Creation
I have grown weary of the Liberal, anti-religious, anti-creationist body of individuals who actually have no understanding of what the Bible has to say regarding the Creation of all things yet they behave as scholarly and intellectual elite who feel compelled in the name of all that they think to be right and true to assault and degrade those who believe differently than they.
My humble prayer is that this article would put to rest the issue for once and for all for those who have eyes to see and that it touch the hearts of those who don't.
The following is two excerpts from How to Enjoy the Bible by E.W.Bullinger. The first part is pp. 351-353 and the second part is pp. 394-396. In these passages Bullinger explains that between verse 1 and verse 2 of the book of Genesis, the claims of the geologists may indeed be reconciled with and verified by the Scriptures.
Note that some of the Greek or Hebrew may not render properly by HTML but the impact is negligible.
From How to Enjoy the Bible by E.W.Bullinger...
Part II—The Words
Canon VIII
The Importance of Accuracy in the Study of the Words of Scripture.
ii. Illustrations of Accuracy Applied to the Revelation of Truth.
1. Words and Expressions.
"The world that then was" (Gen 1:2).—The accurate reading in the English of the AV Genesis 1:2 will be sufficient to show there is something in the verse which needs explanation; and when we have explained it we shall find that it points to a wonderful exposition of the Creation, and provides a complete answer to all the cavils of Geologists.
This discovery would be impossible if the Revised Version were used, as the Revisers deliberately discarded the use of italics in certain cases, one of which was in the case of the verb "to be," which does not exist in Hebrew.
In Genesis 1:2 (AV) we read: "And the earth was without form and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep."
Here, it will be seen that, the first "was" is in Roman type, while the second is in Italic type. This accuracy tells us that the latter verb, "was," represents the verb to be; and that the former "was" must represent a different verb, and not the verb "to be." This is the case; and the verb is hyahaf (hayah), to become, come to pass.
That this is its meaning is clear from the very next verse (v 3): "Let there be light, and there was light." Here the verb for "be" and "was" is hayah, and means become, while, in verse 4, the verb "was" is the verb to be, and is in italics.
The same use of "was" (Roman type) and "was" (Italic type) may be seen in verses 9 and 10; and in verses 11 and 12.
If we enquire further about the verb hayah we find it in Genesis 2:7, "and man became a living soul; 4:14, "it shall come to pass"; 9:15, "the waters shall no more become a flood"; 19:26, Lot's wife "became a pillar of salt."
From all this we assuredly learn that Genesis 1:2 should read, "and the earth BECAME without form."
Having made this discovery we now pursue it further; and we "search the Scriptures" to find out whether God has said anything else about the way in which He created the earth. And we find it in Isaiah 45:18. Here the sentences are heaped together, in order to impress us with the fact that, He who created the earth, ought to know, and be able to tell us, how He made it. Note the words:
"Thus saith Jehovah that created the heavens;
Elohim himself that formed the earth, and made it;
He hath established it,
He created it not tohu."
But this word w@ht& (tohu) is the very word which is translated "without form" in Genesis 1:2. So that, whatever tohu means, it is evident that God did not create the earth tohu. Therefore it must have become so, at some time, in some way, and from some cause which we are not told.
It is clear from this that in Genesis 1:1 we have the record concerning what is called in 2 Peter 3:6 "the world that then was." This earth, we are there told also, "being overflowed with water perished." This is exactly what is stated in Genesis 1:1, 2.
So that at the end of the first verse we must put a very large full stop; or draw a line; or leave a blank space, so as to separate verse 1 from what follows in verse 2, which relates to "the heavens and earth which are now" (2 Peter 3:7), and which will continue, until the time comes for "the new heavens and the new earth" of 2 Peter 3:13, and of many other Scriptures.
When Geologists have settled how many years they require between the first and second verses of Genesis 1 there is ample room for all they want, and a large margin beside.
Meanwhile, we may well conclude that all the fossils and remains which are found belonged to "the world that then was," and thus, at one stroke, remove all friction between Geology and Scripture.
Again, we ask, why assume that all the Geological phenomena pertain to the earth "which is now," when it is this very assumption which creates the difficulty? and compels us to ignore all the phenomena of God's Word mentioned above?
His Word is misinterpreted, and His works are misunderstood, and the difficulty thus created is charged against the Scriptures of Truth!
and...
