

The Ancient Genesis:

Scripture and Evolution

Smashwords Edition

Copyright © 2009 by Becca Blackwelder
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or repro-duced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, includ-ing photocopying, recording, taping or by any information stor-age retrieval system without the written permission of the pub-lisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Eloquent Enraptures books may be ordered through local book venues and online retailers or by contacting the author:

http://beccasreligiousbooks.blogspot.com
This book is dedicated to my parents, Beverly and Dan, who have encouraged education and independent thinking. I also dedicate this book to all those who have discussed and debated various religious topics with me - to the truth-seekers of the world. Most importantly, I dedicate this book to my creator, YHVH God, who has blessed me abundantly in this life and gifted me with a heart for truth.
About the Author:

She graduated from the University of Central Florida with a de-sire to learn about other cultures and peoples. She traveled all over the world and has experienced many different cultures, be-liefs and ways of life. She was also influenced by experiences with in-depth studies of various spiritual topics.

Other religious books from this author:

Christianity and Sensibility

The Other Five Senses
Table of Contents:

Opening:

Part 1: The Creation and Evolution of Genesis:

Definitions

Hebrew Tradition

Hebrew Ancient Commentary

Schroeder's Interpretations

The Evolutionary Timeline

Summary

Human Evolutionary Timeline

Part 2: The Evolution of Man.

The Spirit of Adam

The Creation of Eve

Adam and Eve's Parents

Adam and Eve Fall

The Birth of Evil

Summary

Part 3: The Qabbalah

Qabbalah

Science

Imaginary Time

Qabbalah Secrets

The Missing Link

10 Sefirots

Part 4: The Ancient Rabbinical Interpretative Accounts of Gene-sis page

### This book is layered with depth and may require sev-eral readings to fully digest the information.
Opening:

My initial intention was not to write a book, nor to attack any-one's fundamental beliefs. I am simply deeply devoted to re-searching and discovering truth. Three years after accumulating so much information from ancient Rabbis, current Rabbis, scien-tists, early church fathers, Hebrew definitions, culture and tradi-tions, I found that I needed to store this information, as well as my ideas, into solid form so that I could always go back to it. The book was then born and progressed through a year of further developments and changes.

I entitled this the Ancient Genesis because it was in research-ing ancient Rabbis' commentaries, early church fathers and their understandings of the text as well as researching the ancient He-brew language, that brought light for me to many issues of to-day. This understanding of the text, then, is something new for most people, but really it is an old understanding coupled with modern science to help reveal the secrets and plainest truths of the scripture.

Upon reading this, your beliefs will most likely be challenged. Upon being challenged; however, there is a plethora of infor-mation that I hope will encourage you in your own searches for truth, whether or not you agree with my conclusions.

I found my own traditions and beliefs challenged as well in this research, but in the end found that to be true to the word of God, I had to let go of these 'comfortable' traditions in light of truths. A famous writer once said, 'those who want to be comfortable will lose comfort in the end, but those who want truth will find truth and in the end also be comforted in that truth.'

When Christians say 'Christian Science', what really is being taught is often Christian fiction. The churches feed us infor-mation that is actually not scientifically accurate, but sounds convincing. This is because they themselves are misguided. Though well intentioned, they are driving their feet into the ground of literalism and traditions, unknowingly preventing the very growth they are suppose to encourage. **Ninety five percent of the known scientists are telling us the truth about what they are observing.** Five percent make up the 'creationists', and they are mocked by scientists as wasting the real scientists' time.

I have researched this topic for over four years. I began by thinking I was going to disprove evolution to myself; instead, I found that it was true. It is the will of God. It is not contradicto-ry to the Bible and in fact is in the Bible.

The problem is that in recent years, because of this influx of science, many Christian organizations and pastors are pushing their feet into the ground, saying, 'we won't budge,' and 'evolu-tion is evil'. They don't want to look at any other point of view that contradicts their fundamentals. They teach children their way in church, and instead of encouraging independent thinking, they tell their congregation what to think.

Atheists, on the other hand, are pushing an agenda of 'evolu-tion proves there is no God.' **Both sides are wrong.** The pastors are wrong for not understanding Genesis and not being open to welcome other perspectives. The atheists are wrong for pushing an anti-God agenda, atheists like 'Dawkins'.

**Evolution makes no assertions or claims on the origins of life or on whether God exists or not.** Let me say that again: Evolution makes no assertions or claims on the origins of life or on whether God exists or not. It only gives us the evidence of what life has been doing since it has existed: evolving, changing and (becoming closer to what God wants, in my view).

Before this rush of science, many thinkers, early church fathers, Rabbis, philosophers, and Kabbalists read the Bible and were free to think and come to their own conclusions. Some Rabbis like Maimondies said that Genesis is a metaphorical account, yielding spiritual truths. Some Rabbis said it was literal, but the point was freedom of thought and an encouragement of think-ing.

Some wondered about 'yom'- 'day' - is it long? Is it short? A famous Rabbi Rashbam, the great grandson of Rashi, asks that very question in his commentary, asking whether it was a long or short time from Moses to the creation in Genesis. Moses himself addresses this in Deuteronomy and says the 'days of old' and the 'years of many generations'.

To Moses, Creation was 'old'. Rabbi Nachimandies, or Ram-ban, calls the mayim –prime matter- which today in the English text is translated as 'water'. There are many eye-opening secrets when one studies the ancient texts and comments. I don't think they were meant to be secret, but they have become that way to many Christians today, who don't know who these rabbis are, or what the ancients thought of the scriptures. The lack of knowledge also exists for many Jews who are familiar with the names, but lack any real study of the ancient Rabbis' works.

**I personally view Genesis 1 as literal, and Genesis 2 with Adam and Eve as literal people in a literal place bounded up with symbols and metaphors.** But then, how can I read Genesis 1 literally and also take science literally?

Because they are saying the same exact thing. It is just that today we are in our modern-day mind-set, reading our modern-day English Bibles, thinking we have it all figured out. The truth is that most of us don't really know the first thing about the Cre-ation stories in Genesis, except what we were told by our Sun-day-school teachers. Those who have studied it usually have only studied the English versions and understandings of it. You will hardly ever see a Christian who knows who Rabbi Ramban or Rambam are, or a Christian who even considers commentary out-side of his own Greek-Roman influenced modern texts.

But how are we to understand the Ancient Hebrew if we are not going to understand the ancient culture, its people and language, and how the Rabbis of their time and after may have understood their words and the words of the scrip-ture?

If I want to understand something written by Hebrew people in a Hebrew culture of a Middle-East mindset, I need to look to people who speak old Hebrew, understand the ancient culture and mindset, and read their ideas and comments, and learn from them. I'd better look at the original old Hebrew language myself and find out what it is telling ME, and not what a pastor tells me it is saying to me.

In doing that, I have found that there is no contradiction, only what seems to be contradiction from a lack of deep study with the word. Christians today do so much surface reading, but Jews 2,000 years ago read in-depth. They could take years to study a single chapter thoroughly. The Genesis is layered with deep meanings and understandings for anyone willing to listen to it. This book addresses many of the points I have found in my stud-ies. Specifically: Evolution is not evil. God guided it and contin-ues to guide it.

I ask that every reader approach this reading with a mind that is open. Do not limit your thought only to the teachings of sci-ence or to the teachings of your local church. We must ask our-selves, 'is this belief I have been taught based on something sound in the Bible, or is it based on a tradition passed down to me?' Often those who are good-intentioned can miss what is meant in the Word of God. Erroneous ideas are frequently passed down from generation to generation, not really supporting the truth of God's creations or His Word.

We have to remember that in 60 A.D., Christianity started be-coming more gentile than Jewish, and began breaking away from her Jewish brothers in language, tradition, culture and under-standing. We have to also be aware that this fusion was sealed after Constantine, the first Christian Roman Emperor, unified the Catholic Church under Rome about 1700 years ago, giving it a lot of power - empirical power. It was unified with Paganism and often misunderstood the original scriptures.

Since Rome dominated the world, so did the teaching of the Church at that time and is the ultimate source of a lot of our mis-information today. The Church was not able to accept Jewish views, discarding Judaic teachings in favor of Greek and Roman pagan teaching. They embraced ideas that were more accepted by common gentile people than Judaism, with all of its rules and particular behaviors.

This is the reason we have Easter eggs, which originally were in honor of the fertility god of the pagans. They have nothing to do with Christ's crucifixion and resurrection. This is the reason for the Easter bunny, Christmas trees, and why Mass is held on Sunday, the first day of the week, and not Saturday, the true Sabbath and seventh day of the week. Most Christians do not even know what a Saturday Sabbath is, and yet it is commanded for us to keep in the Ten Commandments.

This is the reason that most Christians have no idea what the seven feasts of Israel are, although they were commanded to be kept in the Hebrew scriptures through Moses, and they reveal to us the fulfillments of Christ Messiah. Many do not even know what the Passover means. This is the reason many Christians view Christ's sacrifice as offering forgiveness, when sacrifice of the Lamb was for atonement, and forgiveness was always made available for anyone with a prayerful and repenting heart.

There are many similar issues in regards to salvation, Messiah, Genesis, Women in Church leadership, that are wrongly under-stood because of the lack of Jewish understanding being re-placed by gentile misunderstanding. These various issues are dis-cussed in my book, Christianity and Sensibility. In this book, however, I will discuss only the issue of evolution and God in relationship to the Genesis account.

Many traditions and beliefs are in error, and these errors have been passed down continuously to us through Catholic and Protestant teachings in our local churches. Most pastors learn from similar theological backgrounds and universities, and like-wise share a common thinking. Let us not tell our congregation what to think, but let us teach them how to think

For example: Galileo was a deeply religious man, but also a sci-entist, who discovered that the earth rotates around the sun. The Catholic Church, because of its misunderstanding of the scrip-ture in Joshua 10:12, declared him to be a heretic and imprisoned him. We now know that Galileo was right, and we now know the same about the book of Joshua. We say the sun rises and the sun sets. But we speak from what it is doing for us, our human perspective, not from scientific or literal interpretation. Let us look at this debated scripture:

O sun, stand still over Gideon,

O moon, over the valley of Aijalon,

So the sun stood still,

And the moon stopped,

Till the nation avenged itself on its enemies.

This is poetic and descriptive of what the sun and moon are doing from the earth's point of view, from Joshua's point of view. If the earth had stopped rotating, the sun and moon would be standing still to him – not because the sun and moon stopped moving, but because we stopped moving.

Let us not close our mind to truth, simply because it doesn't fit our preconceived versions of it, because we could just be wrong, and that doesn't help us or the truth of God. I like to define my-self as a Messianic Christian, which is a third branch of Christi-anity, separate from Catholic and Protestant thinking. It is a re-turn to our Jewish roots in faith.

My Biblical Scientific Views:

Day 1:

The only supernatural creation - (Quantum Fluctuations)

God's light bara (Ex Nihilo) 'energy/forces from nothing'.

All the energy and forces needed for creation.

The 1 force became 4 natural forces (which led to the natural laws) All of the processes afterward followed natural processes using the energy and four natural forces born.

The forces and energy were born simultaneously. Energy with-out the forces/laws could not form a successful universe and life. Forces/laws without the energy is essentially nothing, boundaries of nothing. Therefore they both needed each other, and are in-terwoven into each other's fabric. Born with the first use of Bara in day 1.

The only physical creation.

Day 2, 3, 4, 5, 6:

God asah, or used natural processes to guide, form, make, command, direct information. In day 5 and 6 bara is used for the creation of the soul in animals and spirit in mankind. This is not for the physical creations. Understanding Rosh Hashanna helps to see this.

My chronological scientific views:

Quantum Fluctuations

Natural Inflationary big bang

Cosmological natural evolution

First life through natural processes

Biological natural evolution

I define myself as a Theist Evolutionist.

I personally view **YHVH God as a supreme, infinite, spiritu-al, intelligent force** , as a spark for the birth of 'energy from nothing' at the Big Bang, which was interwoven with the natural forces/laws.

Our natural world is governed by these laws, and the energy is finite within it. However, God, this source of energy, is infinite and is therefore not bound by these laws. This is why, in the be-ginning, Ex Nihilo is possible with the seeming formation of en-ergy out of nothing. (Mathematically Infinities are not bound by our natural laws). To me this is simply a transferring of energy from a spiritual plane of existence (Hashem himself) into our natural plane - the creation and formation of our natural plane.

After this energy transfer from God to this natural world, the **energy is separated** from its infinite source, **making it finite and bound to laws** of physics which were established by God. I view these laws as being established to predominately guide our universe and the life on our earth, which 9.5 times out of 10 is guided by it. I would say 95% of the existence of everything has been established through natural processes alone. The other 5% is with this life force, Hashem, supernaturally affecting the natural world.

**Bara** (The Hebrew word for something from nothing as in a miracle or Ex Nihilo) is used for three purposes only in the Genesis account.

' **in the beginning HASHEM CREATED' is the first use of bara** and the creation of all the energy/photons which formed protons/neutrons/electrons in day 1, as well as the 4 forces and subsequent laws that would be needed to yield the creation

Ancient Rav Ezra says, 'God used natural forces to set boundaries.

Everything out of nothing - Day One

**Rosh Hashanah** is seen commemorating this time with the first blow of the trumpet. Inflationary Big Bang is also my favor-ite scientific theory, which would have been 'in the beginning', created by YHVH.

**Quantum Fluctuations** within the study of Quantum physics reveals that 'something from nothing' (as in, all this energy from nothing) for our universe's origins is probable and many physi-cists, including Stephen Hawking, now agree that is what oc-curred: all of this came from nothing.

This 'seemingly' violates the first law of second dynamics temporarily. But from above, you can see how this energy is merely switching planes of existence, and thus is not in reality 'something from nothing' or violating the natural laws. Though as far as the natural world is concerned, it is 'something from nothing', because it once was not and now it is.

However we must also note that the 2nd law of thermody-namics applies to the finite and breaks down with the infinite and is not applicable in the very early beginnings of our universe, and applies only to a closed/isolated system. The universe is most likely not closed, as it is interconnected to wormholes of other universes and if you believe in God, God would also be that outside source of energy.

**The second use of bara (creation of the spirit of animal life)** \- Day Five. This also corresponds to the Cambrian Explosion in science. I think this use of bara is indicating a spiritual creation, the creation of the soul of animal life here, as is seen in Rosh Hashanah with its second trumpet sound.

**God also commands life to become fertile** and 'swarm with swarms', which is what it does according to **Cambrian Explo-sion** findings. Oxygen levels increase, an atmosphere is forming, the snowball earth is melted away and green lush plants are able to birth and develop now. Animal life is able to sustain itself. Cell life becomes complex at this time on the scientific timeline, and complex animal life appears abundantly. Without this abun-dance of complex animal life, we may not have emerged at all.

In Rosh Hashanna this second trumpet blow is for the creation of animal life. Interestingly, is that each blow, three, represents a CREATION / BARA stated in the Genesis account. As I said earlier, the usage of Bara in Genesis is for three purposes.

**The third use of bara (the creation of the spirit of man)** – Day Six. This bara is indicating a spiritual creation of man, which is in the image of Hashem himself. This image, according to Ez-ra, is a spiritual one, that of an eternal soul, and according to the other ancient rabbis (Rashi, Rashbam, maimondies, aand Ram-bam, nahimandies) this image is one of 'wisdom', 'understand-ing', 'intelligence', 'thought', and 'action'.

This spirit that was bara seems to yield all the above character-istics, because to be given a spirit is also to be these things. These may be the characteristics needed for our 'reason', 'morality', 'conscious', 'judgment' and consequently our 'accountability which marks the appearance of Adam'.

God's image is not a physical one, it is spiritual

Mankind is being made in the image of YHVH God. Man is 'wise, understanding, morally conscious, spiritual.' Therefore ac-countability soon will follow. This third use of bara also can be found in the celebrations of Rosh Hashanah with the third trum-pet sound, celebrating the creation of the soul of man. When we were made in God's image, God gave us a SPIRIT. This is unique to the _Homo sapiens sapiens._ Day 6 is not Adam. It is Mankind, generally speaking. All of the mankind population, _Homo sapiens sapeins_ , received a Spirit.

Though _Homo sapiens sapiens_ appeared about 200,000 years ago, this spiritual awakening occurred, in my view, about 50,000 years ago. This marks the revolution of mankind in art, crafts, 'thinking', language; Man is giving meaning to things all over the world.

50,000 years - spiritually speaking, the scripture tells us that God has revealed himself to a 1,000 generations When added up, given that early generations were a 1000 and 500 years long, this leads to 50,000 years. So _Homo sapiens sapiens_ received the spirit in the image of God about 50,000 years ago. _The Homo erectus, Homo habilis_ , and even the _Homo sapien_ and other an-cestors of man, were 'animals with a soul'. Remember, in day 5, all animal life received a soul with the second purpose of bara.

However, a spirit is akin to God and to the Homo sapiens sapiens 50,000 years ago, at the point of the 'awakening'.

Adam was one of many evolved _Homo sapiens_ , but he is unique in that his story marks the turning point of mankind. He becomes separate from his creator and begins to communicate with him, asking about his existence, and to be held accountable by Him for his shortcomings and sins. **Adam** marks the eating from the **'tree of knowledge of good and evil** ' and thus justly **marks the beginning of mankind's accountable, spiritual journey.**

Adam and Eve are significant because they mark the moment the _Homo sapiens sapeins_ became aware of sin, and thus became accountable for his/her spiritual decisions and actions, 'from na-ked to now being clothed'. Remember above, I said accountabil-ity soon follows.

This is the definition of 'man' in Hebrew and Greek, one who is aware, one who is perishing, one of sin, one of God, of Christ. All these definitions take affect AFTER Adam.

This is why he is the First Man.

I have included the Hominid timeline for you at the end of Part One.

**All the natural creation days - 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 -** use asah and commands. They are not using the verb bara, 'to create as from nothing'.

Only day 1 uses bara for the creation of the natural world.

Day 5 and 6 use asah and bara; the bara used is for the creation of the soul and spirit, not the natural world. The asah is used for the natural processes. The only time 'exotic physics' in our natu-ral world took place was in day 1, possibly quantum fluctuations. The other days - 2, 3, 4 ,5, 6 - all involved the laws of physics as we know them to be, and followed the natural laws. This is WHY God created these natural forces/laws, because he wanted them to guide his creation. He did not create them to then subse-quently defy them. This is seen by the usage of asah, and God commanded in those days.

This is also ancient Rav Nahimandies' (1100 A.D.) view. He predates modern science, and so his conclusions are based upon his closeness to God, his study of the Hebrew language and cul-ture, and study of his ancients. It is not based in a rationale from modern science.

The rabbi Nahimandies calls asah, **'creation by in-formation'** and he calls bara **'creation from nothing'**. (As seen in his com-mentaries and in the back of my book)

God used two ways to create (asah and bara).

It was not all bara, or 'Ex Nihilo', as most churches teach to-day. Unfortunately the churches and their leaders are ignorant of science and scripture, and thus are misleading many young mem-bers.

**Nahimanides/Ramban** wrote that ' _since the world came into existence God's blessings did not create something from nothing instead the world functions according to its natural patterns._ '

Nahmanides said that before the universe, there was nothing... but then suddenly the entire creation appeared as a minuscule speck. He gave a dimension for the speck: something very tiny like the size of a grain of mustard. And he said that was the only physical creation.

There was no other physical creation; all other creations were spiritual. The Nefesh (the soul of animal life) and the Neshama (the soul of human life) are spiritual creations. There was only one physical creation, and that creation was a tiny speck. The speck is all there was. Anything else was God. In that speck was all the raw material that would be used for making everything else. Nahmanides described the substance as "dak me'od, ein bo mamash" -- very thin, no substance to it. And as this speck ex-panded out, this substance -- so thin that it had no essence -- turned into matter as we know it.

In my researching, I have found that it is not that science con-tradicts the Genesis account or even other religious texts. What makes most people feel uncomfortable is that science contradicts the old traditional ideas of their faith.

It is these old traditional ideas that will be challenged in this reading, not the scripture, as I am a follower of YHVH and Ye-hoshua myself and consider their words to be of the utmost im-portance.

We need to know that there are ancient texts with religious (Kabbalah, Rumi) and cultural (Greek) importance that embrace the idea of evolution. Evolution does not have to be viewed as a negative quality. Many modern-day spiritual people in Islam, Christianity, and Judaism view evolution in a positive light. These are often people of science in their faith. Unfortunately, many still view it in a negative light. That is partly because of the Neo-Darwin approach to understanding evolution, which is pur-poseless, coupled with the common misunderstandings of evolu-tion based on a lack of study.

But Darwin missed understanding very important points of evolution. For example, he proposed that the female was monog-amous and only the male was predisposed to promiscuity. Mod-ern biologists show us that male and female in every species are both predisposed to promiscuity. Darwin also mistakenly said that he could conceive of a whale, given enough time, inter-mating and becoming a monstrous thing. After Mendel gave us the Laws of Genetics, we soon learned that would not be so. Darwin missed another vital point in evolution with the idea that it is purposeless.

Darwinism, much like Newtonian Laws, gave us the funda-mentals. But since then we have learned that everything is much more complex than ever could be imagined. From the atom, to the cell, to the universe and biological life, everything is a more and more complex instrument. Justly so, the theories of old have to 'evolve' with the information of today. Mutation and Natural Selection alone fail in explaining everything in the diversity and success of life for many scientists.

This is not to say that we throw out Darwin's theories alto-gether. We learn from them and develop stronger and more sup-ported theories. Perhaps we will find the gene alone is not, but that the Epi-Genome is responsible for more of this speciation and success than we realized. As Newton's laws of gravity are to the General and Special Relativity Laws, Darwinism is to Bio-logical Evolution. It is a beginning point for us to build from and grow. It does not mean that all the answers and questions need-ed were posed at Darwin's time or with his theory.

In fact Lamarck's ideas, adapted to today, may play a role in modern-day theories of Biological Evolution. I.e., the Epi-Genome shows us that many genes are shared among different species, but it is how the gene is expressed, by it being turned off or on, which determines its characteristics and appearance.

For example, a fish has a gene for a fin and we have a gene for fingers. That gene is in fact the same gene in both the fish and human, except that it is expressing itself differently in each. It is a very interesting phenomenon, and helps to explain more fully how evolution is possible. Mutation and natural selection do not act alone, and each new species is not reinventing the wheel. The wheel is used again and again in a variety of species, but this wheel is altered, functioning in different ways for different spe-cies.

**Evolution is very purposeful, with guided and organiza-tional mechanisms, for the creation purposes of YHVH.** Evo-lution does not have to be seen as a cruel method which God would never use. Most animals kill other animals to survive. This is seen every day in observation. This is cruel. Not accepting evo-lution does not change that fact in their design. In order for something to live, other living organisms must die.

Sometimes it is an animal, used for its meat. Sometimes it is plants, wheat, fruits, but whatever the organism, it has to die in order to supply life to another organism. When we eat, one kind of life is sacrificing its life for our own. Everywhere, one living organism is sacrificed for the sake of another's survival. That theme is essential also to the cross of Christ. His life was sacri-ficed for our own. However, it is often this cruelty of nature that is used to reveal the mercy and love of the spirit of YHVH, a spirit in whose likeness we were also made.

To find truth we have to be willing to consider all sides:

Galileo (rotation of the earth), Newton (Newtonian laws of gravity), Mendel (laws of genetics), Einstein (Special/General relativity). All these men had two things in common: a deep reli-gious sense and a devotion to the craft of science.

Geology, plate tectonics, linguistics, genetics, biology, anthro-pology, archeology all agree that the earth is between 3.5-4.5 bil-lion years old, and roughly 3 billion years ago the appearance of first life (bacterium). Cosmology and astronomy both agree that the universe is 15+ billion years old. Anthropology and archeolo-gy reveal tools used as far back as 250,000 years ago.

When someone asserts that the earth is only 6,000-10,000 years old, what is being attacked is not just the theory of evolution. Such an assertion defies most of the natural sciences. Evolution-ists use that information to make estimated dates for when the evolutionary processes may have taken place, and take the in-formation in each area to learn how and what may have been happening. Scientists in each of these fields all come to the same conclusions about the age of the earth and universe.

The only disagreements are with creation scientists. Within the creation science community there is a disagreement as well. Some are on the side of an old earth, and some are on the side of a young earth. However, upon researching 'young earth' infor-mation, I found only about 25% to be truly scientific. Many of these sites tend to quote one-liners from scientific work that in-dicates the work of evolution is being doubted, when in fact it is not and they have simply taken quotes out-of-context to support their thesis.

This is not looking at the matter fairly. If you really want an unbiased answer, you have to research both sides of the matter, from both Christians and atheist/agnostic scientists.

An idea should be able to hold up against Biblical scriptures **as well as scientific scrutiny** to be considered a possible truth. If the idea falls short in either area, then there is something wrong with the idea. God did not create His physical and natural laws to guide His creation, only to disobey these laws in the 6 days of creation. God established these laws and rules for nature to fol-low, and that is exactly what nature did.

A scientific theory is not what many people believe a theory to be. Many people call something 'a theory' when they are not. A scientific theory needs to be put together using the scientific method. It has been tested, retested, observed by a variety of different scientists in different fields of science, and has been shown to be true with supporting proof. A 'theory' is essentially considered a fact in the scientific community.

A theory is as strong as a law. Theories and laws reveal differ-ent things to us. The theory of gravity is supported by Newton's and Einstein's laws of gravity. The theory of evolution is sup-ported by the laws of natural selection, laws of fossil succession, vestigial characteristics. Laws are often supported by mathemat-ics and tell us what is happening. Theories often tell us why/how something is happening.

What about the second law of thermodynamics? Doesn't that make evolution impossible? I will sum this up for you in a way that was explained to me by my scientifically-minded friends:

Every second, the sun burns up tons of hydrogen fuel, losing some of its mass forever. This hydrogen fuel is converted into en-ergy. Some of this energy is intercepted by living things on the earth, which use this energy in all the ways that life uses energy. Some of this energy is stored to help with building more complex molecules. It is this energy which enables the evolution of life.

_The law does not say that in every part of a system, at all times, entropy can only increase. If that were true, nothing could work, like a car or a microwave. The law says that_ _in the system as a whole_ _, in the long run,_ _the entropy must increase_ _. Our system as a whole does have increasing entropy. But there are molecules whose entropy temporarily is not increasing._

Another point to bring up is that this law exists for closed sys-tems and most scientists will tell you the earth is an open system. The earth is influenced by energy sources outside of itself: the moon, the sun, the stars, asteroids, meteorites. Anything with energy/matter can affect the earth, and therefore it is hard to say it is not an open system.

For of those of you that are still not convinced, or for those that would like more info on this, try reading: Life on Earth - Flow of Energy and Entropy by Marek Roland-Mieszkowski, M.Sc., Ph.D.

This paper explains the missing component which is responsible for the creation of life on Earth. The concept of negative entropy (first introduced by E. Schrodinger) or information (Shannon) and the ability of the biosphere to effectively extract it from the sun's radiation is very important for life on Earth. This concept was not included in the original work of Darwin, which ex-plained the natural selection of species, but did not explain the origin and maintenance of life on Earth.

There is more daily-life evidence to show us that evolution is happening than for many other scientific theories. We don't question that the earth is round, or that the Newtonian laws of gravity exist, that time is relative, germs cause diseases, electrons exist, the earth orbits the sun, or that the speed of light is ~300,000 kilometers/second.

But we can see new varieties of plants and animals develop within our lifetimes. We can see bugs gain resistance to pesti-cides. We have seen the avian influenza go from virus to bird and mutate to go from bird to human. We can see the fossils of the now-extinct ancestors of living creatures. These other theo-ries we take for granted in science. The common man will never be able to measure the speed of light on his own or travel to space to see the earth's orbit first hand, nor will he ever see an electron. But we trust this to be true, because we trust what sci-entists have shown us to be true over the centuries.

This is not to say that life is an accident that happened by chance and evolution is a random act. Evolution and even abio-genesis include non-random and non-chance processes occurring naturally. **In fact most of nature is made up of processes, pat-terns, order, and always of laws to follow.** YHVH designed nature well. YHVH designed it to function on its own and to develop and grow. He designed a cosmological and biological system that would be self-sustaining, and driven towards order.

YHVH birthed the energy, yielding its four forces and natural laws: patterns to follow, guidelines to follow, like our own mat-ter following its genetic blueprint. All this giving rise to the pos-sibility of order, to nature driven to finding order to sustain it-self, and all the while embedded in its very own natural laws to do so. **God gave everything nature needed in Day 1 to form the universe and life he intended. Make no mistake, every natural law and every scientific find is there, because it is supposed to be there.**

Harold Morowitz, an evolutionary scientist, has estimated the chance formation in a prebiotic soup of the simplest living organ-isms at 1 in 10 to the 340 millionth power. (Energy Flow in Biol-ogy, p. 99). This probability is like flipping a coin a billion times and getting all heads.

H.P. Yockey, an agnostic scientist, says the chance of for-mation in a prebiotic soup of a single cytochrome C molecule is 1 in 10 to the 36th power for planets with the right conditions for 10 to the 9th power (one billion) years. (A Calculation of the Probability of Spontaneous Biogenesis by Information Theory, pp. 393, 396).Given our universe's age of approximately 15 bil-lion years, there has been fewer than 10 to the 18th power sec-onds expired.

However don't fall into that trap, because we also have to re-member that the earth billions of years ago contained very dif-ferent conditions than today. The statistics are based on proteins of modern-day, which are much more complex than proteins of billions of years ago.

The probability would be greatly affected if we consider those points. In abiogenesis there is no probability that can be estab-lished, because currently there are too many variables and un-knowns. The Laws of Biogenesis developed through Pasteur's work, though compelling to many creationists, really doesn't help that point of view for three reasons.

One reason is that these laws state that complex life cannot arise from non-life spontaneously, which is exactly what many creationists claim happened in the Genesis account. Secondly, because this is in reference to complex life only and abiogenesis proposes the first life forms were very simple, simpler than any-thing we see today. The third reason is that earth conditions were not the same billions of years ago as they are today, and so we cannot conclude that the work done in today's atmosphere would also be applicable to the atmospheric conditions billions of years ago.

**What scientific reasons are there for God?** Some say the **fine tuning of the universe**. There are 34 points which are per-fectly suited for life in our universe and on our planet. If any of these points differed just a bit, the universe or the earth would not exist. The Lambda, or cosmological constant, is one such act of fine tuning. 'Zero is a suspicious number. Imagine that over a ten-year period, you spend millions of dollars without looking at your salary, and when you finally compare what you spent with what you earned, they balance out to the penny. For the cosmo-logical constant to balance out to zero is even less likely.' (Sid-ney Coleman-The Quest For The Theory For Everything, pg. 146)

As Stephen Hawkins said in the 1980's to John Boslough, 'The odds of a universe like ours emerging out of something like the Big Bang are enormous. I think there are clearly religious impli-cations whenever you start to discuss the origins of the universe.'

This has led many scientists to accept the "Anthropic Princi-ple.'' One form of this implies a designer, because there is too much fine-tuning for it to be all chance. 'The more we discover on both the microscopic and the cosmic levels, the more we're struck with the impression that some careful planning, some in-credible fine-tuning, had to occur to make the universe a place where it is possible for us to exist.' (The Quest for the Theory of Everything, pg.93-94).

Another form of this offers the explanation that we exist; therefore we can observe all its fine-tuning, and that perhaps there are infinite universes and so a universe like ours is bound to pop up. Stephen Hawkings and others are working on this idea, with the cyclic theories and the no-boundary proposal, which incorporates string theory and wormholes.

Also the **theories of origins** are not like the theories of evolu-tion (cosmological and biological). 'Origins' is a very unsteady science, held together by weak theories, because it is difficult to gather needed information in these areas and look at the evi-dence.

**The origin of our universe** is still an enigma with questions of 'is the single point eternal or created?' 'What occurred before the Big Bang?' 'How did the Big Bang pop and why?' 'Did this en-ergy pop out of an infinite or finite source?' 'Is this source cyclic or a one-time event?' We know that the Big Bang was the be-ginning of our universe, and the Bible tells us of a beginning (within a beginning) as well, but what existed before the condi-tions of the Big Bang, before it 'popped', is anyone's guess.

**Origin questions of life** are also pondering, 'How did the first aquatic organism form?' 'What were the earth's conditions at the time?' 'What is the chance of life forming?'

Other questions revolve around **mankind** : 'How did he ac-quire moral intelligence, judgments, a consciousness, awareness, and why?' 'How do _Homo sapien sapien_ have the ability of complex language and complex thought?' 'What is a thought?' 'Is a thought energy?' 'Where does this energy go after death if energy cannot be created nor destroyed?' 'Is it cyclic, as in rein-carnation, or does it reside in a spiritual plane?'

Interestingly, it is with all these enigmas kept within the frame-work of science that there are very few answers. As much as sci-ence gives, it can't form solid answers around these questions. So we go to metaphysics, philosophy and theology.

Yes, after the very long climb of the natural sciences of biology and cosmology, a theologian is waiting at the top, to paraphrase an atheist scientist.

Some interesting statistics on www.religioustolerance.org

5 % of scientists are creationists

40% of scientists are theistic evolutionists

55% of scientists are naturalist evolutionists (Neo-Darwinists)

Another study suggested that 46 percent of Americans believe in creation, while 40 percent believe in a form of theistic evolution. Another 9 percent believe in only natural Neo Darwinism and the remaining 6 percent believe in something else.

A few quotes:

"God created the integers," wrote mathematician Leopold Krorecker, "all the rest is the work of man."

"My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble mind." Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955)

Einstein has rightly said, "All sciences, arts and religions are the branches of the same tree".

"What is it that breathes fire into the equations and makes a uni-verse for them to describe? Why does the universe go to all the bothering of existing? If I knew that then I would know every-thing important." Stephen Hawkings – The Quest for the Theory of Everything

In A Brief History of Time, he suggests that we might need a creator after all, and the ultimate triumph of human reason would be to 'know the mind of God.'

"It is difficult to discuss the beginning of the universe without mentioning the concept of God. My work on the origin of the universe is on the borderline between science and religion, but I try to stay on the scientific side of the border." Stephen Hawk-ings from The Quest for the Theory of Everything.

"It is quite possible that God acts in ways that cannot be de-scribed by scientific laws. But in that case one would just have to go by personal belief.'' Stephen Hawking from The Quest for the Theory of Everything.

When asked whether he thinks his science is in competition with religion, he answers, ''If one took that attitude, then Newton (who was a very religious man) would not have discovered the law of gravity."

"The war of nature, from famine to death, the most exalted ob-jects which we are capable of conceiving, namely, the production of higher animals, directly follows. There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed by the creator into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the laws of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful; and most wonderful have been, and are being evolved''. – Darwin, The Origin of the Species, sixth edition.

The Bible is the word of God. Science is God's observable truth of his Word. Science and the Bible are two sides to the same truth, like the head and tail side are two sides to the same coin. We need to look at both sides to understand the totality.

-Ami Blackwelder
Part 1: The Creation and Evolution of Genesis

In the Genesis account we begin in the universe, where dark-ness is everywhere until God made light in period 1. (In science the universe with its electrons/protons is first along with light or photons.) There is water, and God makes an expanse, separating the universe from the earth water in period 2. (In science, first life is theorized as possibly coming from water and is aquatic.)

Dry ground is formed as one piece in the beginning on this earth water in period 3. (In science, land is united over the water until the continents shift.) Period 4 introduces plant life, first liv-ing organism (I will show later that it is possibly microscopic. (In science, first life is also a microscopic plant-like organism - bacte-ria/Archaea/Eukaryotes).

Period 5 brings us to an abundance of life in the water, swarm with swarms. (In science, living animals begin also as aquatic life and spring up abundantly in the Cambrian Era.) We can infer here that amphibians and reptiles follow. Insects show up (not birds, as it's a bad translation), land animals appear, and then fi-nally man in our later account of period 6. (In science, insects, land animals or mammals appear and then lastly man.)

It moves in an almost identical order to the layout science has given us, with exceptions to period 2 with 'water', and period 3 with the plants, and period 4 with the stars/sun/moon.

Briefly I will outline for you the discrepancies and the Hebrew so that you may overview the reasons for it. Upon reading the entirety of Part 1, you will understand better the support for this timeline.

**bara** means: a miracle, something from nothing, of birth

**asah** means: using, guiding, preparing, maintaining, making

day 1 is **bara** for the prime matter of everything

day 2 is **commanded** light and separation

day 3 is **commanded** land, water, plants

day 4 is **asah** stars,sun, moon

day 5 is **bara** (Cambrian explosion) and asah animals

day 6 is **asah** and bara for mankind

I maintain that **asah** and c **ommanded** is guided evolution.

Mankind was both asah (evolved) and bara (spirit).

Bara in day 1 shows a creation of all prime matter/energy from nothing, a miracle. When you start to get that, you start to see the evolutionary timeline unfold in the Genesis.

Mayim which is translated water in day 1 and 2, should be transitory things, prime matter.

Plants from Day 3: let the earth bring forth eshe (grass, herbs, young), eseb (herb, grass, green plants) yielding zera (seed, se-men, fruitful, sowing, offspring, descendants, children, prosperi-ty, righteousness) p@riy (?) (fruit, offspring, children, progeny).

This can be understood as young plants that bring forth replica-tion (offspring), or microscopic plant organisms with DNA/RNA ability as well as photosynthesis. Translators assumed these plants were plants we see with our eyes, like banana trees or bushes. But they were not. They were eukaryotes.

The sun was not created in day 4, it was asah in day 4. It was guided and maintained for its purposes to be seasons and times for earth.

When God uses the word asah and commanded, he is utiliz-ing materials already in existence to form his intentions.

Bara is the only word used in the account denoting a creation from nothing, 'Ex Nihlo'.

This is important to understand the creation Genesis account fully.

Science is important, because it is the observations of God's creations. Unfortunately many people take God out of Science or science out of God, and the whole picture is not seen.

As Jane Hawkings suggests, "Physics gives us a truth, but it doesn't mean it is the whole truth." – Jane Hawkings (Stephen Hawking's wife) – The Quest for the Theory For Everything

To understand ancient texts of literature, we need to consider their ancient commentaries, their cultural history and old lan-guage. The Bible is no different. The Torah itself was written by Moses over three thousand years ago, orally as old as Abraham (4,000 years ago), telling the stories of 'Adam & Eve' (about 6,000 years ago) and Noah (about 5,000 years ago).

Since the texts are so old, it is vital to consider complementary ancient texts to have a fuller understanding of it. Some of these old texts are the translation of the Torah into Aramaic by On-kelos (100 CE), the Talmud (redacted about the year 500 CE), and the Dead Sea scrolls. These are valuable, because they were written predating modern debates of science and religion.

The Septuagint is also important for viewing an accurate word-ing of the Bible, since it is one of the first translations, which was into the Greek from the old Hebrew. It has been found to have more accuracy with the Dead Sea scrolls than the tradition-al Masoretic- translated Biblical texts, which may have been cor-rupted at an earlier period.

**There are major Torah commentators** that are considered highly by most Jewish people: Rashi (1040-1105, northern Eu-rope, 11th century France) drawing straight understanding of the text, Maimonides (1135-1204, 12th century Egypt), who deals with philosophical concepts, and Ramban, Nachmanides (1194-1270, Spain, 13th century Spain), the earliest of the Kabbalists. Ibn Ezra (1089-1164, Spain), Rashbam (1085-1174, northern Eu-rope),Rabbi Isaac of Acco (13th century Spain).

Maimonides, Nachmanides (Rambam), Rashi, Rashbam, Rabbi Acco, Rabbi Ezra

In addition to ancient commentaries, modern day searches are also helpful for definition and commentary information. I have provided a few for you to use: www.bible.org (net bible, net bi-ble verse look up), www.babelfish.altavista.com, www.hebrewonline.com, www.dictionary.com, www.abdicate.net/chronology.aspx,

(Converter calendar), www.olivetreee.com, www.answersingenesis.com, www.godandscience.com

One earns only a surface understanding by reading. One needs to study, researching the original Hebrew or Aramaic or Greek words, as well as the chapter's history and context, to gain a fuller understanding. Also, consult ancient commentary and someone with relevant area experience. Many of these experts may be found online.

I will incorporate: modern **Bible, Jewish tradition, Old He-brew definitions** , the **Talmud** (metaphorical), and **ancient Rabbis** : Maimonides (water/transitory things), Nachmanides (pe-riod of time/water origins), Rashi (a day to god /dinosaurs), Rashbam (origin of birds/inherent power of earth and water), Ez-ra(natural forces) and the **timeline from Schroeder** for the crea-tion days as well as **online sources** : www.bible.org, www.abdicate.net/chronology.aspx, and others cited for Biblical and scientific information in my work.
Definitions:

If you want to see the fingerprints of God, Moses said, 'Re-member the days of old, Consider the year of many generations.' (Deuteronomy 32:7)

This is important, because Moses is separating the six days of creation - 'days of old' - and the time from Adam till now - 'years of many generations' - into two pieces. Something else important to consider is that one day is a not necessarily translat-ed as one day. This word 'day', in Hebrew 'Ýom', may also be translated in a variety of other ways. One of these ways is 'a pe-riod of time'.

**Considering original Hebrew from the** www.Bible.org

yowm ('day' from Genesis)

Mwy yowm

Pronunciation: yome

Origin: from an unused root meaning 'to be hot'

Noun, masculine

In AV: day, time, chronicles, daily , ever , year , continually , when , as , while , full always , whole , always

Definition:

1) day, time, year

1a) day (as opposed to night)

1b) day (24 hour period)

1) as defined by evening and morning in Genesis 1

2) as A DIVISION of time

a) a working day, a day's journey

1c) days, LIFETIME (pl.)

**1d) time, PERIOD** -

1e) year

1f) TEMPORAL REFERENCE

1) today

2) yesterday

3) tomorrow

**Rabbi Dessler** holds that **time-as-we-know-it flows, time-as- Adam- knew-it barely flowed, and time-before-Adam didn't flow at all.**

Genesis 1 is yom, not beyom. There is a difference between these two words to be noticed. Beyom indicates immediacy, as in 24 hours. Yom is used in the first 6 days and can mean 24 hours, but it can also means a period of time. Beyom is used in Genesis 2 after Man exists. In Genesis 2:2, it is beyom. So, on the seventh beyom he rested. This shows us that this seventh day ended. This beyom was necessary. Because, notice, in the sev-enth day there is no evening or morning to pass; therefore we would be unsure of whether this day ended at all. But this sev-enth day is the only day to use beyom. This shows us that this day did pass and finish. The other six days use yom.

