In a daze these days?

DON'T BE WEAK ON THE WEEK!

There is much debate in the present day, among evangelicals

from all walks of life, and various denominations, concerning

the origins of life on our planet. A number of popular theories

vie for our attention as we discuss current trends in science,

philosophy and religion. We eagerly await an opportunity to

share our own opinions on the subject as we mingle with our

post-modern contemporaries.

You may be familiar with some of these theories: The Gap Theory,

The Revelatory Day Theory, The Day-Age Theory, Theistic Evolution,

Progressive Creation etc. (Presumably speaking to a Christian

audience, I have excluded the Theory of Evolution, as this option

would only be acceptable to the atheist, or anti-theist).

My question to the church of Jesus Christ on the brink of the new

millennium is this; what does God have to say on this subject, and

does it really matter? Is there any reason to believe that the

Bible's record of a six-day creation is foundational to the

Christian faith?

We claim to be Bible believing Christians, we claim that the Bible

we believe is authoritative, infallible and inerrant. We claim that

the canon of scripture is sealed and we have the final written

revelation of God in our Bibles. Do our beliefs really match our

claims, or is this only so much lip service?

A close look at each of the above theories of origin reveals one

major common denominator, an attempt to reconcile science with

scripture, or rather, the words of men with the Word of God.

Let us look therefore into our Bibles and see if we can find some

clear-cut understandable answers to our questions on the subject of

origins.

It all starts in the beginning. Genesis chapter one sheds divine light

on the origin of our universe. It is not an overly complicated text,

and it very clearly testifies of a six-day period of creation in which

"The heavens and the earth were finished and ALL THE HOST OF THEM

(Gen. 2:1).

The chapter is broken down into the daily creative work of God. On day

one light is created, it is divided from darkness; we now have day

and night. Genesis 1:5b says "and the evening and the morning were the

first day."

Notice that we have a sequence: evening and morning.

We have a number: the first.

We have the Hebrew word for "day", YOM. This word is used 2,291 times

in the Old Testament. Occasionally it is used symbolically, as I used

the word "day" in the beginning of this article referring to our

present time. In the vast majority of instances however, it simply

means what it says i.e. a literal 24 hour day as we know it. When

however, the word "YOM" is used with both a sequence AND a number

(evening and morning, day and night) it ALWAYS means a literal day.

This is in fact, what we have in Genesis chapter one.

In summary we have,

Day 1: Light

Day 2: Sky and Sea

Day 3: Dry Land and Vegetation

Day 4: Luminaries

Day 5: Creatures for Sky and Sea

Day 6: Creatures for Land, Adam and Eve

Following the account of God's creative work, the Holy Spirit expresses

the fact that God has completed His work and is setting the seventh day

apart as a day of rest. The Hebrew word Shabbat, translated Sabbath,

literally means "to cease from exertion". This is mentioned three times

in Genesis 2:2-3, while expressing the fact that it is taking place on

the seventh day.

Proponents of the various theories we have mentioned claim that we

cannot be sure these were literal twenty-four hour days, and that nowhere

in scripture does it claim that they were literal days. Is this true? Is

there in fact nowhere in the entirety of scripture that would even hint

of these days being literal?

Exodus 20:9-11 (N.I.V.)

Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a

Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you,

nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your

animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the

heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on

the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

It appears that proponents of "long-age" theories are in error according to

the above scripture, which by the way, came from the mouth of God Himself

(Exodus 20:1), and is the foundation of our current seven day week.

Another claim that "long-age" theorists make (especially the more recent

Progressive Creation movement) is that there was a pre-adamic race of human-

like creatures they call "hominids", who allegedly lived in caves, painted

on the walls, used stone tools etc. We are told that they had no spririt and

thus no need of salvation. They died out and then God created Adam and Eve.

Could somebody please show me a Bible verse that says anything remotely

descriptive of the scene we have painted above?

The words of Christ Himself may be useful in dispelling these myths:

Matthew 19:4

"Haven't you read," he replied, "that at the beginning the Creator 'made

them male and female,'

Mark 10:6

"But at the beginning of creation God 'made them male and female.''

The key words here being "at the beginning", not after the hominids died

out but "at the beginning of creation". These statements clearly reveal

that Jesus understood the Genesis account of creation to be literal, and

that Adam and Eve were in fact the first two human beings. The Lord also

uses Genesis 1:27 to establish the foundation of marriage, the first

institution ordained by God.

If we take the time to think through the issue, logic would also seem

to dictate that the days were literal. If Adam and Eve were created on

the sixth day. and if the days were periods of time consisting of millions

(or billions) of years, how old would Adam be on day seven?

Genesis 5:5 tells us that Adam died when he was 930 years old. This would

falsify long-age theories. We are also told in the New Testament that we

will all be changed, and one day we will receive new glorified bodies made

in the likeness of the glorified Christ Himself. How long is it going to

take God to transform us? Billions of years? 1Corinthians 15:52 says it

will take place in the blink of an eye. Would this be literal or symbolic?

I think we get the point.

Let's take a brief look at the spiritual ramifications of the

Genesis account of creation and the fall of man. We know that there is

a spiritual war raging unseen all around us. Like it or not we are in the

midst of this war. Our first parents lost not only their own battle, but

also their very spiritual life. Death was brought into the world after

(not before) the fall into depravity (Rom. 5:12). We have all inherited this

condition, whether scientist or trash collector, and are all in need of

spiritual life as well as a renewed mind. Just how did Satan win this great

victory and what were his tactics?

Genesis 3:1 introduces us to the subtle serpent who approaches the women

with these words: "Yea hath God said...", thus casting doubt on the Word

of God. Returning to Genesis chapter one, we have a phrase repeated several

(9) times throughout the narrative: "And God said...".

Satan has not changed his approach very much over the years: Yea hath God

said He created everything in six days? Surely God knows we can win many

more intellectuals to Christ if we compromise just this one section of the Bible.

He hasn't changed and we haven't learned. Ultimately we will find every major

Christian doctrine has its foundation in the book of Genesis. Psalm 11:3 says

"If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?" Are we, as

followers of Christ, destroying our own foundation by mis-interpreting the plain

teaching of scripture?

We also know that Genesis chapters 1-3 are the most read chapters in the

entire Bible, especially among unbelievers. When a lost person picks up a

Bible for the first time, he will likely start "in the beginning". He may

never make it to Leviticus, but he will at least read the first few chapters

of the book of Genesis. We have a great responsibility to those who are seeking

spiritual truth in our technologically advanced age. We also need to realize

that truth, by definition, is exclusive. In other words, all of the theories

and interpretations of Genesis 1 cannot be true at the same time. I believe

the Bible does in fact interpret itself if we take the time to study it, as

well as listen to it. As Napoleon Bonaparte once said, "The Bible is no mere

book, but a Living Creature, with a power that conquers all that oppose it."*

In conclusion, let us take up our swords firmly by the handle, (i.e. the book of

Genesis) and rather than compromise, let us earnestly contend for the faith (Jude 3).

Let us heed the Apostle's warning and not intrude into those things which we have

not seen, vainly puffed up by our fleshly minds (Col. 2:18 KJV). Let us be

diligent to keep that which is committed to our trust avoiding profane and

vain babblings and oppositions of science falsely so called: which some

professing have erred concerning the faith. Grace be with thee. Amen.

(1Timothy 6:20-21 KJV)

Dennis Mackulin 7/4/98

This article was inspired after we as a family had attended the 1998

Answers In Genesis family camp. Much of what has been shared is the result

of sitting under the teaching of Ken Ham, Dr. Gary Parker and studying AIG

materials.

* from America's God & Country - William J. Federer