And, the normal conservative answer that the sun, moon, and stars had been there all the time, obscured by the primeval mists, and that they were made visible by the creative actions of Day 4 is purely speculative and unprovable, such explanations being considered implausible by skeptics. The author was not merely collecting ancient stories. i. Once that purpose was accomplished, Darrow pleaded guilty on behalf of his client and paid a $100 fine. Genesis 1:1 … It is on the level of spirit we communicate with God. Commentary on Genesis 1:1-5 View Bible Text . They simply believe once you ignore the creating hand of God, it is the only explanation available, so their job is to figure out how it works, not if it is true. We find no fault whatever with the view that the "days" here were indeed very brief periods such as our days. It may have been long ages before God fitted up this world for the abode of man, but it was not self-existent; it was created by God, it sprang from the will and the word of the all-wise Creator. The holy record does not teach that the sun, moon, and stars were created on Day 4, but that they were SET, or PLACED, so as to achieve the necessary environment upon the earth. I. Prosecuting the case was William Jennings Bryan, former Secretary of State under Woodrow Wilson, and a three-time Democratic candidate for President. There can be no adequate explanation of this accuracy apart from understanding it as inspired of God. "And God saw that it was good ..." This statement occurs seven times in this dignified, compact narrative. We should be sure we understand both Nature and Scripture before we pronounce certainly on their agreement or disagreement, and it can hardly be said that either is quite understood. He will certainly not find it anywhere else! The word contains less an aesthetic judgment than a designation of purpose and correspondence to God’s will, indicating the moral goodness of the Creation. In such a condition all waters would have been driven into the earth's atmosphere. And God made the two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: He made the stars also. (3-5) God separates the earth from the waters, and makes it fruitful. Where else in the billions of galaxies all around us in space is there another planet of suitable size, placed at suitable distance from its mother star, inclined at exactly the proper angle upon the plane of its orbit, possessing precisely the kind of satellite needed, as in the case of our moon, possessing the necessary water supply, the proper atmosphere with its delicately-balanced percentages of the component elements, performing continually the diurnal revolutions upon its own axis to give succession of day and night, and constantly moving in the annual revolutions around the sun in the plane of its own orbit, providing the seasons and marking the years? "And, behold, it was very good ..." The goodness and wisdom of God are thus attested by the goodness of his creation. For example, if some theory regarding how our galaxy (the universe) began from the explosion of a dense star, should be received as true, then how did the dense star begin? And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.". "And God said, Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the firmament of heaven. Other phases of human likeness to God are seen in such things as freedom of will, moral responsibility, intellectual achievement, and creativity. "And the earth was waste and void ..." This refers to the state of the earth in the first phase of its creation, and it is also an apt description of the other planets as they are observed to continue in our solar system to the present time. Sermon Bible Commentary. Thus, there is a recapitulation in Day 4 regarding the making of the sun, moon, and stars, the creation of Day 4 being the placement of them. The mathematician D.S. Biblical Commentary Genesis 1:1-5 EXEGESIS: GENESIS 1:1—2:4a. (14-19) Animals created. Could any process of creating light gradually even be imagined? Without the fiat of Almighty God, the unaided chaos would have become more and more chaotic. Study the bible online using commentary on Genesis 1 and more! b. God was pleased with His creation, and so are we! Study Genesis 1 using Matthew Henry Bible Commentary (complete) to better understand Scripture with full outline and verse meaning. The teeming myriads of earth's creatures, including man, are all here as a result of the creative and active will of the eternal God Himself. Based upon what the holy text says, the creative act of Day 4 was the positioning of our solar system by Divine fiat in such a manner as to provide the environment for humanity. The sheer supernaturalism of this entire narrative is its principal characteristic. The text does not state that God made light visible, but that He created it. The giving being to that which before was not. This parallelism does not deny the chronological sequence of the six days. Others connect the words with progression from darkness to light, a movement upward to higher and higher forms of life in the cycle of creation. Our website uses cookies to store user preferences. If this exceedingly complex and precise placement of the earth was not a special act of God, why is it, as far as can be determined, absolutely unique? Note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer. f. In Our image, according to Our likeness: The terms for image and likeness are slightly different. "And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years: and let them be for lights in the firmament of heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. The great Christian doctrines of the Incarnation and the Virgin Birth are part and parcel of this. The following cookies are also needed - You can choose if you want to allow them: You can read about our cookies and privacy settings in detail on our Privacy Policy Page. Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food”; and it was so. No matter how far back into the mists of prehistoric time men may postulate the point of origin for our universe, it is precisely THERE that they must confront God, the omnipotent, eternal, all-pervading, omniscient First Cause, known to Christians as the God of the Bible. “When outsiders question whether the theory of evolution is as secure as we have been led to believe, we are firmly told that such questions are out of order. In the new heavens and the new earth, there won’t be any sun or moon. i. He is the Father and theSon and th… The Midrash Aggadah (Gen. Rabbah 8:1, Ber. a. In those days, men worshipped the sun, moon, and stars. As Goldschmidt put it, ‘This time I was not only crazy but almost a criminal’… To suppose that such a random event could reconstruct even a single complex organ like a liver or kidney is about as reasonable as to suppose that an improved watch can be designed by throwing an old one against the wall” (Johnson). The stacking of water miles deep upon the polar caps of the earth, the fracture of the earth's crust by mighty cracks, and earthquakes thrusting above the primeval seas, the continents, and the mighty mountain systems are things which men suppose took place. None of these specifically human dimensions of sex are required for reproduction, but all of them are useful for sex as a tool of bonding. As Christ came into our world without sin, his true rank therefore was that of Adam, as God had created Adam, and before the Fall. The heavens were created on Day 1, and this means that the sun, moon and stars were already created when this fourth day began. Please see our Privacy Policy for cookie usage details. The lesser dominion of the animals over the vegetable world was also noted in Genesis 1:30. Exploring the first book of the Bible as "theological literature," Waltke illuminates its meanings and methods for the pastor, scholar, teacher, student, and Bible-lover. These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features. Male and female He created them: This should not be construed to mean Adam was originally some type of androgynous being, being both male and female. Evolutionist Ernst Mayr commented: “Somehow or other by adjusting these figures we will come out all right. In like manner, the seas and the dry land of Day 2 are on Day 5 endowed with the life for which they had been designed previously. Image has more to do with appearance, and likeness has more to do with an abstract similarity, but they both essentially mean the same thing here in this context. When that “beginning” was, we cannot tell. Thus, it appears from the very beginning that God is represented as a compound unity. From Johnson: “The ‘priceless and fragile relics’ were carried by anxious curators in first-class airplane seats and brought to the Museum in a VIP motorcade of limousines with police escort. You are free to opt out any time or opt in for other cookies to get a better experience. "And there was evening and there was morning, one day ..." This is generally hailed as requiring that the days of Genesis 1 be understood strictly as twenty-four hour periods of time, answering in every way to our days of the week in an ordinary sense, but tremendous words of caution against such a view are thundered from the pages of inspiration. The heavens here include the first two and perhaps others of which we do not know. The intention of Almighty God in the creation of man is revealed to have been the placement of man over the earth and all that is in it, an intention frustrated in part by man's rebellion in Eden, but finally realized despite all hindrances and delays in the era of the "new heavens and the new earth." "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.". Nothing is more unreasonable and ridiculous than the various hypotheses of evolution. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1973. "[9] But in this Biblical account, the celestial bodies do not control men, they serve men. Of course, this is precisely the point in the sacred account that, "The average modern man parts company with Genesis. And, from this, it is mandatory to conclude that the special mention of "the earth" in this verse indicates the special creation of that essential environment without which life would be impossible, as is the case, apparently, everywhere else in the sidereal universe. © Copyright - Enduring Word       |      . Let there be a firmament — This term, which is an exact translation of the word used by the Septuagint, or Greek translation of the Old Testament, by no means expresses the sense of the word used by Moses, רקיע, rakiang, which merely means extension or expansion. There is far more than sufficient water upon the earth to inundate all of the continents and the highest mountains; and it took an act of creation to separate the dry land from the seas. 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