Genesis 2:4 - This is the account of the heavens and the earth in the beyom they were created. This is another instance where beyom is used. Now, the focus changes from general creation to its relationship to mankind. The scripture also changes from using yom to using beyom. We can see here that this day, one day, is given credit for all of creation when everything before took 6 days, not one – unless we understand the days to mean a period of time.

2:17 is also "beyom". Genesis 2:17 ("for in that beyom when you eat of it you will surely die"). This means that Adam spiritually died the moment he ate the fruit (the moment he was disobedi-ent and aware of sin). But he didn't physically die for over 800 years. This was, of course, a spiritual death. It is this spiritual death which is in contrast to the spiritual life we were given when YHVH creates man and woman in His image (a spiritual image of being spiritually alive). Adam was punished immediate-ly after disobedience. So here "beyom" does mean "in the day", as in, "immediately".

We can see here, then, that when the writer wanted to be clear on an immediate effect, on a certain 24-hour period, beyom could have easily been used. Instead, yom was used in the Gene-sis 1 creation account, allowing for the meaning of a period of time. Now, I agree that the word Yom does mean 24-hour day here in the Genesis account, as do most ancient Rabbis; however, I think that this word is also denoting something else for us to see. This will become more clearer upon reading the entire Part One.

Yom can translate to a period of time and it can be translated to a 24-hour day. The question then becomes, what determines this period of time, this day – the sunlight hours, the work hours? Yom is a division of time, but of what time?

Remember that the Genesis account is accounting for time BEFORE mankind appears. Mankind, as bara in the image of God, is done in day 6, after all the formations of creation. This is only one chapter in the entire Bible where mankind does NOT exist yet. All the other chapters and books of the Bible use time in accordance to the existence of mankind. So how was time de-termined BEFORE mankind?

In addition, how was time determined BEFORE the sun, stars, and moon were in the earth's expanse to guide its seasons? The sun wasn't illuminated in the expanse until day 4 of creation. Therefore, in the Genesis account before Day 4, sunlight in the earth's atmosphere is not being taken into account for what con-stitutes a day.

The reason the sun's light is not illuminated in the earth's at-mosphere until day 4 is because the earth does not even exist yet until day 3. Sunlight cannot be felt on that which does not yet exist. Therefore, the earth is formed, and then the sunlight is felt on that earth, day 3 and then day 4.

How was time determined than BEFORE the earth was formed, because without an earth we have nothing to revolve around a sun? The earth in relation to the sun is how we deter-mine time, and we can only determine time because we exist.

All three of these points are vital. Firstly because we determine time now only by our relevance to it; because we exist, we can measure it. Secondly, because the sun, stars, and moon exist, we can consider how much time has passed. Without the sun's light and without the sun, how would you determine a day? Thirdly, because without an earth how can we quantify any revolution of it, which is what we do in accordance to time.

These are conceptual days - vayehi erev vayehi boker yom echad - there was evening, there was morning, one day.

Now, the word yom in this Creation account is indicating a 24-hour timeframe; however, I think what many neglect to see is that it is also allowing for a 'period of time' timeframe.

Both definitions are being used in this account. The 24-hour day is being used for the **Biblical timeframe** YHVH gives and 'a period of time' is being used for **the earth and humanity's timeframe**.

How can this word, yom, hold two meanings at the same time?

We have to consider that time is relative, not only in science shown to us by Einstein, but by scripture as well: 'For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by' (to God) - Psalms 90:4. 'With the lord a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years are like a day.' - 2 Peter 3:8

**What to us may seem like millions or billions of years, to God is only a flashing moment of time**. When we look at the Genesis account, we must consider that the Genesis account of creation is a separate frame of reference, a separate time period, from the rest of scripture occurring after Adam.

**There is the creation timeframe (before Adam) and then there is the generation timeframe (after Adam).** It is important to see these two as separate, and to see the distinction in fully understanding both accounts. **Genesis 1 is the creations ac-count. Genesis 2 is the generations account**. This will be ad-dressed more fully in Part Two of this work, when we talk more directly about Adam and Eve.

In the entire Old Testament there are 440 times yom or beyom is used. Only 12 verses that contain all: yom or beyom, morning, and evening. Six of those verses come from Genesis 1. Four of the remaining six do not say "evening and morning", but rather say ''from evening until morning". The other two are Leviticus 6:20 and Judges 19:9.

Neither of these two verses say "evening and morning" either. Leviticus 6:20 states that Aaron and his sons are to bring half of their grain offering "in the morning" and the other half "in the evening". Finally Judges 19:9 states, "...it's almost evening. Spend the night here; the day is nearly over. Stay and enjoy yourself. Early tomorrow morning you can get up and be on your way home."

This is important to understand the context of the word yom, to understand its meaning in the Genesis account. We can see it is uniquely used in Genesis 1 and that the days are each unique from the rest of the Bible in their time of refer-ence, because they exist to God, before mankind, and some days even before the earth and sunlight in the expanse of the sky.

Moses additionally used yom in a variety of passages to mean a period of time, and a variety of other meanings. Moses is the author of the first five books of the Bible, and of Psalm 90.

1. Genesis 4:3 "And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord." In this instance, yom refers to a growing sea-son, probably several months.

2. Genesis 43:9 "...then let me bear the blame for ev-er." Here, Moses uses Yom to represent eternity

3. Genesis 44:32 "...then I shall bear the blame to my father for ever." Again, Moses uses yom to represent eternity

4. Deuteronomy 4:40 "...that thou mayest prolong thy days upon the earth, which the Lord thy God giveth thee, for ever." Here yom represents a physical lifetime.

5. Deuteronomy 10:10, "Now I stayed on the mountain forty days and nights, as I did the first time,..." Here, Yom is a "time" equal to forty days.

6. Deuteronomy 18:5 "...to stand to minister in the name of the Lord, him and his sons for ever." Again, Yom is translated as eternity.

_7. Deuteronomy 19:9 "...to love the Lord thy God, and to walk ever in His ways..."_ _Here, yom represents a life-time._ _As long as we live we are to walk in his ways._

As you can see, Moses uses the word yom to represent 12 hours, 24 hours, the creative week, forty days, several months, a lifetime, and eternity.

The yom of our YHVH, the Day of our YHVH (The LORD), we know is not a literal 24 hour day, but a broader period of time from its context. However, Yom Kippur is a specific 24 hour pe-riod. **We have to consider the context the word is written in, in order to understand the correct meaning of the word yom in the Genesis text.**

**Ordinals/Cardinals:** Young earth creationists often say that whenever yom is used with an ordinal or cardinal number, that it always represents a 24-hour day. This they most certainly read from some creationist site; however, this is not true.

In Zechariah 14:7-9, the "one day" refers to a period of time when the Lord shall be king over the earth. In other places, some say that Isaiah and Hosea have numbers with the word "day" which are figurative.

What about the use of evening and morning coupled with Yom?

"And the vision of the evenings and mornings which has been told is true; but keep the vision secret, for it pertains to many days in the future." (Daniel 8:26) This shows us another scripture supporting the understanding of yom to mean a period of time."

"Additionally, this scripture uses evening and morning in its context to convey the ''period of time'' meaning of Yom, which is similar to the uses of evening and morning in the Genesis ac-count."

www.godandscience.com

_The actual number of words in Hebrew is much fewer than that of the English translations. The words "and there was" are not in the Hebrew, but added to make the English flow better. The actu-al translation is_ _"evening and morning day one."_ _"Evening and morning second day"._ _There is no way to discern from the con-text that the text is referring to 24-hour days._

_The Hebrew language has about 8,400 words, but the English has over 20,000._ _How would God have changed the text if He intended it to indicate 24-hour days? If God were to have created in 24-hour days, I would have expected the Genesis text to have begun with a statement to the effect that "God did 'x' in the morn-ing" and "God did 'y' in the evening," as opposed to the very unu-sual construction of telling all God did and then ending with both evening and morning side by side at the end of the "day." So, the order indicates the end (evening) of one day is followed by the dawning (morning) of the next day._ _This is an unusual way to account for time._

Genesis 2:4 refers to all six days of creation as one day: "This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made earth and heaven." One would expect that if God chose to create the world in a few days. He would have indicated it was all created in a few days instead of one day (Genesis 2:4) (2) (what is this?). This verse indicates to me that the Genesis days are other than 12 or 24-hour periods of time.

The psalmist (Moses, the author of Genesis) says, "For a thou-sand years in Thy sight are like yesterday when it passes by, or as a watch in the night." (Psalms 90:4).

We can see from these online web sources that the understand-ing of the word Yom is accepted as a ''period of time''. It is not fair to say that the only allowed definition of the word Yom is a 24-hour day or that the Genesis account must fit our pre-conceived ideas of tradition.

YHVH uses His natural laws that He set up to create His crea-tions according to His will, not against His own natural laws. Why bother setting up natural laws if YHVH was not going to use them?

Why is it when young earth creationists look at science and evolution they quickly dismiss it, saying that the processes in-volve new information and that to spontaneously be born to cre-ate something new is an impossibility; but when describing the six days of creation, spontaneous creations appearing out of no-where is exactly sensible.

Understanding science and evolution better, you see that life is not spontaneously generating new information out of nowhere; but that isolation, environmental factors, natural selection, gene regulation, and mutations all play a role in this development of life.

From a Biblical point of view, YHVH also has His guiding hands in all of the creation developments and bara (as in some-thing from nothing) for three separate purposes which could help explain some of this 'information' and 'organization'.

If God had created the universe in an instant, there would be no evidence from nature that He created it. The Bible states God has shown himself to all men through His creation so that men are without excuse in rejecting God.

' _For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungod-liness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in un-righteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the crea-tion of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.' (Romans 1:18-20)_

All of this Biblical and historical evidence leads me to con-clude that the creation days of Genesis 1 are **not only 24-hour days, but longer periods of time as well.**

The Rambam or Maimondies views the Genesis as metaphor supporting my view. The Rabbi Ramban or Nachimanides has many views supporting my own. Rabbi Rashi has a few views that are similar to my own with 'a day of God.' Rabbi Rashbam has an interesting view with 'whether short or long' amount of time for each day. Even Rabbi Ezra has a few interesting views in common with my own from 'God setting natural boundaries, to powers inherit in the earth and water.' You can read more about all of these views in the work below and also see the back of the book, with their full commentaries of Genesis.

The 24-hour time frame is felt by the Bible view. The 'period of time' timeframe is felt by mankind. This is explained further by 'time dilation' which is explained by **Dr. Schroeder** , a physi-cist, which you can read about in his 'article' included below in this work.
Hebrew tradition:

The Jewish calendar is figured by adding up the generations since Adam. Additionally there are the 6 days (periods) of crea-tion leading up to Adam. The Hebrew calendar takes the two periods of time separately, the time leading up to Adam and the time taken after Adam. This is important. We can see upon read-ing further.

This is significant because this shows an important division of time. There is time before and time after, considered separately and each distinctively important in their own right. Time before Adam is thought of as 'evening and morning'. The time after Adam is considered as 'Adam lived 130 years and Seth was born'.

These are two distinct ways of accounting for time, because time was accounted for very differently in creation when com-pared to time after Adam. Where is the zero point on the Hebrew calendar?

On Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, a Shofar (or a trum-pet made from a Ram's horn) is blown three times during the Musaf service. Immediately following the blowing of the Shofar one says, 'HAYOM HARAT OLAM' -'Today is the birthday of the world.'

Rosh Hashanah does not commemorate the creation of the uni-verse, but the creation of the soul of man. The first blow of the Shofar represents the creation of the entire universe and laws of nature, and the second blow of the Shofar commemorates the creation of the soul of animal life. The third blow of the Shofar represents the creation of the soul of human life, Adam. Notice this is commemorating the soul, not the physical make-up, the body.

Rosh Hashanah commemorates not the first or second blow of the Shofar, but is a remembrance of the creation of the soul of man. Rosh Hashanah falls there. That is when the Jewish calen-dar starts counting its years...from the creation of the soul of man. In the Jewish calendar the clock begins with Adam. Adam was the first man with a soul. The six days of creation are taken separately from this. Remember Moses says, in Deuteronomy 32:7, 'remember the days of old. Consider the years of many generations.'

Something else interesting to notice here is that the trumpet is blown three times for symbolic purpose and the use of the word BARA is also used for three purposes in the Genesis account; once for ''in the beginning God bara the heavens and the earth.'' A second time for day five when ''God bara the great creatures of the sea and and every living thing according to its kind, and every winged insect according to its kind''. A third and last time is in day six when ''God bara man in His image.'' It seems that each of these trumpet blows commemorate each of the uses of the word bara.

A distinction in time is made between creation and the appear-ance of Adam in the Genesis account, by Moses himself in Deu-teronomy, and again with Rosh Hashanah and Hebrew culture. Later you will see this distinction is made by even Nachimandes. Even in science we see the bulk of time relating to the creation of our universe and world, with a miniscule amount of that time relating to the beginning of man.

In addition, the **Torah** served Jews as the rulebook; the **Tal-mud** served as the elaboration of the rules. One of the issues it discusses is the employment of **metaphors** in Scriptures. The **Talmud maintains that much of the Genesis account is meta-phor**. Therefore, we need to look at the metaphorical meaning of Hebrew words used, as well as the literal meaning of the words, to gain a fuller sense of what is being said.

The Word of God will give us the information we need to understand the world around us in conjunction with scientific findings, our observations. The two will not be contradictory. Whenever a contradiction appears between the two, it is be-cause we are not properly understanding one or the other, more likely not understanding the Word.

The Word or scripture reveals information to us in four main ways. In old Hebrew tradition the four ways are as follows: There is a Plain meaning, there is a Deep meaning, there is a Concealed meaning, and there is a Secret meaning.

Let me further delineate what I mean.

In Kabbalah we learn that Moses educated his people in four levels of understanding. Each person learned the basic meaning of rules for personal behavior, social consciousness, care for the environment and body, and relationship with the Creator. It is seeing the tree in front of you. This level became know as Peshat, plain meaning, which we find in the Hebrew Bible.

The second level leads us to the implications of the plain Torah. It is the hinted-at meaning we are to grasp. It is seeing the shad-ow cast by the tree in front of you. It is the allusions. This level is known as Remez, a deeper level of intent, and is what we can find in the Talmud and in the Chumash.

The third level is in understanding what is being revealed by recognizing what is not being revealed, a hidden meaning. It is seeing the space taken up by that tree in front of you. It is the understanding of the face while it is hidden behind a veil. Some things are only seen when we do not see them. This is shared to us also in metaphors and tales. **The observable defines the un-observable.**

An example of this is with God. We cannot see God, and so God reveals himself in a concealment, that of Messiah. In under-standing this concealment, God is revealed. This level is known as Derush, a concealed meaning, and can be found in the Mid-rash.

The fourth level is a level of receiving the secrets of Torah. It is found in symbolism, code, numerology, and philosophical under-standing. It is known as Sod, a secret meaning, which we find in the study of Kabbalah.

How does this help us in understanding evolution and Gene-sis? Because many of us read only the plain meaning, and we forget that there is a deep and concealed meaning waiting for us to uncover. Like peeling an onion layer after layer, the scripture likewise is not flat, but multilayered in understanding, and wait-ing to be savored by those willing to taste it. It gives us a flavor we were lacking in our initial interpretations of the observations around us.

The details are there; we just have to study them - whether the details are in **plain view, a deeper view, a concealed view or a secret view.**

I hold that much of the Genesis 1 and 2 accounts reveal the evolution that science has shown us, but in the second and third levels of understanding, the deeper and concealed revelations.

Ancient commentary:

I have included the full interpretative account of each Rabbi (Ezra, Rashi, Rashbam, Rambam) of the Genesis creation, at the end of this book for those interested. However for their specific interpretations of relevance to my work, I have embedded them below.

Maimondes (1135-1204), a Jewish physician, rabbi, and phi-losopher: _''There can be no contradiction between the truths which God has revealed and the findings of the human mind in science and philosophy.''_

In the **Midrash** (Rabba 29:1), an expansion of the Talmud, all three sages agree that Rosh Hashanah commemorates the appear-ance of the soul of Adam and that the six days of creation are separate. Fifteen hundred years ago these sages suggested this; this is not a new idea.

**Nachmanides** says, in the name if Kabbalah, 'why does Moses break the calendar into two parts?'

We can see from these comments that this idea of time taken into two distinct parts, as time before-Adam and as time after-Adam, was around a long time before modern science. Moses shows us this in Deuteronomy 32:7. 'Days of old' are the six pe-riods of creation and the 'years of many generations' are from Adam onward to present day. Time is now accounted for in rela-tionship to mankind.

Additionally if these creation days before Adam were 24-hours long, **why does Moses call them 'days of old'?** These then are not ancient days. These would be only six 24-hour days prior to Adam. Why does Moses refer to the six days of creation before Adam as 'days of old'? Because they are **longer periods** of time that occurred before Adam, thereby thought of as ancient.

From Rashi's Genesis:

_God named the light "day" and the darkness "night." There was evening and there was morning,_ _a day of God,_ _alone in the world God had created._

Rashi is indicating that this time is in reference to God, not mankind, which makes sense since mankind doesn't exist yet. This indirectly shows us that yom here is not a 24-hour day to mankind, but that it would be a period of time.

Rashbam's Genesis:

To remind the Jewish people of the reason for the observance of the Shabbat as described in the Ten Commandments, Moses told the story of creation: At the time when the upper heavens and the earth had already been created, **a long or a short time be-fore the acts related in Genesis.**

This shows us Rashbam directly considering yom as 24 hours and as a 'long period of time'.

**How do we determine creation time?** There are a few deeper understandings of time in creation to summarize:

**Rabbi Dessler** holds that **time-as-we-know-it flows, time-as- Adam- knew-it barely flowed, and time before Adam- didn't flow at all.**

Because the concept of a flow from past to future is so central to what people think when they read the word "time", I think it's fair to say that time did not exist during the act of creation, only something like "Time".

Time to this Rabbi during creation is 'like time' but is not time as we know it.

**Dr. Schroeder** , who is a physicist and studied under a Rabbi, sees creation time this way: through the eyes of time dilation.

**Time dilation** works like this: remember learning about star light. The light we see today is from millions or billions of years ago. Yet we are only seeing their light now.

An example of how this time dilation might work in regards to the scripture of day 1 to day 6 is like this: Imagine you and your best friend live together in California in the same house, and she tells you she is going to write you a letter every day. She never lies! While the two of you live together, you receive these letters on the same day she writes them.

However, now you are receiving these letters over longer peri-ods of time than a day. How is that possible if she is writing them each day?

Because you moved to Florida! Your best friend is still writing you every day. However the first letter you receive from her since you moved away takes 1 whole week, not a day because you are further away from the letter now!

This is inflationary Big Bang. In the beginning all the particles were together. If God created something, you would see its ef-fects in a 'day'. However, the particles dispersed throughout the universe as it expanded rapidly for the first few moments. Now this creation takes a longer period of time for you to see it.

God didn't lie. You changed positions. Time is relative to your point of viewing!

This is a physics concept and along **with Einstein's theory** of relativity (time affects you differently depending on your point of view), we can see how one day may feel like one day to God, and yet to us it may feel like millions or billions of years.

We also have scripture that shows us in Psalms that 'a thou-sand days to you is like one day to God'. This is the relativity of time.

**Rabbi Rashi** , a Jewish commentator from 2,000 years ago, is studied by all Jews when studying Torah/Tanakh (Bible). That is how important he is to Jews in understanding their texts. Rashi explains in Talmud (book of commentaries) that in 'day one' it was in fact 'a day to GOD alone'. Man was not included in this day. We also know Man was not created until day 6. Therefore, we can conclude that this time passage is time to God, but to us it is 'something like time'.

**Rabbi Rashbam** also explains about yom 'whether a short or long period of time'. In his commentaries, it seems he himself was unsure of how much time elapsed with Yom.

**Moses** calls it 'days of old'. Why old? They just happened, on-ly seven days before Adam! They are thought of as 'old' because they are in fact a mystery, an ancient time, and no one has rec-orded information about what happened in that time, **except God, who gave bits of it that we could understand to Moses.**

**Yom in Hebrew** can mean a 24-hour day, a day's journey, from sunrise to sunset, a period of time, and more. Every He-brew word has a variety of meanings. Nachimandies seems to use a period of time from the Yom definition in some parts of his comments.

Therefore we can view 'time' in a new light, that is really an old light, but it is just that we are now understanding this 'time'.

The Kabbalah (This is before Lamerick and Darwin.)

Kabbalists write in 'creation' dated at 3rd-6th (200-500 AD) centuries when written, but orally much longer: 'with the appear-ance of light, the universe expanded.'

" _The sublime, inner essences secretly constitutes a chain linking everything from the highest to the lowest, extending from the up-per pool to the edge of the universe. There is nothing, not even the tiniest thing that is not fastened to the links of this chain."_

" _Everything is catenated in its mystery, caught in its oneness. God is one, God's secret is one, all the worlds below and above are all mysteriously one. Divine existence is indivisible. The entire chain is one. Down to the last link. Everything is linked with eve-rything else, so Divine is below as well as above, in heaven and on earth. There is nothing else."_

" _A euphony enables you to sense creation is not something complete, but constantly becoming, evolving, ascending. This transports you from a place where there is nothing new to a place where there is nothing old, where everything renews itself, where heaven and earth rejoice as at the moment of creation"_

Given all this support for the creation days being longer peri-ods of time, I wanted to look further into Dr. Schroeder's 'Bibli-cal Days'. I instinctively thought the creation days must line up with the scientific timelines, because both were the work of YHVH. One was his Word and the other was the observations of His creations.

**I did some more research and fell upon Schroeder's online information.** He is a believer in the Torah and a physicist. He laid out the timeline for Genesis numerically on an article from the web. I viewed this timeline in relationship to the scientific timeline to see if I could find any similarity in both accounts of what happened in these periods of time. I subsequently re-searched further scientific information as well as old Hebrew in-formation and lined it up with the Biblical timeline that Schroed-er provided.

**The finding was amazing and the similarity was beyond an-ything I expected.** Sometimes the similarities were so fascinating that I actually got goose bumps. Upon seeing a video of Dr. Schroeder's in Jerusalem, I heard him go over some of the simi-larities between science and the 'new' timeline that I had discov-ered as well in my researching. Some of his points differed from my own, but the points where I found agreement with him on were astounding enough for me to incorporate them into this book for those also interested.

I have put the Biblical timeline (according to Schroeder) and the scientific timeline that I have researched side by side to view. If you would like further information on his work, please read his book Genesis and the Big Bang. I have not had the pleasure of reading it, but upon seeing his 'speech' in Jerusalem I can see we think similarly to the 'creation account'.

There are critics to his work, of course, but after reading his article online and studying the science, the Hebrew, and the Bi-ble myself for three years, I have come to the conclusion that he is accurate in the layout of how much time elapsed in each Gene-sis day. Now how he arrives at this scientific timeline may not be completely scientific, but the conclusions are correct.
Schroeder's online Article:

_"Exciting news from the last few years in cosmology, we now can quantify the data to know the relationship of the 'view of time' from the beginning relative to the 'view of time today'. Any one of a dozen science books will bring this same number. The general relationship between time near the beginning and time now is a million million._

So if I send you a pulse every second, you would see it an every million million seconds, that's because of the stretching effect of the expansion of the universe. (See the 'Principles of Physical Cosmology

Six days * million million seconds is 16 Billion years. Let's look at time development day by day based on the expansion factor.

When the universe was small, it was doubling very rapidly, but as the universe gets bigger, the doubling time gets exponentially longer. (Rate of expansion is quoted in 'Principles of Physical Cosmology'. The exponential rate of expansion has a specific number averaged at 10 to the 12th power. The temperature of quark confinement. When water freezes out of the energy: 10.9 times to the 12th power Kelvin degrees divided by (or ration to ) the temperature of the universe today, 2.73 degrees. That is the initial ratio which changes exponentially as the universe ex-pands.)

Because the Genesis perspective is from the beginning looking forward, the

1st day- lasted 24 hrs viewed from the beginning of time, but the duration of that time from our perspective was 8 billion years.

2nd day- 24 hrs beginning perspective. (half of the previous day, 4 billion)

3rd day-2 billion

4th day-1 billion

5th day-1/2 billion

6th day-1/4 billion

Add that up and we find 15 3/4 billion years. "

This effect is known as 'time dilation', the expanding of the universe, causing time to expand also.

The period of duration of each day is arrived at through the physics and mathematics given, but to come to the age of the universe then, one must add up each duration period and then one will arrive at 15,750,000 years old.

What I found interesting is that these numbers are descending in a pattern. Each day's duration is always half of the previous day's duration. This is not randomly manipulating numbers to flow with the science chronology. So, when we match the days up to the science and we find a match it is a patterned match, not a manipulated match.

For example: if he were manipulating the timeline I would expect to find that day 1 is 16 billion years ago, day 2 is 9 billion years ago, day 3 is 4 billion years ago, etc. Each day **I would expect not to** be patterned with the previous day, but simply patterned against the science timeline.

However upon matching up each day with the scientific time line, we do not get a chaotic or random scale. We instead get each day as HALF of the allotted time of the previous day. This tells me the author of Genesis was not only mathematically in-clined, but also able to see the past.

Big Bang is the starting point. Each period represents the amount of time and space (which are interconnected) passing.

Now his science may be off, as it has been criticized; I do not know the details too much to make that estimation. However, I think what is mostly criticized is his leaps of faith in the science area of connecting God to this science.

It is these leaps of faith that we as faithful people can under-stand. We know God exists, and therefore there are in fact two different points of views. **There is our point of view and there is God's point of view.** There than are also two different times, and motions, and thus why we can have 6 days occur to God while billions of years are occurring to us. We can also under-stand this in light of the Psalms and Timothy passages that tell us time is relative 'a thousand days to you is as a passing day to me (God).' We don't need science to tell us time is relative. Our Scriptures tell us that!

But the science sure does help us to understand it better. When Einstein discovered that time is, in fact, relative and gave us the general relativity and special relativity, we know we had science to corroborate our scripture. **This is not the first time science and faith have both gone hand-in-hand and this won't be the last time.** As we look into quantum fluctuations to explain the appearance of all this energy out of nothing, this scientific phe-nomenon is also corroborating our religious notions of Ex Nihilo.

This is also the view Rabbi Ramban or Nachimandies takes as he delineates his interpretations of Genesis with his first line reading, 'Out of nothingness God created...' (View this at the back of the book). However he is not stating this in modern day, he stated it 800 years ago, and wondered if science would ever prove that wrong. Instead modern science has proved him right. This subject will be discussed further below in the reading.
One may also form a Biblical timeline this way:

Take the biological life on earth and the cosmological life of the universe and compare it to the Genesis text. Match up any-thing that sticks out in the science which is similar to the Genesis text. We can make a comparative chart with estimated amounts of time passage for each day.

**For example:** In science the universe began about 16 billion years ago. In the Genesis account, the universe begins in Day 1, we can conclude then that Day 1 takes place 16 billion years ago in our time.

In science the first life bacteria occurred 4 billion years ago from water, and the first plant organisms began 2 billion years ago as Eukaryotes. In day 2, water is separated from water. Day 3 is the mention of first plants. We can conclude then towards the end of Day 2 that bacteria started to form, and in Day 3 the bacteria are present and eukaryotes spring up. Day 2 then would have taken place more than 4 billion years ago and day 3 would be more than 2 billion years ago.

The Cambrian Era in science is noted for its vibrant explosion of plant and first animal life in the water. In the Bible, period (day) 5 is noted for its 'swarm of swarms' (Fertility), populating the waters with first animal life and plant life. We can then look at the scientific timescale of this Cambrian Era, which is placed at 500 million years ago, and thus conclude that period 5 also may have happened about 500 million years ago.

What is fascinating about this independent look at each evolu-tionary event, comparing it to its Genesis event, is that this 'time frame' lines up exactly with what Schroeder's interpretative Bib-lical time frame gives, a pattern of time that is cut in half by each subsequent day. It is interesting that these days are numbered that way.

What I will be addressing in **Part One** of this work is the **comparison of scientific knowledge with Biblical knowledge,** yielding a supportive timescale of 'Schroeder's work', as well as a more extensive understanding of the time frame of the 6 peri-ods (days) of creation and the events in each creation period (day). I've included modern scientific interpretations of life de-velopment in size 14 font within the text to distinguish it, Bibli-cal and my own comments in 12 size font, and 'Schroeder's' in-terpretation of the Days in time bold type.

YHVH ceases his creations by Day 7. We can say that Day 7 is not counted in the timeframe for creation. The Hebrew Calendar gives us time in Generations plus 6 days of Creation; at the 6th day they stop counting. Therefore we can stop our count of crea-tion on Day 6. Day 7 is not counted as an additional period, but as one last day with the creations account. This day 7 would have ended in about 24 hrs since the word beyom is used instead of yom, indicating a more immediate time and the phrase 'it was evening and morning' is not coupled with it.

There are then **7 days of Creations** (7 periods of time equaling about 15,750,000,000 years) and **7 days of Generation** s (7,000 years passing since the time of Adam/Eve to 2024/2044). Then the New Jerusalem will come down from heaven onto a New Earth and New Holy city for God's people to dwell in forever.

We see the **7 days of generations** when we add up the genera-tions from Adam in the Bible from 3977 BC (when he was born) (adding 40 years (3937 BC) to make him 40 which is the typical age when God communed with men, yielding him a spiritual man) to present day.

Knowing 1,000 years equals 1 day to YHVH (Psalms), we can figure out what day we are in now: in day 6 almost at its end, (about 5945 years have passed) from Adam as a man of 40, a spiritual man, to today, 2008. I believe that the 7th day (1,000 years) is reserved for the return of the Messiah.

Therefore life as we know it will only exist for another 50-60 years. This is further discussed in Christianity and Sensibility, my other book, under 'The Messiah's Second Coming'. We can see the seventh day in creation was reserved for YHVH and that the seventh day of generations is also reserved for YHVH (messiah).

This interpretation is based on old Kabbalist Rabbi's of the 2nd and 3rd century as well as Nachimandies' interpretations (adjust-ing for the 200 year discrepancy that they did not account for, since they based figures on the Hebrew calendar and not the Biblical calendar). However, if this is not the time frame, then that would mean these Rabbis were wrong in their interpretations of Genesis days in relationship to the end of the world.
Genesis Timeline: (using Schroeder's time development)

The Day : The length of duration years ago:

Period 1-Day1: (8000 my) 15750 my ago

Period 2-Day2 (4000 my) 7750 my ago

Period 3-Day3 (2000 my) 3750 my ago

Period 4-Day4 (1000 my) 1750 my ago

Period 5-Day5 (500 my) 750 my ago

Period 6-Day6 (250 my) 250 my ago

my = Millions of Years
The Evolutionary Timeline:

(Talkorigins)

One of the theories of abiogenesis:

...Heated vents in water...with the chemicals and energy needed for the chemical reactions needed for the evolution of life.

...DNA is traced back to the most recent common ancestor of all life to an aquatic microorganism (Living in extremely high tem-peratures).

....From aquatic microorganisms in heated vents in water...life evolves into archaea and bacteria (prokaryotes).

....The two independent archaea and eubacterium possibly fuse together to form eukaryotes (plants, fungi and animals, multi-cellular) or the eukaryotes form from the same eubacterium as archaea. These Eukaryotes are found in water and soil of the earth.

The Eukaryotes are what form the first plant life and first animal life which will eventually lead to mankind.
(Evolutionary VS Shroeder's Timeline

**PERIOD (day) 1** : 15,750my ago **(lasts 8,000 my)**

**16,000 my** -The universe begins

**PERIOD (day) 2:** 7750 my ago **(lasts 4,000 my)**

**PERIOD (day) 3** : 3750 my ago **(lasts 2,000 my)**

**3500-4500 my** \- Earth is formed

**4000my** \- Simple cells evolve Protakaryota (Archaea, Bacteria)

**3000 my** \- Photosynthesis evolves synthesis of sugars from light, water, carbon dioxide. Bacteria develop primitive forms of this photosynthesis.

**2000 my** \- Complex cells evolve, Eukaryotes develop chloro-plasts which derive energy from light and synthesize organic molecules. (microscopic plant life)

**PERIOD (day) 4** : 1750 my ago ( **lasts 1,000 my** )

Not much scientific information for this time period

**PERIOD (day) 5** : 750 my ago ( **lasts 500 my** )

**1000 my** \- Multi-cellular organisms evolve: Algae, seaweed, slimmer molds, water molds.

**600 my** \- Simple animals evolve: Sponges, Jellyfish, and Flat-worms from Eukaryotes.

**500 my** \- **Cambrian Explosion**. Evolution of Fish, Proto am-phibians, Vertebrate, Invertebrate

**475 my** \- Evolution of Land plants, First primitives move to land. Evolve from algae.

**400 my** \- Evolution of Insects, Seeds, Anthropods, Spiders, Scorpions.

**360 my** \- Evolution of Amphibians

**300 my** \- Evolution of Reptiles

**PERIOD (day) 6** : 250 my ago ( **lasts 250 my** )

**200 my** \- Evolution of Mammals

**150 my** \- Evolution of Birds

**100 my** \- Evolution of Flowers

**65 my** \- Non-avian dinosaurs die out.

**250,000 years ago** -tools are found.

**160,000 years ago** \- _Homo sapien sapien emerges_

**90,000 years ago** \- African stones indicate art formations

**50,000 years ago** \- Civilization springs up

Some basic science:

A human baby inside the womb remains a single cell for 30 minutes before becoming (evolving) into a multi-celled organism and then a baby human.

The process inside the womb for human development on a mi-cro evolutionary level (9 months) is just about the same process for human development in the macro evolutionary level (4 billion years): From single cells to multi-cellular, to a simple animal with a tail and gills for breathing in water (like amphibians), to losing the tail and gills and becoming more similar to a human body, and eventually only breathing the air.

Protons with neutrons and electrons form atoms, which form molecules, which form chemicals, which form amino acids, which form proteins, combining with sugars to form RNA and DNA, which forms one-celled life, which forms multi-celled life, which forms plants, and then animals. In science, the step miss-ing currently is from amino acids to proteins and then RNA.

Recent scientific theory is leaning towards the formation of the first cells without proteins, since proteins need a living cell to form and yet none were available. Proteins are very difficult to form and scientists have not been able to accomplish that. Condi-tions of an earth billions of years ago also would not allow for the formation of proteins to exist without a living cell to live in; therefore, it's theorized that certain organisms formed (living cells) without proteins at first, and then proteins developed later within these living cells to form more complex living organisms. (Such as the E-coli and phage bacteria that form without pro-teins).

Before we begin looking at the two side-by-side, it is at this point important to start understanding that where we are used to seeing 'Day' in the English versions of the Bible, that it is more fully understood as 'period' **from our point of view**. One day would be one period of time.

From God's point of view it is instantaneous, and from the Biblical point of view it is one day; however, from our point of view it is a period of time.

From the moment of creation it would have been 6 days, but because of 'time dilation' which Schroeder explains in his book, this universe expanding causes time to expand also. Albert Ein-stein also shows us this.

Spiritual Days and Spiritual Generations:

1.) **These Spiritual days are symbolic** of their spiritual genera-tion (millennium) and the events that take place therein. Each 'Day' is related to each 'Millennium' since the time of Adam (first spiritual man).

Since we know there have been generations before Adam from science, this may be confusing for some as to why the genera-tions begin with Adam. However they begin with Adam because he was the first to commune with God and consequently become accountable for his sins, thus marking the 'spiritual generations'. This period I call the 'Spiritual generations' as they are marked by the first spiritual man, Adam who communed with YHVH Hashem.

2) **Each creation day is also coupled with its partner crea-tion day two days later** :

The creation of Light on the 1st day is completed on the 4th with the objects that manifest light. The creation of the Sky, Clouds, and Oceans on the 2nd day is completed on the 5th day with the Birds and Sea Life. God also creates the great Sea Crea-tures (dinosaurs/leviathan), the Taninim – תנינם on the 5th day. The 3rd day the land is formed, and on the 6th day the land ani-mals, including mankind, are created, **making the 6th day com-pleted**.

**Each Day is a period of literal time** (I believe covering a span of 15,750,000,000 years), but it also is a Spiritual Day (7 Spiritu-al Days) with a symbolic relationship to its Spiritual Generation (7 Spiritual Periods of Generations):

Day 1 = 1,000 years , 1st millennium

Day 2 = 2,000 years, 2nd millennium

Day 3 = 3,000 years, 3rd millennium

Day 4 = 4,000 years, 4th millennium

Day 5 = 5,000 years, 5th millennium

Day 6 = 6,000 years, 6th millennium

Day 7 = 7,000 years, 7th millennium

The generational days begin counting with ADAM (3977) **at 3937 BC, when he would have reached age 40 and was com-muning with God** (based on known times of Moses and Abra-ham, and estimating this age), thus becoming a 'Spiritual man'. This is the first 'spiritual man' as opposed to fossils of men that existed before Adam, because they were not communing with YHVH. Adam was the first 'spiritually' awakened _Homo sapien_ and thus coined 'man.' That is: one of God, one of Christ, one of sins and perishing. It is from the point of Spiritual man, Adam being the first, that YHVH wanted us to know about, and there-fore is recorded in the Genesis account.
DAY 1 - Adam

We know that in Day One, GOD is separating light from dark-ness, just as **Adam separated good from evil,** **when he learned them both by eating of the tree of knowledge** within the first 1,000 years of his life. **The 1st millennium: 3957bc-2957bc**. Adam lived for just about **one full millennium**.

DAY2 - Noah/World

Day two has a separation of waters from waters, which is the establishment of some form of expanse/sky. In the **2nd millen-nium, 2957 B.C. - 1957 B.C**., we see the **great flood (Noah - 2,500 B.C.)** Up to this point there has never been any form of RECORDED rain in the Bible, and the waters of the ground break open and there are heavenly windows opened whereupon much of the earth is changed.

DAY 3 - Moses/Joshua/Israel

Dry land appears and therefore the earth. First plant life ap-pears. (microscopic possibly). **3rd millennium: 1957 B.C. – 957 B.C**. This could correlate to the fact that land was established for earth in Day 3 and the Hebrews were promised a land by YHVH through Abraham (2,000 B.C.) This was established later through Moses' liberation of the Hebrews (1,500 B.C.) and **Joshua takes Israel into the promised land, 1484 B.C., and also Moses brings us the Law. First plants are first life and Moses brings us the Law which helps us to have life spiritual-ly.**

DAY 4 - Yehoshua

The sun is established in the expanse in Day Four [1:14-19], which is an allegorical prophecy of **Yehoshua coming** in the end of the **4th millennium: 957 B.C. – 43 A.D**. [Malachi 4:2; Luke 1:78]. (Christ came in 3 B.C.).

DAY 5 - Paul

First animal life is established, by a swarm of swarms, a great fertility of life, a Growth of animal life. **5th millennium: 43 A.D. – 1043 A.D.** Perhaps this is the **spread of the truth by Apostle Paul (50 A.D.)** and the first Christians (100 A.D.), causing a Growth of Spiritual Life on the earth, a growth of believers from baby to adolescent.

DAY 6 - Mankind

Man was made in the likeness of YHVH in Day 6. We contin-ue this growth of becoming more Christ-like through this genera-tional day, from adolescent to adult.

We know that day six has man's authority being established and his dominion being established over all creatures. We now live in the **6th millennium: 1043 A.D. – 2043 A.D**., where man has exponentially increased in knowledge to the point that he thinks he is GOD.

DAY 7-Yehoshua returns

We also know that the seventh day Sabbath of genesis 2:1-3 is the allegory of the 1,000 years of peace and rest we receive at **Yehoshua's 2nd coming. This is the 7th millennium: 2043 - 3043**.

If we study the Hebrew, we know that the word in Hebrew of how GOD rested from all his work is in Hebrew, v'yishahbat, which means to abstain temporarily. This tells us there was more work after this day, just as there is more work after the 1,000 years of peace when hasatan is loose again.

We go from adult to spiritually-perfect, as now we are made in an instant in the likeness of Christ; as the text reads in Matthew, Revelation when ''we are taken up into the clouds in an instant become like Christ''. His day is completed. His work is finished

According to Rav Nachimandies:

The first millennium (0 - 1000 A.M. = 3758 - 2758 B.C.E.) is the day of light and darkness and the era of Adam who, even after the sin, knew God most intimately.

The second millennium (1000 - 2000 A.M. = 2758 - 1758 B.C.E.) is the day of separation of the waters (Mayim) and the era of Noah, who embodies the separation of the righteous and the wicked.

The third millennium (2000 - 3000 A.M. = 1758 - 758 B.C.E.) is the day of dry land, vegetation, and fruits and it is the era of Abraham, Sinai, and the beginning of the first temple; this is the age of instruction and spiritual fruits.

The fourth millennium (3000 - 4000 A.M. = 758 B.C.E. - 242 C.E.) is the day of the heavenly bodies and the era of the first and second temples, i.e., an era of light.

The fifth millennium (4000 - 5000 A.M. = 242 \- 1242 C.E.) is the day of fish and creeping things; the era when humanity multi-plied quickly but did not know God.

The sixth millennium (5000 - 6000 A.M. = 1242 - 2242 C.E.) is the day of beasts and humanity. It is an era which begins in beast-liness and terrible persecution but which will end in the redeemer, the ultimate human being who is truly in the image and likeness of God.

Ramban predicts here that 118 years after the beginning of this sixth era (5118 A.M. = 1358 C.E.) the true human, i.e., the mes-siah, should come. The burning of the Talmud in 1244 C.E. and the flourishing of the inquisition certainly could have confirmed the first part of Ramban's prediction but, since Ramban died be-fore 1358 C.E., he could not know that he was wrong on the sec-ond half of his calculation. Of course, there is still room for his larger prediction about the ultimate image to come true.

The seventh millenium (6000... A.M. = 2242... C.E.) is open-ended. It is a period of complete Shabbat. As Ramban concludes: "May God watch over us in all periods and cast our lot in with those of God's pure servants."
The scientific and Biblical comparisons:

The first two periods -days- are concerned with the forming of the universe. The next two periods are concerned with establish-ing a life-giving earth. The last two periods are concerned with animal life.

