Is the Genesis account real?

Let’s start with the realization that the Bible was not written primarily as a science book but it contains some scientific facts. The Bible was not written primarily as history but it contains some history.

The Bible was written with truth regarding what is needed to try and save souls. It shows that humans are sinful and the answer is to trust in God. Trusting in God is the key point. The rest of the writing serves that primary goal in a variety of literary styles.

We get a glimpse of God in Scripture, that He is not bound by time…

2 Peter 3:8-9
8 …with the Lord one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like one day.

9 The Lord does not delay his promise, as some regard “delay,” but he is patient with you, not wishing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

Psalm 90:4
4 A thousand years in your eyes
are merely a day gone by,
Before a watch passes in the night,

So is Creation 7 literal Days, 7,000 days or Billions of years?
When we look at the Genesis creation account, we should not get too caught up in whether it took 7 literal days or billions of years, because God was not bound by time. We were not there and the full physical measure in which He created is well beyond our abilities and understanding.

Whenever people in the Bible tried to limit God to a human timeline, He would use the present tense…

Exodus 3:13-14
13 “But,” said Moses to God, “if I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what do I tell them?”

14 God replied to Moses: I am who I am. Then he added: This is what you will tell the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you.

John 8:58
57 the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old and you have seen Abraham?”

58 Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham came to be, I AM.”

So while we don’t want to put God in a box in regards to a specific time for creation, we do need to have some way to grasp the concepts that He is trying to teach us. The creation account was written down in an abbreviated form, with our limited human language, so that we can understand enough to get the main moral point.

The exact timeline of creation is not the moral point that is being conveyed. When we realize God is the Creator of the universe and everything we have, we can place our trust in Him.

Wanting to Know Everything
Wanting to know it all before we trust in God misses the point of Genesis. That was the sin that Adam and Eve fell into, Pride; Do we ever think

‘Let’s trust in ourselves first, then maybe we’ll trust in God’.

All other sin flows from Pride; the desire to decide everything ourselves.

Even though we will not know everything in Genesis, the creation account helps to give us enough to understand that God was the creator, the cause of the universe, and we are limited.

I am not saying the world was created in six 24 hour days or that it was created over billions of years. If you asked God how long it took him to create the universe His answer might be a simple ‘I Create’ . He is not bound by time. With the Lord one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like one day.

I have seen when we get too literal and try to put God into a box, we can end up running into our own contradictions and pride coming up with all sorts of strange workarounds. I prefer to say I am not sure on the timeframe and let God tell me in heaven.

Scientific Theories
There are various scientific theories on creation. Some are very interesting. However we have to remember they are theories and physical science is limited when trying to explain non-physical causes.

It would be like trying to explain the whole life of a painter by looking at his painting. The painting can give us some proof that there was an intelligent painter who made it, and we can discover some of his methods in the painting, but at some point we realize the painting is limited in explaining the larger meaning of things.

Science Changes
Much science changes drastically over the course of 100-500 years because scientists have a limited understanding of things and are missing most of the facts. Even when many facts are grouped together, they are often limited in explaining the origin and meaning of things. That question lies more in the realm of philosophy and theology.

Physical Science can’t explain the origin of creation but can give us an indication of a creator, like a painting to a painter.

Literary Style
In the Bible it helps to be mindful of the literary style of a book and the intent of the writer. Biblical books were not written by 21st century writers using 21st century methods so if we try to force them into a modern way of writing, we can end up with misinterpretation and seeming contradictions of our own making.

The Genesis creation account is not a science text book or a mathematical equation, but even though the account is written in an older literary style, it is surprisingly accurate when we read it according to how it is presented.

Gen 1:2
1 In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth

2 and the earth was without form or shape

Some translations say ‘without form and void/empty’. This passage states 2 main issues that are going to addressed for the world to exist, the general forms of the world that we are familiar with, and the objects & creatures that fill the world.

Answer to ‘Form’

The first 3 days or periods, are addressing the question of the general forms of the world in concepts that humans can understand. Light and darkness by which all other material can be described, and the day and night cycle that we are all familiar with.

Day 1: Light, Day/Night

Gen 1:3-5
3 Then God said: Let there be light, and there was light.

4 God saw that the light was good. God then separated the light from the darkness.

5 God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” Evening came, and morning followed—the first day.

This gives us a starting form in which more can be revealed to us; the sky and the sea.

Day 2: Sky and Sea

6 Then God said: Let there be a dome in the middle of the waters, to separate one body of water from the other.

7 God made the dome, and it separated the water below the dome from the water above the dome. And so it happened.

8 God called the dome “sky.” Evening came, and morning followed—the second day.

Day 3: Land & Vegetation

Gen 1:9-13
9 Then God said: Let the water under the sky be gathered into a single basin, so that the dry land may appear. And so it happened: the water under the sky was gathered into its basin, and the dry land appeared.

10 God called the dry land “earth,” and the basin of water he called “sea.” God saw that it was good.

11 Then God said: Let the earth bring forth vegetation: every kind of plant that bears seed and every kind of fruit tree on earth that bears fruit with its seed in it. And so it happened:

12 the earth brought forth vegetation: every kind of plant that bears seed and every kind of fruit tree that bears fruit with its seed in it. God saw that it was good.
13 Evening came, and morning followed—the third day.

Like me, you may have wondered why vegetation is listed with land on the 3rd day before the Sun on the 4th day?

One theory is that the writer is still addressing the general issue of Form of the world. The sky, the sea, and the land are so pervasive on the earth they are part of the major formations. Vegetation (including shrubs and trees) is also pervasive and covers the earth. It can make sense in this category as a form between the land and the sky.

