BIBLE DNA: I
In a way, this “view” is like looking through a microscope at the DNA of the Bible contained in Genesis 1. And yet, the view that emerges resembles a telescopic view through the vast expanse of the Bible (as will be seen in the course of this and the next page! Thus, this view could aptly be called the “microscopic-telescopic view”. So I have inserted a link to this view under Telescopic Views as well as under Microscopic Views.
In living organisms, there’s a master molecule at the center of each cell. This molecule, called DNA, contains within itself the Master Plan of the entire organism. In animals and humans, the fertilized ovum already contains, in the DNA molecule, the exact design of the entire body, including the ultimate height, the organs, the color of the eyes, the aptitudes in the brain, etc.
The Bible is a living organism, and in the very first chapter of its very first book, Genesis Chapter 1, we see the Master Plan of the entire Bible. The rest of the Bible had not been written at the writing of Genesis, and was completed centuries later. Hence, this Master Plan could not have been placed there by Moses, the human author of Genesis.
The presence of such a marvelous Master Plan of the Bible, in outline form, hidden in the very first chapter of the very first book, is one of the evidences of the Master Mind of God behind the whole work.
To enable you to appreciate this Master Chapter, Genesis 1, in relation to the whole Bible, we will study the days of creation mentioned in it, day by day.
In this page, the first of two, we will look at the first three days of Creation.
But first we will read Psalm 90 verse 2:
Psalm 90:2 Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.
In this first page, Bible DNA Part I, we will begin with Eternity, and, in the next page Bible DNA Part II, we will end with Eternity, thus moving from everlasting to everlasting, as we explore God and His relationship with His creation, and specially with us, the crown of His physical creation..
Imagine an unending Sea without any shore except that of a small island somewhere in its midst.
The Sea represents Eternity which knows no beginning and no end. The island represents Earth..
Imagine yourself sailing in a ship over such a Sea. You reach the island, step off the ship, and walk across the island to the other side. You discover it is six kilometers across, and, at the other end, is the same Sea which you left when you entered the island. A new ship is waiting for you there, and the surroundings and the company in it are different, but the Sea is the same.
The Sea (as stated above) is a picture of Eternity. And the island, six kilometers across, is a picture of the whole period of Earth’s history with man on it, divided, in an orderly way, into Six Ages or Periods, each carrying its special lessons, till we reach Eternity again.
ETERNITY
We are all excited at the privilege God gives us to sail over the Great Sea of Eternity. Who and What do we see and in Whose company are we sailing? (Try opening the Bible and reading these references.)
1. The Eternal God (Gen 1:1. Deut 33:27)
2. The Eternal Son (John 1:1-4; 17:5-24. Col 1:15-19. Heb 1:2,3,8.)
3. The Eternal Spirit (Heb 9:14. Job 26:13.)
4. The Eternal Purpose (Eph 1:4,5,9; 3:4-11.)
We now step out of the Great Sea on to the tiny island. We are standing at the moment of Creation. Gen 1:1. We are standing on the Earth as it first came from the hands of its Creator, the original creation, finished and perfect. It was “not created in vain”. The Hebrew word translated “in vain” is tohu. (Isaiah 45:18).
Like every work of God, it was created with the stamp of its Creator, the stamp of perfection, upon it. The Bible does not tell us how long the earth remained in this first state. Gen 1:1 simply declares the creation, in seven words: “God created the heavens and the earth.” This is the earth that then was (2 Peter 3:6a). And then full stop.
The dark chaotic state comes next. We see the empty and desolate state into which the earth fell: “And the earth was without form and void.” (Gen 1:2. See also Jer 4:23.) Twice the Bible states the fact that the earth was without form and void. The word translated “without form” is tohu. Re-read Isaiah 45:18. The earth was not created tohu. The same Hebrew word, tohu, is used in all three passages. If the earth was tohu, without form, in Gen 1:2 and Jer 4:23, and was not created tohu, as stated in Isaiah 45:18, it follows that in Gen 1:1 the world was not created tohu, but in Gen 1:2 it became tohu, without form.
So, in Genesis 1 verse 2, the earth that we see is the earth after it had passed through great changes, upheavals and convulsions, buried under the restless waste of waters, and wrapped up in thick darkness (2 Peter 3:6b).
