ofwgen1

Gen. 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

In the beginning, the first three words in Genesis are translated from the Hebrew word re'shiyth (Strong's No. 7225) which means beginning, so that means the words "in the" were added by the translators. Presumably for clarity, or so they thought. The addition of words by translators is common throughout the Bible with mixed results. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't. There are cases where it only serves to muddy the waters so to speak, and it obscures the original intent of the writer. In general, when you encounter a situation where words have been added to the text you should question it and do some research. In most Bibles the additions are the words in italics. In this case adding the words "in the" works very well.

It is interesting to note some of the different ways that the word re'shiyth is translated elsewhere in the Bible. It is used 51 times and is translated beginning 18 times, firstfruits 11 times, first 9 times, chief 8 times, and some other things 5 times. Curiously, it has its source in an unused root meaning to shake and that could be meaningful as you will soon see.

How much information is contained within this short first verse of the Bible? God only knows to a certainty, but let's work with it a little. On the surface its premise is simple. It states who is responsible for the creation of all things, and I guess that volumes could be written on that subject. But it is also a lead-in to the critical verse that follows it which suggests a super-colossal disruption of that creation.

Now, most bible scholars and students take verse 1 to be talking about all of creation, but what if it wasn't? What if it was referring only to planet Earth and its atmosphere? Received opinion and received knowledge would have us believe that its subject is the entire universe but they are not always right. The truth is that there are always other possibilities and alternate explanations in nearly everything.

Take the word God in this verse for instance. Most Christians and Jews, and I assume most Muslims, believe that God here is the one and only true Almighty God. But the word God here is translated from the Hebrew word 'elohim (Strong's No. 430) which is a plural noun. It basically means gods, even though it is akin to the singular 'El (Strong's No. 410) which refers to a mighty God the Creator, and 'Eloah which defines Him as both "El and Yah, the Creator and the Covenant God Yahweh, or the I AM.

In the Old Testament 'elohim is translated God 2,346 times, god 244 times, judge 5 times, GOD 1 time, goddess 2 times, and some other things 8 times. Notice that these translations are all singular nouns, but the word 'elohim is plural. So, what gives? Could it actually be that there was more than one godlike person involved in the creation? I think so, with confidence.

The word created in verse 1 is translated from the Hebrew word bara' (Strong's No. 1254) and basically means to create, but it is not always translated that way. It is translated create 8 times, created 33 times, createth 1 time, creator 3 times, choose 2 times, make 2 times, cutdown 2 times, dispatch 1 time, done 1 time, and make fat 1 time. Some of these may look a little far-out but almost any word, especially in the English language, can have various meanings depending on the context in which it is used. Some of these are undoubtedly figures of speech called idioms that were in common usage in King James day. Like cutdown and make fat. Actually, the entire KJV is literally filled with figures of speech and idioms that are from both Biblical times and the time of King James, so your work is cut out for you.

Heaven should be heavens. It is translated from the plural Hebrew noun shamayim (Strong's No. 8064) and means all of the heavens above the Earth, the sky (both day and night) the air or atmosphere, as well as the mystical Heaven where God dwells. It comes from an unused root meaning to be lofty. It is translated alternately as heaven or heavens 398 times, and air 21 times.

The word earth is translated from the Hebrew word 'erets (Strong's No. 776) and means earth as land, or the ground. It comes from an unused root probably meaning to be firm. It is translated land 1,543 times, earth 712 times, country 140 times, ground 98 times, world 4 times, and some other things 7 times.

So, as you can probably see by now, there is more than one way the first verse in the Bible can be construed. It could be translated just as it is in the Bible, or it could be stated otherwise and still be correct based on the various word meanings.

For instance it could read:

Gen. 1:1 First, the Creators made the atmosphere and the land.

Or perhaps:

Gen. 1:1 First, the Gods made the skies and the earth.

Or even:

Gen. 1:1 At first, the mighty Ones created the air and the ground.

