1. What did God do in the beginning? "In the beginning God created the heaven and earth." (Genesis 1:1)
2. By what means was this accomplished? "By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth. ... For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast." (Psalm 33:6,9)
3. Are we to understand from these words that the matter of the earth was not in existence before he spoke? "Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear." (Hebrews 11:3)
4. Who was the active agent in creation? "God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spoke in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Has in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds." (Hebrews 1:1-2)
5. Is there anything that the Son did not make? "For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him, and for Him: And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist. (Colossians 1:16-17)
6. Since it was by the Son that the Father created all things, what is His rightful title? "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ... All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made." (John 1:1,3)
7. How has the Father addressed the Son? "But unto the Son He said, Your throne, O God, is for ever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom. ... And, You, Lord, in the beginning have laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of your hands." (Hebrews 1:8,10)
8. Then how should He be regarded by all creatures? "And again, when He brought in the first-begotten into the world, He said, And let all the angels of God worship Him." (Hebrews 1:6)
9. In what condition was the earth when it was first spoken into existence? "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." (Genesis 1:2)
10. After the creation of the substances of the earth, what was the first thing done? "And God said, Let there be light; and there was light." (Genesis 1:3)
11. What next? "And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness." (Genesis 1:4)
12. What did God call the light and the darkness? "And God called a light day, and the darkness He called night." (Genesis 1:5)
13. What do a period of darkness and a period of light together constitute? "And the evening and the morning were the first day." (Genesis 1:5)
14. Which always comes first in the formation of a day? The darkness.
Can you explain why? See Notes.
15. What was done on the second day? "And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day." (Genesis 1:6-8)
16. How is this day's work referred to by Job? "He binds up the waters in His thick cloud; and the cloud is not rent under them." (Job 26:8)
17. What was done on the third day? "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 He called seas; and God saw that it was good. 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." (Genesis 1:9-13)
18. What was made upon the fourth day? "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." (Genesis 1:14)
19. What were these lights to govern? "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." (Genesis 1:16)
20. Then what kind of days were these days of creation? 21. Does the sun make the day, or simply rule the day?
22. Tell what makes the day, and how there could be days before the sun was.--Signs of the Times, December 29, 1887--Lesson 1 - Sabbath, January 7--Genesis 1:1-18.
Notes:
The reverent reader of the Bible, who accepts the historical portion of the Old Testament, as a narrative of what actually took place, and not as a fiction, can arrive at no other conclusion than that the days of creation were literal days of twenty-four hours each. They were days composed of an evening and a morning,--a period of darkness and a period of light; and they were such days as are governed by the sun and moon.
Now in order that there should be any show of reason in the claim that the days of creation were long, indefinite periods of time, those who make such a claim ought to be able to point to some time when the sun ruled such days as that. That, of course, would be an impossibility, and so is it an absurdity to claim that the days of creation were anything other than literal, twenty-four hour days. Nobody can get any other idea from the text. But the question is presented,
"How could there be days before there was any sun?" Such a question implies ignorance, or at least forgetfulness, of what forms the day. The day is made by the revolution of the earth on its axis. Each complete revolution makes one day. As a matter of fact, the sun has nothing whatever to do in forming the day. If it should suddenly become a body of darkness, instead of a body of light, it would be days just the same, and they would be just the same length that they now are.
So there were days before the sun was appointed to rule the day. This appointment was not made until after the earth had completed three revolutions, or until three days of time had passed. The very statement that God set the two great lights in the firmament,
"... to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness" (Genesis 1:18), shows that there were days independent of the sun. These great lights were to rule in the day and then the night, which had been arranged before they were given their office.
When does the day begin? At evening, according to the record in (Genesis 1); and in (Leviticus 23:32) we read that the Jews are directed to celebrate their Sabbaths "from even unto even," and this could not be unless they regarded other days as beginning at the same time.
But why is this? Is it an arbitrary requirement? or is there a fixed reason why the day begins at evening? It is not an arbitrary matter, but the natural day begins at evening because it cannot by any possibility begin at any other time. When the earth was created, "darkness was upon the face of the deep." (Genesis 1:2)
The phrase, "in the beginning," marks the beginning of time, as distinguished from God's eternity. The speaking of the matter of the earth into existence, marked the beginning of the first day of time. But darkness covered the chaotic mass, and consequently the first day of time began in darkness. Before the earth had completed its first revolution, however, light was created.
"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 [the darkness] and the morning [the light] were the first day." (Genesis 1:3-5)
The first revolution of the earth was completed just at the dividing line between light and darkness; and so, just as the first day began in the unbroken darkness, the second day began with the darkness that had been separated, and put within bounds. And as a matter of necessity, this order must always follow.
To make the day actually begin at any other time than evening, would involve a change in the earth's revolution; and in order to count the day as beginning at midnight, a portion of time had to be ignored. Thus it is evident that the present popular mode of reckoning time is not of God's arrangement.
E.J. Waggoner