Genesis 1:6-19, Day 2 - 4
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So tonight we continue into the creation week and we will be looking at Days 2 - 4.
I wanted to begin our discussion with a look at Psalm 14 that will add to our understanding of Gen 1.
1 The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds;
There is no one who does good.
This is the beginning place. If we cannot acknowledge God the rest of the Bible will not benefit us. BTW- the Hebrew word for “fool” is nāḇāl . You may be familiar with the word by the name of Abigal’s husband who refused to help David and his men. Famously, Abigal said of her wicked husband as his name is so is he, a fool.
Hebrews 11:6 (NASB95)
6 And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.
So, In the beginning God Created… or in Hebrew; Beresheet bara Elohim..
So last time we learned that the “triune” nature of God was hinted at even in the very beginning. Elohim being a plural form used for the one God.
We learned about light, and the mystery of what light is. We explored the theory that the speed of light, spoken of as “C”, is decreasing, which if true means that the Creation is much younger the scientists claim. Which is more evidence for a young Earth, less than 10,000 years.
Sol lets stand as we read our text for tonight;
6 Then God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.”
7 God made the expanse, and separated the waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so.
8 God called the expanse heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.
9 Then God said, “Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so.
10 God called the dry land earth, and the gathering of the waters He called seas; and God saw that it was good.
11 Then God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after their kind with seed in them”; and it was so.
12 The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them, after their kind; and God saw that it was good.
13 There was evening and there was morning, a third day.
14 Then God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years;
15 and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so.
16 God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also.
17 God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth,
18 and to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good.
19 There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.
So we begin with Day 2. The division of the waters. In essence, this is the creation of the atmosphere. The KJV is a little confusing calling the atmosphere surrounding Earth a “firmament.”
Genesis 1:6 (NASB95)
6 Then God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.”
The Hebrew word here for expanse or firmament is;
râqîyaʻ, raw-kee'-ah; from H7554; properly, an expanse, i.e. the firmament or (apparently) visible arch of the sky:—firmament.
So all that so far is not to hard but what’s the deal with the waters above the râqîyaʻ, raw-kee'-ah; from H7554; properly, an expanse, i.e. the firmament or (apparently) visible arch of the sky:—firmament.
So all of that is fairly clear, except what is the deal about the waters above the firmament or atmosphere? According Gen 2 we get a clue.
5 Now no shrub of the field was yet in the earth, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the Lord God had not sent rain upon the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground.
6 But a mist used to rise from the earth and water the whole surface of the ground.
Apparently at the beginning it was quite different than our atmosphere is now. There was a water canopy or layer of water vapor that encircled the Earth above the visible sky. Some see a type of green house that created an even temperature around the earth.
This theory answers some other observations scientists have made like how is it we find tropical plants and animals buried under the permafrost in the antarctic? You see as we consider Genesis we discover that things have not always been the same. There have been cataclysmic events that have radically changed things on the Earth.
Can anyone think of one? The Flood.
So we will see that things were radically different prior to the flood, called the antediluvian age.
BTW this canopy theory is postulated to explain why the ancients could live so long, almost 1,000 years or how the dinosaurs got so big.
One issue with this model is that it does not deal with the expanse above the waters, outer space.
8 God called the expanse heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.
We have discussed that the Bible refers to 3 heavens, our atmosphere, outer space, and the abode of God.
The ancients saw the water above as stretching into or filling outer space. The word for waters is mayim , this word is in a dual form but used in a singular sense. It is used of water or waters, danger, violence and transitory things.
The idea of outer space is rabbit hole we will peek into. What is space? is it a vaccum or is it made of something? For the last 2500 years the opinions about this have gone back and forth.
Up until the last century we felt we had proven that this space was in fact nothing. But during the last century we have come to find out that the Aether or space has measurable qualities. One of the proofs was that only particles can move through a vacuum but we discovered that waves also move through space. Wave require a structure to move through.
All that said, the concept of space having some sort of mass or structure lines up with the Bible as we see Outer Space describes as a fabric.
