Shadowland: Beginnings

Shadowland: Beginnings: Week 4

Putting it all together: Genesis 1:1

בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית בָּרָ֣א אֱלֹהִ֑ים אֵ֥ת הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וְאֵ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ:

א ב ג ד ה ו ז ח ט י כך ל מם נן ס ע פף צץ ק ר ש ת	Aleph Bet, Gimmel Dalet Hey, Vav [and] Zayin, Chet Tet Yod, Kaf Lamed Mem, Nun Samekh Ayin, Pey Tsade Qof, Resh Shin Tav,	אֵ֥ת -הַ -וְ -בְּ ים- עַל־	Placed before direct object Definite article prefix Conjunctive prefix (and/but) Preposition prefix: in Masculine plural suffix Preposition: upon
רֵאשִׁ֖ית בָּרָ֣א אֱלֹהִ֑ים שָּׁמַ֖יִם אָֽרֶץ	Beginning; first cause (he) created God heavens earth

The Second and Third Days: Sea and Sky, Land and Sea

Figurative Meanings

Arthur Pink (a gap theory proponent) describes a type of the work of Christ in Genesis 1 in Gleanings in Genesis".

1:2 The void and formless earth foreshadows the ruined earth under the darkness of sin.
1:3-4 Christ is the Light that shines in the darkness at the incarnation. "There will be no need of the sun or moon...and its lamp is the Lamb." Revelation 21:23
As the darkness typifies sin, so there will be no more sin in the new earth: "And there will be no more night." Revelation 22:5
1:5 The Father approves the Son: "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased." Matthew 3:17
1:6-7 The cross divides sin from God. "He became sin that knew no sin." "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" Psalm 22 "He was cut off from the land of the living.." Isaiah 53 "The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world" Revelation 13:8 As the firmament divides the waters above and below, the cross divides the peoples of the earth. "They crucified Him, and two others with Him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst." John 19:18 "And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." Revelation 20:15 "The preaching of the Cross is to them that perish, foolishness." 1 Cor 1:18
1:8 The second day was not pronounced "good".
1:9-10 On the third day, the earth rises again (gap theory) from the deep waters and brings forth new life. "And there was no more sea." Revelation 21:1
1:11-12 "Except a kernel of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it abides alone. But if it dies, it brings forth much fruit." John 12:24 "...on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations." Revelation 22:2

Literal Interpretations

"It is also frequently asked what our belief must be about the form and shape of heaven according to Sacred Scripture. Many scholars engage in lengthy discussions on these matters, but the sacred writers with their deeper wisdom have omitted them." Augustine, Literal Meaning of Genesis, Book 2, Chapter 9.

1:6 In Augustine's time, the firmaments was assumed to be the celestial sphere, in which the stars are embedded. The question was, how could the stars appear to move if the firmament were fixed? Before you laugh, think how much modern science has changed with relativity, and then quantum mechanics.
"Who alone stretched out the heavens and trampled the waves of the sea" Job 9:8 "Who covers yourself with light as with a garment: who stretches out the heavens like a curtain" Psalm 104:2 "stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in" Isaiah 40:22 A major feature of the Big Bang theory is the inflationary universe. Time and space expanded rapidly at the bang, and are still expanding. This seems to fit these references, but Genesis itself says nothing about stretching and the stretching references nothing about waters being divided.
1:11-12 Talmud commentators see the change in wording between God's command and the result as God giving Nature flexibility in how it fulfils His commands. This leads to yet another interpretation of Quantum Mechanics proposed by Gerald L Schroeder: "Free will" permeates the universe down to the quantum level.