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 Dedication

I dedicate this book to all the Christian parents doing their

best to raise up godly offspring, and who have that earnest
desire to obey God’s instruction to enable their children to:
Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to
stand against the schemes of the devil (Ephesians 6:11).
 Table of Contents
Introduction..................................................................... 7

Chapter 1 • Day One........................................................... 9

The beginning of time recorded in Genesis gives us the foundation for
our Christian worldview. We discover God’s attributes and actions right
from day one, along with truths about the age of the universe.
Chapter 2 • Day Two......................................................... 41
God prepares the earth for life, carefully crafting the perfect conditions
for the plants, animals, and humans to come.
Chapter 3 • Day Three...................................................... 51
Here we see the earth taking shape…land appears, and plants sprout
up, each according to their kind.
Chapter 4 • Day Four........................................................ 65
God creates the sun, moon, and stars to give light on the earth and to
provide signs, seasons, and timekeeping.
Chapter 5 • Day Five......................................................... 73
God creates all the flying and sea creatures on this day, blessing them
and commanding them to fill the earth.
Chapter 6 • Day Six........................................................... 81
God creates all the land-dwelling, air-breathing animals on this day,
blessing them and commanding them to fill the earth.
Chapter 7 • Day Six........................................................... 87
Here we reach the pinnacle of God’s creation — man. God specially
and uniquely creates man in His image and gives him dominion over all
creation.
Chapter 8 • Genesis 2....................................................... 99
The second book of Genesis provides more detail of the creation of
man — how woman enters the picture, God’s ordination of marriage,
and more.
Chapter 9 • Genesis 3..................................................... 113
Here we learn about the origin of sin — and thus the start of the Curse
and the spiritual war between good and evil.
 Table of Contents
Chapter 10 • Genesis 4................................................... 141
Cain, Abel, and Seth are three specific children of Adam and Eve that
the Bible records. Cain’s wickedness gives us a warning, Abel’s right-
eousness gives us an example, and the line of Seth points us to the seed
of the woman.
Chapter 11 • Genesis 5................................................... 155
The genealogies in Genesis 5 are important, as they give us a timeline
of Adam’s descendants to Noah without gaps, along with continuing to
point toward the seed of the woman to come.
Chapter 12 • Genesis 6................................................... 167
God plans to send a global Flood to judge mankind’s wickedness. How-
ever, we see hope in God’s covenant to Noah, as well as ties to salvation
in the coming Messiah.
Chapter 13 • Genesis 7................................................... 187
The Flood comes after Noah and his family board the Ark. We see here
how we must enter through Jesus, the door of salvation, to be saved
from judgment, just as Noah and his family entered through the door
of the Ark to be saved from the Flood.
Chapter 14 • Genesis 8................................................... 197
The Flood lasts for about a year. It changes the earth dramatically, but
God promises that things will continue until the final judgment of fire.
Chapter 15 • Genesis 9................................................... 211
God establishes laws for the post-Flood world, as well as a cove-
nant with Noah. We also get a peek at the future of Shem, Ham, and
Japheth’s descendants.
Chapter 16 • Genesis 10................................................. 225
This chapter gives us an overview of the descendants of Noah’s sons
and their dispersion over the earth.
Chapter 17 • Genesis 11................................................. 231
The Tower of Babel event explains the diversity of languages and people
groups in our world today. Shem’s descendants particularly are traced
down to Abram… still pointing to the coming Messiah.
Chapter 18 • A Tribute.................................................... 241
The legacy of godly parents
Appendix 1....................................................................... 245
What About Extra-Biblical Tables of Nations and Genealogies That Go
Back to Noah?
Appendix 2....................................................................... 257
Josephus — a Wonderful Steppingstone
Appendix 3....................................................................... 265
Was Nimrod in Charge of Forcing a Rebellion Prior to the Events in
Genesis 11:1–9?
Appendix 4....................................................................... 275
What Is the State of the Canopy Model?
 Introduction
This is a unique commentary. We are going to look in detail at the first
11 chapters of Genesis. I will explain what we read in the text, answer
many of the most-asked questions people have about these passages,
and deal with many of the objections some have. I also want to apply
what we learn to our personal lives in the increasingly dark culture we
live in.
This commentary will feature apologetics (answers to skeptical ques-
tions and objections), how to think foundationally to know what we
believe as Christians (doctrine) and why, and how to develop a truly
Christian worldview. There is also a devotional aspect throughout as
we gain understanding of who God is, what He has done for us, and
thus why we should thank and praise Him.
The teaching also will be equipping people to know how to have a
correct worldview regarding contemporary issues like gender, gay
“marriage,” abortion, racism, and others.
As we begin, Genesis chapter one sets the scene for the rest of this
book. And there’s a recurrent theme throughout the commentary —
that of coming to grips with what it means that God is our infinite
Creator. So come with me as I “hammer home” the importance of
understanding God’s infinite greatness compared to our human finite
understanding. This is an important key to understanding Genesis
1–11, as it helps us understand that we need to put ourselves under
the authority of the text, and not over it!
What an exciting trip through history this will be from creation to
Babel!

7
7
 Chapter 1 Day One

Genesis 1:1–5
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 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.
And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw
that the light was good. And God separated the light from the dark-
ness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night.
And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

