Scripture references are from the New King James Version of the Bible unless stated otherwise. Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The very first verse of the Bible says that God created the heavens and the earth in the beginning. The heavens and the earth must mean the whole, complete universe consisting of billions of galaxies with billions of stars and planets. Our minds cannot even begin to grasp the wonders and limitless power of God, which the creation of the universe displays. God singles out our planet earth as the most important of all that He created in the beginning. He has a tremendous purpose to use the earth as the centre of the universe. It is on this earth that God will establish His Eternal Kingdom of the New Heaven (the sky, the earth's atmosphere) and the New Earth. This will happen when Jesus Christ shouts those glorious words, "It is done" at the conclusion of God's Plan For All. His Plan is to reconcile all things in heaven and all things on earth, having made peace through the blood of His cross. (Colossians 1:15-20, Revelation 21:1-6) How and when did God create the universe and the earth? The Bible says that God simply commanded and they were created. Psalm 148:2-5 2 Praise Him, all His angels; Praise Him, all His hosts! 3 Praise Him, sun and moon; Praise Him, all you stars of light! 4 Praise Him, you heavens of heavens, And you waters above the heavens! 5 Let them praise the name of the LORD, for He commanded and they were created. The creation of the universe must be understood as an instantaneous creation at the command of God, in the beginning. When God created the universe in the beginning, He also designed and created the Law of Gravity. God introduced the Law of Gravity for the stability, and for the very existence, of the universe. All bodies in the universe are held together and maintain their orbits because of gravitation. Smaller bodies are held in their orbits by bigger bodies. Moons orbit planets, planets orbit stars, stars orbit galactic centres, and galaxies orbit other galaxies in clusters. The important point to understand is that it is impossible for the moon to exist without the earth, and it is impossible for the earth to exist without the sun, and for the sun to exist without our galaxy, the Milky Way, and for the Milky Way to exist without other galaxies. So the whole universe must have been created instantaneously for it to exist, and this is exactly what God did in the beginning. He commanded and they were created instantaneously. Time began when God created the sun, the earth and the moon with the rest of the universe in the beginning. This is when God's Plan of the Ages began. It is amazing that many Christians who hold to Young Earth Creationism do not believe the very first verse of the Bible. Young Earth Creationism clearly misinterprets the Genesis account of God's creation. It teaches that God created the earth on the first day without the sun, and that it wasn't until the fourth day that God created the sun, the moon and the stars. This is not only biblically untrue but also scientifically nonsensical. It is impossible for even the very first instant of the first day with its 24-hour day and night to occur, without both the earth and the sun existing together. This is elementary physics and common sense. The Bible is extremely logical and it does not contradict true science, after all God Himself is the greatest scientist. God does not want us to believe in something which is illogical and scientifically stupid. Young Earth Creationism greatly undermines the credibility of the Bible by insisting on teaching something which is scientifically impossible, and which the Bible does not teach. If the first few verses of the Bible cannot be logically accepted, then is it any wonder that evolutionists and atheists have field days attacking the Bible as illogical and full of contradictions? How long ago was the beginning when God commanded and instantaneously created the universe with the earth? The Bible does not say, but it cannot be six thousand years ago as believed by Young Earth Creationists. Star distances confirm that the beginning was in the region of many millions of years ago. Even a leading Young Earth Creationist site, 'ChristianAnswers.net', admits that star distances have long been a problem when defending their belief in a young earth. Most probably, scientists have overestimated the age of our earth as being about 4.5 billion years old, but we can be absolutely sure that the earth is much older than six thousand years. Young Earth Creationists claim to interpret the Genesis account of creation literally to justify their belief in a young earth of about six thousand years. They say that anything other than about six thousand years is playing around with the literal translation of the creation account. This is a clear case of 'the pot calling the kettle black' as quite the opposite is true. It is the Young Earth Creationists themselves who flirt with the literal meaning of the Genesis account of creation. They are unable to accept the literal meaning of even the very first verse of the Bible. Let us be very clear what the Bible says, and what Young Earth Creationism (YEC) says. The Bible says that God created the earth in the beginning; YEC says that God created the earth in the first day. The Bible says that God created the sun and the moon in the beginning; YEC says that God created them in the fourth day. The Bible says that God created the heavens and the earth in the beginning; YEC says that God created them in six days. Can we see how Young Earth Creationism completely contradicts the very first verse of the Bible? We shall show you later in this chapter why Young Earth Creationism confuses the beginning of the heavens and the earth many millions of years ago with the beginning of the six day Genesis 'creation', approximately six thousand years ago. Let us now go on to understand the literal interpretation of the creation account as the Bible actually teaches. What was the state of the earth when God created it in the beginning? Let us see what the Bible says. Job 38:4-7 4 Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. 5 Who determined its measurements? Surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? 