Below are the most primary verses to understand regarding the question of what God says about the age of the heavens and earth. We have emphasized the key words.
It is commonly assumed that "the beginning" and the "first day" refer to the same period. But this ignores the initial condition before God speaks and the light of the first day begins, the earth already was without form and had an ocean.1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. 3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 4 And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day....
(Genesis 1:1 -5, NKJV courtesy of BibleGateway.com)
But , one may ask is meant by the term "first day" then, if not the first day of the creation process?
existed in some sense without form and that the deep or ocean clearly existed. at assumption contradicts the initial condition of verse what if . The assertion that God created the heavens and the earth within the six days rests on that assumption. When that is assumed, one can easily conclude that all of the heavens and earth, and all forms of living creatures were created in some way during that six day period.
However I have been unable to find any verses in any of the popular English versions of the Bible which clearly mean "in the beginning" and the six days refer to the same period, or that all forms of living creatures were created during the six days.
One verse commonly used to assert this is below.
For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day.But one obvious problem with asserting the above means God created the heavens and the earth during those six days is that God uses the hebrew "asah" where "made" appears. In other words this is not about when God created the universe from nothing, but when it was made complete.
(taken from Exodus 20, KJV, courtesy of BlueLetterBible.org)
This can be seen using BlueLetterBible's page for Exodus 20, browse to 20:11 and click the "C" Concordance tool button to get this display exploding that verse in Hebrew, and showing "asah" where "made" appears above. By clicking the Strong's number for "asah" [06213] there, one can see more about what "asah" means and what other verses use "asah". By using BlueLetterBible.org for the other verses above one can see that "bara" means something different from "asah".
To me the apparent lack of verses to support any of the above necessary implications means any serious Bible student should question the assumption that "in the beginning" refers to the same period as the six days, and seek to understand for themselves what is the "first day" (Genesis 1:2 to 1:5) about if it may not be the first day the creation process began.
Like myself, my Pastor knows the original text of the Bible is divinely authored without flaw. That means it is more than a belief, he has had some form of personal divine confirmation of the Bible's authorship. Also he apparently believes that heaven, earth, and all living things were created during those six days.
So my challenge to him will be: using any of the most popular Bible versions (such as KJV, NKJV, NIV, NASB, or HCSB) if you can show me what verse or verses clearly mean any one of the above implications is true, I will donate fifty dollars to the church. If you cannot, then you owe the church a sermon on what that means.
Of interest in this challenge is that:
- Proper interpretation of the Bible never permits adding meaning to a verse unless that is supported by other verses of the Bible;
- Wherever there is lack of clarity the original scriptures are the best authority on what is meant - not the opinions of men; and
- This same assumption leads many who know scientific facts to disregard the possibility there is a Holy God who loves each of us incredibly much. To disregard the reality of God's Word and the eternal life it offers.
- Genesis 1:1 is a summary of what follows (despite that what follows says nothing about creating any part of the heavens or the earth);
- This is Hebrew. One cannot take Hebrew literally. In other words God's written word must be interpreted by experts - despite Matthew 23.
- Bara = Asah. They are interchangable and mean the same thing. Despite that "the heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands... The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple... the fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever." Psa 19.
[Assyrian captain Sennacherib = Deceiver, Assyrian King = ways of Man,
Hezekiah & followers = faithful, Isaiah = Word of God]
On whom are you depending...? 6 Look now, you are depending on Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff, which pierces a man's hand and wounds him if he leans on it! ...7 And if you say to me, "We are depending on the LORD our God"-isn't he the one whose high places and altars Hezekiah removed, saying to Judah and Jerusalem, "You must worship before this altar"?
[Deceiver challenges the faithful, refers to misunderstanding which causes confusion]
"10 Furthermore, have I come to attack and destroy this land without the LORD ? The LORD himself told me to march against this country and destroy it.' "
[Deceiver claims to hear from God that he should destroy what is God's]
11 Then Eliakim, Shebna and Joah said to the field commander, "Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, since we understand it. Don't speak to us in Hebrew in the hearing of the people on the wall."
[faithful don't want confusion and misunderstanding to lead others astray, don't want deception to spread. an interesting point that the use of Hebrew is by the deceiver who uses it for evil]
12 But the commander replied, "Was it only to your master and you that my master sent me to say these things, and not to the men sitting on the wall—who, like you, will have to eat their own filth and drink their own urine?"
