CREATION: Start to Finish

Genesis 1:1-2:4

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Job 38:4; Ps 33:6; Ps 89:11; Ps 136:5-9; Acts 14:15; Acts 17:24; Heb 11:3;)

2 And the earth was waste, and void; and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God brooded over the face of the waters. (Job 38:4&9)

Job 38:4 "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.

Job 38:9 when I made clouds its garment and thick darkness its swaddling band,

Note: At this time the heavens have been created including the sun, moon and stars, and darkness was on the surface of the created earth due to a cloud cover and space debris blocking sunshine from reaching the earth.

3 And God said, "Let there be light:" and there was light.

4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. (Isa 55:9;)

5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. And the evenings and the mornings were time one. {P} (Ps 90:1-4 2 Pe 3:5&8; Dan 8:25; Nu 23:19; Isa 55:9)

Psa 90:1 A Prayer of Moses, the man of God. Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations.

Psa 90:2 Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

Psa 90:3 You return man to dust and say, "Return, O children of man!"

Psa 90:4 For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night.

2Pe 3:5 For they deliberately overlook the fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the land lifted out of water and circled by water, by the word of God,

2Pe 3:8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

Dan 8:26 And the vision of the evenings and the mornings which was told is true. but seal up the vision; for it shall be for many days from now.

Num 23:19 God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it? Mal 3:6 "For I the LORD do not change; ...

Isa 55:9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Note: After a long time period it is no longer dark on the surface of the earth, but the light reaching the surface is not yet at full strength as there is still a haze surrounding it and the oxygen levels are very low ! It was probably shrouded by a reddish haze that would have made it difficult to see through an atmosphere made up primarily of methane and nitrogen chemical byproducts created by reactions with light. And the ocean probably was a greenish color caused by dissolved iron in the oceans. It wasn’t yet a blue planet !

6 And God said, "Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters." (Ps 33:6; Ps 104:2; Ps 136:5; Prov 8:28; Isa 42:5; Jer 10:12; Jer 51:15;)

7 And God brought forth the expanse, and divided the waters which were under the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse: and it was so. (Ps 33:7; Ps 136:6; Prov 8:24; Ps 148:4;)

8 And God called the expanse Heavens. And the evenings and the mornings were a second time. {P} (Ps 90:1-4; Dan 8:25; Nu 23:19; Isa 55:9; )

Note: The earth is now surrounded by an atmosphere with higher oxygen levels and including the hydrologic cycle which provides rain as necessary for plant life !

9 And God said, "Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together to one place, and let the dry land appear:" and it was so. (Job 26:10; Job 38:8; Ps 24:2; Ps 136:6;)

10 And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas: and God saw that it was good.

11 And God said, "Let the earth sprout tender sprouts, the plants bearing seed, and the trees bearing fruit after its kind, with its seed within, on the land:" and it was so.

12 And the land brought forth tender sprouts, and plants bearing seed after its kind, and the trees bearing fruit, whose seed was within, after its kind: and God saw that it was good.

13 And the evenings and the mornings were a third time. {P} (Ps 90:1-4; Dan 8:25; Nu 23:19; Isa 55:9;)

Note: This phase of the creation includes the long time periods required for the continents to form and the grasses, shrubs, and trees to grow from sprouts to maturity !

14 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: (Ps 136:7-9;)

15 And let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth:" and it was so. (Deut 4:19; Jer 31:35;)

16 And God brought forth two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: and also the stars.

17 And God appointed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth,

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.

19 And the evenings and the mornings were a fourth time. {P} (Ps 90:1-4; Dan 8:25; Nu 23:19; Isa 55:9;)

Note: The sun, moon and stars that were created during phase one are now often brightly visible from the surface of the earth by any occupants, as the haze has cleared !

20 And God said, "Let the waters breed abundantly masses of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens."

21 And God created great living creatures, and every living creature that moves which the waters brought forth multiplied after its kind, and every winged bird after its kind: and God saw that it was good. (Isa 55:9)

22 And God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth." (Gen 8:17;)

23 And the evenings and the mornings were a fifth time. {P} (Ps 90:1-4; Dan 8:25; Nu 23:19; Isa 55:9;)

Note: Here we have the creation of many air breathing animals that require a high oxygen level in the atmosphere .

24 And God said, "Let the earth bring forth the living creature after their kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beasts of the earth after its kind:" and it was so.

