Chronology of Creation in the Bible... it doesn't start in Genesis!

Below is a chronology of creation according to a biblical timeline set by "The Reese Chronological Bible". It's very intriguing and goes hand-in-hand with my recent thread "Big Bang, creation, and recreation" thread here: www.abovetopsecret.com...



John 1:1
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Psalm 90:2
2 Before the mountains were brought forth,
Or ever You had formed the earth and the world,
Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.

Genesis 1:1
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.


and next, to the verses in the Bible describing the angelic rebellion.

A key to understanding why the earth was "without form and void" involves what happened to some of these angels. Again, nothing of this angelic story is described in Genesis. But later in His Word, God reveals that there was a great angel, Lucifer, who rebelled against Him:

Isaiah 14:12-14
"How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: 'I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God . . . I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High'"

Luke 10:18
"I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven,"

Lucifer, who became Satan (meaning Adversary) at his rebellion, was cast down from heaven—to the earth!

The Bible explains that Satan retains his authority over this planet. Notice what Satan told Christ:

Luke 4:5-6
"Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, 'All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish'"

It is no accident that in Genesis 3, shortly after God created Adam and Eve, Satan appeared on the scene as the serpent in the garden. The earth was—and still is—his domain. He had been cast down to the earth before man's creation took place. As noted in the account of the temptation of Christ, Satan had received authority over the earth. He then rebelled against God in a battle in which he was cast down to the earth, as Christ recounted.

The earth is Satan's realm. The book of Job records God asking Satan:
Job 1:7
"From where do you come?" Satan's reply was, "From going to and fro on the earth and from walking back and forth on it"


Isaiah 45:18
"For thus says the Lord, who created the heavens, who is God, who formed the earth and made it, who did not create it in vain, who formed it to be inhabited"

Obviously, God created earth liveable from the getgo. He did not create it in vain.
Now, how did the earth become desolate?

The Genesis account simply does not provide all the details. But the Bible as a whole fills in other parts of the story. The missing pieces are given in other scriptures, which tell us of Satan's rebellion against God. They describe his attempt to overthrow God and that as a result of a great supernatural battle, he was cast back down.

We see what appears to be a parallel situation in Revelation 12:7-9, which describes an attempt by Satan to overthrow God shortly before Christ's return: "And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him."

Yet God has allowed Satan to retain authority over this present world. Satan even offered Jesus the opportunity to share rulership over the earth under him.

You can see that, when we examine the whole of Scripture, we find a great deal more information that illuminates and explains the Genesis account.

Genesis 1:2
2 The earth was [or "became"] without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.


Psalm 104:24, 30
O Lord, how manifold are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all. The earth is full of Your possessions . . . You send forth Your Spirit, they are created; and You renew the face of the earth"

The surface of the earth needed a renewal when God created the present life-forms we see around us. So what does the fossil record depict? It shows a series of fossilized life-forms in layered deposits scattered in the earth's crust. Man as we know him, made in God's image with enormous creative and spiritual abilities, has left written records that take us back a little more than 5,000 years.

This is a tiny span compared with what most scientists consider the age of the earth and stars to be based on their research. Man, in an incredibly short time, built the pyramids—which to this day defy imitation. Man has traveled to the moon and sent spacecraft to explore our solar system and beyond. Such achievements show the enormous difference in the earth before and after Adam.

How long did the angels exist before man was created? The Bible doesn't reveal the answer. How long did it take Lucifer to persuade as many as a third of the angels to rebel with him? (compare Revelation 12:4). Remember, angels are spirit beings for whom aging is of no consequence (Luke 20:36). Whatever length of time this might be, perhaps millions or billions of years, the angels were created and lived before the creation of Adam and Eve and the days of the renewal of the earth described in Genesis.

It does seem that Satan's rebellion happened after the earth had passed through the dinosaur age. Then, geologists agree, something dramatic occurred between the age of reptiles and the age of mammals.

