The Earth and Its Creatures

The Creation of Earth and Its Original Chaos from Genesis 1

God begins his word by saying very authoritively that he created the heavens and the earth and that we shouldn't have any doubt but have faith in that. Although there are some points that seem to make sense with belief in the big bang secular theory of the origin of the universe and the earth, on closer examination of that theory it is shown to have serious weaknesses and needs to be accepted by faith as creation also does. Some of the weeknesses of the big bang theory are what sparked the original explosion or big bang, what could make energy and matter out of nothing and why isn't there an equal amount of anti-matter and what is the center of the universe if it expanded originally from one point. Although the creation account in Genesis starting in Genesis 1:1 might seem to be consistant with the long ages of the big bang theory and the evolution of the universe on closer examination the bible and the evolutionary theory of the origin and development of the universe are inconsistent. There is much scientific evidence that argues in favour of a young earth including the strength and orientation of the earth's magnetic field, the amount of silt or soil in the earth's oceans and other points and the unlikelihood that the earth and moon just evolved together or by chance the moon was torn off the earth by a near collision of another planet and the earth. In verse two which is sometimes used in the so-called gap theory I also used to believe to reconcile the bible account of creation with the so-called long age of the earth of about 5 billion years the expression the earth was without form and void and darkness was upon the face of the deep is used as a transition time before verse three and the creation of light. While there may have been some time between verses 1 and 3 it is unlikely that there was considerable time between these two times that would allow for all the time of the earth supposedly being lifeless for a long time and then for about 500,000,000 years having many ages of life that is now extinct such as the dinosaurs since that would have resulted in much death at least of animal and plant life and much that was not good before the creation of animal, plant and human life that was created on the first week of creation that God calls good or very good and that was without death until human beings disobeyed God and his word not to take part of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil and brought God's curse on the human race and creation or nature including death. The scripture reference from Genesis 1 of God's creation of the earth and the early chaotic or formless version of earth is as follows:

Scripture Reference from Genesis 1 of the Creation and Early Formless Character of Earth

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 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 1:1-2

Picture of the Earth from Space

Third Day of Creation from Genesis 1 With God Creating the Land, Sea and Vegetation on Earth

In this account of God's preparing the earth for life it is stated that at first waters covered all the earth as it took an act of God to gather the water in one place in order to make the land appear. This is consistant with the way the earth is now and has been through history with its vast amount of liquid water especially in the Earth's oceans. God could have made deeper parts of the earth's surfaces by earthquakes, volcanoes or other means into which more of the water would flow and enable some land to appear above the water. God calls all this good meaning it was not yet under the curse so couldn't involve death of animals or plants or any curse on these parts of nature at that time. The biblical account then says that the earth brought forth different types of plants such as grass and trees with fruit trees which could include trees with nuts with their seed in themselves. This is a very scientific statement since in the fruit or nut or seed of grass, trees and other vegetation there are all the basic genetic information needed for the specific plant to reproduce itself. This scriptural account also says that the plants reproduced after their kind. While most people who take the bible literally including biblical creation scientists would admit to microevolution in which closely related species of plants can seemingly evolve into one another or some point between them, we would say these closely related plants are all within one kind but that plants with substantial genetic differences are different kinds or parts of different kinds and cannot evolve between themselves or into each other with this latter more extensive type of evolution called macroevolution. Also mutations that evolutionists believe causes evolution almost always have a detrimental not beneficial effect and would not lead to superior life neither is it scientifically likely for plants to evolve into more advanced types randomnly because this would involve the random insertion of more information (genetically) which is not likely to happen at random even over long periods of time. God also called all His creation of vegetation good which would mean among other things that there wasn't yet death or decay of the plants or unhealthy mutations of plants that would be the case if evolution was the primary cause for the development of different plants. The scripture reference in Genesis 1 of God's creation of the land, sea and plants is as follows:

Scripture Reference from Genesis 1 of God's Creation of the Earth's Land, Sea and 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. 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