6 To what were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone, 7 When the morning stars sang together, And all the sons of God shouted for joy? Job Chapters 38 and 39 show God humbling Job, who thought that he had a great fount of knowledge. In the verses above, God challenges Job about his knowledge of the creation of the earth. God did this to make Job acknowledge God's greatness and to show Job that he knew absolutely nothing about how and when God created the earth. Notice that the morning stars and all the sons of God sang and shouted for joy when God laid the foundations of the earth. The 'morning stars' and 'sons of God' refer to angels. The verses above reveal two important truths: God created the angels before He created the earth and the universe. When God first created the earth in the beginning, He must have created it in a beautiful and perfect condition as the angels responded with singing and shouts for joy. However, in the second verse of Genesis, we read that the earth was in a totally different state to how it was first created in the beginning, when the angels sang and rejoiced over it. We read that the earth was without form, void, in darkness and submerged under water. Genesis 1:2 The earth was (hayah) without form (tohuw), and void (bohuw); and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. This verse describes the state of the earth resulting from God's global judgement because of the sins of angels. Let us show you, by using supporting verses from the Bible, that Genesis 1:2 is undoubtedly speaking of God's judgement, and it is not speaking about a stage in the construction of the earth, as mistakenly believed by Young Earth Creationists. God's Global TOHUW and BOHUW Judgement The Bible is abundantly clear that the inspired Hebrew words tohuw and bohuw in Genesis 1:2, when used together, are the descriptive words for God's global judgement. The Hebrew word tohuw occurs 20 times in the Old Testament with meanings of chaotic, nothing, confusion, waste, wilderness, emptiness, formless and vain. We believe that the best meaning of tohuw in Genesis 1:2 is chaotic. Something that is in a confused, wasted, empty, flooded and dark state is obviously in a chaotic state. The Hebrew word bohuw occurs 3 times in the Old Testament with meanings of void and waste. We believe God inspired the use of the Hebrew word bohuw in Genesis 1:2 to reinforce the meaning of tohuw, which we have just shown means chaotic. So a better translation of bohuw in this verse is wasted and not void. Since God did not create the earth in a chaotic and wasted state in the beginning, then it must have become chaotic and wasted at a later date. This is exactly what happened to the earth, because the better translation of the Hebrew word hayah in Genesis 1:2 is became, as given in Strong's number H1961. Therefore, a more accurate translation of Genesis 1:2 is: Genesis 1:2 (SLT) The earth became chaotic and wasted and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. The Bible specifically says that God did not create the earth in a chaotic state. Isaiah 45:18 For thus says the LORD, Who created the heavens, Who is God, Who formed the earth and made it, Who has established it, Who did not create it in vain (tohuw, meaning chaotic), Who formed it to be inhabited: 'I am the LORD, and there is no other'. In the verse above, Isaiah confirms that God did not create the earth in a chaotic tohuw state when He first created it, in the beginning. As we now know, the earth was created in such a beautiful state that the angels sang and shouted for joy. There was obviously a gap of time between the beautiful earth of Genesis 1:1 and the chaotic and wasted earth of Genesis 1:2. This gap of time is the Pre-Adamic Age. It is illogical, unbiblical and an insult to God's wisdom and His creative power to suggest, as Young Earth Creationists do, that God had to first create the earth without form, void, dark and in a totally flooded state before proceeding to finish the rest of His creation. Let us now go on to see that Genesis 1:2 speaks of God's global judgement, which was of even greater severity than Noah's Flood. The Hebrew words tohuw and bohuw occur together in the same verse only twice in the Bible. The first time is in Genesis 1:2 and the second time is in Jeremiah 4:23. Jeremiah 4:5-28 is a prophecy of God's horrific judgement against Israel and against the whole world. Jeremiah was inspired to write about future events that will come to pass in this present age, during the final period of the Great Tribulation at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Our readers are advised to refer to Jeremiah 4:5-28 in their own Bible to note the following points. Verses 6 and 7 say that God will bring disaster and destruction from the north upon Israel. Israel will become desolate, and its cities will be laid waste. Verse 8 says that the fierce anger of the Lord will not be turned back. Verse 12 says that God will speak judgement against the people of Jerusalem. Verse 13 speaks about the return of Jesus Christ on the clouds. Verses 14 to 18 speak about people's wickedness. Verse 20 says that God will bring destruction upon destruction. We now come to the key verse Jeremiah 4:23: Jeremiah 4:23 I beheld the earth, and indeed it was without form (tohuw), and void (bohuw); And the heavens, they had no light. Notice that Jeremiah saw the whole earth in a state of tohuw and bohuw, which means chaotic and wasted. Also, he saw the heavens had no light, meaning that the earth was plunged into total darkness. The state of the earth, which Jeremiah saw, closely resembled the description of it as given in Genesis 1:2, except that there was no global flooding. This is because God promised never to flood the earth again following Noah's flood. However, we will soon see that God's tohuw and bohuw judgement was and will be massively more cataclysmic than Noah's flood. Let us continue to read the next five verses, Jeremiah 24-28, in order to clearly understand what the future tohuw and bohuw judgement will involve. Jeremiah 4:24-28 24 I beheld the mountains, and indeed they trembled, And all the hills moved back and forth. 25 I beheld, and indeed there was no man, And all the birds of the heavens had fled. 26 I beheld, and indeed the fruitful land was a wilderness, And all its cities were broken down At the presence of the LORD, by His fierce anger. 