Any of these, and there could be more variations, would change the whole meaning from what is conventionally thought concerning this first verse of Genesis. Work with it, and don't be afraid to explore the possibilities. Especially since so much knowledge is available today concerning the origin of the universe, and that which makes the Earth what it is, and why it is.

As stated above, some think, as I have in the past, that this first verse is all about the initial creation of the universe about 15 billion years ago, give or take a couple of eons. But now it seems to me that it is more likely talking about the Earth and its atmosphere, and not necessarily about the whole universe.

There is no inference or suggestion of disorder or chaos in this first verse concerning the original creation. Now, having said that, and with those things in mind, let's move on to verse 2 where we will see an entirely different situation.

Gen. 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.

The word translated Earth here in verse 2 is 'erets, the same as in verse 1, but the words following it are very interesting indeed. Was is translated from the Hebrew word hayah (Strong's No. 1961) and means to exist, to be, was, came, come to pass, become, and several other things.

The words without form are translated from the Hebrew word tohuw (Strong's No. 8414) and means a desolation, a worthless thing, confusion, empty place, without form, nothing, wilderness and a few other things. It is from an unused root meaning to lie waste.

The word void is translated from the Hebrew word bohuw (Strong's No. 922) and means void, empty, emptiness, waste, and ruin. It comes from an unused root meaning to be empty.

So then, the Hebrew in the first clause of Gen. 1:2 transliterated to English is 'erets tohuw va bohuw, and could be translated as earth became desolate and empty [of life];

Very interesting when you consider the possibilities.

One could assume an orderly and perfect creation in verse 1, but here in verse 2 chaos is indicated. In fact, when you examine the verse closely, that is stating it too mildly. Something is terribly wrong here! Massive and catastrophic destruction of the Earth, and life upon it, is revealed. The specific event that caused it is not given, but it seems in verse 2 that the Earth has essentially become a vast wasteland covered with water. That is why I think that the so-called days of creation that follow are not a record of a primary creation at all, but are actually things describing the logical restoration of the Earth's ecology, and life within it, after it had been utterly destroyed.

Don't be shocked or surprised. Scientists tell us that the Earth has gone through massive destruction in the past, and the desolation mentioned in verse 2 above was not the first time. And I might add that it was not the final one either. The Bible is literally full of prophetical statements predicting a violent end to the existing world age and the establishment of a new heaven and a new Earth.

Now, be sharp and pay attention. At this juncture I want to briefly lay out the rest of the chapter to make it simpler for you to understand. Basically it tells us that in the beginning God created the heavens and the Earth (verse 1), but something catastrophic happened to the Earth that ended the world age immediately preceding ours (verse 2), and a new ecology had to be established which ushered in a new and different environment, and a new Earth age, our present age now (verses 3-31). I hope that you can work with that idea because this lesson is based upon it.

Whatever you do, don't scoff at the concept and take it lightly. Like I said, scientific evidence indicates that the Earth has been destroyed numerous times in the past due to catastrophe, but it always came back again, and it exists today in perfect natural beauty except where man has interferred and caused problems.

Gen. 1:3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

The word translated God here is the same Hebrew word 'elohim as in verse 1. Let there be is the same as was in verse 2. Light is translated from the Hebrew word 'owr (Strong's No. 215) and basically means light, as in the light of day, and it is translated that way 94% of the time that it is used in the Old Testament. The subject here is light, but more than that, it is about sunshine. In other words, this verse is talking about restoring vital natural sunlight upon the surface of the Earth. Life, as we know it, cannot exist without it and God fully intended to fill our planet with life again.

How much atmosphere the Earth had at this time is not known, but the surface of the Earth was not getting light from the sun, or very little light from it. Sunshine, bright as it is, cannot effectively penetrate suspended water vapor, particulate matter, smoke, and other components which are always present following a major catastrophe. In this case, the area just above the surface of the Earth had to be absolutely filled with these things because it is apparent that sunlight could not get through to the surface. The atmosphere, whatever existed, had to be cleaned up to restore light to the Earth and that is what this verse is all about. Clearing the skies.

To begin restoration of life on Earth the logical first step would be to restore ample sunlight back upon the surface of the planet. That makes sense, doesn't it? Of course it does. It is basic biology.