**Period 1- Day 1** \- (lasts 8000 my, 15750 my ago) 'The birth of the building blocks of life'

From Ezra's account

1. In the beginning of God's creating, **God used natural forces to set boundaries**...

YOM ECHAD - Period (Day) one - not the first day as often mistranslated. The words have been reversed in most transla-tions. This is an important notice, because it is the actual order of the words given in Hebrew, and that may have been for a signif-icant reason. Possibly it is to make that period one absolute, while the rest of the 'periods' are comparative, which is where God may have created time.

According to the Midrash and the Rambam, time was a sepa-rately created entity on the first day, along with the space of the physical universe encompassing it. Even though one could dis-tinguish between time and space, science considers them as a unified entity.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Gen-esis 1:1. There is also support that this translation is bad, and in fact the sentence should read more like,

' **Within the beginning God creates the heavens and the earth.'** This puts the verb bara in the present tense as if the crea-tion is still continuing and not as something that is completed. Kabbalah also gives supports for this idea.

Additionally, in looking up the definitions, the word bara (בָּרָא), which means "created", is used in Genesis three times; al-so, the masculine singular future tense yivrah (יִּבְרָא), which means "God will create" is used twice. That is five times the verb, create, is used in accordance with God (elohim). In Genesis 1:1 the word used for created is bara. But in Genesis 1:21 the word for created is yivrah, the future tense of bara. So the uni-verse is a past tense creation, but animal life is a creation that is ongoing.

This is because, in my opinion, the first bara is the first and on-ly physical creation. The usages of bara after that are for the crea-tion of the soul and spirit of animal and man respectively. We can see this echoed in Rosh Hashanna as well with the three trumpet blows. Rabbi Kabbalist Ramban also concluded this, 800 years ago.

So, the first bara is physical and this creation is complete; there is nothing more needed for it to fulfill its purposes. God created all the energy and all the natural laws on that day needed to guide the physical processes to its completion. But the soul and spirit are not complete; they need to accept God and Christ, they need to grow spiritually, and they need to leave behind the death they inherited from the physical and develop into life that Christ has for us. **Our spirit may or may not fulfill its goals depend-ing on one's acceptance, closeness and understanding of God.**

Friedman translated it as "In the beginning of God's creating the skies and earth" and JPS has "When God began to create heaven and earth." **Beresheit bara elohiym ayt ha-shamayim va-ayt ha-erets.**

He starts it out in verse 2 with the phrase "va-ha-erets ha-y'ta tohu va-bohu", which normally translates as "now the earth was unformed and void" or "and the earth being unformed and void". He argues since "va-ha-erets ha-y'ta" is in past perfect form (the noun is before the verb, for those having no idea what I am talk-ing about), that it should be translated as such "when the earth had been shapeless and formless" to be grammatically correct.

Bara (past or present tense, vs 1) - ברא

Yivrah (future tense, vs 21, 27) - יברא

In Genesis, the future tense "Yivrah" is translated as past tense, "created", when in English. This is not accurate for English read-ers to understand fully.

This shows us that all the material for our existence has been created, when God began creating. The latter two bara forms in future tense are because they are denoting the formation of the spirit and that this is an ongoing process; children are always be-ing born and so spirits are always being put into their tiny forms.

Original Hebrew in Genesis 2:7 "yatsar" is also written in the future tense as "yiyastar", which means "will form". But, in the English, it is translated as past tense. I would be interested to see how other languages translate this. God will form man from the soil of the earth.

We will continually go through a growth process towards be-coming like Christ, which is also why the yatsar in Genesis 2 is in the future tense. This yatsar showing us that from Adam to cur-rent man, we are pre-ordained to be of God; this is something that takes time, at least in our time, something that takes work and did not happen instantly. This is why we are here, to be made into the image of Christ.

www.wikipedia.com

"Formless and Void"

_The phrase traditionally translated in English "formless and void" is tōhû wābōhû (Hebrew:_ תהו ובהו _). In most Bibles the phrase is translated by various combinations of adjectives with which translators attempt to capture the flavor of the primeval terrestrial moment which tōhû wābōhû describes. This phrase is shrouded in ancient obscurity, and although it has some limited traffic in Modern Hebrew, is deemed to be a deeply mystical con-cept.[19]. The Greek Septuagint (LXX) rendered this term as "un-sightly and unfurnished" (Greek: ἀόρατος καὶ ἀκατασκεύαστος), paralleling the Greek concept of Chaos_

God creates in Hebrew is the word - **BARA** \- This is the 1st us-age of the word bara, which you will see upon reading is used only for **three purposes** in the Genesis account- Bara means : ( **of miracle, of birth, of anew** ).

**This is the first and only 'physical creation of a miracle', if you will.** The steps that follow afterward are all natural, but I will address those in each day. What I would like to point out here is that science has now, finally in the 21st century, made some advances into understanding quantum physics better.

One of these understandings is that all this energy that yielded the universe and the sun, the earth and consequently life, came from what appeared to be 'nothingness'. One might say this seems like a violation of the first law of thermodynamics (energy is neither created nor destroyed, just transferred) and indeed it is.

I agree with Stephen Hawking when he says he believes that all this energy just popped out of nothing, though I would differ with him on why. This is a good step in religious faith for those that understand it. Don't let the scientific wording scare you.

This is good, because it supports Ex Nihilo as a creation in-stantly from nothing, spontaneously. Rabbi Ramban had said that if science could prove that Ex Nihilo was impossible, that he would re-examine all his interpretations. However, upon the 21st century, about 800 years later, science is doing just that – con-firming the possibility of Ex Nihilo. Now we have scientific sup-port for it! That is profound indeed!

Day 1, God created anew, a miracle if you will, the heavens and the earth, because there was once nothing there and God made something out of nothing. But what did He create? Did God instantly create the earth at this time, and all the heavens and what comprises them? Certainly not, as we see upon reading the _second line_ : **the earth was formless**.

_The first line lets us know God's intentions._ But it is the _sec-ond line_ that begins the formation of his intentions. God created –BARA- the building blocks for all of the universe and its com-ponents in l _ine one_. Now they are able to form from line two.

**In Hebrew, it is common that the first line will be a general statement** about what is to come and the lines following will be the details; this is also how we know this story. in Genesis 1, at least, is a literal story. Rabbi Rashi teaches us, when there is a general statement followed by specific statements, the reading is literal. So, I completely agree with those who say that Genesis 1 is a literal story. But be careful as to how you understand **what is literally going on** , or you will not grasp how the science and re-ligious text go together perfectly.

What existed in day 1 in the second verse is mayim; therefore, it **is essential for us to understand what this mayim is exactly** so that we can understand how everything comes from it (the universe, sun, earth and life).
From Ramban's interpretation of scripture we get this:

_1. Through[1] the Ten Sefirot,[2] God created, from absolute nothingness, the prime matter of the heavens and all it would contain and the_ _prime matter_ _of the earth and all that it would contain.[3]_

2. The lower prime matter, after its creation from nothingness, was completely prime matter, that is matter without substance

From this Rabbi Ibn Ezra (1089-1164, Spain).

_1. In the beginning of God's creating, God_ _used natural forces to set boundaries, forming the created ante-mundane matter_ _[2] into the visible sky, the invisible spheres, and the dry land.[3]_

2. The dry land was an empty waste[4] because it was covered by darkness and water, and the wind of God blew over the wa-ters.

For myself, I see this as a way of describing events for the people at that time and for people much later. The natural laws being set by God at the beginning, along with all the energy that was to make up everything else, our universe and earth. Of course, one may view commentaries and scriptures in one's own way; however this, for me, makes the most sense given our un-derstanding of modern science today.

Ramban Nachimanides and Rabbi Ezra clearly see something more than mere water. They see the building blocks for life.

Rabbi Rashi and Rashbam do not add much in support of this.

Genesis 1:2 **Now** the Earth **was** formless and empty. Darkness was over the 'surface of deep' (in Hebrew : Mwht tahowm: abyss, the deep, grave.) The Spirit of God hovered over the wa-ters (in Hebrew, water is the word mayim and can be translated as **transitory things** or **building blocks** ) from www.bible.org .

By Maimonides, mayim is 'building blocks'. From Rabbi Ramban Nachimandies, it is 'prime matter' and by Rabbi Ezra, it is 'ante-matter'.

The universe began as building blocks of protons and electrons and evolved more fully into molecules of greater mass. The tran-sitory things are the protons and electrons. 800 years ago, Rabbis did not know these terms, so calling this mayim, something akin to building blocks, reveals to us they understood that **there is something fundamental in matter that changes, which was this mayim.**

It is this first deep waters, Mwht t@howm, that could be a representation of a space of emptiness: a grave, a deep abyss, be-cause nothing has been formed yet, there is only nothingness. This could very well be their understanding of the early universe. (Which is also pretty close to modern science.)

Something else interesting to mention here is the scripture 2 Peter 3:5. He says, But they deliberately forget that long ago by God's word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water (hudor- Greek) and by water (hudor).

Hudor in the Greek means: of waters, fountains, pools, of _wa-ter as the primary element_ (which I find personally interesting), or of the waves of the sea.

The heavens and earth were formed out of water (mayim-transitory things) in Genesis 1 and again mentioned by water (hudor) in 2 Peter 3:5. This water is clearly more than H2O.

Below I have a few scriptures which talk about water which are interesting. The first one is found in 1 John 5:6, 'Yehoshua Christ is the one who came by water and blood - not by water only, but by the water and the blood. And the spirit is the one who testifies, because the spirit is truth.'

The next one is found in _1 John 5:8,_ 'The spirit and the water and the blood, and these three are in agreement.'

The last one is from 1 Peter 3:20, 'After they were disobedient long ago, when God patiently waited in the days of Noah as an ark was being constructed. In the ark a few, that is eight souls, were delivered through water.'

If this water is simply H2O - How does Christ come by H2O? How is H2O in agreement with blood? How were souls deliv-ered by H2O?

Clearly something more is supposed to be understood by this term 'water'. When we take it in context with the other Biblical word clues, we may be able to understand it more fully.

If water is what is found in the beginning, giving rise to every-thing and eventually mankind. and also later found in the New Testament for Christ, this water may be seen as life. But Christ does not come by life alone. He also comes by blood. If blood is sacrifice, sacrifice of life, then we can understand this of Christ, and this analogous relationship to water and blood begins to makes sense. Mankind comes from water (life). Christ comes by life and sacrifice (His death on the cross).

The three are in agreement, perhaps because the Spirit repre-sents the Holy Spirit, the water represents the father YHVH, and the blood represents the son of YHVH, the messiah. And if mankind began in the water, Christ is unique because he is of the water and the blood. What blood? The blood of his sacrifice of life. Life, death, and truth (the spirit) are all in agreement.

Now, eight souls delivered by water on Noah's boat can make sense. They were delivered by life, the father YHVH.

This study of water continues to be interesting when we con-sider how many times the simple word for water is used in the Genesis 1 account - nine times in one chapter alone. This idea of water is significant in the creation. It is also significant in the sci-entific ideas of first life, organisms having been aquatic and formed in the water as H2O. But let us move on to the study of lights.

Genesis 1:3 - 'God said 'let there be light' and there was light.' Following that scripture there is no 'God created light' or even 'God made light', like with the other creations. This is very interesting, because if the light was not BARA –created- nor ASAH -made- then how did it come into existence at all? This is as if the light is coming straight from YHVH s words himself - the breath of God.

This is also interesting, because in science the protons and elec-trons (transitory things) are said to have been first, and then the photons. Photons are light, but scientists are not sure exactly what light is (something electrical and magnetic, something relat-ed to the electromagnetic spectrum, but still not really sure what it is).

In the Biblical text, we also get a sense of something being first, the water (mayim) -the life, the transitory things, _before_ the light is mentioned. Though a scientific term is not given to this water, we can understand it more fully in light of modern science as protons and electrons. Following water is a sense of something coming **next** , light. This is also the order in science: protons and electrons, and then photons.

It is also interesting that American Indians have some links to Jewish ancestors in their DNA and cultural stories of similarity, their creation stories sometimes echo the ideas of the Jewish Genesis creation story. The Cherokee tale of creation: 'Many, many moons ago, in the beginning of time, the earth was all wa-ter. There was no land.'

Now a separation takes place; a separation of darkness from light, or darkness from that which belongs to YHVH.

Genesis 1:3 'God saw that the light was good and he separat-ed it from the darkness.' This light God separates from the dark-ness is the Hebrew word - rwa 'owr - NOT the Hebrew word -rwam ma'owr- which is used later when 'God said let there be lights in the expanse to separate day from night or when 'God made two great lights' Genesis 1:14

Why is this distinction important?

Rwa 'owr carries the meaning: lightening, of lamp, of life, of prosperity, of instruction, of Jehovah, of face.

Rwam ma'owr is simply: luminous body, light.

So the first light mentioned is associated with the light of a lamp (Yehoshua), life, prosperity, instruction, Jehovah. (www.bible.org). Schroeder suggests Salvation, knowledge, righteousness as well.

This light rwa ówr is an interesting choice of words, because of its various denotations of something more than a mere luminous body. This is interesting because in the book of Revelation 21:23, 'The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the lamb is its lamp. The na-tions will walk by its light. (25) On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there.'

This scripture is indicating that a luminous body will not exist in the New Earth or in the New Jerusalem. Light will come from YHVH himself. This supports the earlier meaning of the word 'light' in the Genesis 1 account to mean something more than a luminous body. In the beginning the light is as in the end it will be, a light from YHVH.

Only after the material world is starting to form is a material luminous body needed to give light, and when this material world ends, this material luminous body is no longer needed. YHVH supplied the light in the beginning and He will in the end.

This light preceded the creation of the Sun and refers to the good light Hashem has stored away for us in the world to come:[47]

Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun,

and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold,

as the light of the seven days.

(Isaiah 30:26)

We can see from the above that both the water and light, which are the two first ideas mentioned in the Genesis 1 creation account, are from YHVH himself directly, water as life and light as life and as properties or characteristic of YHVH. The third idea is one of darkness and its need for separation from the light or from YHVH.

The first idea in the Genesis account is the building blocks (mayim). The next idea is of darkness over these building blocks and then the idea of light. We have discussed this 'mayim' and the light. Now, let us discuss the darkness.

The Mayim and light seem to be directly from YHVH, but the darkness, I think, is in the absence of YHVH. The creations af-terward are indirectly form YHVH, with exception of when an-imal life springs up and when man arises; then bara is used. You will see this more clearly upon reading through Period 6 and reading over Part Two -The Birth of Evil.

The darkness of Genesis 1, CHOSHECH - black fire, black energy as translated by the Talmud - has connotations of de-struction, death, wickedness, as from www.bible.org. There was evening and morning...chaos and order....the Hebrew of 'even-ing' (VAYEHI EREV) and 'morning' (BOKER, BIKORET) are understood as 'chaos' and 'order'.

Nachmanides explains that 'Vayehi Erev' does not mean 'there was evening'. He explains that the Hebrew letters Ayin, Resh, Bet - the root of EREV - is CHAOS, a mix of disorder. That is why it is called erev, because when the sun goes down, vision is blurry. So it is better read.....there was chaos/disorder. The Torah for 'morning' is Boker - orderly, able to be discerned. When the sun rises, vision is discernable.

The Talmud (Chagiga, ch. 2) analyses the word 'choshech' used for darkness. The word appears in Genesis 1:2. The Talmud ex-plains that it means black fire, black energy, energy so powerful you cannot even see it. Two verses later the Talmud explains the same word means darkness...the absence of light.

_Rabbi Berachiah said: It is written (Genesis 1:2), "The earth was Chaos (Tohu –_ תהו _) and Desolation (Bohu –_ בהו _). What is the meaning of the word "was" (haita –_ היתה _) in this verse? This in-dicates that the chaos existed previously [and already was]. What is Chaos (Tohu –_ תהו _)? Something that confounds (Taha) people. What is Desolation (Bohu –_ בהו _)? It is something that has sub-stance. This is the reason that it is called Bohu, that is, Bo Hu — "it is in it"._

What is interesting about this word 'Tohu' is it is mentioned later in this scripture:

And Samuel said to the people, Fear not; you have done all this wickedness; yet turn not aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart; and turn not aside; for then should you go after vain [tohu] things, which cannot profit nor deliver; for they are vain [tohu].

It seems this tohu' then is 'evil' and 'chaos' and 'desolation in another part of the Bible as well. Darkness is said to be hovering over the mayim. Never does the text read that it was bara, creat-ed, or asah, made, by YHVH. This shows us that darkness came about by another means. 'Evening and morning' or chaos and order.

In Summary: Time is created, mayim is created (building blocks), YHVH's light is present, His light is separated from the darkness.

Notice...'darkness was over the surface of the abyss (empti-ness) and the waters (transitory things) -Genesis 1:2. Until God said, 'Let there be light.' -Genesis 1:3. This is interesting, because building blocks of nature (including free-will in this make-up) are said to be covered in darkness. Thus nature yielded darkness all on its own. Not until God intervened was there light. Now free will was able to choose God. God did not create evil. God creat-ed the building blocks for energy/matter and free will. It was from this energy/matter and free-will that this evil/sin arises on its own. This is discussed more in depth in part two: The Birth of Evil.

An important mention: Kabbalists' writings on 'creation' dating to the 3rd-6th Centuries (1500-1800 years ago). Kabbalists were Jewish Rabbis, following the God of Abraham. They were the mystical/philosophical part of Jewish culture.

They write **'With the appearance of light, the universe ex-panded.'** What a concept for 3rd-5th Century, especially when everyone else is saying the opposite. They were radicals of their time.

IN SCIENCE: The universe is born 13-15 billion years ago. The Milky Way galaxy is formed...13.5 billion years ago.....
**Period 2-Day 2-** (lasts 4000 my, 7750 my ago): 'The expanse of the earth and universe'

Genesis 1:2 God said 'let there be an expanse between the wa-ters to separate water from water. So God Made – ASAH (guid-ing, preparing, observing, ordaining, making: from www.bible.org) the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it.'

Another translation reads: ''Then God said, 'Let there be ex-pansion in the midst of the waters, and separate the waters from the waters.' And God caused the expansion, and separated the waters below the expansion from the waters above the expan-sion. And it was so. And God called the expansion heaven.'' This shows us that day 2 is also for the expansion of our uni-verse.

God is separating the water -mayim (upper) which will be our universe of building blocks (like protons/electrons) of our uni-verse. These transitory things are forming the sun, possibly the oldest and other stars, galaxies, the moon and the second mayim (lower)-water of what will be our earth, the transitory particles that will make up our earth. Because we have upper and lower separation, **in Judaic tradition and Kabbalah** we have upper as heavens and lower as earth, and thus we can see those are the two divisions here.

<http://members.kconline.com/kerr/cosmos/first3days.htm>

The pressure in the original heavens also forced the expansion of the universe, and the expansion cooled it. Almost all the high-energy rays were broken up by that time, and the particles collid-ed with each other less and less frequently. After half a million years, when the temperature had dropped to only 3,000 degrees Celsius or centigrade (5,000 degrees Fahrenheit), the nuclei could at last capture the free electrons and form the first at-oms. The scattering of the light diminished, as it does when a morning fog dissipates. The light also became less intense and redder, like a fire that is going out. The last light traveled freely in all directions, from every place toward every other place in the universe. The universe became dark and transparent, open to our inspection, and the second evening.

'' _Once the dense regions became compact, they had strong gravitation that defined the directions "up" or above and "down" or below. The fluids above, which were other compact regions, separated from the fluids below, the region where the earth would later be formed. The gravitational energy of the matter falling into the lower region heated it up again until it began to emit light. The region became the galaxy now called the Milky Way. Primitive stars were formed, and the second morning be-gan.''_

It makes sense that this expansion is separating 'transitory par-ticles' (mayim) from other particles. Now there is a universe ex-panding with building blocks for life. This 'mayim' above the ex-panse could not be the sky and clouds, because that would still be under and within the expanse, not above it. In addition, the text reads that the expanse was given the name sky/heavens. The sky/heavens translated in psalm 102:25-26 is heavens, like our universe, not like or atmosphere/firmament. This mayim outside the earth is not the sky and clouds, but the building blocks of the universe.

This above mayim (water) is our universe, the transitory things: the protons, electrons and various particles. In reading more about the cosmology in The Theory for the Quest for Everything, we learn that Stephen Hawkins says that the cosmological con-stant should be enormous, but it is not; it is close to zero. The reason is because of perfectly equal amounts of protons and elec-trons eliminating each other out in this black matter/energy of our universe... which is strangely perfect. We can see this holds true within the Genesis 1 account of our universe, with the (mayim) transitory things as electrons and protons or 'building blocks', as Rabbi Nachimandies says. This perfection is caused by YHVH commanding it.

The expanse is yielding cloud formations within the universe, forming matter and substance and that which will comprise and form our earth. This is very interesting that this expansion exists now, allowing for clouds, because it is essentially a 'cloud' from which stars can now completely form. These clouds may very well be clouds of dust and gas, as science has shown they would have been at this time. It is very interesting, though that this ex-panse which would naturally comprise clouds of some kind is mentioned here, because stars need these clouds to form.

An important mention: Kabbalists writings under 'God as In-finity' say...'The sublime, inner essence secretly constitutes a chain linking everything from the highest to the lowest, extend-ing from the upper pool to the edge of the universe. There is nothing - not even the tiniest thing - that is not fastened to the links of this chain. The entire chain is one. Down to the last link. Everything is linked with everything else. So divine is below as well as above, in heaven as well as on earth. There is nothing else.'

They are attesting to the concept of 'building blocks' permeat-ing everything. Modern science shows this as well. But they wrote it down 1500-1800 years ago. Evening and morn-ing...chaos and order

_IN SCIENCE:_ About 2.75 billion years pass in this way. The solar system is created: Firstly the sun at 4.5 billion years ago, and stars, then the earth about 3.5 - 4.5 billion, and then our moon at about 3 - 4 billion.

The Earth's earliest surface has been destroyed, and scientists cannot use anything there to date the earth accurately; the major-ity of the oldest rocks found are approximately 3.5 billion years old. Few are measured at 3.8 - 3.9 billion years old. Some miner-als inside those latest rocks were measured at 4.1 - 4.2 billion. However, these rocks could have been from meteorites, they are so few in number.

We can see that this is debatable. The earth may have been formed 3.5 billion years ago or as early as 4.5 billion years ago. If it was 3.5 or 4.0 billion years ago, it places it in Period 3 of the Bible, which is where land and 'vegetation' is now forming in the waters. But if it is 4.5 billion years ago, the earth is placed at 500 million years earlier then period 3, in the latter part of period 2, when the expanse was being formed, but not the land.

Period 2 for the earth makes sense Biblically as well, because the earth has to exist before life (plants) can start forming in pe-riod 3. Therefore, from a Biblical perspective, the earth could have been starting its formations at 4.5 billion years ago or in late period 2; however, its totality was not reached with its land for-mations until period 3. Therefore it was mentioned in period 3 as being complete. But its beginnings would have started before its completion. The sun would have been formed by day 2 as well, which makes sense since the plants need light from the sun to grow. We can also understand this from the scripture **Job 38:7** , where he tells us that the **sun and stars were already present when the foundation of the earth was laid.** This will be men-tioned later in day 4 in more detail.

The sun is estimated at 4.5 - 5 billion years old. 1/2 of its fuel has been used up and is said to last only for another 5 billion years peacefully. Many stars are between 1 billion and 10 billion years old. Some stars may even be close to 13.7 billion years old — the observed age of the universe.

(See Big Bang theory and stellar evolution in wikepedia.com)

...The cloud (Firmament) from which the solar system formed was composed of gas and dust. Somehow in that dusty cloud, the Sun formed in the center and the planets formed around it. The inner, rocky planets formed by accretion - they accumulated dust and rocks to become planets. As explained by Robin Canup at the conference, years of studying the physics of planet for-mation.

Stars are formed within molecular clouds; large regions of high density in the interstellar medium (though still less dense than the inside of an earthly vacuum chamber). These clouds consist mostly of hydrogen, with about 23–28% helium and a few per-cent heavier elements. One example of such a star-forming nebu-la is the Orion Nebula.[18] As massive stars are formed from these clouds, they powerfully illuminate and ionize the clouds from which they formed, creating an H II re-gion.(wikepedia.com)

**interesting that the Bible explains the creation of a firma-ment (expanse) allowing for hydrogen, helium, and elements needed for stars to form BEFORE their actual men-tion/appearance, because scientifically speaking, 3,000 years ago men would not have known this.

Neutrinos produced in the center of the sun have been detect-ed in five experiments. Their detection shows directly that the source of the energy that the sun radiates is the fusion of hydro-gen nuclei in the solar interior. The nineteenth-century debate between theoretical physicists, geologists, and biologists has been settled empirically. (nobelprize.org)

The moon is estimated at about 4.5 billion years old (but that is based on an earth that is 4.5 billion years old, not 3.75 (which could be placing the moon also around 3.5 - 3.75 billion years old.).

But it is agreed in science that the moon was formed after the earth, at least in its totality, which is also in agreement with the Bible placing the moon in the expanse in period 4 of the Genesis account.

Compared to other moons and their planets, the Earth's moon is unusual in several respects. It is large relative to the Earth, with a density that is abnormally low compared to the terrestrial plan-ets, indicating that it lacks high-density iron. Recent findings even suggest that the moon's core constitutes only 2 - 4 percent of its total mass, compared to a terrestrial core with about 30 percent of the Earth's mass. The Earth-moon system also has an abnormally large angular momentum per unit of mass, contained in both the Earth's spin and the moon's orbit, compared to other planet-satellite systems.

In particular, we now know that the presence of our large moon acts to stabilize the variation of the Earth's rotational axis, a fact that was first discovered in 1974 by SwRI (?) Institute Scientist Dr. William Ward, who was then at the Harvard Center for Astrophysics. Were it not for the moon, the influence of the giant planets in our system would cause Earth's obliquity to vary wildly with values as extreme as 0 to 80 degrees. Such variation would probably cause extreme climatic changes that would ren-der the planet uninhabitable. Thus having a large moon may be one of the key characteristics necessary for a habitable Earth-like planet.

The Laws of Biogenesis state that life cannot arise from non-living matter. However, at some point in the distant past, when life and environmental conditions were different on earth, chem-icals had to have given rise to life. Because conditions were dif-ferent on earth billions of years ago, some scientists theorize this environment may have been conducive for this transition. Ar-chaea and bacteria (single-celled organisms) (first living organ-isms) evolve towards the end of this period.

**Period 3 - Day 3** (lasts 2000 my, 3750 my ago): 'Life-plants for the earth'

Also God said, "Let the waters under the heavens come to-gether in one place, and let that which is dry be uncovered."

God makes mention of waters coming together here, as in liq-uid H2O water, and liquid H2O water in science also first occurs within this time frame. Additionally, land is inferred to also be together in one form, since the water is combined at this time. This is also in alignment with science.

What is really cool here is that it is estimated in science at about 4 billion years ago when **the first living organisms** arose from chemicals and become amino acids, which combine with sugars to form RNA and DNA. Then the first single-celled life appears -although how exactly this happened is still a mystery to science.

This is cool, because this timeframe in science is the same timeframe given in the Bible for **first life** , which would be in **Pe-riod (day) 3 about 4 billion years ago** , according to Schroeder's interpretations. In Genesis 1, Period (day) 3 is when the first life appears. Most English Genesis 1 texts read plants. However, we know land plants occurred much later in the evolutionary chain, and this word for plants is probably denoting something else. Will discuss this in more detail below:

In Science:

Simple cells evolve- Archaea, Bacteria.

Bacteria develop primitive forms of photosynthesis towards the end of 'period 3' ...about 1750 my later. Then complex cells evolve.

Complex cells, microscopic eukaryotes (fungi, plants, and ani-mal protists) develop chloroplasts, which derive energy from light and synthesize organic molecules.

But how does this simple life evolve sinse the laws of biogenesis say that life cannot arise from non-life?

Firstly we have to understand this law is under the conditions of life as it exists now, in the environment that exists now. 4 bil-lion years ago, there was a completely different kind of environ-ment on this earth and it could possibly allow for the production of life.

This law is also only relates to complex life, not simple life as would have occurred 4 billion years ago.

Secondly, we have to think about what we define life to be? Is life something with a soul, a brain, with feelings, with one cell, with multi-cells, chemical reactions? Chemical reactions may simply be all that is needed to define life scientifically. Chemi-cals are formed from molecule combinations. Where do we get these molecules? From atoms, which are made from pro-tons/electrons and neutrons, or the building blocks of life. So, God's hand was in the formation of them.

Chemicals existed 4 billion years ago on earth abundantly. It is chemicals that combined to form amino acids and sugars, which combined to form simple RNA, then proteins and then more complex RNA and DNA, which formed the first one-celled and then multi-celled life. These chemicals were available and abun-dant in supply. But was the catalyst for them combining?

Environmental conditions were also more suited for the pro-duction of life from chemicals. You see how easily algae forms in water under the sun. Once you see only water, next you see a bowl of algae. Imagine water 4 billion years ago under the inten-sity of heat in heated vents. Chemicals in heated vents could re-act in a variety of ways, combining and forming bacteria, ar-chaea, eukaryotes (microscopic plants/animals) as the first aquatic life.

In Genesis:

Genesis 1:9 'Let the water under the sky be gathered unto one place, and let dry ground appear.' Is it strange that science also shows us that water was once all together, because the land masses were once all stuck together, until their faults and conti-nental drifts started moving them away from each other.

(See further reading on plate tectonics)

In reading this next text, we have to understand that when Genesis was written, the people had no concept of microscopic organisms, synthesis of organic molecules, photosynthesis, chlo-roplasts. So the words they were inspired to convey carried a meaning they understood at their time, but could also be under-stood later in time when these concepts developed, if one chose to study the text. Let us consider study of it further.

Genesis: 1:11 'God said, let the land produce...' The text does not use the Hebrew words bara for create. The building blocks from the beginning have already been created and evolved fully into what is needed naturally (from electrons/protons to atoms to molecules to chemicals to amino acids to proteins/sugars to RNA and DNA) to bacteria and archaea.

It is possible that day 3 'plants' is denoting aquatic plants such as algae, and then eventually plants that move to the land, and this would not contradict the evolutionary timeline. We know from Genesis 2 that these plants were not wild bushes or wild plants, because it tells us that none existed until the rain was giv-en and Adam tilled the ground. Additionally we know no plants were suitable for eating. So these plants of day 3 are a different kind of plant.

However, there is another explanation for the plants of day 3 which I hold and is explained below:

Now, Eukaryotes need to evolve, because it is from the Eukar-yotes that plants, fungi and animals can form on earth.

The timing of this series of events is hard to determine; Knoll (1992) suggests they developed approximately 1.6 - 2.1 billion years ago. That falls exactly into day 3. Fossils that are clearly related to modern groups start appearing around 1.2 billion years ago, in the form of a red alga. (day 4).

In science it is not clear how these Eukaryotes got here. Three main explanations for this have been proposed:

(www.wikipedia.com)

1. Eukaryotes resulted from the complete fusion of two or more cells, the cytoplasm forming from a eubacterium, and the nucleus from an archaeon (alternatively a virus).

2. Eukaryotes developed from Archaea, and acquired their eubacterial characteristics from the proto-mitochondrion.

3. Eukaryotes and Archaea developed separately from a modified eubacterium.

So how do we go from bacteria and archaea to eukaryotes?

Perhaps it is in period 3 of Genesis where we see what is hap-pening. God commands the eukaryotes to form.

YHVH commands what has evolved so far to produce: vegeta-tion and seed-bearing plants, but what kinds of plants? This is an important point to understand, because land plants are said in science to have evolved on land only 500 million years ago, plac-ing them in period 5/6 on the Genesis account. So what does this English word 'plants' mean in its Hebrew and in this text here?
Period 3/Day 3:

let the earth bring forth

eshe (grass, herbs, young)..

eseb (herb, grass, green plants)

yielding

zera`(seed, semen, fruitful ,sowing, offspring, descendants, chil-dren, prosperity, righteousness)

p@riy (?)(fruit, offspring, children, progeny)

Ue `ets (tree/timber, wood, stalk, cedar, stick, staff, gallows)

asah (guiding, observing, making, commanding, using)

p@rity

after its

miyn (kind/species)

whose

Zera

erets (land, earth, country, territory, region, ground, Israel, soil)

www.bible.org

_The Hebrew word translated "vegetation" (_ דֶּשֶׁא _, deshe') nor-mally means "grass," but here it probably refers more generally to vegetation that includes many of the plants and trees. In the verse, the plants and the trees are qualified as self-perpetuating with seeds, but not the word "vegetation," indicating it is the gen-eral term, and the other two terms are sub-categories of it. More-over, in vv. 29 and 30 the word vegetation/grass does not appear. The Samaritan Pentateuch adds an "and" before the fruit trees, indicating it saw the arrangement as bipartite (The Samaritan Pentateuch tends to eliminate asyndetic constructions)._

We can read from above how the vegetation applies here, it is a general reference to the later parts of this account, which is often the case with Hebrew. They go from a general statement to spe-cifics.

Let us look at each part and see this vegetation:

eshe eseb zera p@riy Ue `ets asah p@rity miyn Zera erets

young plants seed offspring (fruit) stalk guiding off-spring (fruit) species seed land.

These are young plants (microscopic eukaryotes) with seed off-spring (RNA/DNA), stalk (microscopic fungi/protists) with seed (RNA/DNA) guided to produce offspring species on land.

These plants are described as young because they are micro-scopic. Fruit and seed are implicative of offspring and produce. This is the RNA and DNA processes and the synthesis of ener-gy, sugar, and photosynthesis, which begin at this time on the scientific timeline and in day 3 when we consider Schroeder's interpretive timeline.

There are two types mentioned:

plants, eseb,----- are microscopic plants eukaryotes,

stalk, ue 'ets,---- are microscopic fungi/protists eukaryotes

'Let the land produce Vegetation: 'seed (erz 'zera) bearing plants (bse 'esed),' This is the first statement, which is always a general statement about what will happen in Hebrew. The fol-lowing sentences are for the details.

This development covers the fungi/protist and plant life that derive from the eukaryotes. Then the microscopic animal life arises later in day 5.

This can easily be seen when we consider the plants were plants but they were microscopic, and that the seed and fruits we are often thinking of is actually not like bananas and such, but is that which produces offspring and produce....that is photosyn-thesis, self- replication procedures of RNA and DNA, and the production of sugars.

This interpretation is further supported by the fact that in Chapter 2:5-7 of Genesism, the text clearly tells us that plants had not yet sprung up, no shrub of the field had appeared until after man was formed (to till the ground).

2:5-7 'no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth and no plant of the field had yet sprung up...for God had not sent rain and no man to work the ground, but streams of mist came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground.'

Remember this is in reference to the Garden of Eden, not the whole earth. We know from science that shrubs, plants and rain as well as other _Homo sapiens sapiens_ existed. But at this time in the Garden of Eden, there was no rain and no one to till the ground, until God took two of his _Homo sapiens sapiens_ crea-tions and placed them there, and sent rain and the growth of plant life began.

So why mention plants in Day 3 and men in Day 6 in Genesis 1, only to reverse the order in Genesis 2?

The author surely did not forget what he had just written a page ago. This was done for a reason. The reason is to give us more information about the 'plants' in Day 3 in comparison with the 'plants' that started to come out of the ground when the earth was watered and tilled by men. A difference between the two should be seen when we study the text further. There is one type of plant in Genesis 1, period 3 and another in Genesis 2 after man. What types is the text trying to convey?

This is vital, because a distinction is being made from plants mentioned in period 3 and plants in Genesis 2. The plants in Genesis 2 are shrubs and plants of the field that need rain and tilling from man to grow.

This is a different type of plant mentioned in period 3, which is seed bearing and fruit with seed in it that do not need rain or man to till it to survive, for they grow before man is on earth.

Further in Genesis 2:9 when the Garden of Eden is talked about, the trees mentioned are said to be pleasing to the eye and good for food. This is yet another description unlike the one giv-en in Genesis 1 to describe the plants.

In Genesis 1 it is not said these plants are good for food. It is because they are not to be used for eating. They are microscopic plants of eukaryote nature.

Additional support for this is in Genesis 2:17. Adam and Eve are told 'you must not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil'. One must ask, is this a real tree bearing knowledge fruits? Is this tree literally bearing knowledge?

Many scholarly opinions, and mine as well, hold that this tree is a symbol of experiencing. The person who is eating of it is not eating fruit from a tree, rather - experiencing evil or experiencing good, either from disobedience to God or by obedience to God. The trees were an Outward symbol of an Inward condition.

So if the tree of knowledge of good and evil is not a literal tree with literal knowledge fruit, it is a symbol of something more.

We can use that understanding to understand what type of plants are trying to be conveyed in Genesis 1, period 3. They are not plants you see with your eyes fully developed, as man did not till the ground yet. But they are the beginnings of plants - beginning as microscopic and the fruit and seed, characteristic of the 'synthesis of organic molecules and the synthesis of sugars'.

I think the author of Genesis wanted a text that would be ap-plicable for its time and applicable for today, allowing readers to understand it within each of their contexts of knowledge. God was deliberate when choosing a language that would allow for such variations in meanings for each word - the old Hebrew lan-guage does allow for these variations as does the old Aramaic language.

Evening and morning...chaos and order

In SCIENCE: PROTEROZOIC ERA (2.5 billion years ago. Lasts for 5 billion years. This era begins 1.25 billion years later in this Biblical 'Day')

Plate tetonics govern over determining earth's crust. The mid-ocean has spreading ridges. Continents move more swiftly, col-lide more often. Interestingly, the ocean is not separated between land masses. Rather around one big mass of land and then conti-nents begin to move. Life develops from single-celled organisms in early plants and fungi and minor sea animals. (Which is also what the Bible says, 'God gathers the waters all in one place' in the Genesis account.)

 http://www.physci.wsc.ma.edu/young/hgeol/geoinfo/timeline/formation/formation.html

It is thought that the Earth formed, along with our Solar System, from a large cloud of spinning gas and dust. The spinning cloud of gas and dust eventually began to shrink due to gravity. As this happened, it slowly formed into a flattened disk rotating around a central core, which was to become our sun. Over time, particles that were present in the dust cloud began to stick together and eventually formed planetesimals. Larger planetesimals were able to attract smaller planetesimals due to their gravitational pull. Over time, planetesimals collided with one another due to gravity, which resulted in the formation of the planets in our Solar System.

Once the basic elements of the Earth had formed, due to the planetesimals, the Earth began to separate out. After the for-mation of Earth, it is thought that the Earth was mainly LIQUID because of the intense heat caused by meteorite and planetesimal bombardments, as well as the natural radioactive decays of some of the material already present in the Earth. Denser material, like iron, sank into the center of the Earth forming the core, while less dense material formed the mantle and crust. Due to the heat pre-sent in the Earth, plate tectonics occurred and continue to occur on Earth. Plate tectonics will eventually lead to the complete cool-ing of the Earth's interior.

**Period 4 - Day 4** (lasts 1000 my, 1750 my ago) 'Marking lights for Earth'.

Genesis 1:14 'Let there be lights in the expanse to separate day from night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons, days, years.'

Here we also see that the expanse is separating the universe, with the sun and moon existing in the universe, not in the sky. This supports the earlier claim that the expanse separating the waters from the waters was for separating the universe itself from the earth, and that the second waters (mayim) was in fact reference to the building blocks of the universe and not the wa-ters in the sky, as some claim.

God made or ASAH in the Hebrew which means: used, pre-pared, made, ordained - two great lights. The greater (sun) to rule morning, the smaller (moon) to rule night.'

This is an apparent deviation from Science, because science places the Sun and Stars at 4.5 - 5 billion years ago, which would fall into the later part of Day 2, which is much older than Day 4, giving it an age of 1.75 billion years old according to Schroeder's interpretations.

The Argument than is that either the interpretations of those scriptures are wrong or the interpretations of science in that area are wrong.

Let us look at the interpretations of Scripture:

BARA - created. ASAH - made. Let there be (commands).

Genesis 1:1: God creating (BARA) the heavens and earth

Genesis 1:3 God said, let there be light

Genesis 1:7 God making (ASAH) the expanse

Genesis 1:9 God said, let the dry ground appear

Genesis 1:11 God said, let the land produce vegetation

Genesis 1:16 God making (ASAH) two great lights

Genesis 1:16 God making (ASAH) the stars

Genesis 1:21 God creating (BARA/ yivrah,) the aquatic animal life

Genesis 1:25 God making (ASAH) the wild land animals

Genesis 1:26 Let us making (ASAH) man in our image

Genesis 1:27 God creating (BARA) man in His own image. In the image of God he creating (BARA) him. Male and female he (BARA) creating them.

Genesis 2:7 God forming (YATSAR) man from the ground.

Genesis 2:22 God making (BAW _NAW) women from Adam.

(From www.bible.org)

ASAH : to make, to command , to observe, to work, to use, to prepare, to appoint, to ordain, to pass, to guide

BARA: of heaven and earth, of new conditions, of something new, of miracles, of birth, of transformations,

We can see here, God is not 'creating instantly as of a miracle' the sun, moon, and stars, or Bara would have been used. God is Asah (observing, using, preparing, and ordaining, making). This can be understood in the light of modern science. The definition used for Asah, though including made, is not of the instant crea-tion variety (Bara covers that), but rather of a process of making: observing, using, preparing, and ordaining.

What is the text saying? Why the two different words? If made (ASAH) means the same thing as create (BARA), why not just use the one word? Because they are not interchangeable words. They both have significant differences in meaning.

When God bara in the beginning, God is creating something **new and something out of nothing** , **it is a miracle.** God has created the 'building blocks' for our universe and world.

But when God asah: the expanse, the sun, the moon, the stars, the land animals and even man's physical body (Genesis 1:26), this is guiding, observing, ordaining his creation. This is guided evolution. This is YHVH directly being involved in his creations, not instantly creating them.

In looking at the old Hebrew of Genesis 1:14 -16, the passage reads something like this to me, in light of these definitions and modern science: ' God (ordains/uses) lights to rule for years, days and appointed times, between the heavens and the firma-ment; and it came to pass, and there was light upon the land and in the heavens and in the firmament, and a small star entity to rule at night and a second great light that was to rule for God's (purposes).

This light was in the universe in the beginning, but it was used for an ordained purpose in period 4 and guided into the expanse for light on the land.

God ASAH (used, observed, guided, ordained, appointed) the expanse, stars, sun, moon, land animals, the physical body of man, which all evolved from his initial BARA in the beginning.