27 For thus says the LORD "The whole land shall be desolate; Yet I will not make a full end. 28 For this shall the earth mourn, And the heavens above be black, Because I have spoken. I have purposed and will not relent, Nor will I turn back from it. Please bear in mind that in these verses, Jeremiah is speaking about the future judgement against this present world, at the return of Jesus Christ. Notice the future tohuw and bohuw judgement will not only involve the sun being darkened but also the mountains will shake and hills will be moved out of their place, and the earth will be reduced to a wilderness. This tohuw and bohuw judgement against the whole earth prophesied by Jeremiah is also described in Revelation 6:12-17. Revelation 6:12-17 12 I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood. 13 And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. 14 Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. 15 And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, 16 and said to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17 For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand? Notice the similarities of John's vision in this Revelation account above, with Jeremiah's prophecy. There will be a great earthquake, and every mountain and island will move out of its place, also, the sun will become black, and the stars (meteorites) will fall on this earth. Please also note that this judgement will be so horrific as to cause people to hide from the face of the returning Jesus Christ. This also agrees with Jeremiah 4:25 where he beheld no man. Jesus Christ also spoke about the tohuw and bohuw judgement against the whole earth. Matthew 24:29-30 29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. Notice the close similarities between this Matthew account, John's Revelation account and the Jeremiah account. They all speak of God's global tohuw and bohuw judgement, at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. By putting together the scriptures Jeremiah 4:24-28, Revelation 6:12-17 and Matthew 24:29-30, we can clearly see that the future tohuw and bohuw judgement at the end of this present age, will be absolutely cataclysmic involving the powers of the heavens being shaken, the stars (meteorites) falling onto earth, the sun and the moon being darkened, great earthquakes causing every mountain and every island to shake and move out of its place, a great global devastation of the earth's surface causing chaos and waste, massive destruction of all types of life, and surviving unbelievers so terrified that they hide away from the face of the returning Jesus Christ and His wrath. There should now be no doubt in the minds of our readers that Genesis 1:2 is also the description of a horrific and cataclysmic tohuw and bohuw judgement, which God carried out during the Pre-Adamic Age, and that there is indeed an age-gap between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2. Let us now clearly see from scripture, and understand that the reason why the earth suffered such a horrific cataclysmic tohuw and bohuw judgement in the Pre-Adamic Age, was because of the sins of angels. The Sins of Angels 2 Peter 2:4-6 is an account of three important historical judgements of God, which helps us to understand the consequence of sin. 2 Peter 2:4-6 4 For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell (tartaroo) and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; 5 and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly; 6 and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly. Sin has consequences and it brings judgement from God in the form of death and destruction. Please note that God did not spare the angels who sinned, and He did not spare the world of Noah or the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Who sinned first, angels or man? The fact that angels sinned before man cannot be disputed, because Satan was already a sinner and present in the Garden of Eden before Adam and Eve sinned. Young Earth Creationists deny even this obvious and basic truth, that sin first entered the world through angels and not through man. This obvious truth is confirmed by the historical sequence of the three judgements listed above, where the Bible places the sins of angels before the sins of man. Young Earth Creationism misunderstands and misinterprets Romans 5:12, when it blindly argues that sin and death first entered the world through man. Let us examine Romans 5:12 in detail, as it is one of three key 'proof texts' used by Young Earth Creationism to support its belief. The other two key 'proof texts' are Genesis 1:31 and Exodus 20:11, which we shall also fully cover and answer later in this chapter. Romans 5:12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned. This verse specifically speaks about the sin of one man affecting the whole of the human race. Sin entered the human world through one man, Adam, thus death spread to all men. Young Earth Creationism misuses the text Romans 5:12 by linking it to God's global judgement of death and destruction caused by Noah's flood. This verse has nothing whatsoever to do with Noah's flood, which brought about worldwide death. It was not Adam's sin that caused God to destroy Noah's world, but the wickedness of people living during the time of Noah. (Genesis 6:5) Romans Chapter 5 is all about the powerful truth of universal reconciliation of all men through Jesus Christ, and this chapter has nothing at all to do with Noah's flood. (Romans 5:18-19) The Consequence of the Sins of Angels Let us now see that the tohuw and bohuw global judgment, described in Genesis 1:2, was the consequence of the sins of angels in the Pre-Adamic world. As we have seen previously, the Pre-Adamic earth was created in such a beautiful and perfect condition that the angels responded with singing and shouts of joy. Actually, God created the earth with breathtaking beauty as it had every precious stone in it, and a garden called Eden. Ezekiel 28:13 You were in Eden, the garden of God; Every precious stone was your covering: The sardius, topaz, and diamond, Beryl, onyx, and jasper, Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes Was prepared for you on the day you were created. This verse is speaking of Lucifer who became Satan. Please note that Lucifer was placed in Eden, the Garden of God, and he had every precious stone as his covering. Lucifer was a leading angel who was placed in God's Garden of Eden on the beautifully