Page 33 - ADAM IN GENESIS

the word today. David wrote that Psalm around 1000 BC. At the time David wrote that,
God's rest was apparently still ongoing and available to those who wished to join Him.
Since neither Joshua nor David were able to offer this rest themselves, the author of
Hebrews claims in verse 9 that the chance to enter the rest continues on to his day.
Hebrews was written around AD 60. No event has happened to indicate this rest has
ceased since then, so it stands that anyone who trusts in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness
of their sins will still enter God's rest. The biblical evidence is clear and consistent. God's
rest in Genesis 2:1-3 continues on to this very day. Creation Day 7, God's Sabbath Day of
rest has not yet ended. When will it end? Most likely when Christ returns to set up His
kingdom. Since Day 7 is at the very least 6,000 to 10,000 years long in duration, there is
no reason whatsoever that the other Days of Creation could not be millions or even
billions of years long. Again, the Days are God's Days, not necessarily those we are used
to.
When we see the Bible so clearly tell us that God ceased his creative work on the Sixth
Day, we should expect the natural world to tell us the same story. It is well established
from the fossil record as well as historical records and observations that humans are the
very last organisms to appear on earth. There is no record of any new kinds of animal or
plant life appearing after Adam and Eve (the mention of thorns and thistles in the Curse
in genesis 3 does not mean that they were created at that time). As expected, the scientific
evidence is in support of the biblical account.
As the first pericope, comes to a close it seems good to now set the stage for the second
pericope (Gen. 2:4-25). We have found that the Creation Days of Genesis 1:1-2:3 are
God's Workdays. They are of unspecified length and for the most part chronological
although some overlap may occur as it was not the authors primary focus to dwell on
such matters that unfortunately are a part of heated debate today. There has been some
misunderstanding with the second Creation pericope that I hope to help clear up. Some
say it contradicts the first. Some say it takes bits and pieces of the first but the primary
focus is the creation of man. Others say it fits nicely inside the Sixth Creation Day and
there is no contradiction. I will make the suggestion now that we will see it does not
contradict Gen 1:1-2:3 at all and fits nicely in its entirety inside Day 6. Using the same
grammatical rules outlined at the beginning of the last pericope we can begin to interpret
Genesis 2:4-25.
The Land Before Adam:
There has been some debate as to the boundaries of the first two pericopies. I will leave
that to the literary experts, but say that I agree with Collins that it makes the most sense
for verse 4 to begin the second pericope. The evidence lies in that the toledoth
(generations) usually begins a new section (see also Gen. 5:1; 10:1; 11:10,27) and in the
chiastic nature of the verse. The chiasm reads: (A) heavens - (B) earth - (C) created - (C)
made - (B) earth - (A) heavens. This suggests that the verse should not be split and should
be used to introduce the next section. While the these are the generations looks forward to
the events that follow, the in the day refers back to the Creation Week when the heavens
and earth were made and filled. Thus, it appears that the day (yom) in 2:4 refers not to a
24-hour day but a longer period of time. Regardless of the length of the Creation Days,
this day is most definitely not a literal day. The full semantic range of yom is present in
these opening verses of the Bible and careful exegesis will lead to the correct