Some also see theological meaning in this verse. They feel that it also applies to Christ as the Light of the world, and John certainly called Him the Light in the first verses of his gospel. I am absolutely sure that He was that Light, the Creator, the One who was in charge of the restoration, or re-creation of the Earth.

Gen. 1:4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

Gen. 1:5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

The only way to have day and night over the entire Earth is for it to spin. We don't really know how things were prior to the catastrophe but it is logical to assume that there was rotation to our planet regardless of its length, and it is entirely possible that rotation was disrupted. Rotation was established on this so-called first day, and that resulted in day and night as we know it.

As a point of interest, notice in verse 5 how that the evening is mentioned first and that the morning is mentioned second. That same statement is repeated thoughout each of these so-called days of creation. Why is that? Because Moses, or the scribe who wrote it, understood days in that context. Therefore, days in the Bible always begin at sundown each day, and end at sundown each day. In ancient times they didn't have clocks or chronometers so they used what they had, and what they had was the sun. Their work day ended with the going down of the sun and a new day began when the old one ended. Even today the Jewish sabbath begins at sundown on Friday and ends at sundown on Saturday, and that is a proper custom from a biblical point of view.

And, there is also something else about the events of this first day. They are perceived by some as conflicting with the events described on the fourth day starting in verse 14 below. Actually the perceived dilemma is based on a total misconception because the events described on the first day are different from those described on the fourth day. We will get to that shortly.

Now, let's summarize what we have covered so far.

Day one is not speaking of the creation of light. Light had already been around for billions of years from the very beginning of the universe. The events of day one are all about getting the light of the sun back upon the entire surface of our destroyed and desolated planet Earth, which is absolutely necessary for life to exist upon it. That required clean skies and at least some rotation.

Gen. 1:6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters

Gen. 1:7 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.

Gen. 1:8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

Verses 6 through 8 are a little difficult to understand and decipher, but they are concerning the atmosphere that envelops the Earth. Waters are used here to describe both liquid water, water vapor (suspended or in cloud form) and the gasses that make up our atmosphere. The modern concept of gasses or vapors was not known in Moses day, and probably not even by the King James translators.

There is the possibility that the air was not the proper balance of gasses and humidity to support life as we know it, especially the oxygen, carbon dioxide, hydrogen, nitrogen, and water vapor levels. All these had to be at acceptable levels before the flora and fauna could be introduced. We don't really know if the previous Earth age fauna and flora required the same levels as today. Their requirements may have been different to ours. It is more likely however, that the catastrophic event (or events) that annihilated the Earth produced imbalances in the atmosphere not conducive to life as we know it. It is also possible that there was little, if any, atmosphere left.

The word Heaven in verse 8 is the same as in verse 1, and should properly be understood as meaning the Earth's atmosphere, or skies. The word firmament in all these verses should be translated as expanse. Read the verses again using the word expanse in place of firmament and see if it doesn't make more sense.

So, now at the end of the second day the skies have been cleaned up, a livable atmosphere has been established, and sunlight is now reaching the surface in abundance. It is now time for the Creator to turn His attention to the water problem.

Gen. 1:9 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.

Gen. 1:10 And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.

Gen. 1:11 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.

Gen. 1:12 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.

Gen. 1:13 And the evening and the morning were the third day.

Verses 9 through 13 are self explanatory and need little commentary except to say that the events mentioned follow perfect logic in their sequencing.

First, the land and water had to be separated upon the surface to create a place for plants to grow. How that was accomplished is not given, but we do know that today there is a lot of water beneath the surface of the ground, and that it got there by soaking into the soil and rocks, or by draining into voids beneath the surface. In addition, because there was now abundant sunshine upon the surface normal evaporation was occurring then just as it does today.

After the land and water were separated the flora were introduced to the ecology, which would be required before animal life could be introduced. Certain insects may have also been placed upon the Earth at this time especially those which aid in the pollinization of plants.

Gen. 1:14 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:

Gen. 1:15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.

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.