created earth, which God created in the beginning with the rest of the universe. The Bible actually speaks of three gardens of Eden in three different Ages. There was the first Garden of Eden in the Pre-Adamic Age, as the verse above confirms. There was a second Garden of Eden in the Adamic-Age (Genesis 2:15) and there will be a third Garden of Eden in the coming Millennial Age of Jesus Christ. (Ezekiel 36:35) A garden has both plant and animal life, thus God created the Pre-Adamic world with both plants and animals. The enormous deposits and reservoirs, under the earth's surface, of fossil fuels coal, oil and gas, show that the Pre-Adamic earth was absolutely teeming with both plant and animal life. Ezekiel 28:14-15 14 You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones. 15 You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, Till iniquity was found in you. Lucifer was God's anointed cherub, and he was created perfect in his ways. Everything changed when Lucifer sinned. Isaiah 14:12-15 12 How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations! 13 For you have said in your heart: 'I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north; 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.' 15 Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, To the lowest depths of the Pit. We see from these verses that Lucifer became proud and coveted the throne of God. He wanted to ascend from earth, above the clouds and the stars right up to the throne of God in heaven to become equal with God. He led a rebellion convincing a third of the angels to support him. (Revelation 12:4) The Bible says that a war broke out in heaven between the holy angels led by Michael and the fallen angels led by Satan. Revelation 12:7-9 7 And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, 8 but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. 9 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. The verses above are speaking about a war between armies of millions of angels. We are speaking about an angelic war with massive destructive power at the angels' command. This angelic war was started in heaven but finished on earth. It is clear that the earth suffered cataclysmic violence of unimaginable proportion because of this war, which resulted in Satan and his fallen angels being cast back down to earth by God. We can now confidently conclude that when the Bible says in Genesis 1:2: 'The earth became chaotic and wasted and darkness was on the face of the deep...', that the Bible is speaking about God's cataclysmic tohuw and bohuw global judgement because of the sins and rebellion of Satan and the fallen angels. This all happened in the Pre-Adamic Age. The First 24-hour Day of the Adamic Age The rest of the Genesis account of creation Genesis 1:3-31 makes complete sense, once we have understood that God darkened the sun and withdrew its light in His tohuw and bohuw Pre-Adamic judgement because of the sins of Satan and the fallen angels. In Genesis 1:3-5, we find that God reintroduced the light of the sun to shine onto the earth's surface. Genesis 1:3-5 3 Then 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 God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day. It is clear and it logically follows that when God said, "Let there be light" in verse 3 above, it must have been the light of the sun, which God had previously withheld. We know for certain that the sun had already been created in the beginning, as the very first verse of the Bible says. This beginning when the sun was created was many millions of years ago, as star distances prove. After the cataclysmic destruction of the earth's surface in the Pre-Adamic Age, which we read about in Genesis 1:2, God began the next Age in His plan of the Ages. As we have seen in the previous chapter, God's Plan of the Ages consists of seven Ages for the reconciliation of all things in heaven and on earth through Jesus Christ. When God began the second Age, the Adamic Age, He renewed the earth's surface and its atmosphere, then He created plant and animal life, and finally God created mankind for the first time, as described in the six-day creation account of Genesis 1:3-31. This happened approximately six thousand years ago. Understanding Important BEGINNINGS in God's Plan of the Ages Let us now understand more about some important beginnings in God's Plan of the Ages. Young Earth Creationists confuse the beginning of the Pre-Adamic Age, which happened many millions of years ago with the beginning of the Adamic Age, which happened only approximately six thousand years ago. The Bible speaks of several important beginnings in God's Plan of the Ages for reconciliation of all things in heaven and on earth through Jesus Christ. John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The beginning referred to in John 1:1 above is not the same beginning referred to in Genesis 1:1. In the verse above, God is referring to the beginning in past eternity before time began, before the creation of angels and before the creation of the heavens and the earth. This was when God first formulated His Plan for universal reconciliation through Jesus Christ. The Bible says that Christ died from the foundation of the world. Obviously, John 1:1 is not speaking about the beginning of Jesus Christ, because Jesus Christ as God does not have a beginning or an end. Genesis 1:1 refers to the beginning of time, many millions of years ago, when God first created the heavens and the earth. This also marked the beginning of the Pre-Adamic Age in God's Plan of the Ages. Genesis 1:3-5 refers to the first 24-hour day in the beginning of the Adamic Age, the second Age after God destroyed the Pre-Adamic world through God's global tohuw and bohuw judgement because of the sins of angels. The Adamic Age started approximately six thousand years ago. Genesis 9:1 refers to the beginning of the third Age, which is the Age from Noah to the First Coming of Jesus Christ. This Age began after God destroyed Noah's world through a global flood, approximately four thousand three hundred years ago. John 19:30 refers to the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross, and the beginning of the gospel of grace universally available to all people. It also marks the beginning of the fourth Age, which is the present Age, the Age between the First Coming and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Daniel 