A Genesis Journal: A Fresh Reading of Genesis 1–12

By Stanley V. Udd

This book is based on a solid commitment to the truth of Gods revelation. We would not know how this world came into being unless God had told us. The sequence of events would remain a mystery without an accurate record of Creation. This book is a retelling of what God has said concerning our creation.

The global nature of the first eleven chapters of Genesis reminds us of our insignificance, but on the other hand, the interaction of God with man reflects His assessment of our importance. We are made in Gods image, and that is of great significance.

The physical evidence for a cataclysmic destruction somewhere in the earths history is evident in the rocks and fossils. The biblical record explains the reason, the cause, the duration, and the recovery from this great flood. The record of that year supplies answers to a host of geological questions that would otherwise remain hidden. Likewise, the anthropological insight the Babel event supplies is unparalleled in history. Gods Word gives us answers to questions we didnt even know to ask.

Finally, regarding our salvationGenesis 12 provides us with the document signed by God that is the basis for our redemption. How do we participate in so great a salvation? Read and see.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Mar 4, 2015
• ISBN: 9781490865560

Stanley V. Udd

Stanley V. Udd grew up on an Iowa farm. He was challenged early in life to live committed to God, so the intersection of Bible and science seemed a natural niche. His doctorate in Old Testament studies, an advanced degree in ecology, and forty years of teaching and reflection spawned this book.

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Copyright © 2015 Stanley V. Udd.

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ISBN: 978-1-4908-6557-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-6558-4 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-6556-0 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015900260

WestBow Press rev. date: 3/4/2015

Contents

Preface

Foreword

Introduction

1 Presuppositions

2 Genesis 1: Day One

3 Genesis 1: Days Two and Three

4 Genesis 1: Day Four

5 Genesis 1: Days Five and Six

6 An Excursus on the Image of God

7 Genesis 2: Day Seven

8 Genesis 2: The Early Earth

9 Genesis 2: God’s Special Creation

10 Genesis 3: The Fall into Sin

11 A Note on the Fall of Satan

12 Genesis 4: Life on the Early Earth

13 Genesis 5 and 11:10-26: The Genealogies

14 Genesis 6: God Changes His Mind

15 Genesis 7: The Mabbûl

16 Genesis 8: God Rescues Noah

17 Genesis 9: A New Dispensation

18 Genesis 10 and 11: The Babel Dispersion

19 Genesis 12: The Master Plan

Appendix A: Alternative Views on Genesis 1:1

Appendix B: Chart of the Year in the Ark

Preface

The world that God created for us to enjoy has always been a source of wonder and amazement to me. My undergraduate and master’s degrees were in the biological sciences. Then God drew me in another direction and I was introduced to the world of the Bible through the Hebrew and Greek languages. At the beginning of my teaching career in 1967 I began keeping notes on the intersection of science and the Bible.

I taught my first Hebrew grammar course on the graduate level in 1975 and have been privileged to teach this course most years since then. This year two grandsons are taking my introductory Hebrew grammar class.

Having used the book of Genesis as the reading assignment in the later stages of Hebrew grammar class, I began compiling notes on specific themes. My doctoral dissertation focused on the reality of that illusive character in the book of Job called leviathan.

This book is a collection of the notes that emerged from interaction between the original Hebrew and those students who wanted to keep the professor on the straight and narrow. It is impressive to observe how often God intervened directly in those early years of earth history.

Unless indicated otherwise, the translation of various sections of both the Old and New Testaments are the author’s personal work. These are based on the Hebrew and Greek texts. The sketches scattered throughout this work were drawn by my son Kris. I also wish to thank my son-in-law, Nathan Boeker, for his technical assistance, and Vi, my wife of fifty years, who supported this work with more than her heart.

It is my prayer that this book will stimulate the reader to pause and reflect on how great is our God!

Foreword

In a day of troubling news reports and downward trends in society, there is refreshment to be found in the Book of Genesis. Two millennia ago, the Apostle Paul recognized the significance of Genesis as he addressed the leading philosophers in Athens. These Greek scholars had considerable science knowledge but completely lacked wisdom concerning the Creator of the universe. Their city was filled with idols, even so far as an altar to an unknown god, just in case needed. How does Paul address these people? Before challenging them with the gospel of Christ, Paul lays the foundation of biblical creation. He declares God as the Creator and Author of life, including our first parents, Adam and Eve (Acts 17:24-26). What a novel idea Paul uses: To understand this world, he goes back to the beginning of time for instruction from the Author of heaven and earth. Genesis remains the foundational book for origins and society, including the importance of families and the value of life itself, including the young and the old.

In this volume my friend Dr. Stan Udd sets out to unfold the first twelve chapters of Genesis and he is in a good position to do so. Credentials include study under theologian John C. Whitcomb at Grace Theological Seminary where Stan earned M.Div., Th.M., and Th.D. degrees. His academic career includes leadership positions in the Bible Department at both Calvary Bible College in Kansas City, and Grace University in Omaha.

Unlike many modern commentaries on Genesis, Dr. Udd promotes a recent supernatural origin of the cosmos during literal days of creation. His careful translation of the Hebrew text provides abundant evidence to support this conservative approach to God’s Word.

