Genesis: Beginning of Dry Land, not Planet Earth

[Murray J]

I believe the bible in its entirety to be inspired by Yahweh Elohim (whom most people call God.) Because of that, I believe that Genesis 1 is not about the creation of Planet Earth but about the creation of one small part of it - the raising of the land that was underwater between the Nile and the Euphrates - the land promised to Abraham.
Why? Because the Hebrew word used is erets meaning Dry Land (or just Land) in contrast to the Sea. Gen 1:10 gives us that definition. And the other word is shamayim meaning elevated places (ie Skies, not the universe/heavens.) Before the Skies and Dry Land came to exist (Gen 1:1 being a summary statement), water existed. Out of that water were created the Skies and the Dry Land.
Therefore Planet Earth already existed and all the scientific discoveries are true about its long age. So I believe in a long age planet Earth and I believe in a roughly 6000 year period from the birth of Adam, the first of Adam-kind (not Human-kind) and Jesus was the last Adam.
In the attachment is my commentary on Genesis 1. It is from my own personal study, solely from the Bible, as I cross-referenced every major word in Genesis 1 with every other time it was used throughout scripture (both in Hebrew and its Greek equivalent.)

 

[SkyWriting]

I believe the bible in its entirety to be inspired by Yahweh Elohim (whom most people call God.) Because of that, I believe that Genesis 1 is not about the creation of Planet Earth but about the creation of one small part of it - the raising of the land that was underwater between the Nile and the Euphrates - the land promised to Abraham.
Why? Because the Hebrew word used is erets meaning Dry Land (or just Land) in contrast to the Sea. Gen 1:10 gives us that definition. And the other word is shamayim meaning elevated places (ie Skies, not the universe/heavens.) Before the Skies and Dry Land came to exist (Gen 1:1 being a summary statement), water existed. Out of that water were created the Skies and the Dry Land.
Therefore Planet Earth already existed and all the scientific discoveries are true about its long age. So I believe in a long age planet Earth and I believe in a roughly 6000 year period from the birth of Adam, the first of Adam-kind (not Human-kind) and Jesus was the last Adam.
In the attachment is my commentary on Genesis 1. It is from my own personal study, solely from the Bible, as I cross-referenced every major word in Genesis 1 with every other time it was used throughout scripture (both in Hebrew and its Greek equivalent.)

You might like this for additional cross-references:
OpenBible Labs

 

[SkyWriting]

the first of Adam-kind (not Human-kind) and Jesus was the last Adam.

Research shows that creation was "re-made" rather than out-of-nothing.

 

[Murray J]

Research shows that creation was "re-made" rather than out-of-nothing.

I agree. I don't believe anything was made out of nothing.

 

[Aussie Pete]

I believe the bible in its entirety to be inspired by Yahweh Elohim (whom most people call God.) Because of that, I believe that Genesis 1 is not about the creation of Planet Earth but about the creation of one small part of it - the raising of the land that was underwater between the Nile and the Euphrates - the land promised to Abraham.
Why? Because the Hebrew word used is erets meaning Dry Land (or just Land) in contrast to the Sea. Gen 1:10 gives us that definition. And the other word is shamayim meaning elevated places (ie Skies, not the universe/heavens.) Before the Skies and Dry Land came to exist (Gen 1:1 being a summary statement), water existed. Out of that water were created the Skies and the Dry Land.
Therefore Planet Earth already existed and all the scientific discoveries are true about its long age. So I believe in a long age planet Earth and I believe in a roughly 6000 year period from the birth of Adam, the first of Adam-kind (not Human-kind) and Jesus was the last Adam.
In the attachment is my commentary on Genesis 1. It is from my own personal study, solely from the Bible, as I cross-referenced every major word in Genesis 1 with every other time it was used throughout scripture (both in Hebrew and its Greek equivalent.)

You may well be right. I believe in the "gap theory". I go further, I believe that the earth was flooded before the creation of Adam and Eve. I believe in a creation prior to Adam and that Lucifer was the light of the world at that time. When Lucifer became God's adversary, he lost his light and his position. It is interesting that the word translated "was" (formless and void) could also be translated as "became". It is an alternative translation according to an NIV study Bible I had some time ago.

The "old earth" theory answers a lot of questions. I've not come across anyone who has been saved as a result.........

 

[d taylor]

No planet at all, the earth created in Genesis 1 is one piece of flat, stationary land, with the sea surrounding this land. The order of Genesis is: a large body of water that God separates with a raqia making water below the raqia and a large body above the raqia. Then only after this separation of the waters does God bring forth the dry land/earth, that is surrounded by a large body of water God calls seas.

To bad this person who wrote this does not believe the Bible's testimony about Gods creation, but he shows how the earth in Genesis is a flat one piece of land surrounded by an ocean/sea.

