Bayith HaShem ("House of the Name"). An end-time Messianic watchman ministry sharing insights and discoveries on Biblical prophecies and mysteries.
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Primordial Planet Puzzles (Part 5)
Day
6: Mammals, creeping things, man
“And God said, Let the earth bring forth the
living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the
earth after his kind: and it was so. And God made the beast of the earth after
his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the
earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good” (Gen
1:24-25).
Interpretations
of Day 6:
- Literal 24-hour Days:
the day man was created circa 6,000 years ago
- Thousand-Year Days:
circa 7,000-6,000 years ago
- Diminishing Day-Ages: circa 468,750,000-13,306 years ago (Duration: approximately 468,735,694 years)
Young
Earth Creationists claim land animals and man first walked on earth some 6,000
years ago, or 7,000-6,000 years ago at the earliest.
In
the Diminishing Day-Ages timeline, God created land animals and hominids during
Day-Age 6, 468,750,000 to 13,306 years ago (kya).
A multi-segmented
Day 6?
In the Diminishing Day-Ages timeline, the sixth
segment should be Day-Age 6, ending about 234,375,000 years ago after the
creation of land animals (amphibians, insects, reptiles, mammals). But it
cannot be the Biblical Day 6, because it ended before man could be created.
However, if we continue with the exponentially
regressing pattern, we see the coming of hominids in the succeeding segments
until around 28,611 years ago. For still unclear reasons, it appears that the
time segments after Day-Age 5 are not individual day-ages, but parts of a
multi-segmented Day-Age 6! There is no apparent basis, but the time segments
match the scientific estimates accurately.
There is a clue in the Bible,
though. More time and words were used to relate the events of Day 6, because
more things happened and more entities were created on that last creative
“day.” Moreover, there is a textual parallel in the next chapter, where one
“day” is used to mean several days: “These
are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in
the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens” (Gen 2:4). We
know that the “the earth and the heavens”
were not created in one single “day,’ but over several “days.”
Did God (Elohim) use more segments of time for Day-Age 6 to create animals
of a higher order, as well as to perfect man -- the prime paradigm of His
creative work? Let go through those time segments.
Day-Age 6-a
- Circa 468,750,000 to 234,375,000 years ago (Duration: approximately 234,375,000 years)
First of worst extinctions. Paleontologists have identified at
least 17 mass extinctions since life began on earth. Eight are major, all of
which took place in the last 500 million years. However, five events are the
most devastating: the first took place around 438 million years ago during
Day-Age 6-a. Over 85% of species became extinct.57
Amphibians created. God created land animals and
“creeping things” on Day 6. Fossil remains show that amphibians, a kind of
creeping creature, crawled onto dry land around 417 million years ago during
Day-Age 6-a.
Second of worst extinctions. The second of the five worst mass
extinction events also happened during Day-Age 6-a, approximately 367 million
years ago. This time, 82% of all species were lost.58
Insects created. God created insects
approximately 350 million years ago during Day-Age 6-a. Scientists are puzzled
why insects, comprising 80% of all living and extinct animal species, have no
known evolutionary ancestors.
A U.S. government reference (Insects, 1952) states: “There is… no
fossil evidence bearing on the question of insect origin; the oldest insects
known show no transition to other arthropods.”59
Reptiles created. God created more “creeping
things” – reptiles. The record of the rocks reveals that cold-blooded saurians,
the forerunners of modern lizards, arose on the face of the planet starting
approximately 323 million years ago during Day-Age 6-a.
Mammals created. God created warm-blooded mammals
-- the “beasts of the earth” (wild animals) and “cattle” (domestic animals).
The fossil record shows that the mammals first walked
upon the earth 248 million years ago during Day-Age 6-a.
Third of worst extinctions. The third and most devastating of
the five worst mass extinctions also occurred during Day-Age 6-a, some 245
million years ago. As much as 96% of all species were wiped out.
The
destruction was so great paleontologists use this event to mark the end of the
ancient or Paleozoic Era and the beginning of the middle or Mesozoic Era, when
many new groups of animals arose.60
Day-Age 6-b
- Circa 234,375,000 to 117,187,500 years ago (Duration: approximately 117,187,500 years)
Fourth of worst extinctions. The fourth of the five worst mass
extinctions transpired some 208 million years ago, claiming about 76% of all
species at the time, including many reptiles.61
Archaeopteryx appeared. A chimeric creature appeared 150
million years ago. Scientists say it was the first true bird – with feathers
and wings, and a “wishbone” (the fused collarbones underpinning wing muscles).
