1) In the beginning God created the heaven Gen 1:1

In the modern scientific world this verse is perhaps the most contentious of the Bible. The reason it is contentious is that few seek to understand its context and what is meant by 'heaven'.

The word 'beginning' is Hebrew reshiyth, and comes from a word rosh which means first in place, time or rank. It is used of the 'first' fruit.

The first of the firstfruits of your land you shall bring into the house of the LORD thy God. (Exodus 23:19)

It is not an absolute beginning of all things, but the first event of consequence.

It also should be noted in Genesis 1:1 that the word for God is Hebrew Elohiym which literally means 'Mighty Ones', is not 'the LORD' (Yahweh), who is called 'the Spirit of the Mighty Ones'.

The work by the Mighty Ones Elohyim as moved by the Spirit of the Mighty Ones is explained in two chapters. In this the word 'heaven' is defined.

In the beginning formed God namely the heaven and namely the earth.

And the earth was 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. 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.

And God said, Let there be a sky in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the sky, and divided the waters which were under the sky from the waters which were upon the sky: and it was so. And God called the sky heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry appear: and it was so. And God called the dry earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:1-10)

By this definition we are told how we must understand the words 'heaven' and 'earth'. Heaven is the waters over the earth, which is the sky or atmosphere. Earth is the soil and rocks.

Taking this definition we may go back to the first statement in verse 1. Though we can't be dogmatic, it would seem that it is merely a summary of the work done over the seven days, of which the most critical work for shaping the world for life on earth was making the sky and then making dry land. This makes sense as this technique of summary and more detailed explanation is used often in the Bible and is the basis of most logical written communication.

Modern scientists have devised implements to explore the universe. But in reality it is beyond useful. Humans have gone no further than the moon. Recent space travel is merely exiting the earth's atmosphere, briefly. The Bible has not ignored all these wonders. There is a peculiar phrase “heavens of heavens”,

Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the LORD'S thy God, the earth also, with all that therein is. (Deuteronomy 10:14)

Is not God in the height of heaven? and behold the height of the stars, how high they are! (Job 22:12)

But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have built? (1Kings 8:27)

Praise ye him, sun and moon: praise him, all ye stars of light. Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters which are upon the heavens. (Psalm 148:3-4)

The stars, sun and moon appear in the heavens, as seen from earth, but they are part of the heaven of heavens. Many people are sure that Genesis says God created the stars. But is this a theory or in fact what is written? Let's look at what is written,

And God said, Let there be lights at the sky the heavens 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 at the sky the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. And God set two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night and the stars.

And God set them in the sky 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. (Genesis 1:14-19)

The focus of the action on day four is that the Mighty Ones fashion the 'lights' of the earth, for day and night. This is the sun and moon. It is to be noted that the Hebrew text does not say much about stars at all. After speaking of God setting the two great lights in place, and after 'the lesser light to rule the night' the account adds, almost as an aside,“and the stars”. The Hebrew text does not say they made the stars. The stars seen with the naked eye do not light the earth noticeably. The stars only seen through the telescope shed so little light on the earth their light is not seen at all. However, until recent years, all the planets were known as stars. Of them Venus and Mars are perhaps the most seen. Venus and the other visible planets are useful for 'signs and for seasons'. In terms of the stars Job says nothing about God creating them, rather he speaks of God controlling their death.

Which commands the sun, and it rises not; and seal up (makes an end) of the stars. (Job 9:7)

Neither do the psalmist or Jeremiah speak of God creating stars, but rather their appointment.

When I look at Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars which You have established/appointed; (Psalm 8:3)

Thus says the LORD, which gives the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divides the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name: (Jeremiah 31:35)

Amos is the only one in the whole Bible who speaks of God making, forming or fashioning stars,

Seek him that makes the seven stars and Orion, and turns the shadow of death into the morning, and makes the day dark with night: that calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his name: (Amos 5:8)

It is to be noted it does not say all stars, rather it is very specific the 'seven stars' or Pelaides and Orion. Orion is useful for navigation as it lies on the celestial equator and is visible with the naked eye being made up of bright stars, which are relatively close to earth. The 7 stars of Pelaides are very bright cluster of blue stars close to earth, possibly at the most 440 light years. Of note is that Amos' conclusion is the similar to a more modern one,

The Reverend John Michell calculated in 1767 that the probability of a chance alignment of so many bright stars was only 1 in 500,000, and so correctly surmised that the Pleiades and many other clusters of stars must be physically related . Wikipedia.

If the Pleiades cluster couldn't just happen, it must have been arranged as a cluster. As to when they were formed into a cluster and when they were made we can only guess. The Bible says nothing other than what we observe, that stars have an end and they were appointed suitable for navigation. All Genesis chapter one says is that when the moon was being 'set' so were the stars.

We must be very careful not to read human theories into what has been written. The Bible is precise. There is nothing in the precise words of the Bible that conflicts with defensible empirical observational science.

The order of events perfectly fits with conclusions regarding ecosystems from experimental science.

• Day 1. Energy source: Light for photosynthesis
• Day 2. Water cycle to distribute water and minerals
• Day 3. Oceans for simple plants and land for complex plants
• Day 4. Regulation of sun and moon for seasons, tides and timing of germination and fruiting

• Day 5. Aquatic animals; fish, reptiles and birds all dependant on plants

• Day 6. Mammals and terrestrial animals dependant on the oceans for atmospheric regulation, plants and aquatic animals. Humans for management, knowledge and wisdom.

It should be pointed out that the Bible says nothing at all about when or how the universe was made, nothing about when the first stars were made or when the matter of the earth and waters was assembled. The Bible doesn't say the the soil and water was made from nothing. In fact it is silent. At the start of day one it is specifically written that a blob of earth substance with all the land and mountains covered in water existed (see Psalm 104:6, 2 Peter 3:16). Therefore the earth and water was formed before day one. It is rational to conclude that Genesis 1:1 is a summary of the whole chapter, and the 'earth' that was made was the 'dry land' and the 'heavens' made was the 'sky'.

But as this is all very, very ancient history, and has no effect on useful repeatable science, what does it matter to science? It is a historical text, and like any other very, very old historical text we must evaluate whether it is true or not, or in other words “were the original writers truthful?” After comparing it to various fanciful creation accounts, we can conclude this one is remarkably different. Genesis One has the stamp of simplicity that goes with truth.

For more Without form and void

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