Photo of Land, Sea and Vegetation

God Creates Sea or Water Dwelling and Atmosperic or Flying Life in Genesis 1

God then created sea and air life. Again this was after its kind. Again although there might scientifically be microevolution that involves closely related species in their design and genetics which would be part of one kind this doesn't involve macroevolution or the addition or subtraction of significant genetic information or radical changes in the design of the animals even over time. There is scientific evidence for microevolution or changes within a kind for instance possibly between different types or related bats or related birds such as species of doves and pigeons, or between related hawks or related sharks but not evolution between or from different kinds or families of species. Again this is because even over time mutations or addition of information are unlikely to occur or result in benefical advantages over existing or other life forms. The terms moving creature in the waters and every living creature that moveth in the waters would include ocean or sea dwelling microbes as well as larger scale marine life. God said their bringing forth after their kind was a basic characteristic of this sea and air creation also being good which argues against (macro)evolution. Every living creature is the same Hebrews works as living soul and this includes both land and sea animals which have self consciousness and feelings that are associated with the soul. This creation was also good because there still wasn't a curse on creation or death which is not good. The scripture reference in Genesis 1 of God's creation of sea and air dwelling life is as follows:

Scripture Reference from Genesis 1 of God's Creation of Sea and Air Dwelling Life

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 in the earth. And the evening and the morning was the fifth day. Genesis 1:20-23

Birds of the Sea and Air

God's Creation of Land Animals on the Earth from Genesis 1

In verses 24 and 25 the living creatures would include the cattle, creeping things and beasts of the earth. These were all animals that God directed Noah to preserve on the ark from the worldwide flood later on. However the living creatures on the earth would probably include bacteria or microbes on earth as they are land creatures created by God and this seems to be the most logical place to put them. Cattle would include cows, buffalo and perhaps other grazing animals like sheep and goats. The beasts of the earth would include lions, bears, wolves, dogs, and similiar animals while creeping things would include land insects like centipedes and worms, snakes and salamanders and other similiar animals. The phrase living creature again could be and in other scriptures in the Old Testament is translated living soul and this suggests that animals have self consciousness and also speaks of their having feelings which plants do not have. However animals do not have spirits which is involved with perception and worship of God or spiritual beings or other creation and ability to communicate with God or spiritual beings in a Christian sense through prayer in Jesus' name and reading the Bible and sometimes when God speaks to us in dreams although dreams can also be from our heart or fallen angels as well. Again it is stated that God created each of these land animals after their kind in such a way that they would only reproduce after their kind which would exclude macroevolution or evolution across kinds or groups of related species even over long periods of time. This reproducing after their kind and the lack of death originally are primary reasons why God also saw that his original creation of land animals was good. The scripture reference in Genesis 1 of God's creation of land animals is as follows:

Scripture Reference from Genesis 1 of God's Creation of Land Animals on Earth

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. Genesis 1:24-25

A Cat a Beast of the Earth

Contrast Between God's Special Creation and Reproduction of Plants and Animals After Their Kinds or Within Genetic Boundaries and Natural Selection of Charles Darwin and Macroevolutions That Deliberately Proposed Evolution of Development of Life Crossing Genetic Boundaries in Order to Discredit Special Creation in God's Word in Genesis 1 Etc.

The book that I am currently reading in 2022, besides continuing to read God's word - the Holy Bible is The Descent of Man by Charles Darwin. It was published in 1871 and was the successor and more controversial book after his earlier book The Origin of Species published in 1859. I have read the Origin of Species and am now reading The Descent of Man not because I agree with them or Charles Darwin's and others' theory of also macroevolution and natural or random selection but because I acknowledge they both continue to have a lasting, widespread and deep effect on people's worldview not only in western society but also in other parts of the world. I have discovered that it is Darwin's book The Descent of Man where he much more than in The Origin of the Species develops the idea of macroevoluton or evolution or development of different species or kinds including of humans crossing genetic boundaries or from one species or kind to another. However, in modern mainstream science there are some ways that a species is a more narrow term than a kind but in other ways they seem to be used more interchangeably. For instance special or biblical creationists, including myself, would say same examples of biblical kinds from Genesis 1 are the canine kind, the feline kind or the horse kind. the canine kind would include such animals as dogs, wolves, foxes and coyotes, the feline kind would include cats, lynxes, jaguars, tigers and lions while the horse kind would include horses, zebras and donkeys for instance. Special creationists would say we believe based on Genesis 1 and the Bible as well as what we see in nature of in man's attempts at breeding animals that animals can and do reproduce and sometimes vary within kinds such as the canine kind, the feline kind or the horse kind but not beyond that such as a lizard or a reptile becoming some type of canine, feline or horse even to any extent and a lot of time. However there are other times in mainstream science where mainstream scientists who hold to macroevolution almost equate a species with a biblical kind such as the groundbreaking macroevolutionist Charles Darwin's books including his book The Descent of Man.