[deceiver uses accurate Hebrew to spread fear and misunderstanding]
13 Then the commander stood and called out in Hebrew, "Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria! 14 This is what the king says: Do not let Hezekiah deceive you. He cannot deliver you! 15 Do not let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the LORD when he says, 'The LORD will surely deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.'
[Deceiver lies about the truth of God, casts doubt upon relationship with God]
16 "Do not listen to Hezekiah. This is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me and come out to me. Then every one of you will eat from his own vine and fig tree and drink water from his own cistern, 17 until I come and take you to a land like your own—a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards.
[Deceiver tempts faithful to trust in Man]
18 "Do not let Hezekiah mislead you when he says, 'The LORD will deliver us.' Has the god of any nation ever delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria? 19 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Have they rescued Samaria from my hand? 20 Who of all the gods of these countries has been able to save his land from me? How then can the LORD deliver Jerusalem from my hand?"
[Deceiver says don't trust God's word, compares foolish trust in men to trust in the living God]
21 But the people remained silent and said nothing in reply, because the king had commanded, "Do not answer him."
[faithful remain obedient to the Word of God]
Isaiah 37
1 When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and went into the temple of the LORD. 2 He sent Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary, and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. 3 They told him, "This is what Hezekiah says: This day is a day of distress and rebuke and disgrace, as when children come to the point of birth and there is no strength to deliver them. 4 It may be that the LORD your God will hear the words of the field commander, whom his master, the king of Assyria, has sent to ridicule the living God, and that he will rebuke him for the words the LORD your God has heard. Therefore pray for the remnant that still survives."
[faithful seek God's help, know that they need Him desperately, know the deceiver ridicules God, pray God rebukes the deceiver]
5 When King Hezekiah's officials came to Isaiah, 6 Isaiah said to them, "Tell your master, 'This is what the LORD says: Do not be afraid of what you have heard—those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. 7 Listen! I am going to put a spirit in him so that when he hears a certain report, he will return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword.' "
[God says do not fear the deceiver, the blasphemer, nor the ways of Man. His deception will soon be ended]
8 When the field commander heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish, he withdrew and found the king fighting against Libnah.
9 Now Sennacherib received a report that Tirhakah, the Cushite king of Egypt , was marching out to fight against him. When he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah with this word: 10 "Say to Hezekiah king of Judah: Do not let the god you depend on deceive you when he says, 'Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.' 11 Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries, destroying them completely. And will you be delivered? 12 Did the gods of the nations that were destroyed by my forefathers deliver them—the gods of Gozan, Haran, Rezeph and the people of Eden who were in Tel Assar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, or of Hena or Ivvah?"
[Deceiver has foolish trust in the ways of Man and calls for more of it, even when God's work is manifest, compares living God to all false gods]
Hezekiah's Prayer
14 Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD. 15 And Hezekiah prayed to the LORD : 16 "O LORD Almighty, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 17 Give ear, O LORD, and hear; open your eyes, O LORD, and see; listen to all the words Sennacherib has sent to insult the living God.[Faithful calls on God who is Almighty, "maker of heaven and earth". See the insult to God in this deceiver]
18 "It is true, O LORD, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste all these peoples and their lands. 19 They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands. 20 Now, O LORD our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O LORD, are God. "
[Faithful calls on God to reveal that He alone is the living God, that the Deceiver lies about who God truly is]
Sennacherib's Fall
[God promises to rebuke the Deceiver, make the ways of men folly, show He is Almighty, reward the faithful21 Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Because you have prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria, 22 this is the word the LORD has spoken against him:
"The Virgin Daughter of Zion
despises and mocks you.
The Daughter of Jerusalem
tosses her head as you flee.
23 Who is it you have insulted and blasphemed?
Against whom have you raised your voice
and lifted your eyes in pride?
Against the Holy One of Israel!
24 By your messengers
you have heaped insults on the Lord.
And you have said,
'With my many chariots
I have ascended the heights of the mountains,
the utmost heights of Lebanon.
I have cut down its tallest cedars,
the choicest of its pines.
I have reached its remotest heights,
the finest of its forests.
25 I have dug wells in foreign lands
and drunk the water there.
With the soles of my feet
I have dried up all the streams of Egypt.'
26 "Have you not heard?
Long ago I ordained it.
In days of old I planned it;
now I have brought it to pass,
that you have turned fortified cities
into piles of stone.