However, it also had jaws with teeth, claws on its wings, and a long tail like
dinosaurs. It was half-bird, half-reptile – the archaeopteryx!
It
seems to be alluded to in Scripture. Leviticus 11:18 (NKJV) lists birds: “the white owl, the jackdaw, and the carrion
vulture.” The “while owl” is tanshemeth
in the Hebrew original. Several verses later, 11:30 lists reptiles: “the gecko, the monitor lizard, the sand
reptile, the sand lizard, and the chameleon.” Strangely, “chameleon” is
also tanshemeth in the original. The
word tanshemeth, applicable to both a
bird and a reptile, perfectly describes the archaeopteryx! Was tanshemeth the Scriptural term for the
archaeopteryx?
Day-Age 6-c
- Circa 117,187,500 to 58,593,750 years ago (Duration: approximately 58,593,750 years)
Fifth of worst extinctions. The fifth and most recent of the
five worst mass extinctions occurred more or less 65 million years ago, with
the death of 76% of all species, most notably the dinosaurs.62
Primates created. Around the time that “terrible
lizards” (dinosaurs) became extinct, primates – animals that resemble modern lemurs,
monkeys, and apes – came onto the scene some 65,000,000 years ago during
Day-Age 6-c.
Day-Age 6-d
- Circa 58,593,750 to 29,296,875 years ago (Duration: approximately 29,296,875 years)
Rise of mammals. As the level of atmospheric oxygen
continued to rise from 10% to 17% about 50 million years ago, then 23% some 40
million years ago, mammals dominated the planet.
Paul
Falkowski, a marine science professor, explains: "In the fossil record, we
see that this rise in oxygen content corresponds exactly to a really rapid rise
of large, placental mammals… The more oxygen, the bigger the mammals… the rise
in oxygen content allowed mammals to become very, very large – mammals like
12-foot-tall sloths and huge saber-toothed cats.”63 Some hornless
rhinoceroses measured about 30 feet long and stood 18 feet high at the
shoulder.
Day-Age 6-e
- Circa 29,296,875 to 14,648,437 years ago (Duration: approximately 14,648,437 years. From here on, fractions are added to succeeding numbers to keep figures rounded.)
Day-Age 6-f
- Circa 14,648,437 to 7,324,218 years ago (Duration: approximately 7,324,218 years)
Manlike creatures.
The Jewish philosopher Maimonides
said in his exegesis of Genesis that there were manlike creatures before Adam.64
Similarly, the Talmud
and other ancient Jewish commentaries mention pre-Adamic animals with human
forms but without the neshamah or
God-given spirit.65 How did they know that before fossils were
discovered?
Anthropologists
call manlike creatures thought to be ancestors of man “hominids.” They call
living apes “hominoids,” because they are only similar to humans, but not man’s
supposed ancestors.
Ramapithecus, 14-8 mya. Found in 1932 in
northern India (now part of Pakistan), parts of a fossilized jaw and some teeth,
dated about 14-8 million years old, were named Ramapithecus -- “Rama's ape,” after Rama, a mythical prince of
India, combined with pithekos, Greek for
“ape.” In 1976, a complete jaw was discovered. With a distinctly simian V shape,
it differs markedly from the parabolic shape of hominid jaws.66 More
complete fossils have been found in China and Pakistan, confirming that Ramapithecus was not a hominid, but a
true ape.67
Day-Age 6-g
- Circa 7,324,218 to 3,662,109 years ago (Duration: approximately 3,662,109 years)
Sahelanthropus
tchadensis, 7-6
mya. In 2001 the fossils of the supposedly
oldest hominid species, estimated at 7-6 million years old, were found in the north central African
nation of Chad.68 Dubbed Sahelanthropus
(“Sahel man,” after the semi-arid region and the Greek word anthropos, meaning “human”), it has an
apelike skull. The fossil pieces are so few, it is uncertain if Sahelanthropus walked bipedally.69
Orrorin
tugenensis, 6
mya. Found in the Tugen Hills of central Kenya in 2000, the fossils received
the name Orrorin tugenensis, which means
“original man in the Tugen region.” Thought to be 6 million years old,70
the fossilized skeleton has simian features, including long, curved finger
bones for grasping and movement in trees, and apelike canine and premolar
teeth.71
Ardipithecus,
4.4 mya.
