Light years and bellybuttons

July 24, 2020 (Friday)

 

On the third day of creation two things happened. First, God separated the land from the waters. Moses recorded the event, “And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.” [Genesis 1:9 – 10 ESV]

 

Notice, the water was gathered into one place. This hands us the possibility of one land mass, or “Pangea.” Some evidence suggests the possibility. For instance Coal in Pennsylvania is very similar to coal in Europe (source livescience.com). But we kind of assume coal is coal. However, fossils from the same plants are also found around the world. We know land masses float on tectonic plates so a single land mass being violently separated is within the realm of the plausible.

 

We have been struggling with the existence and use of water these last few studies. However, there is an intriguing thought from Peter, “But they fail to notice that, by God’s word, heaven and earth were formed long ago out of water and by means of water.” [2 Peter 3:5 CEB] Strange as it sounds, but water seems to be a key ingredient of creation. The gathering of the water left dry land.

 

On the third day of creation plants were also created. Notice they happened before the sun was created, which will seem off to the modern science trained mind. I think the point here stands as a counterpoint to evolution. Genesis 3:12 claims, “The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.” [ESV] It also appears the plants were created mature. (Can we pass on the “bellybutton” question, since it doesn’t really matter?)

 

Notice the word “kind.” Generally this means “species.” For instance, a dog may be a different size, shape, and color of another dog, but it’s a dog. Within a “kind” there can be a lot of variety. This is where creationist and evolutionist differ greatly. The evolutionist may see a change as a change in species. The creationist will insist any such change is encoded in DNA of the “kind” and therefore the same species. Creationist believe, ultimately, the child will resemble the parents even if it has different color, shape, size, etc.

 

At the end of separating the land from the water, God called it “good.” After creating the plants, God called it “good.” This is God’s judgement, so it is absolute not relative. When humans use “good” to rate something, we use personal or previous standards. Where one will say a work of art is “good,” it is a relative statement. When God says something is “good,” it is good in the absolute sense of being perfect, flawless, and mature. (At least in context to the creation story.)

 

Day four is also an exercise in separation. On the fourth day God creates what we think of as sources of light, “And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years.” [Genesis 2:14 ESV] The sun, moon, and stars SEPARATE something that already exists. They mark time, which God had already created on day one. They mark location, which remind us of how small we are compared to the vast universe filled with galaxies.

 

Two things happen at this point in my thinking. First, if one was to write a fictional account of creation, even in ancient times, the sun would have preceded vegetation. This means the writer is correctly giving information revealed by God. Second, in ancient times it was common to worship the sun, moon, and stars. The fact they were created on day four after vegetation eliminates them as the source of life.

 

Oh, the appearance of light that travels "light years" to reach earth… if the plants, animals, and people are created mature, then why not light? Silly human, remember our understanding is limited. We can only know what God reveals to us. 

The stuff we think we have discovered is dependent on what God had already given for us to discover. The stuff (being very scientific here… that’s a joke) we think we know we need to question very closely and be willing to doubt very strongly.