THE FIRST DAY OR EPOCH

THE FIRST DAY OR EPOCH

The Genesis account tells nothing about the formation of the Earth itself. It says, “In the beginning the Earth was—without form and void”—shapeless, empty. There were neither mountains nor valleys, trees nor shrubs, rivers nor oceans, but the Earth was. How long before that it had been created, is not stated. The account of the Days of Creation given in Genesis relates not to the construction of our globe, but to the ordering of it for human habitation. There are various theories regarding its formation. We follow the one most closely harmonizing with the Bible. It is called the Vailian theory. It assumes that Saturn’s rings and Jupiter’s belts illustrate Earth’s development as a planet. The Earth was once molten, as indicated by the igneous rocks of the Azoic period: so called by scientists, but not discussed in the Bible. When the Earth was molten, its water and minerals were thrown off a great distance in gaseous form. As these cooled and took shape, they constituted great rings at a distance from the Earth. Gradually the motion of the rings became different from that of the Earth in proportion to the distance from the center of gravity. These rings of water and mineral gradually approaching the Earth would be kept off by centrifugal force, particularly strong at the equator. The “brooding” of Holy Energy developed a light, probably resembling the Aurora Borealis—not sunlight. The Sun did not appear until the Fourth Day. “Let there be light! and there was light.” Thus, briefly, is summed up the result of the 7,000 years, styled the First Day. Not that God’s Word would not have been sufficient for any miracle, but because He prefers to work out His glorious designs along natural lines.—Genesis 1:3. There are scientists who claim that the Earth still has one ring about it, an electrical ring which, falling, will in a few years destroy fermentation, microbes and parasites, and greatly assist plant and animal life.

The Second Day or Epoch

The Second Day or Epoch

The expressions "evening and morning" and "day" cannot be understood to signify twenty-four-hour days, for neither Sun nor Moon was visible until the Fourth Day. The Earth was swathed in impenetrable darkness.

The word "day" applies to any period, or Epoch, as for instance, the "Day of temptation in the wilderness"—forty years. (Psalms 95:8.) Note again, that we read of the "Day of Christ," evidently referring to the thousand-year Day in which Messiah is to be King over all the Earth. (Isaiah 2:11.) In the common affairs of life we use the word "day" similarly, when referring to Caesar's day, Napoleon's day, etc.

We follow the theory that each of the Seven Days of the Creative Week was a period of seven thousand years. This, seven times seven thousand, equals forty-nine thousand (7x7,000=49,000) years, ushering in a grand Jubilee Epoch.

As one after another the encircling rings of water and minerals approached the Earth they would spread out like a great canopy, but would not be permitted to fall upon the Earth because of the circumambient air, referred to in Scripture as a "firmament." Saturn's rings have not yet fallen.

God made the firmament in the second, or Palaeozoic Day, and separated the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament. (Genesis 1:7.) The strongly mineralized waters above the Earth, held off by the "firmament" and centrifugal force, greatest at the equator, gradually concentrated at the two poles, where later they broke and then reached the Earth, forming layer after layer of mineralized earth deposited by the water which rushed from both poles toward the equator.—Genesis 7:11,18.

These rings, or belts, of water and minerals followed each other as great deluges upon the Earth—perhaps thousands of years apart. The Deluge of Noah's day was the last, of pure water only, heavier minerals being attracted first. Hence minerals are generally under several layers of shale and soil.