In beginning God created. Genesis 1:1

 Genesis 1:1 NASB In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

When it comes to Bible translations, I transitioned from the King James version long ago as I came to understand that the NASB was a bit more accurate in translating to English. Many years ago, while listening to Dr. Chuck Missler on the radio, I learned that he preferred the KJV because the problems with that translation were well known, while other, relatively new translations or transliterations, which, too, had issues but, in some cases, were not identified yet. Taking Dr. Missler's advice, I approach them all with a bit of skepticism. That being said, here is a translation that works for me when looking at Genesis 1:1.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1 AFV
(AFV - A Faithful Version) Copyright © 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011; York Publishing Company.

What is so different about the AFV?

It is one of the few versions that puts the word "the" in an italicized format to affirm that it is an added word and used only for the sake of clarity. I do not think verse one needed any added clarity at this point. So verse one could and should be read "In beginning."

You might ask, what difference does it make?

To say, "In the beginning" denotes an emphasis on a specific point in time in which everything happened perfectly. The Hebrew word is rê'shı̂yth and means the first, in place, time, order, or rank (specifically a first fruit.) If you were to hold tightly to a specific point, why does scripture bother to point out other periods in which God/Jesus created? Almost as if the Hebrew is in opposition to a specific point, you should have noticed the reference in definition to this point in time being the first fruit. If there was a first of the fruit, then there were other fruits produced or gathered; none of which takes away from or diminishes the authority and power of God in creation, but it also does NOT limit His creative abilities. So, the more appropriate read of rê'shı̂yth would be "In beginning," as this expresses the idea that creation was a process.

If you feel you need to continue arguing that everything was created at once, with one word, then why wasn't Adam placed here on the earth at that moment? Notice that I did not mention Eve because she clearly came later, and we cannot define how much later she showed up.

What else can I learn from verse one?

That God created created the heavens and the earth.

Create is the Hebrew word bara, meaning to shape, bring about, make, or produce.

How do I look at this and not see a process?

I can, however, see why evolutionists think the way they do; the obvious is that they refuse to acknowledge or consider that there is an omniscient, eternal God that established our moral baseline and placed the knowledge and comprehension of that baseline within us through His Son, Jesus, who put Himself upon that cross in order to give us all salvation and a restored life with the Father. A life without problems or mistakes in it.

Does God have problems or make mistakes?

The answer is an emphatic NO, although someone lacking wisdom will throw in the creation of Lucifer/Satan and say, see, what about that?

Even the angels were given free will, and though we don't know when this Satanic rebellion took place, it was obviously after verse one and was prior to God putting the man in the garden.

This is so much easier on the brain when you can acknowledge that the creation was a process.

If God created the Earth, then it had to be perfect from the beginning. Want evidence?

“For thus says the LORD, who created the heavens (He is the God who formed the earth and made it, He established it and did not create it a waste place, but formed it to be inhabited), "I am the LORD, and there is none else.”
Isaiah 45:18 NASB

Note the words formed and made; Formed is the Hebrew word yāṣar and means to form, fashion, or devise. In my book, this word alone demonstrates a process. Made is the Hebrew word ‛āśāh, meaning to do, make, accomplish, or complete. If it was complete from the moment He spoke it into existence, there would be no reason to complete it sometime later unless something cataclysmic took place.

So God, in making the earth and everything related to it, did it perfectly from the beginning. In other words, it was NOT formless and void unless you can handle a process that allows for the sun and planets to be created out of spinning, formless masses of matter that God had to fashion into something usable (trying to reason that out simply defies logical thought). If God made everything, then He also had to make the formless masses from which He may have formed the universe.

Most of the “Christian community” will adamantly renounce such talk because they believe it implies an agreement with evolution. For someone to suggest that the Creation of the earth, in the Genesis account, could have taken an indeterminate amount of time garners abrasive negativity and the idea that I am now an evolutionist, which I am not.

How do I know that the fall of Satan took place after verse one?

Because verse two declares that the earth is now destroyed.

“The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.”
Genesis 1:2 NASB

Perhaps you have never heard what Jesus said about Satan.

 “And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.”
Luke 10:18 KJV

Jesus, the creator – according to John's gospel, watched as Satan fell from heaven.

