Highlights of Creation

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

Charles Redeker

The record of creation as presented in the opening pages of the Bible is accepted by believers as inspired of God and accurate. But even skeptics have been impressed by its uniqueness. Of scores of ancient creation accounts, whether from Sumeria, Egypt, China, Persia or elsewhere, the biblical record is the only one that approaches a scientific framework. All others are colored with fabulous legends, crude stories, contradictory assertions, and extremes of sensualism involving a host of gods and demi-gods. In contrast, the Bible depicts the work of creation in a definite, reasonable order that agrees with modern science.

In examining areas touched upon by both science and the Bible, we need to observe certain precautions. Some scientific conclusions may be based largely on theory and conjecture. Some biblical interpretations may be based on an incorrect understanding of the text. It is only when the science is factual and the Bible is correctly interpreted that we can expect to find harmony between the two. This is what we hope to accomplish in the verse by verse study that follows, using a composite translation of Genesis which emphasizes the literal Hebrew text.

Creation of the Earth

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" — Genesis 1:1.

This is one of the most sublime statements of Scripture — the great fundamental truth that God is responsible for bringing the earth into existence. The "beginning" here probably refers to when the Creator turned his attention to forming our planet, rather than to the universe as a whole. This is substantiated by Genesis 2:1, which summarizes this phase of the creative work and preparation for human habitation in the expression "Thus were finished the heavens and the earth and all their host." (See also Genesis 1:8.)

A clear distinction may be drawn between the beginning of earth’s creation (verse 1) and its subsequent ordering in the epoch days that followed. Since the time interval between the events in Genesis 1:1 and 1:2 is not stated, the Bible does not commit itself as to the age of the earth, even if the lengths of the epoch days were clearly stated. Consequently, there is no conflict between science and Genesis on the actual age of the earth itself.

Epoch Day One

"And the earth was waste and desolate. And darkness was upon the face of the [roaring] deep. And the Spirit of God was brooding [as a bird over its nest] continually upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided between the light and the darkness, and God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the First Day" — Genesis 1:2–5.

The creative days of Genesis were actually epoch days consisting of geologic periods, probably of equal length. It is unnecessary to insist that these days were only 24 hours since the same word for "day" (Hebrew yom) is elsewhere used to denote longer periods: Psalms 95:8, "day of temptation in the wilderness" (40 years); Genesis 2:4, "in the day that ... God made the earth and the heavens" (covering all six epoch days). At the other extreme, the deductions of some geologists, postulating millions of years for these periods, may be regarded as speculative.

Rotherham suggests the "light" of this day was diffused, in contrast to the more distinguishable light afforded on the Fourth Day. This is consistent with the Valian or Canopy theory, which visualizes the earth as a flaming mass shortly after creation, a glowing waste which vaporized the waters and other minerals into bands or canopies that encircled the earth. Job 38:9, "thick darkness a swaddling band," seems to augment this thought. As the various rings cooled, they fell back to earth in layered deposits, allowing the atmosphere to gradually clear.

God’s spirit "brooding" upon the face of the waters is a very intriguing description of his very first act in this epoch. This was Divine Energy radiating outward upon the primitive seas, producing what only Divine Power can accomplish — the appearance of the earliest forms of life. It is gratifying to note that science agrees with this sequence that earliest life stemmed from the oceans! However, these earliest marine creatures were not crude or partially developed, as some would portray them, but were complex wonders in their own right.

Epoch Day Two

"And God said: Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, And let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made an expanse, and divided the waters which were under the expanse [ocean] from the waters upon the expanse [clouds]; and it was so. And God called the expanse heaven. And the evening and the morning were the Second Day." — Genesis 1:6–8.

In this era God created the atmosphere or "expanse," suggesting something thin or spread out over the earth, like a blanket or tent. (See Isaiah 40:22.) The wisdom and expertise of a Divine Chemist were needed to bring about the critical combination of gases such as oxygen and nitrogen that were required for higher forms of life that were to follow.

