Geiste questions (Genesis)

[geiste37]

Okay, I figured it's best to just start at the beginning. For your knowledge the way I am going to do this is that I will sit down with my Bible and read it until I get 2 or 3 questions and then ask them here. I will start, of course, at Genesis 1:1.

1) 1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

How can it be formless and have waters? If you assume this means that there was no land then you still have to take into account gravity would pull water into a sphere which is a form.

2) 3 And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.

What was the source of this light since no stars have yet been created?

3) 4 God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness.

Why would god have to do this? Anything with a sufficient mass does this on its own. That is why we experience day and night.

[jponb]

To answer question one you need to read verse nine.
9And God said, Let the waters under the heavens be collected into one place [of standing], and let the dry land appear. And it was so.

Answer to question 2. is God

Answer 3. You tend to try to explain a lot scientifically. Science only gives you the laws in action; but science cannot explain why the laws exist or where they came from. You know how when it is night in one place and daytime in another. This is seperation of night and day. The sun and moon operate according to the Word of God. They never change what they do or when they do it because they never change their nature. Only man changed his nature for what he was purposed.

[markinro]

Okay, I figured it's best to just start at the beginning. For your knowledge the way I am going to do this is that I will sit down with my Bible and read it until I get 2 or 3 questions and then ask them here. I will start, of course, at Genesis 1:1.

1) 1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

How can it be formless and have waters? If you assume this means that there was no land then you still have to take into account gravity would pull water into a sphere which is a form.

2) 3 And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.

What was the source of this light since no stars have yet been created?

3) 4 God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness.

Why would god have to do this? Anything with a sufficient mass does this on its own. That is why we experience day and night.

You're trying to limit God to your understanding. This will give you a headache. God is all-powerful, all-knowing - we covered this, right ?

He can create the universe whatever way He chooses.

[livingword26]

1) Here is a concordance deifinition of the word "formless"

H8414
תּהוּ
tôhû
to'-hoo
From an unused root meaning to lie waste; a desolation (of surface), that is, desert; figuratively a worthless thing; adverbially in vain: - confusion, empty place, without form, nothing, (thing of) nought, vain, vanity, waste, wilderness.

2)
Rev 22:5
(5) And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign forever and ever.

3)
We have day and night because God designed it that way.

[OldChurchGuy]

Okay, I figured it's best to just start at the beginning. For your knowledge the way I am going to do this is that I will sit down with my Bible and read it until I get 2 or 3 questions and then ask them here. I will start, of course, at Genesis 1:1.

1) 1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

How can it be formless and have waters? If you assume this means that there was no land then you still have to take into account gravity would pull water into a sphere which is a form.

2) 3 And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.

What was the source of this light since no stars have yet been created?

3) 4 God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness.

Why would god have to do this? Anything with a sufficient mass does this on its own. That is why we experience day and night.

Much depends on how you want to interpret this. If you believe it is to be interpreted literally then your questions are valid. A literalist/apologist explanation would be something like: (1) the earth was formless in the sense there was no land mass. (2) the source of light is the sun which God created. (3) separating light and darkness means the solar system is now in motion.

Alternately, it can be argued the author of Genesis was intending to show that the entire known universe and everything in it was created by a single god. For the time Genesis was written, this was a rather radical idea. The author's intent was not for it to be taken literally as this is exactly how God created the universe.

Neither viewpoint can be proven nor disproven.

Sincerely,

OldChurchGuy

[geiste37]

next set

4) 5 God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

How can there be evening and morning, let alone a "day" without the sun?
(day- the interval of light between two successive nights; the time between sunrise and sunset)

5) 6 And God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water." 7 So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so.

Where is this water above? Is it far out in space where we cannot see it?

6) 9 And God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear." And it was so.

What does this mean? Water is not all in one place. There are oceans, seas, lakes, ponds, etc.


Note: If you notice that I do skip some verses it is because, aside from the obvious, I do not have a big problem with them.

[Buck shot]

1) would you not call a ball without form, when i think of form i think of something that makes something differant.

2) God (or Jesus) is the first light

3) Why would god have to do this? For the same reason that He does everything here, because He loves us and we need to be able to track time for some reason He knew it would be important to us.

4) If you were in the dark months in the northern areas of the world you would still call the morning hours morning, would you not?