Genesis 1:1
Let’s analyze the first day of creation in detail. It begins with: “In the
beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”
This was the first miracle of Jesus recorded in the Bible. In Colossians
1:16 we are told that Jesus (who is God) created all things: For by
him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible,
whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities — all things were
created through him and for him. The first miracle of Jesus was creation!
“In the beginning God created…” What an exciting statement! If this first
verse in God’s Word isn’t true, then none of the rest of the Bible is true!
This is one of the most important sentences in the Bible. If we believe
this verse in the Bible, we won’t have much trouble believing all the other
verses from Genesis (the first book) to Revelation (the last book).
9
9
 Three Truths from Genesis 1:1
Let me show why this is so by teaching three very important things we
can understand from this verse of Scripture.
1. Foundations are important. This word “foundation” essentially
means “a base.” For instance, consider building a house. Builders con-
struct the foundation, then the floor, and then the walls and roof. But
without the foundation, the house would collapse. Or consider four
building blocks. If we place one building block on the floor, then this
block becomes the foundation (or base) for all the blocks that will be
placed on top.
If you put a second building block on the first one, then the first block
is foundational to the second block, and the second block will be
foundational to all blocks placed on it! Now, if you take a third block
and place this on the second block, then the first block is founda-
tional to the second and third blocks, and the second block is foun-
dational to the third block.
Let’s take a fourth block. Once you place the fourth block on top of
the third block, you can say that the first block is foundational to
the second block, and the second block is foundational to the third
block, and the third block is foundational to the fourth block. Okay,
now using this block example, let’s consider Genesis 1–11 in regard to
the topic of foundations.
As we study through the first 11 chapters of Genesis, we learn that
the first verse in Genesis is foundational to the first chapter, and the
first chapter is foundational to the first eleven chapters, and the first
eleven chapters are foundational to the rest of Genesis, and Genesis is
foundational to the rest of the Bible. Indeed, Genesis 1–11 is founda-
tional to all Christian doctrine and to the Christian worldview.
Imagine suddenly pulling the bottom block out from under the other
three. The whole structure would collapse. In a similar sort of way, if
the foundational verse of the Bible is not true, the rest of the Bible
would not be true either.

10
 Day One
Psalm 11:3 states, If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous
do? For instance, if God is not the foundation of everything — if there
is no God, then trust in Jesus and the Bible would be meaningless.
That is why the first verse tells us there is a God — but not just any
God, the one true God.
2. The universe had a beginning. This first verse tells us that the
universe was brought into existence — it was created by God.

Chapter 1
This means that before the universe was made, there was no universe
— no earth, no time, and in fact, not even any space! I can’t even
imagine there being no space. How would we try to describe this?
We might say that there was nothing. However, I think most people
would still think that nothing would mean an empty black place. But
the universe was not even a place before creation — it wasn’t black —
because it just wasn’t!
The only way I have ever been able to describe this, to even try to
understand it, is to say there was not even nothing (but there was
God, and we will learn about this in point number three). We can’t
even think what not even nothing would be like.
Not even nothing! It couldn’t be black — because that would be some-
thing! This is impossible for us to understand because we are created
beings — we were created by God. This means God must be so much
more powerful than us, so there are going to be many things we will
not understand. This should make us realize more and more how big
and powerful God is.
If God made the universe, what did he make it from? The word “cre-
ated” used in this first verse really means that God brought into exist-
ence materials that had no previous existence to make everything that
now exists. God made the universe from materials that He created
from “not even nothing.”
In the Book of Hebrews in the New Testament we read that, By faith
we understand that the universe [this means everything] was created by the
word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible

11
(Hebrews 11:3). This also teaches us that the things we see now were
made from materials that previously did not exist, but God brought
them into existence! It helps us to begin to understand how powerful
God is.
In Psalm 33:9, we are told about how God does things, For he spoke,
and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm. How does God do
things? He just commands it to happen — and it happens. How did
He make the universe? He just spoke it into existence! Look at the fol-
lowing verses in Genesis chapter 1:3, 6, 9, 14, 20, 24, and 26. They all
start with And God said (verse 26 begins with “then God said”). He just
spoke, and things happened — things came into existence. He just
spoke, and suddenly, from “not even nothing” there was something.
Only God could do this.
In Mark 4:39, we are told the account of how Jesus, God’s son, was on
a boat with the disciples and a great storm arose. He spoke to the wind
and sea and they obeyed him! And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said
to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.
When the disciples saw this, they said, “Who then is this, that even the
wind and the sea obey him?” (Mark 4:41). In other words, who is this
who can just speak to the wind and sea and they obey Him? Well, the
answer is that this is the Creator! This was no ordinary man. Colos-
sians 1:16 tells us that all things were created through him and for him.
No wonder the sea and the wind obeyed Him — He made them!
If all things were made by Him, it means we were made by Him.
Actually, as we will learn further on, God made our first parents and
designed them to have children, and their children to have children,
and so on. God did not make us directly from dust like He did Adam,
but we are all children of Adam. So we can certainly say God made us
(Psalm 139:13–14).
Before God spoke the universe into existence, we did not exist, except
God knew we would exist. For instance, in Jeremiah 1:5, God said
this about Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and
before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the

12
 Day One
nations.” God in eternity knew each one of us just as He knew Jere-
miah, before we came into existence. That gives us more of a glimpse
of how great God is.
Now we do exist, and we think, and make decisions. And yet our first
parents were made from dust that originally did not exist, but which
God spoke into existence! Oh, how great God is.

Chapter 1
And what did God first create? He created time (In the beginning); He
created space (God created the heavens); He created matter (and the
earth).
Now the third point I want us to understand from this verse.
3. God had no beginning. The Bible tells us that time, space, and
matter (the universe) had a beginning, but that God was just there!
How could this be? If God made time, then God had to exist before
time. We know that time can be measured. For instance, we measure
time with our watches by measuring minutes or hours. Each time we
have a birthday, we know that a whole year of time has passed by. As
time goes on, we get older — everything that exists gets older. But if
God made time and exists outside of time, then He does not age.
Maybe why we find this hard (really impossible) to completely under-
stand is because we were created, just as time was created. The one
who created us must understand much more than us. We can’t under-
stand everything about God, but God helps us to understand as much
as we can.
Look in the Bible at Exodus 3:14. God had spoken to Moses and told
him to go to the great Pharaoh of the Egyptians, and tell him to let
God’s people, the Israelites who were slaves, go free.
Moses wanted to know who he should say sent him to do this. In verse
14 we read, God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say t his to
the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’”
God said his name was “I am.” Now that might sound like a strange
name, but do we know what this means? We were born (had a

13
beginning), which is why we existed in the past and we exist now,
and we will continue to exist in our body until we die. Of course, the
real us does not cease to exist when we die. If we are a Christian, the
Bible teaches us that we will leave our body and go to be with God
forever — now that is something to look forward to. We were born,
are existing now, and will be existing forever, either with God or sadly,
apart from God, if we have not committed our life to Him. We had a
beginning.
However, God exists! He did not have a beginning. He is just always
there. He doesn’t age, because with God there is no time. He made
time so He could make us. That is why He says His name is “I am.”
Now in Psalm 90:2 we read, Before the mountains were brought forth, or
ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting
you are God. God exists in eternity — He didn’t have a beginning.

