Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
2 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.
Here, in its most basic and simple form is the history of the beginnings of our world. The study for today will seek to make plain some misconceptions or gray areas that may still be cloudy to some minds. Much of the information given by God should be securely stored in our memory, in the context of earth’s final conflict that is scheduled to engulf the entire planet.
Earth’s final crisis will be centered around the law of God, specifically, the seventh day Sabbath of the 4th commandment, which brings into focus the fact that there is a Creator who made the heavens and earth, and as such, the theory of evolution, will be one of the many false prophets that will be demolished on spiritual Mt. Carmel during the final conflict.
Seeing that we are standing on the brink of eternity, it’s in order that we start to think along eternal lines because you will discover that our current modes of reckoning time is generally about 12 hours late. The evening and the morning were the first day, so that darkness always precedes the dawning of a brand- new day time period.
Several pertinent points will be made so as to have the truths clear and straight in our minds. And, as we connect the dots of truth, let us not be hearers only, but doers of the word. The first point has to do with the issue of no preexistent matter.
[1] The earth was called into existence from nothing on the first day of creation week. Afterwards, it was developed and built up by the spoken word of God, but before the first day of creation week, there was no semblance of earth, not even in its chaotic form.
In other words, God did not bring order out of chaos from a previously existing earth. Instead, He started from scratch with nothing. That theory which says that the earth in its embryonic form, existed before the first day of creation is a theory that is tainted by evolutionary principles, and the Bible shuts down that hypothesis from the get go. Let’s read:
Hebrews 11:3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things that do appear.
Psalms 33:6 By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.
8 Let all the earth fear the Lord: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.
9 For he spoke, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.
Exodus 20: 11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
A word of caution to those who stumble at the word of God through His ordained prophet. We lose much and we wander in darkness, if we despise the truths that are given to us by God through His servant. This is why God made the following statement pertaining to believing His prophets. Let’s read:
2nd Chronicles 20:20 And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.
Thus, in harmony with the strategic use of the Bible first, and the spirit of prophecy secondarily, when in the public square, we will read in plain English, that which was already read in the Scriptural verses, so that the confirmation will be coming from the two reliable sources. Let’s read:
[The Ministry of Healing pp 414] In the creation of the earth, God was not indebted to pre-existing matter. “He spoke, and it was; ... He commanded, and it stood fast.” Psalm 33:9.
All things, material or spiritual, stood up before the Lord Jehovah at His voice and were created for His own purpose. The heavens and all the host of them, the earth and all things therein, came into existence by the breath of His mouth.
[2] The cycle of days and nights were not and aren’t absolutely, or necessarily tied to the sun and moon, for they were nowhere to be seen until the 4th day of creation week, when The Lord called them into existence, to continue from where He first started.
Genesis 1:3 And God said, let there be light: and there was light.
4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.
11 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.
12 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.
13 And the evening and the morning were the third day.
Genesis 1:14 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.
15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.
16 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.
17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,
18 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.
19 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.
The sun, the moon, and the stars were made, first and foremost for signs and seasons, and after that for days and years. Thus, the Bible establishes this truth, that it is not absolutely necessary for the sun and moon to mark off days and years.
This is a critically important point for the remnant to bear in mind, especially in our day, because science as we know it states that day and night cycles have always been governed by fixed laws, and thus there is made no allowance for God to alter, or upend this cycle.
This is false science, and we must be careful, lest we inadvertently get tainted with evolutionary theories and suppositions. Most ancient pagan nations, and most of contemporary Christianity worship the sun, but according to the scriptural record, the earth was up and running before the sun and the moon were created.
Fruits were ripening, and photosynthesis was taking place, with the sun nowhere to be seen. Therefore, the same God who created all of these systems, and had them up and running before the sun and moon, were called into existence, could turn them on their heads to suit His own good purposes, whenever and wherever He sees fit.
A striking example of what we are speaking of took place when Joshua needed additional daylight hours to finish off those enemies of Israel. At that time, he prayed to God for extra daylight savings time, and The God of heaven heard and answered his prayer. Let’s read:
Joshua 10:12 Then spoke Joshua to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon.