Geographical Meaning of "Earth" and "Seas" in Gen. 1:10: Seely

 

[solid_core]

I believe the bible in its entirety to be inspired by Yahweh Elohim (whom most people call God.) Because of that, I believe that Genesis 1 is not about the creation of Planet Earth but about the creation of one small part of it - the raising of the land that was underwater between the Nile and the Euphrates - the land promised to Abraham.
Why? Because the Hebrew word used is erets meaning Dry Land (or just Land) in contrast to the Sea. Gen 1:10 gives us that definition. And the other word is shamayim meaning elevated places (ie Skies, not the universe/heavens.) Before the Skies and Dry Land came to exist (Gen 1:1 being a summary statement), water existed. Out of that water were created the Skies and the Dry Land.
Therefore Planet Earth already existed and all the scientific discoveries are true about its long age. So I believe in a long age planet Earth and I believe in a roughly 6000 year period from the birth of Adam, the first of Adam-kind (not Human-kind) and Jesus was the last Adam.
In the attachment is my commentary on Genesis 1. It is from my own personal study, solely from the Bible, as I cross-referenced every major word in Genesis 1 with every other time it was used throughout scripture (both in Hebrew and its Greek equivalent.)

In mythology, water was an initial state. God/gods were the ones who created from it. Water represented chaos and people feared that it may return. Its sometimes represented also by a dragon, a water dragon, leviathan and other monsters. In that case its called zoomorphism.

 

[SkyWriting]

No planet at all, the earth created in Genesis 1 is one piece of flat, stationary land, with the sea surrounding this land. The order of Genesis is: a large body of water that God separates with a raqia making water below the raqia and a large body above the raqia. Then only after this separation of the waters does God bring forth the dry land/earth, that is surrounded by a large body of water God calls seas.

To bad this person who wrote this does not believe the Bible's testimony about Gods creation, but he shows how the earth in Genesis is a flat one piece of land surrounded by an ocean/sea.

Geographical Meaning of "Earth" and "Seas" in Gen. 1:10: Seely

All of scripture was written from a human perspective.
If you ask a Chinese person which way is heaven
they will point the opposite direction from Polaris, the North star.
They will points south, which does not mean the chinese are evil.
Just ask your tennis shoes if the chinese are evil.

But don't use your computer, it is biased.
List of exports of China

# Product Value

1 Computers 210 ($Billion)
2 Broadcasting equipment 110
3 Telephones 91
4 Office Machine Parts 47

 

[Amittai]

Stephen Oppenheimer, the geneticist and epidemical paediatrician, from his time practicing in the Pacific, when he found that tribes with different immunity profiles had different myths, thought to compare the myths in Frazer's Golden Bough and found that they reflect (in different ways depending whether a nation is currently or was formerly associated with islands, shores of large land masses, or wholly inland living) loss of land causing migrations. This is in Eden From The East. (He has also written books on migrations round the world, and into Britain.)

This lifts myths right out of the realm of superstition though they come over as a bit garbled sometimes. (Another mainspring of myths is political and religious reformations. Think of Dr Foster and Humpty Dumpty, or Parashurama.)

 

[Amittai]

All of scripture was written from a human perspective. . . .

Scripture is meant to have a meaning attached. The pictures in Scripture are aide memoires. The meaning is supposed to stop us becoming fundamentalists. Scripture is true AND the meaning is true too. Wholesome hermeneutics enable us to appreciate the background to the style of expressions without in the slightest undermining our trust in God. He found land for the needy.

David Rohl's account of history also uses the same starting point.

A long time before the incidents in Gen 1, God DID create the universe, we have a working estimate of the time, despite the absence of stop watches or tear off calendars, and we have hypothesis about what the universe looked like in its first "minutes", "millennia" etc.

(Working hypotheses are perfectly respectable things to have.)

I read lots about this sort of thing and can't attribute authors from memory and my notes aren't easy to refer to. But some physicists think light was the crucial ingredient in causing the "biggish" bang or whatever it was.

I sometimes wonder if time is an extrusion and the familiar dimensions of space are an intrusion.

I welcome this thread because Christians will thrive on realism about the world, science, and history.

In the Hebrew and Aramaic hyperbolic style, "nothing" can be "next to nothing" like the thrifty housewife feeding her family.

 

[SkyWriting]

Scripture is meant to have a meaning attached...

I would hope so, because
All of scripture was written from the human perspective of the writer.

 

[d taylor]

All of scripture was written from a human perspective.
If you ask a Chinese person which way is heaven
they will point the opposite direction from Polaris, the North star.
They will points south, which does not mean the chinese are evil.
Just ask your tennis shoes if the chinese are evil.

But don't use your computer, it is biased.
List of exports of China

# Product Value

1 Computers 210 ($Billion)
2 Broadcasting equipment 110
3 Telephones 91
4 Office Machine Parts 47

According to Paul the Tanakh is the:

Much in every way! Chiefly because to them were committed the oracles of God.

Strongs: oracles
3051. logion
Original Word: λόγιον, ου, τό
Part of Speech: Noun, Neuter
Transliteration: logion
Phonetic Spelling: (log'-ee-on)
Definition: a saying, an oracle
Usage: plur: oracles, divine responses or utterances (it can include the entire Old Testament).

