Isaiah 40:6-8 (NASB)

Isaiah 40:6-8 (NASB)

6) A voice says, “Call out.”
Then he answered, “What shall I call out?”
All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field.

7) The grass withers, the flower fades,
When the breath of the LORD blows upon it;
Surely the people are grass.

8) The grass withers, the flower fades,
But the word of our God stands forever.

Sunday, December 20, 2015

Has the Genesis account of creation endured? (Gen. 1:11-30)

(Quotations of Scripture are taken from the New American Standard version)

Gen. 1:11, "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 . . .'"
  • Yes, we do still see seed-bearing plants.
  • Yes, excluding algae, kelp, and a few others (whose seed-bearing, plant nature may be questioned), all seed-bearing plants I can think of must grow on land, or very near land. We don't see subterranean, wind-borne, or oceanic "islands" of seed-bearing plants
  • Yes, I watch, and see that a grass seed grows into a grass plant, a bean seed grows into a bean plant, and a pine tree seed grows into a pine tree. If not, seed companies would be non-existent or need really good insurance, and gardeners would be extremely frustrated--said from the viewpoint of a past avid gardener.
Gen. 1:14-16, "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'; God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also."
  • Yes, we still have only two great lights: the sun and the moon.
[(12/21/2015) Just realized I accidentally skipped part of these verses.
  • Yes, the lights of heaven have repeatedly served as signs (Strong's 226: "signal, flag, beacon"): 2 Kings 20:9 (King Hezekiah); Matt. 2:2 (Christ's birth); Luke 23:45 (Christ's death); and navigation by the sun, moon, planets, and 58 navigational stars.
  • Yes, the sun, by the earth's orbit, still governs the seasons of summer, fall, winter, and spring.
  • Yes, man still notes the passing of days by the appearance of the sun and moon.
  • Yes, man still notes the passing of years by the earth's orbit around the sun.
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  • Yes, the greater light, the sun, dominates the daytime sky--repelling darkness (excepting extremes like the North Pole, South Pole, and eclipses).
  • Yes, the lesser light, the moon, dominates the night sky--without dispelling the darkness of night.
Gen. 1:20-22, "Then God said, 'Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens.' God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind . . . God blessed them, saying, 'Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.'"
  • Yes, the bodies of water on the earth certainly "teem" with living creatures.
  • Yes, the birds, or flying creatures, are still seen in the sky.
  • Yes, whales, fish, jellyfish, etc. only fill the seas. They die if brought out of water.
  • Yes, the flying creatures do not multiply on the oceans, but rather nest or roost on the land.
Gen. 1:24-25, "Then God said, 'Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth after their kind' . . . "
  • Yes, apart from the flying creatures and the creatures of the seas, we see many land-bound animals.
Gen. 1:26, "Then God said, 'Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.'"
  • Yes, man stands out pretty distinct from the rest of creation. Man has unique creativity, fabricating increasingly sophisticated dwellings, machinery, and means of recording/exchanging knowledge (books, electronics, TV, wifi, etc.)
  • Yes, man does exercise rule over all living creatures, whether fish, bird, or beast of the earth. We have fishermen, whalers, livestock owners, birders, and hunters (of bird and beast).
Gen. 1:28, "God blessed them; and God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth . . .'"
  • Yes, man has multiplied greatly all across the globe.
  • Yes, man still calls the the land home (i.e. homelands, not home-waters or home-airs).
Gen. 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."
  • Yes, I dare not try to number or name all the seed-bearing plants and fruit-bearing trees we harvest for food.
  • Yes, every green plant I know of is kept in check by the voracious appetites of various animals (including the small creeping animals/insects/bugs/small creatures) and flying creatures.

. . . Well, that was a little longer than expected.

1 comment:

  1. I updated the Gen. 1:14-16 section after realizing I skipped over a section in those verses.

    ReplyDelete