13 And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? So, the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day.
In fact, if you were to think about it, Adam and Eve didn’t need sleep before the fall. The only time you will read about sleep before the fall is when God put Adam to sleep, to perform the world’s first surgery, but after that sleep was not necessary until man fell, and as such, the pitch-black darkness of night, as we know it, did not then exist until sin entered.
God did not originally make man to sleep, and thus, when the earth is restored to Edenic beauty, there will be no sleeping saints anywhere to be found. Sin is what caused sleep to be necessary, but it was not like this in the very beginning. In fact, very many things we now consider normal are actually quite abnormal. Let’s read:
Revelation 21: 24 And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honor into it.
25 And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.
[The Great Controversy pp 676] In the city of God “there shall be no night.” None will need or desire repose. There will be no weariness in doing the will of God and offering praise to his name.
We shall ever feel the freshness of the morning, and shall ever be far from its close. The light of the sun will be superseded by radiance which isn’t painfully dazzling, yet, which immeasurably surpasses the brightness of our noontide. The glory of God and the Lamb flood the holy city with unfading light. The redeemed walk in the sunless glory of perpetual day.
So, since there will be no more night there, it means that the reckoning of days is not necessarily tied to the cycles of light and darkness. Of course, the sun, and the moon would be present, but they will revert back to the original primary status, of signs, seasons then days and years. Let’s read:
Revelation 22:5 And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.
Isaiah 66: 22 For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain.
23 And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord.
[E.W. pp, 51] All, who keep the commandments of God, will enter in through the gates into the city and have right to the tree of life, and ever be in the presence of the lovely Jesus, whose countenance shines brighter than the sun at noonday.
[The Great Controversy pp 664] Far above the city, upon a foundation of burnished gold, is a throne, high and lifted up. The power and majesty of Christ no language can describe, no pen portray.
The glory of the Eternal Father is enshrouding his Son. The brightness of his presence fills the city of God, and flows out beyond the gates, flooding the whole earth with its radiance.
[3] All of the animal kingdom and all the birds of the air were created before man. They were here before us, and very often when disasters are about to strike the animals run for cover, just like they did when the flood was about to ensue. Let’s read:
Genesis 1: 28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.
Genesis 6: 19 And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female.
20 Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive.
[Patriarchs & Prophets pp 97]
Suddenly a silence fell upon the mocking throng. Beasts of every description the fiercest as well as the most-gentle, were seen coming from mountain and forest and quietly making their way toward the ark.
A noise as of a rushing wind was heard, and lo, birds were flocking from all directions, their numbers darkening the heavens, and in perfect order they passed to the ark. Animals obeyed the command of God, while men were disobedient.
The USGS (United States Geological Survey)
The earliest reference we have to unusual animal behavior prior to a significant earthquake is from Greece in 373 BC. Rats, weasels, snakes, and centipedes reportedly left their homes and headed for safety several days before a destructive earthquake.
Anecdotal evidence abounds of animals, fish, birds, reptiles, and insects exhibiting strange behavior anywhere from weeks to seconds before an earthquake.
BBC, British Broadcasting Corporation, 14 February 2022. For millennia, people across the globe have reported alarmed animal behavior in the run-up to natural disasters. Could these signals be used to warn us of impending catastrophes?
In 2004, a tsunami triggered by a 9.1 magnitude undersea quake off of Indonesia decimated coastal communities around the Indian Ocean, killing at least 225,000 people across a dozen countries. The huge death toll was in part caused by the fact that many communities received no warning.
According to eyewitness accounts, elephants ran for higher ground, flamingos abandoned low-lying nesting areas, and dogs refused to go outdoors. In the coastal village of Bang Koey in Thailand, locals reported a herd of buffalo by the beach suddenly pricking up their ears, gazing out to sea, and then stampeding to the top of a nearby hill a few minutes before the tsunami struck.
"Survivors also reported seeing animals, such as cows, goats, cats and birds, deliberately moving inland shortly after the earthquake and before the tsunami came," says Irina Rafliana, previously part of an advisory group for the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Risk.