3051 lógion (from 3056 /lógos) – a divine declaration; a statement originating from God.

 

[Murray J]

All of scripture was written from a human perspective.
If you ask a Chinese person which way is heaven
they will point the opposite direction from Polaris, the North star.
They will points south, which does not mean the chinese are evil.
Just ask your tennis shoes if the chinese are evil.

But don't use your computer, it is biased.
List of exports of China

# Product Value

1 Computers 210 ($Billion)
2 Broadcasting equipment 110
3 Telephones 91
4 Office Machine Parts 47

What an odd post. What have exports of China got anything to do with my post? I am interested in biblical studies. (And by the way, I lived in China for 6 years but that has nothing to do with my post either.)

 

[SkyWriting]

What an odd post. What have exports of China got anything to do with my post? I am interested in biblical studies. (And by the way, I lived in China for 6 years but that has nothing to do with my post either.)

China is on the opposite side of the globe.
Down for them is up for us.
So....If you travel to China, or call them...and ask what stars are up
they won't point at the north star...Polaris.
So...when you were in China....the north star was likely not visible.
The little dipper for the chinese is not the same as for the US.

I snapped this photo for illustration.

 

[Murray J]

China is on the opposite side of the globe.
Down for them is up for us.
So....If you travel to China, or call them...and ask what stars are up
they won't point at the north star...Polaris.
So...when you were in China....the north star was likely not visible.
The little dipper for the chinese is not the same as for the US.

I snapped this photo for illustration.

Thanks I know this. I still don't get the relevancy. When Jesus went up it was into the sky about the Israel of His day. When Elisha went up it was into the same sky. When Jesus came down to retrieve His disciples, it was out of the same sky. The sky wasn't above China (or New Zealand) where I live.

 

[Murray J]

I am going to be leaving this website shortly. It was nice for the short time I was here. Someone has taken offence to something I have said. I never aim to offend anyone so I'm very sorry that has happened. Therefore, so it doesn't happen again, I will delete my account (once I find out how to do that.)

I have appreciated those of you who have engaged in biblical matters with me. My constant desire is only to know the truth. For those who were asking, yes I have sinned since accepting Jesus as Saviour and so I do not count myself as part of the Living holy church, for John says in 1 John 3 that a believer cannot sin and if he does he does not know Jesus. I accept that. I do not believe that 1 John 1 applies to me because that was my state before trusting Jesus. I cannot ask forgiveness again because he died once for sins. (Hebrews tells me that.)

As I have no other grounds for life, I continue to honour Yahweh Elohim and the teachings of his son Jesus. I endeavour to do what is right, knowing it does not count towards salvation or toward anything in Yahweh's eyes. I happily accept whatever happens to me at the end of this life. In the meantime, I enjoy the life he has given me and am thankful every day for it.

Shalom.

 

[thomas_t]

I believe that Genesis 1 is not about the creation of Planet Earth but about the creation of one small part of it - the raising of the land that was underwater between the Nile and the Euphrates - the land promised to Abraham.

I believe it's about the whole earth.

All of the (whole) sun is meant, the heaven, all stars... and the earth and there is no indication that but a tiny little bit of the land is meant.
There is no indication in the text that could possibly allow an interpretation as you propose, in my opinion.

Moreover, it's just your presumption that water existed before the first lines of Genesis 1.
The text doesn't indicate anything in this sense.

You say that dry land is meant only. However, Genesis 7:12 uses the same word when the waters rained down from the sky during the flood.
So you say that it simply rained on the dry land and not on the sea? That doesn't make sense please.
It rained.

 

[Paul James]

I believe the bible in its entirety to be inspired by Yahweh Elohim (whom most people call God.) Because of that, I believe that Genesis 1 is not about the creation of Planet Earth but about the creation of one small part of it - the raising of the land that was underwater between the Nile and the Euphrates - the land promised to Abraham.
Why? Because the Hebrew word used is erets meaning Dry Land (or just Land) in contrast to the Sea. Gen 1:10 gives us that definition. And the other word is shamayim meaning elevated places (ie Skies, not the universe/heavens.) Before the Skies and Dry Land came to exist (Gen 1:1 being a summary statement), water existed. Out of that water were created the Skies and the Dry Land.
Therefore Planet Earth already existed and all the scientific discoveries are true about its long age. So I believe in a long age planet Earth and I believe in a roughly 6000 year period from the birth of Adam, the first of Adam-kind (not Human-kind) and Jesus was the last Adam.
In the attachment is my commentary on Genesis 1. It is from my own personal study, solely from the Bible, as I cross-referenced every major word in Genesis 1 with every other time it was used throughout scripture (both in Hebrew and its Greek equivalent.)

That's the Gap theory - that there was a long gap between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2. Many Christians believe in it, mainly because the logical mind can't accept that anyone can create a whole universe and planet earth in six 24 hour days. But then, God isn't just an ordinary person, is He?