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God and the Whistling Train Chap1 page 13

 

 

  

     

 God and the Whistling Train Chap1 page 13

This is a very interesting development that happens in these verses. First we need to note that the word “let” appears. It is used in the following verses when much was created, In the first instance diverse vegetation appears with all its diversity and complexity.

We have already looked at light as bathing the world in energy, but here we see the introduction of something which has a more direct purpose. We have seen energy being mentioned as light  that has a very broad spectrum. Plants require a narrow spectrum with appropriate temperature. This is set up through the sun with the addendum of the moon. In this case the sequence of the events is exactly what we expect of a creating and designing God. God created, and then provides the requirements to function.

The next aspect which is declared is that the sun and the moon is created. In the first instance for signs for seasons, days and years. This is interesting  because suggests that something  intelligent is coming. Someone smart enough to be able to see the meaning in the signs. It looks forward to the creation of mankind. In this we are starting to get a glimpse of the purpose of creation. It is from stars that a large number of our festivals have developed. Once again we see the predictability of the system. As we will see, all true festivals celebrate the pinnacle of mankind that is ‘Jesus’. (Despite the differences in language, there is an incredible similarity from culture to culture in terms of what stars suggest and their names mean.) 

As we look at the society from which the Hebrews were escaping, and the societies that they were encountering on their travels, there was a significant difference. The stars, the sun and the moon where key figures of worship; to them they were the God’s.  We need to note the very careful terms that are used for  describing them. The stars were lights. The sun was the larger light and the moon was the lesser light. They where created for a function. They were not in anyway operative in the creation process. They were made and not the maker.  They were inanimate and not made to be worshiped.

The implications of the statements and the words that follow are many. The first being that for seasons the earth has had to be put in an orbit around the Sun that is not circular, the earth must have an appropriate angle and distance from the sun to be able to achieve this. The notion of gravity now becomes significantly extended. It is not only to hold things on the earth and overcome centrifugal forces, but also to hold the sun and the moon and the earth in the relationship that enables seasons.

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God and the Whistling Train chapter 1 page 12

 

God and the Whistling Train page 12

This passage this very interesting. To be able to get day and night, God had to get the earth spinning. To do this, centrifugal forces are bought into play. If you have a weight on the end of a piece of string and you start to spin around, the weight which would've been dangling to your side, will move  away from your body. It will continue to move further away as you increase its speed. If the string breaks it will move off in a tangent. If you adapt this to the earth the same thing would happen with anything on it. So if there was a rock on the surface, and the earth started spinning, it will move away. The point is this, for spinning to happen, allowing the Earth to have day and night, God also had to develop gravity. And gravity is not a limited to the earth, as the moon landing  demonstrated.

Gravity, in terms of science is a fairly late addendum to human history. Again it is capable to predict what's going to happen. So we can send satellites into space and know how long they will be up for. We can send the space station to circle the earth, we know the impact of gravity and can program into it the ability to move so that it can maintain its position. Gravity is not something that is random, it's something that is planned. It is something that is important to us every day, but we take no notice of it.

Genesis 1:11-18 (NKJV) Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth”; and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. So the evening and the morning were the third day. Then 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 seasons, and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so. Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also. God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth, and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.

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God and the Whistling Train chapter 1 page 11

 

 

God and the Whistling  Train chapter1 Page 11

To use the word energy in the sense that we understand it today would not have meant much to people during many  periods of History. Now we understand that there are incredible variety of wavelengths and characteristics which could indicate that what happened here is far broader than what is indicated on a simple understanding of the third verse. At this point we see the mathematical and predictable character of God. Science tells us two basic laws to do with the energy. The first one is that Energy cannot be created or destroyed. This would reflect the character of what happened. The second law is the law of entropy and  says that the energy becomes increasingly harder to access. 