Answer to ‘VOID’ / ‘EMPTY’

After the form has been established in days 1-3, the writer then addresses the various objects and creatures that fill the form, addressing the void (emptiness) question.

Day 4: Sun/Moon

14 Then God said: Let there be lights in the dome of the sky, to separate day from night. Let them mark the seasons, the days and the years,

15 and serve as lights in the dome of the sky, to illuminate the earth. And so it happened:

16 God made the two great lights, the greater one to govern the day, and the lesser one to govern the night, and the stars.

17 God set them in the dome of the sky, to illuminate the earth,
18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. God saw that it was good.

19 Evening came, and morning followed—the fourth day.

Wait, you might be thinking how can Day exist before the Sun? Shouldn’t it be the other way around?

It is easy to revert back to our modern way of thinking in scientific literal sequential order, but let’s resist that temptation and follow the style the writer presented.

He chose to focus on the general form first, then come back to describe the objects and creatures that fill the forms; There is some overlap.

Day 4: The sun and the moon to fill the sky with light from Day 1
Day 5: The birds and fish to fill the sky and sea from Day 2
Day 6: The animals and man to fill the land and the forests from Day 3

Modern Comparison

In modern literary comparison, this approach is similar to a presentation where the speaker gives an outline of a topic at the beginning to give the listeners the general idea of what will be covered, and then goes back after to add in more details where he chooses.

In the presentation style, we are not expecting a strict scientific & chronological ordering of things. We may even want the presenter to change the order around, or add a story, to make it more interesting than a bland list of facts.

Since we are not forcing the text into a literal chronological ordering here, we don’t run into a contradiction. We let the writer continue to present what he wants to convey to us, however he chooses.

Contemplating on the rising of the Sun and the Moon day after day, and how they integrate with the rest of the life cycles of the earth, is something awesome and beautiful beyond us. We know we didn’t create them. The writer is beginning to reveal the main moral points. We are not God and He is creating something awesome to support a world in which we can live.

The Sun and the Moon on Day 4 are the physical objects which fill the day 1 form, solving the question of being void and empty.

Day 5: Fish and Birds

20 Then God said: Let the water teem with an abundance of living creatures, and on the earth let birds fly beneath the dome of the sky.

21 God created the great sea monsters and all kinds of crawling living creatures with which the water teems, and all kinds of winged birds. God saw that it was good,

22 and God blessed them, saying: Be fertile, multiply, and fill the water of the seas; and let the birds multiply on the earth.

23 Evening came, and morning followed—the fifth day.

The Fish and Birds on Day 5 are the physical creatures which fill the day 2 form of the sea and the sky, solving the question of them being void and empty.

Day 6: Animals

24 Then God said: Let the earth bring forth every kind of living creature: tame animals, crawling things, and every kind of wild animal. And so it happened:

25 God made every kind of wild animal, every kind of tame animal, and every kind of thing that crawls on the ground. God saw that it was good.

Day 6 : Man

26 Then God said: Let us make human beings in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the tame animals, all the wild animals, and all the creatures that crawl on the earth.

The Animals and Man on Day 5 are the physical creatures which fill the day 3 form of land and forests, solving the question of them being void and empty.

It makes sense in the style the writer presents.

Reading it in the way the Author intended and presents, it rings true and makes sense without having contradictions. The world he describes now has form and is no longer void, teaming with life.

We are Not An accident
A key point of the Genesis account is that the world is not an accident. We are in a complex creation well beyond anything in our ability to create. Should we trust ourselves with limited knowledge or trust God who can do all that?

Michelangelo’s depiction of the Creation of Man; Adam touching the finger of God.
Can you spot Eve wrapped in God’s other arm?

In His image and likeness
God makes man in His image and likeness. Man is His crowning achievement. God may have given all his creatures some similarities to exist in this world, but man is set apart with a soul to think, learn, and choose. God reveals Himself to man and gives man the ability to respond.

Gen 1:27-31
27 God created mankind in his image;
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.

28 God blessed them and God said to them: Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and all the living things that crawl on the earth.

29 God also said: See, I give you every seed-bearing plant on all the earth and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit on it to be your food;

30 and to all the wild animals, all the birds of the air, and all the living creatures that crawl on the earth, I give all the green plants for food. And so it happened.
31 God looked at everything he had made, and found it very good. Evening came, and morning followed—the sixth day.

The 7th Day

Gen 2:2-3
2 On the seventh day God completed the work he had been doing; he rested on the seventh day from all the work he had undertaken.

3 God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work he had done in creation.

If we try to read Genesis too literally, we start getting lost by thinking God needed rest. He is God, not limited, so He would not need rest.

He just created man in His image and likeness. The writer is making a point in regard to man’s spirituality. God doesn’t need rest but gives us an example to follow because we need it. The Bible was written to help us.

Made on the 6th Day for the 7th Day

Man was created on the sixth day like the other animals, but the 7th day is for something higher. If a man works non-stop without rest, it is easy to reman attached to the things of the material world.

If man rests on the 7th day, he can think and contemplate on the Lord. He can grow beyond the basic animal instincts symbolized by the 6th day into a more spiritual image and likeness of God. Creation is best when man enters into the 7th day with God.

It is no accident the week follows a 7 day cycle according to the Bible so we can set aside a day of worship and rest.

There is a lot more we could cover in Genesis in future articles. I’ll be looking to get some 7th day rest first. Hope this helps!