Chapter
· Creating in threes
1) Greater light = sun? appears so
2) Lesser light = moon? Appears so, however note that the moon does not give off its own light but merely reflects that of the sun. Also note, the moon is not always up in night
3) Stars
· The purpose of these heavenly bodies is given as (from v. 14):
· To divide day from night and
· give light upon the earth
· For signs = אות 'owth
· sign, signal
- a distinguishing mark
- banner
- remembrance
- miraculous sign
- omen
- warning
· token, ensign, standard, miracle, proof
2) Matthew 2:2 – “Where is He that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the east and are come to worship Him.”
· Signs of things to come and have since happened
3) Luke 21:25 – “And there shall be signs in the sun and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;”
4) Joel 2:30 – “And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke…”
5) Matthew 24:29-30 – “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heavenwith power and great glory.”
· Signs of things to come and have not yet happened
6) Jeremiah 10:2 – Thus saith the Lord, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.
· So what are we not to learn? The way of the heathen.
· Does it say we are not to learn of the “signs”? No, it says be not dismayed at the signs
· The heathen have corrupted the signs and have invented things such as daily horoscopes which we are not to partake
7) The stars are numbered and named, Psalm 147:4
· Many names remain today and are used for navigation and astronomy
· Job 38:31-32 “Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion? Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons? (These are named stars or constellations)
8) Meanings of these names are mostly unknown
· Some, such as Arcturus and Pliedes are identified in scripture
· Josephus assures us that Biblical astronomy was invented by Adam, Seth and Enoch; Antiquities book i. II, 3.
9) 12 signs of the Zodiac, called “the stars” Gen 37:9 (eleven of which bowed to Joseph being the 12th)
10) Referred to Greek mythology, but perverted from the original truth
11) Zodiac – degrees or steps which mark the stages of the sun’s path through the heavens, corresponding with the twelve months.
12) Before Moses we had no written Word until ~1500 BC could the hope have been preserved in these constellations?
13) Psalm 19 indicates this was the case and also may explain the sudden shift in verse 7 from Heavens to Law, representing the time before the law was given and the time after
· For seasons = מועד mow`ed
· appointed place, appointed time, meeting
- appointed time
1) appointed time (general)
2) sacred season, set feast,
2) Ecclesiastes 3:1 – “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven”
3) Hosea 2:9, 11 - Planting seasons, due to moon’s gravitational pull just like it affects the tides it also brings the moisture in the ground closer to the surface (Farmer’s Almanac)
4) Polysyndeton – The repetition of the word “and” at the beginning of successive clauses, each independent, important and emphatic, with no climax at the end
· for days and years
· Cycles coincide with each other and had a common commencement at creation but not since
· Most likely does not represent the 4 seasons but rather distinct “cycles” of time such as the:
o Daily cycle
o Lunar cycles
o Solar cycles
o Weekly cycles
o Several others including planets, stars, and comets
O. Chapter 1:17 - And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,
· Once again, this appears to be where physical light is established
· When did the light from the stars appear visible? Since light travels at a certain speed, visibility of these stars would appear over time.
· Unless these stars were created back in verse 1
· Should we separate the stars from the light they generate?
P. Chapter 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.
· Once again, God already divided light from darkness in 1:4, if it was already done why would He need to do it again?
· What does God see as good? Those things which He created, since He did not create darkness He is not referencing darkness as being good, but the instruments in which He used to separate the darkness.
Q. Chapter 1:19 - And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.
1) Day 4
R. Chapter 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.
· What does this phrase “Let the waters bring forth abundantly” mean?
1) Let the waters - מים mayim
· water, waters
2) Bring forth abundantly - שרץ sharats
· to teem, swarm, multiply
3) Luther says “Let the waters swarm with swarms.”
· Fowl may fly in open firmament gives more evidence that the firmament is the sky
· Above = על `al,
1) upon, in, on, over, by, for, both, beyond, through, throughout, against, beside, forth, off, from off
2) a preposition with multiple meanings, so don’t read to much into it
S. Chapter 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.
· Creating in threes
1) Great whales – great sea creatures
2) Every living creature that moveth
3) Winged fowl
· Were all species created at this time or have new species been created since?
1) Every year we see science discovering a “new” species. The fact that it is newly discovered does not make the species new.
2) No evidence of new species evolving its all speculative
3) Example of Coelacanths:
This was a fish that was thought to have gone extinct over 65M years ago and was the main argument for evolution as it had many features of land creatures such as paired lobe fins that extend away from its body like legs and move in an alternating pattern, like a trotting horse. Other unique characteristics include a hinged joint in the skull which allows the fish to widen its mouth for large prey; an oil-filled tube, called a notochord, which serves as a backbone; thick scales common only to extinct fish, and an electrosensory rostral organ in its snout likely used to detect prey.
In 1938 a living coelacath was found off of the coast of Africa . Did this disuade the evolutionists? Of course not they just changed their argument. If you allow common sense to take over you see that if the fish that was fossilized 65M years ago is identical to the living species today no evolution took place, the fish didn’t sprout legs and walk away its still swimming off of the African coast!
· Did God create one of every species or multiple pairs within a species?
1) No definitive proof either way, but it does say that the waters “teemed or swarmed” with life.
2) If God would have only created one pair of every species it seems likely that many species would have immediately went extinct due to the death of either the male or female
3) Was death a possibility at this time?
· Creature = נפש nephesh, soul, self, life, creature, person, appetite, mind, living being, desire, emotion, passion, soul, does this mean animals have a soul? Not necessarily…nothing more than “That which breathes”
· Same basic philosophy holds true, after his kind
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