These two laws, and other laws of physics, all involve properties that are calculable, and predictable. Textbooks are full of laws and processes because of the certainty of the product. Some of the books are bigger than the Bible itself. What must be recognised is that the Bible in the simplicity provides the only theory that provides certainty and predictability. The reality is that is the Bible is more than a theory, it is a revelation. 

The interesting point about the laws of science is that they cannot be falsified. If that happened they would no longer be laws. Laws cannot happen in a random environment and certainly do not come out of nothing. They come from intelligence and purpose.  Furthermore, the laws of science came as part of the creation itself. They are part of the structure of creation. 

Genesis 1:4-5 (NKJV) And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness.  God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day. 

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God and the Whistling Train page 10

 

 

God and the Whistling Train page 9

Initially we are given a very interesting  picture, a picture of the Holy Spirit pondering chaos. The interesting point is not only the suggestion that God brings order out of chaos but the simple fact that the word for Spirit used is a feminine noun. This has implications for the next picture of the creation in chapter 2, where God creates both  male and female. We now have a different picture of the creation and we have the another aspect of Elohim,  the thinking, pondering Holy Spirit whose name is a feminine word. 

A further interesting point is that what the Holy Spirit was doing is similar in statement to what happened to Mary we she conceived Jesus.

Luke 1:35 (NKJV,) And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. Notice the word ‘overshadow’ is not that different to the holy spirit brooding over the chaos that was the earth. In Luke God is creating a new Kingdom. In Genesis he is creating new.

When we ponder the words ‘without form’ it is easy to say that the world then was chaotic but that is not entirely true. There are a whole lot of things that we take for granted that had to be placed there. These are the laws of physics and matter that become so important to creation as we discuss each of the steps that we are about to explain. We need to look carefully at each step. And as in the miracles discussed earlier that in  these simple steps there is much happening that we could not grasp if they were explained in full.

Genesis 1:3 (NKJV). Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. It is easy to say let there be light, because we all understand and it is comprehendible. 

We know that light has a variety of wavelengths and  purposes. Secondly, we know that the light was not suitable for plant growth and the sun and the moon, Will mentioned  later, provided a more appropriate light source for plants to grow. My thought is that the term energy would be a more precise term.

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God and the Whistling Train Chapter 1 Section9

 

 

God and the Whistling Train Chapter 1 Section9

 

Recently, I went past a church which had a sign “God is not three, he is one.” Well, the first word in the bible confirms that he is both three and one.

There is just a little bit more that we need to add. Normally when we have a plural word the verbs around it follow suite. That is if the noun is singular, the verb will be singular as well.  For example if there was one person whom we are discussing the words we use would be singular like ‘him’ and ‘her’  or ‘he’ and ‘she’ but if we are discussing more than one we would use a plural term like ‘they’. With the Word Elohim, which is plural, you would expect the verbs around it to reflect that status. However, they do not. They are singular. So the structure of the verbs indicate singularity where the noun is plural. This concurs with our understanding of the Trinity. God therefore is plural in nature but singular in action.

To most that is strange, but to us it is very simple. It simple because it is one of the fundamental facts of our belief. That is that God is one but he is also trinity. Father, Son and Spirit. Throughout the Bible we see this even when it is not actually recognised until the preaching of the disciples after the Ascension of Jesus. So the writers of the old Testament did not really grasp the implications of this first sentence.

Now that the Bible does not argue about God’s existence, it assumes that he is there. In that first sentence we get  the picture that God is creative. Now, while he would be creative in the same way that we would see an artist, he is more so. God creates out of nothing. He even creates the material that the artist uses. There are implications of this thesis which will be discussed later. 

The notion of God being assumed, as being there is tied up with the children of situation of the children of Israel at the time and who wrote these first five books.

As we see that God created we come to the next picture. The issue of course  is whether it is a new picture. My feeling is that if the first issue is complete in itself and that the next is another retelling that enlarges our understanding, but is still limited to extremely broad principles. 

Genesis 1:2 (NKJV,) The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.