How long it remained in this chaotic state we do not know. It has pleased God to give us no revelation about that. Thousands of years may have passed between verses 1 and 2. Here is where Scripture leaves all the room and time that scientific researches seem to require for the geological strata of the earth’s surface.
Note: True science never contradicts the Word, but scientists’ guess-work (theories, hypotheses) may. The same God who made Nature (natural revelation) inspired the Bible (written revelation). The Book of Creation and the Book of Revelation are both communications from God. There can therefore be no contradiction between them.
A new period commences with Gen 1:3, the third stage.
God begins here His Six Day’s work, in which He restores and furnishes the fallen earth to be man’s dwelling place. He sets His lamps above it to light it up. Then, on the sixth day, He places man upon it, with his companion-bride, in order to have full enjoyment of a finished work. He set man as head over creation and gave him dominion over the earth.
Points to note:
Earth fell. (Gen 1:2)
Adam (made of earth) fell. (Gen 3)
God took six days (evenings and mornings) before he could enjoy His Sabbath rest.
So God will have worked (John 5:17) through six ages (periods) before fully recovering mankind from the fall.
These six ages typify the heavens and the earth which are now (2 Peter 3:6).Then He will enjoy another Sabbath. His Eternal rest, ).
Some more points to note concerning the days.
(1) Notice that each of the six days had an evening and a morning. But this detail is omitted in the case of the seventh day. In just the same way, every “age” in the Bible has a beginning and an ending. But when we come to the seventh, Eternity, the Age of Ages, there is no beginning and no ending. Thus the seventh day (Gen 2:1) gives us a representation of eternity future, the world that will be when the new heavens and the new earth will be created (2 Peter 3:13) … the day of God that will never close … the day of rest, because God will rest in His love and Christ will rest in the joy of His redemptive work, and rest forever. This same rest remains for the people of God. (Heb 4:9.)
(2) Notice also that God acts by the Spirit and the Word. The Spirit moved over the waters (Gen 1:2). And God said (Gen 1:3). God’s power responds to the Spirit and the Word.
(3) God said, “Let Us make man in Our image and likeness.” (Gen 1:26). The word translated as “God” (“Elohim”) in Gen 1:1 is plural in the original Hebrew. See also Gen 11:7. In this plurality, we see a hint of the Trinity at work. But the pluraity is also a Unity. See the words “he” and “his” in verse 27, and the word “I” in verse 29:
Genesis 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.
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
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 moveth upon the earth.
29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
Before we begin the study of the days, let’s also read Acts 15:18 and Isaiah 46:10. Known unto God are all His works from the beginning of the world (Acts 15:18). So God declares the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10). Here in Genesis 1, the DNA Chapter of the Bible, God outlines the whole course of the ages, just as the DNA molecule in the fertilized ovum in a mother’s womb outlines the details of the person who is to be born.
Here’s a summary of the Work of the Six Days:
THE WORK OF THE SIX DAYS
|
Day 1 |
Light |
Day 4 |
Lights |
|
Day 2 |
Waters |
Day 5 |
Waters |
|
Day 3 |
Earth |
Day 6 |
Earth |
Now note these differences:
In the first day, God shines light into a dark scene.
In the fourth, God divides and arranges the light.
In the second day, the waters are divided, with the firmament of heaven set over the sea.
In the fifth, God furnishes sky and sea with living creatures: fowls (birds) for the sky and fish for the sea.
On the third day, God causes the earth to surface out of the sea as out of a mikveh, and on it He places grass, herb and fruit trees.
In the sixth, God places all land creatures and finally Man on the earth, with food for both.
In all this we see the perfection and precision of Scripture.
We will now study how the first three days contained the DNA of the first three ages after the fall of man.
DAY 1. Gen 1:3-5.
LIGHT INTRODUCED.
Notice that light was introduced, shone, not created. A division is made. Part of the earth is light (day), and part is yet dark (night).
This day foreshadows the first “Age” from Adam to Noah, a period of 1656 years, during which time God gave man Light – the Light of Creation, the Light of Conscience and the Light of Revealed Truth.
The Light of Creation
Man had the “light of creation” from the beginning. It is a divine witness for God. (Psa 19:1-6. Rom 1:20; 10:16-18.)
