Archive for July, 2011

Genesis 1:14-15 Plan and Purpose, Prophetic Implications

Posted in Creation with tags , , , , , , , , on July 27, 2011 by paulthepoke

Genesis 1:14-15 Then 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; and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so.

God has a plan and a purpose for His creation from the beginning. These are not random events that occurred by chance from an explosion of a singularity. The cosmos were not blown willy nilly into existence.

There are multiple purposes for these lights and they are stated clearly. One, the lights are to separate day and night. Two, they are signs. Three, they are time markers (seasons, days, and years). Four, it is for light on planet earth.

These purposes are repeated and we are reminded throughout the Bible. The information is not contained specifically to Genesis. Look at a star filled sky at night. Granted, man has blinded himself from God’s truth with all the city lights. The night sky speaks to the honor, splendor, greatness, and abundance of God. The heavens are God’s handiwork. The heavens display His discernment, perception, and skill. It tells of the order and power of God. It gives us insight to who He is.

Psalms 19:1-2 The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.

The four seasons were ordained from the point of creation. Psalms 104:19 He made the moon for the seasons; the sun knows the place of its setting.

Psalms 74:16-17 Yours is the day, Yours also is the night; You have prepared the light and the sun. You have established all the boundaries of the earth; You have made summer and winter.

There are prophetic implications of Genesis 1:14-15. There will come a time in the future where God’s purpose in the heavens will be on display to humanity during the Tribulation. As stated in the beginning, these bodies will be used for “signs”. The Hebrew word for “signs” is “ ‘owth”. It means: sign, signal, distinguishing mark, banner, remembrance, miraculous sign, omen, warning, token, ensign, standard, miracle, or proof (Strong’s Concordance).

Joel 2:10 Before them the earth quakes, the heavens tremble, the sun and the moon grow dark and the stars lose their brightness.

Joel 3:15 The sun and moon grow dark And the stars lose their brightness.

The sun is progressively darkened, along with other signs, during the Tribulation as stated in the book of Revelation.

These are the words of Jesus Himself. The context is the Olivet Discourse. Matthew 24:29 “But immediately after the tribulation of those days THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED, AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT, AND THE STARS WILL FALL from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. The information Jesus is quoting comes from the prophets in the Old Testament. See Isaiah 13:10, 24:23, Ezekiel 32:7, Amos 5:20, 8:9, and Zephaniah 1:15 for more detail.

This is not some cute, little story that is made up by primitive man trying to explain his surroundings and how things came to be. It is not a limited philosophical and/or intellectual understanding. It has ramifications for the history and future of planet earth. The entirety of the Bible is a master plan that started “in the beginning”. For all we know, these ramifications could be coming sooner than we think.

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Genesis 1:11-13 Point of View Applied

Posted in Creation with tags , , , , on July 18, 2011 by paulthepoke

Genesis 1:11-13 Then God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after their kind with seed in them”; and it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them, after their kind; and God saw that it was good. There was evening and there was morning, a third day.

What happens when modern science fails to make sense? What happens when modern science’s view of the world does not agree with physical evidence? There are many of these instances. The point is not to tell any one what to think, but to investigate and analyze. Science has real issues of credibility when it comes to a creation explanation and their time line.

The concept chosen to illustrate the point is a flowering orchid plant. Evolutionary science would tell us that life started in the oceans. Plants came to be on the land from green algae that evolved and adapted from the ocean. The first fossils of plants were noted approximately 400 million years ago. Seed plants evolved from ferns. At this point, there appears to be some debate among the science community. According to evolution, the age of flowering plants is from 26-112 million years old. Now that is not very specific and this variance is by and large accepted as fact. Does any one else find that curious? This is what is taught in text books.

Specifically, a mass of orchid pollen was found on the back of an extinct bee in a fossil. Upon further investigation, the orchid pollen in the fossil (allegedly 15-20 million years old) tested could be found in modern day orchids. The questions beg to be asked. How come these orchids have not evolved with other life? 15-20 million years and orchids have not changed? They existed then as they are today? Creation: Facts of Life, Evolution Wilts in Light of Flowering Plants, Biologist Gary E. Parker, www.answersingenesis.org .

Darwin himself in his 1859 book The Origin of the Species did not actually address how species originated. The creation of species he later called an “abominable mystery.”