The word fall is the Greek word piptō and means to descend from a higher place to a lower or to be thrust down.

When I apply Jesus's eyewitness account, in which He compares Satan's fall to lightning, it is easy to see that Satan's departure from his heavenly position was fast and powerful.

Why is this important?

Because of the potential damage involved with Satan's impacting the earth, the fall could have had a greater impact than some meteorites, such as those that struck the Yucatan Peninsula 66 million years ago. An understanding like this makes it far easier to understand that the heavens sustained tremendous violence.

We have another piece of evidence concerning Satan's plummet.

“And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. 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.”

Revelation 12:7-9 NKJV

Who is the dragon?

Repeatedly, we learn that Satan is the dragon. One of the problems we seem to have is that the Book of Job renders Satan, in heaven, walking among the Sons of God. This gave Satan the opportunity to pursue a course of action against Job. So obviously, Satan did not receive complete destruction with his punishment, or he would not have been able to tempt Jesus nor offer Jesus all the kingdoms of the earth when he tried to tempt Him. His day will come.

“Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, "All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me." Then Jesus said to him, "Away with you, Satan! For it is written, 'YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND HIM ONLY YOU SHALL SERVE.' "

Matthew 4:8-10 NKJV

Having been thrown down to earth, did God bestow him with authority and power?

No, but Adam did, and that was an aspect of the deception and willing participation in eating the fruit, in opposition to the ONLY rule God placed against the only two humans walking and dominating the earth. And yet, there it is, Satan is offering Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.

“For God knows that in the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew ...”.
Genesis 3:5-7 NKJV

They knew they had undone the life and pattern that God had laid out before them, and they knew they had just handed it over to Satan.

Did you see Jesus calling Satan a liar or reminding him that he had been thrown down to earth, stripped of power?

You did not see that because even Jesus knew that Adam had given Satan all this power. This is an interesting way of stating a fact, and it is interesting because Jesus had voluntarily set aside all that HE was to become a human – and He is still a human today.

“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.”
Philippians 2:5-8 NKJV

If that is the case, and it is, then how did Jesus come to know and understand that Satan had been given his power through Adam's betrayal?

The most substantial clue we have is a sparse statement about Joseph.

“Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. Then Joseph, her husband, being a just man and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly.”
Matthew 1:18-19 NKJV

Just is the Greek word dikaios and means that he was one that observed divine laws. In a wider sense, Joseph was upright, righteous, and one who kept the commands of God. (Thayer's Definitions)

This title of being righteous was not one you gave yourself but was assigned by a watchful community – in other words, Jews. Because Mary stood her ground and maintained that this baby was implanted by the Holy Spirit, she was considered a tramp, worthy of nothing more than a stoning, and the baby was deemed an illegitimate child – a mumzer and He (the young Jesus) was excluded from entering the synagogue or learning from the rabbis. It may have been possible that Joseph was very capable of teaching the young Jesus.

Obviously, somebody taught Him and taught Him well because, without us having to discuss it, it is clear that He knew the intimate details of the events that happened in the garden on the day that Adam handed the world over to Satan.

Another question from a friend. This time it was, why are there multiple creations of day?

I was asked the question,

“In Genesis chapter one, day and night are separated twice; On day one and again on day four.”

• What was the purpose of this?
• Why was it separated twice?

On day one, we see this.

Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening, and there was morning, one day. (Genesis 1:3-5 NASB)

Day four reads like this.

Then God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth"; and it was so. God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also. God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, and to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness, and God saw that it was good. There was evening, and there was morning, a fourth day. (Genesis 1:14-19 NASB)

The person asking me the questions went on to say,

“This leads me to believe that Genesis chapter one is more poetic than literal. So, could there be a gap between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2?”

In trying to understand, I look at specifics, so let's start with the idea of light that we see in Genesis 1:3 through 1:5.

then God said, Let light be! And there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good, and God separated between the light and darkness. And God called the light, Day. And He called the darkness, Night. And there was evening, and there was morning the first day. (Genesis 1:3-5 LITV)

Light, as used here, is the Hebrew word ’ôr (pronounced ore.) The Strong's concordance tells us this word means illumination or luminary. The Complete Word Study Dictionary explains the word ’ôr in this manner, "In a literal sense, it is used primarily to refer to light from heavenly bodies."