Unearthed in Ethiopia in 1994, this fossil find dated to be 4.4-million years old
has been named Ardipithecus, from
words in the Afar and Greek languages meaning “ground ape.”72
“Ardi,” however, has apelike teeth and skeleton, suggesting its ability to walk
upright might not have been well developed.73
Australopithecus,
4-1 mya. In 1924,
a fossilized skull was dug up in Taung, South Africa. It was named Australopithecus, which means “southern
ape.” Thought to be man’s ancestor, six species have since been identified. An
almost complete 3,200,000-year-old skeleton of a female unearthed in 1974 by
Donald Johanson at Hadar, Ethiopia, was nicknamed “Lucy,” after the Beatles
song “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,” which played on the night of the find.74
Australopithecines, some 3½ to 5 feet tall, had a brain (390-550
cu cm) about one-third of that of a modern human; a low cranium behind a
projecting face; small canine teeth like
those of humans, but large cheek teeth (molars) like apes. Although Lucy had
arms proportionally longer than those of modern people, she is said to have
walked upright,75 based on a knee joint. (Johanson later said the
knee fragment was discovered a mile and a half away in a rock layer 200 feet
deeper, but was included due to “anatomical similarity.”)76
Bruce
Bower, in the Science News of 2 June 2001,
reported that, in one study, Australopithecine inner ear bones used to maintain
balance were found to be greatly similar to those of chimpanzees and gorillas,
but markedly different from those of humans.77 Mark Cartmill et al.
wrote in the July-August 1986 issue of American
Scientist: “At present we have no grounds for thinking that there was
anything distinctively human about australopithecine ecology and behavior... they
were surprisingly apelike in skull form, premolar dentition, limb proportions,
and morphology of some joint surfaces, and they may still have been spending a
significant amount of time in the trees.”78
Anatomist
Sir Solly Zuckerman and Dr. Charles Oxnard, in contrast to anthropologists using subjective and less
analytical visual techniques, developed a multivariate analysis technique with computers performing millions of analyses on homologous
Australopithecine, simian, and human bones. Their finding: Australopithecus is not a
missing link between ape and man.79 Sir Solly observed: “When
compared with human and simian skulls, the Australopithecine skull is in
appearance overwhelmingly simian – not human… Our findings leave little doubt
that… Australopithecus resembles not Homo sapiens but the living monkeys and
apes.”80
Paleontologist
Richard Leakey said in his book Origins
(1977) that it is “unlikely that our direct ancestors are evolutionary
descendants of the australopithecines.”81 James Shreeve remarked in
the Science magazine issue of May 3,
1996: “The proportions calculated for (Australopithecus)
africanus turned out to be amazingly
close to those of a chimpanzee, with big arms and small legs... One might say
we are kicking Lucy out of the family tree…”82 As their family
name pithecus (“ape”) denotes, these
prehistoric pithecoid creatures were just apes.
Day-Age 6-h
- Circa 3,662,109 to 1,831,054 years ago (Duration: approximately 1,831,054 years.)
Kenyanthropus
platyops, 3.5 mya. A fossilized cranium and
other bones, estimated to be 3.5 million years old, were found in 1999 in northern
Kenya. The creature had a mixture of features not seen in earlier hominid
fossils: a much flatter face and smaller molars; the cheekbone joined the rest
of the face in a forward position; and the region beneath the nose opening was
flat. Researchers placed it under a new genus and species: Kenyanthropus platyops. In Greek anthropos means “humen being,” while platyops means “flat” – combined to mean “flat-faced human from
Kenya.”83
Homo
habilis, 2.8-1.5 mya. So named for the
primitive stone tools found with its fossilized skull in 1960, Homo habilis means “handy man” -- from
Latin words meaning “human” (homo)
and “able or skillful” (habilis). The
first to be classified under the genus Homo,
the species had a bigger braincase of about 600 cu cm.84 It was also
taller.
