day 1. Didn’t the creation of the "heavens and the earth," vs. 1, include them? How could there have been a "day and night" during the first three days of Creation if the sun hadn’t been created yet? How could there be plants and vegetation, day 3, before the creation of the sun?
Vs. 1 includes creation of sun, moon and stars. Vs. 14 English seems to indicate creation of them, but Hebrew text: "And God said, ’Let the lights in the expanse of the sky separate . . . " His command assumes that the lights were already in the expanse and that in response to his command they were assigned their functions, given a dual purpose: to separate the day from the night, and to mark seasons and days and years. This is significant - the author didn’t understand his account of the 4th day as an account of the creation of the sun, moon, and stars, but the narrative assumes they had been created already "in the beginning."
His emphasis is that God and God alone created the lights of the heavens, and thus no one else is to be given the glory and honor due him alone. The heart of chapter one is that God alone is the Creator of all things and worthy of our worship.
God rests 2:1-3
The creation was mature and functional. It was ready to be inhabited. It didn’t have to go through a process, but was complete, as 2:1-2 makes clear.
Nb. 3 times it says "all His work" of creating and making and organizing was done. The Bible always refers to creation as a past event. It is completed and finished, not an ongoing, continuing event (as evolution requires).
God, the ultimate "quality inspector," declared his creation as being "very good" - literally "exceedingly good" - nothing was inferior, nothing didn’t survive, nothing had to be eliminated in the struggle for survival of the fittest. Hard to fathom how this language could be used to describe an evolutionary process over millions of years that included struggles for existence, disease, pollution, earthquakes, injuries, and billions of dead forms.
Application
Great to reflect on God’s ability to bring into being what he envisions just by speaking it into existence, to bring form out of what is formless, to bring order where there is disorder, shape and pattern and beauty to what is waste. That’s the way God is. He brings into being things that are not. He brings life where there is not life. He makes things ordered and beautiful.
Maybe your life is marked by chaos, by ugliness, by disorder, by confusion and emptiness. If you will but allow him to, God yearns to come into your confusion and makes things new.
Notice that creation didn’t occur until God moved. Your transformation into a new creation can’t occur unless you allow God to move in you. If you want something to be created from your nothingness, you must allow him to move in your heart, your mind, your soul. You must open up yourself to him, giving him all your pain and hurt and despair. He hovers over your darkness waiting for your invitation for him to say, "Let there be light!"
The power of God’s Word is stronger than anything you could ever dream of. He has but to speak and worlds come into being! When you’re caught in a crisis, when it seems that nothingness is smothering the very life out of you, listen for God! A word from God which will remind you that He is still in charge will make you feel better. No substitute for daily exposure to the written Word of God and the breathing, living Spirit of God!
Also notice that as God created he separated. Vs. 4, he separated the light from the darkness. Vs. 7 he separated the waters above and below. Vs. 9 he separated the land from the seas.
When we choose to live without God we immerse ourselves in chaotic, confusing darkness. We wander and go in empty circles from empty pursuit to empty pursuit, without purpose, without hope. When we can’t see in front of our faces, when we can’t see our way, we need someone to separate the darkness and give us light!
God is the giver of light. It’s God you need to separate your darkness and give you light and to nourish your soul. We need the "Son" of God to penetrate into the roots of our souls God can turn your darkness into light right now, if you let him.
Can you feel his Spirit moving? Can you hear his voice speaking, calling to you?
This morning will you let him separate you from the darkness, the emptiness, the loneliness, the despair?
Out of your nothingness, will you let God create something beautiful, something good?