Job 9:8 (NASB95)
8 Who alone stretches out the heavens
And tramples down the waves of the sea;
Psalm 104:2 (NASB95)
2 Covering Yourself with light as with a cloak,
Stretching out heaven like a tent curtain.
Jeremiah 10:12 (NASB95)
12 It is He who made the earth by His power,
Who established the world by His wisdom;
And by His understanding He has stretched out the heavens.
We are told the heavens can be torn, worn out, shaken, burnt up, even rolled up like a scroll. So no, its not just nothing it is something.
So the second day is completed and now we move to the third day.
9 Then God said, “Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so.
10 God called the dry land earth, and the gathering of the waters He called seas; and God saw that it was good.
11 Then God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after their kind with seed in them”; and it was so.
12 The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them, after their kind; and God saw that it was good.
13 There was evening and there was morning, a third day.
Remember, at this point the Earth is one big blue ball of water, there is no land mass or continents apparent. So now in verse 9, God speaks the oceans to be gathered together. I find it interesting that He did not speak to the dry land. You might think that there was some type of upheaval that caused the mountains and volcanoes to pop out of the water. But no, He simply commanded the water to gather together. The word for gathered means to “bind together.”
The Bible talks about how God set limits on the sea, A line it cannot go past.
29 When He set for the sea its boundary
So that the water would not transgress His command,
When He marked out the foundations of the earth;
So again, It was good. What a world God created. and guess who did it?
16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.
17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 He was in the beginning with God.
3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.
All of this was created by Jesus, and He sustains it all.
9 Then God said, “Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so.
10 God called the dry land earth, and the gathering of the waters He called seas; and God saw that it was good.
Now we are set up for the creation of all plant life and Gods plan for there procreation.
11 Then God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after their kind with seed in them”; and it was so.
12 The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them, after their kind; and God saw that it was good.
13 There was evening and there was morning, a third day.
We have been talking about the heavens and the earth. The land and the seas. Now we get to what makes the earth so different. Life..
We are currently spending billions of dollars both by our Government, the Russians, Chinese, Japanese and the Indians, along with Elon Musk, to try to find the most basic trace of life in our solar system. Particular interest is in studying Mars. Why? They fully believe the Earth is doomed and we need another place to go. As Christians we don’t necessarily disagree, except that we know where we are going. BTW - if you don’t know you will by the end of tonight!
In regard to Verse 11 and seeds that allow plants to reproduce after their kind. Have you noticed that when you plant a pumpkin seed it allows grows a pumpkin plant. It never sprouts a cucumber. Every seed is implanted with directions that tells its cells what to do. We call these directions DNA or information. Of course the great mystery for evolutionists is where does this information come from.
It is also interesting just how creative God is in His design of the different types of seeds and the methods God has chosen to disperse these seeds.
Images - seed types
So as mentioned inanimate things are one thing but living things; that gets really interesting as we consider what our public schools are teaching our children as fact. So are we a result of random chance?
Video: Origin Probability of a Single Protein Forming by Chance 9:29
Video: Origin Probability of a Single Protein Forming by Chance 9:29
Scientists have defined absurd or impossible as 10 to the 50th power. with this in mind consider this;
Only 10 18 seconds in history of the universe
Only 10 66 atoms in our entire galaxy
Only 10 80 particles in our entire galaxy
it would take 10 650 power to create 1 hemoglobin molecule
So suffice to say, In the beginning God created… with that said what does that mean and what must you do. You see the Roman jailer after new after witnessing the miraculous opening of the prison. He said what must I do to be saved.
Acts 16:22–30 (NASB95)
22 The crowd rose up together against them, and the chief magistrates tore their robes off them and proceeded to order them to be beaten with rods.
23 When they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely;
24 and he, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.
25 But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them;
26 and suddenly there came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened.
27 When the jailer awoke and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped.
28 But Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!”
29 And he called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas,
30 and after he brought them out, he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
Paul’s answer was believe on the Lord Jesus and you will be saved. That’s it..
PRAYER