A recap to bring us up to speed:

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” We are told that the qualifying “the” does not appear in the Hebrew, and that hence a more accurate translation would be “a beginning.”

“Now the earth was unformed and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep.” At first the earth was a mass or molten ball of energy, and as an earth it was as yet, unformed, and as far as life was concerned, empty-void. Then we saw that the water and gaseous matters were thrown away from the center core by the great heat generated from this newly forming world, forming a great cloud, or deep, around that core. Since there would be too much earthly material in this deep for the sun’s rays to penetrate to the surface of the core, it would have been true that “darkness was upon the [inside] face of the deep,” even though the sun shown upon the outside, even as it now does upon the planets which still have their canopies.

By this time the waters upon the earth, a boiling steaming mass would have completely cover the surface of the earth at a depth that would have conceal any light generated from under sea volcanoes and or rifts in the earth’s crust.

“And the spirit of God hovered over the face of the water.” Whatever may be the theological view of this matter, you will note that the outer surface of the canopy and the rings, largely composed of water, would have been in the bright sunshine, while great masses of earth material was suspended for a time because of the heat rather than rotation, in the space between the core and the lowest canopy, a space roughly 22,000 miles in depth.. Here the word “spirit” is used in the sense of power, and the sun’s rays have had a powerful effect on the events that were to prepare earth for a habitation.

You will note that in this picture we have not shown any rings about the planet, the reason is because there is much debate as to whether or not the earth ever had any such rings, although we believe that it was possible, there are still many variables to consider, first and foremost would be how far within the Roche limit any rings developed.

The Roche limit or radius, is the distance within which a celestial body, held together only by its own gravity, will disintegrate due to a second celestial body’s tidal forces exceeding the first body’s gravitational self-attraction. Inside the Roche limit, orbiting material disperses and forms rings whereas outside the limit material tends to coalesce. (The belief is that after Theia’s collision with the earth most of the material ejected from the impact was forced outside the Roche limit thus eventually coalescing into our moon).

Now as to those “rings” which were supposedly circling above the canopy these would have been the results of the expansion of earthly materials when the earth was at white heat, these materials having been reduced to a gaseous state would have expanded and rose high into the atmosphere, the effect then upon a mass of vapors revolving around the earth would be to throw the outer vapors into rings above the equator.

Although it is true that most currently known transiting extrasolar planets are too close to their parent stars to support icy rings it is nevertheless believed that a significant fraction of them could harbor ring particles made of rock or silicates. Silicates constitute the majority of Earth’s crust, precisely what was turned to a gaseous state and revolving around the earth at the time.

But what could have caused these rings to descend upon the earth? Does not natural law say that a body in motion tends to stay in motion unless acted upon by an outside force? So what force could have caused the decline of these rings? There are several.

“Orbital decay can be caused by a multitude of mechanical, gravitational, and electromagnetic effects. For bodies in a low Earth orbit, the most significant effect is the atmospheric drag.” (Atmospheric drag, is the lowest altitude above the Earth at which an object in a circular orbit can complete at least one full revolution without propulsion, this is estimated at 150 km or 90 miles above the surface).

“An orbit can also decay by tidal effects when the orbiting body is large enough to raise a significant tidal bulge on the body it is orbiting and is either in a retrograde orbit (reverse orbit) or is below the synchronous orbit (geosynchronous orbit or GEO). The resulting tidal interaction saps momentum from the orbiting body and transfers it to the primary’s rotation, lowering the orbit’s altitude until frictional effects come into play.” (Orbital decay: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbital_decay)

Tidal forces between the earth and the moon could likewise have had an effect, remember the moon was once much closer to the earth than it is now, but as it slowly moved away the tidal forces of the earth would far outweigh those of the moon and thus emit a far greater effect upon the rings, possibly destabilizing their orbit leading to orbital decay.

And then there is the, Poynting-Robertson drag. This is not as much a concern to the gas giants and their ring systems which reside far from the sun, but it is expected to be significant factor on any ring system revolving around an extrasolar planet. Poynting-Robertson drag has the effect of causing the orbit of a ring particle to decay.