We, tend to see these luminaries as the milky way, that is, if you can still, see them.

The passage reads differently, depending upon the translation. The NET Bible, like some others, put the word day in quotation marks, almost as if it was a word inserted for understanding, much like the italicized words we find commonly in the King James version.

God called the light "day" and the darkness "night." There was evening, and there was morning, marking the first day. (Genesis 1:5 NET.)

Day is the Hebrew word yôm: It is a masculine noun meaning a day, an unrestrained period of time, or, a year. This word stands as the most basic conception of time in the Old Testament.

It designates such wide-ranging elements as:

• the daylight hours from sunrise to sunset (Gen_1:5; 1Ki_19:4);
• a literal twenty-four hour cycle (Deu_16:8; 2Ki_25:30);
• a generic span of time ( Numbers 20:15);
• a given point in time (Gen_2:17; Gen_47:29; Eze_33:12).
• In the plural, the word may also mean the span of life (Psa_102:3 [4])
• or a year (Lev_25:29; 1Sa_27:7).
• The prophets often infuse the word with end-times meanings or connotations, using it in connection with a future period of consequential events, such as the "day of the LORD" (Jer_46:10; Zec_14:1) or simply, "that day" (Isa_19:23; Zec_14:20-21). [Word Study Dictionary]

In short, what we are calling a day can be an indeterminate amount of time.

The variable that determines the length of the said day is associations with another word or words, such as hot; and, we have nothing like that when we look at Genesis 1:3-5. What we have is merely a lighter and darker period, which we can easily associate with the rotation of the earth.

To keep this verse in context, I have to back up to Genesis chapter 1:1, 2.

There we find:

Genesis 1:1 CJB  In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

In this sentence, the word “the” is an additive. The idea is understood and not needed. So the verse could be read, “In beginning.” That gives the verse the feeling that it was a process that is yet to be completed. God was is not a fool, and knew sin would be introduced; He also knew that the most precious thing, that relationship with His creation would be severely tested - not that God needs to test man, but that humanity would lose out on its understanding of God, and what it was to communicate with Him – not that it is difficult, but in our lack of honesty and straightforwardness, we struggle to talk with God. Anyhow, all this carnage needed to be permanently put away, and that is the story behind this salvation in Jesus and the Bible that made it possible for us to know such salvation

Now, God does nothing by mistake and so Genesis 1:1 could clearly be describing His act of speaking a flawless world into existence. However, God has the right and opportunity to allow for numerous methods and aspects of creation to happen. We have an example of this in that the oceans brought forth after their kind, this opens the door to a myriad of possibilities, including some forms of evolution. (That was not the case with humankind.)

The prophet Isaiah backs up this idea of the earth being made correctly at the moment that He made it.

Isaiah 45:18 CJB  For thus says Adonai, who created the heavens, God, who shaped and made the earth, who established and created it not to be chaos, but formed it to be lived in: "I am Adonai; there is no other.

However, that is not what we see in verse 2.

Genesis 1:2 CJB  The earth was unformed and void, darkness was on the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God hovered over the surface of the water.

Many translations use the phrase “without form and void,” to describe the setting in verse three. The word unformed, or “without form” is the Hebrew word tôhû meaning to lie in waste, formless, or confusion. 

Void is the Hebrew word bôhû which means emptiness, void, and waste. To say these words together implies that whatever the damage was, it was complete.

Is it possible that Genesis 1:3-5 is God's reclamation of a previously created earth?

Absolutely, but why? The only reasonable explanation came from Jesus's mouth. Yeshua said to them,

"I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. (Luke 10:18 CJB)

While we have nothing else that might explain how something that was made inhabitable became utterly ruined, and all we can do is to operate on reasonable conjecture, but our theory, in this case, is logical. Why? Because we are aware of significant meteoric earth strikes, such as the one in Yucatan peninsula. Science has been able to reproduce for us estimates of the size of the meteor and the effects it had on the earth – rapid cooling; sun blockage; planetary temperature reduction; lack of oxygen, and it effectively created what we understand to be a nuclear winter; an ice age. If this reclamation concept is not possible, then how do we explain or answer your question.

