Genesis 1: 1-5:
2The earth was without form, and void;
and darkness was on the face of the deep.
And the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
3Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light.
4And God saw the light, that it was good;
and God separated the light from the darkness.
5God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night.
And there was evening and there was morning--day one.
The first verse is an especially profound statement, since it begins by asserting:
A. There was a beginning (of time, of all matter and of the physical universe);
B. But even at that beginning point God [Hebrew elohim] already existed;
C. God created out of nothing [Hebrew bara]
D. "the heavens and the earth" (English translation). It should be noted that although this is a correct translation, it is equally correct to translate the phrase as "the universe", since "heavens and the earth" is the Hebrew equivalent of the English word "universe."
The second verse tells us that the earth was formless, void and empty--but you are likely to get different interpretations as to what that means. It could mean that the earth was created but was without any form or substance, and was devoid of the necessary building blocks to support life. But it could just as easily mean that the earth was not created in the beginning, but that it was formed some time after the initial act that created the universe.
The second verse also says that darkness was over the surface of the deep; We are later told in verses 3 and 4 that the major development occurring on yom one (other than the initial creative act) was that light separated from the darkness. And the verse tells of the weruach elohim (Spirit of God or Wind of God) hovering over the surface of hammayim, which is most commonly translated as the waters, but can also mean the chaotic mixture or blend. It might be noted that approximately 800 years ago--well before modern scientific discoveries--noted Jewish Hebrew scholar Maimonides said this phrase may mean the building blocks of the universe--that chaotic mixture from which all the stars were formed.
The fifth verse concludes with the statement that "there was evening and there was morning--day one." A similar statement concludes each of the six days of creation: (with the Hebrew words reversed to correspond to the English order) wayhi-'erev wayhi-voqer yom 'echadh....yom sheni....yom shelishi...., which is generally translated "and it was evening and it was morning day one....day second....day third," etc.
Three Hebrew words are especially important to our understanding of what the Bible may mean by this phrase:
1. The Hebrew noun erev or ereb, which refers to the time of dusk beginning with the setting of the sun. It is generally translated as "evening" and is the time when the shadows of evening have grown long but it is not quite dark yet. The word can be used either to mean that time of day just before everything gets totally dark, or it can be used to refer to coming darkness, a time of chaos or confusion, or a time when one cannot see quite clearly. The root of erev means mixed-up, stirred together, disorderlywhich tends to be our visual sensation of being in the dark;
2. The Hebrew noun voqer or boker, which refers to morning or the breaking of day or that time when the rising of the sun allows one to see his way. Its root means discernible, able to be distinguished, orderlywhich tends to be our visual sensation at the coming of day; and
3. The Hebrew noun yom, which is generally translated as day or as a period of time, although it can also mean a generation, an era, or an indefinite period of time.
Although the scriptures can be used to support either the YEC viewpoint that the universe is only a few thousand years old or the OEC viewpoint that the universe is billions of Earth years old, the Bible is emphatic that it was the one true eternal God who created the universe and that this same all-powerful and eternal God cares enough about us to provide for our redemption so that we may have everlasting fellowship with Him.
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
2The earth was without form, and void;
and darkness was on the face of the deep.
And the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
3Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light.
4And God saw the light, that it was good;
and God separated the light from the darkness.
5God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night.
And there was evening and there was morning--day one.
The first verse is an especially profound statement, since it begins by asserting:
A. There was a beginning (of time, of all matter and of the physical universe);
B. But even at that beginning point God [Hebrew elohim] already existed;
C. God created out of nothing [Hebrew bara]
D. "the heavens and the earth" (English translation). It should be noted that although this is a correct translation, it is equally correct to translate the phrase as "the universe", since "heavens and the earth" is the Hebrew equivalent of the English word "universe."
The second verse tells us that the earth was formless, void and empty--but you are likely to get different interpretations as to what that means. It could mean that the earth was created but was without any form or substance, and was devoid of the necessary building blocks to support life. But it could just as easily mean that the earth was not created in the beginning, but that it was formed some time after the initial act that created the universe.
The second verse also says that darkness was over the surface of the deep; We are later told in verses 3 and 4 that the major development occurring on yom one (other than the initial creative act) was that light separated from the darkness. And the verse tells of the weruach elohim (Spirit of God or Wind of God) hovering over the surface of hammayim, which is most commonly translated as the waters, but can also mean the chaotic mixture or blend. It might be noted that approximately 800 years ago--well before modern scientific discoveries--noted Jewish Hebrew scholar Maimonides said this phrase may mean the building blocks of the universe--that chaotic mixture from which all the stars were formed.
The fifth verse concludes with the statement that "there was evening and there was morning--day one." A similar statement concludes each of the six days of creation: (with the Hebrew words reversed to correspond to the English order) wayhi-'erev wayhi-voqer yom 'echadh....yom sheni....yom shelishi...., which is generally translated "and it was evening and it was morning day one....day second....day third," etc.
Three Hebrew words are especially important to our understanding of what the Bible may mean by this phrase:
1. The Hebrew noun erev or ereb, which refers to the time of dusk beginning with the setting of the sun. It is generally translated as "evening" and is the time when the shadows of evening have grown long but it is not quite dark yet. The word can be used either to mean that time of day just before everything gets totally dark, or it can be used to refer to coming darkness, a time of chaos or confusion, or a time when one cannot see quite clearly. The root of erev means mixed-up, stirred together, disorderlywhich tends to be our visual sensation of being in the dark;
2. The Hebrew noun voqer or boker, which refers to morning or the breaking of day or that time when the rising of the sun allows one to see his way. Its root means discernible, able to be distinguished, orderlywhich tends to be our visual sensation at the coming of day; and
3. The Hebrew noun yom, which is generally translated as day or as a period of time, although it can also mean a generation, an era, or an indefinite period of time.
Although the scriptures can be used to support either the YEC viewpoint that the universe is only a few thousand years old or the OEC viewpoint that the universe is billions of Earth years old, the Bible is emphatic that it was the one true eternal God who created the universe and that this same all-powerful and eternal God cares enough about us to provide for our redemption so that we may have everlasting fellowship with Him.