25 And God made the beasts of the earth after their kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that moves on the earth after its kind: and God saw that it was good. (Isa 55:9)

26 And God said, "Let us bring forth man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that moves on the earth."

27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created. (Gen 5:1; Gen 9:6; 1Cor 11:7; Eph 4:24; Col 3:10; Matt 19:4;)

28 And God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over every living thing that moves on the earth." (Gen 8:17; Gen 9:1-2; Gen 9:7;)

Note: Only humans have the intellectual capability to have dominion over all the other occupants of earth !

29 And God said, "Behold, I have provided every plant bearing seed which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in which is the fruit of a tree bearing seed; to you it will be for food. (Gen 9:3; Ps 104:14-15;)

30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the heavens, and to every thing that moves upon the earth, that has life, I have given every green plant for food:" and it was so. (Ps 104:14)

Psa 104:14 You cause the grass to grow for the livestock and plants for man to cultivate, that he may bring forth food from the earth

Note: Only humans have the intellectual capability to farm and build !

31 And God saw every thing that he had accomplished, and, behold, it was very good. And the evenings and the mornings were a sixth time. {P} (Ps 90:1-4; Dan 8:25; Nu 23:19; Isa 55:9;)

Note: It is said to be good and very good, but the Hebrew word for "perfect" #8549 tamiym is NOT used !! Also the creation could be described as; beautiful, best, better, bountiful, cheerful, at ease, X fair (word), (be in) favor, fine, glad, good (deed, -lier, liest, -ly, -ness, -s), graciously, joyful, kindly, kindness, liked (best), loving, merry, X most, pleasant, + pleasing, pleasure, precious, prosperity, ready, sweet, wealth, welfare, (be) well ([-favored]. But NOT said to be PERFECT

Time six must be long enough for the following to happen after the creation of Adam; a) God planted a garden in Eden (Genesis 2:8) b) God caused the garden to sprout and grow (Genesis 2:9) c) God brought all the birds, cattle and wild animals to Adam to name, at least the more 120 animals which have names in the Bible. And more that just happen to not be listed in the Bible, but remain in the various different languages and dialects. Names that require observation of their behavior as the fox "as a burrower", the cormorant "from casting itself into the sea", and the eagle "to lacerate". And also to observe that none could be a "help meet" for Adam. (Genesis 2:19-20) d) God put Adam to sleep, took a part of him and formed Eve (Genesis 2:21-22). To which Adam said "This at last (or Finally! ) is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man." Events that would obviously require more than 24 hours !

1 And the heavens and the earth were finished, and all that occupy them. (Heb 4:3b-4)

Heb 4:3b ... his works were finished from the foundation of the world.

Heb 4:4 For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: "And God rested on the seventh day from all his works."

Finished means finished, 100% finished !! Being totally 100% finished at this time invalidates many theories concerning the the nature of the earth and its occupants before and during the flood, including vapor canopy theories, no death of the animals before the sin of Adam and Eve, and concerning the possible catastrophic effects of the flood on the surface of the earth !

2 And on the seventh time God ended His work which He had accomplished; and He rested on the seventh time from all His work which he had provided. (Exod 20:11; Exod 31:17; Deut 5:14; Heb 4:4;)

3 And God blessed the seventh time, and sanctified it: because on it He had rested from all His work which God created and made.

4 These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were accomplished, in the time that the LORD God was making the earth and the heavens, (2 Pet 3:5 & 8)

2Pe 3:5 For this they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the land lifted out of water and circled by water, by the word of God.

2Pe 3:8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

But some creationists have theorized as follows; (from "Creation Worldview Ministries" @ http://www.creationworldview.org/articles_view.asp?id=51)

"Coal and oil are the obvious result of the activity of Noah's Flood. During the Flood of Noah (about 4,350 years ago) great amounts of superheated water came up out of the earth and mixed with the waters that were on the surface and those that rained down from above. In addition, the hot rock and hot ash from thousands of volcanoes was available to generate many layers of heated sedimentary materials. Ground makes a very good insulator capable of maintaining heat for long periods of time.

At the beginning of the Flood thousands of volcanoes mowed down forests all over the world. Volcanic ash fell on top of huge floating log mats. When those log mats were buried in-between the heated sedimentary layers deposited by the Flood, coal and oil were formed in a short amount of time."