Even if one wants to affirm the 'made/make' definition of the Hebrew word asah, that word still only implies a making of something, not a new creation. The difference is:

To create would be to create 'something of new', to create 'something out of nothing', like 'of a miracle.'

To make/made simply suggests the putting of something to-gether with pieces that were already available. No 'miracle' or 'creation of something from nothing' is taking place.

An illustration for this would be: I will create -bara- wood, nails and a hammer. I now will make -asah- a house.

We can also see this is Rabbi Rashi's Genesis account:

Having created the heavens and all that is in them and the earth and all that is in it on the first day, God as Judge said, "Let the heavenly lights be suspended in their proper places."

We see here that the heavens and all that was in them were created in the first day as Job tells us. However they were asah, suspended, guided, ordained, commanded, on day 4.

We can also see in Rabbi Ramban's Genesis account:

_By in-formation God generated_ _the carnivorous animals ac-cording to their kinds, the herbivorous animals according to their kinds, and the animals which travel using their whole bodies ac-cording to their kinds. God confirmed them in their existence in God's will._

_God_ _in-formed_ _the realm of the spheres with the forms of the two large crystal bodies, the larger crystal body to rule the day and the smaller crystal body to rule the night; he also in-formed the realm of the spheres with the forms of the stars and planets._

_God put these bodies in the realm of the spheres by in-formation_ _to shed light on the earth,_

_On the seventh day, God ceased God's creative work,_ _whether from nothingness or by in-formation_ _._

Here the bara is from nothingness.

The asah is as in-formation

Read his full account at the end of this book to understand his context more fully. **Let us not overlook how significant that sentence is from Ramban's account. He is talking about** crea-tion from nothing, bara; and creation from information, asah. Does this ring any bells for those familiar with the theory of information and the DNA codes and how they are filled with information. This makes a lot of sense, also, given evolution and how everything has a set of information within its DNA struc-tures that it uses to evolve. This is a rabbi 1,500 years ago saying that 'information' was used to help the creation process! This is amazing indeed!

In much the same way: the make-up for the stars, sun, and moon were created by period one. There was evening and morn-ing. During this time, many stars may have formed already, the sun, and then the earth and later the moon. They were created by the initial building blocks when God bara the heavens and earth.

But they were not mentioned by name until period 4 when God ordained them and used them for His ordained purpose, when they were mentioned in their complete purposeful totality. Now man understands why they exist and what they exist for, to guide time. The effects of them are also not felt on the land of the earth until day 4, because the land is not formed until then.

The earth has lights in its expanse and that makes a big differ-ence. Now the earth can proceed to grow and evolve more per-fectly, because it has an outside energy source, that of the sun. Without which, life evolution would not be possible, since the second Law of Thermodynamics confirms disorder arises from order in a closed system. Fortunately for us, this world is not in a closed system. We have stars, the moon, the sun and anything else that may come our way in space that influences our earth.

However, despite our outside energy sources, everything will cease one day, even our outside energy sources, because of the Second Law of Thermodynamics. Everything will wear out of energy in the form we see it and become something else. We can see this in scripture as well:

Psalm 102:25-26 'the heavens...will wear out like a garment.'

Isaiah 51:6 'the earth will wear out like a garment'

Matthew 24:35 'heaven and earth will pass away'

Romans 8:20 'creation was subjected to frustration (futili-ty)...the whole creation groans and suffers'

1 Peter 1:24 'all flesh is like grass...the grass withers and the flower falls off'

Ecclesiastes 3:20 'all came from the dust and all return to the dust'

It is interesting that Psalms and Isaiah comment on the heavens and earth fading away, when concepts of thermodynamics in science were not around in 900 BC / 700 BC. They could have easily taught that the heavens were eternal and would never cease.

So each period of creation, God is observing his creation that he originally created -bara- from the beginning. Each period marks a further guided evolution of the initial 'building blocks'. Period 4 is merely marking the further guided evolution of the stars and sun that had been born in period 1 from the initial crea-tion, bara. Now the reader may more fully understand what is being formed from these initial 'building blocks' in period 1 and why they were created.

A friend of mine said it to me this way when we were discuss-ing this issue:

Job 38:7 specifically states that the stars were already present when the foundation of the Earth was _laid._

Also, Genesis 1:4 states that the light and darkness were sepa-rated on day 1. Genesis 1:16-17 points out that it is the stars, moon, and sun that are responsible for this separation of light and darkness. Thus, the stars, moon, and sun must have already exist-ed on day 1.

Genesis 1:4 does NOT say that God put the stars, sun, and moon in the Heavens on day four. He put them in the EXPANSE in day 4. According to Genesis 1:20, the expanse is the place where birds fly.

If Young Earth Creationists insist that the creation of the sun, moon, and stars occurred on day four, they would be required to believe that the sun, moon, and stars are actually in our atmos-phere! We know that the Bible is not in error here. It is the inter-pretations of those who assume that the sun, moon, and stars were created on day four.

The sun, moon, and stars were created prior to the creation week when God created the Heavens, but they weren't "in the sky" (visible in the sky) until day four. Why weren't they visible before day four? Probably because of the "thick clouds" that God mentioned in Job 38:9.

Some people argue that the expanse of the sky is the universe and that the sun and stars are being placed into it in day 4. How-ever, this is erroneous for three obvious reasons. The first is that the text does not read that the sun and stars are being placed into anything. The text reads God asah the greater light to rule the morning and the lesser light to rule at night. This is a guiding, observing, ordaining of these lights, and not a placing of them.

The second reason is that it is not the object itself (the sun and stars) that is being asah, it is the **light** of the objects that is being asah. This light is being directed to shine on the earth. The third reason is that the expanse does not mean universe or heavens. The expanse means the firmament of the sky, the atmosphere. The text reads clearly: the expanse of the SKY, not the universe. We see this also in Day 2 when the text reads and 'God called the expanse sky'. This expanse is clearly in reference to the sky or atmosphere, not the universe or solar system as I have heard some biblical debunkers argue.

Therefore we can conclude that it is the light of the objects that are having their effects now through the atmosphere of the sky and affecting the land of the earth now. This would not have been possible before, since the earth did not exist until day 3. Therefore the effects of the light on the earth have to be felt AFTER day 3. Additionally this fourth day is symbolic with Christ being born in the fourth millennium of the generational period after Adam.

www.bible.org

shamayim <08064>

raqiya` eyqr raqiya`

Let us look at the interpretations of science:

It is interesting to note that science doesn't have much infor-mation about what was going on here on earth during this period of time. (See Day 4 Below)

Let's look at the science: How does science come to 4.5 - 5 billion years old for our sun and stars and moon in the solar sys-tem?

The earth and the universe are measured by radioactive ele-ments. (For example, atoms of uranium decay into atoms of lead. Knowing the decay rate and depending on the ratio of uranium to lead, they then determine how long it's been decaying and how old the sample is depending on this ratio. )

These radioactive elements inside the rocks on earth allow sci-entist to measure the age of those rocks.

The universe is measured by using its rate of expansion in com-parison to how far galaxies are from us. This tells us how much time was needed for the galaxies to get as far as they did.

Also through star clusters and white dwarfs (dying stars). By measuring brightness and temperature, they can tell how old it is, much like looking at a person and seeing how many wrinkles you have and how 'aged' you look....a reasonable guess can be made.

A plot of the star's temperature against luminosity, known as a Hertzsprung-Russell diagram (HR-diagram), allows the current age and evolutionary state of the star to be deter-mined.(wikepedia.com)

NEOPROTEROZOIC ERA BEGINS (1 billion years ago. Lasts till 5 billion years ago) - mention of eukaryotic cells signifi-cant. Science is exploring this era. Still is very new. Not much information here on what's happening on earth, but multi-cellular algae, seaweed finally evolve towards the end of this.

**Period 5 - Day 5** (lasts 500 my, 750 my ago) 'Animal life begins in water'

Most known animal phyla appeared as marine species during the Cambrian explosion, about 542 my ago. (www.wikipedia.com).

From Rambam, Nachimandies' Genesis interpretative ac-count:

God thoughtfully willed that, from the power of continuous movement inherent in the waters, beings which have souls and which move continuously and birds that would fly over the earth across the face of the heavens should pass from potentiality into existence.

We see here that beings with souls and birds are said to have begun in **waters** with continuous powers of movement (given by God's command). This is the same as evolution shows us (except for the soul).

From Rambam's Genesis account:

From the power inherent in the earth, beings which have souls and which move continuously should pass from potentiality into existence

We can see here that the earth in its inherent power helps to give rise to life as well. First it is the waters and then it is the earth (soil). This is also similar with evolution, given that from Eukaryotes we have the rise of plants and animals which live in soil and water.

From Theophilus, an early church father, in remarks on the cre-ation in chapter XVI - of the fifth day.

On the fifth day the living creatures which proceed from the wa-ters were produced, through which also is revealed the manifold wisdom of God in these things; for who could count their multi-tude and very various kinds? Moreover, the things proceeding from the waters were blessed by God, that this also might be a sign of men's being destined to receive repentance and remission of sins, through the water and laver of regeneration,—as many as come to the truth, and are born again, and receive blessing from God.

It seems to him life originated in the waters as well. The same as evolution theory shows us.

Now animal life begins from the eukaryotes, and the evolution of the eukaryote was addressed earlier, as well as the three forms of the eukaryotes (protists: fungi, plants, animals).

' _God created (bara) the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged insect (bird) according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.'_ Genesis 2:21

_God blessed them and said, 'be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas and let the insects increase on the earth.'_ Genesis 2:22

God BARA a second time with the first animal life, aquatic animal life - life from nothing. It is difficult to say for sure why bara is used here. Why does God need to intervene at this time and create something new instead of allowing for natural evolu-tionary processes to take place?

Is it because of the Laws of biogenesis in science which state that life cannot come from non-living matter, and so something more needed to be added? Chemicals do exist here and so do the bacteria, archaea, and eukaryotes. Therefore a form of life does exist, but perhaps this life cannot naturally on its own be-come higher forms of life?

Perhaps YHVH uses bara, because he has to create something more at this point to allow the first multi-celled complex animal life and plant life to spring up everywhere at this time period, which in science is dubbed the Cambrian Explosion.

Aquatic animal life is multiplying rapidly. This animal life needed an edge to survive, an abundance of production for sur-vival and a complexity perhaps not available at that time. There-fore, God created an abundance of aquatic animal life to thrive in its survival. Perhaps it is at this time when the characteristics of the animal kingdom are introduced. It should also be noted that YHVH could be imparting a soul to this animal life creation of his and therefore bara was also used for this reason.

God uses Bara in Day 5 - the second usage of Bara- (of birth, of miracle, of anew)

The first time was in reference to the creation of the building blocks for our universe and world and single-celled microscopic life (bacteria/archaea/single-celled microscopic eukaryotes - pro-tozoa, including fungi, plant, animal organisms), and this second time is for the creation of the multi-cellular complex eukaryotic animal life.

For the first time in the narrative proper, the verb "create" ('bara') appears. It is also used in the summary statement of 'in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.' The au-thor wishes to underscore that these creatures – even the great ones – are part of God's creation. The Hebrew term (tanninim) is used for snakes, crocodiles, or other powerful animals. The word is used to describe a mythological sea creature that symbolizes God's enemies. (www. bible.org)

The words below are included in the Genesis 2:21 text:

Nynt tanniyn / mynt tanniym - dragon, serpent, sea monster, dragon or dinosaur, sea or river monster, serpent, venomous snake

yx chay - living, alive, green (of vegetation), flowing, fresh (of water), lively, active (of man), reviving

smr ramas - to creep, to move lightly

Urv sharats - to creep, breeding abundantly, to teem, swarm, multiply.

Pwe `owph - flying creatures. fowl or insects.

Pnk kanaph - winged

The Hebrew reads like this:

God Bara the Nynt tanniyn creatures of the sea and every yx chay (smr ramas) – creeping, slithering thing and every (urv sha-rats) -creeping thing with which the water teems. He multiplied abundantly and every Pnk kanaph, Pwe `owph – winged insect.

God (Bara) creating the great sea mon-sters/dinosaurs/crocodiles/snakes of the sea and every creeping slithering thing (frogs, worms, lizards, snakes,) and every creep-ing thing in the water (fish, amphibians, Cambrian Explosion) he multiplied abundantly and every winged insect. ' --Genesis 1:21.

In Rashi's Genesis account:

God as Judge created Leviathan and his mate[21] -- slaying the female and salting its flesh for the righteous while allowing the male to live for, had they mated, they would have overwhelmed creation -- and all living beings which are close to the earth, which the waters had caused to swarm forth, each according to its kind; and all winged-birds, according to their kinds. God's work of creating the animals embedded in the sea was thus com-plete, and God saw that it was good.

In fact, all four Rabbis have the Leviathan account in their in-terpretations of Genesis. This is the Dinosaur. But it was de-stroyed by God or they would have overcome everything, the text reads.

I was in a bookstore and found an encyclopedia of dinosaurs. A young child approached and wanted to look at the pictures with me. After looking at a few I came across a timeframe for their extinction; they placed it at 248 million years ago. This is an interesting number because that is so close to 250 million years ago, which would have been at the end of day 5 and at the be-ginning of day 6. This is another match for Schroeder's timeline, the dinosaurs having died out in day 5. The four Rabbis, Rash-bam, Rashi, Ezra, Ramban, all mention this Leviathan and its death in day 5 as well. Another coincidence?

This was a very fun find for me. From this, one can see that dinosaurs are in fact mentioned in the Genesis account, contrary to the popular argument of "why doesn't the Bible speak of di-nosaurs if it is accurate?'' Well, the answer is: It does. In my re-search of the Hebrew words, I found it in fact did. Translators simply neglected to retain that varied meaning for us to see without some searching, but this is what God wants us to do, study the text!

*Life goes from multi-cellular plant life to animal life here in science. We can see that also in the Bible. Life was only in the form of microscopic plants (form of protozoa) in Period 3. Now we are in Period 5 and water life is springing up abundantly ac-cording to the Biblical text, just like in the Cambrian explosion.

God uses bara for created and not asah for made, because a miracle is being done to create complex animals. Something more is now being added to the gene pool (something from nothing) to give some eukaryotes an edge to develop into complex animals and not just remain algae, seaweeds or plants (multi-cellular cells).

Genesis 1:20-

"Let the water 'Teem' or 'Swarm with swarms' (abundant fertil-ity) with living creatures' - And that is exactly what happens. The water teems with life. This word 'swarm' or 'teem' means abun-dant fertility.

In science this is the time (the same time as this Biblical period as marked in Schroeder's timeline) when the Cambrian Explosion took place. This was a vibrant and abundant springing up of life from every phylum, except one that we have today, and nothing like it has ever happen before this or since this time. Science doesn't know why this happened. But the Word of God shows us, God said – let the water swarm with swarms (or teem with living creatures). The waters were commanded to do so by God.

-simple animals spring up vibrantly and abundantly:

Sponges, flatworms, and jellyfish developed. And fish, proto amphibians, vertebrate, invertebrate, depicting the Cambrian Ex-plosion in science.

Genesis 1:20-

And let insects (birds mistranslated) fly and creeping crawling things...*-anthropods, spiders, scorpions...amphibians, rep-tiles.... 'and every winged insect...'

Some translations read 'birds', not insects. But the Hebrew word can more clearly represent insects than birds.

From Rambans Genesis:

_God decreed a blessing on all the animals that each should give birth to many of its kind[39] and that the sea animals should fill the waters in the seas while the birds,_ _although their origin was in the sea_ _, should reproduce on the land._

Take important notice to the origin of birds, this is what evolution states as well. We all came from the seas initially.

Notice on the science timeline, this is not far off from when simple animals would have begun on this timeline of Schroed-er's, which is set at 600 MY ago. 600 my - Simple animals evolve: sponges, jellyfish, flatworms (first animal life.) 500 my - evolution of fish, proto amphibians, vertebrate, invertebrate, the Cambrian Explosion.

Evening and morning -chaos and order.

IN SCIENCE: PHANEROZOIC ERA BEGINS TOWARD THE LAST 1/4 BILLION YRS OF THIS DAY (1/2 billion years ago)

PALEOZOIC (Age of Ancient Life)

The first part of this ERA is dominated by ocean life: early multi-cellular life and tetrapods and reptiles.

Very interesting is that in science this is the time dubbed 'the CAMBRIAN ERA. (500 billion years ago)' is where a multitude of life just sprung up from every Phylum we have today, except one, a diverse abundance of life (namely water creatures) evolv-ing in such a BURST that has not since been recorded after this time of the Cambrian Era.

During the 53 million years that the Cambrian period lasted there was the sudden appearance and diversification of almost every major group (phylum) of animal life, as well as many types that later died out. Animals with shells and exoskeletons ap-peared for the first time, including trilobites, brachiopods, mol-lusks, and many other groups. This sudden evolutionary burst was so spectacular that it has been termed the "Cambrian explo-sion". There hasn't been anything like it on Earth before or since.

(Sounds like the 'swarm with swarms' in the bible)

It appears that a global freeze suddenly gave way to a very hot period. This abrupt change may have had something to do with the sudden explosion of life forms. Researchers purpose that the isolation and selection pressures during that event created an evolution engine capable of evolution leaps in short periods of time. But the details, mechanisms, and validity of this are still uncertain.

The most characteristic animals of the Cambrian period were the trilobites, a primitive form of arthropod remarkable for its highly developed eyes (unusual in such an early organism).

Water plants move to land, evolving from seaweed and algae in science.

BIRDS --- Then, several hundred million years ago (Day 5), huge and often terrifying new life forms, Pterosaurs, or flying dinosaurs, took the ascendancy. These massive creatures had wings of skin, stretched between one enormously elongated fin-ger and their flanks.

Around 150 million years (Day 6) ago they were joined by - or, as many scientists say, they began to turn into - a much more aerodynamic, feathered creature. The bird was born. (PBS.com)

The ancestors of all today's birds evolved later, he says, be-tween 65 and 53 million years ago, independently of the dino-saurs. This is the "big bang theory" of birds. Feduccia and his fellow skeptics - it must be stressed they are in the minority - re-gard any similarity between birds and dinosaurs as an example of convergent evolution, by which two independent groups grow to look alike. (PBS.com)

The first known fossil bird is Archaeopteryx, from the late Ju-rassic of Bavaria, Germany, which is represented by seven skele-tons and a feather. There is no fossil evidence from before this time that has been proven to be of avian origin. The fossil record of modern birds began in the early Tertiary (Padian et al., 1998).

Archaeopteryx is the first known bird but was probably not the direct ancestor of modern birds. (Geology Rocks Tutorial)

Scientists all agree birds evolved from reptiles, but they differ on which. Some think small reptiles on land, (possibly 300 billion years ago, Day 5). Some think dinosaurs, (possibly 200+ billion years ago, Day 6).

There is a lot that is still not known about the origin of birds. New fossils need to be found in order to fill the gaps in our knowledge. There are many puzzles--(geology rocks tutorial)
**Period 6 - Day 6** (lasts 250, 250 my ago) 'Animal life goes for land.'

Before I begin I would like to repost the definitions for asah and bara with www.blueletterbible.com

bara' : Verb:

1) to create, shape, form

a) (Qal) to shape, fashion, create

(always with God as subject)

1) of heaven and earth

2) of individual man

3) of new conditions and circumstances

4) of transformations

b) (Niphal) to be created

1) of heaven and earth

2) of birth

3) of something new

4) of miracles

c) (Piel)

1) to cut down

2) to cut out

2)to be fat

a) (Hiphil) to make yourselves fat

Asah: Verb:

1) to do, fashion, accomplish, make

a) (Qal)

1) to do, work, make, produce

a) to do

b) to work

c) to deal (with)

d) to act, act with effect, effect

2) to make

a) to make

b) to produce

c) to prepare

d) to make (an offering)

e) to attend to, put in order

f) to observe, celebrate

g) to acquire (property)

h) to appoint, ordain, institute

i) to bring about

j) to use

k) to spend, pass

b) (Niphal)

1) to be done

2) to be made

3) to be produced

4) to be offered

5) to be observed

6) to be used

c) (Pual) to be made

2) (Piel) to press, squeeze

Genesis 1:24-

Let the land produce living creatures, creatures that move along the ground, wild animals.

So God (made) ASAH -guided, prepared, observed, ordained - every wild animal, livestock, and creatures moving along the ground.

Genesis 1:26/27

'Let us **ASAH (prepare, put in order)** man in our image. (Physical body/Physical evolution)

'So God **BARA (Qal)(transformed with new conditions)** man in His image, in the image of YHVH he bara mankind, (spir-itual creation), male and female YHVH bara them. YHVH is creating a spirit which is in the image of himself and partaking it to mankind here.

**When God BARA in Day 6, God used two terms for this mankind, he used Asah in Genesis 1: 26 and Bara in 1:27.** _This is unique because the only animal to receive God's image is mankind._

Why use both bara and asah in the text to describe the creation of man? Perhaps it is because asah shows us that there is a guid-ed evolutionary process from the aquatic life to mankind and ba-ra shows us that a spirit/soul is required for this life. All animals were bara or given a soul. But humankind had been given some-thing more, a spirit.

Perhaps this spirit is because man with his complex thoughts, complex ability for language and writing, self awareness, moral awareness, conscious, awareness of his own mortality needs to be connected to God.

But God is also creating something new because our Spirit is being made in likeness to his own. We now have a spirit. It is quite possible that before this time, in the Bible recorded period Day 6, animals and even our genetically closest ancestors did not have a spirit imparted to them. This is not to say they did not have a soul. In part two, I will discuss this further.

 http://ancienthebrewpoetry.typepad.com/ancient_hebrew_poetry/2007/03/the_genre_of_ge.html

_I follow Ronald Hendel in terms of the text most likely to reflect the original in 1:26. In his view,_ וּבְכָל־הָאָרֶץ _in MT, an unlikely phrase in context, is an error resulting from a scribe skipping ahead from_ וּבְכָ _[_ ל הָ _to_ ל הָ _]_ אָרֶץ _. The correct text was added back in without the erroneous text being removed.[1]_

I prefer Robert Alter's rendering of Genesis to all others,[2] but in my view he misses a couple of nuances in his translation of 1:26-28. I would translate as follows:

And God said, "Let us make humankind in our image, after our likeness, to hold sway over the fish of the sea and the fowl of heaven and the cattle and all the crawling things that crawl upon the earth."

And God formed the human in his image;

In the image of God he formed him;

He formed them male and female.

_The abstract expressions 'create' and 'have dominion' are avoided in my translation. The corresponding Hebrew terms are concrete._ ברא _Qal means to 'shape (by cutting),' and by extension 'form, fashion, make';_ ברא _Niphal, idem;_ ברא _Piel means to 'cut down, cut out.' See BDB; HALOT assigns_ ברא _Qal and_ ברא _Piel to different roots._ הברא _in Phoenician occurs as a nomen profes-sionis in reference to some sort of craftsman._ ברא _Qal in ancient Hebrew probably has the specific concrete sense of 'shape, form, fashion' in the passage before us and in Isa 43:1, 7; 54:16._

_A more generic concrete sense of 'fashion, make' is plausible in all others._ ברא _Qal but not_ ברא _Niphal (Ezek 21:35; the subject here is a 'sword'; the passage confirms the relevance of the meaning of_ ברא _in Phoenician to its meaning in Hebrew) is found exclusively with God as subject._ ברא _Piel, on the other hand, is found exclusively with human beings as subject. If the corpus at our disposal were more extensive, it is likely that examples of_ ברא _Qal with a human subject and_ ברא _Piel with a divine subject would turn up, though it is impossible to be sure._

_Theologoumena in support of the doctrine of creatio ex nihilo based on the exclusive occurrence of_ ברא _Qal with God as subject have often been pronounced by Old Testament scholars. They constitute a classic case of overreach, and lead to boners like the following: "An element (in the accusative or introduced by a preposition) from which God 'creates' is never indicated."[3]_ ברא _Qal occurs with a double accusative in Isa 65:18._

God BARA for three purposes in the Creation 1 Genesis recorded account.

God Bara for one purpose in Period 1 at the beginning –'in the beginning God Bara the heavens and earth'' He created all the building blocks out of nothing that would eventually come to be everything we know.

_God BARA for a second purpose_ in Period 5 with water life, God is creating something new, another miracle, complex animal life out of simple microscopic eukaryotes (protests: fungi, plants, animals)

**God BARA, for a Third purpose** in Period 6 when He created mankind with all its added genetic complexities and created him in His image –a spiritual image. This image is not a physical im-age. This point will also be discussed in more detail later in part two of this book. (But he asah man before he formed (Qal/bara) him in his image)

**What about the Genesis 2 text that reads, God formed man from the soil of the earth?** Isn't this contrary to man coming from an aquatic origin? No, because eukaryotes would have been from this same aquatic origin as archaea and bacteria. Remember eukaryotes are where plant and animal life came from scientifi-cally. Where does this eukaryote reside? It lives in fertile soil and water! So, this eukaryote was taken from the soil and used and guided to form animals as well as mankind.

Man came from both, an aquatic beginning first (water in Gen-esis 1) and from a soil (eukaryote) beginning second (Genesis 2). Each one is simply marking a further line on the evolutionary track, because where did the Eukaryotes come from originally? They came from the waters as proposed did all of the first organ-isms either directly or indirectly.

Mammals small and big evolve by God's guiding hand in this last day. However humans were the last mentioned on this day, which means it took place _towards the end of Day 6_ , towards the end of the 250 my. The oldest _Homo sapiens sapiens_ fossils found were 160,000-200,000 years old in Ethiopia. I propose that the _Homo sapiens sapiens_ line is the beginnings of 'God made (asah) man in His image. Both female and male he bara them.' It is at this point the hominid line becomes more like modern humans and receives not just a soul, but a Spirit – a di-vine connection with its creator.

Notice that Day 6 includes the last 250 million years. But this is the Creation time, so to get a whole account of actual time we would also have to include the Generations time. The generations are from Adam/Eve to present day, 3977 B.C. (Adam's birth date) or 3937 B.C. (Adam's 40 years of age, spiritually aware).

This timeline is based on the Biblical timeline, not the Hebrew calendar, which is 217 years off from Adam. (See part 6: Revela-tion). The actual passage of time from beginning to present would be: 15,750,000,000 (creation) years PLUS 5,945 (spiritual generations) = 15,750,005,945 years. Unless you start with Ad-am as a baby and then you add 40 years to that total. I start at forty, because that is about the time God would have been com-muning with him, since that age is when we see the same effect with Moses and Abraham; therefore he is becoming spiritually aware.

Creation day 6 is understood with the use of beyom as being a 24 hour day and therefore it is not much time added to the total of creation time.

The generations time can be seen through the window of the idea that '1,000 years to you is like 1 day to YHVH'. Therefore 5,983 years is equal to almost 6 days. The seventh day (1,000 years) may be for the Messiah's return.

The birth time for Adam was accounted for by referring to Biblical genealogies provided in the Bible, Old Testament and New Testament. You can also refer to the Shepherd's page found under www.abdicate.net/chronolgy.aspx

An important Mention: Kabbalist writings under 'Creation' say, 'An epiphany enables you to sense creation not as something completed, but as something becoming, evolving, and ascending. This transports you from a place where there is nothing new to a place where there is nothing old, where everything renews itself, where heaven and earth rejoice as at the moment of creation.' 1800 years ago they are speaking on evolution. That is fascinat-ing.

_IN SCIENCE:_ 'Eon of multi-cellular life' MESOZOIC (age of middle life):

Dinosaurs emerge 250 million years ago. (1/4 billion years ago.)

Shallow Water covers most of the continents, breaking up land into small islands. Mammals remain small. Modern groups of or-ganisms appear.

CENOZOIC (age of recent life):

Lastly we have the development of mammals, evolving from shrew-like into all the diversity we see today. The extinction of dinosaurs takes place. Modern land masses take their place. Her-bivores and carnivores developed larger brains. Lastly there is man.

*Oldest weapon fossils found 250,000 years old.

*Oldest primates perhaps 4 million years ago.

'Evolution' is also talked about in Early Greek culture and in the Rumi (an Islamic Mystic/Philosopher of 1200 A.D.). It is in-teresting that the idea of Evolution of the universe as well as an-imal and humans, exists 1,000-2,000 years prior to Charles Dar-win and Lamerick, though their studies were of scientific value. Others have contributed to this idea of Evolution prior to them in the realm of 'Religion'.
Summary of 'contradictions' between Genesis and Science:

The Bible states 'In the beginning.' There was a beginning ac-cording to most scientists. Time is created when the Universe was created.

The 'waters-building blocks' created from which everything was able to evolve. The same materials are used in everything. We all share a common thread, same in science.

Life originates in the Mayim water as 'transitory things' in Genesis Day 1, and animal life beings in the water as said in the Genesis text under Day 5, similar to science.

The order of the creation (evolution) of the solar system: uni-verse first, than stars, sun, earth, and then moon. (But which is seemingly contradictory at first reading).

The order of life creation (evolution) of water life first, am-phibians, reptiles, then birds or insects, land animals, plants, last-ly man.

The creation of the firmament (clouds and dust) beforehand that allow for the development of star formations, the sun.

The land masses are all connected as one and water surrounds it until later, when the continents separate and form

The 'Swarm of swarms' illustrates a vibrancy of water life. The Cambrian Era also shows this of water life.

Conclusions:

Like it was said in the opening, we need to remember that ge-ology, archeology, plate tectonics, linguistics, genetics, astrono-my, cosmology, all agree that the earth is between 3.5 - 4.5 bil-lion years old, roughly 3 billion for life.

Cosmology, astronomy both agree that the universe is between 15 + billion years old.

When someone asserts the earth is only 6,000 -10,000 years old, what is being attacked is not evolution. It is many areas of the natural sciences. Evolutionists use that information to make estimated dates of when the evolutionary processes may have taken place. To argue that the earth is young is disputing more than biology, but many areas of natural science. The scientists in each of these fields all come to the same conclusions about the age of the earth.

In addition, astronomy and cosmology reveal a universe that is about 16 billion years old. How can this be if the days in our cre-ation period lasted only six times 24 hours? That would make our earth as well as our universe, Adam's age (about 6,000 years ago) plus 6 days.

How can we conceptualize microevolution to macroevolution?

Microevolution: given time, isolation, a changing environment, natural selection, mutations, selection pressures and the guiding hand of God, can indeed lead to macroevolution.

These scientific ideas are not contrary to God's word.

Religious texts: the Kabbalah, The Rumi and cultural texts: Greek and Roman all speak on evolution.

Kabbalists write in 'creation' dated at 3rd - 6th (200 - 500 A.D.) centuries when written, but orally much longer: 'with the appear-ance of light, the universe expanded.'

"The sublime, inner essences secretly constitute a chain linking everything from the highest to the lowest, extending from the upper pool to the edge of the universe. There is nothing, not even the tiniest thing that is not fastened to the links of this chain."

"Everything is catenated in its mystery, caught in its oneness. God is one, God's secret is one, all the worlds below and above are all mysteriously one. Divine existence is indivisible. The en-tire chain is one. Down to the last link. Everything is linked with everything else, so Divine is below as well as above, in heaven and on earth. There is nothing else."

"A euphony enables you to sense creation is not something complete, but constantly becoming, evolving, ascending. This transports you from a place where there is nothing new to a place where there is nothing old, where everything renews itself, where heaven and earth rejoice as at the moment of creation."
Outlined Summary:

Time:

**Genesis creation account** is separate and unique from the rest of Genesis and the rest of the Bible. The creation days are NOT included in Hebrew calendar. The Hebrew calendar BEGINS with ADAM. The two frames of 'time' are separated in Hebrew culture. There is 'creation time' and 'generation time', Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 respectively.

**Rosh Hashanna** has three trumpet blows: one for the creation of the universe, one for the creation of the soul of animals, and a third for the creation of the soul of man. This is when the He-brew calendar begins on the third blow, man. This is seen in the Hebrew Calendar and also by **Moses in Deuteronomy 32:7.**

'If you want to see the fingerprints of God, Moses said, re-member the days of old, consider the years of many generations.' Moses is breaking the calendar into two parts. Rabbi Na-chimnadies of Spain 1100 A.D. asks, 'why does Moses do this, in the name of Kabbalah?' It is an important point to notice. **Modern Christianity throws Creation time in with generation time and concludes then the earth and creation is 6,000 years old when in fact we cannot add it up that way.**

How do we determine creation time? There are a few deeper understandings of time in creation:

**Rabbi Dessler** holds that time-as-we-know-it flows, time-as- Adam- knew-it barely flowed, and time before Adam- didn't flow at all.

Because the concept of a flow from past to future is so central to what people think of when they read the word "time", I think it's fair to say that time did not exist during the act of creation, only something like "Time".

Time to this Rabbi in creation is 'like time' but not time as we know it.

Another Jewish man named **Dr. Schroeder** who is a Physicist and studied under a Rabbi sees creation time this way: through the eyes of time dilation.

**Time dilation** works like this: remember learning about star-light. The light we see today is from millions or billions of years ago. Yet we are only seeing their light now. In the beginning of the universe imagine a star bursting and God writing 'you will see a star burst every Yom(day)'. The first star bursts and you are standing near it and feel its burst is felt in this first day.

But remember the universe is expanding and so you are moving away from this star. The next star that bursts is the next day and you feel it at a distance further away from it and so you don't experience it bursting until say 40 days later...again the universe expands and you are even further away from the star and when another bursts the third day, you then feel it bursting 160 days later....this is because you are moving further and further away from the star (from the information) that you can feel, even though the stars are actually bursting every yom (day).

This is a physics concept and along **with Einstein's theory** of relativity (time affects you differently depending on your point of view), we can see how one day may feel like one day to God and yet to us it may feel like millions or billions of years.

We also have scripture that shows us in **Psalms** that 'a thou-sand days to you is like one day to God'. This is the relativity of time.

Now **Rabbi Rashi** , a Jewish commentator from 2,000 years ago, is studied by all Jews when studying Torah/Tanakh (Bible). That is how important he is to Jews understanding their texts.

Rashi explains in Talmud (book of commentaries) that in 'day one' it was in fact 'a day to GOD alone'. Man was not included in this day. We also know man was not created until day 6. Therefore we can conclude that this time passage is time to God and to us it is 'something like time'.

**Rabbi Nachimandies** also explains about yom 'whether a short or long period of time'. In his commentaries it seems he himself was unsure of how much time elapsed with Yom.

**Moses** calls the days 'days of old'. Why old? They just hap-pened 7 days before Adam? They are thought of as 'old' because they are in fact a mystery, an ancient time, and no one has rec-orded information about what happened in that time, **except God who gave bits of it we could understand to Moses**.

**Yom in Hebrew** can mean a 24 hour day, a day's journey, from sunrise to sunset, a period of time, and more. Every He-brew word has a variation of meaning. Nachimandies seems to use a period of time from the Yom definition in some parts of his comments.

Therefore we can view 'time' in a new light that is really an old light, but it is just that we are now understanding this 'time'.

' **Asah/Bara/Exhilo'**

Today churches teach Exhilo - spontaneous generation of eve-rything that God made. But the Genesis actually has two He-brew words describing creation. The first is Bara and the second is Asah. God uses bara, which is creation from nothing (Exhilo), only for three purposes in the text. The first is in Day 1 when God bara the (heavens and the earth) all the energy needed for everything. The following days 2, 3, 4 all include commands, and asah formations, and this is not Exhilo. Those are natural processes.

These natural processes come by God's commands and asah, I am convinced, is guided evolution. Rabbi Nachimandies also has an opinion on this:

In regards to the heavenly bodies he says this: God **in-formed** the realm of the spheres with the forms of the two large crystal bodies, the larger crystal body to rule the day and the smaller crystal body to rule the night; he also in-formed the realm of the spheres with the forms of the stars and planets.

In regards to all of creation he says this: On the seventh day, God ceased God's creative work, **whether from nothingness or by in-formation.**

Now asah is in-formation and from nothingness is bara. We can see clearly from this the ancient Rabbi using the two words, hav-ing different understanding and meaning. Asah is more of a nat-ural formation while bara is a supernatural occurrence.

In day 5 we see this: God bara all the great sea monsters and creatures of the seas. Now this is interesting because we can see later the land animals only get asah. However, the aquatic life gets the bara. In Rosh Hashana the second trumpet blow is for the creation of the soul of animal life (all of animal life).

We can see that the aquatic water life receiving bara (soul from nothing) is in fact yielding a soul to ALL of animal life and this is because all of animal life comes from this aquatic life (as evo-lution shows us). This would include Hominids and all the homo line. It is also in day 5, when God commands the water to swarm with swarms, that we can see the Cambrian Explosion in science come to life. It is possible bara was needed because of the abun-dance of complex growth that took place at this time; perhaps God needed to give it a kick and something more added to the gene pool.

The last time bara is used is in day 6 which is with mankind. The text reads 'let us asah mankind in our image and so God ba-ra mankind in his image, in the image of God he bara him, he ba-ra both male and female in his image.' Mankind is shown to asah (natural process) and to bara (perhaps conscious, moral judg-ments, wisdom, complex thought) and also a spirit. In Rosh Hashana the third trumpet blow is for the creation of the spirit of man.

Rosh Hashanna commemorates the use of bara and it is in the three trumpet blows that its meaning and usage is revealed to us more clearly. However we can also read directly from the Gene-sis text the usages of bara occurring which are for three purposes in day 1, day 5, and day 6 only. The first bara clearly represents exhilo – a creation of something natural from nothing. However day 5 and day 6 may just be about the creation of the soul and spirit and not necessarily anything added to the gene pool, though that option is open.
Chronology:

The English version today uses 'created' and 'make' for every day. But in the Old Hebrew the words were bara and asah. You lose a lot of understanding.

bara meaning a miracle of something from nothing, of birth

asah meaning using, guiding, preparing, maintaining.

day 1 is bara for the prime matter of everything

day 2 is asah, commanded

day 3 is asah, commanded

day 4 is asah, commanded

day 5 is bara (cambrian explosion)

day 6 is bara and asah mankind

I maintain that asah is guided evolution; however if you simply understand this means NATURAL processes, then that is within the definition. It does not mean supernatural processes; that is for bara.

When you start to get that, you start to see the evolutionary timeline unfold in the Genesis

DAY 1: bara in day 1 shows a creation of all prime matter/energy from nothing, a miracle.

DAY 1/2: mayim which is translated water in day 1, 2 should be transitory things, prime matter by Rabbi Nachimandies

DAY 3:plants from Day 3: let the earth bring forth eshe (grass, herbs, young), eseb (herb, grass, green plants) yeilding zera (seed, semen, fruitful, sowing, offspring, descendants, children, pros-perity, righteousness) p@riy (fruit, offspring, children, progeny)

This can be understood as young plants that bring forth replica-tion (offspring), or microscopic plant organism. Translators mis-takenly assumed these plants are plants we see with our eyes like banna tress or bushes, but they are not. They are EUKARY-OTES.

DAY 4: The sun, stars, moon were not created in day 4, they were asah in day 4, guided and maintained for its purposes to be seasons and times for earth.

DAY 5: bara in day 5 perhaps is for adding something more to the gene pool for animal life or perhaps simply for the addition of the soul to animal life.

DAY 6: bara in day 6 may be for something more in the genes for mankind or simply for the creation of the spirit. Mankind was both asah (evolved) and bara (spirit).
Hominid Evolutionary Timeline

Below I have included the Hominid Evolutionary Timeline for you to see what steps man took slowly to become what we look like today. There are many more interesting facts then what I have listed, but this will give you a general idea.

Primate---Orangutans (15 million years ago)

\---Primate

Primate---Gorillas (10 million years ago)

\---Primate

Primate---Chimpanzees (5 million years ago)

\----Primate

***(2 lines of hominids. One dies and the other leads to Homo sapiens).***

*** (bipedal movement and use of primitive tools)***

Primate---Ardipithecus Ramidus (4.5 MY) (hominid) eventually dies out.

\----Australopithecus Anamensis (4.2-2.9 MY) (hominid)

Anamensis---Austalopithecus Afranesis (3.9-2.9 MY) (hominid)

(intermediate between chimps and humans)

(apelike)

Afranesis---Australopithecus Africanus (3.5 MY) (hominid)

(few human features) (mostly apelike)

Africanus---Australopithecus Aethiopicus (2.5 MY) (hominid)

(apelike with few human features)

Aethiopics---Australopitheucs Boisei (1.75 MY) (hominid)

(Sexual Dimorphism occurs) (ape-like with human features)

Boisei---Australopitheucs Robustus (2-1MY) (hominid)

(tool use starts to become more frequent and complex)

(ape-like with more human features)

(Hominds: more human-like then ape. 'Homo' which is for 'thinking')

Robustus---Homo Habilis 'Handy Man' (1MY)

(complex use of tools)

(co-existed with Robustus)

Habilis---Homo rudolfensis (1MY) (this line dies out)

\---Homo eragster (1-2 MY)

Eragster---Homo erectus (1.8 MY-100,000)

\---Unknown

Unknown---Homo heidelbergensis (500,000-300,000)

Erectus------Homo sapien (200,000)

(Evidence is found in South Africa from the Homo Sapien line for primitive art dated at 90,000 years old, beginnings of com-plex and symbolic thought and language).

Homo Heidelbergensis---Homo Neandertalsis (150,000-30,000) (this line dies out)

(This line brings about some forms of complex thought with evidence of painting on bodies and burial sites)

Homo sapien---Homo sapien sapien (35,000) In Europe around this time we have an explosion or plethora of 'thinking' evi-dence from art and tools, jewelry, artifacts, which also reveal ability for complex 'symbolic' thought and language within this line of Homo.
Part 2: The Genesis Man - The Evolution of Man.

Genesis 2, I call the generations account. This is because it is about the generations of man. Even the plants that require tilling are not growing, because man is not around to till it. We see the effects on earth from man now.

Genesis 2:7 begins with man/mankind. The word 'Adam' is not used until later in the chapter. There is a period of time from when man/mankind was created in Genesis 2:7 and when the name Adam appears. This is significant. This is because before Adam is used, the man is mankind in general, not one specific man, Adam only.

_'Man' becomes 'ADAM' for the first time when the Hebrew word ('adam) appears without the article, suggesting that it might now be the name "Adam" rather than "the] man." Translations of the Bible differ as to where they make the change from "man" to "Adam"_ [www.bible.org

The New International Version has the man becoming Ad-am in Genesis 2:20.

Genesis 2:20 but for Adam no suitable helper was found.