Since there are no defining words that include the sun in Genesis 1:3-5, as we will see on the fourth day, the general idea is that stars are in place, but not much more.

The Fourth Day.

Verse four indicates a separation of the light from the dark; here, the Hebrew word is bâdal and means to divide or separate into parts, or, to withdraw from. This separation of the luminous bodies opens the door to God moving the undefined luminaries around so that some would be closer than others. As I am writing this, it occurs me that the milky way could easily be proof of such an event, as it can only be seen during a window of opportunity.

And by the way, in verses 3-5, there is no humankind on earth as yet.

We have no time frame with which we can associate the actions of verses 1 and 2 and therefore should not speculate as to how much time may have passed between the potential events; this is where you get tend to encounter harsh hostility, as people argue for a young earth of about 10,000 years. I happen to think this is irrational thinking because you cannot explain away a dinosaur with time acceleration.

The fourth day entails the events ranging from Genesis 1:14 through 1:19.

Genesis 1:14-19 CJB  God said, "Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to divide the day from the night; let them be for signs, seasons, days and years;  (15)  and let them be for lights in the dome of the sky to give light to the earth"; and that is how it was.  (16)  God made the two great lights—the larger light to rule the day and the smaller light to rule the night—and the stars.  (17)  God put them in the dome of the sky to give light to the earth,  (18)  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 there was evening, and there was morning, a fourth day.

Now we have something specific to focus on:

• “a larger light for the day.” (This now puts the sun into a timed category.)
• “a smaller light to rule the night.” (The moon.)
  The sun and moon affect weather, temperature, gravitational pull, and seasonal effects.
• “lights that can be used as signs of seasonal changes, and for years.” (The sun, moon, and stars fit that description.)

From Genesis 1:3 until Genesis 1:14-19, we have nothing to indicate that the effects that we see, could have happened in verse 3. And, we cannot prove or disprove that the earth, in Genesis 1:1, was not functioning at full capacity. However, verse 2 would indicate that it all came to a sudden and crashing halt.

Again, my short answer is, YES, I see a gap between verse one and two of Genesis chapter 1.

His invisible qualities—both his eternal power and his divine nature—have been clearly seen, because they can be understood from what he has made. Romans 1:20,21.

Although I ended on Romans 1:20 previously, that was several weeks ago, and we probably forgot what it says; besides that, it helps us understand verse 21 better.

Romans 1:20-21 CJB  For ever since the creation of the universe his invisible qualities—both his eternal power and his divine nature—have been clearly seen, because they can be understood from what he has made. Therefore, they have no excuse;  (21)  because, although they know who God is, they do not glorify him as God or thank him. On the contrary, they have become futile in their thinking; and their undiscerning hearts have become darkened.

I used to communicate with Pastor Paul Begley, but I don't anymore as he has become inundated doing videos and speaking about prophetic events. His opening line for every breaking news broadcast is, “are you serious?” The implications are that the incident he is about to report on, is such a flagrant insult of logic and common sense that it must be challenged with a harsh reproof such as, “are you serious?”

Well, that is how I feel about Paul's statement here, are you serious?

• “For ever since the creation of the universe His invisible qualities – both His eternal power and His divine nature – have been clearly seen, because they can be understood from what He has made.

Everything around us, in terms of God's handiwork, demonstrates both His POWER and, His NATURE. These two invisible aspects of God surround us. From where I live, only a few miles from the mountains with its trees, streams, and waterfalls, I can see the hills that lead up to the beauty that is hidden over the ridge. And then, there are the “natural” clouds and the spectacular shapes and effects they can have.

I accentuated the word natural, knowing that I really did not need to mention it, except that globally we have been inundated by chemical clouds. These clouds are the end result of those long trails spewed by airplanes as they cross the skies, at very high altitudes, on what seems like a continuous and daily mission. These “chemical trails” can create a spectacular colorization at sunset; however, they are incredibly harmful to our food supply, water supply, and our general health. (If you are interested, take the time to look up the incredible array of chemicals and particulates they are intentionally spraying in these chemtrails.)