The
fossil had been found beneath volcanic ash dated at about 2.6 million years,
pushing back the presumed origin of man by millions of years. Its discoverer,
Richard Leakey, says: “Either we toss out this skull or we toss out our
theories of early man.” He adds that “it leaves in ruins the modern notion that
all early fossils can be arranged in an orderly sequence of evolutionary change.”85
The
first confirmed limb bones of Homo
habilis were discovered in 1986. They showed the creature clearly had
apelike proportions and should never have been classified as human. Hugh Ross
comments on the web: “Starting about 2-4 million years ago, God began creating
man-like mammals or ‘hominids.’ These creatures stood on two feet, had large
brains, and used tools. Some even buried their dead and painted on cave walls…
God replaced them with Adam and Eve.”86
Homo rudolfensis, 1.9 mya. In
1972, more than 150 fragments of bone fossils were discovered in eastern Kenya.
As the size of the skull and several anatomical features differed from those of
earlier finds, scientists classified it under a new species named Homo rudolfensis, after Lake Rudolf (now
Lake Turkana). Its best-known fossils from the lake area date from about 1.9
million years ago.87
Richard
Leakey notes: “This Australopithecine material suggests a form of locomotion
that was not entirely upright nor bipedal. The Rudolf Australopithecines, in
fact, may have been close to the ‘knuckle-walker’ condition, not unlike the
extant African apes.”88
Day-Age 6-i
- Circa 1,831,054 to 915,527 years ago (Duration: approximately 915,527 years)
Homo
erectus, 1.5 mya. A skullcap and tooth
found in 1891 by Eugene Dubois in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) was
first named Pithecanthropus erectus (“erect
ape-man”). Popularly known as “Java man,” it is dated about 1,500,000 years old.
It had a larger brain (about 850 cc) and a rounder cranium than earlier
species.89
In China, at a site known as Chou
K’ou Tien (Dragon-Bone Hill), 25 miles from Peking, from 1921 to 1934 a total
of 14 skull fragments, 11 jawbones, 7 thigh pieces, 2 arm bones, a wrist bone,
and 147 teeth similar to Java Man were found. Called Sinanthropus pekinensis – “Peking Man” – its composite skull was
named “Nellie.”90
Forty
years after finding “Java man,” Dubois conceded it was a big ape.
“Pithecanthropus was not a man, but a gigantic genus allied to the Gibbons,
superior to its near relatives on account of its exceedingly large brain
volume, and distinguished at the same time by its erect attitude.”91
He admitted withholding parts of four simian thigh bones found in the same
area.
The
World Book states: “Modern humans
could not have evolved from these late populations of H. erectus, a much more primitive type of human.”92
Day-Age
6-j:
- Circa 915,527 to 457,763 years ago (Duration: approximately 457,763 years)
Homo
heidelbergensis,
600-300 kya. In 1907 a fossilized manlike jaw was discovered 16 kilometers southeast
of Heidelberg, Germany. It had no chin, but was unusually thick and broad, as
well as long, suggesting the individual had a projecting lower face. The teeth also
were too small for the massive mandible.
Other
specimens from Africa (Ethiopia, Zambia, Tanzania), Europe (Greece, France),
and possibly Asia (China) have been dated at from approximately 600 to 300 thousand years ago (kya).93 Their craniums have heavy brow ridges,
long and low braincases, and thick vault bones like H. erectus, but larger.
____________________
57Mass Extinctions, Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia Deluxe 2004
(Excerpted from Chapter 4, Primordial Planet Puzzles, THE DEEP THINGS OF GOD: A Primer on the Secrets of Heaven and Earth by M.M. Tauson, Amazon.com)
Primordial Planet Puzzles (Part 4)
Day 5: Water creatures, fowl
“And God said, Let the waters
bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may
fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. And God created great
whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth
abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw
that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and
fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. And the
evening and the morning were the fifth day” (Gen
Interpretations of Day 5:
- Literal
24-Hour Days: 1 day before man was created circa 6,000
years ago
- Thousand-Year
Days: circa 8,000-7,000 years ago
- Diminishing Day-Ages: circa 937,500,000-468,750,000 years ago
(Duration: approximately 468,750,000 years)
According
to Young Earth Creationists, aquatic creatures and birds first appeared no
later than 6,000 years ago, but no earlier than 8,000-7,000 years ago, either.
