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NASB | Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God (Elohim) created [by forming from nothing] the heavens and the earth. [Heb 11:3] |
Subject: How old is the earth scripturally? |
Bible Note: Creation Continued - As for God resting on the seventh day, is it unreasonable to say that God literally created the heavens and the earth in six 24 hour increments, even though He is outside of space and time, and that He could also rest from creating for a literal 24 hour period? As you said, God could have created the heavens and the earth in 6 minutes if He wanted to, but He did it in six 24 hour days and rested on the seventh for a reason. He was giving Israel an example to follow just as Christ has given us an example to follow. God gave Israel the law and used His creation to lead them into following it as Ex 20:9-11 shows, (9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and made it holy). Jesus gives us the example of how to live our lives every day of the week including the Sabbath, (Matt 12:12 ...So then, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath) You are very observant in noting the difficulty of Adam naming all of the animals in one day. I am not learned in the science of species but I am aware that there are myriad more kinds of dogs then there were in the beginning because of cross breeding. The same is true of other animals and plants as well. I have no idea how many different kinds of cattle and beasts of the field there were in the beginning, but I accept God's word and believe that there were not too many for Adam to name especially since God brought them to him (2:19). Another fascinating aspect of this is much better explained by Dr Carl Baugh. He speaks about the mental and physical capacity of Adam before the fall as compared to man today who is suffering from the effects of degenerating sin. The comparison is of a perfectly created man made in the image of God versus a fallen man. I have no response for you about God's usage of evening and morning but I thank you for pointing it out to me so I may seek to understand it. I will offer you an interesting question as to God's design plan that you may not have noticed before. God created vegetation and trees on the third day and then created the sun on the fourth day. Now I would have done it differently. I don't know why He did it that way except maybe to disprove those who believe that God took 6 thousand years instead of 6 days for creation. That would mean that vegetation and trees would have had to survive for one thousand years before sunlight was created. Glory to the Lord Almighty, Phillip |