“Orbital debris will be acted upon by radiation forces (photon thrust) as well as by gravitation. Solar radiation pressure and the Poynting–Robertson effect are the best known of all the radiation forces. Poynting–Robertson is a V/c effect (where V is the speed and c is the speed of light); it causes orbit decay for dust or ice particles orbiting a luminous body.

The Poynting–Robertson effect is most commonly applied to small particles orbiting the Sun, but it also applies to particles orbiting planets as well as moons, comets, and asteroids, since these all reflect visible light and emit in the infrared.”

As stated there are many variables to be considered, and since none of us were there we can only speculate.

And on the first day, the Lord said,

“Let there be light,’ and there was light.” The first falls of material were the heavy massive deposits of the Azoic Age, and with these materials out of the atmosphere, the light could penetrate through the canopies which had formed far out from the core, and of course the rings (?) shadowed only the equatorial regions.

“And God called the light day,’ and the darkness He called night,’ and there was evening and there was morning, one day.” In this text, the first use of the word “day” appears, and since Bishop Usher insisted that all “days” mentioned in Genesis were 24-hour days, we note that in its first use, only the light of a period is described as “day,” and the “dark” is not included. So we go to the Hebrew to see just what Moses intended in translating this passage. We find that both of the words “day” in the above passage are from the Hebrew “yom” or “yome.” This word is translated into English as “age, ever, everlasting, always, continually, evermore, life, as long as, perpetually, day, season, year, space, process of time,” etc. (See Strong’s Concordance or Scott and Liddel’s Lexicon.)

In other words, it refers to any period of time, the length of that period to be determined from the context, or simply as an “indefinite period.” We use the word day in English much the same way. A “day” of work may be six, eight or ten hours. The “day” (daylight) varies in length with the latitude. Every “calendar day” is on earth 48 hours. Hitler’s “day” was not as long as Victoria’s “day.”

Now why in the text above does it mention “evening” first?

Because as was stated in the second verse there was darkness to begin with (“…and darkness was upon the face of the deep”), and with the fall of the Azoic material during that first “yom,” it became lighter and that period was termed morning. The Jews to this day commence their yom of 24 hours as at sunset, so that evening comes first and the morning as the second half, perhaps an unwitting, but nevertheless, a constant commemoration of the ring and canopy system.

This first yom makes no mention of life, and there was none in the Azoic Age, and even in the next yom, the Paleozoic Age, life was so unimportant, that it is not mentioned in the Genesis account (This however does not imply that there was none). Of this second yom the write stated, “Let there be a firmament [an expanse or separation] in the midst of the water.” That is, “Let there be a space with atmosphere between the waters.”

“And let it [the atmosphere] divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament and divided the waters that were under the firmament [the waters already on the surface of the earth] from the waters which are above the firmament [in the canopies and rings], and it was so.” And we will agree that it was so. Surely by the close of the Paleozoic Age all the atmosphere was cleared of water and earth material and the residue was held in the rings and canopies, creating a vast space of separation. “And there was evening and there was morning, a second yome.” Again, we see that with the additional falls of earth material in the Paleozoic Age that the light would be less in the beginning of the age than in the close, especially in view of the fact that that age closed with a heavy downfall of ice, and a glaciated period, which indicates the rupture and fall of one of the heavier canopies.

From the ninth to the thirteenth verse is sketched the work of the Carboniferous Age, during which insects appeared on land, and the trilobites in the seas. The Genesis account assigns the formation of the continents to the third yom, or period, and certainly they must have been formed before life of any kind could be established there. We do not know just where the writer of Genesis begins or ends his “yoms,” and even our modern geologists are rather vague about the exact endings, for from another view it was one continual operation. So it seems sufficient to note that in general the Genesis account agrees with *the seven division of time, and the work of each yom coincides closely with the accomplishments of each Age. We note that the grasses and herbs “yielded their seed,” so at least one full season would be required, and not a single 24-hour day, nor is there anything to preclude that this “indefinite period of time” was thousands of years. The choice of the word “yom” seems to be very appropriate; it is still an indefinite period of time. We also note that the law of fixity of species is mentioned with the first mention of life, and nothing has ever been found to disprove that statement.

And so we reach THE FORTH DAY (The Year of the World 25,128 B.C.)