In
the Diminishing Day-Ages timeline, God created the first marine animals during Day-Age 5, sometime between 937.5 million and 468.75
million years ago. This corresponds precisely to the oldest known animal fossils,
about 700 million years old, that the Encyclopedia
Britannica identifies as Ediacara
fauna, small wormlike creatures with soft bodies.45
Oxygen-breathing animals.
Until
about 700 million years ago, there was a negligibly low amount of oxygen available.
(The estimated threshold or minimum amount of oxygen needed for animal life to begin
and multiply on earth is 1-10% of the present atmospheric level.)46
Photosynthesizing bacteria then began oxygenating the oceans to produce the oxygen
needed by new marine animals that derived energy through respiration.
Do
you see the thoughtful planning involved? God created plants on
Day 3 to produce oxygen. After an adequate supply had been assured, He proceeded
to create oxygen-breathing animals on Day 5.
The Cambrian “explosion.”
Approximately
544 million years ago, new forms of life with various anatomical structures
appeared in rapid succession.47 Writer Leslie Orgel said in the New Scientist: “Beginning at the base of
the Cambrian period and extending for about 10 million years, all the major
groups of skeletonized invertebrates made their first appearance in the most
spectacular rise in diversity ever recorded on our planet.”48
All
the basic shapes and features of multi-cellular organisms living today first
appeared during that period: mouths, eyes, gills, intestines, shells, bones,
spines, appendages, joints. The seas teemed with a great variety of
invertebrates: sponges, worms, bryozoans (“moss animals”), hydrozoans
(jellyfish), brachiopods (clams), mollusks (snails), arthropods (trilobites),
echinoderms (starfish).49
Sir
Jonathan Sacks wonders, “Something’ happened to cause an ‘explosion’ of complex
multi-cellular body forms. Scientists have long been puzzled about why this
burst of diversity occurred… How did life evolve at such speed that even
Francis Crick, co-discoverer of DNA, was forced to suggest that it came from
Mars?”50
Gerald
Schroeder suggests the increased supply of oxygen resulted in a tenfold
improvement in the conversion of food to energy. With the new energy, organisms
were able to develop more complex structures.51 These were the
“abundant moving creatures in the waters” (Gen
The first fish.
Fish
appeared 490 million years ago. The presence of a backbone
differentiates the fish, a vertebrate, from invertebrates. But where it came
from remains a mystery.
Author
Arthur Strahler wrote: “Origin of the vertebrates is obscure -- there is no
fossil record preceding the occurrence of fishes in the late Ordovician time.”52
Writer Francis Downes Ommanney says, “How this earliest chordate stock evolved,
what stages of development it went through to eventually give rise to truly
fishlike creatures we do not know. Between the Cambrian when it probably
originated, and the Ordovician when the first fossils of animals with really
fishlike characteristics appeared, there is a gap of perhaps 100 million years
which we will probably never be able to fill.”53 The Readers Digest sums it up: “To our
knowledge, no ‘link’ connected this new beast to any previous form of life. The
fish just appeared.”54 But, of course. God created the fish.
Dragonflies and
dragons?
God
also said: “Let the waters bring forth…
fowl that may fly above the earth… And… great whales” (Gen
“Fowl.” The word is translated from the
Hebrew owph, meaning “to cover with
wings or obscurity.” “Bird” is tsippor
in Hebrew. In its commentary on Genesis 1:20, Barnes’ Notes explains: “[Bird of wing] Here the wing is made
characteristic of the class, which extends beyond what we call birds.” The
commentator points out that owph (“fowl”)
means more than just “birds.”55
The
idea is demonstrated in Leviticus 11:13-20: “And these are they which ye shall have in abomination among the fowls;
they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination: the eagle, and the ossifrage,
and the ospray, And the vulture, and the
kite after his kind; Every raven after his kind; And the owl, and the night
hawk, and the cuckow, and the hawk after his kind, And the little owl, and the
cormorant, and the great owl, And the swan, and the pelican, and the gier
eagle, And the stork, the heron after her kind, and the lapwing, and the bat. All
fowls that creep, going upon all four, shall be an abomination unto you.”