**In the online source** www.bible.org **it is Genesis 2:21.**

Genesis 2:21–22 it states

"And the Yahweh caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in-stead thereof; And the rib, which the Yahweh had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man" (modi-fied King James Version

In the New King James version, Adam appears in Genesis 2:19 when the animals are brought to him to be named.

When man becomes a living being given the breath of life from God in the Genesis 2:7 scripture, the word for Adam is not used. It is possible that the word is indicating a plurality of man, not a single man. So it seems that a population of Hominids is begin-ning and eventually making its way to _Homo sapiens_.

It is also inferred in this text that this population has a soul, as every animal has a soul. We see this when the breath of God is given to animals and when the breath of God is given to man, and additionally with Rosh Hashana when the soul of animal is remembered and then the soul of man with the second and third trumpet blows. **Never** does the Genesis account in original He-brew use the term _only Adam_ and _Eve_ existed or _Adam and Eve were the first humans_. This are both traditional ideas taught, but are they Biblically sound?

Before this usage of the term Adam, man is described as man (mankind). God says in the Genesis 1 account, 'male and female [God] created them'. Used here is the general word for man as in 'the man', 'mankind,' not Adam specifically.

Genesis 2 also compares man with animals. They were both made from 'fertile soil of the ground'. The comparison shows a physical similarity in their make-up. (DNA similarities)

Genesis 2:7 'God formed (YATSAR) man from the ground.

YATSAR- of divine creation, of original creation, pre-ordained, pre-determined, of Israel.

**Mankind had three forms of creation** : BARA, ASAH, YATSAR. His spirit was Bara, his physical body was Asah and he was also Yatsar (pre-ordained spiritually and physically).

Interesting is the Prophet Isaiah 43:7; God tells us 'Everyone who is called by name, whom I bara for my glory, whom I asah and yatsar. This same three-dimensional forming of mankind is echoed here as well.

Further below we see in verse 10 that God says 'Before me no God was yatsar.'

This is the word he choses; not bara, and not asah, but yatsar to indicate the formation of a God.

(www.bible.org)

God made man from adamah - fertile soil.

The Hebrew word ('adamah') actually means "ground; fertile soil."

Here is an indication of fertility. The water would well up from the earth ('erets') and water all the surface of the fertile soil . It is from that soil that the man (adam) was made (Gen 2:7).

The line literally reads "And Yahweh God formed the man, soil, from the ground." "Soil" is an adverbial material from which the man was made accusative, identifying the?

From Rambam's Genesis account:

The earth, with its power to generate beings which have souls which move continuously, should cause humanity

We can see that earth with its inherent power given to it by God is causing the rise of humanity. This is how the ancient Rabbis interpret Genesis 1, predating modern science, about 800 years ago.

In this passage, is it Adam that is being formed from soil or is it man -general man? I think it is an important distinction to make since science shows us that the _Homo sapien sapien_ popu-lation began 160,000-200,000 years ago in Ethiopia, Africa.

Also, species develop within a population not from one indi-vidual alone. Though our oldest ancestors were found in the Af-rican/Mid Eastern areas by archeologists and called 'Adam' and 'Eve', they were not said to be the only Homo sapiens existing at that time, but in a population of Homo sapiens.

Therefore, it is reasonable to conclude given the Biblical text that man was created from soil of the ground – this man is refer-ring to man in general – a population. If we look back to the mi-croscopic eukaryotes, the protists (plant like algae, fungus like slime molds, water molds, and animal-like protozoa) and focus on the animal-like protozoa which are one-celled eukaryotes, we find they live in aqueous environments as well as in soil.

It is these animal-like Eukaryotes that science traces our links too. So is it a coincidence that they grow in soil, the very thing God uses to form mankind?

Now when we see the picture of YHVH, using soil to create mankind, (where we find Eukaryotes), this idea is not so much the pit of a joke anymore. It is the same thing being said at both ends, but in different ways.

We can understand this better when looking at the Hebrew for 'son or 'father', which often denotes a 'descended son' or for ex-ample a 'great great grandfather', not necessarily the direct son or father. This is seen in the genealogy account of Matthew from Joseph and Luke from Mary, revealing Yehoshua's genealogy as Aaronic (of priests) and Davidic (of kings). Matthew leaves out many descendants, yet calls them 'sons or fathers' of... This is understood that many descendants have been omitted and that the 'son of' is not a direct son.

We also need to look at our Genesis text again. In fact, the text doesn't read that Adam was the first man or even that he was the only man. These are ideas passed onto us through Catholi-cism, trickling down into our local churches. Adam and Eve were two people whose lives were the focus of the Genesis ac-count, because they would have a spiritual encounter with God and thus mark our Human spirituality of awareness and account-ability.

Given this, we can understand that when YHVH says in Genesis 2 that man was made from the soil of the fertile ground which was welling with water, he was not referring to that particular man only, Adam; but was referring to mankind as a whole when evolving from protozoa (eukaryotes) in the soil.

However, what about the passage in 1Corinthians 15:45 that says, 'the first man, Adam became a living being, and the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.' Doesn't this mean Adam was the first man? I think it depends on how you define man. I don't think man in this context and _Homo sapiens sapiens_ are neces-sarily the same thing here.

_Homo sapiens sapiens_ came from the line that evolved from a descendant of the apes. However, when did these _Homo sapeins sapiens_ become just _Homo sapiens_ , and when did they evolve a conscious and a moral guide of judgment, and when did they acquire the ability to contemplate complex thought such as why am I here? How did I get here? Is there a creator? Who is he? When did these _Homo sapiens_ then commune with God? The answer is with Adam!

Adam was the first man to commune with God and likewise become morally able to make judgments, and consequently was held accountable for these very choices. Adam was the first man in the sense that the word is used here. But he was not the first _Homo sapiens sapeins_ or the first _Homo sapiens_.

So what does the word, man, mean here?

(www.bible.org)

anyrwpov anthropos

1) a human being, whether male or female

1a) generically, to include all human individuals

1b) to distinguish man from beings of a different order

1b1) of animals and plants

1b2) of from God and Christ

1b3) of the angels

1c) with the added notion of weakness, by which man is led

into a mistake or prompted to sin

1d) with the adjunct notion of contempt or disdainful pity

1e) with reference to two fold nature of man, body and soul

1f) with reference to the two fold nature of man, the corrupt

and the truly Christian man, conformed to the nature of God

1g) with reference to sex, a male

2) indefinitely, someone, a man, one

3) in the plural, people

4) joined with other words, merchantman

From this we can see that a man is (1b2) of God and Christ, (1c) of weakness which prompts sin and mistake, (1e) two fold of body and soul (1f) THE CORRUPT AND THE TRULY CHRISTIAN MAN, CONFORMED TO THE NATURE OF GOD.

So, man here is in a spiritual context. That is, after all, what this passage is about, the spirit. Christ, the last Adam became a life-giving SPIRIT. The first man, Adam, became a living being. So, how we are to understand this word for man? We need to under-stand it in its context of spirit.

Though _Homo sapiens sapiens_ existed prior to Adam, which is evident from archeological findings, cultural history, language and genetics, **Adam was the first man** in the sense that he was the first to be Of God, Of Christ, taken from sin and corruption, which surely took place even before Adam and was Conformed to the Nature of God. How?

After mankind evolved to its point of understanding and ask-ing complex existential questions such as contemplation of a cre-ator, God imparted the breath of God. This breath was different from the animal breath of God, a more special breath of God, for humankind. Towards the end of day 6, when mankind shows up; it would be towards the end of the 250,000,000 years. The hom-inids are evolving physically more into the Homo _sapiens sa-peins_.

Robustus--- _Homo Habilis_ 'Handy Man' (1MY)

(complex use of tools)

(co-existed with Robustus)

Habilis--- _Homo Rudolfensis_ (1 MY) (this line dies out)

\--- _Homo Eragster_ (1-2 MY)

Eragster--- _Homo Erectus_ (1.8 MY-100,000)

\---Unknown

Unknown--- _Homo Heidelbergensis_ (500,000-300,000)

Erectus------ _Homo Sapiens_ (200,000)

Then God said, _"Let us make humankind in our image, after our likeness_ (Genesis1:26). This is in the Sixth Day, but God does not say, let us make Adam.

_'God created humankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them, male and female he created them'_ (Genesis 1:27). God shows us here that man and women were created in His image. Here I would like to point out that God's image is a Spiritual one, not a Physical one. Since, one image cannot exist two physical parts that of man and woman and since God ap-pears in the Old Testament as an angel, a man wrestling with Ja-cob and as the sun/wind guiding the Israelites and in the New Testament as Yehoshua. Surely, He is not limited to a physical form, but may comprise them all. We must not make that mistake of limiting God's image to a certain and only one physical entity.

The word for 'image' is tzelem from the word for 'shadow' that is tzel. An image is like a projection. Tzel also means a cloud or ghost. The tzelem is the spiritual form that man possesses that is in the image of God, that is the Tree of Life.

After God's creation evolves more fully from lower primates to a _Homo Erectus_ (with the soul of man) and _Homo Sapiens Sapi-ens_ , he is then created in the image of God, yielding him a Spirit. (Period/Day 6). In Genesis 2:7 we get more details as to how this process took place. The Lord God formed the man from the soil of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. The text does not say this happened instantly in human time. But we do get a feel from where this man came from, **Soil** which is also what science tells us in the form of **Eukaryotes** in the **Soil.**

From Ramban's Genesis:

_To show the importance of humanity, God thoughtfully willed that God and the earth, with its power to generate beings which have souls which move continuously,[42] should cause humanity to pass from potentiality into existence.[43]_ _Humanity would be like the earth in its corporeal manifestation_ _and in its having a soul which allows movement, and it would be like God in form, that is, in the capacity for thought, wisdom, and action.[44] Hu-man beings will have complete control over the fish of the sea, the birds of the heavens, the herbivorous and carnivorous ani-mals,[45] the earth itself,[46] and over all things which travel over the earth._

When science tells us we are from aquatic bacteria, from the water initially, the Bible shows us that too in Day3 when there is the formation of earth and H2O water. This is also where first life appears as 'plants', or I would add that is more likely a con-cealed meaning of 'eukaryotes' and 'bacteria'. When science says we came from the eukaryote, we see that Biblically as well in the Genesis 2 where the account of man is born from soil which is also where eukaryotes are found. The details are there; we just have to study them. Whether the details are in plain view, a deeper view, a concealed view or a secret view...the de-tails are there waiting for us to savor them and give the flavor we were lacking in our interpretations of the observations around us.
The following quotes below are from the **Article 'Missing Link in Human Evolution found in Africa' Posted June 12th, 2003:**

'Two of the three 160,000 year old Homo Sapiens skulls were found together.'

'All bones were found within 200m of each other in an eroded riverbank about 230Km Northeast of Addis Ababa.'

'The oldest human fossils have been discovered in Ethiopia.'

'They demonstrate conclusively that there was never a Neander-thal stage in Human evolution. They show that near humans had evolved in Africa long before the European Neanderthals disap-peared.'

'The new finds show this area of Africa was inhabited by a series of human ancestors from a Ardipithecus (Not nearly as human as these recent findings) at 6 million years ago, all the way through to the Herto People (the name given to the fossils found here) at 160,000 million years ago.' Said Tim white, also from the Univer-sity of California, Berkely. '' 'This succession is unparallel by any other research area in the world.'

'The find also strengthens the Theory that modern humans evolved only once in Africa, not several times in different coun-tries- a hotly debated point in human evolution.'

'Now we have a great sequence of human fossils showing we evolved in Africa, and not all over the globe.' White said.''

It is very interesting that these oldest fossils found were in Ethiopia which is very close to the Biblical Garden of Eden.

The Soul and Spirit of Adam

Who has a soul and who has a spirit according to Genesis? Genesis 2:7 states that God breathed the breath of life into man and man became a living soul. This word for man is general, not singular for only Adam. The lower animals were also given a breath of life in Genesis 2, and we can conclude then that all an-imals, including any type of hominid, would have a soul.

Of course, the breath the man was given was a different breath than that given to other animals. We also acquire hints of this answer at the usage of bara. It is used in day 5, indicating a soul given to all the animals. Rosh Hashanna demonstrates this also. The second trumpet blow is for the soul of animal life. So even if one does not conclude the hominid line is to be considered man-kind, they would still have a soul as all of animal life did accord-ing to Genesis 1 and Genesis 2.

However the **spirit** was given in day 6, when God made man-kind in God's image. God's image is not flesh and bone; it is not a natural image. God's image is a spiritual image. It is an image of wisdom, morality, judgment, conscious, intellect. God's image is the spirit! This is profound to understand, because it is the Spirit that links or connects us with God, it is the spirit that is dead and becomes alive through God, it is the spirit that yearns inside of each of us to connect to the world around us, to our self, and to our creator.

It is the Spirit that has driven most, if not all, of religion. Whether the religion is of ancient Egypt, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, or the countless others that have come before them, there is a commonality to all of them and that is the searching out of the soul and spirit within us all. This would not be a possible search without that image of God that God gave us in day 6.

Day 6 is about 'the man' and the name 'Adam' does not yet appear until Genesis 2. Therefore Day 6 is in reference to all the _Homo sapiens sapiens_ lineage. About 50,000 years ago we have a revolution of art, crafts, language, cave drawings, culture in Europe and around the world.

Granted, some artifacts have been found dating back to 90,000 years ago, but it is very primitive and simplistic art and only a very few pieces are found. Most of the world's culture pops up around 50,000 years ago. Coincidently in the Bible we read _that 'the covenant and laws of God have been proclaimed to a_ _"thou-sand generations"_ _(_ _Deuteronomy 7:9, 1 Chronicles 16:15, Psalms 105:8_ _)._

_Even if a generation is considered to be 20 years, this adds up to at least 20,000 years. A biblical generation is often described as being 40 years, which would represent at least 40,000 years. However, since the first dozen or more generations were nearly 1,000 years, this would make humans nearly 50,000 years old, which agrees very well with dates from paleontology and molecu-lar biology (see_ _Descent of Mankind Theory: Disproved by Mo-lecular Biology_ _)._

This tells me that the image of God was given to mankind about 50,000 years ago and that this would have started within the _Homo sapiens sapiens_ lineage. Therefore the soul of man is given to all of the homind line, but the spirit in the image of God was given to the _Homo sapiens sapiens_ about 50,000 years ago. Is it any coincidence that religions started springing up 50,000 years ago to our present time? After we received the Spirit, we now start to search it out and countless religions begin to form. We can look at the Neanderthals period 30,000 years ago and see, even within their primitive culture, they left behind evidence of simple forms of religious activity.

So, the soul we see is given to all aquatic animals which pro-ceeds to the land animals in Genesis 1, day 5 with the use of bara and again reiterated by the 'breath of God' given to animals in Genesis 2. So from the bird, to the frog, to the fish and to the hominid, all living animals have been given a soul.

Then from Genesis 1, day 6 with bara and again with the 'breath of life' of Genesis 2, we see that the image of God, with a special breath, a SPIRIT was given to mankind. Who is this mankind? The Homo sapiens sapiens line 50,000 years ago when a 'cultural revolution' takes place around the world, where reli-gions start popping up, and where the scripture says that the cov-enants and laws have been proclaimed to a thousand generations.

So what of Adam and Eve? Why is their account recorded? They mark a special time which is the beginning of the Neolithic period of the Homo sapiens sapiens. They mark the accountabil-ity of mankind's spirit. Like the natural body must develop and evolve, our spirit too must learn, grow and evolve. God is not creating a spirit for us one day and then the very next day ex-pecting us to know everything about it and be held accountable for everything regarding it.

The Homo sapiens sapiens evolved naturally and it is also do-ing so spiritually. Therefore after the 'cultural revolution' of 50,000 years ago, when the image of God was received, when we were given a spirit, we eventually evolved to a point where this spirit is ready to be accounted for with the decisions we make. **Adam and Eve mark this point. This is their signifi-cance.**

This is why their account is recorded. This does not mean that their recorded account is literal and in fact much of it is fused with metaphor as this was the way storytelling was done at that time. Their account records metaphorically a life of two spiritual leaders of that time during the beginning of the Neolithic period of the Homo sapiens sapiens and only accounting for the Meso-potamian area.

It is vital to realize when reading early Genesis accounts, that these accounts are not Hebrew accounts. They are **Mesopota-mian accounts**. These stories are reflected in many **Mesopota-mian cultures** of that time from Sumerians, to even Egyptians. Some details are changed, names are changed, but the overall stories are very similar. We see the accounts of Creation, Adam and Eve and the Serpent, Noah's Flood, Cain and Abel, Nimrod and the Tower of Babel; all are stories that circulated the area of Mesopotamia.

It is more accurate to not read them literally nor as mythical (as something based in fiction), but as legends. They are sto-ries based in real events, real people, and real moral messages woven into metaphors and literary devices to yield a palatable flavor and longevity.

When we read about Adam and Eve being naked and then clothed for the first time, this is an accurate picture of what was happening to the _Homo sapiens sapiens_ about 6-7,000 years ago. During the Neolithic period, mankind begins to dress himself, and begins to cultivate the land and domesticate animals and stay in one place. Is it any coincidence then that the Adam and Eve story tell us of plants that could not grow, because they were not tilled by man, and that each animal was brought to Ad-am to be named one by one, or that Adam and Eve were given a home, a paradise to rest.

Is it any coincidence that what was once a paradise for Adam and Eve is now an expulsion? The paradise of green lush forest and fruit trees is now becoming prime 'condo land.' Paradise was lost and that is the story we receive from Adam and Eve. Culture and religion become more dominate and flourish within one society to another, but the sacrifice of this is the earth.

www.bible.org

_The Hebrew word_ נְשָׁמָה _(nshamah, "breath") is used for God and for the life imparted to humans, not animals (see T. C. Mitch-ell, "The Old Testament Usage of Nshama," VT 11 [1961]: 177-87). Its usage in the Bible conveys more than a breathing liv-ing organism (_ נֶפֶשׁ חַיַּה _, nefesh khayyah). Whatever is given this breath of life becomes animated with the life from God, has spir-itual understanding (Job 32:8), and has a functioning conscience (Prov 20:27)._

_Human life is described here as consisting of a body (made from soil from the ground) and breath (given by God). Both ani-mals and humans are called "a living being" (_ נֶפֶשׁ חַיַּה _) but hu-mankind became that in a different and more significant way._

_23tn The Hebrew term_ נֶפֶשׁ _(nefesh, "being") is often translated "soul," but the word usually refers to the whole person. The phrase_ נֶפֶשׁ חַיַּה _(nefesh khayyah, "living being") is used of both animals and human beings (see 1:20, 24, 30; 2:19)._

So Adam and Eve were physical entities as well as spiritual en-tities with an able and aware conscious. Adam and Eve also walked with God, talked with God in this Garden of Eden and eventually acquired 'knowledge' of good and evil as well as an ability to discern good from evil. Therefore they were then held accountable for their actions and expelled from this paradise.

The expression "tree of the knowledge of good and evil" must be interpreted to mean that the tree would produce fruit which, when eaten, gives special knowledge of "good and evil." Schol-ars debate what this phrase means here. For a survey of opinions, see G. J. Wenham, Genesis (WBC), 1:62-64. One view is that "good" refers to that which enhances, promotes, and produces life, while "evil" refers to anything that hinders, interrupts or de-stroys life. So eating from this tree would change human nature – people would be able to alter life for better (in their thinking) or for worse. See D. J. A. Clines.

" _The Tree of Knowledge and the Law of Yahweh," VT 24 (1974): 8-14; and I. Engnell, "'Knowledge' and 'Life' in the Creation Story," Wisdom in Israel and in the Ancient Near East [VTSup], 103-19. Another view understands the "knowledge of good and evil" as the capacity to discern between moral good and evil. The following context suggests the tree's fruit gives one wisdom (see the phrase "capable of making one wise" in 3:6, as well as the note there on the word "wise"), which certainly in-cludes the capacity to discern between good and evil. Such wis-dom is characteristic of divine beings, as the serpent's promise implies (3:5) and as 3:22 makes clear. (Note, however, that this capacity does not include the ability to do what is right.)_

...Sadly because of man's acquired 'knowledge' and 'discern-ing' of good and evil, we are now held accountable for it. Unfor-tunately we cannot uphold to everything good. God was giving humanity lessons in the Garden of Eden, lessons of morality, les-sons of wisdom, lessons of spiritual living, but we fell from these lessons, we brought death upon ourselves - spiritual death.

God prohibits man from eating of the tree. The prohibition be-comes a test to see if man will be satisfied with his role and place, or if he will try to ascend to the divine level. There will be a time for man to possess moral discernment/wisdom, as God reveals and imparts it to him, but it is not something to be grasped at in an effort to become "a god." In fact, the command to be obedient was the first lesson in moral discernment. God was essentially saying: "Here is lesson one – respect my authority and com-mands.

_Disobey me and you will die." When man disobeys, he decides he does not want to acquire moral wisdom God's way, but in-stead tries to rise immediately to the divine level. Once man has acquired such divine wisdom by eating the tree's fruit (3:22), he must be banned from the garden so that he will not be able to achieve his goal of being godlike and thus live forever, a divine characteristic (3:24). Ironically, man now has the capacity to dis-cern good from evil (3:22), but he is morally corrupted and rebel-lious and will not consistently choose what is right._ www.bible.org

Here is where I would like to point out that **the uniqueness of man is not that they were created of something physically dif-ferent from animals, but that they were given the 'spirit'.**

I want to point out here that Spirit and Soul are two different entities. There are distinct Hebrew and Greek words used for each, soul and spirit, and the two appear in English distinctly throughout the Bible.

**Hebrew Lexion, Spirit= Rauch** : wind, breath, mind, spirit.

**Greek Lexion, Spirit=Pneuma** : feels, thinks, decides: a moral conscience. Spirit to me means the ability to commune with God, worshipping God in Spirit, the Holy Spirit speaks through our Spirit. Our spirit is immaterial. The Spirit yields us a moral con-science. This is our vertical walk, our immaterial walk.

Those who are indwelt with by the Holy Spirit are said to be 'Spiritually alive' (1 Corinthians 2:11)(Hebrews 4:12) (James 2:26) . Unbelievers are said to be .Spiritually dead'. (Ephesians 2:1-5) (Colossians 2:13). In Paul's writings the Spirit was pivitol to the Spiritual believer.

(1 Corinthians 2:14, 3:1, 15:45.) (Ephesians 1:3, 5:19) (Colos-sians 1:9, 3:16).

The soul is defined in the **Hebrew Lexicon: Soul= Nephesh** : Soul, self, life, creature, person, appetite, mind, living, being, de-sire, emotion, passion. In the **Greek Lexicon: Soul=Psuche** : breath. The soul is the center of many Spiritual and emotional experiences (Job 30:25) (Psalm 4:5) (Jeremiah 13:17).

The Soul to me, unlike the Spirit, is partly immaterial and partly material. It is our mind, personality, body, and spirit, our entire 'being'.

It is this soul which is the middle ground between the immate-rial world and material world. It is this soul which is the middle man between our Spiritual self and our material self. It is our hor-izontal walk. It is our material walk that also links us to our im-material walk.

Mankind ( _Homo sapiens_ ) became a living soul through the breath of life in Genesis 2:7, not just Adam. But God gave more than this animal soul that he gave to all animals (hominids in-cluded); he gave a human soul. And when mankind was made in the image of God in Day 6, God also gave an eternal, wisdom and moral understanding spirit which in the likeness of God is given to mankind, this mankind (Homo sapiens) which is to evolve into Adam and Eve. It is this spirit which is akin to God, in the likeness of God. All of mankind, including all of the other animals, God did impart to a soul.

But God imparted a God-like spirit unique to the Homo sa-piens sapiens 50,000 years ago.

Adam was unique from the rest, because it is at this point man-kind becomes accountable for their spirit. Adam communed with his creator. He knew right from wrong, he understood the judg-ments of morality and was held accountable for his action and judgments; thereafter, which inevitably would bring him to his spiritual separation with his creator, because he would never be perfect in all his moral decisions. It is at this point where God wants us to read and learn about the story of Adam, and learn our responsibility to our spirit and to God.

From Ezra's Genesis account:

Let us make humankind in our image after our likeness; that is, with a soul that is eternal, that is incorporeal, and that fills the body just as My Being is eternal, incorporeal, and fills the universe for I, the Creator, am Creator of all; indeed I am all.

We can see here that humanity acquired an eternal spirit when mankind was made in the image of God in Day 6. From day 5 we can see all animals, including the hominids, would have re-ceived a soul with the use of bara, but from Genesis 2 we can see this is something more than an animal soul, this is something more than all the animals **receive, this is a human soul. Man-kind was given a special soul and a spirit in the image of God.**
The creation of Eve

_"there was not found a companion who corresponded to him." The subject of the third masculine singular verb form is indefinite. Without a formally expressed subject the verb may be translated as passive: "one did not find = there was not found." (Genesis 2:18) (_Www.Bible.org _)._

Eve was created later down the road, after one specific man - Adam was said to have been put into a deep sleep. Perhaps no evolved woman was a match for him, so God then created Eve from his rib. At least that is the account we get from Genesis.

I cannot see any reason to explain why or how Eve came from normal evolutionary means if this scripture is taken literally.

However another plausible explanation would be that this story was allegorical to symbolize woman's equality with man. Eve wasn't taken from the head to be wiser, or the feet to be below the man, but from the side as an equal, as a help mate. This is supported by Rabbi Joshua.

This story may be a symbol of a woman's connection with a man and not as a representative of creation facts. Given that, it is also reasonable to conclude that Eve's parents were under the same conditions as Adam's and that she too evolved as did Ad-am from a guiding God. Since Adam had trouble finding some-one suitable for him, God may have brought this Eve to him, knowing she would correspond to him.

(from www.bible.org)

**Eve was BAW _NAW (made) from Adam's rib as the story goes**. What does BAW _NAW MEAN?

BAW_NAW - to rebuild, to build. A suitable helper was not found for him and so God rebuilt some of the DNA, perhaps to produce EVE, who would be an adequate match for Adam.

(From http://www.wikepedia.com)

Controversy regarding the "rib" continues to the present day, regarding the Sumerian and the original Hebrew words for rib. The common translation, for example, that of the King James Version, is that rib, occurring forty-one times in the Tanakh, is most often translated as "side" in general.

"Rib" is however the etymologically primary meaning of the term, which is from a root "bend", Also God took "one" individ-ual rib. The Septuagint has chooses a Greek term that like the Hebrew may mean either "rib", or, in the plural, "side [of a man or animal]" in general. The specification "one of the" thus closely imitates the Hebrew text. The Aramaic form of which appears, also in the meaning "rib", in Daniel 7:5.

Let's take a closer look at man and woman:

GENESIS 1:27. So God BARA man in His image. Woman and man he BARA them.

GENESIS 2:7 'God FORMED (YATSAR- of divine creation, of Israel, of pre-ordained.) man from the ground.

GENESIS 2:22 'God made (BAW_NAW = to rebuild) woman from Adam's rib. So man was more than just physically ASAH (GENESIS 1:26). We were spiritually BARA in God's image.

Men were 'of a divine creation' 'pre-ordained for a purpose'. Women were 'a rebuilt man.'

But notice that there are two accounts of the creation of man and women. One is in GENESIS 1:27 and the other in GENE-SIS 2:7. I hold this is because the former is focused on describ-ing the 'Spiritual creation in the image of God' when mankind was given the Spirit (bara); while the later is focused on describ-ing the natural 'evolutionary' process from the soil with the Eu-karyotes and then continues with the accounts of Adam and Eve's lives specifically. Two different and important points of mankind's creation are being addressed in each account.

An old story of the rib is told by Rabbi Joshua:

"God deliberated from what member He would create woman, and He reasoned with Himself thus: I must not create her from Adam's head, for she would be a proud person, and hold her head high. If I create her from the eye, then she will wish to pry into all things; if from the ear, she will wish to hear all things; if from the mouth, she will talk much; if from the heart, she will en-vy people; if from the hand, she will desire to take all things; if from the feet, she will be a gadabout. Therefore I will create her from the member which is hid, that is the rib, which is not even seen when man is naked."

Anatomically, men and women have the same number of ribs - 24. When this fact was noted by the Flemish anatomist Vesalius in 1524 it touched off a wave of controversy, as it seemed to contra-dict Genesis 2:21. (wikepedia)

In the Bible, Eve (Hebrew: chavvah; Arabic: Hawwa; Ge'ez: Hiywan; "living one" or "source of life") is Adam's wife, created for and named by Adam (Wikepedia).

Eve is defined as the source of life, the living being. She must have been very important and needed by Adam. Man rebuilt -- BAW_NAW.

Adam and Eve's Parents

If we, _Homo sapiens_ , evolved including Adam and Eve, the first question some might ask is - what of Adam and Eve's par-ents? Were they monkeys? Were they without a soul? These are questions many ask who say the Bible doesn't support evolution.

Of course those that research evolution understand that the parents of a child would not be entirely different from its own child as to be considered a different species. This is something that develops over hundreds of thousands of years. In addition humans evolved from a common ancestor of the ape, not the ape directly, and not from the monkey. Therefore their parents would not be monkeys, they would not be apes, but they would be re-lated to the apes by a common ancestor. However they would look or appear much like Adam and Eve themselves.

So what of Adam and Eve's parents then if they evolved?

Their behavior and appearance would be much to the effect of Adam and Eve.

However, spiritually they would be different. They would have a **soul,** because all humans and other animals had the 'breath of life' based on Genesis 2, as well as all animal life in day 5 was bara (indicating a soul). They would have a **spirit** as all human-kind was bara in the image of YHVH in day 6, which we have determined was about 50,000 years ago according to scripture and archeological support. However, they would not posses **spir-itual accountability** like Adam and Eve \- the spirit that com-municates with God, that vertical walk, the relationship with God.

They would lack the 'knowledge' and discernment of their ac-tions morally. Therefore, they would not be held accountable for their actions in the same way, much like a dog would not be held accountable like a human is for his actions. Therefore they were never 'severed' from that spiritual cord linking them to their cre-ator. Adam and Eve suffered a severing (like the cut of the um-bilical cord) because they became 'aware' intellectually and therefore, accountable.

There is the SOUL.

There is the SPIRIT.

There is SPIRITUAL ACCOUNTABILITY.

Not all animals posses all three or even two of the above, and it was not until Adam and Eve did Homo sapiens sapeins ac-quire all three.

GENESIS 2 is **NOT** a second alternative account of creation, but it is the _GENERATIONS ACCOUNT_ , which talks about the **lives of two particular people – Adam and Eve -** and what happens to humankind spiritually at this point in our existence. _GENESIS 1_ is the _CREATIONS ACCOUNT_ , which talks about the 'days of old' before Adam and Eve and of the mysterious creation processes. **Each day holds secrets to this creation pro-cess within its layers.**

I do not see them as two separate accounts of creation; rather the first being **the creations** of everything, including man's Spir-it, and then Genesis 2 as **the generations** account, accounting for the design of man physically, including his soul, and his life in relationship to the earth and to YHVH. **The focus has changed** from the _creation of God to the relationship of God with Adam (symbolically mankind as a whole)._

The Creations Account - Chapter One

The Generations Account - Chapter Two

It is this time of **spiritual man that is now recorded in Gene-sis 2** : from Adam to Noah, to Abraham to Moses and onwards, because it is this journey which is the main concern of the Bible... our **spiritual journey**. There is no need for details of mankind before this, because it is not of a spiritual concern then.

Additionally, the Bible does not talk about 'how to make an airplane.' or 'how to understand the constellations of the sky,' or 'the life of the dinosaurs,' because **it is not a book for scientific data, but for spiritual truths and humankind's spiritual jour-ney.** It is spiritual matters which are recorded. The Bible contin-ues with Adam and Eve's life journey, since their descendants would be the ones to move forward in this spiritual journey.
Adam/Eve fall

Adam and Eve's fall, we are taught by most churches to be the time of first sin, when humanity 'fell' from God and became sin-ners. Now we are born sinners, many argue. It is when the envi-ronment, animals, and humans all became 'fallen' from perfec-tion, and is why we now live in an imperfect world full of dis-ease, deformity, and inborn desires for sins. This is this why we are sinners when we are born.

However this does not make complete sense to me for several reasons.

**Reason one:** newborns are innocent, they are not sinners. Their minds have not developed into an aware consciousness of good and evil and therefore are not held accountable for it. The ques-tion really is, when do children acquire this awareness and be-come accountable? In Jewish traditions, the boys are Bar Mitz-vah when they are 13 years of age and girls are Bat Mitzvah at age 12. They are required to keep the Torah at this age. Perhaps this is the time we all become accountable, give or take our cere-bral maturation levels?

**Reason two:** we are each held accountable for our own sins, not the sins of others. In the Old Testament Torah, children were punished for their father's sins for generations. But later in the Prophets, it goes on to say we will no longer be punished for the sins of our fathers and that the law will be written in our hearts. Christ is this law in our hearts. The New Testament echoes the idea of each being accountable for his/her own sins.

**Reason three:** The environment as well as the behavior of mammals and humans fell **before Adam, before 6,000 years ago.** We can see this ''fall'' in humans in historical and archeo-logical evidences, in ancient civilizations predating 6,000 years ago where human sacrifices were made, human skulls were crushed. We can see this in science when we look at the envi-ronment. There is evidence of ice ages, volcanic/heat eruptions dominating the earth, major floods, predating 6,000 years ago. Mammals had to kill other animals to eat and survive, which is why meat-eating teeth evolved. This would have occurred before 6,000 years ago as well. In modern science we see that mammals show jealousy, anger, and homosexual behavior. Mother ele-phants have been seen abandoning their children. A pack of lions has been seen attacking one of its own in the pack after getting very hungry. Home cats flick birds around just for fun.

This is not holy behavior, but this is natural behavior. This is the behavior these animals were created with by YHVH with or without evolution. Science has shown us that everything we de-sire has a genetic pull on us - from alcoholism, to angry disposi-tions, to homosexual behavior, to pedophiles, to that desire for baked salmon and even your occupational choices. Identical twins brought up by different families in different parts of the world are often found having the same job, liking the same foods, finding the same things funny. Your genes play an im-portant deciding role in all these factors. That means our genes have been telling us to do things contrary to what is holy and spiritual for a long time.

Our spirit is always in opposition to our flesh and there is a bat-tle between the two. It is our resistance to the spirit which en-courages our natural sins. Our flesh is weak to these sins, but our slavery to sin is overcome by the spirit and by our repentance to YHVH. Because of our weakness of our sinful nature, we learn to depend on YHVH and His spirit. Is this not the theme of many of Paul's teachings in the New Testament?

Our genes were 'frustrated' at the moment of creation. Our genes did not become physically fallen after Adam and Eve, like many suggest. Adam/Eve was the fall of mankind not physically, **but spiritually, because that was the spiritual/moral accounta-bility of mankind. It was the time of spiritual maturation and awareness of morality. Therefore what humankind did, hu-mankind was now accountable for doing. After Adam and Eve humankind became accountable for their sins.** We can see the creation had its problems from the very beginning of cre-ation even from Biblical texts.

Romans 8:20-22 says, 'for the creation was subjected to futility (frustration), not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God...We know the whole creation has been groaning as in pains of childbirth right up to the present time.' (The whole creation groans and suffers).

Some people still like to blame Adam and Eve for our imper-fect conditions, our suffering, and frustrations, and that some-how their sin was the cause of everything bad. This does not make sense to me. Firstly, why should others suffer because of the fault of one man? Secondly, how could a man who was de-signed to be perfect act in any way other than perfectly? There must have been something in his creation that allowed him to act in a way that would desire something other than moral perfec-tion. Thirdly, if man was designed perfectly moral, he would be like God already, he would not need God to become better, he would not have needed Christ. Fourthly, the Genesis text does not say that Adam and Eve were the cause of all our imperfec-tions. This is another Catholic idea that has been trickling down into the churches and taught to the pastors in theology schools.

In fact the text does give us information on this reason for our suffering, frustrations, moral imperfections; and it is found in Romans 8:20-22. The creation was subjected to futility by the one who subjected it, in the hope that it would be liberated from bondage.

It is this process of liberation that is important, this process that teaches us how much we need God and his love and moral guid-ance. It is this liberation process that leads us to CHRIST our Savior.

www.Godandscience.com

Young earth creationists inadvertently buy into the atheistic worldview that suffering could not have been the original intent of God, stating that the earth was created "for our pleasure perfect-ly." However, the Bible says that God created carnivores, and that the death of animals and plants was part of God's original design for the earth Creation has been suffering since its birth (16 billion years ago or 'day1'), not just after Adam (day 6).

We can also see this from the Genesis 1 text when it reads ''in the beginning....and darkness was over the surface of the abyss''. Darkness was everywhere in the beginning. This is not merely an opposite of there being no luminous bodies like the sun. This is an allegorical comparison to wickedness, sin, evil, and what is fallen.

Many have argued that each day ends with and it was good and that this shows the creation was created to be perfect. However, I find this to be in contradiction to Romans and the understanding that creation was designed to suffer, not to be perfect. In addition, the understanding of the Hebrew word used there for good:

www.bible.org bwj towb

**The creation was not perfect. It was good. It was pleasant and agreeable to what YHVH wanted.** How could anything other than YHVH himself be perfect? It was agreeable to YHVH, because it was in his design that we would be ''fallen', in that we would see our need for him, learn to love him, and this would lead us to our Messiah.

Another friend of mine (a Christian Evolutionist, practicing geneticist) told me his opinion about how these defects in our genes and in the environment came into existence:

Each of the examples I gave (Tay Sachs, sickle cell, and cystic fibrosis...all physiologic) are actually "deadly", though we can these days postpone the death medically.

ve (carrier) form of it (ex. Ss not ss or SS). The only reason the gene was ever "selected for" in the given populations that carried it was because there was an associated benefit with the carrier form of the disease, such that people with _the disease would die, people without the disease would die and people that were carri-ers would live (exempt from both the disease itself and benefiting from carrying the gene...against some other disease)._

Sickle Cell - carriers benefit from protection against malaria

Tay Sachs - possible TB protection (but just a hypothesis)

Cystic Fibrosis - carriers benefit from some protection against cholera.

The "benefit" is not in the diseased form of the gene, but rather the recessive gene. The vast majority of mutations are not benefi-cial. They can be categorized into anatomical or physiological. Things like extra limbs are useless, but not specifically deadly. Physiological mutations are not deadly most of the time, but defi-nitely can be.

My opinion on it is that mutations are a result of our suffering from our sinful natural state, the breakdown of perfection (a spir-itual Godly state). To me mutations are thus a blessing and a curse. For the most part they just result in suffering, but once in a while they provide survival.

Mutations exist and mutations are an example of a mechanism used for 'evolution'. But I'm not at all convinced that mutations alone are enough to explain the diversity of life observed. Thus I am not convinced that 'Evolution Theory' is in the strictest sense, correct or complete. It's a good theory, just not perfect in its form yet. There is certainly a lot that is still missing in the theory.

' **The fall'** of Adam and Eve should be called the **spiritual fall** so that we do not get it confused with thinking that is the first time of physical sin, because it was not first physical sin, but hu-manity's first spiritual **accountability of sin** and when humanity became **knowledgeable of their sinful nature, thereby becom-ing accountable** for their sins.

Before Adam, humanity was not connected with God. Human-ity was not aware of morality, much like other animals are not aware of morality. In that sense, I agree that at that time is when humanity became sinners. Not because humanity never displayed this sinful behavior before Adam, but because humanity was not capable of being aware of the moral implications of that behavior and was not held accountable for it by God, YHVH.

And this understanding is what makes the Corinthians scrip-ture more complete.

"The first man, Adam, became a living soul. The last Adam be-came a life-giving spirit." In 1 **Corinthians 15:22** , it states, "For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ (the Messiah) all shall be made alive."

We all die now, not physically, because we were all doing that anyway naturally, but spiritually, because our awareness has made our sin accountable. Since our nature is fallen from the be-ginning, we will eventually sin and therefore die spiritually. That is why we need the Spirit of God. We fall short of being holy every time. That is what makes us human. But it is that which makes us human which makes us fall short of what is holy. Only the Spirit of God can release us from this bondage of hu-man sin, which is in our nature.

After Adam, we are accountable. We were made in the like-ness, **spiritual likeness, of God** and then had an encounter with God, being related to Adam, a man who walked and talked with God. We have now the spiritual capability of being aware of our wrong behaviors. Our consciences surely have evolved to the point of being able to understand concepts of God, Law, and Morality.

This is the mark of Adam and Eve. They talked with God. They became aware and accountable of morally good and bad after 'eating of the fruit'. Now I don't view this fruit as a literal fruit they ate, rather a symbol representing an inward condition of humanity. Then we were given a law with Adam/Eve – do not eat the blood. As time moves forward, with Noah we are given another law, do not kill man. Later the laws became more exten-sive with Moses and then the Ten Commandments. Finally, an inexhaustible list of laws ends with Moses.

Humanity moves from being unaware of morality, to being aware and then accountable for it (before Adam to Adam); from having no guidelines to living (before Adam), to having one and then a few (from Adam to Noah); then from a few to ten on stone; then to an extensive list of laws written down for a civil society (from Noah to Moses). Finally, in the New Testament, humanity moves from a set of laws on paper to a set of laws in his heart (from Moses to Christ).

I see a spiritual evolution taking place with humanity.

Even if one does not want to accept evolution and accept only that Adam and Eve were created by YHVH instantly about 6,000 years ago, this spiritual fall still should be understood. This is important in seeing, because many Christians place wrong judgments on others who sin in ways they don't understand as a weakness, such as with gambling, alcoholism, addictions to drugs, homosexuality, even pedophilia. Christians as a whole need to understand, **what we desire comes from our inherited genes.**

The environment, diet and nurturing does affect the genes, which is shown in the Epi-genes that microbiology is uncovering. However, we need to understand the strong pull our 'nature' or our 'flesh' has on ourselves. Everything is still 100 percent our choice in the end. We choose that first drink; we choose to make that bet; we chose to let our mind wander; we choose who we sleep with. But we are also being pulled in directions based on our genetic and environmental influences. Everyone has weak-nesses and strengths. Simply because we don't have that weak-ness someone else shares does not make one person more loved by God than any other. We should instruct each other in love and by the Word of God, not in judgment, as that is for God to decide.
From a friend, Gary:

This idea that man rebelled against God of his own free will is flawed:

"For who hath resisted His will?" (Rom. 9:19)

A closer examination of Scripture reveals that we were created from the very beginning with a sinful nature already within us. Adam and Eve were both NAKED at the time they were placed in Eden. And nakedness is symbolic of our sinful condition (Hos. 2:9, 10; Rev. 3:17, 18).