“And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and for years: and let them be for lights in the expanse to give light upon the earth; and it was so. God made [or caused to shine–a different verb not meaning created] two great lights; the greater light for the rule of the day [to indicate the time of day] and the lesser light, the night; the stars also. And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth … and God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the Fourth Day.” (Gen 1:14–19)

Note: The “firmament” or “heavens” referred to here could apply equally well to both the first and the second literal heavens. Although we know in fact that the lights we see in the heavens are in truth located beyond our atmosphere (in the second literal heavens, the expanse of space), nevertheless because the atmosphere is transparent from our perspective they appear to be in the atmosphere (the first literal heavens, the expanse of the sky).

The achievements of one epoch-day were carried over into the next, and thus we are justified in supposing that the light of the first day became more and more distinct during the next two, as ring after ring of the enveloping canopy came down from the waters above the firmament to the waters below it, until by the fourth epoch-day the sun and moon and stars could be seen; not so clearly as we now see them on a bright day, no not until after Noah’s flood, when the last of these “rings” would fall would it be that clear; but even yet (by the close of the forth day) they were clearly discernible, even though viewed through a translucent veil of waters (the waters above, Gen 1:7)

The canopy of water would begin to thin first over the equator regions as slowly the gravitational pull of the earth’s magnetic poles began to pull the water further and further north and south in preparation for the final deluge which would later come in the days of Noah (Gen 6:17) thus it is that the sun, moon, and stars would first become visible in these regions, particularly clearer over that region known to be the “cradle of our race”

The scene might be similar to what might be seen now on a misty day or night. The Sun, moon and stars had long since been shining on the outer veil of the earth, but now the time had come to allow these lights in the firmament to be seen; to let the days–previously marked by a dull, grayish light, such as we see some rainy mornings when the sun, moon and stars are invisible for clouds–become more distinct, so that the orb of day might by its course mark time for man and beast when created, and during the meantime begin to speed up the oxygenation of the air, thus to prepare it for breathing animals.

Later on during this same 7,000-year day, the moon and stars would also appeared—the moon to influence the tides and to be ready to mark time in the night for man’s convenience, and the stars for “signs and seasons”. (Note: tides are affected by the gravitational pull of both the sun and the moon on the earth, this regardless of whether or not they are visible through any canopy.)

“In the 14th to 19th verses it mentions that the sun and moon became visible, as well as some stars. This indicates that the canopies which formed in the fourth or Devonian Age did not carry as much earth material as previous ones. This we saw was a requirement of natural law, and corroborated by the strata of earth. In this age, sometimes termed the age of fishes, no additional life is mentioned in the Genesis account, but the principal event was the increase light from the sun and the moon. Evidently by this time the moon had receded from the earth a sufficient distance to permit the sun to shine at times, upon the face toward the earth, even as it does now. If there had been any person on earth at that time, he could have seen the reflected light of the sun.

The term “and God made two great lights,” does not imply that they were created at that time, and had not been in existence previously, but that they, their outlines becoming visible through the canopy, “were made, the greater to rule the day, and the lesser to rule the night.” Here the Hebrew word “memshalah” is translated “rule,” in the sense of having power, or dominion. And certainly we know that the sun dominates the daylight, and the moon, the night.

Suppose the writer of Genesis had said that the sun and moon were visible in the first yom or age. We would know at once that he was wrong, but he put the visibility of the sun as in the fourth day.

Why did he take the trouble to point that out? Was he not trying to tell us that [up until this time something was obstructing the sun, moon and stars from view] that the canopies, the waters that were above the firmament, were so dense that during those first three periods that the light could not have come through to earth with sufficient brightness that the direct outline of the sun and moon could have been seen, although light filtered through and was diffused. Now by the time man was upon earth and could write the account which appears in Genesis, he had words for both the sun and the moon. But in the account of the fourth day the writer does not make use of those words, but instead uses a word referring to “bearers of diffused light.” Yet at the time of writing he knew the sun both as a light bearer and as a heater! But the writer did use the term “stars.”

In the illustration above the “rings”, if there were any would have resided within the Roche limit and by this time be experiencing orbital decay one following another over time.

