YEC: What did God do before Earth?

[coolguybrad]

If the age of the earth is 6000 yrs, what was God doing before then?

The Earth was void (some translations say chaos) and God's face was on the waters. What year was the Earth covered in water in which His face was hovering over it? Was that day 1 or before day 1?

How much time passed from when the water was there and when it wasn't?

Genesis 1:2 - The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. <- What day did this water get there?

 

[jonathan180iq]

Good question.

Saying that God hovering over the waters, and the actual creation of the waters and everything happened all in the same day as day 1 would mean that God did not really precede creation, which would be an impossibility. (John 1)

 

[coolguybrad]

Good question.

Saying that God hovering over the waters, and the actual creation of the waters and everything happened all in the same day as day 1 would mean that God did not really precede creation, which would be an impossibility. (John 1)

I'll play YEC advocate and say God created the water on day one, although no translations I have seen actually say He did. Another YEC assumption.

 

[papakapp]

Time may have existed as a concept before the creation of the universe. (Or may have existed in other universes). But time is a line that all matter in the universe travel along. If God is outside of the universe and not bound by its limitations. (Such as being limited to the existence of traveling along a timeline.). Then the question really makes no sense.

OTOH, if God was limited by time, and also if the universe was billions of years old, then what did God do before that?

 

[coolguybrad]

Time may have existed as a concept before the creation of the universe. (Or may have existed in other universes). But time is a line that all matter in the universe travel along. If God is outside of the universe and not bound by its limitations. (Such as being limited to the existence of traveling along a timeline.). Then the question really makes no sense.

OTOH, if God was limited by time, and also if the universe was billions of years old, then what did God do before that?

We don't know. However we do know the bible says the Earth BECAME without form or void (chaos), and it had already water. Genesis 1:2 implies "there was something before".

From
The Controversial Genesis Gap Doctrine: Belief in a Pre-Adamic Creation

"An early Aramaic Old Testament paraphrase called the Targum of Onkelos, written early in the second century, renders Genesis 1:2 as &#8220;and the earth was laid waste," revealing a possible time-gap between verses 1 and 2. The earth also appears to be in a chaotic condition with darkness and a flood of water covering it. Other ancient writers including 5th century Augustin also refer to an earth that was originally created and afterward in need of having order brought back to it within these two verses."

 

[visionary]

Before the foundations, God worked out a plan of salvage should something run afoul.. like iniquity found in Satan. So before God made anything out of nothing, He did His alpha omega contingency planning. Any flaws were going to be dealt with before seven of His days pass. When He builds the new heaven and the new earth, it will be perfect not because He is going to anything much different that He did last time, but that non of His creations will question His wisdom or authority.

 

[SkyWriting]

If the age of the earth is 6000 yrs, what was God doing before then?

The bible does not say the earth is 6000 years old. Some religious people have estimated that the "Creation Week" happened about that long ago.
But you need a more scientific answer....so just ask your Science teacher:

"What happened before the Big Bang? The conventional answer to that question is usually, “There is no such thing as ‘before the Big Bang.’” That’s the event that started it all. But the right answer, says physicist Sean Carroll, is, “We just don’t know.” Carroll, as well as many other physicists and cosmologists have begun to consider the possibility of time before the Big Bang, as well as alternative theories of how our universe came to be."

Thinking About Time Before the Big Bang | Universe Today


Water is part of the birthing process. Women, baptism....rain....seeds....it all ties together. Reality mirrors the spirit world.

 

[coolguybrad]

The bible does not say the earth is 6000 years old. Some religious people have estimated that the "Creation Week" happened about that long ago.
But you need a more scientific answer....so just ask your Science teacher:

"What happened before the Big Bang? The conventional answer to that question is usually, “There is no such thing as ‘before the Big Bang.’” That’s the event that started it all. But the right answer, says physicist Sean Carroll, is, “We just don’t know.” Carroll, as well as many other physicists and cosmologists have begun to consider the possibility of time before the Big Bang, as well as alternative theories of how our universe came to be."

Thinking About Time Before the Big Bang | Universe Today

God IS the big bang? Are we a deist?

 

[good brother]

If the earth was billions of bllions of bllions and trillions of trillions of years old, what did God do before then? Just because we are limited by space and time does not mean God is. Its very similar to the question, " If God is so powerful, can He make a rock so big He cant lift it?" If an immature Christian says no, the arguer says that God cant do anything. If he answers yes, then the arguer still can say God cant do anything. Its a catch 22. The real answer to that question is that God is not hindered like we are by physical human strength. God is not limited in strength, in time, or in space.

 

[SkyWriting]

God IS the big bang? Are we a deist?

Please. I just moved the time table back a bit farther so we could get a truly scientific answer. There is no time before creation. Which just makes sense.

 

[coolguybrad]

You guys aren't really addressing the real question. Where did the water come from? A pre-creation event or the first day?

The earth became void/waste/desolate/chaos/death/darkness implying a previous state. The new state was covered in water (global flood). What was it before?

 

[visionary]

Water is an environment in which life as we know it can live. When God created water He was inspired... And at genesis is the rest of the story..

 

[True_Blue]

There are a lot of scattered thoughts on this thread. I will try to provide some clarity.

