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The God Who Is
THE MEANING OF THE WORD "DAY"
"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. 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 and the morning were the first day."
The Hebrew word for "day" is "yom" or "yam;" and it is a principle of Hebrew grammar that whenever a number is used in the same context with the word "yom" or "day," the word can only mean a 24-hour day, or solar day. If God can bring things into being out of absolutely nothing, so that "things which are seen were not made of things which do appear" (Hebrews 11:3), why should it be thought incredible that God could do it in 6 literal days? "Is anything too hard for the Lord?" (Genesis 18:14).
Therefore, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament, the Septuagint, translates the word "day" as "hemera," a literal 24-hour day, and not "aeon" from which we derive the word "eon," or a long expanse of time.
In the New Testament, Hebrews chapter 4, in verse 4, we read, "For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, `And God did rest the seventh day from all his works.'" Note that this passage refers to the seventh day in creation. The Greek word used here is "hemera," and not "aeon." The word "hemera" only means a 24-hour day.
Someone may ask, "Are there not Bible scholars who do not believe this?" We answer, "Yes, and this is the reason we call them unbelievers."
THE AGE OF METHUSELAH
The Bible says that Methuselah lived 969 years. If he did not live 969 years according to the way we figure time, there is no need to mention his great age. If he lived to be only 70 years of age, his life span would be no different than that of any other man. Someone may ask, "But how could he live so long?"
In Genesis chapter 1, in verse 6, we are told, "And God said, `Let there be a firmament, (i.e. an "expanse" or "atmosphere,") 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.'" In the beginning, God created the earth with an envelope of water surrounding it. That layer of water made the earth a tropical paradise. This is the reason there are coal deposits in Antarctica near the South Pole. At one time plant life was abundant there. The envelope of water came down, however, when God judged the world in the days of Noah.
The world was once tropic because the layer of water held in the sun's warmth, but it also shielded the earth from infrared and ultraviolet rays which bombard the earth from space. It is these cosmic rays that make us grow old. Therefore, people were able to live much longer.
THE LENGTH OF THE DAYS IN CREATION
On the third day, God made the plants. On the fourth day, He made the sun, and the moon, and the stars. Reader, did you ever attempt to grow plants without sunlight? Perhaps you tried to grow them with light from a light bulb. If you did, you know that nothing can replace the sun. God created it for a purpose. How absurd it is to think that plants flourished millions of years without the sun!
Consider again that plants were created on the third day, while animals, like moths, were created on the sixth day. There is a desert plant called the "yucca" plant. It grows in our southwestern states. The only way the yucca plant is fertilized is by the female "Pronuba yuccasella" moth. If we were to place a Pronuba moth in a jar with various kinds of seeds, it will eat only one kind of seeds— yucca seeds. For this reason it is known as the "Yucca" moth. To place millions of years between the emergence of plants and the animals is to spell the death of both the yucca plant and the yucca moth.
DINOSAURS AND MAN
Several years ago, a great discovery was made in the Paluxy River bed in Glen Rose, Texas. Area inhabitants had reported seeing dinosaur footprints along side of man's footprints. Evolutionists claim dinosaurs died out millions of years before man appeared on earth. Therefore, a group of scientists along with some evolutionists went to Glen Rose, Texas.
Sure enough. When they diverted the river, they found dinosaur footprints along with the footprints of man preserved in the sedimentary rock beneath the Paluxy River. Since then, several other places in the world have reported similar findings. When this discovery was known, Dr. Louis Leakey was giving a speech in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Dr. Leakey was perhaps the leading evolutionist in his day, and the primary evolution writer for the National Geographic magazine. Following his speech, someone asked him about the new discovery in Glen Rose, Texas. Dr. Leakey said that it destroyed everything he had ever believed; yet to his dying day he continued to preach the lies of evolution.
In Job chapter 40, in verses 15-24, we are told of an animal called "behemoth;" and in chapter 41, in verse 31 we read of one named "leviathan." The descriptions of those animals do not fit any animal on earth today. Without a doubt these were kinds of dinosaurs alive in the days of Job.