"For the creature [that's us] was made subject to vanity [we were created this way], not willingly [we did not of our own 'free will' rebel against God's will], but by reason of Him [according to His plan] who hath subjected the same in hope." (Romans 8:20)

"And the vessel that he made of clay [the natural man] was marred in the hand of the potter [by design]: so he made it again another vessel [the spiritual man], as seemed good to the potter to make it." (Jer. 18:4)

Paul talks all about how the natural man dies and is reborn a spiritual man (I Cor. 15).

To believe something happened against God's will and plan is ludicrous. Jesus Christ wasn't a backup plan B just in case man sinned against God's wishes. He was (and IS) the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

**In closing** , I would like to review the Romans scripture in more detail:

_Romans 8:19 'The creation waits eagerly for the sons of God to be revealed. For the_ _creation was made subject to frustration, not willingly_ _, but_ _because of the one who subjected it_ _. But it was given a reliable hope that it too would be set free from its bond-age to decay and would enjoy the freedom accompanying the glo-ry that God's children will have. We know that until now the_ _whole creation has be groaning as with the pains of childbirth; and not only it, but we ourselves_ _, who have the first fruits of the spirit, groan inwardly as we continue waiting eagerly to be made sons - that is, to have our whole bodies redeemed and set free.'_

Why were we subjected to bondage? It is so that we may be set free from bondage. For if we never knew bondage, how then could we know freedom from it? God himself subjected creation to bondage. It is in this bondage that we seek God out, and it is this turning to God that sets us free from bondage, yielding us freedom that we have in being children of God. If we were born into perfection with perfect pleasures to enjoy, how then could we learn the value of being free? How then could we learn that character of God, the character revealed of desiring to set free that which is in bondage? This character cannot be revealed in a perfect state.

Furthermore, man himself does not have the power to reverse or destroy what God created. Adam does not have the power to reverse what God has created 'perfectly' and if he himself was created 'perfect' then he would have no desire for that which is contrary to perfection in God. So what do we say of his nature? What then do we say of creation? It was all subjected to frustra-tion and futility. For the flesh is weak, is it not?

In studying Hebrew, I was shown that the word for perfection as we understand it in English does not exist in the Hebrew. Nothing is flawless. When God created the creation in Genesis and guided it, he did not create something 'perfect'. He created something good. This word in the Hebrew as shown is something that follows the will and intention of its designer.

This 'good' is that which is pleasing to the designer for it is following His plans. This 'good' is not perfection. Creation was good for it followed the intention of the designer. What are His intentions? We find them in Romans 8. He intends to subject creation to bondage so that it may enjoy the glory of God by be-ing set free from bondage.

These are the teaching of Paul. 'Why is it I do what I don't want to do and don't do what I want to do.' 'The flesh is weak, but the Spirit is strong.' 'We die in the flesh, but we live in the Spirit.' We are to learn that our own flesh deceives us and turns us to sin and death. But in turning to God, we are freed from this bondage and become children of God. We are commanded to then live in the Spirit. Most of the writings of Paul have this theme essential to them; that we are dead in the flesh and made alive through the Spirit and we are to live in the Spirit.

Romans 26 'Similarly, the spirit helps us in our weakness; for if we don't know how to pray the way we should. But the Spirit himself pleads on our behalf with groanings too deep for words; and the one who searches hearts knows exactly what the Spirit is thinking, because His pleadings for God's people accord with God's will. Furthermore, we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose.
The birth of Evil

How did sin get here?

This is the question, from where did Evil come? If it was creat-ed, then it must have been by YHVH directly or indirectly, and He then is a duality of good and evil. If it was not created by Him, than it always existed and thus YHVH is not the creator of everything, and is equal in existence with that of evil, both being eternal. However, there is a third option that I believe is how evil arose. YHVH was everything and everywhere in the beginning. What could exist outside of YHVH? Nothing. Therefore if YHVH is all good, which I attest that He is, then evil could not have existed at that time before the beginning, only YHVH ex-isting everywhere.

Why does the Genesis text read ''and darkness was over the surface of the abyss,'' denoting evil at the beginning? Because it was everywhere at the beginning, but **not before the** beginning. If we look at the line before that, we see ''in the beginning YHVH created the heavens and the earth.'' We are being told what YHVH will do here. This is the beginning point, at the idea YHVH had of creation. After the idea, we are given some de-tails as to what happened. We know there was darkness every-where and then YHVH gave light and separated the darkness from the light. So there was an idea of creation, and then dark-ness, and then light. That is interesting that the darkness was first.

We know that the light came from YHVH, because the text reads that it did. But where did the darkness come from, since the text does **not read** that YHVH created or made it?

There is old Kabbalah teaching that is discussed further under, 'Quantum Physics, and Qabbalah,'' that you can read for more details. However, for this purpose I will sum up the point.

The Kabbalist Lucia 500 years ago teaches: that YHVH, since He was everywhere left no room for anything else to exist. YHVH closed himself for a moment, turned away from himself for a moment, creating a vacuum of space. It was a single point. Some of the light escaped from YHVH and fell into this vacu-um. From this vacuum many vessels formed, some of them shat-tering because the light was too intense. But some of the vessels survived.
Tsimtsum

Tsimtsum is how the world came into being. "In the beginning of everything, all of existence was unitary light called Ein Sof. There was no vacated or "empty" space. ... He contracted Him-self from the midpoint of His light - to the sides and surround-ings and empty space resulted between them".

Tsimtsum is defined here as withdrawal. It cannot be other-wise, for at this first step in Creation (or rather Emanation), noth-ing could have changed if not for a withdrawal.

However, it is incorrect to think of Tsimtusm as a one-time event. In truth, tsimtsum is a basic mechanism of all stations of emanation. At every step of descent, the light must be lessened, for, coming from a higher level, it by definition is something that the lower level cannot perceive.

"All contractions lead to a decrease of the light so that the lower levels can receive it (Eits Chaim, Nekuddim, CH.2)."

What we have here is quite different, not a concept of with-drawal that creates "space", but a filtering, a lessening of light, so that it can "fit" and interact on a lower level of existence. It is concealed enough so that it does not overwhelm or swallow the lower level.

It follows then that the same word "Tsimtsum" describes two very different phenomena. One is an actual withdrawal, to open up a "space", and the other is merely a diminishing of light, so as not to overwhelm. Some view this tsimtsum as always only a di-minishing of light, others view the first one, as a complete with-draw.

"As is well known, the manner in which the creation [began] is that, "at the outset, there was a sublime and simple light which filled all existence.... When it arose in His simple will to create the worlds, He contracted this light. There remained a space and an empty cavity. And afterwards, He extended one vector ..." as stated and explained in Torah Or, in the maamar entitled Pasach Eliyahu, and in Likkutei Torah, in the maamar entitled Lehavin MasheKasuv BiOtzaros Chayim, and other sources.

Some view this withdrawal as something that caused many universes.

LIkkuttei Moharan 64:3 and a citation from Etiz Chaim (which, however, talks specifically of the initial tsimtsum), writes in Inner Space, p. 125:

"Immediately light extended from all directions and created a round concentric sphere that filled the entire vacated space... and the concentric sphere vacated... The process of constriction and expansion continued until the Kav reached the center point and the entire Vacated Space was filled with luminous universes, one within the other. We might conjecture that in between each of these concentric spheres there is a kind of no man's land, where God is completely hidden, and where one who does not know how to look would say that God is not there".

So, this single point expanded in Genesis day 2, and it was this that had ''the darkness over the surface of the abyss'' in day 1. It was this single point where evil arose. Therefore, evil did not arise from YHVH creating it, or from it always existing. Evil, or **Sin, arose from the absence of YHVH** , when he closed himself for a moment and thus a **vacuum** was formed. We see this on earth as well. Those with God in their hearts don't murder, but those lacking God in their lives do sometimes. YHVH is that light, that goodness that we have in our lives and that without it no good could exist.

I would like to give a quote from a woman who had an after-death experience. She was floating above her body, a body lying on the emergency table. A light filled with love rests above her. Upon entering the light, which felt fully loving, and seeing spir-itual beings in their celestial existence, she sensed this was a place of all knowledge and asked one of the beings if this light is God? The celestial being answered,

' _No, the light is not God, but light is what happens when God breathes.'_

Given this; therefore, we can imagine that the darkness oc-curred when God held his breath.

Evil exists easily from YHVH's absence, because the opposite of YHVH is evil. It arose naturally from the energy in that single point of the vacuum of empty space on its own from the **absence of YHVH**. This sin we need to understand as EVERYTHING that YHVH is not.

YHVH is infinite **, so out of this energy we have the finite.**

YHVH is spiritual **, so out of this energy we have the natural.**

YHVH is good, **and so out of this energy we have evil.**

YHVH is joy, **and so out of this energy we have suffering.**

YHVH is perfection, **so out of this energy is imperfection.**

YHVH is order **, so out of this energy we will have chaos.**

YHVH is eternal **, so out of this energy we will have entropy.**

Entropy, deterioration, suffering, illnesses, the finite, the natu-ral, the fall, evil or immorality, are the qualities able to be born out of a vacuum of a single point of empty space which was born **in the absence of YHVH.**

Anything other than YHVH himself will have sin in its nature. Since YHVH closed himself for a moment, he allowed for some-thing other than himself to appear, something with sin in its na-ture. That is why, from the very beginning, we would be some-thing less than pure and holy like YHVH.

Now, the Genesis 1 text reading makes more sense. ''In the beginning God created the heavens and earth.'' This is the idea. Then what happens? ''Darkness hovers over the surface of the abyss'', because in order for creation to occur, **YHVH must close himself for a moment** , causing a vacuum which inside holds a single point of density matter – a single point of darkness (matter with sin) which expands until we have space and the matter within it.

Then what happens? YHVH comes back and says ''Let there be light!'' YHVH gives light to this darkness and then separates this light from the **darkness that was born naturally**. That is the birth of evil, from the very beginning of creation and **inde-pendently from YHVH. God does not want us to grow in a world of evil and sin alone.**

_What is the meaning of the verse_ _(Ecclesiastes 7:14), "Also one opposite the other was made by God."_

God allowed for this evil and the good. God allowed for the creation of all things, the positive and its opposite negative.

We can see this in Rabbi Rambam's account of Genesis:

31 _. God confirmed all that God had done in its existence in God's will, even the evil within creation -- death, the evil impulse, and punishment -- for evil requires the existence of good._

We can also see this in John 9 when Christ heals the blind man. The Disciples asked 'who sinned, he or his parents?' Christ tells us neither sinned; this was provided to reveal God's glory.

God gave us Laws to follow, his words to follow to keep from this sin, from its results which are death, illness, suffering, and everything that is not YHVH. God also tells us in Deuteronomy that by following these laws, his people will be blessed in happi-ness, prosperity, wisdom, longevity.

His people are allowed to live in a world that offers sin and holiness, and they are also allowed to choose which they will fol-low. Guidelines or laws are given to help his people on this jour-ney make the right choices, and this is why the law is so im-portant, so that we can learn what God values and loves and why; then we can follow him more rightly and keep safe from this allowed evil.

Rabbi Ramban has said that he thought the closer we walked in God's ways, the more we were protected from evil, accidents, and the bad things that happen in life. and The more we walked our own ways, the more we allowed these things into our lives.

**All this imperfection was allowed to reveal God's glory to us**. In turning to God we can rid ourselves of this suffering, but without this suffering, would we be revealed to God, would we ever turn to God? Or would we be independent of YHVH, sus-taining without need of him, as we would be perfect and live eternally, never suffering sins?

Why did God create this world full of deformity, disease, and desire for sin? Why not create a world with a perfect creation to worship him that is incapable of sinning?

The answer is found in Romans 8:20 given earlier. It is so that **we may** see the **freedom of God** and be released from our bondage of our sinful nature. Suffering was a part of the design of YHVH and purpose for us, not that we would be created per-fectly in a perfect world that would have no need or love of Him or without dependency on YHVH. This suffering (fallen genes) brings us to realizing our deepest spiritual need for our creator. Where would be our spiritual need for our creator if we were al-ready created perfectly?

Young earth creationists inadvertently buy into the atheistic worldview that suffering could not have been the original intent of God, stating that the earth was created "for our pleasure per-fectly." However, the Bible says that God created carnivores, and that the death of animals and plants was part of God's origi-nal design for the earth.

Some may say evolution is cruel and God would not use it to promote his species, but **life is cruel** with or without evolution. It is through this cruelty that the grace and love of YHVH can be fully seen. This is seen throughout the themes of the Bible, harshness is softened by the grace of YHVH. It is through the faith in YHVH that good can be made out of anything fallen. It is the realizing that without God, you perish. It is the realizing of the full glory that is God and that without Him, you cannot breathe even for a moment.

A Christian biologist, Kenneth Miller, says, 'evolution makes it inevitable that somewhere in the universe, some day, there would raise a creature capable of knowing God and loving him in re-turn'.

Kabbalists ask why God would create life that will eventually fall away from him and be contrary to Him? The answer they say is **for the sake of those who return to Him, for the sake of those who love Him.**

In evolution we see that sickle cell anemia survives, because it also gives a resistance to Malaria. Some mental illnesses like Schizophrenia are said to carry a gene allowing for the need for little food. It is also said by scientists today that Schizophrenia and bipolar were the catalyst for our cerebral cortex, our complex thoughts. Without those genes that were mistakes, the final for-mation of our _homo sapiens_ being could not have occurred.

We owe a debt to those who suffer from mental illness, be-cause it is they who allowed us to **become** _Homo sapeins_ sapi-ens. Both of these positive qualities are linked with negative qualities. This is why the negative quality survives. This is why evil/sin survives, because out of it a positive quality may be re-vealed in God's glory.

It is in the suffering we understand value of joy. It is in the death, we understand the value of life; it is in the illness, that we understand the value of health; it is in the hate, we understand the value of love. We grow when we fall down and get back up to return to our journey of life.

Why does God give us choice to choose or reject Him?

It is the difference between a robot and a child. You can pro-gram a robot to do what you want it to, but it is not real love. It is programmed love. A child, on the other hand, will anger you and be disobedient to you and do his own thing. A child has freedom of mind, and freedom of action, and freedom to love you or to leave you. But the child's choice to love you is sweeter than any love a robot could ever give you.

Perhaps that is why God allows for this falling away, for this desire that yearns for the contrary, so that the sacrificial love of choosing him is all the sweeter, is all the more true and real. Per-haps that is the only way real love really can exist - with freedom of choice, with freedom of being children of God.

We might ask why YHVH does not reveal himself completely and make himself known to us all. I think the answer can be found in understanding the Old Testament, New Testament and writings from the Kabbalah found in 'Creation'

' _When powerful light is concealed and clothed in a garment it is revealed. Though concealed, the light is actually revealed, for if it were not concealed it could not be revealed. This is like wishing to gaze at the dazzling sun. Its dazzle conceals it, for you cannot look at its overwhelming brilliance. Yet when you conceal it, look-ing at it through screens- you can see and not be harmed. So it is with emanation: by concealing and clothing itself, it reveals itself._

YHVH is completely pure, good, and completely Holy. We all fall short of this purity, goodness and Holiness, since we were all part of the initial creation in the beginning which was covered with darkness. Therefore, if we were to be with YHVH now as we are, in our sinful state, we would burn up like one trying to travel to the sun. We cannot withstand the power of its spiritual force.

However, YHVH conceals himself. We see YHVH come to us in the Old Testament as an angel, wrestling with Jacob when he says 'I have seen YHVH face to face,' and as a burning bush with Moses. He also comes to the Israelites as wind guiding their movements.

We can see in the New Testament writings YHVH as the Mes-siah, Christ. We are able to peek at YHVH through the veil of Christ. Christ becomes that concealment, that clothing over YHVH, so that we can be with YHVH without 'burning' up. When we accept Christ into ourselves, we are accepting YHVH himself and building that needed protective garment over us so that we may be with YHVH.

YHVH has been communicating with us since the time man evolved a conscience high enough to understand, since 50,000 generations, the Bible tells us. Since Adam we have been held accountable for this communion. YHVH continues communi-cating from Adam up to present day, speaking to humanity in different ways: from a burning bush, to a strong voice to the pa-triarchs, to prophets, in dreams, to visions, to a moved heart, to an inner voice, in prayer. But we need to be listening.

Perhaps instead of viewing others as wrong and us as only right, what we ought to be seeing is that God has spoken to us all in different ways and none of us have it all right. There is a mix of truths and lies in almost all things, from various faiths to even science. We ought to listen to each other and learn from each other and learn what God has revealed to different people, in different ways, and at different times.
SUMMARY:

Evolutionism explains what happened to life once it got here. There does not have to be a Creation vs. Evolution mind-set. The two happened sequentially. Creation, bara, was first in day 1 and evolution followed in day 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. Evolution could very well have been the process or mechanism chosen and used by God, along with the natural laws to guide his creation.

For further study on 'Evolution' ideas in Religion and culture, refer to the Kabbalist writings, Rumi Writings and the Early Greeks

As Abraham Issac Kook (Twentieth Century), (Orot ha-Qodesh, 2:537) once said, 'As opposed to Darwinian Theory , which insists that evolution is a purposeless and unguided pro-cess, Kook maintains that evolution is profoundly purposeful - an expression of the Divine will. Through Evolution, Ein sof is ac-tualized. (Ein Sof being God, YHVH, the transcendence, the infinite, the endless).
Part 3: Quantum Physics, and Qabbalah

This piece of work is to only briefly go over what I have learned in physics in comparison to what I have learned from reading Qabbalah, because upon reading both without any inten-tion of comparison in the beginning, I have seen too many simi-larities to be ignored. This piece is more abstract with questions of the creation and beginnings.

However it is in Qabbalah that both Lucia and Rabbi Na-chimandies (Ramban) make astonishing testaments to the conditions of the pre-universe and early universe, which are also in alignment with modern science.

In science, the areas of Quantum physics and Cosmology are the two subjects that seem to highlight the most interesting in-formation regarding the creation of our universe and life. Ste-phen Hawkings is a leading popular physicist is these areas and so I have read his works on these subjects, the 'common man' versions, of course. His conclusions are striking when compared to what I have learned in my reading of the Qabbalah. The Qab-balah makes many assertions about God and his creation in the beginning. It is philosophical and mystical, but more than that, it seems to echo much of what science is now telling us.

Let me begin by talking about the Qabbalah and what it says on these matters. I will then compare that to what science is tell-ing us now.
The Qabbalah

Issac Luria was acknowledged as one of the mystical masters of the Qabbalah, a student of Cordovero who died in 1570. Issac lost his father at an early age and his mother took him to Egypt. He was than raised by his wealthy uncle. He spent much of his time in seclusion near Cairo, studying the Zohar and Cordovero's works. He had profound influence on those around him who dubbed him Ha-Ari , 'the lion', an acronym for the divine Rabbi Issac.

Like with Buddha, Luria did not write down much himself, but his disciples wrote down much of what he spoke. When asked why, he replied ''It is impossible because all things are in-terrelated. I can hardly open my mouth to speak without feeling as though the sea bursts its dams and overflowed. How then shall I express what my soul has received? How can I set it down in a book?''

Much of what Luria spoke concerned his ponderings on the beginning, the creation. He asked such question as ''How did the process of emanation start?''

'If Ein Sof (the transcendence, infinite, endless form of God) pervaded all space, how was there room for anything other than God to come into being?' Luria taught that the first divine act was not emanation, but withdrawing. He taught that Ein Sof withdrew his presence from himself, withdrawing in all direc-tions away from one point at the center of its infinity, thereby creating a vacuum. This vacuum served as the point of creation. This vacuum would still possess part of Ein Sof energy because it could not be completely void of him or it would cease to exist. This withdrawal became known as tsimtsum in Qabbalah teach-ing.

Rabbi Nachimandies or Ramban also is influenced by this line of thought and this thinking can be seen in much of his commen-taries.

Into the vacuum Ein Sof emanated a ray of light, channeled through vessels. As soon as the emanation process started with the light moving through these vessels, from this vacuum, many of the vessels could not withstand the power of that light and they shattered. Most of the light returned to its infinite source, but the rest fell as sparks along with the shards of vessels. Even-tually these sparks became trapped in material existence. This shattering became known as shevirah.

What is interesting is that these ideas were talked about in the late 1500's. What is more interesting is that when comparing these ideas to modern cosmology, quantum physics, and with Stephen Hawking's work in these fields, as well as with others work in the string theory, many striking similarities to this Qab-balah teaching begin to show up.
The Science

In reading A Brief History of Time and Quest for a Theory of Everything, we read about the idea of the big bang singularity. It is a point in space time at which space time curvature becomes infinite, a point of infinite density. Some theories predict we will find a singularity at the center of a black hole or at the beginning or end of the universe. The difficulties with big bang are that they don't help explain the cosmological constant in its peculiarly perfect existence, and the physical and natural laws break down at this plank density or when energy is approaching close to in-finity.

Hawking himself later modified this idea with his No-boundary proposal. With the discussions of this with other phys-icists he saw the one theory (no-boundary proposal) did not nec-essarily cancel out the other (inflation big bang theory). This no-boundary proposal says that the physical and natural laws don't break down anywhere. The idea is that in real time, the inflation theory of big bang and big bang itself could have occurred in real time on real matter. However, when we hit plank density, imagi-nary time takes over and shows us the physical and natural laws existing before big bang occurred, revealing to us an existence where time (imaginary time) is eternal and so is the energy/space there, and where physics doesn't break down.

This no-boundary proposal, coupled with string theory and wormhole ideas, helps to explain a universe that was born out of many baby universes, an infinite number of universes which oc-curred in imaginary time (eternal time). This infinite number of universes makes a cosmological constant like ours very likely.

Stephen Hawking from www.everythingforever.com

I still believe the universe has a beginning in real time, at the big bang. But there's another kind of time, imagi-nary time, at right angles to real time, in which the uni-verse has no beginning or end. This would mean that the way the universe began would be determined by the laws of physics. One wouldn't have to say that God chose to set the universe going in some arbitrary way that we couldn't understand. It says nothing about whether or not God exists - just that He isn't arbitrary.

...I thought the no boundary proposal, implied that the universe had to be spatially closed, and finite in size. But a few months ago, Neil Turok and I, were talking about his ideas on open inflation. We realized that they could be fitted in with the no boundary proposal. The universe would still be closed and finite, in one way of looking at it. But in another, it would appear open and infinite.

One could say: "The boundary condition of the universe is that it has no boundary." The universe would be completely self-contained and not affected by anything outside itself. It would neither be created nor destroyed. It would just BE (A Brief His-tory of Time)

...This might suggest that the so-called imaginary time is really the real time, and that what we call real time is just a figment of our imaginations. In real time, the universe has a beginning and an end at singularities that form a boundary to space-time and at which the laws of science break down. But in imaginary time, there are no singu-larities or boundaries. So maybe what we call imaginary time is really more basic, and what we call real is just an idea that we invent to help us describe what we think the universe is like.

I like this proposal for several reasons. One is the obvious that it solves the cosmological problem, and that it allows for the con-tinued use of our known physical and natural laws. But another is that the implications are uniting all religious views of the world.

Hindu and Buddhist people have their view of eternal time and a universe with beliefs that this world we live in is an illusion, and the Judeo/Christian/Islamic people have their views of a mat-ter/material world that had a beginning point of creation which is talked about in their various accounts of creation. Both can be united with the inflation big bang coupled with the no-boundary proposal, as Stephen Hawking suggests. If science can have on foot in the final and ending states of energy (Big Bang, begin-ning of our universe and end) and another foot in the in-between (cyclic universes, eternal energy, imaginary time), than so does religion, and therefore truth.

Another reason is that God, or the eternal energy, had no choice but to create what is created now. This makes God not random, not arbitrary, not throwing dice. This allows us to un-derstand a little more of why the world is the way it is: full of evil. If God is good, this evil is because God (or light) closed himself for a moment, allowing for everything other than himself to be born. The finite, the chaos, the entropy, the evil, the suffer-ing, etc....OR he didn't have a choice in how and what would be created. Perhaps he had to follow the very physical and natural laws that govern us. Or God designed the eternal energy-imaginary time that way, so that no other form of creation could have come about in the universe for reasons we don't fully un-derstand yet, but I touch upon this book under _'the Birth of Evil.'_

One more reasons is because this draws Stephen Hawking to the conclusion that everything in our universe is self-sustaining and simply came from nothing, scientifically speaking.

Self-Sustaining, yes. I whole heartily agree. Why would God create a crapy universe that needed constant tending too?

And from nothing? Yes. From where everything came there is No measurement of, from where everything came there is No observation of, from where everything came, there is No replication of. This is significant indeed!

We see the Kabbalists go in depth with this idea of No-Thing as the definition for God. At first this idea seems ludicrous to most mainstream thought. But when you think about, really think about it, it makes perfect sense. Everything God entails can be defined wholly in no complete terms by our standards, defini-tions, and by our frail-fragile minds. God and his creation remain -a mystery. And this is declared in the scripture...that God's ways and God's creation and God himself is a mystery. Men cannot fully fathom.

By stating everything came from nothing, Metaphysically that is logical (by the Kabbalist rendering of No-Thing), scientifically that is logical (because nothing can be measured, observed or replicated), and in fact from our feeble point of view, there was NoThing!

From the point of view on the other side of NoThing, every-thing that created the single point of energy (seemingly infinite, but not) right before the Big Bang, cannot be defined by our natural standards, but can be understood better by the spir-it/metaphysics/religion/.

Einstein was once quoted as saying, 'Where the laws of math-ematics are certain, reality is uncertain and where the reality is certain, the laws of mathematics are uncertain.' We can see this no better than when we look at quantum physics and plank den-sity. The big bang theory has been modified to the inflation big bang theory, solving many of its earlier problems, and remains the most widely accepted theory by physicists and cosmologists today.

The idea of a singularity point or even a finite point or speck of string balled up tightly echoes the words of the Kabbalist Issac Lucia '' that Ein Sof withdrew his presence from himself, with-drawing in all directions away from one point at the center of its infinity.' And Rabbi Ramban's words that the only creation was that of the size of a speck of sand and that that was all there was. He said those words 800 years ago.

The universe is full of empty space and it is this empty space that is referred to commonly as the vacuum. However, this vacu-um is anything but empty, as these books reveal; the uncertainty principle shows us this vacuum ought to be filled with enormous amounts of energy. The energy in this empty space or vacuum is referred to as the cosmological constant.

The energy is made up of positive and negative energy. These particles are equal in negative number as they are in positive number, yielding a close to zero cosmological constant. Many physicists don't see how this is possible. Quoting Sidney Cole-man from the book 'Quest for a Theory for Everything' –''Zero is a suspicious number. Imagine that over a ten year period you spend millions of dollars without looking at your salary and when you finally compare what you spent with what you've earned, they balance out to the penny.''

"The [value of] Lambda is one of the prime mysteries of Phys-ics," Steinhardt said. "It's really been so puzzling that it's driven the physics community to this anthropic approach. So it's im-portant to know if a non-anthropic solution might exist."

(The Lambda is the cosmological constant)

So our universe, according to this idea, inherited this zero cos-mological constant from one of the other adult universes, there being multiple universes, many dying and some surviving.

Kabbalist Issac Lucia uses a language similar to cosmology in his revealed depictions of creation in the 1500's. 'Into the vacu-um Ein Sof emanated a ray of light, channeled through vessels.' Could these vessels be the wormholes as in string theory?

Let us take a closer look at more of his writings. 'As soon as the emanation process started with the light moving through these vessels, from this vacuum, many of the vessels could not withstand the power of that light and they shattered.' That would make sense in cosmology 'wormhole theory' sense - many of the wormholes with their baby universes would not have survived, shrinking, since their cosmological constant would not be close to zero.

Issac Lucia goes on to say 'Most of the light returned to its in-finite source, but the rest fell as sparks along with the shards of vessels. Eventually these sparks became trapped in material ex-istence.' This means some of these vessels and light or 'worm-holes and energy' survived. Possibly this survival was a result of their being a zero or close to zero cosmological constant for the universe, possibly because Ein Sof wanted it that way?

Then these sparks of light became trapped in this universe and slowly became material in existence. E=MC2. This energy was born through Quantum Fluctuations and then became everything we have today from our universe to our earth to life.

Perhaps these sparks are the quarks that make up our protons and electrons, which come together to make up our atoms, which come together to make up our molecules, which come together to make up our universe and world.

Is Stephen Hawking on to something?

IMAGINARY TIME:

Let us take a closer look at this imaginary time proposal by Stephen Hawking, which is quite interesting. In quantum physics there is something called the uncertainty principle. This shows us that when we are looking at particles on the atomic and subatom-ic levels, there is a level of uncertainty as to what this particle will do. This makes it impossible to predict it in terms of mathe-matics. We can know the velocity (direction and speed) of that particle or we can know the position, but we cannot determine both of them. The more certain we are of one, the less certain we are of the other. We can devise graphs, however, to help illus-trate what a particle might do, including all of its possibilities and likelihood of those possibilities.

In geometry with three dimensions the hypotenuse squared is the sum of both sides A and B squared. However in four dimen-sional spaces within the space-time, the hypotenuse is the differ-ence between both sides A and B squared. Therefore, sometimes the hypotenuse turns out to be a negative number.

8 -

7 -

6 - Y

5 -

4 -

3 -

2 -

1 -

X 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

The vertical represents the time and the horizontal represents the space. The dotted line in the center represents the 45 degree mark. When plotting a particle: if the two events (X, Y) are far-ther apart in space than they are in time, then the line connecting them (called the world line) requires faster than speed of light travel. The square of the separation in four dimensional space-time is a POSITIVE number, which means in real time.

8 Y -

7 -

6 -

5 -

4 -

3 -

2 -

1 -

X 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

If the two events (X, Y) are farther apart in time than they are in space, it doesn't require faster than the speed of light travel. The square of their separation in four dimensional space-time is a NEGATIVE number.

We know we cannot have a negative square root and this is called an imaginary number. That means this particle is traveling slower than the speed of light and it is doing it in imaginary time.

In the very early universe, because space is becoming more compressed, it leaves fewer choices about the positions of the particles. Unfortunately, this makes the known velocity (speed and direction) of the particles more and more unknown. As we near infinite density, the singularity of the beginning of the uni-verse, we get closer to an infinite number of possibilities of the velocity of the particles.

The nice neat graph with a 45 degree line becomes bubbly. The straight line becomes curvy. The graph picture starts to look like hot soup boiling over itself. You can think of it like this: when you are traveling in a plane above the ocean and you look down at the water you see a nice smooth surface, but as the plane ap-proaches the ocean, you can see more of the details; the smooth waters become filled with ripples, and waves begin to take over the calmness appearance.

However the graph picture is not a make-up of sequential or patterned wave fluctuations. They are violent fluctuations, seem-ing to boil over themselves. As one inspects more regions of space on the quantum level, the 'quantum vacuum' or the empty black space on an atomic level, it begins to look more and more like the boiling over graph.

It becomes no longer true that when two points are farther apart in time than they are in space, then the square of their sepa-ration in a four dimensional world is necessarily a negative num-ber. It becomes no longer imaginary time. Instead it becomes something like four dimensional spaces or so this book "The Quest for Everything' indicates.

Why is this helpful in understanding creation? Because the graph that we see at the atomic level is the same graph we would see in the beginning formations of the universe. Every particle existed only on an atomic level. Atoms did not come together yet to form molecules and then bigger materials of mass. Every-thing was possibly essentially 'empty space' or the 'quantum vacuum.'

If particles moved in imaginary time in this quantum vacuum in the beginning, the possibility is it would no longer be imaginary, but it would create four dimensional spaces, or so Stephen Hawking suggests in the book. So is our universe four dimen-sional space? Using imaginary time we can look at a picture of four dimensional spaces where time as we know it is non-existent. Time would become a fourth dimension, closing around and forming a closed surface, but a surface without any edge or boundary.

Friedmann, an earlier scientist, has a model of the universe, a universe which is finite in size, but having no boundaries and edges in space. It would be similar to that of a ball. Hawking's recent work seems to agree with this model. Time for the uni-verse would be non-existent because it would have no beginning and no end. All of the time would simply move around and form a closed surface, like the surface around a ball perhaps?

Hawking says the boundary conditions of the universe would be that it has no boundaries - no beginning and no end anywhere. Time has no meaning, what was before it has no meaning, since time has become 'space' itself; time had no beginning and no end in this model. Only we as humans experience this time, but it's kind of an illusion then because it is not real.

Hawking hasn't said that this no-boundary proposal rules out the existence of God, only that God wouldn't have had any choice in how the universe began. Other scientists disagree and don't think the proposal limits God. Perhaps suggests Karel Ku-char, that is the choice God made for the universe.

So what does all this mean to me?

Light are photons or energy. Everything is made of energy, from electrons to protons to neutrons.

But how did all this energy get here, and why does it follow the laws of physics?

Quantum physics/exotic physics lead many of the leading physicists to conclude that all this energy popped out from noth-ing. This is seemingly breaking the first law of thermodynamics temporarily. Interestingly is that this finding of 'Quantum Fluc-tuations' to explain the appearance of all this energy that subse-quently forms everything, we know is in a religious tone 'Ex Ni-hilo'.

Of course scientists won't call it that. But this is exactly what science is now showing us, that scientifically speaking Ex Nihilo, or the appearance of something from nothing, is possible. What an amazing discovery.

Nachimandies Ramban himself had said that if science eventually would prove Ex Nihlo impossible, he would rein-terpret all his scripture. But now 800 years later science is do-ing just that, proving Ex Nihlo possible! Found in the science of Quantum Physics and Fluctuations.

Stephen Hawking proposes imaginary time and the no-boundary principles, which mean the singularity is finite, and I agree it is so, but space-time is boundless and time is eternal as it exists in imaginary time. This proposal puts a limit on the energy as one of being finite in our real time and has always followed the laws of physics, since its existence in imaginary time and had no choice but to do so. This imaginary time to me sounds a lot like spiritual time, eternal time.

This explains how the laws of physics become present. They always existed. But this energy being created must still have been born out of nothing, leaning on quantum physics/exotic physics to explain how.

Stephen Hawking gives a reason for the laws of physics to ex-ist without an outside provider, because the singularity is finite and the laws don't break down... they existed in imaginary time (or the spiritual plane in my view). But both of these ideas still present a problem, because in our natural plane we are governed by the 1st law of thermodynamics which states energy is neither created nor destroyed.

Quantum fluctuations seem to indicate that in the early uni-verse with very high temperatures, the laws were different, and seemingly the 1st law of thermodynamics temporarily was violat-ed. This is something that is looked at by many physicists as un-derstandable, because the temperatures were so high and we don't fully understand the laws or state guiding the early uni-verse. However, we are not talking about an early universe with high temperatures, we are talking about no universe at all, no time at all, nothing. Accordingly, this is where all the energy came from.

I agree that is what happened.

The natural forces/laws were born with the energy, interwoven together so intimately that one does not exist without the other. What are natural forces and laws without energy to guide? What is energy without natural forces and laws to guide it? However, this energy and natural forces/laws did in fact exist eternally, in imaginary time as Stephen Hawking puts it, but for the faith-minded it is easier to understand this by seeing that this imagi-nary time is simply the spiritual plane - that is God. Everything that is 'God invisible' exists there.

Within God, this energy and the forces existed and were born with whatever phrase you want to use: 'with Quantum fluctua-tions' or 'through Ex Nihilo' or 'through bara', creating this Natural plane of existence, from the eternal (imaginary or spiritu-al) form of Energy and the one Force; born is the Natural plane, a temporary and finite energy of existence.

Interestingly, though, is that if we look at God as the source of all this energy, then this energy is not 'created' as something from nothing, violating the 1st law of thermodynamics. It is more like a distribution from one 'plane' of existence to the next; from the spiritual plane (or imaginary time) to the 'natural plane'. Of course those that prefer to keep God out of it can look at it as 'a plane of eternal and infinite energy' or an 'infinite source'; then from that source was the transference of energy which birthed the natural world. Also interestingly is that this also allows for a cyclic universe possibility. It shows us the two-fold nature of energy (of its finite part and that of its infinite part), the two-fold nature of the natural-creation, whether in a single universe or in a multi-universe.

Now in one way of looking at it, from the natural world, it would appear 'seemingly' that this energy did 'appear' out of nothing, **thus ex Nihilo, the use of bara** in day 1.

Quantum fluctuations give scientific support for the Ex Ni-hilo, bara of day 1.

However, that is not the end of the story, because God is light. Christ is light. Genesis shows us light came from God in day 1. "God is light" is a very fundamental part of the Bible. We know that all things are made of God. All things come from God. Therefore all things, such as laws of physics, energy and quan-tum fluctuations and all observations of nature, must then also come from God as well.

In Ancient rabbinical studies we see that God is light and this light was everywhere, until God closed himself, this light, form-ing a vacuum, a speck or point in empty space. This is 500 to 800 year old teaching in Judaism -- not a foreign or new idea.

Now in Genesis, God said, 'let there be light'. He never bara it and never asah it. He commanded it from Himself. Also in day 1 and 2, this light is from the Hebrew word meaning: OF GOD, OF JEHOVAH, OF PROSPERITY, OF GOODNESS, OF JOY, OF SALVATION. Not until day 4 does the Hebrew word change to mean a luminous body. There are two words for light in Genesis in the Hebrew!

Further, Christ is the light of the world, the 'Feast of Lights' or 'Dedication'. Chanukah celebrates this conception of Yeshua Mashaich as the light of the world.

We see in the Hebrew also that in day 4, it is saying, now the light formed by drawing its light from the (light). This light is the light mentioned in day 1 and 2. The sun and moon and stars' light were drawn from the light of the first light mentioned in day 1 and 2. That is the light of God - Hashem.

God is energy. God is energy, because God is light and light is the most basic form of energy. God is also the sum of the natural laws, because he created them.

However, God is not confined by these laws. These laws are simply the only part of God we can determine on a scientific scale. This is the VISIBLE part of God. The world is in fact the visible part of God. This does not mean this is all of God, of course. On an invisible level, God is also personal, loving, guiding, intelligent, creative, and spiritual.

If we look at God being the sum of the natural laws, that may seem at first a dishonor. But when one actually studies these laws of physics, something amazing may begin to happen. One may begin to see the mystery, the marvel and miracle that are our natural laws. **PI** is infinite. The **Bose Einstein Condensation** de-fies gravity, where particles act like waves and all becomes one, seemingly illimitable in definition as no one characteristic can define the particles; they overlap all others and share in all char-acteristics. **Quantum Fluctuations** reveal an Ex Nihilo part to nature, and much more.

God as the laws now does not seem so limiting; by this account we can determine the visible part of God is infinite, illimitable, and able to Ex Nihilo (bara in Hebrew). This is remarkable. This scientifically shows us how a God can be supernatural despite what atheists tell us.

However, we must not think this energy that reveals natural laws to us is the totality of 'God'. The energy of our universe is likely finite because it is only a 'part' of the infinite energy, a piece of God, and therefore bound by laws as it is separated from the infinite source and finite.

In the early universe, the energy was not formed yet; it was being 'drawn' from the eternal light, that is God, therefore it was still connected to this eternal and infinite source, much like an umbilical cord. This allowed this energy to violate laws, such as quantum fluctuations show us now. But once the energy was fin-ished being drawn, the infinite source was no longer connected to it.

The natural birth disconnected to its infinite source, and be-came finite. It became a finite point that birthed the big bang. The natural world now remains under this finite living in natural laws, and entropy.

We live in a natural world of sin, separated from God, and this energy is finite, separated from its infinite source, thus leading to decay and entropy and bound by the laws of physics.

Notice, I did not say God is only energy or God is only the laws! God is much more than that. He is also intelligent, spiritual, loving, the formation of the laws of physics and nature, guiding, and personal, in my view.

As Kabbalists say, 'God is everything (because everything comes from God).' But the converse, 'everything is God' is not true. God is not the totality of everything we know, but much more. When we try to define God in a definitive, then we lose sight of the big picture, getting lost in the details, and we lose all of who God is. Because God is a BIG GOD, too big for us to define, since he is everything. The more we seek for a definitive, the less we define God.

While we often experience the "who" in God - there are parts of God we can see, however incomplete, in physics, and it is these points that we can learn more about in a scientific way. These points are in that "what" of God...nature, light, energy, laws of physics, quantum physics, pi, Bose Einstein Condensa-tion, Plasma, and quantum fluctuations. Understanding these will let you understand God more, because God created nature, and thus it will tell us something about the designer.

Also interestingly is that at first I thought Stephen Hawking was on to something, but I could not agree fully with the energy as finite, because that would place a limit on God (if God is en-ergy). And if the laws were always in existence even before the Big Bang then that also puts a limit on God.

However, I have since realized that it makes perfect sense that the energy would be finite, because this energy is not all of God. This energy is only a part of God. God is infinite, and the finite energy we are familiar with is only in our finite natural world. This does not encompass the spiritual plane (or perhaps it is the same as imaginary time).

If we look at Kabbalist Lucia (500 years ago) or even Na-chimandies (800 years ago) in explaining creation: God (infinite and illimitable light/energy) closed itself for a moment, creating a vacuum in empty space the size of a point. Some of this light/energy fell into that point and it began to expand, and all the matter began to form from this light. Now the light/energy that remains with God is infinite and remains in the spiritual plane (or perhaps it is the imaginary time plane).

But the light that fell into the singular point would, of course, be finite, because it was only a part of God. Now, God is not missing that part since He has an infinite supply of it. But this energy/light that fell into the point would be suffering entropy. Why? Because it is separated from its infinite source.

These laws, then, always existed on this finite energy when it was born interconnected to that energy (one does not exist with-out the other); however when connected to its infinite source, that is namely Hashem, this energy is able to act in ways that do not follow our laws of physics, such as it did in the very early universe while still drawing its energy from God, creating energy out of seemingly nothing.

However, I do not hold that it was in fact nothing that all this energy came from and that it appeared out of nothing (as we un-derstand the term nothing). A more accurate picture would be it came from No Thing. No thing we can measure. No thing we can fathom. No thing we can define. In fact, it would have been more of a transferring of energy from 'God' to the 'natural birth' which yields our natural plane of existence and the big bang.