As the famous paleontologist George Gaylord Simpson once remarked: "The most puzzling event in the history of life on the earth is the change from the Mesozoic Age of Reptiles, to the . . . Age of Mammals. It is as if the curtain were rung down suddenly on a stage where all the leading roles were taken by reptiles, especially dinosaurs, in great numbers and bewildering variety, and rose again immediately to reveal the same setting but an entirely new cast, a cast in which the dinosaurs do not appear at all, other reptiles are supernumeraries and the leading parts are all played by mammals of sorts barely hinted at in the previous acts" (Life Before Man, 1972, p. 42).

This apparently reflects the change from the pre-Adamic world to the world of man. Certainly there are smaller reptiles in our world, but they are insignificant in comparison to those that existed in the previous age.

This is not the only "ancient earth" explanation available, but it seems to make the most biblical sense. It accepts the literal 24-hour days of the creation (or re-creation) week and, at the same time, allows room for an indefinite period before the creation of mankind that could include the dinosaurs and previous eras.
Source: www.gnmagazine.org...



In summary we see a chronology of creation using this following order:

The Beginning of Everything

John 1:1
Psalm 90:2
Genesis 1:1

Angelic Rebelion Begins

Isaiah 14:12-14
Luke 10:18
Luke 4:5-6 (not part of timeline, but method of deciet used by devil)
Job 1:7
Isaiah 45:18

Re-creation begins

Genesis 1:2
Psalm 104:24, 30

Then comes the rest of the 7 day Genesis creation/rest account.


What does everyone think of this explanation? I think it explains the origins of earth and it's creation from a fresh perspective away from the traditional christain teaching that earth is only 6,000 years old. NEG-A-TORY!!!

[edit on 12/30/2009 by Locoman8]

S&F

I enjoyed reading that

Double post

[edit on 30-12-2009 by Max_TO]

reply to post by Max_TO


Thank you. I should've been sleeping instead of making this thread but I felt it needed it's place in the midst of ATS debates. thanks again for the S&F and support.

Good Thread - I also enjoyed reading it.

S&F

I think that's a probable possibility, I find no objections at the moment.

Do you think that during the recreation of the earth, god expanded the earth, to thin out the atomosphere, etc...to make way for present lifeforms we have today?

I think the reason dinosaurs were created was since the earth was smaller, denser atmosphere, increased oxygen content, dinosaurs were needed to help "trim" the plants etc...so the earth couldn't turn into one gigantic tree...

And when the earth was expanded, a few dinos managed to survive, albiet the "smaller-midsized" ones, and were latter hunted to extinction by the newly created "man"

reply to post by Solofront


lol, I don't really know, but also, maybe God realized we'd need all that fossil fuel we've been using lately.

I mean, without the dinosaurs and lifeforms of that time and the fossil fuels and the oil and gas we get from them today we'd really be screwed right now.

Very Interesting. This is my first post in a long time and i have to agree that it does make sense. It was a great read Congrats on bringing my butt back to ATS my friend.

I do have a question, however, if Lucifer does have control of the world can he also create? I know it does not exactley go with your thread, but it sort of does to a point. Could Lucifer also have the power to create things as well since he has the power to grant anyone he wishes leadership over the entire earth? I know it is impossible for you to know the answer, but your speculations and theories are quite interesting. I would like to know what you think about that...

[edit on Dec 30th 2009 by TheMythLives]

Thank you for a thoughtful and logical response to the people who blindly believe in evolution, the idea that everything has been created from a few billion chemical reactions that randomly produced life.

The Church of Evolution is a faith-based religion that requires tremendous amounts of bias, much like the religion of man-made global warming.

Good luck withstanding the slings and arrows that will come from the many ATS members who pride themselves on their hatred of God and particularly Christianity.

John 1:1
1 In the beginning was the Word

that being said it appears before god was there was the word

this is strange to me

I enjoyed the post. Thanks, OP. However............ the books that followed Genesis were written later. Could it not be that some writers were just making attempts to further their religious agenda by continuing to update the original story with added stuff, to satisfy an increasingly questioning populace?

Just as a side note: I have found that there's a whole lot more to these original stories, but some of the books that were the most interesting and, possibly, more enlightening were discarded. Why? I don't know. Too much truth, perhaps? Too unbelievable? Maybe.

