How Should Genesis Be Interpreted?

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.  (Gen 1:1)
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.  (Gen 1:2)
And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.  (Gen 1:3)
And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.  (Gen 1:4)
And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.  (Gen 1:5)
And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.  (Gen 1:6)
And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.  (Gen 1:7)
And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.  (Gen 1:8)
And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.  (Gen 1:9)
And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.  (Gen 1:10)
And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.  (Gen 1:11)
And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.  (Gen 1:12)
And the evening and the morning were the third day.  (Gen 1:13)
And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:  (Gen 1:14)
And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.  (Gen 1:15)
And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.  (Gen 1:16)
And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,  (Gen 1:17)
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.  (Gen 1:18)
And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.  (Gen 1:19)
And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.  (Gen 1:20)
And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.  (Gen 1:21)
And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.  (Gen 1:22)
And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.  (Gen 1:23)
And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.  (Gen 1:24)
And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.  (Gen 1:25)
And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.  (Gen 1:26)
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.  (Gen 1:27)
And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.  (Gen 1:28)
And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.  (Gen 1:29)
And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.  (Gen 1:30)
And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.  (Gen 1:31)

How should these verses be interpreted, literally or figuratively?  Theistic evolutionists (along with atheistic evolutionists) argue that they should be understood figuratively to support their belief in the theory of evolution.  They argue that to interpret the creation account literally is to place a private interpretation on it and give it a meaning that the writer never intended for it to have.  In order to see the truth on this matter we need to do several things.

1. Consider the thinking of the writer instead of that of the reader.  What was the writer of the book of Genesis trying to get across?  Did the writer of Genesis take the position that the creation account was to be taken literally?  When Moses gave the law at Mount Sinai he stated:

“ Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it“ (Exo 20:9-11).

Now it is obvious that Moses believed that the Genesis account was to be taken literally because he used it as an example of the Jewish work week.  He certainly did not intend his hearers to believe that they were to work for six eons of time and rest for one.  Since Moses wrote both Genesis and Exodus, it is clear that he believed that the literal interpretation is the correct one.

2. Look at the Genesis account itself and see what it says.  A. Each day has an evening and a morning.  B.  The sun wasn’t created until day four, but plant life was created on day three.  If these days were long eons of time then plant life would not be able to survive without sunlight.  However, they would be able to survive for 24 hours.  C. The word for “day” is the Hebrew word “yom” and when it has a numerical adjective in front of it, it always means a normal solar day.  Some argue that because Peter says “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day“ (2Pe 3:8) that this means that the Genesis days can mean long periods of time, but one needs to look at Peter’s statement again.  He doesn’t say that one day means 1000 years, he says that as far as God is concerned there is no difference between one 24 hour day and a 1000 years.  In other words God is not confined to time and space; he is above time and space.  When God said that he took six literal 24 hour days to create the universe, that is exactly what he meant.  There is no reason to think that he took any longer than that.

3. Jesus, himself, took the position that Adam and Eve were created from the beginning of creation:  ”But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female“ (Mar 10:6).  Some argue that Jesus emptied himself of all true knowledge while he was here on earth and simply took the popular religious belief that God literally created everything in six literal 24 hour days.  However, this is an assumption based upon a faulty interpretation of Phil. 2:5-8:

“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross“ (Php 2:5-8).

Jesus humbling himself and being found in the form of a servant did not mean that he was not God in the flesh.  This is Gnosticism pure and simple and John says is “the anti-Christ”:  ”And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world“ (1Jn 4:3).  Paul wrote:  ”For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily“ (Col 2:9).  Thus when one denies that Christ was God while in the flesh, he is the anti Christ because he is denying that Jesus “Christ” (the Anointed–the Messiah–God With Us) is come in the Flesh.  Jesus was not just taking the popular religious belief, he was speaking the truth.  He knew what happened because he was the one who did the actual creating (cf. Jn. 1:1-3,14).

4. If one studies creation just the Bible (without any outside sources) one will undoubtedly come to the position that God created everything within six literal 24 hour days not more than 10,000 years ago.  The only way one can get evolution out of Genesis is to force it in, and in order to force it in one has to break every rule of interpretation known to man.