Who Made God?

Some people say, “But surely somehow God had to have a beginning.”
I’ve often had children ask me, “Who made God?”
Let’s think through this very carefully. Consider a watch. Did someone
make the watch? Of course! A watchmaker made the watch. A watch
could not come into existence by itself. Now, is the watch more intelli-
gent and greater than the watchmaker? No! The watchmaker is greater
than the watch. We know someone had to make the watch — the watch-
maker. Yet, the watchmaker is greater than the watch. So who made the
watchmaker? Someone greater than the watchmaker. The Bible tells us
that this someone is God.
If someone made God, who would that be? A super God. And who
made the super God? A super, super God. And who made the super,
super God? A super, super, super God! We could keep saying this
forever — and we would never get to the end. We would always have
to have someone bigger to make someone. This doesn’t make sense. It
means there must be someone who is the biggest of all. And that’s the
infinite God!

14
 Day One
The Creator God of the Bible exists in eternity, and the Scripture
teaches us He is:

Omnipotent (this means He is all-powerful): For nothing will be

impossible with God (Luke 1:37).

Omniscient (this means He is all-knowing): in whom [Jesus] are

Chapter 1
hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Colossians 2:3).

Omnipresent (this means He is everywhere at once): The eyes of

the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good
(Proverbs 15:3).
The word we used to describe God is “infinite.” This word means “with-
out end or limit — greater than any amount we could number.” If God
always exists, and no one made God, then it means His knowledge is
infinite. It means His power is infinite. It means His understanding is
infinite. It means His wisdom is infinite. It means God had no beginning
— He is always there — He is the great I am. He is the infinite Creator.
He knows everything there is to know, and has all power, all wisdom,
and all understanding. Everything about God is infinite. His love for us
must be infinite. He must be infinitely good. If it was possible, we could
say an infinite number of things about God — but then this book would
be infinitely long, and no one would be able to finish reading it!
As we read God’s Word, remember we are just finite beings. We need
to let God, who is infinite, tell us from His Word what He wants us to
know. We must do our best to never take our ideas to God’s Word and
try to make it say what we want it to say.
Another way to understand our finiteness is to think about our edu-
cation. We have to learn to read and write, and then perhaps go to
college, and earn a qualification so we can be a tradesman, scientist,
doctor, or teacher, for instance. But God never had to learn anything.
He has always known everything. Everything we take a lifetime to
learn He knows anyway, and He never has to learn anything more,
because there is nothing more for Him to learn. He knows it all.

15
 One But Three
The Hebrew word for God in Genesis 1:1 means God is one but more
than one. We learn in the Bible that God is one but three at the same
time. Now while there is one being of God, all three members of the
Trinity are distinct persons. The three are God the Father, God the
Son, and God the Holy Spirit! We use a word to describe the fact that
God is one but three — Trinity.
Many times in the Bible we read that God is the Creator, but we also
read that Jesus created all things. Colossians 1:16 teaches us that Jesus
is the second member of the Trinity and later in the same epistle we
read that: For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily (Colossians
2:9). In Colossians 2:3, we are told about Jesus that it is He in whom
are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Jesus, who is God,
knows everything. He is infinite. In other words, Jesus is God.
The third member of the trinity is the Holy Spirit: The grace of the Lord
Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with
you all (2 Corinthians 13:14).

Can God Really Have No Beginning?

But what about people who say, “It’s silly to believe in God, because
no one could just have no beginning and always exist.” Usually, these
people believe that the universe just came into existence by chance —
as a result of naturalistic evolutionary processes.
If people don’t believe in an infinite God, then we need to ask them
where matter came from and where space came from. Many people
will say that matter has just always existed. This means they have
faith (and it is a faith that lacks credulity) that matter just exists (they
believe in eternal matter), whereas we have faith (an objective faith
that makes sense of what we observe) that God exists. However, ask
them to show you evidence that matter by itself made anything! They
can’t give any such evidence. It takes intelligence to make things. Man
is intelligent — he makes cars, computers, and planes. We need to tell

16
 Day One
them it is more scientific and logical to believe that an intelligence has
always been there rather than their belief that matter always existed.
Some will tell you that matter just appeared out of nowhere. They
have faith that matter just came into existence by itself and made
everything! No one has observed matter do that! To believe that is to
have blind faith. Actually, it’s a faith that lacks credulity as it doesn’t
explain what we observe. It is much more reasonable and scientific

Chapter 1
to believe an infinite intelligence who has always been there made
everything, just as the Bible tells us. Yes, that means we have faith that
God who exists in eternity created everything, but it’s not blind faith
like those who reject God. Our faith makes sense of what we observe,
and science confirms it in many ways.
In the New Testament Book of Romans we read: For his invisible attrib-
utes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly per-
ceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been
made. So they are without excuse (Romans 1:20).
Here we are told that if anyone does not believe in the infinite Creator
God, they are without excuse, because God has made it obvious to
everyone from just looking around that God the Creator exists. For
instance, when we look around at cars, planes, computers, trains, and
buildings, we would never think they just arrived here by chance.
Matter just did not make these things. Intelligent people made them.
However, trees, flowers, animals, and people are so much more com-
plicated than the things man has made. In fact, a single cell (and we
are made of trillions of them) is more complicated than anything man
has made. And inside each cell God created a program, similar to a
complex computer program, in the DNA molecule to make the cell
work and even make copies of itself. If it took intelligence to make
simple things like cars, planes, computers, trains, and buildings, what
kind of intelligence did it take to make the first trees, flowers, animals,
and people and to enable them to make copies of themselves? A much
greater intelligence. In fact, an infinite intelligence — the God of the
Bible. The God of creation.