The Light of Conscience
God gave to man the Light of Conscience which, in spite of sin, still remains, in a measure, in the whole human race (Rom 2:15).
The Light of Revealed Truth
God gave additional Light concerning the coming of a Deliverer, the Savior (Gen 3:15-21). Animals were killed by God for Adam and Eve. Thus they were cleansed spiritually by the animals’ blood and then clothed physically in the animals’ skins. This was a type of the “Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8).
Abel, Enoch, Noah, received the Light of Revealed Truth by faith and were blessed (Heb 11:4-7). Thus, along the line of Seth (whom God gave to Adam and Eve in place of the slain Abel) the light shone for ten generations (Gen 5).
But along the line of Cain, there was increase of darkness, lust, corruption, and violence (Gen 4 and 6). The sons of Cain corrupted and killed the children of light … till God was forced to judge the whole earth by flood.
Though by Noah’s time there were only eight people who had the Light, God found the Light good (Genesis 1:4). So God commanded Noah to build an ark, and Noah and his family were preserved for a new beginning on the post-Flood earth.
DAY 2. Gen 1:6-8.
HEAVEN’S RULE (GOVERNMENT ESTABLISHED)
The physical heaven was a power through which the waters were drawn up and became the clouds, the bottles of heaven (Job 38:37), to empty themselves on earth (Eccl 11:3a), for correction or for mercy (Job 37:11-13).
This day foreshadows the second “Age” from Noah to Abraham. The sword of justice was given to Noah (Rom 13:1-4). So government was established. Noah, as man’s representative head, was made responsible to govern the earth (Gen 9:6). See also Ro 13:1-7. 1 Ti 2:1-3. 1 Pe 2:13-17.
(Of course, if a government orders us to do that which is contrary to God’s revealed Word, then what applies to that situation are scriptures like the following: Dan 3:16-18; Acts 4:19-20; 5:29.)
Noah failed in his responsibility to govern … even to govern himself (Genesis 9:20-21). His sons followed his failure, and soon his descendants fell into the awful sin of idolatry (Rom 1:21-32. Josh 24:2,24).
Failure in this responsibility will continue until the Lord Jesus returns (Eccl 3:16. Ezek 21:25-27). At that time, the dominion that Adam lost will be given to the Lord Jesus. And the government which Noah and his successors failed to implement properly will be laid upon His shoulders (Isa 9:6-7). And the crown that was taken from the last wicked prince in Israel will be placed upon His brow. Man will then learn that “the heavens do rule” (Dan 4:17,25-26), with the result described in Isa 32:16-17.
In this respect, all governments have failed. Note that on the second day (Genesis 1:6-8), God pronounced nothing good, which is said of each of the other five days. When Christ assumes the Government, that Government will be wholly good and God’s will shall at last be done on earth as in heaven (Matthew 6:10. Luke 11:2).
DAY 3. Gen 1:9-13.
THE DRY LAND APPEARS
Raised up out of the mikveh of Genesis 1:2, the dry land now appears (Genesis 1:9), and is established as a visible part of earth and separated from the waters (which are given boundaries, Job 26:10). The earth is made fruitful (Genesis 1:11-12).
This third day points to the third “Age” from Abraham to Christ. On the third day, the dry land appeared. In the third “Age”, God’s earthly people appeared, starting with Abraham, the head of that race. Abraham was called to come up and be separated from idolatry, like the earth coming up and being separated from the waters. His descendants are the people of the Land that God gave to the children of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob..
From Abraham to Messiah, the history of God’s earthly people, Israel, is divided into four sections.
a. From Abraham to Moses (under whom the Law was given).
b. From Moses to Solomon (who built the Temple).
c. From Solomon till the Babylonian captivity (from which a remnant returned).
d. From the Babylonian captivity to the Cross on which Messiah died for our sins (Daniel 9:26 – Isaiah 53:5-6).
250 years after Solomon’s death, ten tribes were carried away captive by the King of Assyria (2 Kings 17:6-23), and seemed to have disappeared by assimilation among the Gentiles. But in modern times, through DNA testing, it has become possible to identify the lost tribes, an identification which seems required by a prophecy made in Revelation 7.