5) Where is this water above? Is it far out in space where we cannot see it?

No, it's right where it is today, in the area of the sky where the clouds are. Where the rain comes from :)

6)What does this mean? Water is not all in one place. There are oceans, seas, lakes, ponds, etc.

Yes, today there lots of water holes, but there was a time when there was no rain and all the water was together. Then when God flooded the Earth everything changed in our atmoshere.

I hope this helps...

[geiste37]

1) would you not call a ball without form, when i think of form i think of something that makes something differant.

2) God (or Jesus) is the first light

3) Why would god have to do this? For the same reason that He does everything here, because He loves us and we need to be able to track time for some reason He knew it would be important to us.

4) If you were in the dark months in the northern areas of the world you would still call the morning hours morning, would you not?

5) Where is this water above? Is it far out in space where we cannot see it?

No, it's right where it is today, in the area of the sky where the clouds are. Where the rain comes from :)

6)What does this mean? Water is not all in one place. There are oceans, seas, lakes, ponds, etc.

Yes, today there lots of water holes, but there was a time when there was no rain and all the water was together. Then when God flooded the Earth everything changed in our atmoshere.

I hope this helps...


thank you for your answers. On #6 do you have any proof of this? If so where can I find it?

[Buck shot]

thank you for your answers. On #6 do you have any proof of this? If so where can I find it?

Genesis 6:17 God said He would bring floods of water upon the Earth.
Genesis 7:11 Tells us that God opened the windows of Heaven (this is the first Heaven or the area that the birds fly in Gen 1:8) and the fountains of the great deep were broken up.

Many believe that the greenhouse type atmosphere was why folks lived to be so many years old before the flood. I can't back that scripturally myself.

I also enjoy the www.answersingenesis.org (http://www.answersingenesis.org) website. There Ken Ham and many other scientists prove that Biblical Creation can be proven as it is written with today's science :)

[geiste37]

Genesis 6:17 God said He would bring floods of water upon the Earth.
Genesis 7:11 Tells us that God opened the windows of Heaven (this is the first Heaven or the area that the birds fly in Gen 1:8) and the fountains of the great deep were broken up.

Many believe that the greenhouse type atmosphere was why folks lived to be so many years old before the flood. I can't back that scripturally myself.

I also enjoy the www.answersingenesis.org (http://www.answersingenesis.org) website. There Ken Ham and many other scientists prove that Biblical Creation can be proven as it is written with today's science :)


I will be sure to check out this site. As for the rest of it there is one simple problem with your answer. You cannot use a source to prove itself true. If so I could prove Moby Dick or a Garfield cartoon true.

[geiste37]

7) 11 Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds." And it was so. 12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

Do you really need both of these verses? Aren't they really saying the same thing?

8) 14 And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years,

How can there be days before this point if part of the reason for these is to mark days?

9) 16 God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars.

What is the lesser light? Can't be the moon because the moon just reflects light the same as the Earth.

10) 17 God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth,

I get the answer to my question #5 sometimes that the atmosphere is the water above. If you assume that is what is meant then why does it state here that the sun is in the sky between the surface of the Earth and the Earth's atmosphere?

[Tanya~]

7) 11 Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds." And it was so. 12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

Do you really need both of these verses? Aren't they really saying the same thing?

Verse 11 has God giving the command, then 12 explains how it came about, and God's judgment when it was done.

8) 14 And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years,

How can there be days before this point if part of the reason for these is to mark days?

Their purpose is for signs, seasons, days, and years. The first few days were marked by the light of God. Then when He made the sun and moon, they would now mark the days.

9) 16 God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars.

What is the lesser light? Can't be the moon because the moon just reflects light the same as the Earth.

The moon reflects light of the sun, but it is still the 'lesser light' because it still serves to illuminate the earth at night. The idea is that the sun would be the bright light for the daytime and the moon would be the dimmer light for the nighttime.

10) 17 God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth,

I get the answer to my question #5 sometimes that the atmosphere is the water above. If you assume that is what is meant then why does it state here that the sun is in the sky between the surface of the Earth and the Earth's atmosphere?

The answer to number 5 is not that the atmosphere is the water above. The water that was above isn't there now. The primordial earth isn't in existence any more because the flood changed that.