In 1993, Colin Patterson of the prestigious British Museum of Natural History also admitted the origin of the angiosperms (flowering plants) remained an “abominable mystery”. The origin of species was not understood to Charles Darwin and not much has changed with modern science. Congruence between Molecular and Morphological Phylogenies, Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics. Vol. 24, 1993, p. 170.

This is a classic example of science being a belief system or a religion. It has to do with one’s view of the world. To make the claim of “fact” on the origin of species because of assumptions with a loose and flexible timeline is an incredible leap of faith.

This example makes sense through the prism of the Biblical account of creation. Life was created on land first and not in the water. Plants were created mature and fully functional on Day 3. Insects were created on Day 6. With a three day gap, plants can survive until insects arrive for pollination. The orchid pollen and flower has not changed from the fossil to today because they continue to reproduce “after their kind”.  Fossils were left due to a flood event. There is no evolution or transitional species in the fossil record. The age of the earth is 6,000 to 10,000 years old and not billions of years old.

Based on the observable data in this scenario, what makes more sense?

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Genesis 1:11-13 God’s Taxonomy

Posted in Creation with tags , , , , , on July 12, 2011 by paulthepoke

Genesis 1:11-13 Then God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after their kind with seed in them”; and it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them, after their kind; and God saw that it was good. There was evening and there was morning, a third day.

Remember back in the day when we all studied the Linnaeus classification system? There was Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, and Species. This is man’s idea of classification. Biblically speaking, this system is heretical. I am not naïve, I am sure science sees God’s system as antiquated and simplistic.

How does God classify? It is different in comparison to how man classifies. There is the phrase, “after their kind…” The word to consider is “kind”. It is the Hebrew word “miyn”. It means kind or species. In verse 11, there is the word “vegetation” or “deshe’” in the Hebrew. It could be translated to mean vegetation or grass. Either way, grass has seed. It is a plant and it is vegetation.

These created plants were brought forth with maturity and capable of reproduction with “seed” or “zera’” in the Hebrew. The word is translated: seed, sowing, offspring, semen, descendants, posterity, or children. This is the same term used in Genesis 3:15 by God in response to the fall of man and to sin. This verse is in reference to the seed of the woman and the seed of Satan. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel.” Yes, Satan has a seed.

When it comes to vegetation, according to God, there are two types: 1) plants yielding seed and 2) fruit trees with fruit yielding seed contained within the fruit (Bodie Hodge, www.answersingenesis.org ). This is much cleaner and less complicated in comparison to man’s classification system.

All plant life was created before animal life. The idea of plant life and vegetation created on Day 3 before the sun and animals is in direct contradiction with evolutionary science.

There was evening and there was morning, a third day. Remember, darkness first to start the day.

How God divides species and man divides species are not the same. This will become much more obvious when animals are taken into consideration. Isaiah 55:8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD.

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Genesis 1:11-13 Botany Created

Posted in Creation with tags , , , , , on July 7, 2011 by paulthepoke

Genesis 1:11-13 Then God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after their kind with seed in them”; and it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them, after their kind; and God saw that it was good. There was evening and there was morning, a third day.

It is on the third day of creation with the development of plant life that science gets turned upside down. This is where what one believes determines how one sees the world. People will see the world through one of these two prisms. The following observations are courtesy of Ken Ham.

Bible Life was created on the land first with plants.

Science: Life started in the oceans.

Bible: Plants were created before

Science: Plants after the sun.

Bible: Plants were created on Day 3; Insects were created on Day 6

Science: Plants and insects evolved together mutual benefit.

Bible: Land plants were first.

Science: Sea organisms were first.

Bible:  Atmosphere was created before plants.

Science: Plants produced oxygen rich atmosphere.

Bible: Fruit trees were created before fish.

Science: First fish evolved long before fruit trees.

Bible: Simple plants before fruit trees.

Science: Fruit trees before other plants.

Bible: Trees before land animals.

Science: Land animals before trees.

One reason God made the plants first is they were intended to be food. The planet was created for animal life and man so there would be a food source available immediately. Plants, fruits, and vegetables were created mature and ready to eat. Genesis 1:29-30 Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food”; and it was so. Man was created to be a vegetarian. Animal life was created to be vegetarian. God did not approve man being a carnivore until after the flood which is approximately 2,000 years after creation (Timeline provided by Ken Ham).

God created the world in His order. God’s order is not the same as science. Isaiah 55:8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD.

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