GENESIS DAY ONE, PART III

 

TEXT: Genesis 1:2 “The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God (Here is the third member of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit) was hovering over the face of the waters.” 

 

Verse one ends with the phrase, “and the earth” and verse two continues that thought with “the earth.” We might think this is not a very important phrase, but it is. 

 

How long ago did God make the heavens and the earth as said in verse one? Some people think it was billions of years ago. Why? Because many think scientists have proved that the earth is billions of years old. 

 

However, the reality is that scientists have not proved the earth is billions of years old! There are many scientists who believe that the earth is only thousands of years old based on the history recorded in the Bible—and nothing is observational science contradicts this. There are lots of dating methods that overwhelmingly confirm the universe is only thousands of years old. 

 

Scientists try and date the earth using complicated methods that have been shown to have enormous problems. For instance, they have used their dating methods on rocks that are known to be only hundreds of years old (or even younger), but their dating method gave a date of millions of years old! This has happened many times and should be a warning to us not to just accept these dates of millions and billions of years. 

 

Really, the only way you would know for sure how the earth was, is if you knew someone who saw it begin. I know of only one being who saw the earth begin—the God who made it! In the Book of Job, God asked Job a question: “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.” (Job 38:4) In other words, God was saying, “Were you there when I made the earth?” Perhaps when someone tells you that the earth is billions of years old, you should ask them, with kindness, “Were you there?”

When they say, “no they weren’t,” but say to you, “you weren’t there either,” then we need to tell them that no human was there. But God was, and He has given us in His Word the details about the history of the universe! 

 

THE VERY WORD OF GOD

 

The Bible claims thousands of times that it is the Word of God (not just the word of men). For example, I Thessalonians 2:13 says, “And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the Word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what is really is , the Word of God, which is at work in you believers.” And 2 Timothy 3:16 says, “for all scripture is breathed out by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.” 

 

So all that we read in the Bible is God’s Word—all of it! It is God-breathed, and is the inspired, infallible Word of the Living God! 

 

BUT WHY 6,000 YEARS? 

 

The Bible records the creation of the world in Genesis, and then gives us all sorts of information that enables us to add up dates to find out when God made the world. For instance, we are told that God made everything in six days. (These were six ordinary days just like we have today. We will talk more about that later) We are then told that our first parents were made on day six, and in passages in the Bible we are told when people were born, and when they died, and so on, just like we read in the verses that are part of the history given in Genesis 5 leading up to a man named Noah.

 

“When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. The days of Adam after he fathered Seth were 800 years; and he had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days that Adam lived were 930 years, and he died.

 

When Seth had lived 105 years, he fathered Enosh. Seth lived after he fathered Enosh 807 years and he had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Seth were 912 years, and he died. 

 

When Enosh had lived 90 years, he fathered Kenan. Enosh lived after he fathered Kenan 815 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Enosh were 905 years, and he died. 

 

When Kenan had lived 70 years, he fathered Mahalalel. Kenan lived after he fathered Mahalalel 840 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Kenan were 910 years, and he died. 

 

When Mahalalel had lived 65 years, he fathered Jared. Mahalalel lived after he had fathered Jared 830 years and other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Mahalalel were 895 years, and he died. 

 

When Jared had lived 162 years, he fathered Enoch. Jared lived after he fathered Enoch . . . Genesis 5:3-19. 

 

You can read the entire genealogy from Adam to Noah and his sons in Genesis 5:1-32. You can see that this list tells us when people were born and when they died. 

 

Many great scholars, who have spent a lifetime studying the Bible, have added up all such dates from that lists, and other events, and concluded that God created the world 4,000 years before Jesus was born as a babe in a manger. That means that as of this present day, 2024, the earth must be about 6,000 years old. 

 

A GAP OF TIME? 

 

Now, what does all of this have to do with the word “and” in verse one? As we have already seen, God is omniscient (He knows all things)—He has infinite knowledge. Compared to what God knows, even the person who has studied at universities all of their life, still knows very little—in fact, hardly anything at all compare to God. 

 

This means the only way we could ever be sure of being right about how and when this world came into existence was if we had information from someone who had all the answers and has always been there and told us what we need to know. Only God has all the answers and has always been there, and He has told us in His Word, the Bible, what we need to know to have the ability to correctly understand this earth and universe. 

 

Because the Bible is God’s Word, it gives information God had written down for us by inspiring special people over the years, inspired by the One who has all of the answers. This means we should start with God’s Word to make sure we will be right in our understanding of the world. 

 

God’s Word is the foundation for our worldview. Everyone has a worldview, and it is either founded in God’s Word or in man’s word. Our worldview is like a set of glasses we put on so that we look through those glasses (worldview) to understand the world around us. 

 

Sadly, even many Christians seem to forget that God knows everything. They listen to the fallible scientists who don’t know everything, who were not always there, who say that the world is billions of years old (based on their beliefs and fallible dating methods that all have problems) and say that Genesis chapter one must cover billions of years! Some Christians say that each of the six days of creation must be millions of years long.  We will see later on, from the Hebrew language, which Genesis was written in, that each of the six days of creation in Genesis chapter one can only be an ordinary day as we know it today—approximately 24 hours long. We must let God’s Word speak to us, and not impose our beliefs on God’s Word. 