So just how are we to take the Genesis account of Creation?  Do we take it literally or figuratively?  The Bible teaches that we take literally.  That is the only logical and scriptural way we can take it.  Anything else is blaspheme.

Who Is The Fool?

“To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good“ (Psa 14:1).  Who is the “fool” that David refers in this passage?  A number of years ago I participated in a written debate with atheist, Ernie Brennaman, (from south Texas) on the subject of the existence of God.  In my first rebuttal I quoted Psalm 14:1 and to my surprise Mr. Brennaman argued that atheists aren’t fools because they don’t say in their hearts there is no God.  This sparked of a bit of discussion as it was pointed out that whatever comes from the mouth first comes from the heart:  ”O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh” (Mat 12:34).

Actually the Bible uses the word “fool” to refer to one of two people, in a way that we are allowed to use it.  Of course there is the way that Jesus condemned using the word which is found in his sermon on the mount:  ”But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire“ (Mat 5:22).  This verse condemns the attitude of anger with no bridle; so much so that the person who is angry goes so far as to call his brother a fool.  This attitude leads to murder in the heart, and we know that murderers don’t have eternal life abiding in them (1 Jn. 3:15).  It is wrong, in any dispensation of time, to allow hate in one’s heart, and to allow anger to build so that one will go to the extreme as to wanting his brother dead.

On the other hand Jesus called the Pharisees and scribes fools in Matthew the 23rd chapter (cf. Mt. 23:17,19).  Now some may argue that Jesus could use the word because–he is Jesus, and Jesus may do anything.  This is a false concept.  If all instances of calling a person a fool is sinful then Jesus could not do it under any circumstances.  So the question remains:  ”Is it sinful to call someone a fool under any circumstances?”  The answer would have to be “No!”  Why did Jesus call the Pharisees and scribes fool?  Simply because they refused to accept the truth, and instead placed their own traditions above God’s word.

Paul used the word “fool” in reference to those who rejected God, after they had obtained the knowledge of him, and engaged in sinful acts such as homosexuality (Rom. 1:22-26). They professed themselves to be wise, but in actuality they became fools.

David uses the word “fool” to refer to those who believe that there is no God.  These people refuse to look at the evidence for God, instead they hold on to the wisdom of the world. These people have all gone astray and have become filthy.  Their acts of righteousness are as filthy rags.  They are workers of iniquity, but they do have the knowledge about God.  However, they refuse to live by that and instead convince themselves that God actually doesn’t exist.  They don’t want to live by God’s rules, so they convince themselves that he doesn’t exist.  These people are fools, they are moronic, they are stupid.  The word “fool” comes from the following:

“H5036 ָנָבל nāḇāl: An arrogant bore, dense morally, intellectually, and spiritually. As an adjective or noun, it means foolish, a fool. It is used to describe a whole nation (Deu_32:6); or persons individually (2Sa_3:33). Such persons cannot speak well or civilly to anyone (Pro_17:7) and shame their parents (Pro_17:21). They reject God (Psa_14:1). The person who gets unjust wealth dies a fool in God’s eyes (Jer_17:11). He dies a shameful and disrespectful death (2Sa_3:33). The word is used as an adjective to describe false prophets (Eze_13:3)” (The Complete Word Study Dictionary, e-Sword).

Strong’s says:  ”H5036נבלnâbâlnaw-bawl’From H5034; stupid; wicked (especially impious): – fool (-ish, -ish man, -ish woman), vile person” (Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary, e-Sword).  Thus we see that the “fool” here is someone who is morally dense, intellectually and spiritually dense.  He is stupid and wicked.

Why is he called this?  Because he chooses not to follow God’s laws so much that he has to convince himself and others that there is no God.  These fools will be dealt with in the judgment.  They will be punished for their foolishness while on this earth.  The apostle Paul wrote:  ”For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad“ (2Co 5:10), and those who are fools will be condemned as fools.

Those who deny God’s existence are living in spiritual and eternal danger.  There is so much evidence for God’s existence that there is no excuse for anyone to say that he doesn’t, as the apostle wrote: “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:“ (Rom 1:20).  Let us make sure that we are not counted as fools in the day of judgment.