**I agree it appears as if it is out of nothing** , because before big bang it appears as though there was once nothing and then all this energy appeared. **But appearances are deceptive.**

I asked myself if it is **that the natural laws form our universe or is it our universe that forms our natural laws?** I hold the view that our natural laws were born from the moment finite natural energy was born. The two are so interwoven together, that one cannot exist without the other. If the energy is the body, then the natural laws are the DNA and veins carrying the blood to each part of the body. Without the body, the DNA and veins cease, and without the DNA and veins, the body ceases. They have a symbiotic relationship and grow together with each pass-ing moment.

If the forces/law were not a part of the energy, the universe and life would never have formed and all would have been un-successful chaos. If only laws existed and no energy, to what end could they exist?

**In understanding how God fits into this we can understand the how much better. In understanding the physics we can also understand God better.** God is energy (but only energy is not all of God). Thus some of this energy that was in the quan-tum fluctuations in the very early universe in that quantum state would have been overlapping with itself everywhere at one time, thus yielding ability for God to know everything, every possible path taken and its outcome. As Einstein has rightly said, 'The past and present and future are all one.'

**Rabbi Nachimandies, that is Ramban** , also shared in this Lucia view of creation from his comments: **Shiur #6: "Tzimtzum" in the Teachings of Rabbi Nachman**

Therefore He drew back the light to the sides, and by means of this withdrawal an empty space was created. And it was within this empty space that all of time and space came into being - i.e., the creation of the world (as is written at the beginning of Etz Haim):

And this empty space was vital for the creation of the world. For if it were not for the empty space, there would be no room in which to create the world, as explained above.

Nachmanides also says, in other texts, that before the universe, there was nothing... but then suddenly the entire creation ap-peared as a minuscule speck. He gives a dimension for the speck: something very tiny like the size of a grain of mustard. And he says that is the only physical creation.

There was no other physical creation; all other creations were spiritual. The Nefesh (the soul of animal life) and the Neshama (the soul of human life) are spiritual creations. There's only one physical creation, and that creation was a tiny speck. The speck is all there was. Anything else was God. In that speck was all the raw material that would be used for making everything else. Nachmanides describes the substance as "dak me'od, ein bo ma-mash" -- very thin, no substance to it. And as this speck expand-ed out, this substance -- so thin that it has no essence -- turned into matter as we know it.

The Secret of the Sabbatical Cycles and the New Cosmogony

(www.zion.com)

Among the statutes mentioned in the Torah portion of "Behar", it is written: "Six years you will sew your fields and six years you will prune your vineyards and you will gather your produce. And in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of rest for the land, a Sabbath to God" (Vayikra 25:3-4). These simple verses, which talk about the laws of the Shmita (Sabbatical Year), became verses filled with the deepest secrets, in the eyes of think-ers and Kabbalists from the eleventh to the fifteenth century.

Rabbi Avraham ibn Ezra (the Ra'ava), who lived in eleventh century Spain, wrote: "and the secret of the days of the universe are hinted at in this place" (in his commentary on Vayikra 25:2). What is this "secret of the days of the universe" that is hinted at in this verse? Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman (the Ramban), who lived in Gerona in Spain in the thirteenth century, expanded this idea in his own commentary on the verse. According to a tradition he follows, the six years of agricultural work and the sabbatical year at their conclusion, hint at the six days of creation and the Sab-bath day.

Already in his commentary on the book of Bereishit (2:3) the Ramban reveals his viewpoint, that the six days of creation and the Sabbath day hint at the fact that the world will exist for six thousand years, while the seventh millennium will be in parallel to the Sabbath day which is sanctified to God. This idea of six thou-sand years of history appears already in the Babylonian Talmud: "Rav Katina says: six thousand years the world will be and one in a state of destruction" (Sanhedrin 97a), meaning \- the world will exist for six thousand years and then will be in a state of de-struction for one thousand years and then it will reach its required state.

The Ramban, however, says more than this. In his opinion, in addition to the fact that one Sabbatical cycle of seven years hints, as stated, to the cycle of our history, which is six thousand years, he also states that the seven Sabbatical cycles in the Jubilee cycle, are parallel to "all the days of the universe". According to the Ramban, every universe, such as ours, will exist for seven thou-sand years; there will be seven such universes and after them the great Jubilee will take place, a redemption of all the universes.

This theory, known to researchers as the "Theory of the Sabbat-ical Cycles", assumes that our universe is not the only universe; there were universes that preceded it and there will be universes after it. The fact that there were universes before ours is told of already in the Midrash: "Rabbi Ahavu said, teaching that [God] creates worlds and destroys them until he created these. He said, these are useful to me and these are not useful to me" (Bereishit Rabbah 3:7). Even though the Ra'ava hinted at this idea, and even though the idea of 49,000 years of the universe is mentioned in the "Sefer Megillat haMegaleh" (The Book of the Revealing Scroll) of Rabbi Avraham bar Chiyya (written in 1125), the "Theory of the Sabbatical Cycles" crystallized specifically among the Kabbalists of Gerona, lead by Rabbi Ezra and his student, the Ramban.

Rabbi Yitzchak of Acco (Acre), a student of the Ramban who commonly explained his writings with respect to mystical con-cepts, expanded on the topic of the secret of the Sabbatical Cycle in his book "Meirat Einayim" (Illuminating the Eyes). Rabbi Yitzchak sees every 50,000 years of the universe as one continu-ous and ongoing process, even though it is divided into seven uni-verses.The Talmudic expression "and one in a state of destruc-tion", he takes to refer only to life on the planet earth, but the planet itself will not be destroyed. Rabbi Menachem Recanati, a fourteenth century Italian Kabbalist, explains similarly (in his work "Sefer Levush Aur Akarut").

In his opinion, only in the Great Jubilee, and not in every Sab-batical, does everything returns to nothingness. Therefore, what is the difference between a 7000 year old world and the world that will come thereafter? According to Recanati, there will be some form of advancement between them. In every world "there will be a positive addition and blessed influence from the preceding [world]".

Recanati also teaches us that there were Kabbalists who op-posed the "Theory of the Sabbatical Cycles": "While I did find that for some of the later Kabbalists, their opinions do not com-pletely agree with what I wrote, because it is difficult for them that for Israel the messianic times would be such a short period, less than a thousand years, and it is known that the days of tranquility should be a thousand times more than the days of strife caused by the nations, that we suffered in order to sanctify the lofty and blessed Name [of God]".

It seems that the problem that these Kabbalists had was a ques-tion of logic. How could it be that the reward, the messianic times, would be shorter in length than the times of strife? Also, we can question this view on a biblical basis. If the world will be to-tally destroyed in the Great Jubilee, after 49,000 years, how can we explain the words of Kohelet (Ecclesiastes) that "the world will stand forever", a verse from which the Rambam (Maimoni-des) learns that the cosmos will not be destroyed (Guide to the Perplexed, Part 2, 27)?

This topic was dealt with, in his commentary on our verse, by Rabbeinu Bechai ben Asher, who lived in the fourteenth century and was a student of the Rashba and from the same circles as the Ramban. He understood the words of Kohelet like those who say that the earth will only stand "le'olam" [Translators note: this Hebrew word is normally taken to mean "for eternity" but literal-ly means "till the (end of the) world", that is for the duration of the world of the jubilee, which is 50,000 years.]

The "Theory of the Sabbatical Cycles" continued with various philosophers and was mentioned in the writings of those expelled from Spain (such as Don Yitzchak Abarbanel and Rabbi Yehuda Chayyat), until it reached the sages of Tzfat (Safed) in the six-teenth century. The Ramak (Rabbi Moshe Cordovero) related to it ambivalently, while the Ari (Rabbi Yitzchak Luria) disagreed with even its basic tenets and claimed that there were no worlds before ours and their will be none after ours. In his opinion, the entire "Theory of the Sabbatical Cycles" is fundamentally flawed, since the entire tradition of the shmittot (sabbatical years) deals with spiritual worlds that came before our world and not with physical worlds. As a result of the Ari's words, Kabbalists generally steered clear of the "Theory of the Sabbatical Cycles".

In the last 150 years we have begun to see a revival of the theo-ry, and this is due to the necessity of dealing with modern scien-tific systems relating to the creation of the world and the length of its existence. In his discussion "Derush Aur HaChayyim" (Homi-ly on the Light of Life) which debates the eternality of the soul, Rabbi Yisrael Lipschitz of Danzig, who lived in the nineteenth century, in his commentary "Tiferet Yisrael" (The Glory of Israel) on the Mishna, that all the scientific findings with respect to the skulls of primitive men, giant elephants and other prehistoric an-imals, are all evidence of a world that preceded ours, a world that was destroyed before ours. Rabbi A.I. Kook goes even further and explains according to the system of Rabbi Yitzchak of Acco, that "one in a state of destruction" means the destruction of humans and animals and not the destruction of the earth:

" _If this is so, those [archaeological] excavation show us, that there existed [before our world] periods of creatures, including people, but [to say that] there was not a total destruction between them, and a new creation, on this there is no proof, rather hairs floating in the air [=all is speculation"]" (Letters of Rabbi A.I. Kook, Page 105)._

Rabbi Kook explains that in the world that preceded ours, there were prehistoric people and animals, but since then this world has been destroyed (the ice age?) and new life began. Rabbi Kook also does not reject the idea that the earth is billions of years old, but he declares that the number of years that Judaism holds by (e.g. 5761 = 1999/2000) began only with the creation of a thinking man (Homo sapiens).

The "Theory of the Sabbatical Cycles" allowed a recalculation of the age of the earth, since it talks of a world that preceded ours. Despite the fact that we normally speak of a total of 49,000 years, there are Kabbalists who concluded that after every 50,000 years of the Great Jubilee, there will be an additional jubilee. Rabbeinu Bechayy spoke of eighteen such jubilees, and according to "Sefer Hatemunah", a Kabbalistic composition from the Gerona school of Kabbalists, there will be 50,000 Jubilees and this means that the world (meaning life) will exist for 2,500,000,000 years.

Can we begin to speak of a lessening of the gap between these thinkers and those who hold by modern geological and cosmo-gonical approaches? And what is the future of the "Theory of the Sabbatical Cycles"? Will they speak in the future of Energy Uni-verses of antimatter that preceded ours or will they compare the "Theory of the Sabbatical Cycles" to the Theory of the Contract-ing Universe that modern scientific thinkers hold by? Time will tell.

Dr Raphael Shuchat

Dean of Students - Hecht Synagoguge.

The Missing Link in the Debate

Isibiel Myrna Cohen

_Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, who apart from being a rabbi, also held a master's degree in physics, cites the calculations of Rabbi Isaac of Acco in his commentaries on the book Sefer Yehzirah:_ _The Book of Creation_ _. This book has an oral tradition going back to Abra-ham, but was first committed to writing about 1500 years ago. In his commentary on this book Rabbi Kaplan writes:_

"According to the master Kabbalist, Rabbi Isaac of Acco, when counting the years of these cycles, one must not use an ordinary physical year, but rather, a divine year. The Midrash says that each divine day is a thousand years, basing this on the verse, "A thousand years in Your sight are but as yesterday" (Psalm 90:4). Since each year contains 364 ¼ days, a divine year would be 365,250 years long.

According to this, each cycle of seven thousand divine years would consist of 2,556,750,000 earthly years. This figure of two-and-a-half billion years is very close to the scientific estimate as to the length of time that life has existed on earth.

If we assume that the seventh cycle began with the Biblical ac-count of creation, then this would have occurred when the uni-verse was 15,340,500,000 years old. This is very close to the sci-entific estimate that the expansion of the universe began some fif-teen billion years ago" (Kaplan 186).

That a thirteenth century rabbi could have so accurately calcu-lated the age of the universe, using only the Scriptures and Jewish traditions, is astounding. It would take science nearly seven hun-dred more years to arrive at this same figure.

Ibn Ezra Va'yikra 25:2

_Discussing shmita, and the idea of sabbatical cycles, he says_ _: A secret about the age of the universe is alluded to here_

Ramban Shmos 21:2

Also discussing shmita, and the significance of seven cycles, he says: And the seventh was chosen for days, for years, and for shmita but it all relates to another matter and this is the secret of the age of the universe (sod y'mos ha'olam)

Shabbat 88:B

R. Joshua b. Levi also said: "When Moses ascended on high, the ministering angels spoke before the Holy One, blessed be He: 'Sovereign of the Universe! What business has one born of wom-an amongst us?' 'He has come to receive the Torah,' answered He to them. Said they to Him, 'That secret treasure, which has been hidden by Thee for nine hundred and seventy-four genera-tions before the world was created.

Chagiga 13:A-B

Rabbi Shimon the Pious said: "These are the nine hundred and seventy four generations who pressed themselves forward to be created before the world was created, but were not created (Note: They existed in a different "world," not in ours; they were a pre-vious, pre-Adam creation.

B'rayshis Raba 3:7

...Orders of time existed before creation. Rabbi Abahu said: God went on creating worlds and destroying them, until He cre-ated this world and said that it was very good.

Kuzari 1:67

If a Jew who believes in the Torah thinks that the world was created from primeval matter, and that many worlds, made from the same primeval matter, existed before this one, this would not be considered a flaw in his faith
The 10 Sefirots

Another interesting point of comparative discussion is from the Kabbalah. It is said that Ein Sof used the 22 letters of the He-brew alphabet and the 10 Sefirots, which are essentially ten char-acteristics of God which we can experience from him on a per-sonnel level, and used them to create the universe.

These Sefirots began first with will, called ayin or nothing-ness/humility, then with wisdom, called yesh me-ayin or being from nothingness, and then understanding, or binah, the third point required to reveal what exists.

From these three Sefirots are said to then have emerged the six dimensions of providence: hesed or love, gevurah or pow-er/judgment, tiferet or beauty/compassion, netsah or prophe-cy/eternity, hod or splendor/prophecy, and yesod or foundation. Malkhut or kingdom emanated along with the other six dimen-sions. These are the ten Sefirots or the ten dimensions.

This is interesting because in string theory there is postulated to be ten dimensions.

Is it a coincidence that the number of Sefirots is 10, used in Kabbalah from over 1000 years ago to describe the creation pro-cess?
Final Thoughts:

According to Kitty Ferguson, who had an extensive interview with Stephen Hawking to write her book **A Quest for a Theory for Everything** , 'Hawking is not an atheist. But he prefers to 'use the term God as the embodiment of the laws of physics.'

Hawking seems to share many of Einstein's and Spinoza's views of God. He is a God who permeates everything, exists in all of nature and is himself the natural laws, but yet is not bound to them. A God who, as Einstein said, 'is an illimitable and infi-nite spirit.' He is a God who is not personal, but yet is intricately interwoven into everything natural. He is a God that seems to describe pantheistic/deistic beliefs which are often similar to Kabbalah, Sufism and some of the Judeo/Christian beliefs.

Personally I see merit in the view of God as nature and as the physical laws themselves; however, I don't believe God is bound by these laws or by nature, but is within and outside them; and I disagree with the belief that God is impersonal, because in my life I have known a very personal God.
Ancient Rabbinical Accounts of the Genesis Creation

<http://www.js.emory.edu/BLUMENTHAL/index.html>

David Blumenthal (Professor of Judaic Studies)

The Rabbinical accounts have been pieced together based on the commentaries left behind to us from these Rabbis in the Talmud and other Religious sources. For more details, go to his site. Da-vid Blumenthal's HomePage

Ibn Ezra (1089-1164, Spain).

Ibn Ezra's Genesis[1]

1. In the beginning of God's creating, **God used natural forces to set boundaries, forming the created ante-mundane mat-ter** [2] into the visible sky, the invisible spheres, and the dry land.[3]

2. The dry land was an empty waste[4] because it was covered by darkness and water, and the wind of God blew over the wa-ters.

3. God said effortlessly,[5] "Let there be elemental fire" and there was elemental fire.[6]

4. God understood[7] that the elemental fire was good. God di-vided the light of the fire from the absence thereof

5. by naming the light "day" and the darkness "night." The diur-nal[8] sphere revolved once, day blended into evening and night blended into dawn,[9] day one.[10]

6. God said effortlessly, "Let the sky be extended, together with the air which results from elemental fire touching the horizon, and let them divide between the waters."[11]

7. Once God's wind had dried the land, God made the sky to-gether with the air and they divide between the seas and the rain clouds.[12] When it was so,

8. God named the heaven together with the air[13] "sky." Alt-hough God had not completed God's work, the diurnal sphere revolved once, day blended into evening and night blended into dawn, a second day.

9. For God had already commanded, **"Let the waters come to-gether into the sea that surrounds the earth** and let the previously hidden dry land be seen."[14] Since this had already become so,

10. God had already named the dry land "earth" and the gath-ered waters God had named "seas," and God had understood that it was good. Thus God had already completed the work of the second day.[15]

11. On the third day, God said effortlessly, "Let the earth use its inherent power to produce plant life on the earth -- grasses which produce seed and fruit trees which produce fruit -- each according to its kind, bearing its seed in its fruit." When this was so,

12. the earth sprouted vegetation -- grasses that produce seed according to its kind and trees which produce fruit in which is its seed according to its kind. God understood that it was good.

13. The diurnal sphere revolved once, day blended into evening and night blended into dawn, a third day.

14. God said effortlessly, "Let there be lights in the upper heav-ens which shall be visible in the sky[16] to divide between the day and the night. Let them also be used to tell time in minutes, hours, days, and years.[17]

15. Let them become lights in the sky in the heavens to give light upon the earth."[18] When this was so,

16. God made the two great lights -- the sun and the moon -- which are great by contrast with the stars. The moon, though smaller than the stars,[19] is closer and hence its light is greater and it too is, therefore, called "great." The sun rules during the day when it is seen and the moon rules during the night when it is seen. God also created the stars.

17. God made the heavenly lights to appear in the sky, though they are not really there but in the spheres above the sky, just as God makes the rainbow appear in the sky even though it is not really there.

18. "Day" begins at sunrise and "night" begins when three stars are visible. "Evening" begins at sunset and lasts for one and one-third hours and "morning" begins one and one-third hours before sunrise. Sunlight, thus, characterizes day and moonlight charac-terizes night. God understood that it was good.

19. The diurnal sphere revolved once, day blended into evening and night blended into dawn, a fourth day.

20. God said effortlessly, **"Let the waters use their inherent power to swarm forth multitudes of living beings** [20] composed of elemental earth, water, air, and fire. Let birds fly directly from the water over the earth, across the sky which is below the heav-ens."

21. God created the great sea-fish; all living beings which slither, which the waters had swarmed forth, each according to its kind; and all winged-birds, according to their kinds.[21] God under-stood that it was good.

22. God blessed them and said, "Because I have blessed you, you will be fruitful and multiply. You will fill the water in the seas and the birds will multiply on the land."[22]

23. The diurnal sphere revolved once, day blended into evening and night blended into dawn, a fifth day.

24. God said effortlessly, **"Let the earth use its inherent power** to bring forth living beings composed of elemental earth, water, air, and fire -- including humanity -- according to their kinds: domesticated animals used for riding and food, small animals that go upon the earth, and animals that inhabit places desolate of human habitation." When it was so,

25. God made[23] the wild beasts of the earth according to their kinds, and the domesticated animals according to their kinds, and all the small animals according to their kinds. God under-stood that it was good.

26. God effortlessly said in the presence of the angels: "The earth and the water have brought forth all that which is in their inher-ent power to create. Now **, let us make humankind in our im-age after our likeness; that is, with a soul that is eternal, that is incorporeal, and that fills the body just as My Being is eter-nal, incorporeal,** and fills the universe for I, the Creator, am Creator of all; indeed I am all.[24] Humanity will have dominion over the fish in the sea, over the birds in the sky, over the domes-ticated animals, over all the earth, and over every small animal that goes upon the earth."

27. God created humanity in God's image. **In the image of the angels -- with an eternal, incorporeal soul that fills the body -- God created the human being.** With a male and a female aspect, God created them.[25]

28. God blessed them and said, "Because I have blessed you, you will be fruitful and multiply.[26] You will fill the earth and conquer it. You will rule over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the small animals which walk on the earth."

29. God said, "Indeed, I give you all the grasses which repro-duce by seed which are on the face of the whole earth, and all the trees which have fruits of the tree and which reproduce by seed -- they shall be food for you

30. and for all the beasts of the earth, for all the birds of the sky, and for all the small animals on the earth. For every living being, including humanity, all plant life shall be food." Thus, human-kind and the animals did not consume flesh at this time; that was only permitted after the flood of Noah. When it was so,

31. God understood that all that God had created was very good. The diurnal sphere revolved once, day blended into even-ing and night blended into dawn, the sixth day from day one.
1. The heavens and the earth and all they contained, including the oceans, were finished.

2. On the seventh day, God did not pursue further the work which God had done on the sixth day, for God had finished the work of creation on the sixth day. God rested on the seventh day from the work which God had done during all the six days of creation.

3. God blessed the seventh day by causing **the body to have re-newed reproductive capability and by giving the soul renewed intellectual capacity** on each seventh day. God proclaimed the seventh day holy by forbidding work on that day.[27] For, on the seventh day, God rested from all the work which God had created so that creation could reproduce itself.[28]
[1] Ibn Ezra's introduction to his commentary is omitted. back

[2] "Ante-mundane matter" is the primal stuff of which the uni-verse is made. According to Plato, this ante-mundane matter is eternal; it was not created but was always there. Ibn Ezra does not express himself here on this issue. He only notes that this primal stuff was turned into the realities of creation by God. The process by which God turns prime matter into concrete creations is called "in-formation." On this, see the commentary of Ramban to v. 2. Both the concept of prime matter and that of in-formation were well-known and accepted in medieval philoso-phy. Here, Ibn Ezra teaches, God in-forms the ante-mundane matter (which may be eternal or created) and, in this way, creates all of the universe. back

[3] Ling. alt: In the beginning of God's creating, God through the use of angels, set the boundaries of the sky and the dry land. back

[4] Ling. alt.: uninhabited. back

[5] Ling. alt.: Without any physical labor, God said (or, com-manded). back

[6] There are four "elements" in late antique and medieval thought: fire, air, earth, and water. They exist in pure form in a sphere or spheres above the earth, and they are invisible in their pure forms. When combined in various proportions and in-formed, they become earthly fire, air, earth, and water. As such, they form the basic structure of all earthly created things. Ac-cording to Ibn Ezra, the "light" of v. 3 was really this elemental fire.

Ling. alt.: Let there be light which is elemental fire.

Alt.: Let there be light which is the substance from which all el-ements are formed. back

[7] Ling. alt.: perceived / discerned / was aware. back

[8] In late antique and medieval astrophysics, the geocentric view of the world prevailed. In that Ptolemaic universe, named for the astronomer in late antiquity who taught this system, the earth is in the center of the universe and it does not move. In this view, the heavenly bodies are not free-floating bodies in space but are bodies embedded in solid but invisible "spheres" (not to be confused with the sefirot which are part of the Godhead in Jewish mystical thinking; see the commentary of Ramban to v. 1). The outermost sphere, called "the diurnal sphere," revolves once in twenty-four hours. The other eight spheres contain the various heavenly bodies: the stars, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, the Sun, Mercury, Venus, and the Moon. There are, thus, a total of nine heavenly spheres in late antique and medieval astrophysics. All these spheres revolve around the earth and, although they are invisible, the bright bodies they contain are visible. Sometimes, however, medieval science listed a tenth sphere, the sphere of the elements, taken as a collective (actually, there are four spheres, one for each of the elements: fire, air, water, and earth). For a visual picture of this medieval universe, see D. Blumenthal, _Un-derstanding Jewish Mysticism,_ vol 2 (New York, Ktav: 1982) 5-9.

Ibn Ezra affirms nine heavenly spheres; Ramban affirms ten (see his commentary to v.2).

[9] The days of creation thus begin and end at daybreak, not at evening.

[10] Ling. alt: At the end of the day, there was an evening and then a morning, day one.

[11] Ling. alt.: Let the sky be extended and the basic substance of light be differentiated into the elements, dividing between the waters.

Alt.: Let flame change into air, and be spread out and flattened, and give rise to the rain clouds which will be above it and the oceans, lakes, and rivers which will be below it.

[12] Alt.: The mere statement of God created the expanse of air at the edge of the horizon from the elemental fire, separating the oceans on earth from the rain waters above.

[13] Alt.: God named the expanse of air, as God had named the light and the darkness and would yet name the earth and the seas.

[14] Gathering and revealing are not acts of creation.

[15] The creation of the sky, the air, the elements, the dry land, and the seas is thus simultaneous and takes place on the second day even though the last phases of the work of the waters, sky, and land are reported on the third day.

[16] The literal phrase "sky in the heavens" shows that the sky is not the same as the heavens, the latter being above the former. The heavenly lights are actually in spheres above the sky but are said to be in the "sky" because they appear to be visible there; hence, ling. alt.: Let the light of the sun, moon and stars shine through the expanse of air called sky to distinguish the day from the night. On the spheres, see above at v. 5.

[17] Alt.: designate eclipses and hours.

[18] Alt.: Let them be visible in the sky to give light upon the earth.

[19] Ibn Ezra notes that it was well known among astronomers that the planet Jupiter and other stars were bigger than the moon.

[20] Ling. alt.: creeping things, some of which will be birds which fly directly.

[21] Ling. alt.: The mere statement of God created the great sea-giants and all living beings -- the living beings in the water to re-produce in large quantities after their kind and the living beings that fly in the air to reproduce in large quantities after their kind.

[22] Ling. alt.: God said to them, "You will be blessed with fruitfulness and will multiply and will fill the seas, and the fowl will be blessed, will multiply, and will fill the earth." God's bless-ing thus includes, but is not limited to, fertility.

[23] Ling. alt.: The mere statement of God created.

[24] Ibn Ezra adds, "Nothing more can be said on this." This is probably an allusion to a panentheistic view of creation which seemed heretical enough to Ibn Ezra to have required an allusion rather than a direct statement.

[25] Alt.: With both a body and a soul, God created them.

[26] Ling. alt.: God said to them, "You shall be blessed with fruitfulness and will multiply." Ibn Ezra adds, "Even though there is no specific Torah-commandment to be fruitful and mul-tiply, there is a rabbinic commandment to do so which is at-tached to this verse for ease of memory." With this, Ibn Ezra takes a negative stance on the halakhic issue of the Torah-derived authority of the commandment to reproduce.

[27] Alt.: God blessed and sanctified those who observe the Sabbath (with Saadia).

[28] Ling. alt.: had created, allowing the world to continue oper-ating and recreating itself.

Rashi 1040-1105, northern Europe

Rashi's Genesis

1. When God as Judge[1] **began creating the heavens and all that was embedded in them and the earth** [2] and all that was embedded in it,[3]

2. the earth was astonishingly empty, darkness was over the wa-ters which covered the earth, and the Throne of Glory hovered over the waters by the command of God.[4]

3. God as Judge said, "Let there be light" and there was light.[5]

4. God saw that the light was good but that it was confusing for the light and the darkness to function together, so God separated the light from the darkness. [6]

5. God named the light "day" and the darkness "night." There was evening and there was morning, **a day of God** , alone in the world God had created.[7]

6. God as Judge said, "Let some of the water created on the first day be jelled and become a stable firmament, dividing midway between the waters."[8]

7. God put the firmament in its proper condition and in its proper place, suspending it as a divider between the waters below the firmament which are on the earth and the waters above the fir-mament which encompass the universe; and it was so -- the work of the waters had begun.[9]

8. God named the firmament "heaven" because it was made from fire and water.[10] There was evening and there was morning, a second day.

9. God as Judge continued the work of the second day and said,[11] "Let the waters which are spread out all over the earth be gathered into one large ocean, the largest of the seas, and let the dry land appear from beneath the waters," and it was so.

10. God named the dry land "earth" and the waters God named "seas" for they were one large ocean made up of many waters from many places. God thus completed the work of the second day,[12] and God saw that it was good.

11. God as Judge then said, "Let the earth have a covering of plant life -- each species of grass producing seed within it-self,[13] and trees that taste like the fruit they bear[14] and whose fruit have seeds of their own kind within them"; and it was so.

12. The earth brought forth the plant life which covered the earth -- grasses which followed the example of the trees and produced seeds according to their kinds, and trees which produced fruit containing their seeds according to their kinds but not trees whose wood was edible.[15] God's work of creating plant life was thus complete, and God saw that it was good.

13. There was evening and there was morning, a third day.

14. Having created the heavens and all that is in them and the earth and all that is in it on the first day, God as Judge said, **"Let the heavenly lights be suspended in their proper places.** Let the heavenly lights serve as ill omens, except when the people observe the will of God. Let them also serve as the means for calibrating the dates of the festivals, for determining a full day, and for calculating the yearly calendar."[16] The lights of the fourth day were created defectively[17] to foreshadow the curse of croup which is visited upon children, against which the sages fast on the fourth day of the week.

15. Light and darkness having functioned together for the first three days[18] and the primeval light of the first day having been set aside for the righteous, God now said, "Let them become lights in the heavenly firmament also to give light to the world"; and it was so.

16. Originally, the sun and the moon were of equal size, since both were called "great," but then the moon complained that two powers cannot share one realm. So God as Judge diminished its size.[19] Because God diminished the size of the moon, God compensated it by creating additional heavenly bodies, the stars.

17. God put the heavenly bodies in the firmament of the heavens to give light upon the earth,

18. and to set the rules for the day and the night, dividing be-tween the period of light during the day and the period of dark-ness during the night. God's work of creating the heavenly bod-ies was thus complete, and God saw that it was good.

19. There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.

20. God as Judge said, "Let the waters swarm with creatures that live and move[20] -- with those that stay close to the earth (the creeping things of the sea and of the air, such as flies) and with fish -- and let birds fly over the earth, across the face of the fir-mament of the heavens."

21. God as Judge **created Leviathan and his mate** [21] -- slaying the female and salting its flesh for the righteous while allowing the male to live for, **had they mated, they would have over-whelmed creation** \-- and all living beings which are close to the earth, which the waters had caused to swarm forth, each accord-ing to its kind; and all winged-birds, according to their kinds. God's work of creating the animals embedded in the sea was thus complete, and God saw that it was good.

22. Because they are killed for food, God as Judge blessed the swarming creatures, commanding them, "Reproduce yourselves and also multiply, bringing forth more than one of your kind at each birth. Fill the water in the seas and let the birds multiply on the land."

23. There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.

24. God as Judge said, **"Let the earth bring forth the crea-tures that live and move[22] which had been created on the first day and embedded in the earth** ,[23] each according to its kind -- domesticated animals; those which stay close to the earth:[24] creeping creatures such as ants, beetles, and worms, and small animals such as moles, rats, and lizards; and beasts of the earth -- each according to its kind"[25]; and it was so.

25. God as Judge made the animals with their consent, after hav-ing consulted with them. God made them fully mature: the beasts of the earth according to their kinds, the domesticated animals according to their kinds, and all the things which move low to the ground according to their kinds.[26] God's work of creating the animals of the earth was thus complete, and God saw that it was good.

26. God showed humility and, although God was the more pow-erful and alone was the Creator, God consulted with the an-gels[27] saying, "There are beings in the heavens according to My likeness and, if there are no beings according to My likeness in the lower realms, jealousy will be generated among the works of creation; therefore, let us make humanity in our mold, with our **power to understand and to be intelligent** , and they will rule over the fish of the sea, the birds of the heavens, the domes-tic animals, all the earth, and all the beings which stay close to the earth. If humanity is worthy, they will rule but, if they are not worthy, they will sink lower than the animals and be ruled by them."

27. God as Judge, alone without the angels,[28] created the hu-man being, by hand, in a mold[29] which was like the mold with which a seal is made or like the die from which a coin is pro-duced, and which had been specially crafted for the human be-ing. In a mold which was a hologram image[30] of God, God created the human being. One being which was both male and female and which was subsequently divided into two beings, God created them.[31]

28. God as Judge blessed them and God said to them, "Be fruit-ful and multiply, and fill the earth. The man is commanded to reproduce. He shall also subdue the female so that she not be un-restrained." And to them both God said, "Rule over the fish in the sea, over the birds in the heavens, and over every creature that moves with life close to the earth."

29. God said, "Behold, I give you all the plant life which repro-duces by seed which is on the face of the whole earth, and all the trees which have fruits of the tree and which reproduce by seed -- they shall be food for you

30. and for all the beasts of the earth, for all the birds of the heavens, and for every creature that moves with life on the earth -- all green plant life shall be food." And it was so that human-kind and the animals ate plants but were not permitted to kill any other creature and eat it until after the flood of Noah.

31. God saw all that God had created and behold it was very good. There was evening and there was morning, the sixth day -- the day on which everything was temporarily set in its proper place, awaiting the acceptance of the Torah by the Israelites when all would become permanently fixed.[32]
1. The heavens and the earth and all that was created with them were finished.

2. At exactly the end of the sixth day and the beginning of the seventh day, God finished the work God had done. On the sev-enth day God rested, thus completing all the work which God had done.[33]

3. God as Judge created a future blessing for the seventh day, ordaining that the manna would fall in double portion on the sixth day for the seventh. God proclaimed the seventh day holy, ordaining that the manna would not fall on the seventh day it-self, for on it, God had rested from all the work which God had doubled to accomplish on the sixth day.[34]
[1] The only divine Name used in this chapter is _Elohim_ , the tra-ditional designation of God's attribute of judgement. Rashi notes that God could not create the world with judgement alone and, hence, the Torah adds the Tetragrammaton, the traditional desig-nation of God's mercy, in chapter two.

[2] Rashi indicates that the reason for starting the Torah with Genesis, and not with Sinai, was to provide the Jewish people with a ground for their right to the promised land: Since God created the whole world, God could -- and did -- assign a special part of it to the Jews. This precludes counterclaims based on conquest or history.

[3] Alt.: In the beginning of everything, God as Judge created the heavens and the earth; the heavens and all that it would pro-duce embedded in it, and the earth and all that it would produce embedded within it.

Alt.: For the sake of Torah, / For the sake of Israel, / With wis-dom, God as Judge created.

[4] Alt.: by the breath blowing from God

[5] Alt.: God as Judge said, "Let there be spiritual light" and there was spiritual light.

[6] Alt: God saw that the divine spiritual light was good for the righteous and should not be used by the wicked, so God separat-ed the light and reserved it for the righteous in the world to come.

[7] Ling. alt.: a day of God's oneness.

[8] Ling. alt.: God as Judge said, "Let there be an expanse divid-ing the waters." / God said to the waters, "Be Still." And aston-ished, they became stable.

[9] Ling. alt.: God put the expanse and the waters in their proper condition, with a stable heaven separating the stable waters on earth from the stable waters suspended in an outer sphere. The initial work of creating the waters had begun.

[10] Hebrew, _shamayim_ , drawn from _esh_ (fire) and _mayim_ (wa-ter).

Alt.: because there is water in the heavens / because the heavens bear the waters.

[11] Ling. alt: To complete the work of the second day, God as Judge said.

[12] Ling. alt.: The work of the waters begun on the second day was thus completed on the third day, and God saw

[13] Ling. alt.: individual grasses which produce seed within themselves / with particular kinds of plants reproducing seeds.

[14] Ling. alt.: edible trees that are fruit and that produce fruit with their own seeds.

[15] Rashi notes that, for not obeying God strictly, the earth was later punished (Gen. 3:17).

[16] Ling. alt.: Let the moon indicate to the Israelites the proper time for the celebration of festivals. Let the sun and moon indi-cate the completion of days, being one half day of sun plus one half day of moon; and let the completion of 365 days be the in-dication of a year, the sun and the moon having gone through the twelve constellations of the Zodiac and having returned to their original positions to begin the cycle again.

[17] The word _me'orot_ "lights" is spelled defectively and, thus, can be read _me'eirot_ "curses."

[18] Some versions of Rashi indicate that light and darkness ruled together for all seven days of creation. In this case, the sun and the moon began their separate functions only on the eighth day, and they were put in place on the fourth day. This yields the alternate reading: When the initial six days of creation had been completed and the primeval light hidden away for the pious, God said.

[19] Different versions of this story place the complaint of the moon as competitive power (Ginsberg, _Legends of the Jews_ , 1:23-26), as sibling rivalry ( _Pirkei de Rabbi Eliezer_ , ch. 6), and as a simple question to God ( _Talmud_ , Hulin 60b). God's reaction, too, differs in these versions. For a feminist reading of this text, see B. Ellison Rosenblit, "Midrash on the Moon: In a Different Light," _Response_ (Winter 1995) 101-105.

[20] Hebrew, _nefesh hayah_ , in the sense of "creatures capable of movement"; hence ling. alt.: have vitality / move with life / mov-ing, living creatures.

[21] Alt.: the gigantic fish which are in the sea. For the biblical references, see the commentary of Rashbam. For the rabbinic legends, see Ginsberg, _op. cit_., 5:285-86.

[22] Ling. alt.: have vitality / move with life.

[23] Poetic alt.: Let creatures emerge from the womb of the earth.

[24] Rashi understands Hebrew _remes / romes_ to be a synonym of Hebrew _sherets_ , with the addition that the former often refers to slithering as the mode of locomotion; hence, ling. alt.: creeping things that live and move.

[25] Ling. alt.: each reproducing its kind.

[26] Ling. alt.: God made the beasts, the cattle, and every creep-ing creature with its full growth, according to the will of each creature, in the form it had chosen, and with its consent and ac-knowledgment of the Kingship of God.

[27] Ling. alt.: God, modeling modesty, consulted. Other sources talk about God consulting with all creation or with Godself.

[28] The two verbs of creation in this verse are clearly in the sin-gular in spite of the plural verb and plural suffixes of the previ-ous verse. This indicates that the angels did not actually partici-pate in the creation of humankind; they were only consulted.

[29] Hebrew, _defus_.

[30] Hebrew, _tselem deyokan_. On the latter as "hologram image," see Rashi to Gen. 39:11.

Ling. alt.: a vision of an image.

[31] Alt.: two beings, male and female, God created them, as told later (Gen. 2:21).

[32] Alt.: On the sixth day, the sixth of Sivan was created in preparation for the giving of the Torah.

Ling. alt.: the day on which creation was made contingent upon Torah and Israel's acceptance thereof.

[33] Alt.: On the seventh day the world experienced rest and was then complete.

[34] Alt. initial phrasing: All the work that was fit to do on the seventh day, God completed on the sixth day.

Rashbam (1085-1174, northern Europe).

( Rashi's Great Grandson )

Rashbam's Genesis

1. To remind the Jewish people of the reason for the observance of the Shabbat as described in the Ten Commandments, Moses told the story of creation: At the time when the upper heavens and the earth had already been created, **a long or a short time before the acts related in Genesis** ,[1]

2. the earth as we know it was completely empty, for water cov-ered it up to the upper heavens. Darkness that was not night was over the depths, and there was no light in the heavens. A wind blew across the waters.

3. God said, "Let there be light" to correct the lack of light, and there was light.

4. God looked at the light and saw that it was beautiful. God divided the light into a unit of twelve hours and the darkness into a unit of twelve hours.

5. God named the newly-formed unit of twelve hours of light "day" and the newly-formed unit of twelve hours of darkness "night," and they have been so called ever since, day always pre-ceding night. Daylight turned to evening as its light faded; then, morning broke as the morning star signaled the end of night. The first of the six days of creation referred to in the Ten Com-mandments was, thus, completed and the second day began.[2]

6. God said, "Let there be an expanse in the middle of the waters which reach from the surface of the earth up to the upper heav-ens to divide the waters in half."

7. God made the expanse and divided the waters below the ex-panse from the waters above the expanse; and it has been so ever since.

8. God named the expanse "heaven" and it has been so called ever since. Daylight turned to evening as its light faded; then, morning broke as the morning star signaled the end of night. The second of the six days of creation referred to in the Ten Com-mandments was, thus, completed and the third day began.

9. God said, "Let the wind which is destined to split the Reed Sea cause the waters which are below the heaven to gather to-gether to one place. And let the earth, which had been created together with the heavens on, or before, the first day yet before the light but had been hidden under the water, appear"; and it has been so ever since.

10. God named the dry land "earth" and the gathered waters God named "seas," and they have been so called ever since. God looked at the dry land and the seas[3] and saw that they were beautiful.

11. God said, "Let the earth grow plant life, each type of plant[4] reproducing with its own seed, and fruit trees which make their own fruits and which contain seeds of their own kind from which to grow other trees"; and it has been so ever since.

12. **The earth brought forth** plant life, plants with seed accord-ing to their kinds,[5] and trees which have fruit which contain their seeds according to their kinds. God looked at the plant life and saw that it was beautiful.

13. Daylight turned to evening as its light faded; then, morning broke as the morning star signaled the end of night. The third of the six days of creation referred to in the Ten Commandments was, thus, completed and the fourth day began.

14. God said, "Let there be bodies of light[6] in the expanse which is below the upper heavens[7] to signal the actual division of day from night, which is sunset and the appearance of the stars, and night from day, which is sunrise. Let them also be used to indicate miraculous signs,[8] to calculate the holidays and the calendar,[9] to mark the beginning and end of day and night,[10] and to delineate the four seasons of the year.

15. Let them also be bodies of light in the expanse which is be-low the upper heavens to be a source of light for the earth"; and it has been so ever since.

16. God made the two large bodies of light, the larger to rule the day and the smaller to rule the night together with the stars.

17. God put them in the heaven which is below the upper heav-ens to give light to the earth,

18. to rule during the day and the night, and to signal the begin-ning of day with the rising of the sun and the beginning of night with the setting of the sun and the appearance of the stars. God looked at the heavenly bodies and saw that they were beautiful.

19. Daylight turned to evening as its light faded; then, morning broke as the morning star signaled the end of night. The fourth of the six days of creation referred to in the Ten Commandments was, thus, completed and the fifth day began.

20. God said, "Let the waters swarm with crawling living beings and let the birds, whose origin is in the water but whose growth takes place on land, fly above the earth, across the expanse which is below the upper heavens."

21. God created the great water animals mentioned in the proph-ets and Job -- **Leviathan, the Straight Snake, and the Crooked Snake** [11] -- and all the creeping animals which the water had swarmed, each according to its kind, as well as the birds, each according to its kind. God looked at the water animals and the birds and saw that they were beautiful.

22. God blessed them, as God blessed all animals, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the water in the seas and let the birds multiply on the land."

23. Daylight turned to evening as its light faded; then, morning broke as the morning star signaled the end of night. The fifth of the six days of creation referred to in the Ten Commandments was, thus, completed and the sixth day began.

24. God said, " **Let the earth bring forth** living beings according to their kinds -- domestic animals, creeping things, and wild ani-mals, each according to its kind"; and it has been so ever since.

