Genesis 1Authorized (King James) Version
1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. 3 And 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 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. 7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. 8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.
9 And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. 10 And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good. 11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. 12 And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good. 13 And the evening and the morning were the third day.
14 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: 15 and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. 16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. 17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, 18 and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. 19 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.
20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. 21 And
God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which
the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged
fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. 22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. 23 And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.
24 And
God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind,
cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and
it was so. 25 And
God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their
kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and
God saw that it was good.
26 And
God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let
them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the
air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every
creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 28 And
God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply,
and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish
of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing
that moveth upon the earth.
29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. 30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so. 31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
This article deals with exegesis Genesis one and the bible on the topic of creation.
For a scientific commentary on a literal interpretation read
http://biblesmack.blogspot.com/2014/10/a-scientific-exposition-of-literal.html
And a commentary as to while pushing popular scholarship onto the text ruins the faith.
http://biblesmack.blogspot.com/2007/04/why-genesis-1-is-essential.html
And all the other scientific issues here are resources.
http://biblesmack.blogspot.com/2015/11/bhs-biblical-historical-science-links.html
Mosaic authorship
Late in the seventeenth century Jesuit and deist rationalist scholars developed a conspiracy theory known as the documentary Hypothesis. Where they assumed that Moses was not the author of the Torah and that the establishment of the Pentateuch was an evolution of Jewish traditions of four sources (Jehovist, Elohist, Deuteronomist and Priestly (JEDP)) which were compiled over several centuries.
The Bible places Moses as the Torah author.
The torah itself
Exodus 17:
14 And the Lord said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. "
Exodus 24:
3 And Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord, and all the judgments: and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words which the Lord hath said will we do.4 And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord,
and rose up early in the morning, and builded an altar under the hill,
and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel. " 7 And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient. "
Numbers 33:2 And Moses wrote their goings out according to their journeys by the commandment of the Lord: and these are their journeys according to their goings out. "
Deuteronomy 31:
9 And Moses wrote this law, and delivered it unto the priests the sons of Levi, which bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and unto all the elders of Israel."19 Now
therefore write ye this song for you, and teach it the children of
Israel: put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me
against the children of Israel."
22 Moses therefore wrote this song the same day, and taught it the children of Israel."
24 And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished,"
Lesser references
Exodus 25:
16,21-22Deuteronomy 28:58; 29:20, 21, 27, 29;
20:10, 11.
Other scriptures in the OT
2 K. 21:8, 1 Ch. 15:15,
1 Ch. 22:13, 2 Ch 24:6, 2 Ch. 33:8, 2 Ch. 34:14, Ne. 1:8, Ne. 8:14, Ne. 10:29,
Mal. 4:4
Other scriptures in the New Testament
Matt. 8:4, Matt. 19:8, Matt. 22:14, Mark 1:44, Mark 7:10, Mark 10:4,
Luke 5:14, Luke 20:37, Luke 24:27, John 1:45, John 5:46, John 7:19, John 7:22,
John 8:5, Acts 3:22, Acts 15:21, Acts 26:22, Rom. 10:5, Rom. 10:19, 2 Cor. 3:15,
Heb. 9:19
Scripture Does not fit into the JEDP categories!
Elohim shows up in J passages:
genesis 31:50,33:5,33:11
Jehovah shows up in P passages before Exodus 6:3
Genesis 17:1, 21:1
Jehovah occurs in E-source passages
Genesis 21:33, 22:4, 22:11, 28:21, Exodus 18:21, 18:8-11
Now the main case for the documentary hypothesis is the internal evidence of differences in the text marked by the different names of God. Supposedly different authors are adding upon another over the centuries. they are distinguished by their name for God. The fact that this claim is not consistent in the scriptures devastates the theory. If the pattern is not consistent then how can they claim any type of evolution?
Matthew 19:3 The
Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it
lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? 4 And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, 5 and said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? 6 Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. 7 They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away? 8 He
saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered
you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so.
mark 10:
3 And he answered and said unto them, What did Moses command you? 4 And they said, Moses suffered to write a bill of divorcement, and to put her away. 5 And Jesus answered and said unto them, For the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept. 6 But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female. 7 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife; 8 and they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh. 9 What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. 1
Is Genesis 1 and 2 the same account?
As we see here, Jesus is twice recorded as answering a question by quoting from genesis 1 and genesis 2 side by side. This implies that he read them from the same scroll.