God
enumerated birds under the word “fowls,”
but also included a flying mammal – the bat! Let us grant that in that
pre-scientific time the Israelites did not know the difference between a true
bird and a bat. Yet, in the last line we read a stranger thing: “fowls that creep, going upon all four.”
Four-footed fowl? No member of the avian family creeps, much less on all fours,
because birds have only two legs. The NKJV renders the verse in a more
contemporary language: “All flying
insects that creep on all fours…” (Lev 11:20, NKJV; also NIV and NASU).
It
becomes clear that the word “fowls”
lumps together true birds, a flying mammal, and flying insects -- even if they
are biologically unrelated. It shows that owph
refers to any creature that flies! Science asserts: “There is no fossil
evidence of primitive wings prior to the appearance of fully developed winged
insects...”56
Thus,
the “fowl” from the waters in Genesis 1:20-22 may have actually been winged
insects, prehistoric predecessors of modern dragonflies, mosquitoes, and
similar insects which lay their eggs and spend the larval stages of their lives
in the water!
Great whales. The “great whales” God created, rendered “great sea creatures” in NKJV and NIV, and “great sea monsters” in NASU and ASV, is hataninim hagadolim in the original Hebrew text.
In
other Bible verses, the translation is “dragons”: “Praise the LORD from the earth, ye dragons (taninim)…” (Ps 148:7a);
“Thou shalt tread upon the lion and
adder: the young lion and the dragon (tanin)…” (Ps 91:13; Ps 74:13, Deut
32:33, Jer 9:11). Elsewhere, the translation is “serpents”: “And Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharaoh,
and they did so as the LORD had commanded: and Aaron cast down his rod before
Pharaoh, and before his servants, and it became a serpent (tanin)… For they
cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents (taninim)…” (Ex 7:10,12a).
“Dragons” and “serpents” are both reptiles. Hence, the Hebrew taninim hagadolim (“great whales”) must have actually been huge sea reptiles -- marine dinosaurs – the sea serpents of ancient legends!
____________________
(Excerpted from Chapter 4, Primordial Planet Puzzles, THE DEEP THINGS OF GOD: A Primer on the Secrets of Heaven and Earth by M.M. Tauson, Amazon.com)
Primordial Planet Puzzles ( Part 3)
Day
3: Seas, dry land, vegetation
“And God said, Let the waters under the heaven
be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was
so. And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters
called he Seas: and God saw that it was good” (Gen
1:9-13).
Interpretations
of Day 3:
- Literal 24-Hour Days: 3
days before man was created circa 6,000 years ago
- Thousand-Year Days:
circa 10,000-9,000 years ago
- Diminishing Day-Ages: circa 3,750,000,000-1,875,000,000 years
ago (Duration: approximately 1,875,000,000 years)
Young
Earth Creationists say God separated the seas and the dry land either around
6,000 years ago or 10,000-9,000 years ago.
In the Diminishing Day-Ages chronology,
God gathered the seas for the dry land to appear between 3.75 billion and 1.875
billion years ago. The scientific estimate for the appearance of the oceans
falls exactly within this period. The Encyclopaedia
Britannica says that “the oceans have been present for at least three
billion years.”29
One supercontinent.
As
the waters came together, the exposed dry surface of the planet became one vast
supercontinent surrounded by an immense ocean.
Scientists
confirmed the Scriptures early in the 20th century. German
geophysicist Alfred Wegener, intrigued by the matching contours of the
coastlines of eastern
Canadian geologist John Tuzo Wilson posits that the continents
have been repeatedly breaking up and rejoining (“
The
plant kingdom
“And God said, Let the earth bring
forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after
his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. And the earth
brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree
yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it
was good. And the evening and the morning were the third day” (Gen 1:9-13).
God
created the first living things on Earth – plants – on Day 3. The World
Book says the oldest fossils are those of bacteria that lived about 3.5
billion years ago.31 Paleobiologists say these organisms
(microscopic plants) appeared as soon as there was water on Earth. The timing
is again a perfect match, because Day 3 in the Diminishing Day-Ages was from
3.75 billion to 1.875 billion years ago.
Cells to grass to trees.
The
bacteria were one-celled prokaryotes (no nuclei). Cyanobacteria (blue-green
algae) with chlorophyll were capable of photosynthesis. They were followed by
unicellular organisms with nuclei (eukaryotes); then multi-celled vegetation
like moss, grass, herbs, trees.