17
God made the first parents, Adam and Eve, and designed them to
have children. When we look around the world today and see the
trees, flowers, and animals, we need to understand God made the first
trees, flowers, and animals, and programmed them to make copies
of themselves. So the trees, flowers, and animals today are “copies”
(descendants) of the original ones (“kinds,” but more on that later)
that God made. So, we really can say that God made all the trees, flow-
ers, and animals, as long as we understand that God actually created
the original ones and designed them to reproduce (or make copies
of) their own kind year after year since the beginning. This is impor-
tant, because as we come to the event of the Fall (Genesis 3), we must
understand the world today has greatly changed from the way it was
originally created. Now sin has affected everything, so in the present
world, we are not looking at the world God originally made. More on
that later.
When you think about it, if we are amazed at the wonderful things
man makes, we should be more amazed and give great glory to the
One who made man and all things — the God of the Bible. We should
kneel down and worship our infinite Creator. And we should recog-
nize that we know almost nothing compared to what God knows.
This should put things into perspective as we study God’s Word.

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.
Verse one ends with the phrase “and the earth” and verse two begins
with “the earth.” One might think this is not a very important phrase,
but it really is.
How long ago did God make the heavens and the earth as stated
in verse one? Some people think it was billions of years ago. Why?
Because many think scientists have proved that the earth is billions of
years old.

18
 Day One
However, scientists have not proved the earth is billions of years
old. There are many scientists who believe the earth is only
thousands of years old based on the history recorded for us in the
Bible — and nothing in observational science contradicts this. There
are lots of dating methods that overwhelmingly confirm the universe
is only thousands of years old.
Scientists try to date the earth using complicated methods that have

Chapter 1
been shown to have enormous problems. For instance, they have used
their dating methods on rocks that are known to be only hundreds of
years old (or even younger), but their dating method gave a date of
millions of years old! This has happened many times and should be a
warning to us not to just accept these dates of millions or billions of
years.
Really, the only way you would know for sure how old the earth was,
is if you knew someone who saw it begin. I know of only one being
who saw the earth begin — the God who made it! In the Book of Job,
God asked Job a question: Where were you when I laid the foundation of
the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding (Job 38:4). In other words,
God was saying “Were you there, Job? Were you there when I made the
earth?” I always tell people that when they hear scientists say the earth
is billions of years old, they should politely ask the question, “Were
you there?” When they say no, they weren’t but tell us neither were we
there, then we need to tell them no human was there, but God was,
and He has given us in His Word the details about the history of the
universe.

The Very Word of God

The Bible claims thousands of times that it is the Word of God (not
just the word of men). For instance:

And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received
the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as
the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at
work in you believers (1 Thessalonians 2:13).

19
 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for
reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness (2 Timothy
3:16).
Yes, all of what we read in the Bible is God’s Word — it’s God breathed.
The inspired, infallible Word of God.

But Why 6,000 Years?

The Bible records the creation of the world in Genesis, and
then gives us all sorts of information that enables us to
add up dates to find out when God made the world. For
instance, we are told that God made everything in six
days. (We will discuss later in detail the fact that these
were ordinary days just like we have today). We are
then told that the first parents were made on day six,
and in passages in the Bible we are told when people
were born, and when they died, and so on, just like we
read in these verses that are part of the history given in
Genesis 5 leading up to a man called Noah:

When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son in his own like-
ness, after his image, and named him Seth. The days of Adam after
he fathered Seth were 800 years; and he had other sons and daugh-
ters. Thus all the days that Adam lived were 930 years, and he died.

When Seth had lived 105 years, he fathered Enosh. Seth lived after he
fathered Enosh 807 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all
the days of Seth were 912 years, and he died.

When Enosh had lived 90 years, he fathered Kenan. Enosh lived after
he fathered Kenan 815 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus
all the days of Enosh were 905 years, and he died.

When Kenan had lived 70 years, he fathered Mahalalel. Kenan

lived after he fathered Mahalalel 840 years and had other sons and
daughters. Thus all the days of Kenan were 910 years, and he died.

20
 Day One
When Mahalalel had lived 65 years, he fathered Jared. Mahalalel
lived after he fathered Jared 830 years and had other sons and
daughters. Thus all the days of Mahalalel were 895 years, and he
died.

When Jared had lived 162 years, he fathered Enoch. Jared lived after
he fathered Enoch. . . (Genesis 5:3–19).

Chapter 1
You can read the entire genealogy from Adam to Noah and his sons
in Genesis 5:1–32. You can see that this list tells us when people were
born and when they died.
Many great scholars who have spent a lifetime studying the Bible have
added up all such dates from these lists and other events and come to
the conclusion that God created the world about 4,000 years before
Jesus was born as a babe in a manger. I am writing this book in the
year 2021 a.d., which means the earth must be about 6,000 years old.

A Gap of Time?
Now what does all this have to do with the word “and” (in verse
1)? Well, as I stated earlier, God knows all things — He has infinite
knowledge. Compared to what God knows, even the person who has
studied at universities all their life, still knows very little — in fact,
hardly anything compared to God.
This means the only way we could ever be sure of being right about
how and when this world came into existence was if we had infor-
mation from someone who had all the answers and has always been
there and told us what we need to know. Only God has all the answers
and has always been there, and He has told us in His Word (the Bible)
what we need to know to have the ability to correctly understand this
earth and universe.
Because the Bible is God’s Word, it gives information God had written
down for us (by inspiring special people over the years) from the One
who has all the answers. This mean we should start with God’s Word
to make sure we will be right in our understanding about the world.