Gen. 1:17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,

Gen. 1:18 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.

Gen. 1:19 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

Opponents of creation, and biblical scoffers in general, use verses 14 through 19 as an example of an inconsistency in the Bible by pointing out that what they propose is in conflict with what happened on day one. But their argument is flawed. What happened on day one and what is happening here on day four are not contradictory. The key to understanding this so-called fourth day of creation is revealed in the last clause of verse 14, and in verse 17. Again, the word firmament in verse 14 should be translated expanse.

The Creator was setting the orbit and the tilt of the Earth to, or near to, their present-day state. If there was wobble (yaw and pitch) He corrected for it. If the rotation needed fine tuning He would had done that at this time. After the adjustments were made days and years on Earth were set to their existing present-day lengths. That is assuming that they have not changed since He made these corrections on the fourth day.

The four seasons would now come and go on their respective solstice or equinox right down to the day. Life that was soon to come on the planet, as well as that which already existed, could now use the heavens for the signs and seasons that they would need for proper growth, migration, breeding, feeding and so forth. Mankind would even eventually use them as his calendar, especially for planting and harvesting, and later as signs of the zodiac in the heavens to proclaim and preserve the story of the coming Messiah.

As I stated above in the discourse on day one, the celestial heavens already existed and had for billions of years. On that first day the Creator made the light from the sun, moon, stars and planets to shine upon the surface of the Earth once again. Here on the fourth day we have something different. This is not creation of the heavenly bodies, but an adjustment of the Earth's orbit and attitude so that it would be in synchronicity with them. That way the sun, moon, stars, planets, and even comets and asteroids, would appear to us upon Earth at the same time, and the same place, according to their own related cycle through the heavens. Hence they could be used by all life forms for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and for years. Those times and cycles may change slightly in the coming world age.

Verse 16 is nothing more than a parenthetical statement identifying who created the heavenly bodies in the beginning. Who had created the celestial heavens had not been identified until now even though they had been in existence for eons and eons. As I have already suggested, the heaven mentioned in verse 1 above was probably referring to the Earth's atmosphere, not the celestial heavens.

Now, at this point in the restoration the groundwork had been laid so that aquatic life, amphibians, reptiles, insects, and birds could be placed upon the Earth.

Gen. 1:20 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.

In the last clause, replace firmament with expanse, and replace heaven with the skies.

Gen. 1:21 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.

Fowl can mean insects also. Insects have wings and they fly.

Gen. 1:22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.

Gen. 1:23 And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

No further commentary is necessary for the fifth day.

Gen. 1:24 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.

Gen. 1:25 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.

To even the casual reader it is obvious that these are land animals in verses 24 and 25, especially mammals. At this point in time everything had been placed upon the Earth except man, and now all the necessities that he would need are available to him. It is now time for hominids to appear once again.

What's that you ask? What do I mean "once again"? It is all very simple. This is a re-creation, remember? Hominids had already walked the face of the Earth in various forms for at least hundreds of thousands of years. Perhaps even a few million years in primitive forms. Who knows? But they were all extinct now. There was no hominid left alive on Earth after the catastrophe struck. In fact, it is very possible that there was no life at all on Earth after it was destroyed, except perhaps for the very lowest life forms such as bacteria, molds, mildews, and alga.

But now everything is ready for the appearance of a new kind of homonid, modern man homo sapien sapiens.

Gen. 1:26 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.

God here is that same Hebrew word 'elohim (Strong's No. 430), a plural noun meaning gods, the same word translated as God wherever found in this chapter. So, how many gods were involved in this so-called creation chapter? Who knows conclusively, but the word 'elohim could include all who were part of the Kingdom of God at that time.

Gen. 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

What image of God means here is subject to interpretation, and it has been assumed to mean more than one thing. Some say that this means we are spiritually like God, whatever that means. Others say that it means that our general physical appearance is like that of God. In other words, He has two arms, two legs, two eyes, two ears, and so forth. Whether it means either or both, we humans have certainly failed in the flesh to live up to whatever we were fashioned after.

Gen. 1:28 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.

