| by Ray Daly (Lincoln, North Dakota) |
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| Gen. 1:1. “In the beginning, GOD created the heaven and the earth. V.3. “And GOD SAID, Let there be light.” Obviously, the topic of this study centers on the word “God”. Which word is likely the most misunderstood of all the words in Scripture. Perhaps also, it is also one of the most misused words. You know the questions. “Who is God. What is God”, and related statements. For many, when they read the words “God created”, they believe and teach that, God Almighty simply “spoke” the words, and it came to pass. But is that what Scripture really teaches us? The answer is no. But, how does one go about explaining the answers, if the readers will not “Search, Study, Prove, and Try” the Scriptures for themselves? I could begin from several starting points, but I think I will go to the Hebrew, to let you see what the word “God” can and does mean. And, since all of the lessons that I am putting forth rely on the King James Version of the Bible, then finding the Hebrew words that relate to a proper understanding, means we must go to Strong’s Concordance. Throughout Genesis One, the usage of God comes from #430, Elohim. Let’s now go into Strong’s and see the meanings that can be applied. And I will simply give the meanings that will best help us to understand the Truths. First, Elohim is a PLURAL word. And it refers to Spiritual beings. Most notably the ANGELS. Though the Angelic realm is separated by several categories. But one could best describe the Angelic realm as a “family”. However, note a second definition of the plural God. “The ONE SUPREME GOD”. One shows singularity. And, it has to be referring to the Creator God (Shadday), who made the Angelic realm in the first place. But how do we fit a singular being into a plural family. Well, it is simple. The Almighty (Shadday) is also a “Spirit being”. As the Creator of the Spirit realm, he is thus also a part of the Spirit realm! A second usage for God comes from #433, Eloah(h). This too is plural, but clearly identified in singular meanings. For, it can mean “A” Deity, or “THE” Deity. The “A” showing that more than one Elohim can be of this title. Perhaps such when Scripture says that “all nations will walk in the name of their God”. Or their specific Deity/Angel. However, the word “THE”, shows singularity. Or, referring to the “ONE Supreme God” of the Elohim realm. Again, speaking of Shadday. A third usage is #410, El. This is a “singular” word. But it can have two meanings. The one is the word “Mighty”. Again, some of those of the Elohim realm. For example, both Michael and Gabriel would fit into this category. And others perhaps as well. But the second definition of El is “Almighty”. Or “The ONE, THE Deity, SHADDAY”. How does the above help us in understanding the differences between “God created, and “God said”? As used in Genesis One and Three. For, such usage is throughout the first chapter of Genesis. Well, look at it this way. When it says, “God created”, think of the plural Elohim. The Angelic realm. And view them as being the “workers”. Thus, the earth was created by the Angels, prior to the time of a new, added segment to said creation. I will take some time to show the origins of the earth as we find it in Gen. 1:1. The first stage of the earth’s creation centered on a “fireball”. One of tremendous heat and power. Then, this fire was covered over with a layer of “granite” (a simple word). Then above this layer was a deep layer of water. Of which our present oceans originated. Above this water was another layer of “granite”. Then was created the stratus beneath our present earth. That which has/had within it “oil, coal, minerals, gems, salt, etc/etal”. And, at the time of its creation, there were living things on the top of it. Dinosaurs, flying creatures, likely humanoid beings of the ape family, and many such. All of this layer was “laid out” specifically for the coming time of man’s creation. When all of this layer was finished, another layer of “fresh” water covered it up. Thus, we find the created earth to this point. There is no limit of time, as far as how long it took to bring the earth to this point. So, there is no need to “estimate”. But it would have been a “long” time. However, we are interested in coming to understand the usage of the word God, and how to separate the “plural” angelic realm, from the “singular” Shadday realm. Both being of the Elohim. Let’s go back to Gen. 1:3, and the words “God SAID”. To put it simply, when it says, “God said”, it is referring to the Creator God, Shadday. Shadday “spoke”, and his workers did all the labor. The reader can go through Genesis One and find this theme several times. However, I will only cover one example. One in which, again, there is much confusion. Gen. 1:26-7. “God [Shadday] SAID. Let US make man in OUR image, after OUR likeness, and let them have dominion…. So, GOD created man in HIS [Angels] image. In the image of God [different looking Angels, such as giants, blacks, and yellows, etc]. Male and female created HE them.” What