Part II—The WordsCanon X
Interpretation and Application
1. The Account of Creation (Gen 1).—Instead of troubling our heads with Babylonian "creation-tablets," which were the incoherent babblings of people who had forgotten and corrupted, or knew little of, primitive truth, we turn to the inspired record and endorse the Divine assertion, "The beginning of Thy word is true" (Psa 119:160, marg.).
We have already dealt with this interpretation of Genesis 1,* and shown how the first chapter of Genesis, when compared with other Scriptures, is far in advance of the inferences drawn from the ever-shifting and changing hypotheses of Geologists, which are foisted upon us under the name of "science falsely so-called" (1 Tim 6:20).
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."—This is "the world that then was" of 2 Peter 3:6.
And the earth became tohu and bohu.—The verb "was" means, and is translated "became" in Genesis 2:7, 4:14, 9:15, 19:26, etc.
It became w@ht& (tohu). Whatever may be the meaning of the word rendered "without form," it is distinctly stated in Isaiah 44:18 that God "created it not tohu." It must therefore have "become" so, as stated in Genesis 1:2.
The combination of the two words tohu and bohu occurs in Isaiah 45:19, 34:11, and Jeremiah 4:23, where it may be seen that it denotes ruin, emptiness, waste, desolation.
This was the end of "the world that then was" (2 Peter 3:5,6).
The chapter next goes on to describe the creation of "the heavens and the earth which are now" (2 Peter 3:7); and in 2 Peter 3:13 we are informed that these will be followed hereafter by "a new heavens and new earth."
If we interpret the chapter on these lines, and do not make Moses or the Holy Spirit responsible for the mistakes of translators and commentators, we have a surer foundation for any application we make.
In doing this we destroy the miserable imagination of a criticism which regards it as either an "allegory" or as a "myth."
The interpretation tells us that at some time in the eternal ages past, "God created the heavens and the earth."
And then, that at some time, in some manner, and for some reason (which are not revealed) it became a ruin, empty, waste, desolate, and overwhelmed with water.
This is the interpretation.
Now, the application of this to the creation and the new creation of man rests on this sure foundation; and reveals truth and teaching of infinite importance.
1. The earth was created perfect. this is implied in the word rendered "create," and is embodied in the word "cosmos."* So was man. "God made man upright" (Eccl 7:29).
* It is rendered ornament in Exo 33:4,5,6; Isa 49:18; 3:18; Jer 4:30; Eze 7:20. And adorning in 1 Peter 3:3.
2. But the earth became a ruin, and so did man. We are not told why or when man thus fell: but in this case we are told how in Genesis 3. Man's natural condition is described as "dead" (Eph 2:1), "darkened" (Eph 4:18), and destitute of any good thing (Rom 7:18).
3. While the old creation was in this ruined condition, the first act and movement was on the part of God: "the Spirit of God moved" (Gen 1:2). Thus it is in the case of man. He must be "born of the Spirit" (John 3:5,6).
4. The next act was also of God, "And God said" (Gen 1:3). God spake: The Word of God came. So with man. He must be "begotten by the word of God" as well as by the Spirit (1 Peter 1:23-25).
5. The next creative act was the creation of light.* And this is true in the experience of the saved sinner: "The entrance of thy words giveth light" (Psa 119:130). This is precisely the application made in 2 Corinthians 4:6: "God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."
* Whatever that was. Scientists once thought they knew; but recent discoveries of the X-rays and N-rays and radium, etc., are so wonderful and far-reaching that no scientist would now venture to frame a definition. One thing we know, that whether they call it "luminiferous ether" or anything else, it is not the same as the word rendered "lights" in Genesis 1:14, 16. The sun and moon were called rw$)maf (maor), light-holders, or candlesticks. Thus, we are taught in Genesis 1 that which science is only just getting to know: viz., that what God called "light" exists independently of the sun.
6. In the Old Creation the light shines on the ruin; and so it is in the New Creation. Here it is that we first come in. Here is where we begin. Here is where we first experience and come to a knowledge of all that has already been going on. A vast deal of work has been wrought by God before we are cognizant of anything except the misery through which we have passed. But when we learn the true spiritual application of the interpretation, then, in spite of all the evil which the light has revealed, we look up, and thank God for the light, and we say, as God said when He saw the light, that "it was good."
We must not pursue the application which may be made throughout the whole chapter, but we commend the above as an example of our Canon X.
WSC