Notice that we were given limited control. We were given a large brain that allowed us to gain knowledge and control over the fauna, and to a lesser extent over the flora, but it is apparent that we were not given total control, especially over the weather. As I am writing this, a monster hurricane called "Katrina" has just struck the Gulf Coast of the United States with incredible fury and destruction. Thousands have been killed, and hundred of thousands are homeless. It emphasizes the point that we were not given, and do not have, control of the elements. God Almighty has reserved that power for Himself.

(Late post script: The early reporting on Katrina was saying that thousands were missing and possibly killed. Later evidence shows that the death toll was lower than expected.)

Did you catch the word replenish in verse 28? Interesting, huh? It is translated from the Hebrew word male', or mala' (Strong's No. 4390) and basically means to fill, or be full. It is translated fill 107 times, full 48 times, fulfill 28 times, replenish 7 times, and some other things 59 times. That means it was translated replenish less than 3% of the time. What were the King James translators thinking? Is it possible that they knew of the former destruction of the Earth?

The word replenish might work here but the word fill would work better. Yes, it is true that hominids walked the Earth before the catastrophe, but I don't believe that they were created in the image of God like we are, and I don't believe that they filled the Earth. We are here for a specific purpose in this flesh body which resembles them but that is as far as it goes. To find out what that means go to ourfathersword.org and read the article entitled, What Is The Meaning Of Life?.

Gen. 1:29 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.

There has always been disagreement as to what God intended for us to eat. Some believe that here God gave us instruction to eat vegetation only, and it is interesting that no animals are mentioned in this particular verse. But it is also evident in later scriptures that God approved of man consuming certain specific kinds and parts of animal flesh also. It's possible that He started us off at first on a veggie diet, but if so, that changed at a later time.

One thing to notice is that seed is mentioned here as a criterium. That makes all the hybrid seedless stuff that we eat seem suspect. Take seedless grapes for instance. They cannot reproduce like the grapes containing seed. They are a corruption of nature created by man and that makes one doubt that the nutritional value is as balanced as natural grapes.

The same goes for all hybrids. Another good example is corn, or maize. The levels of nutrition were balanced in the original natural varieties, but hybridization has increased sugar levels to the point where they contribute significantly to the formation of diabetes among consumers. Native Americans began to eat the hybrid maize 10 or so decades ago and the rate of sugar diabetes among them has increased sharply since they abandoned the original corn.

Hybridization may produce more yield in the field and more money in the pockets of producers and sellers, but nutritionally it can have severe unforeseen consequences. Later in Genesis we will see that God strongly disapproves of hybridization because it corrupts what He originally designed and created.

Gen. 1:30 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.

This verse can be misleading as it is translated here, and it would be a mistake to take it literally. Something has been lost in the translation. This verse seems to indicate that all animal life, including insects and birds, have been given only vegetation to eat. Obviously that is an incorrect premise. What about lions and tigers and bears? And what about mosquitos and gnats and fleas? And what about raptors and vultures and bats? None of them can exist eating plants for food.

In addition, if we take every green herb to mean all green plants that wouldn't work either because some plants, and their fruit, are unfit for consumption by any animal or insect, and some are deadly poison. It is verses like this in the Bible that give scoffers ammunition for their arguments against the scriptures, against God, and against the belief in creation. There is no plausible defense if this verse is argued as it is written.

So, the word every is suspect in all cases where appearing here. If we eliminate it then the verse makes sense and conforms to what we know about nature and biology. The word every is translated from the Chaldee and Hebrew word kol, or kowl (Strong's No. 3605) and can mean the whole, all, any, every, altogether, enough, howsoever, whosoever, whatsoever, and as many as. Work with it.

To put it simply, this verse should be taken to mean that sufficient plants have been provided as food for the animals, birds, and insects that have been created to eat vegetation.

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.

God saw everything that was created, and look, it was very good. Exactly as He made it! And, regardless of what anyone says, there has never been a real need to change any of it. In other words, there has never been a viable, rational need for hybridization or cloning.

The restoration of all things continues in chapter 2. Don't miss it.