01-04 The Days of Creation
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Genesis 1:2-5
Genesis 1:2-5
Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations (976 Atlantic Coast’s Premature Nightfall)
New England’s Dark Day
At ten o’clock in the morning of May 19, 1780, people in the Eastern Seaboard noticed a strange haze spreading across the sky. Then a thick darkness settled over the eastern part of the US.By noon, schools were dismissed, candles lit, and torches set in the streets. Birds went to roost. By one o’clock in the afternoon, fear had turned into panic as the “premature nightfall” continued. Thousands crowded into churches to hear ministers expound on the Day of Judgment.In Hartford, Connecticut, both houses of the legislature were meeting, but one of them quickly dismissed since its members thought the world would end at any moment. The other body continued, although greatly distressed. One man finally made a motion to disband, since the day of reckoning was thought to have come. Immediately, Mr. Davenport, a Christian, objected, saying, “Mr. Speaker, this is either the Day of Judgment or it is not. If it is not, there is no need for adjourning. If it is, I desire to be found doing my work. I move that candles be brought in and that we proceed to business.” The meeting went on.
That darkness has been attributed to wildfires burning (perhaps Ontario Canada). For several days leading up to that event, the sun was described as having a reddish hue and the sky was yellow, while soot was collecting in the rivers.
The reaction to darkness, which many thought was a day of judgment, was reasonable. Darkness produces fear in many people (up to 90% of children experience fear; 60% adults said they still afraid of darkness—British study). in 1780 they didn’t have modern advances to know what was happening. Because of its nature, darkness has become a rich metaphor for evil, judgment, the wicked and spiritual death.
Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!
From those who leave the paths of uprightness To walk in the ways of darkness;
The nature of darkness, as described in Gen 1 makes God’s creative activity on day 1 all the more glorious.
It has been said that the Bible begins with creation not to teach us about creation but to tell us about the Creator. I think this is what Moses is doing. Now, as it happens, Moses begins with the account of creation and what God revealed to him is set in contrast to the myths of the origins of the universe that had developed and would be developed by those who reject the One True God.
He is the Lord of Creation:
The earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains, The world, and those who dwell in it. For He has founded it upon the seas And established it upon the rivers.
Moses began with a general statement about creation in Gen 1:1. As he mentions the creation of the heavens and the earth, there’s a special emphasis put on the earth, and we see it in
The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.
Why does Moses begin with the earth? Why is special emphasis put here? I think it’s because the earth is our vantage point. The earth is the place of man’s habitation—the scene of God’s greatest, highest creative act. It also combats every other theory to the origin of the earth—set against the earth being God’s handiwork.
The heavens are the heavens of the Lord, But the earth He has given to the sons of men.
This is where it begins in vs 2—Moses sets forth the sequence of God’s creative activity. Many commentators have outlined this activity as (Form & Filling) taking note of the structure of the creation account. Some even put the days into 2 columns: days 1-3 & days 4-6 and label them “Form & Filling”. There is not an exact parallelism here but I agree that there is structure and order to the manner in which Moses describes God’s creative activity.
Creation: Day One
Creation: Day One
2 Things will be revealed about the first day of God’s creative activity. The condition of the earth and the creation of light.
1. The Condition of the Earth
1. The Condition of the Earth
Unless you have NASB77, NIV, or KJV you don’t have the translation of a conjunction in your Bibles. The Heb. has it— “and/now”. Having that general statement in vs 1— “now, the earth was formless and void” (rare for Heb lit. to ryhme) תֹ֙הוּ֙ וָבֹ֔הוּ
The 2nd word is only used with the 1st—which is found in other OT passages:
For thus says the Lord, who created the heavens (He is the God who formed the earth and made it, He established it and did not create it a waste place, but formed it to be inhabited), “I am the Lord, and there is none else.
I looked on the earth, and behold, it was formless and void; And to the heavens, and they had no light.
Jeremiah is in the context of judgment that would come upon Judah and the destruction that would result.
The Heb term indicates “wasteland, uninhabited wilderness, emptiness.” I don’t think Moses is speaking about a condition of chaos (things were out of control), but to describe man’s home, at its beginning as being unfinished and empty. The earth had not been given its final shape (including all its features) and was certainly devoid of all life.