1. We know from Einstein that Time is dependent upon velocity and gravity. If there is no matter or "stuff," there is no time. So it's meaningless to talk about time before God created this universe. Heaven, with the angels, exists in a realm independent of our concepts of time. To the angels, God exists in a realm comprising of Himself that is independent of heaven. It's best not to get wrapped around what God did before the universe. We're not capable of understanding the answer, at least not yet, and perhaps never.
2. Genesis says that God created the water at Time 0. Time began when stuff began, and the first stuff was water. Genesis does not say, "In the Beginning was God and the water," because that would imply God did not create the water. Consistent with the correct understanding of time, Genesis makes it clear that God created the water, even if the water first existed in the very instant time began to begin. Time began when water was created, not before or after.
3. According to Dr. Russell Humphreys' cosmology, which I ascribe to, the water referred to in Genesis as "The Deep" is a truly deep ball of water about 1 light year in radius encompassing all the matter in the presently observable universe. Beginning at time zero, it compressed under its own massive gravity and became a superstar, which God then exploded on the surface of a 4th dimensional hypersphere to create the universe as we know it. That "explosion" may be continuing to this day, since all the distant galaxies are still accelerating away from us in all directions. Not just the matter is accelerating, but space itself is stretching. There are at least four references in the Bible to God stretching out the heavens.

 

[miamited]

Good morning Coolguybrad,

Try this one on for size and see if it doesn't fit all Scriptural parameters.

Before the creation of this realm, God lived in and with the angelic realm. And He still does. Scripture gives us several glimpses into God's abiding in a realm which is also the home of the angels. We have passages that declare that there are angels who serve God night and day. In Job we are told that all the angels and Satan came to be before the throne of God.

That realm of the angels is also an eternal realm, although there is logical reason to believe that all of the angels were created at some point. Only God is the uncreated fully eternal. The angels were created and from the time of their creation, they were everlasting. Now, some would define eternal as being both always having existed in the past and always will exist in the future. I don't agree with that particular definition in all cases. I prefer to think of eternal and define it as, once having been created, never to pass away. After all, the Scriptures themselves declare that we will gain eternal life, but we were obviously created at some point, so I don't necessarily think that the Scriptures define eternal as always having existed in the past. This definition fits with all of the angelic realm and all of the physical realm in which we live, as regards mankind. Let me just make clear that this eternality does not apply to any other created living creature upon the earth, either plant or animal.

So, as I understand the Scriptures, God, who is the fully eternal, uncreated God, created the angelic realm and just as in the earthly realm, at some point, while all the angels were created perfect and eternal just as we were, sin came into the angelic realm. God's desire and goal is to rid all of His creation of sin. In the end, all the angelic realm and all of our physical realm will be cleansed of sin, by separating, within both realms, all of the angels and all of mankind who willingly trust and serve God and order will again be restored to both the heavenly realm of the angels and the physical realm of the creation in which we live. We will then all live eternally with God.

That seems to me to be the purpose and conclusion of the plan of God as I understand it in the Scriptures.

God bless you.
In Christ, Ted.

 

[98cwitr]

If the age of the earth is 6000 yrs, what was God doing before then?

The Earth was void (some translations say chaos) and God's face was on the waters. What year was the Earth covered in water in which His face was hovering over it? Was that day 1 or before day 1?

How much time passed from when the water was there and when it wasn't?

Genesis 1:2 - The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. <- What day did this water get there?

you know we have an origins forum right?

Origins Theology - Christian Forums

 

[coolguybrad]

you know we have an origins forum right?

Origins Theology - Christian Forums

Another sub sub sub, my word! Yeah I saw it later. Not much convo there it seems.

 

[jonathan180iq]

Another sub sub sub, my word! Yeah I saw it later. Not much convo there it seems.

...only constant defenses of established positions by people who will not be swayed by the other side of the fence.

 

[SkyWriting]

...only constant defenses of established positions by people who will not be swayed by the other side of the fence.

I slowly moved from yec over time. When challanged om unsupportable positions, I eventually decided my position wasn't bible based. My current position may not be logical, but at least it's biblical.

Fortunately for me scientific theories include quantum realities which have no logical basis either. It's just observed facts. Science just shrugs and says "maybe we'll understand it someday."

 

[98cwitr]

I think God was just chillin and got bored, probably hung out with Jesus and the angels

 

[good brother]

You guys aren't really addressing the real question. Where did the water come from? A pre-creation event or the first day?

The earth became void/waste/desolate/chaos/death/darkness implying a previous state. The new state was covered in water (global flood). What was it before?

I promise I will keep our other discussion where it was but I did want to share this with you about this thread.

H1961
&#1492;&#1497;&#1492;
ha&#770;ya&#770;h
haw-yaw'
A primitive root (compare H1933); to exist, that is, be or become, come to pass (always emphatic, and not a mere copula or auxiliary): - beacon, X altogether, be (-come, accomplished, committed, like), break, cause, come (to pass), continue, do, faint, fall, + follow, happen, X have, last, pertain, quit (one-) self, require, X use.

It might have been better translated, "And the Earth existed without form and was void." or perhaps, "And it came to pass that the Earth was created without a form and was void/empty."

He also didnt specifically mention alot of things. Perhaps God was trying to create a quick two chapter summary on the Creation as opposed to an entire thesis on the subject. Perhaps God just wanted to give us a bit, then move onto the story that involves us and Him and His redemption plan.