The idea of seeing God's handiwork in a pleasant outdoor environment has always been with me. Honestly, I don't know if I would have come to the conclusion that there was a God on my own, as I can see the destruction in a piece of granite (Destruction is a concept that seems in opposition to creation.) So I am quite sure that my parents, by their conversations to and in front of us, must have imprinted this idea of God in the creation upon us as very young children because I cannot remember a time that I was not aware of God's hand being involved with what I was experiencing. I also, cannot remember a time when I did not know God, and maybe that is a legitimate reason or explanation for my own understanding.

Being raised in a church, I can now say that a tremendous amount of the hurt and injury to my thinking came out of the church, or at least from some twisted religious concepts that were shoved down my throat. My mother, God rest her soul, had some dreadfully, distorted legalistic ideas. She did not seem to have any concept of grace; I assume that because she taught us to pray a ghastly prayer that goes like this – “Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord, my soul, to keep...” I shall not go on for it caused me, for years, to live in a state of fear that the slightest indiscretion would cause God to stop loving me and send me to a fiery hell. I learned that a belief like that is not valid, but it took me years to undo the damage and change my misconceptions that conflicted with this nature and character of God. Sadly, I realized that I did not know God; fortunately, all that changed, and, it evolved through studying on my own. The overarching theme I found, is that He is Love, and He redeemed an entire world through the death of His only Son when it did not love Him.

So, because since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power, and divine nature, have been clearly seen and understood through what has been made, they are without excuse. But the question must now be, who is the “they?”

The Jews knew they were chosen, but that did not stop them from worshiping everything but God, nor did it force them to honor or obey Him. This information makes them the prime suspect as I try to determine who Paul is speaking of.

As I sat in Bible study recently, the leader used background information, given in the form of a commentary on the Roman church. The author of this commentary was Dr. James Dobson. It turns out that Dr. Dobson saw history as an avid hobby. The leader of the Bible study, following Dr. Dobson's lead, talked about Paul being a missionary to the Gentiles. Think about how in every town Paul went to – he went to the synagogue; is this where you ordinarily find Gentiles? Not hardly. Paul himself, tells us, that eventually, he did take his message to the Gentiles, but after the Jews stoned him, flogged him, had him arrested, and a few other things.

The Jews considered anyone outside of Judaism to be a godless pagan – a Gentile, and so a generalization is to think of the “they” as the Gentiles because the presumption is that they were outsiders without God. We, in the Christian world, adopted the word Gentile to mean non-Jewish believers. At this point, the generalizations point me to, not only the Jews but just about anyone else.

One day I made a bold statement about how Jesus could come back at any moment. An acquaintance of mine attempted to angrily rebuke me, saying, that is impossible because we are told that every human being would have to have obtained a copy of the Bible for the prophecy to be fulfilled and therefore allow for Jesus to return. Paul didn't see it that way, and neither do I.

Verse 21 tells us:

Romans 1:21 CJB  because, although they know who God is, they do not glorify him as God or thank him. On the contrary, they have become futile in their thinking, and their undiscerning hearts have become darkened.

Again, I am dealing with this vague “they.”

The Jews did not gain the title Jews until long after the exodus from Egypt. Upon their leaving, they were merely known as“my people,” or the people whose God is named I am who I am. The name Jew emanated from Judah, one of Joseph's sons. In time they became the people of Israel.

If I were to say, once again, that Israel saw the signs, I would have to include, the plagues God dumped upon Egypt as He tried to impress upon Pharaoh the necessity to let His people go. Indeed, these signs would have demonstrated God's power. Was Israel awed? Hardly, for it seems but days go by when (a bit over 40,) and, while Moses is gone up into the mountain without food and water for forty days – not something normal men survive, when this group of people, who should KNOW God, set up the “tent of Molech”, one of the many items they happened to bring with them out of this Egyptian bondage. They enlist Aaron, Moses' older brother, to make the statue of Molech out of gold – a statue that was designed to roast children as sacrifices - while they indulged in a sexual orgy dance-off as they worship the goddess Rephaim.

Now, in light of Paul's statement, although they know who God is, they do not glorify him as God, who do you think the “they” is talking about? Again, this is not just talking about Israel.