We have observed that on every day of creation The Lord begins with the evening and the morning, thus, the sabbath keeping Christian must also reckon days as beginning with the evening period. In our day the days are actually being reckoned back to front, with the daylight periods coming first and because of this we are consistently running behind by about twelve hours late.
For instance, in the following passage, where you read of the sixth day, that would actually be Friday night, which will be the equivalent of our Thursday night coupled together with the approximate twelve hours of daylight on Friday, because the evening and the morning always run consecutively.
In other words, our Friday starts with our current Thursday evening at dusk, heading into nighttime hours, followed by 12 hours of daylight on Friday. Let’s read:
Genesis 1:31 And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
Merriam Webster Dictionary: Evening: The latter part and close of the day and early part of the night. The period from sunset, or the evening meal to bedtime.
For example, in the two following passages we read two phrases in reference to Christ’s looming death on Calvary: [1] When the even was come. [1] When the morning was come.
That “evening” was actually the dusk period of the Thursday heading into the night time hours of Friday and that “morning” was Friday, during the daylight hours. This is the equivalent of our current Thursday night, and the day time on Friday. Let’s read:
Matthew 26:20 Now when the even was come, (Thursday evening heading into Friday night, what we currently refer to as being Thursday night), he sat down with the twelve.
21 And as they did eat, he said, Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me.
Matthew 27:1 When the morning was come, (Friday morning) all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death.
[The Desire of Ages pp 642] In the upper chamber of a dwelling at Jerusalem, Christ was sitting at table with His disciples. They had gathered to celebrate the Passover. The Savior desired to keep this feast alone with the twelve.
He knew that His hour was come; He Himself was the true paschal lamb, and on the day the Passover was eaten He was to be sacrificed.
Therefore, Jesus ate the Passover with His disciples at dusk on the Thursday, heading into the nighttime portion of Friday, which we call Thursday night, and then, during the daytime hours of that Friday, Jesus was crucified, because the evening and the morning follow each other consecutively. Let’s read:
Genesis 2:1 Thus, the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
3 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.
This has huge implications, because when we speak of preparation day, we are referring to preparing for the Sabbath from what we call Thursday night, which is actually Friday night.
Very often, as Sabbath keepers, we find ourselves running late for the Sabbath, and in some homes, persons are found rushing in from work, treading on the edges of the Sabbath. This may be as a result of the way we reckon the days, for if we were to follow God’s order in Genesis, preparation day will actually start on what we currently call Thursday night.
If persons begin to prepare for the Sabbath on what we call Friday evening, we would be twelve hours late in our reckoning because according to the Bible, preparation day actually starts on what we currently refer to as Thursday night.
In the book of Isaiah, we are told of the repairers of the breach, meaning that the Sabbath, pointing us to The Creator God, should be understood and kept, not only in spirit but in the letter with the letter part being from evening to evening. The repairers cannot be breakers at the same time, for that will be what we call a conflict of interest.
Especially in our day, where evolution has taken a swipe at God’s creative work, and Sunday looms large on the horizon, the repairers of the breach must step up to the plate by precept and example to a world gone wild. And this will include issues that may need to be addressed in our perspectives and practice. Let’s read:
Isaiah 58:13 If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable; and shalt honor him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words.
14 Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.
[Patriarchs & Prophets pp 307] Those who discuss business matters or lay plans on the Sabbath are regarded by God as though engaged in the actual transaction of business. To keep the Sabbath holy, we should not even allow our minds to dwell upon things of a worldly character.
And the commandment includes all within our gates. The inmates of the house are to lay aside their worldly business during the sacred hours.
There is need of urgent reform here, because some of us might be keeping the Sabbath like how some Sunday keepers keep Sunday. The Sabbath is sacred time, it is set aside by God for worship, fellowship, missionary work, and contemplation of God and His created works.
In our reckoning of days, let us not be inadvertently infiltrated in our minds by secular modes of thought because the evening and the morning, marks off the days in consecutive order. We therefore end with a gentle reminder, so that we would never be twelve hours late again.
Leviticus 23:31 You shall do no manner of work: it will be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
32 It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, and you shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even, shall you celebrate your sabbath.
God Bless!