If we have The Lord Jesus putting the 2 passages together then the duel creation theory falls apart. If Jesus were only a prophet, this would still be proof, but since he is the LORD, then it is set in stone for any christian.
Where is the manuscript of J?E?P?D? Nothing!!
Who are the sources? Nobody!
What does history say?
"
But because almost all our constitution, depends on the wisdom of Moses, our legislator. "
"Now when Moses was desirous to teach this lesson to his countrymen, he did not begin the establishment of his laws after the same manner that other legislators did: I mean, upon contracts and other rights between one man and another, but by raising their minds upwards to regard God, and His creation of the world"
Josephus The Antiquities of the Jews Preface
Moses was highly educated
"
Therefore the child being thought worthy of a royal education and royal attendance. was not, like a mere child, long delighted with toys and objects of laughter and amusement, even those who had undertaken the care of him allowed him holidays and time for relaxaton, and never behaved in any stern or morose way to him; but he himself exhibited a modest and dignified deportment in all his words and gestures, attending dilligently to every lesson of every kind which could tend to the improvement of his mind (21) and immediately he had all kinds of masters, one after another, some coming of their own accord from neighboring countries and different districts of Egypt, and some being even procured from Greece by the temptation of large presents. But in a short time he surpassed all their knowledge, anticipating all their lessons by the excellent natural endowment of his own genius; so that everything in his case appeared to be an [r]ecollecting rather than a learning, while he himself also, without any teacher, comprehended by his instinctive genius many difficult subjects;(22) for great abilities cut out for themselves many new roads to knowledge."
C.D. Yonge The works of Philo pg. 461
Now while it is possible for Philo to have been embellishing, we must remember that Philo is 2,000 years closer to the life of Moses and He is a jew living at the time in Egypt before the Alexandrine library was burnt down. Thus he has quite the scholarly advantage to be authoritative on the subject he speaks.
Moses compiled the generations record!"The author has treated the story as a series of ten "generations"
("toledot"); namely, (1) of heaven and earth, ch. ii. 4-iv.; (2) of
Adam, v.-vi. 8; (3) of Noah, vi. 9-ix.; (4) of Noah's sons, x.-xi. 9;
(5) of Shem, xi. 10-26; (6) of Terah, xi. 27-xxv. 11; (7) of Ishmael,
xxv. 12-18; (8) of Isaac, xxv. 19-xxxv.; (9) of Esau, xxxvi.; (10) of
Jacob, xxxvii.-1."http://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/6580-genesis-the-book-of
Masoretic preservation
http://biblesmack.blogspot.com/2017/10/links-for-book-new-look-at-old-word.html
I deal with this in detail in my recent book "A new look at an old word".
But essentially the scriptures teach that they would be preserved and the Jews have kept them in the hebrew masoretic text.
“
in 143 cases of transliteration from Egyptian, Assyrian, Babylonian and
Moabite into Hebrew and in 40 cases of the opposite, or 184 in all, the
evidence shows that for 2300 to 3900 years the text of the proper names
in the Hebrew Bible has been transmitted with the most minute accuracy.
That the original scribes should have written them with such close
conformity to correct philological principles is a wonderful proof of
their thorough care and scholarship; further, that the Hebrew text
should have been transmitted by copyists through so many centuries is a
phenomenon unequalled in the history of literature.”32 He
reasons further that since it can be shown that the text of other
ancient documents has been reliably transmitted and that the text of the
Old Testament has been accurately transmitted for the past 2,000 years,
we may rightly suppose that the text of the Old Testament has been
accurately transmitted from the very beginning "
Dr. Robert Dick Wilson A Scientific Investigation of the Old Testament pg.71,74-76
psalm 12:
6 The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.7 Thou shalt keep them, O Lord, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever."
Deteronomy 4:1 Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers giveth you. 2 Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you."
Literary genre: historical Narrative
Many have argued lately that Genesis is not a historic narrative but in fact complex poem. This is exemplified in the literary framework hypothesis. In this interpretation the 1st chapter is a poem that displays didactic parallelism. Thus the purpose is to give an allegorical message as to the philosophical differences with pantheism.
