Page 31 - Genesis: Book of Beginnings and Science Behind it

Chapter 5: God Begins to Create

Connect…

When you start building a house, say you are laying the foundation,
the house doesn’t look like much to be proud of. You dig the
ditches for the foundation and start pouring the footings. At first,
you really cannot tell what is going to be built on the land. It has no
shape or form. God started the same way, creating a shapeless,
formless universe on day one. However, as we begin to study the
entire process and journey through the week of creation, we will
see the entire picture come together in amazing beauty. Let’s begin
the journey.

Objectives…

1. The student should be able to explain the connection between verses one and two of the Genesis
One account.

2. The student should be able to explain the condition of the creation at the end of day one.

3. The student should be able to describe the criticisms of the first day of creation from liberal scholars
and the scientific community and better understand how to rebut these criticisms.

The Lesson ...

God Begins His Creation

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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. (ESV)

1. And the earth was … - Verse 2 begins with the conjunction “and.” This
clearly means that the statement is sequentially and chronologically
connected to the verses before and after it. There is no room in the
grammar for a gap. The gap theory proposes that the word for " should
actually be translated as “became,” suggesting a change of state from the
original perfect state to the chaotic condition inferred from verse 2.
However, the Hebrew verb used here for being (hayetha) translated “was,”
is not the same word that denotes a change of state (haphak). Even though
hayetha can be used to introduce a change of state, it is simply used to

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