Problem: If the sedimentary layers and the coal and oil deposits were formed by the flood, then the surface of the earth was NOT totally finished at the end of day six, instead it was finished by the flood ?? See also http://www.godandscience.org/apologetics/localflood.html "The Genesis Flood, Why the Bible Says it Must be Local"

Finished means Finished, 100% Finished !! Therefore, Finished means the surface of the Earth was completed by day seven, it had sedimentary material, fossils, coal, oil, limestone deposits, and aquifers as we know them today !

Vapor Canopy (from http://creationwiki.org/Canopy_theory ) The original canopy theory proposed the existence of a dense vapor canopy, which fell during the 40 day rain. While the existence of a vapor canopy remains theoretic, it is unquestionable that our world was tremendously affected by the flood, and the catastrophe resulted in or was caused by atmospheric changes. Some speculate that Genesis 1:6-7 is referring to a vapor canopy that collapsed during the flood, but beforehand protected the earth, providing atmospheric stability, and globally uniform temperatures that no longer exist.The planet would have been maintained not only at uniform temperatures but also at comfortable uniform humidities by means of daily local evaporation and condensation (like dew, or ground fog) in each day-night cycle. The combination of warm temperature and adequate moisture everywhere would be conducive later to extensive stands of lush vegetation all over the world, with no barren deserts or ice caps.

Finished means Finished, 100% Finished !! Therefore, Finished means the atmosphere by day seven had weather patterns as we know them today, from tropical to arctic, from rain forest to desert !

See also http://www.godandscience.org/youngearth/canopy.html "The Water Vapor Canopy Theory, Why the Bible ( and Science ) Says it is False"

from http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/oect/prosecution-biblical-age

"From the Scriptures, we know that this carnivorous behavior among some animals must have come after sin, as a result of the Curse."

Finished means Finished, 100% Finished !! Therefore, Finished means the nature of carnivorous animals of prey and all living creatures were as we know them today by the end of day six ! See also http://www.godandscience.org/youngearth/death.html "No Death Before the Fall - A Young Earth Problem"

from http://www.biblestudy.org/basicart/why-did-man-live-longer-before-flood-of-noah-than-after-it.html

"Why did people live longer BEFORE the Flood?

One of the most intriguing facts in the Bible is the immense life spans of the patriarchs before and just after the flood. Adam lived 930 years, Methuselah the longest lived of the patriarchs lived 969 years. Noah lived 950 years. Many scoffers state that these extended life spans are nothing more than myths and legends. They state that the figures given for the various ages of the patriarchs are fabricated.

There are many factors that could account for the lowering of the life spans after the flood. The Bible states that the flood would not only destroy the land dwelling air breathing animals but it would also destroy the earth (Genesis 6:13; 9:11).

After the flood the earth was completely different than the earth before. There were widespread global differences. These would include changes in the climate, composition of the atmosphere, hydrologic cycle, geologic features, cosmic radiation reaching the earth, ozone concentration, ultra violet light, background radiation, genetics, diet, and a host of other subtle and/or profound chemical and physiological changes. These changes caused a rapid decline of the longevity of post flood humanity."

Finished means Finished, 100% Finished !! Finished means the characteristics of the human body was set including the average lifespan of around 100 years, give or take a few, by the end of day six !

Since the Bible NO where totals the genealogies in Genesis chapter 5 and chapter 11, or says to total them, or never hints at how to total them, there has long been much discussion concerning the numbers and how to total them. The method which best fits the available archaeological data is the Patriarch-Age accounting method in which the total age number given for each patriarch is the length in which he and his offspring continued that patriarch's dynasty. The total numbers are 10,842 years for the Masoretic text and 12,028 years for the Septuagint text. But it is unknown if more names were purposely omitted as was Cainan after the flood from the Masoric text. So really these numbers just become a minimum and are not to be used for actual date setting! Using the archaeological dates for (a) the confusion of the languages between 9,000 to 10,000 years ago as the indo-european languages began to develop in Anatolia; (b) the origin of large scale farming at before 11,000 years ago, since Adam was a farmer; (c) the estimated time of the flood at 11,500; then the time of the garden of Eden and Adam is estimated at 14,000 to 15,000 years ago, coinciding with the period the scientists call the Bolling-Allerod interstadial (warm period) at the end of the Pleistocene age.

Conclusion: About 15,000 years ago would be the end of the sixth time of the creation and the time at which the creation was Finished !!

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Genesis 2:8