"Probably, so far as I know, there is no
professor of Hebrew or Old Testament at any world-class university who
does not believe that the writer(s) of Genesis 1–11 intended to convey
to their readers the ideas that:
"creation took place in a series of six days which were the same as the days of 24 hours we now experience
the
figures contained in the Genesis genealogies provided by simple
addition a chronology from the beginning of the world up to later stages
in the biblical story
Noah’s flood was understood to be world-wide and extinguish all human and animal life except for those in the ark."James
Barr, Oriel Professor of the interpretation of the Holy Scripture,
Oxford University, England, in a letter to David C.C. Watson, 23 April
1984. Now Old earth creationist fired back that they had Hebrew scholars who did interpret Genesis figuratively at that time. However, we must remember that those scholars were huddled in Evangelical Seminaries away from the secular population of scholars whom Barr worked with.
A. Chronology) a historic narrative shows a chronology. The seven days has a numeric order and list the events in each day
B. non-emotional description
"The use of poetry in ancient times, as in our own, indicates that the writer is less concerned with precise description or scientific accuracy than with evoking emotions and creating certain impressions." A basic guide to interpreting the Bible: Playing by the rules. Robert H. Stein pg. 102
C. in-equivalent parallel for the sabbath.
The 7th day/Sabbath is the most figurative day of the period and yet a parallelism leaves the value out of it. Breaking the grammatical rule. Now Framework proponents may say that they do assign the symbolic value to the 7th day. However,the 7th day is organically connected to the week and would demand to be "paired" in the "par"allel.
D. All the figurative value from the framework view is still to be implied in the literal view. All that is being done is a denial of the historicity of the passage.
Literal interpretation
Numbers 12:5 And the Lord came down in the pillar of the cloud, and stood in the door of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Miriam: and they both came forth. 6 And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream. 7 My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house. 8 With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the Lord shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?"
Isaiah 28:9 Whom shall he teach knowledge?
and whom shall he make to understand doctrine?
them that are weaned from the milk,
and drawn from the breasts.
10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept;
line upon line, line upon line;
here a little, and there a little:
John 3:12 If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?
The physical doctrine of creation is foundational in order to understand spiritual doctrines.
Hebrews 11:3 Through
faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so
that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.
Materialism teaches that the physical is all there is. thus that which appears begat that which appears. The author of Hebrews thus refutes this claim.
"A great deal has been learned in the past century concerning the covenant form. This is due to the discovery of numerous such covenants in the literaure of the ancient Near East, especially in the Hittite literature. There were two main type of covenants. The difference between them deoends on the relationship of the people involved. If the relationship involves equals (1Sam. 18:3; 1Kings 5:12), this results in a "parity" covenant. In such a covenant both parties mutually agree as equals to mutually obey identical stipulations. The other form is called a suzereignty covenant. This is not a treaty among equals, for an ancient suzereign was a feudal lord. In A suzereignty covenant the lord unilaterally established the terms and conditions for his subjects. The subjects in turn could only accept or reject the covenant and its terms."
One important aspect to this covenant is the historical prologue.
"Historical prologue-This describes the previous relationship of the two parties the emphases the gracious character of the suzereign in his past dealings with the past lesser party. It provides justification for the following stipulations." A basic guide to interpreting the Bible: Playing by the rules. Robert H. Stein pg. 188
Exodus 20:1 And God spake all these words, saying, 2 I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me."
Exodus 20:8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 10 but the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it
thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy
manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: 11 for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it."
The sabbath comes with a historical prologue as the foundation of the pre-jewish relationship established as our creator. Jehovah is identified as the specific creator as opposed to a theoretical creator by his 6day creation. Thus, if we have a relationship with God it has to be this God of this creation.
Exodus 31:12 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 13 Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you. 14 Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. 15 Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord: whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. 16 Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. 17 It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.
18 And
he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon
mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the
finger of God.
Exodus 23:
11 but the seventh year
thou shalt let it rest and lie still; that the poor of thy people may
eat: and what they leave the beasts of the field shall eat. In like
manner thou shalt deal with thy vineyard, and with thy oliveyard. 12 Six
days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest:
that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and
the stranger, may be refreshed. 13 And in all things
that I have said unto you be circumspect: and make no mention of the
name of other gods, neither let it be heard out of thy mouth.
