A lot of people have trouble with the bible today because they think it sounds too fantastic, unreal. The explanations that science gives, big bang and evolution seem more logical and make more sense. After all, this is what science has figured out. This is the way I used to think, that creation was just an explanation thought up by man before science figured it out. But you don’t have to examine the bible very far to find the answers, it was examining genesis chapter one that got me believing. This is where we find the creation account.

Genesis chapter one says;

1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

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.

9 And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.

11 And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. 12 The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.

The creation of the earth continues in verse 20

20 And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.” 21 So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” 23 And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.

24 And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. 25 And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

26 Then 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 birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

When I read this, I thought back to what I had learned in science class in school. From what I remember it went something like this.

First there was something unknown that caused a huge explosion (God spoke), the earth was first a swirling ball of gasses ( without form and void v.2). The sun formed first (Let there be light v.3). As the gasses cooled the heavier ones became liquids and separated from lighter ones ( creating the expanse between the waters, v. 6,7). As the liquids cooled some became solid and land was formed (let the dry land appear v. 9). First plants appeared ( let the earth sprout vegetation v. 11) followed by sea life (verse 20). Then land animals appeared (verse 24) and man came last ( verse 26).

It struck me that everything I had learned in science was right here, and in the right order. How did Moses know these things? He was just a shepherd. How did Moses know that the earth was formed from a ball of gas, thousands of years before astronomers would have telescopes powerful enough to figure it out? How did Moses know that the earth was originally covered by water again thousands of years before archaeologists would discover evidence if it? The world Moses knew was mostly land! By his knowledge the land should have been made first. And how did Moses know the order in which life appeared on earth? If it were thought up using man’s knowledge at the time, logically man would be first and everything else would be created around man. For thousands of years man would still believe that the earth was the center of the universe. There’s only one logical explanation to all of this, how Moses knew it all, Moses got it straight from the one who did it all, God.

# The Holy Bible : English standard version. 2001 . Standard Bible Society: Wheaton (all verses)