It is generally regarded as good and necessary science by both creationists and macroevolutionists to observe the data, in this case plants or animals or sometimes fossils of other remains of past life forms, kinds or species and make conclusions or reference frame statements baseed what is discovered or observed with a realistic perspective or framework applied. But if a scientist states early on that he (or she) has a preconceived model of origins and development of life, either creationist or macroevolutionist and states their intention to fit the observations of life forms to their worldview sometimes perhaps despite the evidence how is that good science. (It is true of some biblical or other special creationist including in our times that some of them use the biblical worldview of Genesis 1 etc. and then put the observations of current plants and animals and their breeding or development and of observation of past life through fossils etc. within their already established worldview of the Bible including Genesis 1 but their are other biblical and other special creationist who do scientific work and observations of present or past plants and animals and their breeding or devoplment that they then use to support a biblical or other special creation worldview.) However, I have discovered this is exactly what Charles Darwin did in a paragraph in near the end of the second chapter with title: "On the Manner of Development of Man from some Lower Form". In the paragraph in that chapter that I am referring to Mr. Darwin states his two intentions in writing The Descent of Man and according to which he may have organized or interpreted his observations from his time on the HMS Beagle Ship and observations coming on land with the statement: "I may be permitted to say, as some excuse, that that I had two distinct objects in view; firstly, to shew that species had not been separately created, and secondly, that natural selection had been the chief agent of change (or of evolution)". Darwin in the quote just mentioned stated his purpose was to try to help overthrow the then still widely held worldview of biblical special creation or creation and development of all plants or animals after their kinds or species by the Creator God as in especially Genesis 1 in God's word - the holy bible or in some other type of special creation worldview with creation and development of plants and animals within genetic boundaries or reproducing according to their kinds that does not directly invoke a Creator God to originate, develop and guide the process or in a more general or secular perspective as some people and teachers could have held to in Darwin's time and that is presented in our time under such terms as Intelligent Design.

Later in this same paragraph Darwin further states: "Some of those who admit the principle of evolution, but reject natural selection, seem to forget, when criticizing my book, that I had the above two objects in view (the ones he stated and that I quoted earlier in the paragraph of his book about trying to counter special creation and saying that evolution happened through natural selection)." I believe in this latter quote Darwin is, I think in this second quote rightly, criticizing professing Christians or others in his day or to our own day who try to find a compromise with biblical creation and macroevolution with such worldviews as theistic evolution where one believes in even macroevolution but that God created and guides macroevolution not just microevolution within kinds or within genetic boundaries but also the specific macroevolution crossing kinds or species and crossing genetic boundaries. Myself and other biblical special creationists that God made all the kinds or species or groups of species within a kind and guides the reproduction or development of plants and animals since then but that genetically they are set up to only reproduce according to their kind or within genetic boundaries of their kind such as within the feline kind, the canine kind, the horse kind, the primate kind or the separate human kind or mankind. The quote of the full paragraph in Chapter 2 On the Manner of Development of Man from Lower Forms in Charles Darwin's book The Descent of Man is as follows:

Original Text Reference In Charles Darwin's Book The Descent of Man of His Intention of Developing the Theory of (Macro-)Evolution in the Descent of Man in Attempting to Overthrow The Biblical or Other Teaching of Special Creation (Creation After Kinds), His Proposing Natural Selection as the Means of Evolution Including Across Genetic Boundaries or Biblical Kinds and His Rejection of Attempted Compromises of Evolution That Put God or Something Other Than Natural Selection as the Agent or Cause of Evolution

