Bible Study and Insights

Creation--Where is it?

Obviously it's in Genesis 1:1, right? "In the beginning..." BUT, what if I told you that you can see the creation story almost halfway through the Bible?

Enter Job 38! In here, God is talking to Job, as you can see in the first verse:

"Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said,"

But hold up, before we look further and see what God is saying, shouldn't we go back and see what Job said that God is answering? To do that, though, we need to go back to the start of Job's story.

If we go back to Job 1:1, we see that Job was a "man that was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil." Well, Satan being Satan, he decided to target him, as we can see in Job 1:6-12.

"Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came among them. And the LORD said unto Satan, Wence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? Then Satan answered the LORD and said, Doth Job fear God for nought? Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face. And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power: only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD."

Do you see where this is going? Also, for those who aren't aware: Job was very well off. He had seven sons, three daughters, seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen (which I think means they counted the oxen in pairs, as if they were yoked), five hundred she asses, and a huge household (like servants and such). He's described as "the greatest of all the men of the east." (Job 1:2-3) So he had a lot to lose. Which he did.

"And there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house: And there came a messenger unto Job, and said, The oxen were plowing, and the asses feeding beside them: And the Sabeans fell upon them, and took them away; yea, they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The fire of God is fallen from heaven, and hath burned up the sheep, and the servants, and consumed them; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The Chaldeans made out three bands, and fell upon the camels, and have carried them away, yea, and slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, Thy sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house: And, behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead; and I only am escaped alone to tell you." (Job 1:13-19)

Wow! Talk about a bad day. And yet:

"Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped, And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD. In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly." (Job 1:20-22)

That is some impressive faith right there. Well, long story short (36 chapters to be exact), Satan goes back to God again and God allows Satan to touch, but not kill, Job, so Job got boils all over his body, but still blessed God. But he started to get self righteous, saying that he'd done nothing wrong and so he didn't understand why this was happening. His friends all chat with him, but it isn't until Elihu speaks up at the start of chapter 32 that you see just how fed up everyone seems to be getting with Job. Elihu rips into Job for 6 chapters, from 32 all the way to 37. He says all this in response to Job's soliloquy that lasts from chapter 26 through to the end of of chapter 31. It's in there that Job starts to complain and act even more self righteous, but all while still saying that God is great, so you don't really notice it until you look at it very closely a few times.

So God decides to add his thoughts, too.

"Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowlege?" (Job 38:2)

Eek. That is not what you want to hear God say to you.

"Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me. Were wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. Who hath laid measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it?" (Job 38:3-5)

Ah, here we go: the creation of the earth! This is what we originally came here for!

"Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof;" (Job 38:6)

Wait. Isn't this just explaining the creation in a more powerful, awe-inspiring way? Well, yes. But this is where it actually starts. And there is another thing. Keep reading.

"When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God sang for joy?" (Job 38:7)

My youth pastor pointed out that this verse is referring to angels, and that if the angels were happy, then Lucifer hadn't fallen yet.

And now let's take a glance at Genesis.

"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." (Genesis 1:1-2)

"Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them." (Genesis 2:1)

If you consider the difference between chapter one's use of "heaven" and chapter two's use of "heavens", it can be implied that the fall of Satan, and thus the splitting of heaven into three heavens, happened in between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 2:1. I included Genesis 1:2 because it appears to give a clue to this.

God promised Noah He would never again flood the whole earth; he said nothing about not having done it before. And when has anything of God's been "without form, and void:"? My youth pastor pointed this out in one of his sermons, and I've never forgotten it. This looks like there very well could be a greater gap between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2 than most people realize. Once you see this, it looks like God created the heaven and earth, Lucifer fell, God flooded the earth and started over, created what we know today, and now here we are.

BUT, I don't know for sure. I would have to be very old to have lived long enough to have witnessed this. This is just a few things to think about, as well as pointing out that creation doesn't actually start in Genesis like most assume.