The
Jewish sage Nachmanides said the creation of grasses, plants, and trees
actually transpired over a protracted period.32 The Genesis writer
simply had the tendency to summarize a string of events in one or two
sentences, rather than make a long-winded, detailed narration. After all, even
if he did lengthily describe a bacterium that could not be seen by the unaided
eye, would he have been understood and, more importantly, believed by his
fellow desert nomads 3,500 years ago?
Prefab components?
God said, “Let the earth bring forth…” The wording implies that the elements
that would constitute the grass, herbs, and trees had been laid down in the
earth earlier. The various “prefabricated” components were just waiting to
combine into specific forms at God’s command.
Note that each type of plant life
reproduced “after his kind,” showing
that the Creator had set the fixed laws of genetics in operation.
Plants without a sun?
At
this point, there was still no mention of the sun. How did the first plants
manage to survive without sunlight for photosynthesis? We get the answer from
prophecy. In Acts
We
are told that in the future
Day 4: Sun, moon, and
stars
“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” (Gen
Interpretations
of Day 4:
- Literal 24-hour Days:
2 days before man was created 6,000 circa years ago
- Thousand-Year Days:
circa 9,000-8,000 years ago
- Diminishing Day-Ages: circa 1,875,000,000-937,500,000 years
ago (Duration: approximately 937,500,000 years)
Young
Earth Creationists hold that the sun, moon, stars, and other heavenly bodies
were created either just 6,000 years ago or 9,000-8,000 years ago at the most.
In
the Diminishing Day-Ages, the celestial lights first shone on Earth sometime
between 1.875 billion and 937.5 million years ago (mya).
“Made”
or “had made”?
The
Creator used the words “let there be” and
“let them be,” which could mean that
the heavenly bodies were already in existence before Day 4. In the phrase “And God made…” the word translated “made” is from the Hebrew asah, (“to do or make”), which can be translated
into several words in English, but “to create” is not one of them.
The
verb form in English is in the simple past tense (“made”). However, the
pluperfect or past perfect tense “had
made,” indicating a prior act, could
have also been used to translate asah
(ex.: Gen 1:31, 2:2, 3:1, etc.). Hence, the verse could also be rendered as: “And God had made two great lights…” Gen
1:16a), implying God had earlier created the sun, moon, and stars before they
became visible on earth.
Gas
clouds thinned?
Possibly,
after the Earth had formed, the lighter gases which did not become part of the
solid sphere continued to surround the planet – the way some planets, like
Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, are still
shrouded with gas clouds today. Venus is covered by a gaseous canopy so thick
that astronomers cannot see its surface. Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, is also
veiled by a thick blur of gases.
The
Earth’s cloudy atmosphere could have thinned and become clear sometime between
1,875,000,000 and 937,000,000 years ago. From a viewpoint on the surface of the
planet, that would have been the first time the sun, moon, and stars shone from
the sky.
Moreover, according to ScienceDaily, “The
primitive sun did not use to shine as brightly as it does at present. Four billion
years ago the solar output was only about 60% of what it is today.”33
The weak rays of the young sun would not have been able to
penetrate Earth’s dense gaseous atmosphere, which might have been merely
translucent.
Signs
in the stars.
The
Bible says God arranged the celestial bodies in certain ways for particular
reasons: “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…” (Gen 1:14, cf. Dan 6:27).
The
sun, moon, stars, and other celestial objects bear messages from God! “The heavens declare the glory of God; and
the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night
unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their
voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their
words to the end of the world…” (Ps 19:1-4a). To communicate His messages,
God uses a heavenly language that can be understood by all peoples.
The Mazzaroth.
Men in
The
constellations seem to have been named at the time of the Tower of Babel37
circa 2000 B.C., and arranged in groups around 700 B.C.38 The
earliest known zodiac with all 12 signs dates from the 400s B.C.39
At least one fragment of the Dead Sea Scrolls, from the 200s B.C., lists the
signs of the Zodiac.40 Adopting the Babylonian symbols that mostly represent
animals, the Greeks called them ta zōdia,
“the little animals,” or zōdiakos kyklos (“circle of animals”).41
The Egyptians and the Chinese also used the 12 divisions, but gave other names
and symbols to them.42
The Magi. Some Biblical personages appear to have
been astrologers: “And the king communed
with them; and among them all was found none like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael,
and Azariah: therefore stood they before the king. And in all matters of wisdom
and understanding, that the king inquired of them, he found them ten times
better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm” (Dan
1:19-20).