• On the contrary, they have become futile in their thinking; and their undiscerning hearts have become darkened.

Futile is the Greek word mataioō and has the implications of becoming foolish, morally wicked, idolatrous, or to become vain.

The Complete Jewish Bible tells us that they became futile in their thinking. The Amplified Bible, which typically gives you all the other definitions without the Greek word, includes vain imaginings, foolish reasoning, and stupid speculations.

This idea of absurd speculations takes on a valid meaning when someone, whom you would think would have a greater understanding of God's Word, asks absurd questions about multiple levels of hell or heaven. That might seem reasonable to you, but when you realize that most of our ideas about levels within hell come out Dante Alighieri's book The Inferno, where he placed corrupt politicians, priests who should have been defrocked, and persons who had harmed him, into some form of disgusting purgatory.

Since Jesus destroyed the fear of death and took the keys of hell from Satan, then this is a non-issue. Any answers we have for such a primarily come from two sources, the story of the rich Jewish man and the Jewish beggar, Lazarus. The rich man went to a place of discomfort where he complained about the heat. While Lazarus was now being comforted in paradise. Jesus, speaking to the thief on the cross, said, this day you will be with me in paradise.

Does this place, paradise, still exist today? We, don't know, and can only conjecture. A conjecture is when you convey that something is real but have no evidence.

• And their undiscerning hearts have become darkened.

It is even more brutal than that.

2 Corinthians 3:14 CJB  What is more, their minds were made stonelike; for to this day the same veil remains over them when they read the Old Covenant; it has not been unveiled, because only by the Messiah is the veil taken away.

But there is always hope.

2 Corinthians 3:15-16 CJB  Yes, till today, whenever Moshe (Moses = the Torah) is read, a veil lies over their heart.  (16)  "But," says the Torah, "whenever someone turns to Adonai, the veil is taken away."

A little more proof.

Deuteronomy 30:2 CJB  and you will return to Adonai your God and pay attention to what he has said, which will be exactly what I am ordering you to do today—you and your children, with all your heart and all your being.

Thoughts on the Gap Theory, Genesis 1:1-2.

A writer for Prophecy in the News, by the name of Terri McInnis, posted an article on their website, entitled, Gap Theory Exposed. She immediately referenced a book she had “just begun to read,” by Dr. Henry Morris named The Beginning of the World. She goes on to tell us that Dr. Morris was: an American Young Creationist, a Christian Apologist, and, an engineer. He also founded the Creation Research Society and the Institute for Creation Research in Dallas Texas. I have done this as well, giving you the reader, the titles, and accolades of some person, with the hopes of building acceptance of some thesis. In doing this, there is also the hope that you will accept these words as the only proper way of looking at a subject.

Young Creationist is merely another way of saying that Dr. Morris is a young earth proponent – that means, in the Doctor's mind and others like him, God made all creation in a literal six days, and therefore the earth is only a little over six thousand years old based upon the age of Adam (Adam may well have lived an indeterminate amount of time before he and his "wife" ate the fruit and initiated the process of physical death - all time, as we know it, stems from that act.) I have a sister who also leans hard on the young earth theory; the problem with that is that my sister has no valid arguments to prove her point. You can scream at me all day long, arguing that carbon dating is invalid, but you can't adequately explain where dinosaurs came from, or that there were multiple extinctions.
The other thing proponents of young earth have, is a problem with the word yôm.

The Word Study Dictionary explains the meaning of the word yôm as: “A masculine noun meaning day, time, year. This word stands as the most basic conception of time in the Old Testament. It designates such wide-ranging elements as the daylight hours from sunrise to sunset (Gen_1:5; 1Ki_19:4); a literal twenty-four hour cycle (Deu_16:8; 2Ki_25:30); a generic span of time (Gen_26:8; Num_20:15); a given point in time (Gen_2:17; Gen_47:29; Eze_33:12). In the plural, the word may also mean the span of life (Psa_102:3 [4]) or a year (Lev_25:29; 1Sa_27:7).”
The Strong's concordance tells us that the word yôm primarily means “to be hot.” However, it also carries the same connotations that the Word Study Dictionary does.