21
God’s Word is the foundation for our worldview. Everyone has a
worldview, and it is either founded in God’s Word or man’s word. Our
worldview is like a set of glasses we put on so that we look through
those glasses (worldview) to understand the world around us.
Sadly, even many Christians seem to forget that God knows everything.
They listen to the fallible scientists who don’t know everything, who
were not always there, who say the world is billions of years old (based
on their beliefs and fallible dating methods that all have problems)
and say that Genesis chapter 1 must cover billions of years! Some
Christians say that each of the six days of creation must be millions
of years long. We will see later on, from the Hebrew language used
in the Old Testament, that each of the six days of creation in Genesis
chapter 1 can only be an ordinary day as we know it today — approx-
imately 24 hours long. We must let God’s Word speak to us, and not
us impose our beliefs on God’s Word.
Other Christians think that God must have made the heavens and earth
that are spoken of in verse 1 billions of years ago and then He made
everything else in six days. People who believe this say there is a great
gap between Genesis chapter 1 verse 1, and verse 2. But what they are
trying to do is to take man’s belief about millions of years and add that
into the Bible by inventing this gap idea. Such a gap idea compromises
God’s Word and undermines the authority of the Word of God.
Now, we finally get to the importance of the phrase “and the earth.”
The Old Testament, which includes Genesis through Malachi, was
written in the Hebrew language. People who have studied the Hebrew
language for many years tell us that, in the Hebrew, “and the earth”
(verse 1) and “the earth” (verse 2) is connected by a particular type of
phrase. This means that verse 2 is written as a description of the initial
condition of the earth introduced in verse 1. So no one can put bil-
lions of years in between these two verses. Actually, the same Hebrew
phrase connects verse 1 directly to verse 3. So really, we could read
Genesis 1:1–4 this way:

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

22
 Day One
Now the earth God created is described as a watery blob of matter.
Everything was dark but the Spirit of God hovered over the waters
covering the earth. Then the next thing that happened was this:

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God
saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the
darkness.

Chapter 1
Not only this, but in Exodus 20:11 we read, For in six days the Lord
made the heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested on
the seventh day. This verse tells us that God made the “heaven and the
earth,” which we read of in verse 1, and then everything else listed
in all of chapter 1, all in six days. So you can see that you certainly
cannot put billions of years between the creation of the heaven and
earth and everything else. This also means Genesis 1:1 is not a sum-
mary verse — it’s part of the first day of creation.

Where Does a Week Come From?

Verse 11 of Exodus 20 (quoted above) is part of the fourth command-
ment which tells us that because God worked for six days in creating
the world and rested for one day, so we should copy this pattern and
work for six days and rest for one.
We all use a seven-day week! And Christians set one of these seven
days aside as a special rest day to think about God. We go to church
and worship our Creator. It is a special day set aside for Him. It’s also
interesting to note that the only place the seven-day week comes from
is the Bible! It’s not based on any astronomical observations, but based
on the fact that God created everything in six days and rested for one.
Consider:

Where does our day of approximately 24 hours come from?

This is the time it takes the earth to rotate on its axis.

Where does a year come from? This is the time it takes for the
earth to go around the sun.

23
 Where does a month come from? This has to do with the rela-
tionship between the earth and the moon.

Where does a seven-day week come from? Nowhere — except

the Bible! The fact that we use a seven-day week is actually
confirming the truth of the Bible.
Now if God made everything in six million years and rested for one
million years, we would have a very long week and that wouldn’t make
sense. It only makes sense if God really did make the universe in six
ordinary days and rested for one ordinary day.

Earth Was Without Form and Void

Now look back at verse 2. The earth was without form and void. This
means that at this stage, there was no life (it was “void”) and the earth
had not been given its final shape and features. It would have been
like a watery blob.
In the last part of the verse, we are told And the Spirit of God was hover-
ing over the face of the waters. This tells us the earth began covered with
water, which means it could not have been very hot (as the evolution-
ary model predicts). If it was hot, the water would turn into steam.
When I went to school, my teachers, who believed in evolution, taught
me that the earth supposedly began as a hot, molten blob without any
water. In other words, all the material that makes up the rocks and soil
we have today would have been liquid, just like when you see hot lava
flowing out of a volcano. If the whole earth was originally like this,
there would not have been any liquid water.
My teachers also told me that the earth was formed from all sorts
of material swirling in space. They taught that billions of stars were
formed millions of years before the earth. Yet Genesis tells us the earth
was created on day one, and the sun, moon, and stars weren’t created
until day four (Genesis 1:16).
They taught me that all of this first began with a big bang. However,

24
 Day One
they never did tell me what caused this supposed big bang. And they
also never told me where the material came from so the big bang
could happen. And they never told me how from a big bang you could
get such a beautiful universe with so much order and complexity with
programmed information and codes for life. How could such design
and complexity form as a result of supposed natural processes causing
a supposed big bang?

Chapter 1
Imagine putting sticks of dynamite into a big pile of bricks and then
setting off an explosion. Do we think the bricks would all arrange
themselves into a wonderful order and build a fence or a building? We
know that would be ridiculous. And yet, many scientists think that is
basically how the universe formed (which is much more complicated
than a fence or building!).
By the way, the question we could ask a person who insists that the
big bang brought the universe into existence is the same question I
mentioned earlier, “Were you there?” And our point is God has always
been there and has told us in His Word how the universe came into
being.

God Didn’t Use the Big Bang

When Christians claim God could have used the big bang to create
the universe, we know that can’t be so as that idea contradicts God’s
Word. The supposed order of events in the big bang model clearly
contradict what God’s Word tells us about the formation of the uni-
verse, the earth, and then all the other heavenly bodies. It also contra-
dicts what God’s Word tells us about the initial conditions of the earth.
Even God’s Word in the New Testament confirms the earth was origi-
nally covered in water. In 2 Peter 3:3–10, Peter tells us that there will
be a time when many people will make fun of those of us who believe
that Jesus Christ, the One who created the world and came and died
on a Cross, will be coming back one day to judge the world.
Peter informs us that these people that scoff will not believe that God
made the earth and that the earth was formed out of water and through

25
water. This seems to say that the original substance from which God
made the bodies in the universe was water. And it’s very obvious from
this passage that the earth was not a hot molten blob to start with, as
those who believe in the big bang claim.
Now look at 2 Peter 3:10. Here Peter states that these same people
who scoff at us will not believe that this earth is going to be judged
in the future by fire. Consider Peter’s description, that then the heavens
will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and
dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.
Actually, we could say that a big bang did not make the universe, but a
very different sort of big bang is going to end it when God judges this
earth by fire, and then makes a new heaven and earth. For those of us
who are Christians, that is something we look forward to.
Let me ask a question here. Has God judged the earth at any time in
the past? He certainly did, but not by fire; it was with water at the time
of Noah. We will study about this later on, when we get to the event
of the worldwide flood of Noah’s day in Genesis 6–9. But think about
this: the water God made when He created the earth, was the same
water that He used later to judge the earth. And this is the same water
we swim in down at the beach! Think about that the next time you
take a swim.