[God points out to Deceiver that He ordained what the Ways of Men had done up to then]
27 Their people, drained of power,
are dismayed and put to shame.
They are like plants in the field,
like tender green shoots,
like grass sprouting on the roof,
scorched before it grows up.
28 "But I know where you stay
and when you come and go
and how you rage against me.
29 Because you rage against me
and because your insolence has reached my ears,
I will put my hook in your nose
and my bit in your mouth,
and I will make you return
by the way you came.
[Deceiver's insolence has reached God's ears]
30 "This will be the sign for you, O Hezekiah:
"This year you will eat what grows by itself,
and the second year what springs from that.
But in the third year sow and reap,
plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
31 Once more a remnant of the house of Judah
will take root below and bear fruit above.
32 For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant,
and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors.
The zeal of the LORD Almighty
will accomplish this.
33 "Therefore this is what the LORD says concerning the king of Assyria:
"He will not enter this city
or shoot an arrow here.
He will not come before it with shield
or build a siege ramp against it.
34 By the way that he came he will return;
he will not enter this city,"
declares the LORD.
35 "I will defend this city and save it,
for my sake and for the sake of David my servant!"
36 Then the angel of the LORD went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies! 37 So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there.
[what an answer to insolence and deception about the Living God!]
Bara
Gen 1:1 heavens and earth
1:21 sea creatures & birds
1:27 mankind
2:3 all that he created and made
2:4 when they were created in the day the Lord made the earth and the heavens
5:1 generations of Adam in the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made He him
5:2 male and female created He them and called their name Adam in the day when they were created
6:7 And the Lord said I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth
Exo 34:10 I will do marvels such as have not been created (done) in all the earth
Num 16:30 But if the Lord Create (make) a new thing and the earth open her mouth and swallow them up...
Deu 4:32 since the day God created man upon the earth
Jos 17:15 if thou be a great people then get up to the country and clear a place (create) for thyself in the land of the Perizzites
Jos 17:18 the mountain shall be thine for it is a wood and thou shalt clear a place (create) for thou shalt drive out the Canaanites
1SA 2:29 wherefore kick ye at my sacrifice which I have commanded ; and honourest thy sons to make yourselves fat (create)
psa 51:10 Create in me a clean heart oh God
psa 89:10 the north and the south thou hast created them
psa 89:47 Remember how short my time is: wherefore has thou made (created) all men in vain?
Psa 102:18 the generation to come and the people which shall be created shall praise the Lord
Psa104:30 Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created; and thou renewst the face of the earth
Psa 148:5 Let them praise the name of the Lord for He commanded and they were created
Ecc12:1 Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not
Isa 4:5 The Lord will Create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies a cloud and a smoke by day
Isa 40:26 Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things
Isa 40:28 Hast thou not known? that the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth
Isa 41:20 that they may see, and know, that the hand of the Lord hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it
Isa 42:5 thus saith God the Lord, that he created the heavens
Isa 43:1 thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob
Isa 43:7 Every one that is called by name for I have created him for my glory
Isa 43:15 I am the Lord your Holy One, the Creator of Israel
Isa 45:7 I form the light and create the darkness, I make peace, and create evil, I the Lord do these things
Isa 45:8 Drop down ye heavens from above... I the Lord have created it.
Isa 45:12 I have made the earth and created man upon it
Isa 45:18 thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, He created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited
Isa 54:16 Behold I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work, and I have crated the waster to destroy.
Isa 57:19 I create the fruit of the lips; Peace, peace to him that is far off
Isa 65:17 For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth
Isa 65:18 But be ye glad and rejoice forever in that which I create, for behold I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy
Jer 31:22 How long wilt thou go about o thou backsliding daughter? For the Lord hath created a new thing in the earth
Eze 21:19 thou son of man appoint thee two ways that the sword of the king of Babylon may come: both twain shall come forth out of one land; and choose (create) thou a place, choose (create) it at the head of the way to the city.
Eze 21:30 Shall I cause it to return into his sheath? Iwill judge thee in the place where thou wast created
Eze 23:47 the company shall stone them with stones and dispatch (create) them with their swords
Eze 28:13 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of the God ... the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created
Eze 28:15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee
Amo 4:13 He that formeth the mountains, and createth the wind, and declareth unto man his thought
Mal 2:10 have we not all one father? Hath not one God created us?
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