People who are adept with the Hebrew language will tell you that the word is defined when associated with another word that would define the length of time, in this case, a hot phase, and therefore a 24 hour period since it is associated with "darkness." However, the scriptures do not give us that precise definition. Let me show you.

Genesis 1:3-5 KJV  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.

Since a day is as a thousand years with God, then I can assume that the measure of time can often be an irrelevant thing with Him. (Anyone knowledgeable in scripture is aware of the 70 years of captivity assigned to Israel; and although a defined period of time they remained in captivity for several years beyond that time. And then, there is the very specific timing that we learn of in Daniel's prophecy; a timing that spells out, that “from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks of years - 490 years. The fascinating aspect of this is that Jesus, in the role of Messiah, placed himself on that young colt and rode into Jerusalem on the 490th day, just as it was given to Daniel. All this proves that God is capable of keeping precise time if He needs to.

Based on what I see in verses 3-5 of Genesis chapter one, can I assume that God has a clock and this period, like most sports, is a mandatory precisely timed period? NO.

So, what do I see in Genesis 1:3-5?
God, creating light. Light and day are obvious counterparts that separate the daylight hours from the night, but, as you pursue the depth of the Hebrews words find two diversified events which I will explain.

Light is the word ore and means illumination, or luminaries – in this case, stars and planets. Since our Sun falls in the category of stars, and we are the perfect distance from our star, then the earth has just the right amount of warmth or yôm. In verse five He calls that light that gives heat day. But verse four points out that there is also a darkness present. Before His creation of luminaries, I suspect that there was nothing more than vast, cold darkness.

Now, look up the word darkness, and you get something ominous. "chôshek meaning the dark; hence (literally) darkness; (figuratively)misery, destruction, death, ignorance, sorrow, wickedness: - dark (-ness), night, obscurity."

Could I look at the creation, as I do the Book of Revelation, where we see a cyclical and repeated telling of the chain of events and the possible interruption of those events? Perhaps, but perhaps God is trying to get us to understand something deeper; like the fall of Satan. That event is shrouded in secrecy; or is it? It could be that this “gap” is where Satan was thrown to earth.

In Luke's Gospel, the disciples came back excited about the short missionary trip Jesus sent them, and they said, “even the devils are subject to us through your name.” Well, that is fascinating news, but Jesus knew it would work for them; and yet Jesus responds with what some might perceive as negativity.

Luke 10:17-18 KJV  And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name.  (18)  And he said unto them; I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.

From what I understand sarcastic banter, intended to outdo the other, was a way of life for the Jew. I can hear many of you now saying, Jesus would have never entered into such an exchange; but He did, with Nathanael. When Philip found Nathanael to tell him about finding Jesus, the one the scriptures talk about, Nathanael responds with, can any good thing come out of Nazareth? Jesus, knowing this, cuts Nathanael down to size with, you thought that was something, wait till you see what else happens. Read the first chapter of John's gospel to get the whole picture.

John 1:50-51 KJV  Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? Thou shalt see greater things than these.  (51)  And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.

So when we look at Luke 10:17-18, he is telling them, that there is more, and that I was there and witnessed this event. Now you should be asking, what did Satan's fall look like? One Bible teacher described it as though Satan was thrown like a dart. Considering how extremely hard God could throw something, I can picture an impact crater much like the one found off the Yucatan Peninsula. Scientists tell us that the Yucatan crater alone could have caused at least one of the extinctions. Just something to think about.

I will tell you straight away; I lean toward the idea that the earth is billions of years old; it just makes more sense to me based upon evidence and what I see when I look at the Hebrew words that tell us of the creation. The bottom line here, is that my beliefs, in my mind, do not diminish God in any way, but instead make Him more powerful and surprising; and, neither do arguments for a young earth decrease God in my mind, although I have watched people struggle with their beliefs as they deal with these conflicts we are so adamant about.

One the first things Ms. McInnis points out, presumably from Dr. Morris' book, is that “most Christians do not believe in evolution, yet they believe that the earth evolved over 16.5 billion years!” Stop here for a moment; as of yet I thought we were talking about the possibility of a very long and indeterminate gap in time between verses 1 and 2? No one said anything about evolution, yet, but we will. Can I understand that something happened to make the earth void and formless? Yes, I can.

