78. In the Beginning : By Grace

GOD
He created the Heaven and the Earth

The word ‘heaven’ is used by God to locate different places and conditions depending upon the context of His statements. We know that He is not referring to the stars, like our sun, because they are referenced separately in God’s work during the fourth day. This heaven, in its perfect Godly creation, refers to all those planets which revolved about the sun, the great light which rules the day. We know its present condition as The Planetary System.

God tells us nothing about His design of the original created earth. Some Bible students believe that it had no oceans, as the condition of the new earth described in the book of Revelation [Rev 21:1] Following the destruction of the earth [Gen 1:2] and its subsequent six day reforming, God tells us that when the waters were gathered together in one place, the dry land appeared which He called earth. It was therefore one very large island which science has named PANGEA. This land mass was divided into continents during the days of the patriarch Peleg, some 100 years after the universal flood [Gen 10:25].

The Bible records much detail about the period from Adam’s sin to Noah’s flood. We know therefore that it is not the period referred to by Solomon when he says: There is no remembrance of former things [Ecc 1:9-11]. These ‘former things’ are the conditions and events which occurred during the 4,900 years immediately following God’s creation of the Heavens and the Earth, before the earth was without form and void. However there are some hints which can be deduced from the Scripture record.

God originated all things. He created [arB] all things [John 1:1-3]. When he formed the man from the dust of the earth, He must have first created him. This He did at some time during this first 4900 years. This applies also to The Beasts of The Field and The Birds of The Air [Gen 2:19]
The prophet Ezekiel tells us that Satan, The Guardian Cherub, was driven in disgrace from The Mount of God and expelled from among the firey stones because his heart had become proud and his wisdom corrupted. God’s judgement upon the earth, making it without form and void, ended the first phase of Satan’s sin and violence which was caused by his widespread trade. [Eze 28:12-19] His rebellion and expulsion occurred during this first 4900 years. After the earth was reformed and reconstituted, Satan now remains in opposition to God. [Gen 2:17 & 3:4]. until he is confined in the lake of fire and brimstone.

Science now knows that the Speed of Light fell from its Red Shift origin to the ‘constant’ of the present day. That origin began to change during this first 4900 years. i.e. over a thousand years before Satan caused Adam to sin. It is probably the point of time when Satan rebelled. [See By Grace Nos:6, 91]

The book of Genesis is the book of The Generations, the first of which is defined as that in the heaven and that upon the earth [Gen 2:4]. This record runs through chapter 2 verse 4 to chapter 4 verse 26. It tells that Adam was formed before the third day when the plants and herbs were introduced. It describes Adam’s initial family, Cain, Abel and Seth. Abel’s murder by Cain caused God to exile Cain from His face into the heaven [4:11–16]. Thus Cain’s generation [Gen 4:17-24] occupied the Solar System and after Seth was born, his generation populated the earth.

It is followed directly by the Generation of Adam.