We noted that the rings began their spreading out, or declension, at the equatorial regions to form the canopies, and the collapse of the canopy would probably leave the polar skies clear, until another canopy formed. The sun and moon would not have been visible in equatorial regions as they would be obscured by the rings. Is it not strong proof that the ring and canopy theory is at least the most ancient of concepts, when it is the only theory by which the statements of Genesis can be explained? Some translations of this passage use the expression “He made to shine two great lights.” Either translation is consistent with facts.”

Despite what some naïve Christians believe the Sun, Moon, and Stars were not created on the forth day, they had existed all along, long before that, they were merely obscured by the immense canopy of clouds and gases which enveloped the earth, or as the Lord himself makes reference to in Job 38:9, “Where were you, when I made the clouds its garment, and thick darkness its swaddling band.”

The Hebrew word “asah” (as found in Gen 1:16), translated “made” in the King James Version, does not mean “to create,” but here signifies “to appoint” (as in Job 14:5; Psa 104:19). God was merely giving a new appointment or function to the sun, etc., to dominate or “rule” in the heavens, which was lacking in the previous Carboniferous Period.

The increased solar radiation brought about dramatic changes in climate in this period and the process of photosynthesis so basic to the cycle of all life on earth was tremulously increased due to the emergence of the sun once obscured by the canopy. It marked the end of the primary era known as the Paleozoic and opened the secondary or Mesozoic Era, with its sweeping changes in life forms adapting to the new hot and dry conditions.

We are not to suppose that the development of plant life ceased during the fourth day, but rather that it progressed –the increased influence of sun and moon serving to bring forward still other varieties of grass and shrubs and trees. Geology shows advances, too, at this period–insects, snails, crabs, etc. Fish-bones and scales are found in coal seams, too; but this does not disturb the order; for the formation of coal-beds evidently continued even after the third day (howbeit not in the traditional sense, that is not according to the vegetation theory)–thus running into the Reptilian period. This “day” corresponds most closely with what geology designates the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous periods.

It is important to remember that although we as Christians can agree with the terms of developments which took place during these various periods or eras designated by Scientist, we do not however view their assumptions as to when or how long these periods lasted (i.e. 65 million years, 245 million years or what have you) as actual proven facts, but merely as speculative in nature. We prefer to accept the divine testimony that these periods are of a far more recent time.

Evening and morning–Day Four of seven thousand years, or 28,000 years from the starting of this work (25,128 B.C.) closed, witnessing great progress in the earth’s preparation for man.

Note: as can readily be seen by now WE ARE NOT “Young Earth Creationist”, that is those who adhere to a strict and literal interpretation of the Genesis account, who believe that the earth was created 6000 years ago, that according to their interpretation of Verses 14-19 the earth was created prior to the creation of the sun, moon and stars, and that the creative day’s them self were literal 24-hour days. Most fundamentalist Christians to one degree or another are of this persuasion, the pendulum swinging much too far to right.

 In contrast it is our belief that the earth, the sun and the moon along with all the rest of the universe is many billions of years old, however it is our contention that creation, that is the process in which life was brought to this world is just a little less than 50,000 years old, with each creative “day” consisting not of 24 literal hours per day, but of equal epochs or periods of time consisting of 7000 years in duration each. This we believe allows ample time for the various geological eras to accomplish their work in preparation for the final era in which we live, one which shall shortly see, howbeit with great turmoil the completion of the work begun almost 50,000 years ago resulting in the perfection of the earth.

 Another point which needs to be addressed here, it is stated that the sun, the moon, and stars were appointed not only to divide the day from the night, but likewise that they would be for “signs” to mark the seasons, days and years, however one should not jump to any hasty conclusions as is evident from many sources on the internet which I have visited that this signified that there were marked seasonal changes taking place during this time, these seasonal changes would eventually come, but not until after the collapse of the final “ring” or canopy which would bring about the great flood of Noah’s day, until such a time the canopy would insured that the temperature was maintained within a reasonable degree so as not to cause any disturbances in the atmosphere. Remember storms are generally the results of confrontations between fronts, cold fronts and warm fronts, if however the temperature were maintain throughout the globe at roughly the same temperature there would be no catalyst to promote such storms, thus we can see why it was that prior to the flood it had never rained upon the earth Gen 2:5, 6. That is to say it had never rained since mankind’s arrival on earth; it most surely would have rained during the collapse of the various canopies up unto this time, ice and snow in the Polar Regions, rain in the equatorial regions, that is IF the deluge falling from the skies a mixture of water and other various minerals could have been called rain.