In Christ Jesus

Jerry D. McDonald

What Can God Do?

God can do anything that is within the keeping of his nature, and anything that is possible to be done. What some don’t understand is what the keeping of his nature and what is possible to be done mean.

God cannot go against his own nature; he cannot sin Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?” (Hab 1:13).

God cannot do that which is not possible to do. He cannot make man free moral agents without giving him the ability to make the wrong choice. Some wonder why God could not have made man free to choose without the ability to make the wrong choice. Such is absurd thinking. If you cannot make the wrong choice than you are not free to choose. When Joshua spoke to Israel he said “And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD” (Jos 24:15) the only way he was able to make this statement was because God made man with the ability to choose between right and wrong.

Everything we do in worship & service to God must come from the heart “But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you” (Rom 6:17). Without our worship and/or service (which includes our obedience) coming from the heart, God will not accept it. This shows us that God wanted people to come to him because they wanted to, not because they had to. We love because we want to, not because we have to. This is the only thing that God will accept. Therefore we see that God cannot that which is impossible.

Now there are those who argue that God could not create without following the very laws (of nature) that he designed and created. When God created Adam he created him fully grown. He made him at an adult age, so he didn’t have to grow from an infant to adulthood. He simply made him from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life (Gen. 2:7). When he made Eve he made her from a rib that he had taken from Adam (Gen. 2:21-23). Neither of them had to grow up because they were made grown up. However, those who claim to be Christians, yet hold to macro evolution cannot accept this fact. They believe that God had to have created his creation over millions of years, and that he had to allow that creation to age naturally. An example of this type of thinking comes from Robert Baty who claims to believe in God, and even the Bible, but he places naturalism over God or the Bible. Below is an argument that he has created:

“The “Goliath of GRAS” by Baty:

Major premise:

> IF (A) God’s word (the text) says
> everything began over a period
> of six days, and
>
> IF (B) God’s word is interpreted by
> some to mean it was six 24-hour
> days occurring a few thousand
> years ago, and
>
> IF (C) there is empirical
> evidence that some thing is
> much older than a few thousand
> years,
>
> THEN (D) the interpretation of
> the text by some is wrong.

Minor premise:

> (A) God’s word (the text) says
> everything began over a period
> of six days, and
>
> (B) God’s word is interpreted by
> some to mean it was six 24-hour
> days occurring a few thousand
> years ago, and
>
> (C) there is empirical
> evidence that some thing is
> much older than a few
> thousand years.

Conclusion:

> (D) the interpretation of the
> text by some is wrong”

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Maury_and_Baty/message/22045

This type of thinking declares that (1) God is limited to time and space when the Bible tells us that he isn’t (2 Pet. 3:8), and (2) that the miracles of Christ were not authentic, nor was the virgin birth (3) and that God cannot supersede the very laws of nature that he invented and set in order. In other words, God is no greater than his very own creation.

There are a lot of people pointing fingers because of the shooting in Tucson on Saturday. However, we are overlooking the real reason that this young man walked into a supermarket and started shooting at a Congress Woman because she failed to answer a question for him 4 years ago, and that is that we are teaching our children, every day in school, that God does not exist and that we are nothing but evolved monkeys. Animals have no problem with killing each other. The order of the day is “might makes right.” We have forgotten that we are the creation of a benevolent God. We need to leave the words “one nation under God” in the pledge, and we need to put prayer back in the school. Quit teaching our youth that we are evolved monkeys and get back to serving God.

God had the power to supersede the laws that he set in order. So when he created his creation, the Bible tells us that he created everything fully grown. The first tree had actual tree rings even though it didn’t live for all those years. Was God being deceitful? Certainly not. He told us exactly what he did, and he did it so that everything would be able to reproduce after its own kind. The earth looks old because it was made old. Whatever age God made it; it was made at that age. If he made Adam to look like he was 21 years old it was because Adam was made to be 21 years of age without having to naturally grow to that age. What can God do? Can he make a fully matured creation? Yes he can and he did, and he did it without having to rely upon the laws of nature. Those who argue against this idea argue against any instance of God’s having superseded the laws of nature to perform any miracle or give anyone the power to perform miracles. We really ought to think about the positions that we take before we take them.