2:44, and Revelation 11:15 refer to the beginning of the Millennial Age, after Jesus Christ destroys our present world with His global tohuw and bohuw judgement, at His Second Coming. Revelation 21:1-6 refers to the completion of God's Plan for the reconciliation of all things in heaven and on earth through Jesus Christ and the beginning of God's Eternal Kingdom of the New Heaven and the New Earth. Since Young Earth Creationists do not understand that the beginning of time was many millions of years ago at the start of the Pre-Adamic Age, they hopelessly struggle to explain Genesis 1:3-5, as they try to explain their false belief that God created the first 24-hour day and night without first creating the sun. Understanding the Six 24-hour Days of the Genesis Creation Account Let us go on to understand that there is absolutely no contradiction whatsoever between Genesis 1:1, where it is says that God created the heavens and the earth in the beginning, and Genesis 1:14-19 where it says that God made the sun, the moon and the stars on the fourth day. Once we see and understand that the whole of the six day creation account is written from man's earthly perspective rather than from a cosmic perspective, then the scriptures become clear and everything make sense. Before we examine the six 24-hour days of the Genesis creation account, let us first remind ourselves that the earth was created in the beginning, many millions of years ago, in a beautiful state as God's Garden of Eden, teeming with both plant and animal life and with Lucifer placed in charge as the leading angel. This beautiful garden environment was destroyed as a result of God's global tohuw and bohuw judgement, when Lucifer and his angels, who became Satan and his fallen angels, were cast back down to earth because of their rebellion and sins against God. The earth became a chaotic, wasted, lifeless, desolate and flooded planet, and it was plunged into total darkness because God withheld the sun's light and consequently its heat from the earth. Hence the earth was freezing cold and completely covered in ice; it was a global Ice Age. Day One(Genesis 1:3-5) - God reintroduces the light of the sun to reach and shine on the surface of the deep frozen waters of the flooded earth. The effect of this heat and sudden change in temperature resulted in the start of a massive global melting of the ice. The ice must have been so thick that the Spirit of God first needed to shake, break and soften the ice to prepare for and assist the melting process. We believe this is the correct meaning of the Hebrew word rachaph where it says in Genesis 1:2 'And the Spirit of God was hovering (rachaph) over the face of the waters (ice)'. This meaning of rachaph which is to shake, break and soften, is confirmed from Strong's number H7363 and by its use in Jeremiah 23:9, where it says 'All my bones shake (rachaph). I am like a drunken man'. So the 'hovering' of the Spirit of God over the face of the waters (ice) was not a gentle movement of the Spirit of God, but an active shaking and breaking of the surface of the deep ice. This was in preparation for the great melt which took place once the light of the sun was reintroduced onto the earth's surface on Day One. Day Two (Genesis 1:5-8) - God forms the firmament by lifting the 'waters from the waters'. The firmament refers to the space or expanse within the earth's atmosphere between the earth's surface and the cloud strata, which God formed using the process of evaporation, when the heat of the sunlight caused vast volumes of water vapour to rise up from the surface of the melt-waters to form dense dark clouds in the sky. Day Three (Genesis 1:9-12) - God forms the dry land by causing the melt-waters to recede from the flooded earth. He also causes plant life on land to start germinating in this warm, humid, cloud-darkened and cocooned environment. Day Four Genesis 1:14-19 14 Then God said, "Let there be lights in the firmament (the space between the earth's surface and the clouds) of the heavens (the earth's atmosphere) to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years; 15 and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth"; and it was so. 16 Then God made (asah) two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also. 17 God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on 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 So the evening and the morning were the fourth day. At the beginning of Day Four, God said, "Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven". Therefore, we can certainly conclude that by the end of Day Three the firmament of the heaven (the space between the earth's surface and the clouds) was completely darkened by the dense clouds formed on Day Two. These clouds blocked out all light - sunlight, moonlight and starlight - from reaching the firmament and the earth's surface. Therefore, on Day Four God thinned and dispersed these dense dark clouds so that sunlight, moonlight and starlight could shine through the firmament onto the earth's surface. So from an earthly perspective, the sun, the moon and the stars were made (asah) on Day Four 'for signs and seasons, and for days and years' for the benefit of mankind. Notice that verse 17 above, does not say that God created these lights on Day Four, but that He set these lights in the firmament, meaning that He made them appear in the firmament. We know from the very first verse of the Bible, Genesis 1:1, that these lights were created in the beginning and not on Day Four. Day Five (Genesis 1:20-23) - God creates sea life and bird life. Day Six (Genesis 1:20-23) - God creates animal life and human life on land. The pinnacle of God's creation was the creation of man in God's own image. The Important Difference between the Hebrew Words Bara and Asah Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created (bara) the heavens and the earth. The inspired Hebrew word for create in Genesis 1:1 is bara, when God created the heavens and the earth in the beginning. However, the inspired Hebrew word for make in Genesis 1:16 is asah, when God made the sun, the moon and the stars to be set in the firmament, on Day Four of the six-day creation week. These two accounts are not contradictory as they refer to two different situations. The first account of creation in Genesis 1:1 relates to the beginning