Historical Narrative"The literary form found most frequent in the Bible is narative. Within the judeo-Christian of literature posses unique importance. Many people first encounter the Bible by means of it's stories. These stories.... Over 40 percent of the Old Testament and nearly 60 percent of the New Testament consists of narative. This involves such books as Genesis, Exodus, Joshua to Esther, Matthew to Acts, and large portions of Numbers, Deuteronomy, and the Prophets."
pg. 151
A basic guide to interpreting the Bible: Playing by the rules. Robert H. Stein
"During the first three millenia in which biblical narratives existed, interpreters all thought that they were historical accounts, Even those who applied an allegorical interpretation to these accounts acknowledged that the events were also literally true. Despite the presence of the miraculous in such accounts, the events portrayed in them were interpreted as having occurred in space and time." pg. 153 A basic guide to interpreting the Bible: Playing by the rules. Robert H. Stein
"The historical subject matter being discussed was assumed to correspond with the meaning of the author. Yet what has to be done when someone no longer believed the miraculous subject matter of the biblical stories? It is interesting to note that for the most part the question was never raised as to whether these accounts were "meaningful" whether they possessed significance. Despite their supposedly fictional nature accounts of miracles were assumed to be meaningful. This was a given." 153 A basic guide to interpreting the Bible: Playing by the rules. Robert H. Stein
Evening and morning
and the dove came in to him in the
evening; and, lo, in her mouth
was an olive leaf pluckt off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.
And he made his camels to kneel down without the city by a well of water at the time of the
evening,
even the time that women go out to draw
water.
And it came to pass in the
evening, that he took Leah his daughter, and brought her to him; and he went in unto her.
And Jacob came out of the field in the
evening, and Leah went out
to meet him, and said, Thou must come in unto me; for surely I have
hired thee with my son’s mandrakes. And he lay with her that night.
Every usage of evening represents here a time period within the day. Why wouldn't that be the case with the first chapter?
And when the
morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying,
Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou
be consumed in the iniquity of the city.
And Abraham gat up early in the
morning to the place where he stood before the
Lord:
Therefore Abimelech rose early in the
morning, and called all his servants, and told all these things in their ears: and the men were sore afraid.
And Abraham rose up early in the
morning, and took bread, and a bottle of water, and gave
it unto Hagar, putting
it on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away: and she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beer-sheba.
And Abraham rose up early in the
morning, and saddled his ass,
and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the
wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of
which God had told him.
And they did eat and drink, he and the men that
were with him, and tarried all night; and they rose up in the
morning, and he said, Send me away unto my master.
And they rose up betimes in the
morning, and sware one to another: and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.
And Jacob rose up early in the
morning, and took the stone that he had put
for his pillows, and set it up
for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it.
And it came to pass, that in the
morning, behold, it
was Leah: and he said to Laban, What
is this thou hast done unto me? did not I serve with thee for Rachel? wherefore then hast thou beguiled me?
And Joseph came in unto them in the
morning, and looked upon them, and, behold, they
were sad.
And it came to pass in the
morning that his spirit was troubled;
and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt, and all the wise
men thereof: and Pharaoh told them his dream; but
there was none that could interpret them unto Pharaoh.
As soon as the
morning was light, the men were sent away, they and their asses.
Benjamin shall ravin
as a wolf: in the
morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil.
Every usage of the word "morning" represents here a time period within the day. Why wouldn't that be the case with the first chapter?
Day
The Word "day" 'yowm' is used 143 times in the text. 63 of of the references are in the plural form "days". Now "days" can refer to longer eras of time; however, the Genesis 1 days are referred to in the singular. Now pretty much every reference is to the 12-24hr time period. Some people may get confused by "the self-same day" because it is within the period of a day but it is not rejecting the normal usage of "day". Also "to this day" admits to a previous time period but is also assume the current time period unless otherwise indicated. The closest usage of a figurative day is "in the day". We see it in Genesis...
Genesis 2:
4 These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens,
Genesis 3:
5 for
God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be
opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
Genesis 31:40 Thus I was; in the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep departed from mine eyes.
Now, if we isolate Gen. 2:4 an old earther may assume this is the verse they need. However, as noted earlier, this is not referring to 1:1 given the singular uses of "Heaven" and the splitting of heaven on the 2nd day with the waters. (gen. 1:6-8)
Genesis 2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2 And
on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested
on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. 3 And
God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he
had rested from all his work which God created and made.
4 These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens,
We see beginning in Gen. 2:1 Creation has completed or "finished" and God has ended his work. Thus 2:4 logically concludes creation on day 7. This means that day is once again kept literal referrring to 12-24hr periods.
Thus the "day age theory" which claims that these were eons of time is debunked.