Moses writes “darkness was over...” Elsewhere “deep” is a reference for the oceans in the OT but here it is a reference to primordial, primeval waters which was the earth’s surface before God caused the features of the earth to appear.
He established the earth upon its foundations, So that it will not totter forever and ever. You covered it with the deep as with a garment; The waters were standing above the mountains.
The naturalist/humanist/antitheist: nobody + nothing = everything. No God, no creator, no master plan, no higher design.
The reference to darkness has no moral quality to it. God is not revealing that the earth was engulfed in evil/wickedness but in darkness. Before the creation of light…God had created darkness (Does that surprise you?).
The One forming light and creating darkness, Causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the Lord who does all these.
Darkness is not merely the absence of light but the result of the direct creation of God. Before the beginning—there was nothing outside of God. But he begins by creating darkness (that will be defined in its contrast—being the light).
So this is the picture of the earth…uninhabited, unfit (at this point) for life, an emptiness that was suspended in the blackness of universal darkness.
So we don’t get the impression that God messed up the creation of the earth or somehow it was something other than what He intended…there wasn’t chaos b/c “the Spirit of God...”
The term “moving” is a word used of an eagle that expands its flight in order to protect its young.
“Like an eagle that stirs up its nest, That hovers over its young, He spread His wings and caught them, He carried them on His pinions.
The word is also used in Jer for the trembling of bones.
As for the prophets: My heart is broken within me, All my bones tremble; I have become like a drunken man, Even like a man overcome with wine, Because of the Lord And because of His holy words.
It has been suggested that the Spirit of God was vibrating over the primeval, uninhabitable earth—which might explain how divine energy is transferred from the Creator to His creation.
Douglas Kelly “This “brooding” of the Spirit of God over the waters is a major detail in the creation account, not a minor one. It demonstrates vividly the biblical worldview of a God whose hand and direct presence are never lifted from the elements and working of the material order.”
God by His Spirit is superintending every aspect of His creative activity—being directly and personally involved to ensure that every molecule of God’s creation is precisely what He intended for it. It is the only reason He can...
God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
Let me mention at this point something that maybe you’ve thought about— “who is responsible for bring creation into existence?”
The Bible maintains that the God who created all things is the triune God revealed in its pages. We know that all 3 members of the godhead are intimately involved in creation.
God the Father initiates the divine work of creation and governed it.
yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him.
God the Son, in complete submission to the will of the Father, becomes the means (agency) of the universe being created
All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 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. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
And, “You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the works of Your hands;
The HS was not absent as He also participates in the work of creating the universe
“The Spirit of God has made me, And the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
You send forth Your Spirit, they are created; And You renew the face of the ground.
Now, it would be easy for us to compartmentalize the work of creation and say “well, the Father bats 1st, the Son bats 2nd, HS hits clean-up”. The work itself was not distributed—but each person acted in concert with the others to bring about the fullness of God’s creative purpose and design.
Here is the condition of the earth. In absolute, total blackness of darkness…a place unfit for any kind of habitation (let alone for mankind). And God’s Spirit is moving over it as God issues the first divine decree of creation:
2. The Creation of Light
2. The Creation of Light
vs 3.
I mentioned that there is structure to the creation account that Moses pens. That is true of each time God speaks something else into the universe (detailed in ch 1). Consider the creation pattern that emerges:
Announcement (God said)
Command (Let there be)
Fulfillment (it was so)
Approval (saw…good)
Execution (separated light)
Explanation (God called)
Summary (Day number)
Announcement
Announcement
“Then (and) God said” There is sequence on this 1st day and it culminates with God’s spoken word. Speech was God’s only tool—in fact everything is created thru His word (even man—though “formed” in 2:7). At once, God’s speech destroys all notions that the universe is somehow self-existent or the result of a billions-of-years process.
In His speech God is revealing His will—that according to His eternal council should come to pass.
also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will,
By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, And by the breath of His mouth all their host.
For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.
Praise Him, sun and moon; Praise Him, all stars of light! Praise Him, highest heavens, And the waters that are above the heavens! Let them praise the name of the Lord, For He commanded and they were created.
Command
Command
“let there be light” theologians refer to creation by fiat (Latin “let it be”). So God, who is the omnipotent, omniscient, personal designer spoke forth a command (His decree). His words were very brief (in fact only 2 words in Heb).