of time, many millions of years ago at the start of the Pre-Adamic Age, when God instantaneously created the heavens and the earth. The second account of making the sun, the moon and the stars in Genesis 1:16 relates to the appearance from an earthly perspective of the sun, the moon and the stars in the sky on Day Four approximately six thousand years ago, at the start of the Adamic Age. The single most important 'proof text' used by Young Earth Creationists is Exodus 20:11. Let us examine this verse in detail, and show you that it is also misunderstood and mistranslated by Young Earth Creationists. Exodus 20:11 For in six days the LORD made (asah) the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. God is consistent. In this verse, we see that the inspired Hebrew word used is asah and not bara to refer to the making of and not the creation of the heavens and the earth in six days. The Hebrew word bara occurs 54 times in the Old Testament. However, despite what Young Earth Creationists say, bara and asah are not used interchangeably in the Bible with respect to the heavens and the earth. The creation (bara) of the heavens and the earth always means the instantaneous creation of them, which God carried out at His command in the beginning, before time began, many millions of years ago. The making (asah) of the heavens and the earth always means the renewal, which God carried out over a period of six 24-hour days, approximately six thousand years ago at the start of the Adamic Age. Please note we are not saying that the words bara and asah are not used interchangeably with regard to the creation of life in the six day creation account. The Bible is clear that God is both our Creator and our Maker. However, the Bible makes a clear distinction when using the Hebrew words bara and asah with respect to the heavens and the earth. The account of God creating (bara) the heavens and the earth in the beginning should not be confused with the account of God making (asah) the heavens and the earth in six days. We shall now prove this point by using relevant scriptures. There are only five places in the Bible where the context clearly shows that bara is specifically used to denote the instantaneous creation of the heavens and the earth in the beginning. These five places are Genesis 1:1, Genesis 2:3-4, Psalm 148:5, Isaiah 42:5 and Isaiah 45:18. We have already looked at Genesis 1:1, and Psalm 148:5. Let us now also look at Genesis 2:3-4. Genesis 2:3-4 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created (bara) and made (asah). 4 This is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created (bara), in the day that the LORD God made (asah) the earth and the heavens. These two verses clearly demonstrate the distinction in the use of the inspired Hebrew words (bara) and (asah), and show that they are not interchangeable when relating to the heavens and the earth. Please note, in verse 3, that God rested from all His work, which He had created and made. The Holy Spirit would not have used (bara) and (asah) in the same sentence, one following the other, if they had both meant the same thing and were interchangeable. It is clear that there is a distinction between these two words. This distinction is reinforced in Genesis 2:4 above, when relating these two words to the heavens and the earth. Please note, that the history (the Hebrew word also means generations) of the heavens and the earth includes both their creation and their making. This verse demonstrates that the instantaneous creation (bara) of the heavens and the earth in the beginning was followed by the making (asah) of the heavens and the earth in six days, which is referred to as 'the day'. This verse agrees with both Genesis 1:1 and Exodus 20:11. The Hebrew word asah occurs 2,633 times in the Old Testament. However, there are approximately only twenty places in the Bible where asha is used to refer to the making of the heavens and the earth, when God renewed them in six days. We have already considered three out of the twenty places: Genesis 1:16, Exodus 20:11 and Genesis 2:3-4. Let us consider one more example, Nehemiah 9:6. Nehemiah 9:6 You alone are the LORD; You have made (asah) heaven, The heaven of heavens, with all their host, The earth and everything on it, The seas and all that is in them, And You preserve them all. The host of heaven worships You. This verse obviously refers to the heavens and the earth, which were renewed in six-days as described in Genesis 1:3-31. Please note that the inspired Hebrew word asah and not bara is used, referring to the making rather than the creating of the heavens and the earth. Nehemiah could only be praising God for the renewed heavens and the earth which he saw from man's earthly perspective and which God made (asah) approximately six thousand years ago. So, we can see from scripture that God makes a clear distinction between the Hebrew words bara and asah when referring to the heavens and the earth. This is to reveal the truth of the Pre-Adamic Age, and his tohuw and bohuw judgement against Satan and the fallen angels because of their rebellion against God. It was Very Good Let us now examine the third key scripture used by Young Earth Creationists as a 'proof text' in support of their belief. Genesis 1:31 Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day. Young Earth Creationism argues that God could not have pronounced that everything was very good in the Garden of Eden if there had been evidence of death and destruction in the form of millions of animal fossils, underneath the earth's surface. This is an erroneous argument, which is easily refuted by referring to Jeremiah 31:40. Jeremiah 31:40 And the whole valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes, and all the fields as far as the Brook Kidron, to the corner of the Horse Gate toward the east, shall be holy to the LORD. It shall not be plucked up or thrown down anymore forever. Jeremiah 31 is a prophecy about the coming Millennial Kingdom of God to this earth, following the Great Tribulation of death and destruction. The first thing God will do is to rebuild the city of Jerusalem. Please note that the whole valley of dead bodies will be HOLY to the Lord, and Holy obviously means that it is also very good in the Lord's eyes. Would Young Earth Creationists argue with God that He does not have the right to make the valley of