GENESIS CHAPTER

CREATION #3

I.   Verse 2 – And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

A.     Without form - ruin or vacancy - a worthless thing

B.     Void - emptiness - to be empty

C.     Term "earth" doesn't mean just dirt, but planet and the things on earth when God created it.

D.     Darkness upon the face of the deep darkness = absence of light face - face (panim) deep - deep place, deep sea (tehom)  "Deep" is evidently the deep places of the waters:

1.      Ps. 107:24 - a desire that men would see God's wonders in the waters.

2.      Is. 51:10 - God made waters of great deep dried up (Red Sea)

3.      II Cor. 11:25 - Paul shipwrecked "in the deep".

E.      Face of the waters:  Moved - a vibrant moving, a protective hovering.  face - face (panim) waters - water (mayim) Pictures:

1.      Shows what happens in the natural realm if God doesn't do anything.  Note: Lost people are in darkness without God.

2.      Shows two divisions in this world:

a.       Material (physical) - the devil's dominion (Eph. 2:1-3)

b.      Spiritual - These are operation at the same time on the same object, pulling in different directions.

F.      Doesn't show an incomplete work, as far as God is concerned, anymore than the life of a saved person is incomplete, as far as God is concerned.  God has some work to do on us just as He had some work to do on the creation.

II.   Verse 3 – And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

A.     Probably also "heat".  Verse 11. On the 3rd day, God created plant life.  We know they need heat, as well as light.  The sun and moon were created on the 4th day, after light and "heat".

B.     A separation of light and darkness; actually a division between light and darkness.

C.     Light (and probably heat) created without use of sun.

D.     On 4th day (v. 14-19), God established the duty and dominion of sun and moon.

III.   Verse 4 – And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

A.     Light is good, didn't say darkness was good. 

B.     Divided light from darkness.  --- good to divide light from darkness:

1.      I Sam. 17:3 - Philistines and Israel separated by a valley

2.      II Cor. 6:17 - come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord.

3.      Rev.18:4 - Come out of her my people (false churches)Satan wants it all together. 

4.      Matt. 7:15-20 - wolves in sheep clothing 

5.      Jude - the entire book concerns evil people in God's churches trying to get a following for themselves.

IV.   Verse 5 – And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

A.     The naming of the day by God - not by Adam (Gen. 2:19)

1.      1st day - (yom) - a 12 hour part of a day which is light.

2.      Night - (layelah) - a 12 hour part of the day which is dark.

3.      Day - (yom) must mean 24 hours.  The term never refers to a period of unknown length  (as in the day-age theory).

a.       Day of the Lord - Matt. 24:36 - the time of His coming in judgment, often including blessings for the righteous.  {Naming of the day (24 hour period) by God can't be doubted.  God named the following things and we still call them the same thing and know exactly what they are:

1)      v. 8 - God called the firmament "heaven".

2)      God called the dry land "earth" and the gathering together of waters He called "seas".

3)      Doesn't say that God named Adam, but we know He did.  We haven't changed Adam's name or the meaning of his name.}

b.      Matt. 24:36 - as opposed to "hour of the Lord".

1)      Day of the Lord probably refers to 1,000 year reign II Peter 3:8.

2)      Hour of the Lord probably refers to the suddenness of His return.

4.      Evening and morning - the Jewish day began at the setting of the sun: Lev. 23:32 - celebrating the sabbath from even to even.

a.       The length of the 1st day (24 hours) created without the revolutions of the earth around the sun.  This shows:

b.      The sun and moon and such are merely measuring devices, not the cause of the day being 24 hours long.

B.     The fact that after the measuring devices are created (on the 4th day) that they fall in agreement with the length of the 1st day shows us that they are regulated by the hand of God, not God regulated by them.

1.      Is. 38:7, 8 - In the days of Hezekiah, God turned back the sun dial 10 degrees to prove Hezekiah would live.

2.      Matt. 24:22 - days shortened in tribulation.

3.      Rev. 8:12 - evidently a 16-hour day.