Up until this point, there evidently was no clear separation between the vapors above and waters below. The atmosphere now served to separate the two, with an outer ring or band of waters that apparently lasted until the flood. The atmosphere extends upwards between 200 and 300 miles, but becomes so thin above a four mile height that humans could not live.

Epoch Day Three

"And God said: Let the waters under the heavens be collected unto one place, and let the dry land appear, and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth [soil — surface of the ground] and the reservoir of the waters called he Seas, and God saw that it was good. And God said: Let the earth bring forth tender sproutage, the herb yielding seed after its kind and the tree yielding fruit whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so ... and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the Third Day."—Genesis 1:9–13.

As the earth cooled further, the weight of the surface waters buckled the crust, forming depressions and elevations which became seas and dry land. Most of the earth’s surface (70%) eventually was covered with water and remains so today. Primitive plants and trees now were brought forth to cover the land areas.

"Grass" in the King James version should be "sproutage" — vegetation of all types, not limited to grass. This was very vigorous in growth because of the humid, cloudy and swampy conditions that prevailed, with an abundance of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Coal beds were formed in this period, as plants absorbed the carbon and were compacted by heavy pressures and upheavals. Here is an inspiring example of the principle of conservation: while vast plant and wooded areas were being destroyed, they were also providentially being converted into energy sources to satisfy the needs of mankind for ages to come!

Epoch Day Four

"And God said: Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens, to divide the day from the night; And let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years ... and it was so. And God appointed the two great lights; the greater light to dominate the day, and the lesser light to dominate the night, and the stars. And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth ... and God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the Fourth Day." — Genesis 1:14–19.

As the atmosphere began to clear, the sun, moon and stars became more visible. The Hebrew word asah, translated "made" in the King James, does not mean "to create," but here signifies "to appoint" (as in Job 14:5, Psalms 104:19). God was giving a new appointment or function to the sun, etc., to dominate or "rule" in the heavens, which was lacking in the previous Carboniferous Period.

The increased solar radiation brought about dramatic changes in climate in this period and the process of photosynthesis so basic to the cycle of all life on earth. It marked the end of the primary era known as the Paleozoic and opened the secondary or Mesozoic Era, with its sweeping changes in life forms adapting to the new hot and dry conditions.

Epoch Day Five

"And God said: Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures [living souls], And let winged things wing above the earth in the open expanse of heaven. And God created the great monsters, and every living creature that glided swiftly, with which the waters swarmed after their kind, and every winged thing after its kind: and God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let winged things multiply in the earth. And there was evening and there was morning, the Fifth Day.’’ — Genesis 1:20–23.

Our great God is depicted here as one who just delighted in creating — bringing forth multitudinous varieties of life under the widest possible range of conditions. Biologists identify some 9,000 species of fish, 6,000 of reptiles, 9,000 of birds and 700,000 species of insects, not to mention a wide variety of modern plants brought forth in this epoch. Each displays contrasts in size, shape, texture, color and structure; and all are part of the breathtakingly beautiful environment which the Divine Architect planned for the enjoyment of his highest earthly creation — man himself.

The King James "whales" is better translated "monsters," which allows for great land animals as well as sea creatures. It was the age of the dinosaurs, meaning "terrible lizards." They were of great variety in size, some reaching 40 tons in weight. The biggest was Diplodocus, the longest animal ever found to walk on earth — 16 feet tall and 85 feet from head to tip of tail!

Modern birds and plants now also appeared in all their color, beauty and high degree of specialization. Every flowering plant has its own special seed and pollen and an extraordinary intricacy of design. Their sudden arrival on the scene, as with the various animal species, without any gradual development in preceding fossil ages, remains an unsolved puzzle to the evolutionist.

Epoch Day Six

"And God said: Let the Earth bring forth living soul after its kind, cattle and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after its kind: and it was so ... and God saw that it was good. 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. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it ... And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the Sixth Day." — Genesis 1:24–31.