 We shall examine the Fifth Day of Creation with our next post.

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*the seven division of time

Although science has renamed several of these as well as having divided them into more specific groups nevertheless the basic lists is as follows.

Day 1: the Azoic Age presently referred to as the Archean or Archeozoic era (age without life) the earth formless and void (of life).

Day 2: the Paleozoic Age divided by modern science into six geologic periods (Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous, and Permian)

According to science this age opened with the “Cambrian Explosion,” a period which saw the arrival of some of the earliest forms of sea life, specifically invertebrates (animals having an exoskeleton or external skeleton), trilobites, inarticulate brachiopods, monoplacophoran molluscs, hyolithids, archaeocyathids (sponge-like reef builders) shell-fish and etc..

With the foregoing we are not in disagreement as the scriptures are silent on when exactly the earliest forms of life first appeared. Reason dictates that the earliest forms of life would begin first in the sea with various forms of bacteria such as Cyanobacteria (the first oxygen producers), sponges, seaweed, and algae which would naturally precede the arrival of the higher forms of sea life both invertebrate (the before mentioned) and vertebrates such as fish. Not only was it necessary that the seas first become oxygenated, but likewise that a well-established food chain should be fully established before the arrival of such higher forms of life.

Day 3: the Carboniferous Age. You will note that modern science puts the Devonian age prior to the Carboniferous age; however as Christians we believe that the Word of God supersedes the wisdom of man, and so we will go with the Word of the Lord on this one. Actually putting the Carboniferous age before the Devonian age in no way interferes with what was believed to have transpired during these different periods.

It was during the third day that land first appeared from the waters, and having done so the Lord called the dry land earth, and the waters he called seas. Now take note of the next verse, Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth tender sprout-age, the herb yielding seed after its kind and the tree yielding fruit whose seed is in itself, upon the earth…”

No mention is made of letting the seas bring forth any such plant life, and yet we know that the seas likewise contain plant life, specifically Phytoplankton, algae’s, seaweed, kelp and etc. In fact Phytoplankton, including diatoms and algae, are not only the most numerous plants in the ocean, but also one of the most numerous organisms in the world. Since no mention is made of sea plants we can rightly conclude that such already existed prior to day three.

It is believed that insects first appeared during the carboniferous age that they evolved from a group of crustaceans. Crustaceans form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such familiar animals as crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, krill, woodlice and barnacles.

Day 4: the Devonian Age (likewise known as the age of fish). Although the scriptures seem to imply that it was during the next day or period in which the waters were to abound with an abundance of living creatures, this is not necessarily a restrictive statement, the likelihood that the earliest predecessors to the fish we have today cartilaginous fish and bony-fish may have had their beginnings here. It was during this age too that the first amphibians appeared (frogs, toads, salamanders and etc.).

Day 5: the Reptilian Age. Here the oceans saw their most abundance of life, fish and every other sea creature. Reptiles and birds likewise appeared. The statement, “Let the waters bring forth…” like that of Verse 11, “Let the earth bring forth”, abundantly according to their kind does not preclude a measure of evolution in respects to these lower forms of life under divine supervision. “Possibly an evolutionary process by which the lower creation developed up to the point where they reached fixity of class, nature, genera as divinely intended.” (R 5140 par.3 R2836 par.2)

Each kind could evolve as necessary to the environment in which it existed, but in no way could it change its kind from one kind to another kind. A mackerel cannot turn into a shark no more than a palm tree turn into a pine tree, or a sparrow into an eagle, the law of fixity of species prevents this.

This was likewise the age of Dinosaurs, which we will elaborate upon further in our next post when we consider more fully the Fifth Day of Creation.

Day 6: the Age of Mammals also considered as the Cenozoic Era. Early in the Cenozoic, the planet was dominated by relatively small fauna (animals of a particular region or period, considered as a group), including small mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians. From a geological perspective, it did not take long for mammals and birds to greatly diversify in the absence of the dinosaurs that had dominated during the Mesozoic.

Day 7: the Age of Man also known as the Anthropocene.