The Bible is often criticised for its contradictions or misused by misinterpretions, but only because its critics don’t understand the nature of the book.
Many of its puzzles come from our own misunderstandings and misinterpretations. If we allow the Word to explain itself, at least some of our questions will be answered.
God’s book was written within a specific time span, by people with a specific language and culture, for a specific purpose. To read it in any other way is to dishonour God and His book. We will understand it better if we take the trouble to look within the words used to translate the book for the intended meaning of its author.
We may not be familiar with ancient Hebrew and Greek, the two languages mostly used in the original, but we have many experts to help us. A little digging will provide amazing insights into this amazing book.
I am not a language expert. However, with some help, let me offer a few examples of light shed on God’s Word.
Scholars and Bible teachers use the Latin words, “ex nihilo”, to explain God’s creation. Translated, ex nihilo means “out of nothing”. I find at least two ways in the Bible in which God created…
Psalms 33:6 NIV
[6] “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth.”
This and many other references to God’s method of creation affirm that His creative power was in His spoken Word.
This explains the “how” but of what did He fashion the universe?
He used two different materials, one for the first man, and one for the universe in all its intricate details.
Genesis 2:7 NLT
[7] “Then the Lord God formed the man from the DUST of the ground. He breathed the BREATH of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person.”
This takes care of the first human. Every other human, including the first woman, came from the first man.
Genesis 2:21-22 NLT
[21] So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. While the man slept, the Lord God took out one of the man’s ribs and closed up the opening. [22] Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib, and he brought her to the man.
Genesis 4:1 NLT
[1] Now Adam had sexual relations with his wife, Eve, and she became pregnant. When she GAVE BIRTH to Cain, she said, “With the Lord’s help, I have produced a man!”
The rest of the universe came from intriguing material, vaguely mentioned by the writer to the Hebrews.
Hebrews 11:3 NIV
[3] “By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that WHAT IS SEEN Gwas not made out of what was visible.”
Nowhere in the Bible does it say that God created the universe “ex nihilo”, out of nothing. We believe that, by His spoken word, He commanded energy and atoms, which are invisible, to become everything in the universe that is now visible. What awesome power is His to do this!
Isaiah 40:26 NLT
[26]”Look up into the heavens. Who created all the stars? He brings them out like an army, one after another, calling each by its name. Because of his great power and incomparable strength, not a single one is missing.”
The Hebrew word, “bara”, translated “created”, can mean to “shape” or “make fat”. Used in another context, speaking to the priest Eli, God said…
1 Samuel 2:29 NLT
[29] “So why do you scorn my sacrifices and offerings? Why do you give your sons more honor than you give me—for you and they have BECOME FAT from the best offerings of my people Israel!”
…the word “bara” here is translated, “become fat”. “Create” makes no sense.
The sense, then, in Genesis 1, could be that God “fattened” the earth for human habitation. By His spoken word, He introduced order and function into a chaotic planet, bringing in light, dividing water and land, creating plants and animals, and completing His work by fashioning the first human pair.
Since the earth already existed, as in Genesis 1:2, it makes sense that God worked on an rudimentary planet to prepare it for human habitation. The Hebrew words used to describe the earth’s condition between Genesis 1:1 and 2 seem to hint at something sinister that might have happened after earth’s creation.
Genesis 1:2 NLT
[2] “The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.”
Could it be that the rebellious members of God’s Heavenly Council, cast down to the earth out of heaven, caused the chaos on earth that God had to repair?
Isaiah 14:12 NLT
[12] “How you are fallen from heaven, O shining star, son of the morning! You have been thrown down to the earth, you who destroyed the nations of the world.”
God’s story, from beginning to end, is the story of redemption and restoration. He permitted the process of destruction to happen to reveal to the entire races of spirit and human beings that He is God in all His attributes, including His compassion, mercy, and grace only made visible through the cross.
To be continued…