Creation - What does the Bible actually say?

[theophilus]

If you don't read the creation account in the Bible carefully you can form a false idea of what it actually says. It is a widely held belief that the Bible teaches that God created the entire universe in six days. But is this really what it teaches?

The first two chapters of Genesis describe God's work of creation. It can be divided into three parts.

The first verse simply contains a statement that God created the heavens and the earth. It gives no details about the steps involved or how long it took.

Genesis 1:2 to 2:3 gives a detailed description of one part of this creation, the world we live in. It took six days and was followed by a day of rest. All this took place during the creation in the first verse.

Man was created on the sixth day and the rest of chapter two is a detailed description of his creation.

The account of the six days in which our world was created begins with this statement:

The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

Our planet already existed at the beginning of the first day. It is described as being in darkness and covered by water. The six days do not describe the actual creation of our earth but its transformation from a chaotic condition into one which supports life.

We are not told whether the earth was just created or had existed for some time. It is possible that it had originally been created perfect but its condition at this time was one of the effects of Satan's rebellion. If this was the case then the six days were a restoration of the earth to its former state. The Bible ends with the creation of a new earth to replace on that had been damaged by sin. Perhaps it begins the same way.

The six days only describe what happened on earth and tell us nothing about the rest of the universe. The sun was already in existence on the first day because the earth began receiving light from it then. But we don't know whether the sun was created on the first day or whether it existed before that but there was some barrier which kept its light from reaching the earth.

Genesis 1:14 seems to contradict this.

And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth.

But if you read it carefully you will find that it doesn't actually say anything about the creation of the sun and the moon. It only says that God placed lights in the sky. This could mean that the sun, moon, and stars could now be clearly seen, not necessarily that they came into existence at this time.

Exodus 20:11 is sometimes cited as proof that the entire universe was included in the six days.

For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

It is thought to be a restatement of Genesis 1:1,

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

But the word "made" is used instead of "created" in Exodus.

The word heaven has more than one meaning in the Bible. It is used to describe the atmosphere, outer space, and the home of God. Genesis 1:1 apparently includes all three meanings, but verses 6 to 8 use the word only in the first sense.

And God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. And God called the expanse Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.

The word earth also has more than one meaning. It can mean the planet we live on or it can mean dry land. In verses 1 and 2 it means the planet. But it has the second meaning in verse 10.

God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.

It is obviously used in the second sense in Exodus because it speaks of the heaven, the earth, and the sea. If it were speaking of the planet the sea would be included in it and wouldn't need to be mentioned separately.

The verse from Exodus is obviously using the words "heaven" and "earth" as they are used within the account of the six days rather than as they are used in verse one. It says that God made the air, the land, and the seas, and everything in them.

Since the six days involve only the earth and not the rest of the universe the Bible tells us nothing about how old the entire universe is. It is possible that the entire universe was created during the same six day period as the earth, but it is also possible that the work of creation began long before the six days.