Genesis 1

Wow, so there is a lot in this chapter... more than I remembered. It pretty much sums up creation - and yes, I do believe in a literal 7 day creation (well, 6 days for creation and a day of rest). At least with the way it comes across in English I can find no other explanation for "and there was evening and there was morning, the first/second/third/fourth/fifth/sixth day". I'm not a scholar of the original languages the Bible was written in, but every translation I've read is like that. Now mind you, if for some reason it wasn't just a few "real" days like that it does not invalidate anything else: God definitely created the universe we know and everything in it, whether it was in six days or over six billion years.

Other interesting things to note here are that in this pre-sin world we (and animals) were only given plants to eat. This inclines me to believe that even current-day carnivores and omnivores were once vegetarian. We also get plural pronouns when God is talking about making man: "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness". This is a great starting point to talk about the triune nature of God (more commonly referred to as the Trinity). It is a bit of a conundrum, but God is both one being and more than one at the same time; eventually we'll find out that this is manifest in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - but more on that later :)

One last item for today is something I've never noticed before, though I've read these first few chapters of the Bible many times over. There is a reference to the purpose for the lights in the heavens (the sun, moon, and stars); they are to "be for signs and for seasons and for days and years". Obviously we make our calendars - days, seasons, and years - around the movement of the Earth in relation to the Sun, but the first item in that list made me pause for a moment: "signs". What exactly does that mean, I wonder? Surely not that things like the Zodiac and astrology are in any way true, but it is an interesting idea none the less. I suppose that Jesus' birth was represented by the sign of a new star which the wise men followed, but I wonder if perhaps there is more to this than we modern people realize. Oh well, it will be a good thing to ask God someday!

This chapter in:
New America Standard, New King James, New International