this above is telling us is, that Shadday, he who SAID, told the Angels to create humans in “their” image. And they did. And, in Peter, it tells us that “To the Lord, each day is as a thousand years”. Thus giving, perhaps, a time period of a thousand years that the Angelic created human beings were upon the earth before Shadday created Adam and Eve. We see evidence of this when Cain stated (when he was kicked out of Eden), “All who find me will kill me”. Meaning the Angelic created humans, that were upon all of the earth at that time. I don’t want to get too lengthy, so will conclude with the following. That being, how to identify whom it was that “SAID” in Genesis One. John. 1:1. “In the beginning was the WORD…”! Or Shadday, the one that created the Angelic realm, and he who “said” to them “do” and they did. |
| Iron Sharpening Iron In regard to: Explanation of Creation Article by Ray Daly Comments by Laura Lee (Bismarck, North Dakota) |
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| Strong’s #H430- אֱלֹהִים ‘ĕlôhı̂ym el-o-heem’ Plural of H433; gods in the ordinary sense; but specifically used (in the plural thus, especially with the article) of the supreme God; occasionally applied by way of deference to magistrates; and sometimes as a superlative: – angels, X exceeding, God (gods) (-dess, -ly), X (very) great, judges, X mighty. Total KJV occurrences: 2601 Strong’s #H433 – אֱלֹהַּ אֱלוֹהַּ ‘ĕlôahh ‘ĕlôahh el-o’-ah, el-o’-ah (The second form is rare); probably prolonged (emphatically) from H410; a deity or the deity: – God, god. See H430. Total KJV occurrences: 57 Strong’s #H410- אֵל ‘êl ale Shortened from H352; strength; as adjective mighty; especially the Almighty (but used also of any deity): – God (god), X goodly, X great, idol, might (-y one), power, strong. Compare names in “-el.” Total KJV occurrences: 242 What you seem to be saying is that God first created through the Angels an entire world before He created Adam and Eve. Why would God do that? And where are you finding this in the Bible? · Gen 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. · Gen 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. Many people in the Worldwide Church of God were taught that at least the dinosaurs lived in the first world that God created but is that so? They are using these two scriptures to prove that this is so: · Gen 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. · Gen 1:2 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. They use the words “without form, and void” to prove there was a world before Adam and Eve. Strong’s #H8414 “without form” תֹּהוּ tôhû to’-hoo From an unused root meaning to lie waste; a desolation (of surface), that is, desert; figuratively a worthless thing; adverbially in vain: – confusion, empty place, without form, nothing, (thing of) nought, vain, vanity, waste, wilderness. Total KJV occurrences: 20 Strong’s #H922 “void” בֹּהוּ bôhû bo’-hoo From an unused root (meaning to be empty); a vacuity, that is, (superficially) an undistinguishable ruin: – emptiness, void. Total KJV occurrences: 3 Eph 3:9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: All things were created by Jesus Christ. Did He make a mistake when He created the first world? Or did He only create the one world? The one world that Adam and Eve lived in? Do any of you out there create things, like craft items that you make for yourself or to sell to others? Well let’s pretend we are going to make a bowl out of clay. So, we get a lump of clay, and it is without form and void. It is just a lump that can’t be used for anything in its present form. And it is void because it is sort of useless as a lump of clay. Once we take this lump of clay and make it into a bowl it is no longer without form and void. We made a bowl that we can now eat soup out of. That is how Christ started, he started with the material which was without form and void, and he created the earth and everything on it. The materials he started with were useless until he used them to form the earth. Granted a bowl is a small undertaking as compared to making a huge earth that billions of people live on, but the principal is the same. The same principal applies to anything you make. One day you take a drive downtown and you see a hole on a vacant lot, a couple days later you drive by the same place and there is a pile of wood and steel. Later you drive by, and it is starting to look like a building. Then at last one day you drive by and there is the completed project. Think back, this building started out without form, and it was void (useless, empty). You cannot build an entire doctrine or first world out of two scriptures that don’t even say that there was a first world before the one that Adam and Eve lived in. You have to have proof from scripture and there is no proof for this doctrine. It is a false doctrine, and it took a lot of twisting to get to the conclusion. If anyone has any proof that this doctrine is true, we will definitely look at it and change in accordance with the scriptural proof. |
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