2 Peter 3:3-7
3... knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, 4 and saying, "Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation." 5 For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, 6 by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. 7 But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
NKJV

At the time of the flood, the "windows of heaven" were opened, and the earth was overflowed with water.

[geiste37]

"Verse 11 has God giving the command, then 12 explains how it came about, and God's judgment when it was done."

In verse 11 it says And it was so.

Your answer to number 9 is the best I've heard. Thank you for it.

[Tanya~]

"Verse 11 has God giving the command, then 12 explains how it came about, and God's judgment when it was done."

In verse 11 it says And it was so.

That's sort of like this:

I told my son to clean up his room, and he did it. He made his bed, picked up his toys, and dusted the dresser. He did a good job.

Your answer to number 9 is the best I've heard. Thank you for it.

I'm so glad to hear that!

[geiste37]

11) 27 So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.

Again, do we need all these? At least one of them seems unneeded.

(End Chapter 1, Beginning Chapter 2)

12) Before I move on to Chapter 2 I have a couple of overall questions.
a) Why did god have to take 6 days to make everything? Shouldn't he be able to will it all into existence in an instant?
b) Why would an all-powerful god need to rest?

13) 4...When the LORD God made the earth and the heavens- 5 and no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth and no plant of the field had yet sprung up, for the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no man to work the ground,

I thought god made plants on day 3 and man on day 6. Where did they go? OR Why did he have to remake them?

14) 7 the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

Why did god have to have a reagent to create man? Could he not have just willed them into existence like everything else?

[Tanya~]

11) 27 So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.

Again, do we need all these? At least one of them seems unneeded.

In Scripture when something is repeated like this, it isn't just redundancy. Things are often repeated for emphasis. Mankind is unique in all creation because he is made in the image of God. And to make sure there is no confusion, both male and female are made in God's image, not just male humans.


(End Chapter 1, Beginning Chapter 2)

12) Before I move on to Chapter 2 I have a couple of overall questions.
a) Why did god have to take 6 days to make everything? Shouldn't he be able to will it all into existence in an instant?
b) Why would an all-powerful god need to rest?

Yes God could have made it all in an instant. And God did not need to rest. The 7-day week with the rest day was made for man, to give rest to man and the animals that work for man.

Ex 20:8-11
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.
NKJV

Mark 2:27
27 And He said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man , and not man for the Sabbath.
NKJV


13) 4...When the LORD God made the earth and the heavens- 5 and no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth and no plant of the field had yet sprung up, for the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no man to work the ground,

I thought god made plants on day 3 and man on day 6. Where did they go? OR Why did he have to remake them?

For a detailed response to this question, please see http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v18/i4/genesis.asp

14) 7 the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

Why did god have to have a reagent to create man? Could he not have just willed them into existence like everything else?

If you look carefully at the creation account, all of the things created on earth were taken from the earth.

[geiste37]

TanyaP in regards to your answer for #11. That is another plausable explanation. I must say you are quickly becoming my favorite responder here.

[Tanya~]

It is my hope geiste, that through this process of you going through the Bible yourself and asking questions, that the Lord God will speak to your heart, and that you will be able to receive it. :)

[Buck shot]

I will be sure to check out this site. As for the rest of it there is one simple problem with your answer. You cannot use a source to prove itself true. If so I could prove Moby Dick or a Garfield cartoon true.

The source I have is the same one that folks on the other side of the fence have...Creation itself ;)

I cannot look out my window and see Moby Dick or Garfield. I can see creation out the window and my daughter setting across the table from me. Praise God for what He has done!

You are correct that there are no sources other than the Bible or man's theories to prove how things started from any view. All views must be taken by faith :) weither you are a creationalist or an evolutionist.

[geiste37]

15) 8 Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed.

East of what? We are not given a central reference point.

16) 15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.

Wasn't this done in Gen. 2:8?

17) 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."

Then why put the trees that they are not supposed to eat from right next to them instead of on the other side of the planet? OR Why make the trees at all?

18) 18 The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him."

Again wasn't this done in Gen. 1:27?

19) 20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field.
But for Adam [g (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=1&chapter=2&version=31#fen-NIV-51g)] no suitable helper was found. 21 So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs [h (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=1&chapter=2&version=31#fen-NIV-52h)] and closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib [i (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=1&chapter=2&version=31#fen-NIV-53i)] he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.

This is the third time he's made women. Why?