Intro: Learn how to interpret the Genesis creation history. The Genesis creation account is a controversial narration for many Bible believing Christians and religious Jews because the Holy Scriptures describes God creating the entire universe in six days (Genesis 1:31, Genesis 2:4, and Exodus 20:11). There are several different theories designed to reconcile the biblical account of creation with Darwin’s evolution theory, but many of these creation theories are not consistent with a literal interpretation of the Genesis creation history. Although the book of Genesis was never written to teach science to the reader, this narrative never contradicts the established facts of science when its explanations of God’s creation have been correctly interpreted by the reader.
Step 1: Read Genesis 1:2 because this passage describes the original conditions of the newly created universe as unformed and unfilled. The Genesis creation week reveals that God creates through a process of first forming and later filling. In other words, God first formed the universe into existence from nothing before He filled it with Galaxies, stars, planets, moons, and other materials. God first formed the Earth’s ocean before filling the sea with marine life forms. God first formed the land-mass before filling the land with animals and man. The Genesis creation days confirms this theory because the first three days of creation describe God forming the universe and Earth, while the last three days of creation describe God filling the universe and Earth.
Step 2: Use common sense when reading the Genesis creation narrative. The author’s description of creation was not intended to be a systematic, panoramic, and scientific explanation about the origin and destiny of universe. Likewise, the Genesis creation narrative was never written to be a scientific catalogue of every animal God created during the past because it would have been impossible for the author to record all that information into a single book.
Step 3: Study the language of visual appearance. The Genesis creation history employs the language of visual appearance and not the language of precise scientific description when describing the creation events because science did not exists when Genesis was written. Furthermore, the Genesis creation account describes the creative events from a geocentric orientation or from the perspective of an observer on the Earth’s surface.
Step 4: Analyze the biblical word for day. The Genesis Creation account does not clearly reveal to its readers whether each day of creation was 24 hours in duration or long successive periods because the biblical word for day has several different meanings in the Book of Genesis and elsewhere. For example, in Genesis 1:5, a day is a period of light (12 hours) between two periods of darkness. In Genesis 1:5 to 1:31, the words “evening and morning” refers to a 24 hour day. In Genesis 2:3-4, a day refers to an undetermined period of time.
Sept 5: Research biblical prophecy. The Genesis creation account demonstrates that each creation day was a prophecy about the history of humanity along with the first and second coming of Messiah Yeshua (Christ Jesus) because Genesis is very similar to the Book of Revelation and the Book of Daniel, where the prophets employ a six plus one HEPTADIC prophetic pattern. The seven days of creation have a six plus one HEPTADIC Hebrew structure, which can be found in the book of Revelation and elsewhere in apocalyptic literature. A study of the six plus one pattern in biblical apocalyptic literature reveals why the Genesis Creation days are prophetic and visionary. Although the creation days were probably 24 hours in duration, the six plus one HEPTADIC Hebrew structure are usually indicative of days that represent years, thousands of years, or undetermined periods (Ezekiel 4, Daniel 9, Revelation 6, 7, 8).
Tips: Begin applying these steps to explain the Genesis creation account. The Genesis creation narrative never contradicts the established scientific facts that are related to the subject of origins.
Warning: Study the whole Bible and scientific subjects related to origins before reading and analyzing the Genesis account of creation.
Related Sources: Creation; Dr. Grant R. Jeffrey; 2003. Genesis One; Dr. Gerald Schroeder With Zola Levitt; 1998. Rethinking Genesis; Duane Garrett; 2000. Biblical Creationism; Dr. Henry Morris; 2005. Creator and the Cosmos; Dr. Hugh Ross; 1998. Creation; Dr. Grant Jeffrey; 2003. Creation Scientists Answer Their Critics; Dr. Duane T. Gish; 1993. Learn The Bible in 24 Hours; Dr. Chuck Missler; 2002. Panorama of Creation; Dr. Carl Baugh; 1989. The Biblical Basis for Modern Science; Dr. Henry Morris; 2008. The New King James Version (NKJV). The Signature of God; Dr. Grant Jeffrey; 2010. The Science of God; Dr. Gerald Schroeder;1997.