Darkness Was Over the Deep

Now look back at Genesis 1:2 again: …and darkness was over the face
of the deep. When God first created the earth, there was no light — it
was dark. Remember, there was no sun or moon. There were no stars.
There was just space, and the earth which was like a watery blob. And
it was dark. We can’t even imagine how dark it was. Let’s go on to
verse 3.

Genesis 1:3
And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

26
 Day One
God spoke light into existence. Remember, God is infinite. He just
has to speak, and it happens. (For he spoke, and it came to be; he com-
manded, and it stood firm. Psalm 33:9). So suddenly light flooded the
earth. But if there was no sun yet, where did the light come from?
The Bible does not tell us where the light came from. It certainly could
not have been from the sun, because the sun was not created until
three days later. The light did not come from any of the stars we see

Chapter 1
in space, because they were made on the same day as the sun (the
fourth day of creation). But we do know this — because there was
an “evening and the morning” as described in verse 5, the light could
only shine on the earth from one direction, and the earth must have
been spinning around so there could be day and night. You don’t need
the sun and moon for day and night. You need light and darkness
which is what existed on day 1.

So What Was the Light?

Some people have suggested that the light may have come from God
Himself. For instance, in Revelation 22:5, we read about the new
heavens and earth: And night will be no more. They will need no light of
lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever
and ever. There are many passages in the Bible that tell us that God is
light, and in him is no darkness at all (1 John 1:5).
However, because God was there before He said, “let there be light,”
I think this light must have been a specially created light made just
for the earth. God doesn’t tell us where the light came from. We don’t
know what source it had. But that shouldn’t worry us, because if God
told us everything, we would have an infinite amount of information.
And because we are created beings, we could never learn an infinite
amount of information. But God has given us all the information we
need to have. There are times when we have to admit we don’t have all
the answers, but we have God’s Word, and we need to believe what He
tells us. There will always be a faith aspect to everything we believe, as
only God knows everything.

27
So be ready for the fact there will always be questions we cannot
answer. The exciting thing though is that God has given us the answers
we need. He has given us all the information that is important for us.
And it is just the right amount of information for us to understand the
truth about the world and what it is all about.
By the way, if you are familiar with the account in Exodus of how God
led His people out of Egypt, you would know that the Lord provided
a special light He made for His people. And the Lord went before them
by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a
pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night
(Exodus 13:21).
Why would God create a source of light for the earth before He cre-
ated the sun, moon, and stars on day four? I often think about the
fact that, through the ages, cultures have tended to worship the sun.
So I often wonder if God was reminding us to worship the God who
made everything, and not to worship the sun and the moon which He
created as His tools to rule the day and night (which already existed
on day one) from day four of creation onward. And God made the two
great lights — the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the
night — and the stars (Genesis 1:16).

Genesis 1:4–5
And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light
from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he
called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the
first day.
God described the light as “good.” He tells us a number of times that
what He made was “good.” Look at verses 10, 12, 17, 21, 25, and 31.
What does God mean by “good”?
In Psalm 25:8, we read Good and upright is the Lord. In Psalm 34:8, we
also read Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good.
God describes Himself as “good.” Therefore, if we want to understand

28
 Day One
what God means by “good,” we need to understand what God is like.
In Luke we read how Jesus answered when a ruler asked Him,“Good
Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why
do you call me good? No one is good except God alone” (Luke 18:18–19).
Jesus was telling the man asking the question that He (Jesus) is God,
as only God is good. God is infinitely good, and the source of all good-
ness. There are numerous passages that teach us about the goodness

Chapter 1
of God.

The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord,
a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in stead-
fast love and faithfulness (Exodus 34:6).
Look again at what Jesus said: No one is good except God alone. Only
God is good.

What Does “Good” Mean?

There are many passages in the Bible that help us understand what
God is like, and thus what “good” means.
In Matthew 6:28–31 we read: And why are you anxious about clothing?
Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I
tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But
if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is
thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
Therefore do not be anxious, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we
drink?” or “What shall we wear?” God cares about even the little things.
He took the trouble to make the lilies beautiful, and if we love Him,
He promises to care for and look after us.
The Bible says we are made in God’s image (Genesis 1:27). If God
looks after the lilies, how much more will He care for us who are
made in His image. I suggest reading Psalm 139. After reading these
passages, we understand that God’s thoughts about us each day are
more than we could number: O Lord, you have searched me and known
me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts

29
from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted
with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you
know it altogether (Psalm 139:1–4). Even though there are billions of
people in the world, His thoughts each day about each one of us are
infinite in number. That’s difficult for us to comprehend but it means
God is watching us and listening to us all the time. What a comfort to
know He cares for us so much.
No wonder David says, How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them! If I would count them, they are more than the
sand. I awake, and I am still with you (Psalm 139:17–18). God knows
everything about us. He even knows what we are going to say before
we say it. He knew us even before we were born, even before we devel-
oped in our mother’s womb.
Further on, in the Book of Matthew, we read, Are not two sparrows
sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from
your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered (Matthew
10:29–30). God sees every sparrow that falls to the ground. He knows
the number of all the hairs on our head (Luke 12:7). He really does
care for us.
There is another passage in the Bible that tells us how great God’s
thoughts are, and it reminds us that God knows so much more than
we’ll ever know. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your
ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the
earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your
thoughts (Isaiah 55:8–9).
Let’s look at some other passages in the Bible that tell us how the Cre-
ator, Jesus Christ, acted toward people.

And a leper came to him, imploring him, and kneeling said to him,
“If you will, you can make me clean.” Moved with pity, he stretched
out his hand and touched him and said to him, “I will; be clean.” And
immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean (Mark
1:40–42).

30
 Day One
We read in the New Testament where Jesus healed the blind, the lame,
the sick, the deaf, and raised the dead. In John 11:35, the shortest verse
in the Bible, we read that “Jesus wept” when He looked on the grave
of Lazarus. Then He raised him from the dead. Jesus wept because
of death. He had compassion on people because they were sick, and
He healed them. When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had
compassion on them and healed their sick (Matthew 14:14).