Look at what Genesis 1:2 tells us.
The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. (Genesis 1:2 NASB)

Now stop for a moment and allow me to show you verse one.
Genesis 1:1 JPS  In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

If God spoke everything into existence, then why not the earth? We assume he did. But without form and void certainly does not sound like He did, unless he made the earth in the spinning blob form that scientists occasionally depict. If that was the case and God had to allow for cooling and settling, you might think He would have told us. Note this passage from Isaiah:

Isaiah 45:18 NASB For thus says the LORD, who created the heavens (He is the God who formed the earth and made it, He established it and did not create it a waste place, but formed it to be inhabited), "I am the LORD, and there is none else.

While it clearly says he formed it to be inhabited, it also clearly states that the earth was formed. Now that can take some time, or, God can merely speak the globe into existence – He is capable of doing that. Even if God created it perfectly in the first few moments, there was no light to sustain plant growth, and, if you are doing your advance reading, then you know that we did not have sun until the fourth "day."

Now, let's go back to this idea of evolution for a moment. In time, as we read the creation story in Genesis, we see a couple of things -

Genesis 1:26-27 KJV  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 creeps 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.

Genesis 1:26-27 may cause some people grief as they try to understand what just happened, but suffice it to say, this is a spiritual event. Humankind, as yet, has no earthly bodies. It is not until Genesis chapter two that we see the man being formed.

Genesis 2:7 KJV  And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Even though He formed the man, He does not form the woman from the man's rib, for, once again, some indeterminate time. What is my take away from this? Man did not evolve. But then what of something like the Paracas Peru elongated skulls? DNA testing has shown them to be pre-Nazca, but show haploid associations with European and Middle Eastern groups; and, “they have mitochondrial DNA “with mutations unknown in any human, primate, or animal known so far.” [https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/breaking-new-dna-testing-2000-year-old-elongated-paracas-skulls-changes-020914]

Now, how might these unknown mutations be explained? For that answer, we have to indulge ourselves in Genesis chapter six.
Genesis 6:2-4 KJV  That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.  (3)  And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be a hundred and twenty years.  (4)  There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.

I am not going to take the time to pursue this, but there is something mysterious and ominous going here. Men like LA Marzulli, go to tremendous lengths to explain the giants, and, how they came back into the earth after the flood of Noah's day, that destroyed all flesh, but Noah and his family. This information tends to indicate that our discoveries from the Paracas region, with their elongated skulls, may have been pre-flood, but then, as I said, the giants continued to show up after the flood.
Why point all this out? Because I don't see an evolution within God's creation of man at all. What I see is a demonic infiltration with mutations, and that should concern us more than the age of the earth because apparently, this infiltration not stopped.

Back to Genesis

If the earth was perfect as Isaiah 45:18 declares, then what happened? Perhaps this can help to explain.

Genesis 1:2 NLT  The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.

• "And darkness upon the face of the deep."

Deep is the Hebrew word abyss, and we should all know what that is. Darkness – is the Hebrew word choshek and means; the dark; hence (literally) darkness; (figuratively) misery, destruction, death, ignorance, sorrow, wickedness: - dark (-ness), night, obscurity.

Genesis 1:2 says that "the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." Spirit is the Hebrew word ruach and means wind, breath, mind, spirit; this should have an immediate significance to what we recognize in New Testament terms as the Holy Spirit. Where else do we see the Holy Spirit? At the beginning of creation.

John 1:1-3 ESV In the beginning, was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (2) He was in the beginning with God. (3) All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.

Why, if God merely spoke a perfect creation into existence, does He now have to move upon the face of the waters with His Spirit? Is it to put things back into order? Or, is it just part of the plan? There is little doubt that the earth was filled with some form of chaos for a time; a time long enough to petrify trees, and cause multiple generations of dinosaurs to be buried alive.


 Maybe I have not opened or closed the gap in the theory, but I hope that I made you think. There are some things that I don't think we need to be so brutally adamant about, and the Gap theory is one of them. It may bring some answers, but as several of my friends would say, it is a minor argument in the schemes of things.