(Charles Darwin in the Descent of Man wrote:) "I may be permitted to say, as some excuse, that I had two distinct objects in view; firstly, to shew that species (kinds) had not been specially created, and secondly, that natural selection had been the chief agent of change, though largely aided by the inherited effects of habit, and slightly by the direct action of the surrounding conditions. I was not, however, able to annul the influence of my former belief, then almost universal, that each species had been purposely (including by God) created; and this led to my tacit assumption that every detail of structure, excepting rudiments, was of some special though unrecognized service. Any one with this assumption in his mind would naturally extend too far the action of natural selection either during past or present times. Some of those who admit the principle (or theory of macro-) evolution, but reject natural selection, seem to forget, when criticizing my book, that I had the above two objects in view, hence if I have erred in giving to natural selection great power, which I am very far from admitting, or in having exaggerated its power, which is in itself probable, I have at least, as I hope, done great service in aiding to overthrow the dogma of separate (or special) creation."

Probable Meaning of Moon Being Turned to Blood and Sun Darkened in Revelation 6 at Beginning of Tribulation as Vast Volcanic Eruptions and Smoke

One thing I have wondered about for a long time concerning this and other Bible prophecies that mention the phrase the moon being turned to blood and the sun darkened or similiar expressions is how literally to take these expressions and what exactly is meant. However in this passage in Revelation 6 the mention of an earthquake in this same passage makes it quite clear the likely reason for these spectacles is an extremely powerful earthquake accompanied by vast quantities of smoke, dust and gas from volcanoes affected by the earthquake. It is not only very realistic to think this could cause the strange phenomena of the moon being turned to blood and the sun darkened but also there is already a precedent for it in historical times in about 1882 with the explosion of the volcano Krakatoa in Indonesia that gave out so much dust and smoke high into earth's atmosphere that it had exactly these affects for months following the immense eruption. There is also now a popular book on this subject that probably documents well this geologic event in modern history. The stars of the heaven falling to earth could be the stars seeming to fall to earth because of the moving of the earth by the earthquake although it could include asteroids or meteors hitting earth at the same time as the earthquake. Sometimes in the Bible angels or demons are spoken figuratively as stars and this could be also a reference to the abode of the angels being shaken and the fallen angels being partly cast out to earth. The heaven departing as a scroll could be a reference to the starry heavens disappearing from sight due to the mighty earthquake that rocks the earth and resulting volcanic eruptions. With all the natural disasters going on at this time and probably for the forseeable future it would be no surprise that such a disaster could happen soon and would probably give more long lasting and worldwide affects than the December 2004 earthquake and tsunami starting off Banda Aceh in Sumatra in Indonesia. Although the recent string of natural disasters such as this earthquake and tsunami, other earthquakes and all the hurricanes from the Carribean have been quite significant and made many people think the Apocalypse or Book of Revelation is starting or about to start even many people that think this still think more only in terms of climate or natural disasters and don't see the hand of God in these events or string of events although some secular or non-Christian scientists have also been encouraging this view. However it it implied that these volcanic eruptions of Revelation 6 probably together with the 4 horsemen of the apolcalypse that I still personally think will be an Islamic invasion of the west and other parts of the world after the rapture will convince people this probably immense earthquake and volcanic eruption is the hand of God but unfortunately although some will give glory to God many will hide themselves from God and not at least at first being willing to turn to God and confess their sins and seek his forgiveness through his only begotton Son Jesus Christ and turn from their sins and selfishness. The great day of his wrath is not just the second coming of Jesus Christ to take over the world and set up God's Kingdom but the whole 7 year period of the tribulation or time of the 70th week of Daniel. The scripture reference in Revelation 6 of an earthquake and probably volcanoes causing the moon to be turned to blood and the sun to be darkened probably by vast quantities of dust, gas and smoke sent into the atmosphere is as follows:

Scripture Reference from Revelation 6 of the Sixth Seat of the a Great Earthquake that Causes With a Volcano Much Smoke to Turn the Moon Into Blood and the Sun to be Darkened

And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fir tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand? Revelation 6:12-17

For more information, comments, questions or advice contact Doug at dougforheavens33@gmail.com Contact Spirit and Truth Ministries