The remaining two tribes, were carried away to Babylon (about 130 years after the ten tribes), this time by Nebuchadnezzar, as predicted by Jeremiah the prophet (2 Chron 36:20-21. Jer 25.8-14). They remained in captivity for seventy years, after which a remnant returned to the land in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah. At this time, the whole future history of that people till Messiah’s Kingdom (the Millennium) was revealed to Daniel. Seventy weeks (of years), that is, 490 years, were appointed, and these were divided into three periods: The first period was to last seven weeks (49 years) for the rebuilding of the city and walls. The a second period was to last 62 weeks (434 years) until Messiah the Prince was cut off but not for himself (Dan 9:24-27), that is to say, until He died for others.
So, 69 weeks (483 years) were fulfilled when Christ was rejected (cut off, crucified), leaving the third period, one week, of Daniel’s prophecy yet to be fulfilled in the future.
When Messiah was cut off, God ceased dealing directly with His earthly people. We observe a great break in Jewish history. Israel, now cut off for their rejection of the Messiah, was set aside for a time, while God visited the Gentiles, taking out of them a people for His name. (Rom 11. Acts 15:14-16.) This is God’s spiritual people and these people are the Church, the Body of Christ. After the Body of Christ is complete, the Church “Age” will close and God will start dealing directly with the Jews, and giving His message through the Jews, once again. Immediately after the closure of the Church Age, the fulfillment of Daniel’s last week (7 years) will follow.
We are now living in a transition period in the Church Age, a transition to Daniel’s last week. Just as the time of Noah’s preaching and the Great Flood was the transition between the pre- and the post-flood ages, just as the scattering of people following the confusion of tongues was the transition between the Age of Human Government and the Patriarchal Age, just as Israel in Egypt was the transition between the Patriarchal Age and Israel as a nation, just as the ministry of Moses and the journey through the wilderness were the transition between Israel in Egypt and Israel in the Land, just as the period between the angel’s announcement to Mary and the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles was the transition between the Age of Law and the Age of Grace (the Church Age), so the resurrection of the nation of Israel in 1948 and the ongoing return of Jews to the Land is a transitional period between the Church Age and the coming Tribulation Age.
The present “Church Age” stands in a pair of brackets between the 69th and the 70th week.
The Cross of Calvary closes Daniel’s 69th week and closes also the third “Age” typified by Day Three of Creation.
The Cross stands at the close of the third “Age” and at the start of the next three, that is, the Cross stands in the center of the six “Ages”.
Eternity Past, before the Ages began, looked forward to Calvary (the Lamb was slain in God’s Intention before the foundation of the world, Revelation 13:8). And in Eternity Future, with the hosts which no man can number, the saved ones will look back on Calvary with gratitude and admiration. And the Cross will always stand out as the prominent object in Time and Eternity.
Just as the six “Ages” are divided down the middle by the Cross, so the six Days are also divided down the middle in Genesis 1. Thus:
THE WORK OF THE SIX DAYS
|
Day 1 |
Light |
Day 4 |
Lights |
|
Day 2 |
Waters |
Day 5 |
Waters |
|
Day 3 |
Earth |
Day 6 |
Earth |
Do you see now something of the wonderful perfection and precision of Scripture?
Similarly mankind is divided according to which side of the Cross they stand on. (John 3:16,36. Rom 6:23.)
Thanks be to God, Jesus is no longer on the Cross. He is risen. He has left the sepulcher behind. He is now ascended to the right hand of God. He sits on God’s throne. He is a glorified Man in Heaven.
The Lord, having led out His disciples, ascended up to Heaven in their sight from the Mount of Olives. To this very Mount He will return when He comes to claim the Kingdom and to reign. (Luke 24:50-51. Acts 1:9-12. Zech 14:1-9.)
To sum up the above 3 Days/Ages in terms of the chart of Dispensations/Ages,
Day/Age 1 corresponds to the Dispensations of Innocence and Conscience.
Day/Age 2 corresponds to the Dispensation of Human Government.
Day/Age 3 corresponds to the Dispensations of Promise (Patriarchal Families) and Law (Nation/Synagogue).
To view the above-mentioned five dispensations in context of all the dispensations, click on 9 Dispensations which takes you to the Telescopic View of the Dispensations.
Or (recommended) click on Dispensations – the Overview which takes you to the Cinemascopic View of the Dispensations.
Or go on to Bible DNA: II
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