Chapter 1
God makes it clear in His Word that the reason for sickness, pain, and
suffering is because we live in a groaning world as a result of our sin:
For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains
of childbirth until now (Romans 8:22).
We are also told that one day there will be a restoration of all things
(Acts 3:21). We read of this restoration: He will wipe away every tear
from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourn-
ing, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away
(Revelation 21:4).
We also read in the Old Testament in Leviticus and Deuteronomy that
the animals that were to be sacrificed to God because of sin could not
have any defects because God was holy and perfect, and needed a
perfect sacrifice.
Obviously, when God describes something as “good,” it must be beau-
tiful, perfect, without any defects, and certainly death, disease, blood-
shed, and suffering would not fit the description of good.
After he finished creating everything, God declared all He made as
“very good.” There was no death, suffering, or disease. Now this fact
is one that those who believe the fossil record was laid down over mil-
lions of years before man need to consider carefully. The fossil record
is a record of death, with evidence of animals eating each other and
evidence of diseases like cancer in the bones of creatures. If a Chris-
tian believes the fossil record is millions of years old, then they are
in essence stating that God calls death and disease “very good.” Such
compromise with millions of years is a direct attack on the character
of God and undermines the gospel message because death is a result

31
of sin, not a result of millions of years of evolutionary processes.
Many Christians think that God could have used evolution to create
everything including all life. However, the idea of evolution requires
death and struggle over millions of years leading up to man. And most
of the fossil record is the supposed evidence of these millions of years.
But we will learn that most of the fossil record is actually the graveyard
of the judgment of the Flood of Noah’s day. The imagined evolution-
ary process was one of suffering, disease, animals fighting each other
— a violent and terrible world over millions of years. This does not fit
with a creation described by God as “good.” There is no way the idea
of evolution/millions of years fits with God’s character.
Look back at verse 4. God describes the light as good. It must have
been perfect and beautiful. Each time God describes something as
good it must fit with how perfect God is.

What Is a Day?
Verse 4 also tells us that God separated the light from the darkness.
This was so that there would be night and day on the earth. It seems
that the earth then must have been spinning around, with light shining
on the earth, so that as it spun, there would be night and day, just like
we have today. Remember, we aren’t told where the light came from,
but it wasn’t the sun at this stage. Presumably God made a special
source for light until the fourth day. The sun was created and made to
shine light on the earth from day four onward. Note what God’s Word
states: And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the
earth, to rule over the day and over the night (Genesis 1:17–18, emphasis
added). God made sun and moon to rule the day and night
that already existed.
When God first made the earth (remem-
ber it was a watery blob at this stage),
everything was dark. This means the
first day started with darkness. The Bible
states at the end of Genesis 1:5, And there

32
 Day One
was evening and there was morning, the first day. Many scholars state that
the Hebrew word used for “first” day, really means “one” day. In other
words, this was the first of the six days of creation, but it was also
defining what one day in this series of six is — a literal approximately
24-hour day.
So, a day is described as having darkness first, then light. You will
be interested to know that the Israelites measured their day starting

Chapter 1
from sunset (the start of darkness) and ending at the beginning of the
next sunset. Thus “evening” (the start of the period of darkness) and
“morning” (the start of the light period) describe an ordinary day.
Many other cultures measured their day this way. However, most
nations of the world today measure a day from midnight through to
the next midnight. Nonetheless, the day is always approximately 24
hours in length — the time it takes for the earth to rotate once on its
axis.
I have an exercise for the family. Obtain a globe and a flashlight, hold
the flashlight out from the globe so it can act as the source of light
from the earth. Now place a piece of paper on the globe to represent
your starting point.
Keep the flashlight switched off at this stage and turn the globe half-
way around from your starting point. This would represent half of the
first day of creation. Now turn on your flashlight. This represents God
saying, “Let there be light.” Now turn the globe around the rest of the
way back to your starting point. This represents the next half of the
first day.
You have just demonstrated a dark period followed by a light period.
The first day of creation.

But When Is a Day a Day?

As we look at each of the six days of creation, I am going to give you
some important information so you can know that these days were
ordinary days of approximately 24 hours, just as we have today. This

33
is important, because some Christians think these six days of creation
in Genesis could be millions of years long and were not ordinary days
at all. Usually people who say this do so because they think scientists
have proved the earth to be billions of years old. As I said earlier, sci-
entists have not proved this at all.
There are many scientists who have investigated evidence that
confirms the earth being only thousands of years old. You can find
information on this by going to the AnswersinGenesis.org website.
However, the ultimate “evidence” is the Bible itself, as it is God’s record
of history for us.
Because God is perfect, and He does not tell a lie, and He is the only
one who knows everything, it is important that we accept His Word as
truth. If you take God at His word, it is obvious that each of the days
of creation are ordinary days. God communicates through language.
When He made the first man, Adam, He had already “programmed”
Adam with a language, so there could be communication. Human
language consists of words used in a specific context that relates to the
entire reality around us. Thus, God can reveal things to man, and man
can communicate with God, because words have meaning and convey
an understandable message. If this were not so, how could any of us
communicate with each other or with God?
The Old Testament was originally written in the Hebrew language.
The Hebrew word for “day” in Genesis chapter one is yom.
What does the Bible tell us about the meaning of “day” in Genesis 1?
A word can have more than one meaning, depending on the context.
The reason it is necessary to understand this is because words do have
different meanings, and it is how they are used that determines which
meaning is the correct one. Because I am an Australian, let me give
you an Australian example to explain this.
In the state of Queensland in Australia, people use the word “port” to
mean a suitcase, or a place where ships come in, or a type of wine,
or the left side of a ship. Now if you said, “I am taking my port to the
aeroplane” (the Australian word for airplane), by “port” you would

34
 Day One
obviously mean your suitcase. However, if you said, “I’m going down
to the port to meet a friend,” it’s obvious you would be going down to
where the ships come in, and not to visit your suitcase!
In the same sort of way, the manner in which words are used in the
Bible determine exactly what they mean, because many words can
have more than one meaning. Even the word day (yom) can have a
number of different meanings, but as we will see, the way it is used in

Chapter 1
Genesis chapter 1 tells us that it means an ordinary day.
Now the English word “day” can have perhaps 14 different meanings.
For example, consider the following sentence: “Back in my grandfa-
ther’s day, it took 12 days to drive across the country during the day.”
Here the first use of “day” means “time” in a general sense. The second
“day,” where a number is used, refers to an ordinary day of 24 hours,
and the third refers to the daylight portion of the 24-hour period. The
point is that words can have more than one meaning, depending on
the context.
To understand the meaning of “day” in Genesis 1, we need to deter-
mine how the Hebrew word for “day,” yom, is used in the context of
Scripture. Consider the following:

A typical Hebrew dictionary will illustrate that yom can have a

range of meanings: a period of light as contrasted to night, a
24-hour period, time, a specific point of time, or a year.