dead bodies holy? In fact, God will turn all of the desolate, wasted and ruined places including the valley of dead bodies into a very good Garden of Eden during His Millennial Kingdom on this earth. Ezekiel 36:35 So they will say, 'This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden; and the wasted, desolate, and ruined cities are now fortified and inhabited.' As we have seen, Young Earth Creationists have misunderstood and misinterpreted all of their three key proof texts, Romans 5:12, Exodus 20:11 and Genesis 1:31, which they use to support their false understanding. Young Earth Creationists reject God's Pre-Adamic tohuw and bohuw judgement against Satan and the fallen angels. Let us now go on to see that the earth's geology abundantly supports this Pre-Adamic global judgement. Earth's Geology supports God's Global Judgements The Bible speaks of two past global catastrophes and two past mass extinctions of life in the history of the earth, first in Lucifer's World, and then in Noah's World. So we should therefore expect the earth's geology to have sufficient evidence to prove that both these global judgements of God occurred. Many scientists worldwide, in increasing numbers, now believe in a theory proposed in 1980 by physicist Luis Alvarez and his son Walter Alvarez, a geologist, that a mass extinction of plant and animal species occurred as a result of a huge asteroid impacting the earth's surface, at the end of the Cretaceous period sixty-five million years ago. This is known as the K-T extinction event. The following quote summaries the general scientific belief about this K-T extinction event. 'The Alvarezes' primary evidence is a superabundance of iridium in the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary (KT boundary), a thin rock stratum dividing Cretaceous rocks from those of the later Tertiary period. In the Alvarezes' scenario, an asteroid 10 kilometers in diameter struck the earth at high velocity, forming a crater 150 kilometers wide. In addition to the immediate devastation of tidal waves, global fires, and giant storms, impact debris hurled into the atmosphere at high altitude spread around the Earth, preventing sunlight from reaching the ground. With photosynthesis blocked, herbivorous and carnivorous species died as the food chain was snapped at its base.' It is interesting yet not surprising that this scientific theory supports the Bible's account of God's global tohuw and bohuw judgement in the Pre-Adamic World, against Satan and the fallen angels as they were cast back down to earth. We know from scripture that God's global tohuw and bohuw judgement involved the powers of the heavens being shaken and stars (meteorites and asteroids) falling on earth. Do you know that the Bible is amazingly clear that the earth will be struck once again by a huge asteroid in the future tohuw and bohuw judgement during the Great Tribulation, prior to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ? Revelation 9:1-2 1 Then the fifth angel sounded: And I saw a star (an asteroid) fallen from heaven to the earth. To him (the angel) was given the key to the bottomless pit. 2 And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace. So the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit. Please note the close similarities between Revelation 9:1-2 and the Alvarezes' theory, which supports God's first tohuw and bohuw judgement in Genesis 1:2. In particular, note the similarity of an asteroid impacting the earth's surface and causing the sun and the air to be darkened as a result of debris and smoke being hurled into the atmosphere. We are not geologists but, as Bible believers in the Pre-Adamic Age, we can see that the earth's geology overwhelmingly supports God's global judgement against Lucifer's world. It was massively cataclysmic with such upheavals that even the seabeds were raised to form sedimentary fold mountains like the Himalayas. Also, these upheavals caused the formation of other impressive geological features such as the huge and deep Grand Canyon. In addition, the earth's strata folded, trapping dense forests, which resulted in vast deposits and reservoirs of fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas. Earth's rocks contain millions of fossils of sea and land animals. These include some amazingly huge animal fossils, like woolly mammoths and dinosaurs, which must have roamed the Pre-Adamic world. Many scientists believe that these animals suffered a sudden and abrupt extinction, many millions of years ago. It is highly significant that no human fossils have been found alongside dinosaurs, woolly mammoths or other animal fossils. This does not surprise us, as it upholds the biblical truth that God did not create human beings in the Pre-Adamic Age. It is clear from Genesis 1:2 that God's global judgement against Lucifer's world resulted in an Ice Age, which is abundantly supported by earth's geology. It appears that there is very little geological evidence that has survived in support of the global flood of God's judgement against Noah's world. This is because Noah's world did not suffer a global tohuw and bohuw judgement. The powers of the heavens were not shaken, and there were no cataclysmic upheavals of the earth's surface, such that mountains were formed. Also, there was no withdrawal or darkening of the sun to cause global freezing. In order to form fossils, living organisms need to be buried quickly between two layers of rocks and/or quickly frozen before the natural process of decay can take place. Geologists have failed to discover fossils in any vast number, which they consider to be only a few thousand years old. The fact that no human fossils have been found in any number anywhere on earth proves that Noah's world did not suffer a global tohuw and bohuw judgement. In describing Noah's flood, when the Bible says in Genesis 7:11, 'On that day all the fountains of the great deep were broken', it does not mean that great earthquakes and volcanic activities occurred. However, there has to have been a great release of subterranean water (the great deep) which, together with the rain, caused the whole earth to be flooded. We must not forget that God needed to protect Noah, his family and all the animals in the Ark. It is therefore clear that it was not the judgement against Noah's world, but the judgement against Lucifer's world that caused