2. CREATION: The Six Days Of Creation, Part 1

Day One Study

Read Genesis 1:1-2:4 (middle).

1. What repeated words or phrases do you observe?

2. What can you learn about God from His spoken word (“And God said, ‘Let...’”) and his sovereign power (“And it was so”)?

Read Genesis 1:3-5 (first day).

3. Make a list of firsts or beginnings that occurred on Day 1. Example: “In the beginning” tells the beginning of time.

4. In verse 2, what information is given about the earth’s appearance on Day 1?

5. According to Scripture (Genesis 1-2:4), how many days were involved during creation?

6. Read Exodus 20:11, one of the 10 commandments which was spoken by God to Moses, then written by the finger of God on stone tablets (Exodus 31:18) and given to Moses. From the scriptural references, how does God define “day” so there would be no confusion?

From the Hebrew: The Length of a Genesis 1 Day — What does the Hebrew word mean? In the context of Genesis 1? In other contexts?

1). Yom (the Hebrew word translated “day”) always means an ordinary day when used with a modifying number (1, 2, 3, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.) all 358 times elsewhere in the Old Testament. Why would Genesis 1 be an exception?

2). The defining phrase “evening and morning” is used 38 times outside Genesis 1 and always means an ordinary day. Why would Genesis 1 be the exception?

3). Exodus 20:11 tells us that God worked for 6 days and rested for 1 day to give us a pattern to follow. Making 1 day = millions of years makes no logical sense!

4). Yom is never used to mean a definite, long period of time, such as the geological ages.

5). Yamin (plural, “days”) is used 700+ times in the OT, always referring to a regular day.

6). God Himself distinguishes days from years in Genesis 1:14.

Why does it matter? Never allow the fallible theories of sinful men to dictate what the words in the Bible mean. Take God at His Word. If it is obvious from the words and their context what the meaning is, then accept this and do not try to interpret God’s Word on the basis of other’s opinions.

7. The fact of the day/night cycle is evidence of regular rotation of the earth. This does not contradict science but is mutually supported by scientific observation. God does not tell us the source of light on the first day since the sun, moon, and stars weren’t created yet. Light is given off by other physical sources such as radioactivity, crystals, volcanoes, rocks moving against one another, fire, gaseous clouds, etc.

a. Is it really significant that we know the exact source of the light?

b. Read Revelation 22:5. What will be our future source of light?

c. How does this verse help you understand Genesis 1:3-5?

Day Two Study

Read Genesis 1:6-8 (second day).

8. God spent the first 3 days separating and gathering to give the earth form. What was separated and gathered on Day 2?

9. a. God gives us more information about the expanse/firmament in Genesis 1:9, 20. What was the firmament/expanse?

b. What could be the meaning of the water under the expanse and the water above it?

c. So, how might the earth have looked at the end of Day 2?

Appreciation Application:

10. How aware are you of the created world in your everyday life? What in creation fills you most with a sense of God’s glory?

Day Three Study

Appreciation Assignment:

11. THINK about the amazing nature and provision of water. Dwell on its unique properties AND why these are so important to life. What do you like best about water? Where do you enjoy it the most?

Deeper Discoveries

·         Read “Creation Answers: Theories of Origins” following this lesson.

·         Go to www.answersingenesis.org. SEARCH for “Light,” “Days of Creation,” “Age of Earth,” or “Carbon-14.” Select an article to read or video to watch. Also visit www.icr.org and search.

Creation Answers: Theories Of Origins

The information below is adapted from resources found on www.icr.org and www.answersingenesis.org.

Christians today are ensnared in the trap of not thinking critically. In the Bible we read that God created all things in 6 days; but we’ve heard that all educated people know that evolution has been proven. We need to train ourselves to think, to recognize the difference between scientific facts that can be observed in the present and ideas about the past that are used to interpret those facts we see in the present.

Four Prevailing Theories

There are 4 prevailing theories regarding the origin of the universe, the earth, and life itself predominant in our culture—both secular and Judeo/Christian. Here is a brief exposition of each one.

1. Naturalism (Naturalistic Evolution)

Naturalism allows no place for God, miracles or divine intervention. Natural processes can explain everything. Evolution is based on naturalism.

2. Theistic Evolution

God created matter, and then everything else evolved with or without occasional help from God. Some say God directed the evolutionary process. It’s basically evolution with God added. This position denies the truth of Scripture.

3. Old Earth Creation Or Progressive Creation

The “days” of creation were long periods of time or ages during which God created the universe and all its contents. Evolution and the geologic column basically fit with the sequence of events of the creation week although you have to really twist and creatively interpret the text to make it do so. Unfortunately, many Christians have bought into this teaching because it sounds plausible. However, in Mark 10:6, Jesus combined Genesis 1 creation days with creation of man as happening at the same time, not millions of years later. Even evolutionists question why Christians would believe this position:

·         Tom Mciver, writer of anti-creationist articles and books. “Each (‘day-age’ or ‘gap-theory’) involves critical compromises with the plainest, most literal reading of the Bible to force Scripture into concordance with scientific evidence regarding the age of the earth.” Creation/Evolution XXIV, Vol. 8, No. 3, 1988.

·         Marcus Dods, an evolutionist and Hebrew scholar. “If, for example, the word ‘day’ in these chapters does not mean a period of twenty-four hours, the interpretation of scripture is hopeless.” The Book of Genesis, 1907, p. 4.

·         J. Frank Cassel, evolutionist, wrote, “I still wonder whether he (the Christian who compromises with long ages) has given me more time because I demand it, or because it’s really there. The same question applies to the days of Genesis and to the universality of the Noachian flood.” Journal of American Affiliation, XII, No. 2, June 1960, p. 15.

4. Young Earth Creation Or Literal Creation

Young earth creationists adhere to the plain reading of the text. This position believes that God did His creating just as He told us in Genesis 1 and 2. This position is the easiest to describe and explain but the hardest for many to accept even when plainly understood.

Professor James Barr, Regis Professor of Hebrew at the University of Oxford and considered a leading Hebrew scholar, although he rejects Genesis as sober history, wrote in a personal letter dated 23 April 1984: “Probably so far as I know, there is no professor of Hebrew or Old Testament at any world class university who does not believe that the writer(s) of Genesis 1-11 intended to convey to the readers the ideas that:

(a) Creation took place in a series of 6 days, which were the same as the days of 24 hours we now experience,

(b) The figures contained in the Genesis genealogies provided by simple addition a chronology from the beginning of the world up to later stages in the Biblical story,

(c) Noah’s Flood was understood to be worldwide and extinguish all human and animal life except those in the Ark.

Or, to put it negatively, the apologetic arguments which suppose the “days” of creation to be long eras of time, the figures of years not to be chronological, and the flood to be a merely local Mesopotamian flood, are not taken seriously by any such professors, as far as I know.”

Conclusion

So you ask, “What do I do? How am I supposed to decide what to believe?” Remember that we have the revealed Word of One who knows everything and who was there! Trust His Word, study it, consider what you would expect to find if it is true, and then examine the evidence. What we see in God’s World agrees with what we read in God’s Word.