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Chapter 9
The Literal Week
LIKE the Sabbath, the week originated at creation, and it has been
preserved and brought down to us through Bible history. God Himself
measured off the first week as a sample for successive weeks to the
close of time. Like every other, it consisted of seven literal days. Six
days were employed in the work of creation; upon the seventh, God
rested, and He then blessed this day and set it apart as a day of rest
for man.
In the law given from Sinai, God recognized the week, and the facts upon
which it is based. After giving the command, "Remember the Sabbath day,
to keep it holy," and specifying what shall be done on the six days, and
what shall not be done on the seventh, He states the reason for thus
observing the week, by pointing back to His own example: "For in six
days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is,
and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day,
and hallowed it." Exodus 20:8-11. This reason appears beautiful and
forcible when we understand the days of creation to be literal. The
first six days of each week are given to man for labor, because God
employed the same period of the first week in the work of creation. On
the seventh day man is to refrain from labor, in commemoration of the
Creator's rest.
But the assumption that the events of the first week required thousands
upon thousands of years, strikes directly at the foundation of the
fourth commandment. It represents the Creator as commanding men to
observe the week of literal days in commemoration of vast, indefinite
periods. This is unlike His method of dealing with His creatures. It
makes indefinite and obscure that which He has made very plain. It is
infidelity in its most insidious and hence most dangerous form; its real
character is so disguised that it is held and taught by many who profess
to believe the Bible.
"By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them
by the breath of His mouth." "For He spake, and it was done; He
commanded, and it stood fast." Psalm 33:6, 9. The Bible recognizes no
long ages in which the earth was slowly evolved from chaos. Of each
successive day of creation, the sacred record declares that it consisted
of the evening and the morning, like all other days that have followed.
At the close of each day is given the result of the Creator's work. The
statement is made at the close of the first week's record, "These are
the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created."
Genesis 2:4. But this does not convey the idea that the days of creation
were other than literal days. Each day was called a generation, because
that in it God generated, or produced, some new portion of His work.
Geologists claim to find evidence from the earth itself that it is very
much older than the Mosaic record teaches. Bones of men and animals, as
well as instruments of warfare, petrified trees, etcetera, much larger
than any that now exist, or that have existed for thousands of years,
have been discovered, and from this it is inferred that the earth was
populated long before the time brought to view in the record of
creation, and by a race of beings vastly superior in size to any men now
living. Such reasoning has led many professed Bible believers to adopt
the position that the days of creation were vast, indefinite periods.
But apart from Bible history, geology can prove nothing. Those who
reason so confidently upon its discoveries have no adequate conception
of the size of men, animals, and trees before the Flood, or of the great
changes which then took place. Relics found in the earth do give
evidence of conditions differing in many respects from the present, but
the time when these conditions existed can be learned only from the
Inspired Record. In the history of the Flood, inspiration has explained
that which geology alone could never fathom. In the days of Noah, men,
animals, and trees, many times larger than now exist, were buried, and
thus preserved as an evidence to later generations that the
antediluvians perished by a flood. God designed that the discovery of
these things should establish faith in inspired history; but men, with
their vain reasoning, fall into the same error as did the people before
the Flood--the things which God gave them as a benefit, they turn into a
curse by making a wrong use of them.
It is one of Satan's devices to lead the people to accept the fables of
infidelity; for he can thus obscure the law of God, in itself very
plain, and embolden men to rebel against the divine government. His
efforts are especially directed against the fourth commandment, because
it so clearly points to the living God, the Maker of the heavens and the
earth.
There is a constant effort made to explain the work of creation as the
result of natural causes; and human reasoning is accepted even by
professed Christians, in opposition to plain Scripture facts. There are
many who oppose the investigation of the prophecies, especially those of
Daniel and the Revelation, declaring them to be so obscure that we
cannot understand them; yet these very persons eagerly receive the
suppositions of geologists, in contradiction of the Mosaic record. But
if that which God has revealed is so difficult to understand, how
inconsistent it is to accept mere suppositions in regard to that which
He has not revealed!
"The secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which
are revealed belong unto us and to our children forever." Deuteronomy
29:29. Just how God accomplished the work of creation He has never
revealed to men; human science cannot search out the secrets of the Most
High. His creative power is as incomprehensible as His existence.
God has permitted a flood of light to be poured upon the world in both
science and art; but when professedly scientific men treat upon these
subjects from a merely human point of view, they will assuredly come to
wrong conclusions. It may be innocent to speculate beyond what God's
word has revealed, if our theories do not contradict facts found in the
Scriptures; but those who leave the word of God, and seek to account for
His created works upon scientific principles, are drifting without chart
or compass upon an unknown ocean. The greatest minds, if not guided by
the word of God in their research, become bewildered in their attempts
to trace the relations of science and revelation. Because the Creator
and His works are so far beyond their comprehension that they are unable
to explain them by natural laws, they regard Bible history as
unreliable. Those who doubt the reliability of the records of the Old
and New Testaments, will be led to go a step further, and doubt the
existence of God; and then, having lost their anchor, they are left to
beat about upon the rocks of infidelity.