massive cataclysmic upheavals of the earth's surface, which have shaped the earth's geology that bears witness for all of us to see today. Young Earth Creationism uses Noah's Flood as a catchall solution to explain all of earth's geology. In order to fit with Noah's Flood, Young Earth Creationism must massage, manipulate and assume scientific data to explain many of the earth's geological features, such as sedimentary and volcanic mountains, fossil fuels, dinosaurs, the Ice Age and millions of animal fossils like woolly mammoths found in ice. Also, it has no valid explanation for the lack of human fossils in the geological record. High hills and mountains already existed before Noah's Flood, as the Bible clearly tells us. Noah must have used tons of pitch to cover and seal the incredibly huge Ark and, as pitch is derived from coal and oil, this proves that fossil fuels preceded Noah's Flood and that they are the products of God's judgement in the Pre-Adamic Age. Young Earth Creationism tries to unconvincingly explain the Ice Age as a post Noah's Flood event, yet the Bible clearly speaks about an Ice Age in the second verse of the Bible. Where Young Earth Creationism really comes unstuck is when we consider star distances. It is forced to admit that it has no answer to the fact that star distances undoubtedly prove that the earth is millions of years old. Creation versus Evolution God of the Bible is the Creator of all. He commands and things happen. There is not a hint anywhere in the Bible that God used evolution to create life. As we reject Young Earth Creationism, we also reject Theistic Evolution, Progressive Creationism, and Day-Age Creationism. The Big Bang theory, which teaches that the universe began with an explosion of a primeval atom, is unbiblical and nonsensical. How can the vast universe with billions of galaxies and stars and our beautiful earth with its amazingly complex and intricate design and life, come from an explosion of one tiny atom? Where did this primeval atom originate in the first place? The truth of the Bible that God created the universe and the earth in the beginning instantaneously, many millions of years ago, makes a lot more sense than the Big Bang theory. Scientists worldwide are increasingly beginning to realise that they must rethink and include catastrophic events in their philosophy of uniformitarianism. This is a scientific theory that geological processes operating at present are the same processes that operated in the past, and that there have been no catastrophic events in earth's history. Uniformitarianism is commonly described as 'The present is the key to the past'. Scientists are now beginning to accept that geological evidence shows that catastrophic events did take place in earth's history and that 'the present is not always the key to the past'. Christians need not reject uniformitarianism outright because it must have played a part in the shaping of earth's geology, as the earth is many millions of years old. However, it is clear that earth's geology has been mainly shaped as a result of God's global cataclysmic tohuw and bohuw judgement described in Genesis 1:2. We believe that a Christian who is a knowledgeable geological scientist, and who understands and accepts the truth of the Pre-Adamic world lasting many millions of years, is in the best position to correctly understand earth's geology. The correct biblical understanding of the Genesis account of creation and acknowledgement of the Pre-Adamic World is the best and the only way to fight the false theory of evolution, taught in our schools and universities. We believe that the case for evolution will be immensely weakened once Christians worldwide accept and preach the biblical truth, that God created the universe and the earth in the beginning many millions of years ago. We appreciate that Young Earth Creationists are passionate in their belief that the Bible is the infallible word of God, God is a Creator God and that evolution is a false theory. However, the sad irony is that Young Earth Creationism, with its false interpretation of creation, itself supplies evolutionists and atheists with all the ammunition they need to ridicule the Bible as being contradictory, illogical and scientifically nonsensical. Young Earth Creationists are sincere, but they are sincerely wrong with flawed creation theology. They are misleading many Christians by teaching that the literal interpretation of the Bible demands a belief in a young earth of only six thousand years. The truth is that Young Earth Creationists are blind to the literal meaning of the first two verses of the Genesis account of Creation. They falsely arrive at an age of the earth and the universe of only six thousand years, instead of millions of years. The first two verses of the Bible are of prime importance in understanding the Genesis account of Creation. These verses reveal that God created the universe and the earth in the beginning instantaneously, many millions of years ago, and that there was a Pre-Adamic world, teeming with plant and animal life, which God flooded and destroyed because of the sins of Satan and his fallen angels. It is only by accepting the revelation in these first two verses of the Bible Genesis 1:1-2 that Christians can clearly, logically, scientifically and geologically argue against the false theories of the Big-Bang and Evolution. In May 2007, Young Earth Creationists opened the $27 million 'Creation Museum' in Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky. We are in no doubt that this museum will unleash further ridicule and opposition from educational establishments worldwide against the Bible as the Word of God and further hinder world evangelism. It is a sad and tragic irony that a group of Christians, in their misdirected blind zeal, are the very cause of hindering belief in the Word of God. Young Earth Creationism has yet to discover the literal biblically correct 'Answers in Genesis' and in the Bible; the answers, which are not only very logical but also scientifically and geologically defensible; the answers, which not only protect but also enhance the credibility of the Bible as the Word of God. We welcome your input. Please CONTACT US if you would like to make any comments on this or any other chapter in our on-line book, 'God's Plan for All'     Copyright © 2005 All rights reserved GOD'S PLAN FOR ALL