Modern land animals (mammals) now were created, including both the wild beasts of the field and domesticated types. These are the highest form of animal life, with some 5,000 species recognized. They vary in size from the tiny bat to the giant land elephant. Their young are all brought forth by live birth, rather than hatching from eggs like birds and fish. It is a miraculous process involving conception, gestation, birth and growth to maturity.

The phrase "after its kind" used to describe the propagation of the new life in each era is of special note. This represents a basic and profound biological principle which the Creator has imbedded in the core of every living thing. It means simply that every form of life was designed to reproduce only within a limited family grouping, to insure the integrity of the various orders. This principle of fixed species is the very opposite of evolution and absolutely forbids the gradual changing of one kind into another. A thorough study of the fossil record has never uncovered a crossing over of major kinds of life, going all the way back to Cambrian times!

Toward the close of the Sixth Day came God’s crowning work — the creation of man. "God formed man of the dust of the ground, breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul" (Genesis 2:7). Thus man was created directly by God, in his very own image: this implies mental faculties of reason, judgment and will, moral qualities of love and justice, and the propensity to worship his Creator. As king of nature’s realm, he was given responsible dominion over the earth and the animal kingdom, and told to be fruitful and multiply, under conditions of Edenic bliss.

Here is where every believer in the Bible must take his stand. The wording is clear; there is no possibility of mistake. Man is not the end product of a long chain of evolution that began somewhere in the unknown past. The inspired record states plainly that man was created by God in his own image and that he began immediately thereafter to function as an intelligent human being. There is just no support whatever for the "caveman" notion or similar concepts of "fossil man" — part human and part animal — as taught by evolutionists today. Such a God-dishonoring theory is not a product of valid intelligent thought, but of "science falsely so called." (See Romans 1:18–32.)

Epoch Day Seven

"Thus were finished the heavens and the earth and all their host. And by the Seventh Day God had finished his work which he had made; and he rested on the Seventh Day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the Seventh Day, and hallowed it ... These are the geneses [historical accounts] of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that Jehovah God made earth and heaven." — Genesis 2:1–4.

God’s resting on this day "from all his work" was not from tiredness, since we are told that "the Creator of the ends of the earth fainteth not, neither is weary" (Isaiah 40:28). Rather, God rested by placing in the hands of another — his son Jesus — the responsibility for perfecting the human creation. Very quickly in the Seventh Epoch Day sin was to manifest itself in the human family and a new phase of God’s plan would begin. The matter was to be entrusted to the redeemer, Jesus, in a program that called for a lesson in the bitter consequences of disobedience to God, an atoning sacrifice and finally the opportunity for everlasting life in the kingdom.

The expression "evening and morning," regularly used to describe the first six days, significantly is lacking here, suggesting that the Seventh Day is yet in progress. At the start of each epoch a certain amount of confusion and uncertainty prevailed, termed "evening" or darkness. By the close of each period, it became abundantly evident what God had intended to accomplish, hence described as "morning" or light. (For a similar principle see Zechariah 14:6, 7.) Thus, not until the end of the Seventh Day, when the messianic kingdom rule will have restored mankind to harmony with God and the earthly creation is completed, will it be appropriate to say, "And there was evening and morning, the Seventh Day."

Conclusion

In depicting the work of the creative days, the Genesis account has laid out an orderly and logical arrangement that is in complete agreement with the findings of science. The odds against the writer of Genesis having merely correctly guessed this sequence are staggering beyond all reason. No thinking person should survey the beauty and harmony of nature and the amazing interrelationship of environment and life without giving due credit to our great God.

Chance creation and chance evolution could not produce such wondrous works. The Bible tells us it was accomplished by the purposeful creation of our loving, wise, and all-powerful God. And stretched out before us in the majesty of the earth, sea and sky, we indeed have found the unmistakable touch of the Creator’s hand. All nature has thus united in guiding us to this conclusion, a conclusion corroborated in the Genesis account. (See Psalms 148:1–13.)

How wonderful that this same Creator has made provision through the Savior, Jesus, to complete the earthly creation through the uplifting work of the messianic reign, restoring mankind to perfection and the joys of everlasting life in harmony with him!