These persons have lost the simplicity of faith. There should be a
settled belief in the divine authority of God's Holy Word. The Bible is
not to be tested by men's ideas of science. Human knowledge is an
unreliable guide. Skeptics who read the Bible for the sake of caviling,
may, through an imperfect comprehension of either science or revelation,
claim to find contradictions between them; but rightly understood, they
are in perfect harmony. Moses wrote under the guidance of the Spirit of
God, and a correct theory of geology will never claim discoveries that
cannot be reconciled with his statements. All truth, whether in nature
or in revelation, is consistent with itself in all its manifestations.
In the word of God many queries are raised that the most profound
scholars can never answer. Attention is called to these subjects to show
us how much there is, even among the common things of everyday life,
that finite minds, with all their boasted wisdom, can never fully
understand.
Yet men of science think that they can comprehend the wisdom of God,
that which He has done or can do. The idea largely prevails that He is
restricted by His own laws. Men either deny or ignore His existence, or
think to explain everything, even the operation of His Spirit upon the
human heart; and they no longer reverence His name or fear His power.
They do not believe in the supernatural, not understanding God's laws or
His infinite power to work His will through them. As commonly used, the
term "laws of nature" comprises what men have been able to discover with
regard to the laws that govern the physical world; but how limited is
their knowledge, and how vast the field in which the Creator can work in
harmony with His own laws and yet wholly beyond the comprehension of
finite beings!
Many teach that matter possesses vital power--that certain properties
are imparted to matter, and it is then left to act through its own
inherent energy; and that the operations of nature are conducted in
harmony with fixed laws, with which God Himself cannot interfere. This
is false science, and is not sustained by the word of God. Nature is the
servant of her Creator. God does not annul His laws or work contrary to
them, but He is continually using them as His instruments. Nature
testifies of an intelligence, a presence, an active energy, that works
in and through her laws. There is in nature the continual working of the
Father and the Son. Christ says, "My Father worketh hitherto, and I
work." John 5:17.
The Levites, in their hymn recorded by Nehemiah, sang, "Thou, even Thou,
art Lord alone; Thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all
their host, the earth, and all things therein, . . . and Thou preservest
them all." Nehemiah 9:6. As regards this world, God's work of creation
is completed. For "the works were finished from the foundation of the
world." Hebrews 4:3. But His energy is still exerted in upholding the
objects of His creation. It is not because the mechanism that has once
been set in motion continues to act by its own inherent energy that the
pulse beats and breath follows breath; but every breath, every pulsation
of the heart, is an evidence of the all-pervading care of Him in whom
"we live, and move, and have our being." Acts 17:28. It is not because
of inherent power that year by year the earth produces her bounties and
continues her motion around the sun. The hand of God guides the planets
and keeps them in position in their orderly march through the heavens.
He "bringeth out their host by number: He calleth them all by names by
the greatness of His might, for that He is strong in power; not one
faileth." Isaiah 40:26. It is through His power that vegetation
flourishes, that the leaves appear and the flowers bloom. He "maketh
grass to grow upon the mountains" (Psalm 147:8), and by Him the valleys
are made fruitful. "All the beasts of the forest . . . seek their meat
from God," and every living creature, from the smallest insect up to
man, is daily dependent upon His providential care. In the beautiful
words of the psalmist, "These wait all upon Thee. . . . That Thou givest
them they gather: Thou openest Thine hand, they are filled with good."
Psalm 104:20, 21, 27, 28. His word controls the elements; He covers the
heavens with clouds and prepares rain for the earth. "He giveth snow
like wool: He scattereth the hoarfrost like ashes." Psalm 147:16. "When
He uttereth His voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens,
and He causeth the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; He
maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of His
treasuries." Jeremiah 10:13.
God is the foundation of everything. All true science is in harmony with
His works; all true education leads to obedience to His government.
Science opens new wonders to our view; she soars high, and explores new
depths; but she brings nothing from her research that conflicts with
divine revelation. Ignorance may seek to support false views of God by
appeals to science, but the book of nature and the written word shed
light upon each other. We are thus led to adore the Creator and to have
an intelligent trust in His word.
No finite mind can fully comprehend the existence, the power, the
wisdom, or the works of the Infinite One. Says the sacred writer: "Canst
thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto
perfection? It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than
hell; what canst thou know? The measure thereof is longer than the
earth, and broader than the sea." Job 11:7-9. The mightiest intellects
of earth cannot comprehend God. Men may be ever searching, ever
learning, and still there is an infinity beyond.
Yet the works of creation testify of God's power and greatness. "The
heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth His
handiwork." Psalm 19:1. Those who take the written word as their
counselor will find in science an aid to understand God. "The invisible
things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being
understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and
Godhead." Romans 1:20.
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