 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Understanding the Prophetic Intent of the Scriptural Account of the Creation
Chapter 3: The Great Divide
And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.” (Gen. 1:6-8)
As we begin to study the prophetic symbolism of this second day of creation, with respect to the second millennium of man’s history, we would do well to establish the setting of that time.
The first man, Adam, is recorded to have lived 930 years. (Gen. 5:5) He died just seventy years short of completing history’s first millennium. It would not be incorrect, then, to say that the first millennium was “Adam’s millennium,” as he lived for nearly all of it.
The Bible then wonderfully – and thoroughly – records the years of all the early patriarchs through Abram’s father, Terah. As we read along, performing some simple arithmetic, we find that Noah was born in the year 1056 a.c. (After Creation). He lived from 1056 a.c. to 2006 a.c., a total of 950 years (Gen. 9:29) Being born so close to the beginning of the second millennium, and dying so near its end, we could say that the second millennium was “Noah’s millennium.” Knowing the events that transpired during Noah’s lifetime, it is more easily seen how these happenings were foretold in Genesis chapter one.
On this second day of creation, God divided the waters with a firmament which He called “heaven.” This “heaven,” literally expansion, is what we today refer to as the atmosphere. Most days, one can gaze into heaven and see the water above the “firmament” in the form of clouds. This division was actually performed as is recorded, but how does that translate into prophecy?
As we read in the last chapter, one of the works of the first day was to divide the children of light (Adam’s descendants through Seth) from the children of darkness (the descendants of Cain). In Genesis chapter six, the story of the flood begins, “And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.” The division prescribed by God to keep the chosen lineage of Seth pure was neglected and Seth’s descendants began to mingle with Cain’s. This greatly displeased the Lord and He made arrangements to end the incredible longevity that man had enjoyed, setting the new life expectancy to 120 years. This new life span of around 120 years is witnessed shortly after the flood. Some examples are seen in Abraham (175), Isaac (180), Jacob (147), Joseph (110) and Moses (120).
Now, in Genesis 6:4 it is written, “There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.” This verse gives us great insight into the world before the flood, which is called by Peter “the world that then was.” (2 Pet. 3:6) Additionally, we catch a glimpse into the origins of the Greek and Roman mythology we learned in school.
I have heard many scholars use this verse to describe the affairs that fallen angels supposedly had with mortal women, resulting in the birth of giants. Although angels are sometimes referred to as “sons of God” as in Job 1:6 & 2:1, I have shown that, in this case, these sons of God were the chosen lineage of Adam through Seth. As we read in Luke 3:23-38, “...which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God.”
It was on a much grander scale in those days, but even today, we have large men up to as much as 8 feet tall. This verse is abused because it is only half read. The giants were already in the land, “and after that” the ungodly mixing took place.
When the descendants of Seth took a fancy to Cain’s descendants, their offspring were the mighty men here described. This is the story that we have received through Greek mythology. There were the great titans, giant and menacing. Then the gods and their offspring deposed the titans in great battle, conquering Mount Olympus. The legends of the gods of Olympus find their origins in the history of the “mighty men of old, men of renown,” the mixed offspring of the descendants of Seth and Cain that came up against the giants that dwelt in the land.
The next verse of chapter six further describes the world in Noah’s day. “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” This is why God determined to destroy the world with a flood. Jesus said that the last days would be as the days of Noah. It is no surprise, then, the amount of wickedness which is evident in every element of society today.
In Rev. 17:15, the Bible shows that waters represent “peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.” So, even as He divided the waters above from the waters below, God divided the population that filled the world before the flood from the peoples which populated it after.
Another interesting, and extremely pertinent, element of this account of Creation’s second day, is the omission of the words found in the description of every other day but this one: “It was good.” Why?
It is interesting that in the United States, where Sunday is designated as the first day of the week, Monday, our second day, is dreaded as the day all must return to work after the weekend.
Sometime after the flood, and the Lord’s commandment to Noah and his sons and their wives to “be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth,” a multitude gathered together in the land of Shinar and said, “Let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.” As they built their tower to worship the stars – a prototype for the pyramids – God said that man could do anything if everyone spoke the same language. So God, who is not the author of confusion (1 Cor. 14:33), confused their language and scattered the people. God, knowing He would have to do that which He does not like to do, as He foretold the events did not call it “good.”
This second expression of the “dividing of the waters” resulted in the northward movement of the descendants of Japheth, the southward and eastward migration of Ham’s descendants and the settlement of the descendants of Shem in the region we now call the Middle East, right in the middle. It was from among the Semites that God would chose His people and establish His throne.
And the evening and the morning was the second day.