Originally posted by SuperSlovak
John 1:1
1 In the beginning was the Word

that being said it appears before god was there was the word

this is strange to me

SS, perhaps you've stumbled onto the Biblical "key". Words are by, for and from men. And thus the words of men preceded "God" and thus man made "God".

John 1:1
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

And "the Word was God". Who am I to argue with John? Are not words always "God"?

reply to post by SuperSlovak


In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

You forgot the rest of the verse. Just saying......................

One can't even possibly attempt to grasp the meaning of something if one doesn't even consider the rest of it. I'm not saying you or I will grasp the idea of it all, but at least follow through to the end before you give up on it.

Deuteronomy 29:29 "The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law."

I think this means that God will reveal to you the origins of this Earth if he so chooses. But to say that what you have come up with is the right explanation I would say no. However it is not a sin to think of these things just as long as you don't hold them as truth. That being said it is one awesome educated guess.

this seems interesting - i'm gonna have to come back and read it when i have more time!

thanks for the post!

Allright, an interesting explanation. But why would God create a new species Man and a new earth in the middle of the enemy's base. If satan was cast unto earth. Why not leave this rock alone.

Isn't that asking for trouble?

I'm just studying this. I'm afraid to say you are mistaken. The creation does begin and end in the book of Genesis in the first chapters. the Psalms, Isaiah and everything after the first five books are from completely different authors, and hundreds of years difference of the time they were written. All that is written in Psalms is just glorifying what god did in previous times, with a different narrative.
I liked the find though very nice.
The Bible is much more organized than you'd expect from such and old book

Great job on summing this all up. Much like the Hebrew version (or translation there of) above, there are other creation stories which are not describing creation at all, but RE-creation.

The Egyptians had Atum rise from the primordial waters and spawn land, then create man; the primordial waters already existed on Earth. RE-CREATION

The Sumerian and Babylonian recounts also speak of the Apsu (primordial waters) where the God's came and made man. RE-CREATION

Hindu tales speak of the existence of only water and darkness, in which Vishnu and Brahma resided. Once Vishnu gave the order, Brahma created. RE-CREATION

The Australian Aboriginal creation stories speak of God's emerging from water holes. RE-CREATION

The Japanase speak of three deities who existed when the lands on Earth floated 'like oil'. RE-CREATION

The Incan creation tales speak of a time of darkness when out of Lake Collasuyu, the god Viracocha emerged who brought humans with him. RE-CREATION

The list goes on and on... You can't help but noticed what they all have in common, water. All these tales, including Genesis from the OP are not tales of the creation of Earth as many believe.

[edit on 30/12/2009 by serbsta]

Originally posted by allgoodnamesaretaken
Thank you for a thoughtful and logical response to the people who blindly believe in evolution, the idea that everything has been created from a few billion chemical reactions that randomly produced life.

The Church of Evolution is a faith-based religion that requires tremendous amounts of bias, much like the religion of man-made global warming.

Good luck withstanding the slings and arrows that will come from the many ATS members who pride themselves on their hatred of God and particularly Christianity.

Hold up for a minute, allgoodnamesaretaken.

Please explain in a logical way how "we" believe "blindly" in evolution. And could you state your credentials (education level) as well, I would like to know how much you actually know about the concept of natural selection. I would bet money you have never taken an anthropology class or even read Darwin's "Origin of Species," or a similar text on the subject.

To make claims like you do you need to refute specifics, we would like to listen to what you have to say as soon as you stop speaking in generalities. You have no right to criticize something you know nothing about.

First off, as this has been said many times before... the theory of evolution is observable and supported by the majority of scientists in related biological/anthropological fields. In no way is this an attack against religion, but the theory of evolution is as sound as the theory of gravity. Sure it has it's flaws but it is not a dogmatic man made religion, it is an honest attempt to find a reasonable answer to how we got here.

Please do NOT generalize everyone who doesn't believe in "your" religion of choice as hating God or Christianity. It's particularly absurd to believe someone hates a being that they don't believe exists. Not all of us non-believers are on a crusade against organized religion.

Please us a little more logic, knowledge, and respect in your future posts.



[edit on 30-12-2009 by katoomer3]