We have just went through the first chapter of Genesis, and were introduced to God who existed before He created time and place (In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1). We watched as He built a foundation (heavens and earth, v.1) and then began adding to that foundation the building blocks of this habitation. He created light so that all could function and as a marker of time (God called the light day and the darkness He called night and evening and morning were the first day, v.5). On top of that, He created atmosphere so that the proceeding creation might thrive (expanse or firmament v.6) on the second day. Then He provided a place to stand and to live (Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. v.9). The next block that was laid was herbs and trees and grass (grass , the herb bearing fruit, the fruit trees v. 11) so that now there was food for the following blocks on the third day. Time now for, hmm how to tell time again? Oh thats right. He created the sun, moon and stars not simply to shed light (although that is a function the perform) for light was already here, but to be for tracking time (let them be for signs and for seasons, for days and for years. v. 14). Who is it that is to use them for such purposes?
Now He needed to create something that would use what He had built to the present so He began on the fifth day to fill creation with moving life. the water was filled with fish and whales; the air with birds according to their species(v. 21) and told them to multiply. Then dawned the sixth day and He continued to create mobile life, this time to fill the dry land. He created living creatures, beasts, and reptiles according to their species.
Finally, He created His final block of this creation, the crown of the roof one might say. He created man. What was so special about man? Well, God created man in His own image, He created a male and a female, and then God gave man dominion over all creation!! Man is the steward of all that God created. This means then that the entire creation was made to support man!
While man was the last on the list of the creation, creating Him was not the last thing God did, for Genesis 1:31 says that God surveyed creation and saw that it was good or pleasing. And to whom was it pleasing? God of course. Thus, as verse 1 of Genesis chapter 2 says, the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
After such a climactic ending to the sixth day of creating, The Creator begins the seventh day a whole new way. He rested. Does that mean that He took a day off? No, it says that ended His work that He was making and rested from that job. In other words, He stopped creating. But still He careth for the creation (Psalm 104). And as Jesus pointed out in Matthew 6:24-34 God careth for all.
Christian
Why Does It Matter?
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He remembers what the squall was, but his mom and dad never even had a
clue. Not even when the event took place. There is nothing quite like the
experience...
5 years ago
3 comments:
I was checking the earlier posts to see where all these unruly animals came from and found the assertion that a day is a 24 hour period. I am stumped, got to close to a dinosaur and lost my foot,;) you offered no proof other than we understand it that way. Back in my day it could mean any length of time. What do you say to that?
Ha, ha, that's very funny! "Stumped' by a dinosaur! Was it a Tyranasaurus Rex?
Dear Saul,
Thank you for bringing your sense of humor to this blog. I offer prayers of thanksgiving that you only lost your foot and are stumped instead of stamped.
What do I say to that? I offered proof in the post that you were reading which was entitled "Every Artiste Needs Atmosphere" and I repeat that entire paragraph here: "Now, when God beheld the light that He had created, He saw that it was good, beautiful, sweet, best, bountiful, or perfect. So it pleased God and He set it apart from the darkness by calling the light day and the darkness night. Then it says: "And evening and morning were the first day." God here does two very important things for us. First, he defines His terms. Light equals Day and Darkness equals Night; and that one full day requires an evening and a morning. Why evening first? Let me suggest to you that it is because the darkness was here first (see verse two). Second, God establishes the first boundaries of time. He sets forth that evening and morning were the first day. I refer to this because there are those who disagree as to the definition day in this verse claiming it is possible that the days could have lasted several thousand years so that man and all life could all evolve (this is the theory of theistic evolution). You and I know that a day is 24 hours. Since God recorded His word in terms that man could comprehend: day is a literal 24 hours and therefore not an abstract 24 eon period of time. Back on topic: God records that evening and morning was a day and the first one ended with the heavens and the earth being formed and light being created and separated from the darkness. What an eventful first day!!"
Back in your day. Even Jesus used a similar phrase meaning "time" when He replied to the Pharisees' question of "Are you greater than our father Abraham who is dead and the prophets are dead; whom makest thou thyself?" in John 8:53-56. He says in verse 56 "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day and he saw it and was glad."
Now, back in your day, I'm sure that you had evenings and mornings, did you not? Jesus did (Matthew 16:1-4)and I am sure that, despite the dinosaurs in your backyard, He has been around as long or longer ;).
The Hebrew word used here for 'day' is "yom" meaning "to be hot, day (as in 'the warm hours') and is used either literally to portray the time from either sunrise to sunset or sunrise to sunrise or figuratively (a space of time defined by an associated term)" Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible) as in 'Saul's day'. How do we tell which meaning was used? As with any other passage of Scripture, we tell by context. Was this word used adverbially or with a definitive term such as in Genesis 5:4 "days of Adam"? Or was it used litterally to mean a day from sunrise to sunset or sunrise to sunrise?
The Bible says "God called the light day and the darkness He called night and evening and morning were the first day." The Hebrew word used for evening is 'ereb which means dusk and the word for morning is boqer (pronounced bo'ker) meaning dawn. Therefore, by the Word itself, day as used in Genesis 1 is defined in Genesis 1 as a literal 24 hour period.
May God ease your pain as you recover from your lost foot.
Christian
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