A classic, well-respected Hebrew-English dictionary (Brown,

Driver, Briggs) has seven headings and many subheadings for
the meaning of yom — but it defines the creation days of Gen-
esis 1 as ordinary days under the heading “day as defined by
evening and morning.”

A number and the phrase “evening and morning” are used with
each of the six days of creation (Genesis 1:5, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31).

Outside of Genesis 1, yom is used with a number 410 times,

35
 and each time it means an ordinary day. Why would Genesis 1
be the exception?

Outside of Genesis 1, yom is used with the word “evening” or

“morning” 23 times. “Evening” and “morning” appear in asso-
ciation, but without yom, 38 times. All 61 times the text refers
to an ordinary day. Why would Genesis 1 be the exception?

In Genesis 1:5, yom occurs in context with the word “night.”

Outside of Genesis 1, “night” is used with yom 53 times, and
each time it means an ordinary day. Why would Genesis 1 be
the exception? Even the use of the word “light” with yom in this
passage determines the meaning as an ordinary day.

The plural of yom, which does not appear in Genesis 1, can be

used to communicate a longer time period, such as “in those
days.” Adding a number here wouldn’t make sense. But, in
Exodus 20:11, where a number is used with “days,” it is refer-
ring to the six earth-rotation days of the creation week.

There are words in biblical Hebrew (such as olam or qedem) that

are very suitable for communicating long periods of time, or
indefinite time, but none of these words are used in Genesis 1.
From the meaning of the word for day in Hebrew and how it’s used in
Genesis 1 for each of the six days of creation, it is very clear they are
six ordinary days of approximately 24 hours each.

Is A Day Like 1,000 Years?

In 2 Peter 3:8 we read, But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with
the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
Some people point to this verse to try to say that the word “day” used
in Genesis chapter 1 can’t mean an ordinary day. But look carefully at
the verse. It does not say a day is a thousand years, it says that with the
Lord one day is as a thousand years. This actually means that to God,
one day is like a thousand years (and a thousand years is like a day)

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 Day One
because God is outside of time and God created time, so He does not
age. There is no time as far as God is concerned.
The context of this passage is the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Peter
is saying that in the last days (and ever since Jesus stepped into history
to be Jesus Christ the Godman we’ve been in the last days) scoffers will
say Jesus is not coming back. They will claim things just go on and on.
But God through Peter is saying that what we may think is a long time

Chapter 1
is not to God, as He is outside of time. And the reason He hasn’t come
back yet is because, He is patient toward you, not wishing that any should
perish, but that all should reach repentance (2 Peter 3:9).
By the way, if you say that one day is a thousand years because of
what Peter said, then he also says that a thousand years are as one day.
This would mean that if every time you read the word day it meant a
thousand years, then every time you read a thousand years it would
mean a day! This would not make sense at all. And saying that a day
is a thousand years doesn’t help those who claim the days of creation
are millions of years long anyway! Also, it’s interesting when people
use that “day as a thousand years” argument to try to justify rejecting
literal days of creation, they only apply this argument to Genesis 1. To
be consistent they should then apply their argument to all the uses of
“day” in the Old Testament. So then Jonah was in the great fish 3,000
years? People often just don’t logically think through positions they
hold to!
Imagine reading Genesis 5:5 where it says that Adam died when he
was 930 years old. If each day in Genesis was a thousand years (a day
is like a thousand years), then Adam was created on day six, lived
through day seven and died when he was 930 years old. Obviously,
this does not make sense.
And you can’t use a phrase from the New Testament, taken out of con-
text, to determine the meaning of a Hebrew word (yom) in Genesis!
The meaning of a Hebrew word depends on the rules of the Hebrew
language. And as we know, the Hebrew word for day, yom, means an
ordinary day in Genesis chapter 1 for each of the six days, because it is

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used each time with a number and the phrase “evening and morning.”
The days referred to in Genesis chapter 1 are definitely ordinary days
of approximately 24 hours each.

A Symbolic Day?
Some people have claimed the word “day” in Genesis 1 is used sym-
bolically. But a word can’t be a symbol until it first has a literal mean-
ing. When Jesus said I am the door, we know what that means because
the word “door” has a literal meaning and, in this context, it is being
used symbolically. The first time the word “day” is used is Genesis 1:5,
it is given a literal meaning. It can’t be a symbol the first time it’s used.

Was Earth “Not Good” Because It Was a Blob?

Before we finish with day one, there is one more thing I want to
explain. Some people think that because the earth was shapeless (a
watery blob) when God first made it, that it was NOT perfect. But God
said it was “good.”

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 Day One
What we need to understand, is that even though earth was a watery
blob (remember the phrase “without form and void” in Genesis 1:2),
it doesn’t mean there was something wrong with it — it just means it
was not finished.
Consider a builder building a house. First, he obtains all of the mate-
rials. Then he builds the foundation for the house to sit on. Then he
proceeds to build the walls, and then the roof, and then he finishes

Chapter 1
the inside of the house. Just because the house is unfinished while he
is building it does not mean there is something wrong with it. At first,
with all the materials dumped on the land, and the foundation in the
ground, we could even say it was rather shapeless.
In a similar sort of way, we need to realize that God deliberately took
six days to make the universe and the world with all its living crea-
tures. For each of the first five days of creation, it was not finished —
everything He did was perfect — He just had not completed it all until
the end of the sixth day. Then He said it was “very good” (Genesis
1:31). We then read in Genesis 2:2 that on the seventh day of creation
God had “finished” His work of creation.

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