Courtesy of CreationOpia, Genesis Interpretations: Part 3:
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Genesis Interpretations: Part 3:
Satan fell before end of creation week???
The Answers in Genesis website article “Problems with Other Interpretations: Appendix B” at “http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/oect/problems-other-interpretations” debunks several creation interpretations such as:
- Day Age Theory
- Gap Theory
- Theistic Evolution
- Progressive Creation
- Framework Hypothesis
In debunking the above theories, the authors applied several key lenses as modes of inquiry to test the validity of these theories and any proposed theories.
How does the Genesis Creation Account Universe Tools Paradigm & Literal Creator Days hold up to each of these modes of inquiry?
The last post already started to examine each aspect point by point. This time the third point on “whether the Satan fell before the end of the creation week” will be analyzed.
The Bible Genesis Creation account in Genesis 1 & 2 pertains to our Universe, with its’ Sun, Moon, and Stars, and our Earth with its’ people, animals, and plants.
For man to be alone is the only thing God specifically identified that was not good in the creation account, which God planned to solve & did solve by creating woman.
Genesis 2:18 (ESV): 18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”
The Bible reveals the creation of our Universe was “very good” at the end of the sixth day, after also sharing several times the creation was good days earlier. It is reasonable to conclude there was nothing was created “bad” or “fallen” during this six day time period.
Genesis 1:31 (ESV): 31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
This leads to the conclusion that “Satan the Devil did not fall during creation week”. This leaves two possibilities: (1) Satan fell prior to to creation week, or (2) Satan fell after creation week.
The scriptures reveal Satan the Devil was sinning since the beginning, so Satan was already around in a fallen state to witness the creation of our Universe, which God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit made by applying wisdom at the beginning.
1 John 3:8 (ESV): 8 Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.
Genesis 1:1 (ESV): 1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
Proverbs 3:19-20 (ESV): 19 The Lord by wisdom founded the earth;by understanding he established the heavens;20 by his knowledge the deeps broke open, and the clouds drop down the dew.
In conclusion, Satan the Devil fell prior to Our Universe’s creation week starting, and did not fall during or after creation week.
As Satan is a fallen angel, it is reasonable to conclude that both angels loyal Satan the Devil and those instead loyal to God, were there at Our World’s creation.
This is consistent with the view that angels and the Heavens that are outside our world were also created before our Universe’s creation week.
While several words in our language, words have multiple meanings depending on the context. The Genesis account defines heaven both as our Earth sky, and heavens as the broader outer-space around the Earth.
Genesis 1:1 (ESV): 1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
Genesis 1:6 (ESV): 6 And God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” 7 And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. 8 And God called the expanse Heaven.And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.
Genesis 1:14-17 (ESV): 14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. 16 And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. 17 And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.
There are several Bible references to the heaven outside our Universe.
Jesus speaks about this heaven above with the angels and God.
Genesis 1:10 (ESV): 10 “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.
Jacob, the grandson of Abraham, and son of Isaac, saw a vision of angels ascending & descending to/from heaven when asleep (Genesis 28:10-17 (ESV) )
Genesis 28:12 (ESV): 12 And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it!
In the context of Jacob’s dream, heaven is on one level of reading our Earth’s sky. On a second level, Jacob’s dream portrays a gate between Our Universe and the Heaven God created outside it. Jacob describes this as a gate to heaven.
Genesis 28:17 (ESV): 17 And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”
Prior to technologies which enable flight in the sky around the Earth, it is understandable prior scholars to too quickly to jump to the conclusion that this is where the Heaven with the Angels exist. Likewise, prior to telescope technology that peers deep into space, an interpretation that Heaven above might have referred to our locations in the broader Universe.
With the Universe Tools Paradigm, it is understood that Our Universe and Heaven itself which is outside Our Universe, are created using data & rules supported by a compute infrastructure to operate these worlds. Likewise, it is reasonable to conclude the New Heaven and New Earth will be powered similarly.
Isaiah 65:17 (ESV): 17 “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind.
Seeing people playing in alternate worlds on electronics like PC’s, game systems, smart phones, and tablets devices, makes it much easier today than even before in the history of humankind, to understand the Universe Tools Paradigm.
Did Satan the Devil fall during or after creation week? Definitely Not! Satan was there in the beginning, already a fallen angel at the start of creation week.
The Bible Genesis Creation Account Universe Tools Paradigm & Literal Creator Days Presentation is available here, as a reference.
You can view & download the presentation at the SlideShare site at http://www.slideshare.net/creationary/bible-genesis-creation-account
Stay tuned for future analysis of the other lenses as modes of inquiry to test the validity of The Bible Genesis Creation Account Universe Tools Paradigm & Literal Creator Days.
Related articles
- Bible Genesis Creation Account: Universe Tool Paradigm & Comparisons & Literal Creator Days (creationopia.wordpress.com)
- Genesis Interpretations: Death before Sin? (creationopia.wordpress.com)
- Genesis Interpretations: Sun Created Before Earth? (creationopia.wordpress.com)