R. Kent Hughes explains God’s command:
Genesis—Beginning and Blessing Forming the World
And God does it all with such ease. A “mere” utterance. C. S. Lewis attempted to capture God’s ease and joy in creation by his word in his Narnia Chronicles where he has Aslan creating the universe. Aslan’s mouth is wide-open in song, and as he sings, the color green begins to form around his feet and spreads out in a pool. Then flowers and heather appear on the hillside and move out before him. As the tempo of the music picks up, showers of birds fly out of a tree, and butterflies begin to flit about. Then comes great celebration as the song breaks into even wilder song.15
Fulfillment
Fulfillment
“And there was light”
Was is truly remarkable is the fact that there is light but there are no “lights”—no stellar bodies that give off light (not until day 4). That has led to much debate as to what was the source of this newly created light. Scripture doesn’t tell us—it could have; so we’re left with speculation...
Some say the light comes from God Himself...
And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever.
This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.
which He will bring about at the proper time—He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen.
And yet light (and the reality of light) had to be brought into existence. And when God spoke—it was fulfilled (instantaneous fulfillment).
Approval
Approval
“God saw…good”
This is the 1st (of 7) judgment by God regarding the nature (& moral quality) of His creation. “Good” can mean a host of different things. So to understand how light is good, it’s important to understand what it means to say “God is good.”
You are good and do good; Teach me Your statutes.
Arthur Pink writes:
“There is such an absolute perfection in God’s nature and being that nothing is wanting to it or defective in it, and nothing can be added to it to make it better.”
He quotes Thomas Manton (17th C Puritan)
“He is originally good, good of Himself, which nothing else is; for all creatures are good only by participation and communication from God. He is essentially good; not only good, but goodness itself: the creature’s good is a superadded quality, in God it is His essence. He is infinitely good; the creature’s good is but a drop, but in God there is an infinite ocean or gathering together of good. He is eternally and immutably good, for He cannot be less good than He is; as there can be no addition made to Him, so no subtraction from Him.”
B/c He is good—all that emanates from God (His decrees, creation, laws, providences) cannot be other than good. So light…the direct creation of God must in fact be good…in the judgment of God: “It is!”
Because of its goodness-light becomes a metaphor of that which is morally good, upright, pertaining to righteousness and life.
Execution
Execution
“God separated...”
The term “separate” which becomes a key truth in ch 1 means “to make a distinction or to divide.”
God separates light from darkness, an expanse that separates waters from waters (v 6, 7), lights in the expanse separate day from night (vs 14, 18).
Now, this pertains to the physical realm—where God is preparing His universe and earth specifically for life. Life depends on light. In fact the two terms often go together in Scripture. And this physical separation b/t light and darkness begins when God divides the 2—it becomes the beginning of the incompatibility of spiritual light and darkness.
This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.
Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness?
But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, That shines brighter and brighter until the full day. The way of the wicked is like darkness; They do not know over what they stumble.
to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.’
for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light. For this reason it says, “Awake, sleeper, And arise from the dead, And Christ will shine on you.”
Explanation
Explanation
“God called...”
Since the very beginning, God established the pattern that has repeated, without fail, every day. There is a constant cycle of night and day, darkness and light which spans 24 hours.
I know of only 2 occasions in human history where there has been an interruption of this 24-hour cycle:
Joshua commanded the sun to stand still while Israel fought the 5 kings of the Amorites (Josh 10:12-14)
Hezekiah asked for a sign to be given regarding the Lord’s promise of healing and sun retreated 10 step (degrees) (2 Kings 20:8-11; Is 38:7-8)
These were inconceivably monumental miracles (God stopped rotation of the earth, or caused sun to move with the earth—on a universal scale—I cannot begin to imagine the physics involved in such miracles—that’s why they are miracles.
Summary
Summary
“evening and morning”
Evening is likely mentioned 1st b/c of the Jewish practice of reckoning time: day began at sunset and continued until sunset the next day.
So God’s work of creation begins and the completion of the first day marks God’s creative wisdom, intelligence and power to bring into existence all that is.
Ps 104:24-35;
Realize—correct thinking about God/Creation
Rejoice—names recorded in heaven (Lk 10:20)
Repent