One of the arguments surrounding creation is that of the earth being created
in six literal days, or was it around a lot longer. Well lets take a look at
what the Bible says about it. Genesis 1 is about the perfect creation of the
earth, it's degradation through sin, and then it's recreation.
Genesis 1 is a statement of completion, for when God creates anything it is
perfect.
Genesis 1:1 "In the beginning God created the heaven and the
earth."
Lucifer had not yet sinned in earth's first creation for he would walk in the
garden of Eden.
Ezekiel 28:13 "Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every
precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the
beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the
carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was
prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created."
Ezekiel 28:14 "Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I
have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked
up and down in the midst of the stones of fire."
Ezekiel 28:15 "Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that
thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee."
But then in Genesis 2 we find a statement of degradation, sin has now entered
into the world, Lucifer has now sinned.
Genesis 1:2 "And the earth was
became ("was" is the wrong
choice of translation word, the proper translation would be
"became" Strong's Number: 1961 Definition "to be, become,
come to pass, exist, happen, fall out") without form, and void; and
darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the
face of the waters."
Lucifer has now sinned and is cast from heaven to the earth, he in turn has
caused the world to become a wilderness. Notice the word ground being used, such
as a snake would be cast on the ground. So why would the earth become desolate
and empty? We know that Lucifer and his angelic followers rebelled (sinned)
sometime before the creation of Adam, so could it be that because of Lucifer's
sin that the earth become void and without form just as it was during Noah's
time? Because of sin, it was covered by water and recreated? The same thing
could have happened at Lucifer's rebellion.
Isaiah 14:12-17 "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son
of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the
nations!"... "That made the world as a wilderness,"... "Thine
heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by
reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground,"
At the end of Genesis 1:2 we see the movement of god's spirit to start start
the rebuilding the earth to it's original perfect creation. Genesis continues on
in detail the process of that recreation, and the creation of the first humans.
The first day God created light, a light to begin the restoration process.
Genesis 1:3-5 "And God said, Let there be light: and there was
light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light
from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called
Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day."
Notice that this light is not the sun or the moon, because they where created
on the 4th day;
Genesis 14-19 "And God said, Let there be lights in the
firmament of the heaven to divide 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 firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it
was so. And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day,
and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. And God set
them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, And to
rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the
darkness: and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were
the fourth day."
but instead the light of God which is needed to begin the restoration
process, the same light that will be there in the New Jerusalem when both God
and Christ live upon the earth.
Isaiah 60:19 "The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither
for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the LORD shall be
unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory."
Revelation 21:23-24 "And the city had no need of the sun,
neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it,
and the Lamb is the light thereof. And the nations of them which are saved
shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their
glory and honor into it."
The most notable verse that the world was old prior to the flood of Noah's
time is found in 2 Peter,
2 Peter 3:5-7 "For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by
the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the
water and in the water: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed
with water, perished: But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the
same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment
and perdition of ungodly men."
YES! The earth was restored in six literal days, but, we do not know how long
it took to create the earth when it was first created, nor does the Bible tell
us just how old the earth really is.