But what about...?
2 Peter 3:8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day."
This is a classic example of isolating the passage to distort the meaning. First this quote is destroys the old earth meaning by itself. One thousand years is not necessarily 13.8billion years. Also maturity young earthers can fire back that "a thousand years as one day".
More importantly, lets consider the context.
2 Pet. 3: 2 that
ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy
prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and
Saviour:"
Peter is lifting up the law not lowering it. 9 The
Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness;
but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but
that all should come to repentance."
God waits in an effort to extend mercy to man. That is not what is going on in an old earth. The old earth idea is death, not mercy.
10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night;" Day is compared to a theif in the night the expression conveys speed.
Hebrews 4: 3 For
we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn
in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were
finished from the foundation of the world. 4 For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works. 5 And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest. 6 Seeing
therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom
it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief:"
Here we see the rest or as we like to think "Sabbath", being used as a figure of indefinite time. Yet we see here the word Sabbath is carefully not used, but instead rest. The figurative meaning of the sabbath is a rest and that is what the writer of Hebrews is referring to. The writer is pointing out an implication of the literal day and not trying to redefine the meaning of the literal 7th day. most valuable figurative meaning which can be extracted from the text can be extracted from a literal interpretation in the forms of implication just as well. And if the figurative meaning can not be extracted perhaps it is due to the illegitimacy of the interpretation.
Was there a gap?
This view is one based in the history of fundamentalism where believed that the evidence for evolution or at least an older earth was objectively true. Bible scholars he did not want to surrender the faith to classic liberalism and deny the scriptures, decided to make a defensive interpretation.
Thus they found their "gap" in genesis 1:2
"And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters"
"Without form and void" shows a type of chaos. later scripture uses the phrase this way.
jeremiah 4:23 I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.24 I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly."
So they assumed tht the earth in genesis had undergone a judgement just like the judgement in the days of Jeremiah. this led to the speculation of the heavenly judgement of lucifer and the destruction of the dinosaurs all occuring in this Gap.
Many scholars including non-Gap theorist have made a verse division assumption. We must remember that verse 2 is inherently connect to 1:1.
When we read "and the earth" is assumes the term "earth" has already been introduced.
Gen. 1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. 3 And 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 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.;"
About a dozen times we see the word "and"weaving the text together. we see the wrap up with the "first" day. Thus implying that there was no Gap.
"Genesis is peppered with ‘And … and … and … ’ which characterises historical writing (this is technically called the ‘vav—ו, often rendered as waw—consecutive’). "https://creation.com/is-genesis-poetry-figurative-a-theological-argument-polemic-and-thus-not-history"
Because the /wa-/ or /wǝ-/ was naturally interpreted as meaning "and" in
addition to a signal for a different tensal interpretation of the
forms, the waw-consecutive forms tended to be used in narrative,
particularly in continuing rather than starting a story—precisely the
places where the use of "and" would make sense."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waw-consecutive
When were the angels created; and what about an early judgement?
colossians 1:
16 for by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:"
1 john 3:
8 He
that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the
beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might
destroy the works of the devil."
Obviously, the judgement was in the beginning. But Gen 1, does not deal with this judgment, at least not directly.
But prophetic passages give us a hint.
Ezekiel 28:
14 Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so:
thou wast upon the holy mountain of God;
thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.
15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created,
till iniquity was found in thee."
We see a perfect beginning and then later corruption. This hints that he did not fall till after genesis chapter 2.
Gen. 1: 31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day."
A good hypothesis would place Lucifer's creation in the 6th day.Day 4
Gen 1:16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to
rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars
also.
Job 38:7 When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?"
It is very probable that Satan sinned simultaneously with his temptation of Eve in the Garden of Eden.
Gen. 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? "
Judgement did not happen because creation was "very good". The formless and void chaos was a result of creation not yet complete.
romans 8:
22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. 23 And not only they,
but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we
ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
further resources on this issue....
https://answersingenesis.org/hermeneutics/is-genesis-1-literal-literalism-or-literalistic/
https://creation.com/should-genesis-be-taken-literally
https://creation.com/Literary-theory-2
https://creation.com/Literary-theory-1
https://creation.com/is-genesis-poetry-figurative-a-theological-argument-polemic-and-thus-not-history
https://creation.com/creation-days-and-orthodox-jewish-tradition
https://creation.com/how-long-were-the-days-of-genesis-1
