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9 Chapter 3 General
Comments on Genesis Chapter One The
creation of the heavens and the earth Verse 1
is a summary
of what we
get in the
following six days.
This is really proved by
the statement in
Exodus 31:17 which
reads: "for [in]
six days Jehovah
made the heavens and
the earth". Genesis
1:1 therefore cannot
mean that God
made the heavens
and the earth at
the beginning of
the first day,
on the eve
of the first
day or umpteen
years before that. The
beginning in the
first verse refers
to the six
day period in
the first chapter and
not just to
the beginning of the
first day. If it
is argued that
the heavens and
earth were in fact created
at the beginning
of the first
day the question
arises as to
how they were created as
no speaking of
God is connected
with the first
verse of the
chapter. Further, the question also
arises as to
what the heavens
consisted of. Heavenly bodies do not appear to have been
created until the
fourth day, so
saying that heavens
were created at
the beginning of the first day seems to mean that only space of some
sort was created then. When we
come to chapter
2 verse 1
we have the
statement: "And the
heavens and the earth
and all their
host were finished" and
in Exodus 20:11
we have: "For
in six days Jehovah made
the heavens and
the earth, the
sea, and all
that is in
them". These statements expand on
the bald statements
in Genesis 1:1
& Exodus 31:17
quoted above and
cover more specifically the
other things created
on the earth
and in the
heavens. It is
rather like what we
mean when we say we
have bought a
computer and a
printer, that is,
we have not only
bought a processor
and a printer,
but also a
monitor, a keyboard,
a mouse and
maybe other hardware, as
well as at
least some programs
such as Windows;
or as the
last two passages we
have quoted would
say regarding creation:
"All their host"
and "All that
is in them". The thought
that Genesis 1:1
covers all that
was created in
the following verses
is supported by the
note to verse
1 in the
RSV Oxford Annotated
Bible which reads: "Probably a
preface to the
whole account". David C.
C. Watson's book
reads: "Probably this verse
is a kind
of heading to
the whole chapter" (Myths
and Miracles page
2), though on page
8 he says:
"It is reasonable
to suppose that
the water-covered globe
had been in existence for
6 hours before
God created light". All
these statements do
not really go beyond
saying that certain
things are probabilities and
are not dogmatic
pronouncements on the basis
of convincing evidence.
The MacArthur Study Bible comments are more definite and read:
"The heavens and
the earth. All of God's creation
is incorporated into
this summary statement which includes all six consecutive
days of creation." State of the
earth in Genesis one verse two This is often said to be one of
chaos. For instance,
the first note
in the RSV Oxford Annotated Bible
reads: "Out of
primordial chaos God
created an orderly
world". However, the actual
statement in verse
2 is: "The
earth was without
form and void"
or more literally: "The earth
was waste and
empty". Chaos and emptiness
are clearly not the same thing. An empty room and a chaotic one are not the
same. For the earth to have been in a
chaotic |