Daniel
was made the king’s top astrologer: “There
is a man in your kingdom who has the spirit of the holy gods in him. In the
time of your father he was found to have insight and intelligence and wisdom
like that of the gods. King Nebuchadnezzar your father -- your father the king,
I say -- appointed him chief of the magicians, enchanters, astrologers and
diviners” (Dan
Daniel
probably passed on his knowledge to his assistants, especially fellow-Jews in
Starry
story.
First
century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus wrote of an ancient belief that
Adam’s son Seth and great-great grandson Enoch saw a drama inscribed in the
starlit night sky. The starry story is said to be the salvation of man by a
coming Messiah. How do we read the story? Where does it start? The
constellations in the celestial circle have no apparent beginning or end.
Ancient astrologers started the year from Aries, where the sun was at the
spring equinox. Should we do likewise?
Egyptologist
Frances Rolleston found the key in the 4,000-year-old zodiac of Dendereh on the
ceiling of the portico of the
Gospel in the stars. Interpretations of the 12
constellations slightly vary, but the overall picture they paint is the same:
the Gospel is in the stars! Below is a synthesis of the basic meaning of each
sign:
1. Virgo, the Virgin: a sinless woman (the
pure faith, church, or religion) carrying an infant and holding a branch (the
Messiah);
2. Libra, the Weighing Scales: purchase
and judgment -- the son of the woman will pay the price (for sin) and act as
the coming judge;
3. Scorpio, the Scorpion (formerly the
snake Serpens battling the eagle
4. Sagittarius, the Archer or mighty
hunter: the Antichrist defying God and attempting to kill His Only Son, the
Savior of mankind;
5. Capricorn, the Goat-Fish or wounded
scapegoat: the sacrificial offering was pierced (His blood as atonement for the
sins of the world);
6. Aquarius, the Water-Bearer: God pouring
His Holy Spirit (water) upon the earth, baptizing the body of believers during
the Church Age;
7. Pisces, the Fishes (a small one and a
big one): the Judeo-Christian faith, made up of two groups of people who will
be saved;
8. Aries, the Ram: the sacrificed Lamb of
God, the Messiah, who has grown greater
and more powerful through His death on the cross;
9. Taurus, the Bull: the power and
longsuffering of God, patiently waiting for men to repent of their sins before
rendering judgment;
10. Gemini, the Twins: two children of the
same woman (faith), also symbolic of the Bridegroom (the Messiah) and His bride
(the Church);
11. Cancer, the Crab (formerly a
sheepfold): the ingathering of the flock at the “Rapture” or first resurrection
at Christ’s Second Coming;
12. Leo, the Lion: the return of Christ as
Lion of Judah, pouncing on the serpent Hydra (Satan) stretching over a third of
the stars (angels).
Do
you see the complete story?
Horoscopes? Horrors!
The Mazzaroth
reveals God’s plan for His chosen people. But Gentile stargazers began making predictions
for their countrymen – such as national prosperity or disaster. (“Dis-aster”
comes from the Latin words dis [“reverse”)
and aster [“star”], a reversal or
disarrangement of the stars.) The Greeks and Romans started casting personal horoscopes
sometime between 600 and 200 B.C.44 Fortune-telling, however,
including horoscopes, is detestable to God: “There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his
daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of
times, or an enchanter, or a witch, Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar
spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an
abomination unto the LORD” (Deut
Jeremiah
told the Jews: “Thus says the LORD:
"Do not learn the way of the Gentiles; Do not be dismayed at the signs of
heaven, For the Gentiles are dismayed at them. For the customs of the peoples
are futile…” (Jer 10:2-3a, NKJV).
____________________
34Astronomy, International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia
(Excerpted from
Chapter 4, Primordial Planet Puzzles, THE DEEP THINGS OF GOD: A Primer
on the Secrets of Heaven and Earth by M.M. Tauson, Amazon.com)