25. God made the wild animals of the land according to their kinds, the domesticated animals according to their kinds, and the creeping things of the land according to their kinds. God looked at the land animals and saw that they were beautiful.

26. God addressed the angels whose creation, together with that of hell and the heavenly chariot,[12] was not described, for Mo-ses wanted to speak only of matters of this world at the giving of the Ten Commandments. God said, "Let us make humanity in our angelic image, **like us in wisdom**. The humans shall rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the heaven, the domestic animals, and all the earth, as well as the creeping things which creep over the earth."

27. God **created humanity in the angelic image** ; in the image of the angels, God created humanity; God included the woman in the man and separated them later.[13]

28. God blessed them and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and conquer it. Rule over the fish of the sea, the birds of the heaven, and over all creeping animals of the earth."

29. God said, "I give you all seed-bearing plants which are on the earth, and all trees that have seed-bearing fruits shall be food for you

30. and for all the wild animals of the earth, and for all the birds of the heaven, and for all the creeping things which are alive -- all green plants as food"; and it was so, until the flood of Noah.

31. God looked at each of God's works and actions to see if there was something that needed correction but God saw that they were all beautiful and proper.[14] Daylight turned to even-ing as its light faded; then, morning broke as the morning star signaled the end of night. The sixth of the six days of creation referred to in the Ten Commandments was, thus, completed and the seventh day began.
1. The heavens and the earth, and all that was created with them, were finished.

2. On the seventh day, God finished the work God had done. God rested on the seventh day from all the work which God had done.

3. The Shabbat was blessed with all goodness because God had provided for the needs and sustenance of all God's creatures.[15] God sanctified the seventh day because, on it, God rested from all the work which God had created and done.[16]
[1] Rashbam may be alluding to the possibility of the world be-ing eternal; even so, however, it is created. In either case the earth, the upper heavens, and the waters existed, i.e., were creat-ed, before the light.

[2] Rashbam is, thus, of the opinion that the day begins and ends in the morning.

[3] This phrase is added based on Rashbam's understanding of v. 4 -- that God looked at all that God had created on each day and found it beautiful. Similarly below.

[4] Ling. alt.: Let the earth bring forth vegetation, each grass re-producing.

[5] Ling. alt.: The earth brought forth vegetation, grasses with seed.

[6] Ling. alt.: sources of light.

[7] Hebrew, _reqi`a ha-shamayim_. Rashbam probably means the realm of the spheres which is above the sky yet below the upper heavens. By the latter, Rashbam probably means the outermost (diurnal) sphere or the realm of the angels; either would be cor-rect. On the spheres, see the commentary of Ibn Ezra to v. 5.

[8] This seems to be the import of the passages cited by Rash-bam: 2 Kings 20:9; Joel 3:3; and Jer. 10:2.

[9] Rashbam notes that this is based on the 29 1/2 day cycle of the moon.

[10] Rashbam notes that the twenty-four hour day is calculated from one appearance of the stars to another.

[11] On Leviathan, see Is. 27:1; Ps. 74:14, 104:26; Job 3:8, 40:25; and the rabbinic understanding in Rashi. On the snakes, see Is. 14:29, 27:1.

[12] Hebrew, _ha-merkava_ , refers to the rabbinic understanding of Ezekiel, chapter one.

[13] Rashbam notes that the rabbis understood it as a standard practice for the Torah to make a general statement followed by a more explicit one.

[14] The original of Rashbam's Genesis commentary has been lost here. The text used is supplied by Rosin from other places in Rashbam's commentaries or from sources which quote Rashbam.

[15] Supplied by Rosin from the sources.

[16] The last phrase is Blumenthal's guess of the Rashbam's in-terpretation.

Ramban, (1194-1270, Spain Nahmanides)

Ramban's Genesis

1. Through[1] the Ten Sefirot,[2] God created, **from absolute nothingness** , the **prime matter of the heavens** and **all it would contain** and the **prime matter of the earth** and **all that it would contain**.[3]

2. **The lower prime matter, after its creation from nothing-ness, was completely prime matter, that is matter without substance**.[4] God then clothed it in four forms:[5] fire[6] was above the water-earth,[7] and air[8] was above the water.

3. God thoughtfully willed that, from the upper prime matter, light should pass **from potentiality into existence** ;[9] and it was so forever.

4. God confirmed the light in its existence in God's will.[10] God set the measure of the light and of the darkness.[11]

5. God differentiated "day" from "night."[12] The prime matters, the elements, and the light existed separately for twelve hours; then, God allowed the light to shine forth to the elements;[13] day one.[14]

6. God thoughtfully willed that, in the upper prime matter, an expanse should pass from potentiality into existence,[15] and that it should set the measure[16] for the upper and lower parts of the upper prime matter.

7. God set the expanse in its proper setting, giving forms to the upper prime matter.[17] It set the measure[18] between the wa-ters above the expanse and the waters below the expanse;[19] and it is so forever.

8. God differentiated the upper spheres from the lower spheres of the expanse, giving the whole the name "heaven."[20] The di-urnal sphere revolved once; a second day.

9. God thoughtfully willed that, below the heaven, the mixture of water and earth should be separated by the water gathering in one place, even though its nature is to cover all that is around it; by the earth rising above the water, even though its nature is to sink; and by the earth's drying out;[21] and it is so forever.

10. God differentiated the "dry land," by giving it the form of habitable earth, from the water to which God gave the form of the "sea" which contains water. God confirmed them in their ex-istence in God's will.[22]

11. God willed that, in the four elements, **there be a force which makes things grow and produce** seed so that each spe-cies be able to reproduce; and that, from that force,[23] there grow small plants and shrubs[24] as well as large, seed-bearing plants and fruit-bearing trees;[25] and it is so forever.

12. **The force** in the four elements **brought forth** small plants and shrubs, as well as large seed-bearing plants and fruit-bearing trees. God confirmed them in their existence in God's will.

13. The diurnal sphere revolved; a third day.

14. God thoughtfully willed that, within the realm of the spheres,[26] crystal bodies[27] should pass from potentiality into existence.[28] Their three-fold purpose shall be to distinguish day from night; to serve as miraculous signs,[29] as the signs of the change of seasons, as the measure of day and night, and as the measure of the cycle of the sun which is 365 days and the cycle of the moon which is 30 days;

15. and to be luminous bodies in the realm of the spheres which shed light on the earth; and it is so forever.[30]

16. **God in-formed** [31] the realm of the spheres with the forms of the two large crystal bodies, the larger crystal body to rule the day and the smaller crystal body to rule the night; he also in-formed the realm of the spheres with the forms of the stars and planets.

17. God put these bodies in the realm of the spheres **by in-formation** [32] to shed light on the earth,

18. to rule the day and the night through the astrological forces in the heavenly bodies,[33] and to distinguish between the light and the darkness. God confirmed them in their existence in God's will.

19. The diurnal sphere revolved once; a fourth day.

20. God thoughtfully willed that, from **the power of continuous movement inherent in the waters,[34]** beings which have souls and which move continuously[35] and birds that would fly over the earth across the face of the heavens[36] should pass from po-tentiality into existence.

21. On the first day, God created **from nothingness[37] Levia-than** and his mate, killing the latter lest the two overwhelm the earth and salting away her flesh for the righteous in the world-to-come[38] and, on the fifth day, God set Leviathan into its proper place in creation. God also generated all the beings **which have souls and which move continuously** , which the waters had gen-erated by their continous movement, each according to its kind, together with each bird according to its kind. God confirmed them in their existence in God's will.

22. God decreed a blessing on all the animals that each should give birth to many of its kind[39] and that the sea animals should fill the waters in the seas while the birds, although their origin was in the sea, should reproduce on the land.

23. The diurnal sphere revolved once; a fifth day.

24. God thoughtfully willed that, from **the power inherent in the earth** , beings which have souls and which move continuous-ly should pass from potentiality into existence, each according to its kind -- herbivorous animals, animals which travel using their whole bodies, and carnivorous animals[40] -- each according to its kind; and it is so forever.

25. **By in-formation** [41] God generated the carnivorous animals according to their kinds, the herbivorous animals according to their kinds, and the animals which travel using their whole bod-ies according to their kinds. God confirmed them in their exist-ence in God's will.

26. To show the importance of humanity, God thoughtfully willed that God and **the earth, with its power to generate be-ings which have souls which move continuously,[42] should cause humanity to pass from potentiality into existence.[43] Humanity would be like the earth in its corporeal manifesta-tion and in its having a soul which allows movement, and it would be like God in form, that is, in the capacity for thought, wisdom, and action.** [44] Human beings will have complete control over the fish of the sea, the birds of the heav-ens, the herbivorous and carnivorous animals,[45] the earth it-self,[46] and over all things which travel over the earth.

27. On the first day, God **created humanity from nothingness like God, that is, God created the upper soul** [47] of humanity from nothingness -- like God, God created the upper soul of hu-manity from nothingness; male and female God created them from nothingness -- and on the sixth day, God set the upper soul into its proper place in creation.

28. God blessed them directly saying,[48] "Be fruitful and mul-tiply, fill the earth and have control over it,[49] and have control over the fish in the sea, the birds in the heavens, and all the ani-mals which travel over the earth."

29. God commanded[50] them, "I give you as food all the grains of the seed-bearing plants which are on the face of the earth and all the fruit of the fruit-bearing trees, but not the non-seed-bearing plants and shrubs nor the trees themselves.

30. As to all the carnivorous and herbivorous animals of the earth, all the birds of the heavens -- indeed all the animals which travel across the earth because they have souls which move con-tinuously and hence can move toward food and pleasure and away from death and pain -- I give them the non-seed-bearing plants and shrubs as food."[51] And it was so until the flood of Noah.[52]

31. God confirmed all that God had done in its existence **in God's will, even the evil within creation** \-- death, the evil im-pluse, and punishment -- for **evil requires the existence of good**.[53] There was one revolution of the diurnal sphere; the sixth day.
1. The heavens -- together with the sun, the moon, the stars, the separated Intelligences,[54] and the souls of humanity -- and the earth -- together with all the animals, including humanity -- were finished.

2. On the seventh day, God finished God's creation from noth-ingness which was done on the first day, as well as God's cre-ation by in-formation which was done on the other days.[55] On the seventh day, God ceased God's creative work, **whether from nothingness or by in-formation**.

3. God made Shabbat the fountain of blessings, the foundation of the world, and the partner of the assembly of Israel. God sanctified the Shabbat by enabling it to draw from the realm of holiness.[56] For on this day, God ceased from **all God's crea-tive work, whether from nothingness or by in-formation.[** 57]
[1] Ramban notes that the Torah begins with the narrative of the creation because creation is the root of Jewish faith. He, thus, knowingly disagrees with Rashi.

[2] The Ten Sefirot of Jewish mysticism are: Keter, Hokhma, Bina, Hesed, Gevura, Tiferet, Netsah, Hod, Yesod, and Malkhut (Shekhina). They are aspects of the inner being of God; they are, thus, "intradeical" and precede the creation of all parts of the universe. The sources always refer to them through a complicated set of symbols and images which need to be deciphered. Through study, one can learn the process by which the sefirot were generated and, through meditation, one can attain mystical contact with them. The _Zohar_ is the best known source for this theosophic-mystical theology, though Ramban, who preceded the _Zohar_ by a generation, was familiar with this system of thought. On the realm of the sefirot, see D. Blumenthal, _Under-standing Jewish Mysticism_ , vol. 1 (New York, Ktav: 1978) part two.

In his interpretation of this passage, Ramban reasons that the first word, _be-reshit_ , means " _with reshit_." The latter alludes to Hokhma since Hokhma is called _reshit_ (Prov. 3:19). Another bib-lical use of reshit refers to the heave-offering, which represents Malkhut. Yet another _reshit_ refers to Israel, which represents Malkhut. And yet another _reshit_ refers to Moses who, according to rabbinic tradition, look at the "shining speculum" (a reference to Tiferet) and saw _reshit_ , again a reference to Hokhma. Several _sefirot_ , then, are alluded to with the word, _bereshit_. It is be-reshit, through, or with, these sefirot that God created the world.

Later in this commentary, Ramban notes that the crown on the word _bereshit_ alludes to Keter while the word _Elohim_ , the third word in the sentence, represents Bina. This yields the most eso-teric interpretation which, however, Ramban does not mention at all: Through Hokhma, Keter created Bina (the rest of the sefirot correspond to the six days of creation plus the Shabbat). In this interpretation, Keter is the ineffable subject of _bara_ ' ("created"); Elohim is the object; and _bereshit_ designates the means. This in-tepretation appears in the _Zohar_ and elsewhere. Ramban, howev-er, considered it too profound to state explicitly, though it is clearly present in his commentary.

Alt.: In the beginning. Ramban, thus, provides an alternate, non-mystical rendering.

[3] In medieval physics, all matter has a substrate. The heavenly spheres and the heavenly bodies are dervied from the "fifth (quint-) essence," i.e., they have one common substrate; it is called a "prime matter" (Greek, _hyle_ ; Arabic, _hayula_ ; Hebrew, _golem_ ). The four elements -- fire, air, water, and earth -- and therefore all terrestrial beings also have a substrate; it too is called a "prime matter" (same terms). Some theorists thought there was only one prime matter but Ramban clearly states that, since the two types of matter -- supernal and sublunar -- are dif-ferent, so must their substrates be different; hence, there are two prime matters, an upper and a lower. These two substrates were created _ex nihilo_ , from absolute nothingness, in contrast to the rest of creation (see below).

[4] Hebrew, _tohu_ , with supporting verses.

[5] Hebrew, _bohu_ , derived as two words: _bo hu_. In medieval physics, in addition to matter, there are "forms" (the neoaristote-lian term) or "ideas" (the platonic term). These are "put" into mat-ter to make it into whatever the form is. Thus, the form of "dog" put into the proper substrate generates a real dog. The process of "putting forms" into substrate, called "in-formation," constitutes the other acts of creation. The first stage of creation is putting the forms of the four elements into the lower prime matter. That is the activity of _bohu._ The work of in-forming the upper prime matter is left to the second day.

[6] Hebrew, _hoshekh_ , taken as the element of fire. Elemental fire is invisible; hence, _hoshekh_ , "darkness." On the elements, see the commentary of Ibn Ezra to v. 3.

[7] Hebrew, _tehom_ , is a mixture of water and earth, like the sea floor.

[8] Hebrew, _ruah_. The elements are actually invisible spheres around our earth and, in the verse, they are arranged in their nat-ural hierarchical order. The creation of the angels is not recorded in Scripture.

[9] Hebrew, ` _amar_ , always means: After thoughtful considera-tion, God willed that a given being pass from potentiality into existence, i.e., that it come into being.

[10] Hebrew, _ra'ah_ , always means: God confirmed that a given being continue to exist according to God's will.

[11] Hebrew, _vayavdel,_ always means: God set the measure / lim-its of.

[12] Hebrew, _vayikra_ ', always means: God differentiated.

[13] There was, thus, a period of (co-)existence equaling one "evening" (night) followed by a period of existence equaling one "morning" (day) in which the light shined in the realm of the el-ements. With this, Ramban aligns himself with those who say that the day begins at evening. For more on the light, see the fourth day.

Alt.: The prime matters and the elements existed for the length of one night; then the light existed for the length of a day. Again, Ramban preserves the precedence of evening (night).

Alt.: The diurnal sphere revolved once, generating a period of twenty-four hours: evening, morning, and evening. Again, Ram-ban preserves the precedence of evening (night) though he must posit that, on the first day, the diurnal sphere was in-formed into the upper prime matter, just as the four elements were in-formed into the lower prime matter.

[14] Ramban notes that, since there is no second day yet, it would be inappropriate for the text to say "a first day." This ob-viates Rashi's elegant explanations.

[15] Hebrew, ` _amar_.

[16] Hebrew, _mavdil_.

[17] Hebrew, _vaya_ `as, in the sense of in-forming the proper sub-strate with the proper form.

[18] Hebrew, _vayavdel_.

[19] Ramban writes: "This is a matter of the Works of Creation. Do not expect me to write anything about it, for it is one of the secrets of the Torah. The verses must not be explicated. Scripture does not enlarge on the matter. And the interpretation of it is forbidden to those who know it and certainly to such as us." In this, Ramban follows the general instruction of the rabbis. In spite of this, however, Ramban goes on to explain in the next verse what happened.

[20] Hebrew, _kara_ '. These are ten spheres in medieval astrophys-ics, which must not be confused with the sefirot which are part of the Godhead. On the heavenly spheres, see the commentary of Ibn Ezra to v. 5. The work of the second day, according to Ramban, was the differentiation of the upper prime matter into the nine upper spheres by in-formation. All the spheres are, thus, in a hierarchy; i.e., they are "above" and "below," though all are derived from the upper prime matter and all, together, comprise the "expanse," now called "heaven."

Ramban adds, however, that there are heavens above the heav-ens (with Ps. 148 and elsewhere). These refer to the realm of the angels, which is not mentioned in the creation narrative, though the angels are clearly created and, therefore, extradeical. There are also, Ramban notes, heavens and thrones even higher up. These refer to the sefirot, which are alluded to in the first verse and which, being part of the Godhead, are intradeical. Knowledge of them constitutes esoteric knowledge and Ramban only alludes to this realm.

[21] Alt.: that part of the globe of the earth should be water and part of it be dry land.

[22] Hebrew, _kara_ ' and _ra'ah_.

[23] By mixing and in-formation, i.e., the elements are mixed in various proportions and form is put into this substrate; the pro-cess is simultaneous (see the commentary of Ibn Ezra to v. 3).

[24] Hebrew, _deshe_ ', which includes the trees which did not bear fruits, differing with Rashi.

[25] Hebrew, ` _esev_ and ` _ets peri_ , differing with Rashi.

[26] Hebrew, _bi-rqi`a ha-shamayim_. See the second day.

[27] They, thus, refract light and do not generate it.

[28] Alt.: should take on corporeal existence.

[29] With the appropriate verses.

[30] Ramban notes that the creation of light, then, is as follows: On the first day, the light was created along with the prime mat-ters and later that day, it was permitted to shine upon the ele-ments which had meanwhile been generated by in-formation of the forms of the elements into the lower prime matter. On the second day, the realm of the spheres was generated by in-formation of the upper prime matter and the light shone through that realm but still reached only down to the realm of the ele-ments. On the third day, the dry land, seas, and vegetation were created but it was still dark on earth itself. Only on the fourth day were the luminary bodies generated in the realm of the spheres. One of their purposes was to shed light on the earth it-self, this light being divided between the sun and the moon, i.e., between day and night.

Ramban, referring to Talmud, Sanhedrin 42a, adds, by allusion, an esoteric meaning: The differentiation of the light refers to the differentiation of the sefirot: Keter (Ateret) into Tiferet into Malkhut. Referring to Is. 30:27, he notes that, ultimately, the seven lower sefirot will be united and, then, the light of the moon (Malkhut) will equal the light of the sun (Tiferet).

[31] Hebrew, _vaya`as._

[32] Hebrew, _vayitten._

[33] Ramban points out that, in verses 14-15, a three-fold pur-pose is set for the heavenly bodies and that, in verses 17-18, each of the three is mentioned again. The first is to distinguish the day from the night (light from darkness); this is done by having the two main luminaries of different sizes. The second is to shed light on the earth; this is done by both the sun and the moon. And the third is to serve as various signs; this is done by serving as seasonal and cyclic signs and by serving as astrological and supernatural signs. Ramban believed, as did many medievals, that the heavenly bodies, in the course of their natural move-ments, do affect the events that happen on earth. Astrology was, thus, a natural science, not a superstition, in medieval times. Of course, Ramban asserts that these heavenly influences do not act on their own but act within the will of God, i.e., under the influ-ence of the sefirot which are high above them in the hierarchy of being.

[34] Hebrew verb, _yishretsu_ and noun, _sherets_ , present a compli-cated linguistic problem. Ramban rejects Rashi's approach which gives preference to the noun form and renders, "beings which are close to the earth," and aligns himself with Targum Onkelos who gives preference to the verb form and renders, "beings which move continuously." Ramban also adds the popular etymology, _"sherets = shehu_ rats; that it runs." The waters, here, act through their own continuous movement to generate beings that have continuous (restless) movement.

[35] Hebrew, _nefesh haya_. Ramban points out that the animals have a soul, called _nefesh_ , which permits them to move, in con-tradistinction to humanity which also has a soul, called _neshama_ (Gen. 2:7), which allows us to think and cogitate. The plants, Ramban notes, have no soul at all, none of the appropriate words having been mentioned on the third day, contrary to the theory of Greek science which posited a "vegetative soul."

[36] Ramban notes that, according to Gen. 2:19, the birds were created from the earth. This creates three possibilities: that the birds were created from the waters, from the land, or from the mud at the bottom of the sea. Ramban aligns himself with those who say that the birds were created from the sea though they were destined to fly in the air.

[37] Ramban is consistent in maintaining that bara' always refers to creation _ex nihilo_ , here as in v. 27 in reference to humanity. The reason he gives here, drawing on Greek science and rabbinic literature, is that these beings were so great in size that God had to create them specially. (The reason for humanity being created from nothing is its very high status in creation.) I am not sure Ramban was convinced of the reasoning here because size alone does not seem to be an issue in his view of creation, but he did choose to remain consistent in his usage. All creation _ex nihilo_ was accomplished on the first day and later set into its proper place in creation.

[38] On this, see Rashi, _ad loc_.

[39] Ramban points out that the plants did not need to be blessed because they were created in large numbers while the animals were created in pairs only, like the humans. He also points out that no separate blessing was necessary for the earth-based animals of the sixth day since all animals without a rational soul (i.e., all except humanity) are of one category.

Alt.: Since humankind hunts the animals, God blessed them.

[40] Rather than domesticated and wild animals, Ramban uses herbivorous and carnivorous eating habits as the criteria for dis-tinguishing _behema_ from _haya_. Ramban understands Hebrew, _romes_ , to designate locomotion; hence, the animals whose loco-motion is accomplished with their whole bodies, and not just with their appendages, are called _remes_.

[41] By mixing and in-formation, i.e., the elements are mixed in various proportions and form is put into this substrate; the pro-cess is simultaneous.

[42] This is Ramban's solution to the problem of the plural verb.

[43] Hebrew, _na`aseh_.

[44] Hebrew, _tselem_ and _demut_ , but see below.

[45] Ramban explicitly includes the latter, though they are not specifically mentioned in the text.

[46] Ramban: to tear out, to uproot, to dig, and to mine it.

[47] Humanity has two souls: The first is called _nefesh_. It is the soul which enables movement and it is received from the earth, as all creatures which have the power of movement receive a _nefesh_ either from the power inherent in the waters or from that inherent in the earth. The second soul is called _neshama_. It is the soul which has the power to think and to act consciously. It was created _ex nihilo_ specially for humanity by God. Ramban indi-cates, then, that v. 26, using the Hebrew na`aseh, refers to the generation of the human body with its animal capacity for movement by mixing and in-formation, paralleling the use of Hebrew yatsar in Gen. 2:7a, while v. 27 refers to the creation ex nihilo of the upper soul, paralleling Gen. 2:7b. In this, Ramban is very consistent in his use of terms. Since, however, all creation ex nihilo took place on the first day, he teaches that the upper soul was set into its proper place in humanity on the sixth day. (The Hebrew, _tselem_ , thus, refers to the corporeal and moving dimen-sion of humanity in v. 26 but refers to the upper soul in v. 27. This double meaning is also maintained by Maimonides, _Guide for the Perplexed_ , 1:1.)

In Maimonidean thought, the form of each animal is its "species-form," i.e., the idea of "dog-ness" or "human-ness." This species-form is an Aristotelian "universal" and, hence, not subject to cor-ruption. This means that, while individual dogs die and wink out of existence, the idea of dog-ness remains forever. The same holds true about humanity. In this sense, species are "immortal" though, according to Maimonides, human immortality is also a function of other matters. Using this thought, Ramban proposes an alternate to v. 27 though he does not consider it the primary sense of the verse: God and the earth created the species-form of humanity which makes humanity immortal like God; like God, God created humanity with a species-form; male and female [the means by which individuals propagate the species], God created them. In this alternate, Ramban takes creation of the species-form as bara' and distinguishes it from the formation of the hu-man body from the elements, _yatsar_ and ` _asah._

[48] Ramban points out that, in v. 22, the text reads, God blessed them saying, while here it reads, God blessed them and God said to them; hence, he interprets that this is a direct bless-ing. Since this vayomer is not a creative word but a command, I render "saying." Ling. alt.: God blessed them directly, giving them the power to be ... and to have control.

[49] Ramban specifically takes _vekivshuha_ and _uredu_ as syno-nyms.

[50] Since this _vayomer_ is not a creative act but a command, I so translate.

Ling. alt.: God thoughtfully ordained that.

[51] Hebrew, _yerek `esev_. The distinction between what humani-ty and the animals could eat until the flood is very clear in Ram-ban.

[52] Ramban notes that, after the fall (Gen. 3:18), humanity had to eat the non-seed-bearing plants as well. He also points out that the slaughter of animals was later permitted because that is their purpose in creation: to be food for humanity. But, there are still several restrictions: First, one may not tear limbs from live ani-mals even for food. Second, one may not eat the blood of ani-mals since the blood contains the soul which enables the animal to move (Lev. 17:14). And third, one must use proper slaughter because it drains the blood quickly and is as painless as possible (with the commentaries cited in Chavel).

[53] Alt.: To show the importance of humanity, God confirmed all that God had done in its existence in God's will, especially humanity.

[54] The "separated Intelligences" (or "Intellects") are pure spir-itual beings, emanated from God. This was standard medieval neoaristotelian metaphysics (see _Understanding Jewish Mysticsm_ , vol. 2, part 1). Maimonides and other medievals took the Intelli-gences as the angels; hence, Ramban includes the angels here in the narrative of creation. Human souls, too, are specially created (as noted above) and are also included here in the word _tseva'am_ , "hosts."

[55] Ramban connects Hebrew, _melakha_ , with bara' and takes all references to ` _asah_ as referring to work by in-formation.

[56] This is esoteric doctrine in usual sefirotic code language. It means that God blessed Yesod (usually known as the "fountain of blessings" and the "foundation of the world") because it can draw spiritual energy from Hokhma (the "realm of holiness") through Tiferet. With this blessing, Malkhut (the "assembly of Israel") becomes its (sexual / spiritual) partner. The "blessing" is that Yesod becomes the point where all spiritual energy concen-trates itself and the "sanctification" is its ability to draw energy from Hokhma.

[57] Ramban adds an historical-eschatological note here, working from the common rabbinic idea that the six days of creation cor-respond to six millenia in Jewish history:

The first millenium (0 - 1000 A.M. = 3758 - 2758 B.C.E.) is the day of light and the era of Adam who, even after the sin, knew God most intimately.

The second millenium (1000 - 2000 A.M. = 2758 \- 1758 B.C.E.) is the day of separation of the waters and the era of Noah, who embodies the separation of the righteous and the wicked.

The third millenium (2000 - 3000 A.M. = 1758 \- 758 B.C.E.) is the day of dry land, vegetation, and fruits and it is the era of Abraham, Sinai, and the beginning of the first temple; this is the age of instruction and spiritual fruits.

The fourth millenium (3000 - 4000 A.M. = 758 B.C.E. - 242 C.E.) is the day of the heavenly bodies and the era of the first and second temples, i.e., an era of light.

The fifth millenium (4000 - 5000 A.M. = 242 - 1242 C.E.) is the day of fish and creeping things; the era when humanity multi-plied quickly but did not know God.

The sixth millenium (5000 - 6000 A.M. = 1242 \- 2242 C.E.) is the day of beasts and humanity. It is an era which begins in beastliness and terrible persecution but which will end in the re-deemer, the ultimate human being who is truly in the image and likeness of God. Ramban predicts here that 118 years after the beginning of this sixth era (5118 A.M. = 1358 C.E.) the true hu-man, i.e., the messiah, should come. The burning of the Talmud in 1244 C.E. and the flourishing of the inquisition certainly could have confirmed the first part of Ramban's prediction but, since Ramban died before 1358 C.E., he could not know that he was wrong on the second half of his calculation. Of course, there is still room for his larger prediction about the ultimate image to come true.

The seventh millenium (6000... A.M. = 2242... C.E.) is open-ended. It is a period of complete Shabbat. As Ramban con-cludes: "May God watch over us in all periods and cast our lot in with those of God's pure servants."

*This article first appeared in hard-copy versions as "Reading Creation," _Bibel und Midrasch_ , ed. G. Bodendorfer and M. Mil-lard, _Forschung zum Alten Testament_ , 22:117-66 and _Judaism_ 00 (0000) 00-00.

[1] See D. Blumenthal, _God at the Center_ (San Francisco, Harper and Row: 1988; reprinted Northvale, NJ, Jason Aronson: 1994) 191-94.

[2] Rashi's commentary is actually the first printed Hebrew book, appearing in 1475 in Reggio di Calabria, Italy.

[3] The following editions and translations have been used: _Raschi_ , ed. A. Berliner (Frankfurt, J. Kauffmann: 1905; reprint-ed, Jerusalem, Kirya Ne'emana: 1973) together with _Pentateuch_ with _Targum Onkelos_ , _Haphtaroth_ and _Rashi's Commentary_ , ed. M. Rosenbaum and A. Silberman (Jerusalem, Silbermann Family: 1973); _Sefer Be'er Yitzhak_ (Livorno: 1564; reprinted, Israel: 1975) together with _Ibn Ezra's Commentary on the Pentateuch_ , ed. H. N. Strickman and A. Silver (New York, Menorah Publishing: 1988); _Der Pentateuch-Commentar des R. Samuel ben Mëir_ , ed. D. Rosin (Breslau, S. Schottlaender: 1881; reprinted 1965); and _Peirush ha-Torah le-rabbenu Moshe ben Nahman_ , ed. C. Chavel (Jerusalem, Mossad Harav Kook: 1974) together with _Ramban, Commentary on the Torah_ , ed. C. Chavel (New York, Shilo: 1971).

[4] At the time I did this, I did not know that it is customary to ask students of Talmud to write out the text from the point of view of various commentators. My thanks to my friend and col-league, Professor Michael Broyde, for this observation as well as for his sage advice on how best to prepare these texts for publi-cation. My thanks, too, to my friend and colleague, Professor Michael Berger, for his very constructive comments to the vari-ous versions of this paper.

[6] _Facing the Abusing God: A Theology of Protest_ (Louisville, KY, Westminster / John Knox: 1993).

[7] See above.

[8] J. Levenson, _Creation and the Persistence of Evil_ (San Fran-cisco, Harper and Row: 1988); reviewed by D. Blumenthal, Modern Judaism, 10 (1990) 105-10.

[9] A. J. Heschel, _God in Search of Man_.

[10] To appreciate this argument one should pose the following questions: First, how do we know that Saturday is Shabbat? The answer is because each of us becomes part of a continuous chain of tradition on that subject: my parents told me, as their parents told them, and as I tell my children the rhythms of our communi-ty. Indeed, Jewish law gives quite some thought as to what to do when one gets separated from the living community of tradition. Second, one should ask: Where does the tradition of Saturday being Shabbat begin? There are no disputes about this matter in the tradition, though there are calendrical disagreements on many other matters. The answer seems to be that the tradition goes back to the manna which appeared after the crossing of the Reed Sea. Since that time, the Jewish people has, collectively, counted every seventh day and named it Shabbat. It is a continuous tradi-tion, reaching way back into history.

[11] M. M. Kaplan, _Judaism as a Civilzation_ and elsewhere.

[12] M. Maimonides, _Commentary to the Mishna_ , "Introduction."

[13] The conflict between (neo)fundamentalist and academic in-terpretation is, thus, really a socio-political conflict over authority -- i.e., over which scholars to recognize as authority or, over which community to belong to.

[14] D. Blumenthal, "Maimonides' Intellectualist Mysticism and the Superiority of the Prophecy of Moses," _Studies in Medieval Culture_ , 10 (1977) 51-68; reprinted in _Approaches to the Study of Judaism in Medieval Times_ , ed. D. Blumenthal (Chico, CA, Scholars Press: 1984) 1: 27-52.

[15] This is also the opinion of Heschel, _op. cit_.

[16] I, personally, favor the use of the spiritual-experiential crite-rion but I know that others use other criteria for treating texts as authoritative.
The Genesis for the Hebrew and scientifically minded:

With the Ancient commentary and scientific context embedded

**Within the beginning** , Elohim uses natural boundaries (Rabbi Ezra) and **creates** (bara) as in a miracle, as in something from nothing, (this is supported by Rabbi Ramban and Rosh Hashan-na-the first trumpet blow) **the heavens** and all that it would con-tain and **the earth** and all that it would contain. That is the prime matter (Rabbi Ramban) or building blocks of everything. (Ech-oed in Job: 28:25 is the use of forces and laws that Elohim creat-ed to govern his creation: 'When he determined the force of the wind, when he made a law for the rain: 38:33 'do you know the laws of the sky? 26:10 defining the boundary between light and dark. 26:7 He stretches the north on chaos and suspends the earth on nothing')

(This is the first line and, following Hebrew tradition, is the general statement before the specifics or details of what will oc-cur. This first line is not what has occurred already. As in Rabbi Rashi's commentaries to interpreting Torah correctly, any general statement followed by specific/detail statements is determined to therefore be taken literally. Given that, we can see the first line as the general and what follows as the specifics, and then take what follows to be literal. However, we must be careful as to what understanding we are taking literally.)

**The earth was un-formed and void** (because it was not yet formed) (When the earth had been shapeless and formless), **darkness was over the surface of the deep,** darkness that was not night (Rabbi Rashabm) (that is, there was no light, but this darkness was not evening as in the absence of sun) **and the spirit of Elohim hovered over the waters (** mayim), that is the prime matter, matter without substance (Ramban)

**The Elohim spoke 'Let there be light'** (that is photons/energy) and **there was light. Elohim saw that the light was good** and it was confusing for light and dark to function together (Rabbi Rashi) **and separated the light** (energy) **from the darkness** (that is dark energy). **Elohim called the light morning** (energy), that is order **and he called the darkness evening** (dark energy) chaos.

(The Talmud in Chagiga, ch 2 analyses the word choshech for darkness and explains it is black fire, black energy so powerful you cannot see it, the absence of light.)

(Evening in Hebrew is Erev and Rabbi Ramban explains that it is chaos, blurry vision when the sun goes down. Morning is boker which is when visibility returns as when the sun comes up).

**So there was evening** chaos and morning order, day one, as in the first period of time. (Rabbi Rashbam 'Moses told the story of creation: At the time when the upper heavens and the earth already had been created, a long or short time before the acts related in Genesis.') (Yom has variations of concepts of time, 'a period of time' being one of the variations and supported by both Rabbi Rashbam and Rabbi Ramban from their commen-taries.)

**Elohim spoke, Let there be a dome in the middle of the wa-ter** (mayim that is prime matter or energy); **let it divide the wa-ter** , divide energy **from the wate** r. (That is, what will make up the universe from what will make up the earth).

(A divider between the waters below the firmament, which are on the earth, and the waters above the firmament, which encom-pass the universe and it was so. Rabbi Rashi).

**Elohim made** asah, as in forming naturally with materials that are in existence, not something from nothing as in the case of bara, (Elohim used from the energy created at first in day one) **the dome and divided the water** , energy, under the dome from the water, energy, **above the dome, that is how it was** , **and Elohim called the dome** , sky. So there was evening chaos, and morning order, a second yom (period of time).

**Let the water** (that is, energy that has become H20) **under the sky be gathered together into one place** (that is, establish boundaries for this water) **and let dry land** (that is, energy that has become soil) **appear and that is how it was**. **Elohim called the dry land earth**. **The gathering together of the water he called seas, and Elohim saw that it was good** (that is, to his in-tention and purpose).

**Elohim spoke 'Let the earth put forth grass, seed producing plants, fruit trees, each yielding its own kind of seed-bearing fruit on the earth.' And that is how it was. The earth brought forth...and Elohim saw it was good. So there was** evening chaos **and morning** order, **a third yom** , period of time.

(The earth brought forth the plant life that covered the earth - Rabbi Rashi, Rabbi Rashbam) (The earth used its inherent power to produce plant life on earth - Rabbi Ezra) (Elohim willed that there be a force which makes things grow and produce seed so that each species be able to reproduce - Rabbi Ramban).

From the Hebrew: let the earth bring forth eshe (young) eseb (plants) yielding zera (seed, semen, offspring, descendants) pari-ty (fruit, offspring, progeny) ue 'ets (tree, stalk) asah ( guiding, observing, using, making) parity after its miyn (kind/species) whose zera erets.

The first word, grass, in this line (www.bible.org) normally means grass, but here probably refers more generally to vegeta-tion as a whole, that includes eseb and zera. The eseb and zera are sub- categories of the eshe.

We can understand this eseb and zera more fully in light of modern science. The Hebrew words denoting 'young plants with seed and stalk with fruit' being guided as it forms into all of its kind/species can be understood as microscopic plants (young).

The reader assumes the plants are those we see with our eyes; however I contend they are microscopic. Further, what plants do we know that were first with self-replication and self-production of sugars (seed-self-replication and fruit-self production)... that is the Eukaryotes.

It is interesting that Eukaryotes is what the Mammals lineage comes from, and if understood in this passage, then the Eukary-ote is hinted with purposes of 'progeny, descendants, offspring' which is what Elohim commands of us, 'to go and multiply.' We can see then that from the very beginning, with the first seed of first life that brings forth human life, in the Eukaryote, that the message of multiplying is there.

Elohim spoke 'Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to divide the morning from the evening; let them be for signs, seasons, days, and years; and let them be for lights in the dome of the sky to give light to the earth. And that is how it was.

**Elohim made** , asah, as in guiding, preparing, commanding, ordaining, **the two great lights, the larger light to rule the morning and the smaller light to rule the evening, and the stars**. (Not that the sun and moon were bara in the fourth day, but that they were asah. This means they were not created from nothing in the fourth day as in Ex Nihlio. They were asah from natural materials supplied from the first day of bara. Energy be-came the sun and moon. They were available on the first day; however their purpose was not seen until after the third day when the earth was fully formed. It is the light that is now able to connect to the earth since its formation in day three. This is what is being recorded in day four. We see this echoed in the words of Job 38:4-7 as he states specifically that the stars were already in existence when the foundation of the earth was laid.'

Similarly the Messiah is the light of the world and the first cre-ated, existing as the very first; however his light was not seen until the fourth millennium. This is the connection between the 'sun' and the 'son'. Each day is actually connected to its genera-tional millennium since after Adam.

**Elohim put them in the dome of the sky to give light to the earth, to rule over the morning and the evening, and to divide the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good. So there was evening and morning a fourth day** (yom-period of time). (This describes their purposes).

**Elohim spoke 'let the water swarm with swarms of living creatures and let flying insects fly above the earth in the open dome of the sky**.' Swarm of swarms means an abundance of fer-tility, which is exactly what the Cambrian Explosion is all about in science. This is when it occurs. **Elohim created the great sea creatures and every living thing that creeps, so that the water swarmed with all kinds of them, and there was every kind of winged insect; and Elohim saw that it was good** (that is his in-tention and purpose). In the Hebrew we understand this in-cludes, fish, amphibians, reptiles, and even dinosaurs. Created, bara, means a miracle of something from nothing. However it is not the physical creation of these animals that is being bara here. It is their soul that is bara in day five. (Rabbi Ramban and Rosh Hashanna, its second trumpet blow, support that.)

**Then Elohim blessed them, saying 'be fruitful, multiply and fill the waters of the sea and let the insects multiply on the earth.' So there was evening and morning, a fifth day** yom – a period of time', and that is what they did according to Cambrian Explosion findings; they multiplied abundantly, never seen be-fore or since like during that time.

**Elohim spoke 'let the earth bring forth each kind of living creature, each kind of livestock, crawling animal and wild beast;' and that is how it was.** (The earth is bringing forth, de-noting the earth has an inherent power given to it by Elohim to bring forth life - Rabbi Ramban and Rabbi Ezra) **Elohim made** , asah as in guiding, preparing, commanding, and ordaining mate-rials naturally already in existence from the first day of creation, bara, each kind of wild beast, each kind of livestock and every kind of animal that crawls on the ground and Elohim saw that it was good. (That is his intention and purpose). The materi-als were guided to form sea life and then land life. Each also were bara the soul.

The elohim spoke 'let us make mankind in our image, in the likeness of ourselves; and let them rule over the fish in the sea, the birds in the air, the animals and over all the earth, and over every crawling creature that crawls on the earth.'

Let us make, asah, that is, guiding, preparing, commanding, ordaining natural materials in existence to form and make. The physical body of humanity is asah, that is, of natural formations.

Asah is creation by in-formation

Bara is creation from nothing

In the words of Rabbi Ramban

In our image is the _spiritual image_ of Elohim and the angles. This is an image that is celestial, intelligent, wise, of conscious-ness, awareness, moral judgment, and of corporal existence. (Supported by all the four major ancient rabbis: Ezra, Ramban, Rashi, Rashbam)

So Elohim created humankind in his own _image_ ,

In the _image_ of Elohim he created him,

Male and female he created them.

_The image is now fixed in the bara_ verb, repeated three times in each line. The first emphasis is humankind in general, then to specific man and then to specific woman.

Each time is denoting the importance of the bara, the miracle form of creation, the creation of the spirit is the focus of this pas-sage in all three lines. It is the spirit which is bara for all humani-ty, male and female. The spirit which was created from nothing.

This is supported by Rabbi Ramban and Rosh Hashanna - third trumpet blow.

**So there was evening and morning, a sixth day** , yom – a period of time.

Humanity was asah for the physical body, bara for the spirit and then in **Genesis 2:7** we see **Elohim formed a person from the soil of the ground**. Formed is yatsar which means to pre-ordain.

Humanity was a three-fold process of: creation, formation, and pre-ordained.

It should be noted that soil is where we find Eukarytoes, which are the link to human life on a biological evolutionary scale. So, Elohim using soil to bring forth humanity actually be-gins to make a lot of sense scientifically. I can picture Elohim grabbing a handful of soil and within it contains the very essence of power that was put there by Elohim himself to form humanity, that is the Eukaryote.

Since the use of asah gives us an idea that this process is a nat-ural one we can begin to see guided evolution unfold in front of us from the Eukaryotes, plants, animals, sun, stars, moon, earth, and the universe in the Genesis account.
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