 

Other Christians think that God must have made the heavens and earth that are spoken of in verse one billons of years ago and then He made everything else in six days. People who believe this say there is a great gap between Genesis chapter one and verse one, and verse 2. But what they are trying to do is take man’s belief about millions of years and add that into the Bible by inventing this gap idea. Such a gap idea compromises God’s Word and undermines the authority of the Word of God. 

 

Now we finally get to the importance of the phrase “and the earth.” The Old Testament, which includes Genesis through Malachi, was written in the Hebrew language as we have already said. People who have studied the Hebrew language for many years tell us that, In Hebrew, “and the earth” in verse one, and “the earth” in verse two is connected by a particular type of phrase. This means that verse two is written as a description of the initial condition of the earth as introduced in verse one. So no one can put billions of years between these two verses. Actually, the same Hebrew phrase connects verse one directly to verse three. So really, we could read Genesis 1:1-4 this way: “IN THE BEGINNING GOD CREATED THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH.” 

 

Now the earth God created is described as a watery blob of matter. Everything else was dark but the Spirit of God hovered over the waters covering the earth. Then the next thing that happened was this: 

 

“And God said, let there be light, and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness.”

 

Not only this, but in Exodus 20:11 we read, “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.” 

 

This verse tells us that God made “the heaven and the earth,” which we read of  in verse one, and then everything else listed in all of chapter one, all in six days. So you can see that you certainly cannot put billions of years between the creation of the heavens and the earth and everything else. This also means Genesis 1:1 is not a summary verse—it’s part of the first day of creation. 

 

I’ve given you a lot to think about. I believe that the most important take away from tonight’s teaching is that we must let the Word of God stand alone. It is not only foolish but is also dangerous to judge or try and change the revealed Word of God so as to fit into so-called modern scientific thought. Let God be true and every man a liar!  

 

Next week we will answer the question of where does a week come from?

 

CONCLUSION

 

1. 1 AND 1,000= 6,000 Years (Food for thought as we see the pages of prophecy rapidly turning. Things are moving fast now to the fulfillment of all that is written in the Word of God!)

 

The First letter in the Hebrew alphabet is Alef. It occurs six times in the opening verse of Genesis 1:1. Each Alef has a numerical value of one. But Alef can also be read as Elef which has a value of 1,000. So from the very beginning, the Torah (the books of Moses) is telling us that the world will exist 6,000 years as has been taught. 

 

I want you to follow me closely for the next few minutes. 

 

I believe that we are close to the return of Jesus to the earth for the following reasons:

 

1. First, in order for Jesus to return, Israel which had ceased to be a nation in the first century due to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD by the Romans, and the scattering of the Jewish people (Diaspora), had to be a nation again and in control of Jerusalem according to this prophecy of Jesus. 

 

Matthew 23:37-39 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. 38 Look, your house is left to you desolate. 39 For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'"

 

The beginning of the fulfillment of that prophecy happened on May 14, 1948 when Israel became a nation again after almost 2,000 years. 

The pages of prophecy continued to turn in June of 1967 when Israel took control of Jerusalem again for the first time since 70 AD!

 

Israel is now a nation again and is in control of Jerusalem! Two things that had to happen for Jesus’ prophecy in Matthew’s Gospel to be fulfilled! Israel had to be a nation again and be in control of Jerusalem in order for them to say of Jesus their Messiah, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.” 

 

When Jesus was asked by His disciples when would the Temple be destroyed and what would be the sign of His Second Coming, He said something very interesting in Matthew 24:32-35"Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 33 Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. 34 I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.” 

 

1. The destruction of the Temple was a significant sign because it meant the nation of Israel would cease to be a nation. That happened in 70 AD. 

2. Now fast forward to 1948. Israel becomes a nation again for the first time since 70 AD! That is I believe the greatest prophetic sign since 70 AD. 

3. Is it possible that the generation which saw the rebirth of Israel as a nation is the generation that will see His Second Return to the earth? The generation that will not pass away until all things have been fulfilled? 

 

Consider, according to the Bible a generation can be 40, 70, or 100 years. If we go the full 100 years that would take us to 2048. That’s 24 years away. 

 

Now, I do not believe in trying force the scriptures to say something that is not intended. But I will tell you that there is a lot of evidence that would point to the coming of Messiah in this generation! 

 

1. 6,000 years from creation to Messiah.

2. The prophecy of Jesus in Matthew 23:37-39

3. The rebirth of Israel in 1948 and the retaking of Jerusalem in 1967.

4. The formation of the WEF and the one world order of antichrist.

5. The attempted destruction of Israel by Satan through Iran and its’ proxies like Hamas and Hezbollah.

6. Rampant anti-Semitism worldwide. 

7. Then the millennial reign of Jesus on the earth, bringing peace and rest corresponding to the seventh day of rest in the Book of Genesis. 

 

Did we know that the Creator put so much in the Book of Genesis?