The book chapters are filled with topics of keen interest, including the following: The three heavens (1 Corinthians 12:2), the creation of angels, weaknesses of macro evolution, dinosaurs and Bible history, the Nephilim of Genesis 6:4, biblical genealogies, and more. There are fresh insights from the Hebrew text. For example, it is suggested that the roof of the ark of Noah may have been covered with sewn-together animal skins. This idea is illustrated by one of many simple figures included in the work. As another example, Dr. Udd suggests that during the Genesis 11 Babel episode, God physically scattered or transported the people to far off places.

Throughout this book Dr. Udd lets the Bible speak for itself. The result is a clear exposition of chapters 1-12 of Genesis. May the volume remind many readers of the riches of the Book of Genesis and also our responsibility before our Maker.

Don DeYoung

President, Creation Research Society

The Creation Research Society is comprised of 1700 scientists and friends worldwide who favor biblical creation. Dr. Stan Udd is a longtime member.

Introduction

The purpose of this book is to examine the words of the Hebrew text of Genesis 1-12 and, as clearly as possible, to restate in understandable terms what those words mean. In reality, the words mean what they say, but in many cases it is helpful to expand or explain in contemporary thought the sense of this profound section of God’s Word.

This is a book about faith. God’s Word can be trusted when it speaks on historical matters such as the creation of the world. This material cannot be checked or verified; it can only be accepted or rejected. I choose to accept it at face value.

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Figure 1: Your Word is Truth.

This does not mean, however, that I understand everything in God’s record to mankind. There are many things that I cannot explain to my own satisfaction, but the fault lies with me, not with the revelation that God has so graciously extended to us. In spite of this lack on my part, the purpose of this book is to explore in detail the information the sovereign Lord has communicated to us in the first chapters of Genesis.

The plan is to incorporate the findings of science wherever they might be helpful. Science will not be used to interpret the Word of God because the findings of science, by their very nature, must be filtered through a human grid in order to make any meaningful contribution. Instead, the Bible will be used as a guide to interpreting scientific findings.

Understanding Genesis

Since the rise of evolutionary theory with its antisupernaturalistic bias, the book of Genesis has suffered much at the hands of biblical scholars. In fact, it is not uncommon today for authors to refer to the creation account as myth.¹ This current work is not an apologetic for the book of Genesis.² Many conservative works, readily available, provide such apology. This work will rather build on the foundation of these conservative scholars. Their works are assumed as the basis for the present book. The goal here lies beyond a defense of Genesis and toward the work of exegesis on the Hebrew text, exposing what the text of the first twelve chapters of the Bible actually means.

Authorship

Tradition claims that Moses was the author of Genesis. If it could be established that Moses did write Genesis, the truth being conveyed would not change appreciably. Had Jeremiah, for example, written Genesis, the account would still be true. Also, whether Moses composed the book from preexisting sources or whether he wrote down, for the first time, information that God revealed to him on Mount Sinai does not have a profound effect on how one interprets the book. But it is important that these words be treated with respect and understood as the inerrant Word of God.³

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Figure 2: In the beginning

The better we understand God and his revelation to mankind, the better we will understand ourselves. The Bible teaches us about our origin—we were created by God. It instructs us about our nature—we are patterned after God. And it informs us of our destiny—believers will ultimately dwell with God.

Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.

—John 14:1-3 ESV

— 1 —

Presuppositions

Basis for Evolutionism

Those who believe in the evolutionary theory often claim that evolution is based on the assured results of science, while those who believe in creationism have only their faith in the Bible to support their belief system. This chapter is not designed to bolster the faith of those who adhere to the creationist viewpoint. It rather demonstrates that the evolutionary scheme is also based on certain articles of faith.

Various attempts have been made to increase the scientific acceptability of the idea of creation, but at the heart of the matter stands this verse: "By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible" (Heb. 11:3 NASB). Faith is unarguably an essential element in the framework of creationism. One cannot understand the concept of creation apart from faith. Such faith is directed toward God and accepts the revelation that he has given us concerning the creation of all things.

Evolutionists, on the other hand, contend that their scheme is grounded only in those tangible elements that can be seen and felt. Largely, the evolutionary system relies on an interpretation of the sedimentary rock strata found on every continent of the globe, together with the fossil evidence located within those strata.⁴

Some philosophical underpinnings, however, guide the evolutionist in his quest to understand earth history; he does not operate in a vacuum. These philosophical presuppositions have not been artificially imposed upon the evolutionary scheme by creationists. Instead, they are the result of the careful analysis of men—often theologians—who founded the evolutionary movement and gave to the theory its three major foundational tenets. These presuppositions are so vital to the evolutionary viewpoint that they have been given the moniker laws of evolution. When this author took an introductory course in geology at a major university, these presuppositions were called the laws of historical geology.

It is common for college textbooks to reference these laws and to recognize that they are the basis for much of the discussion of evolution.

We have already been using several of the basic assumptions geologists make as they study the earth:

Uniformitarianism: Processes that act to change the earth today are the same as the processes that have acted in the past. Hence the present is the key to understanding the past.

Horizontality and Superposition: Virtually all sediments are deposited in horizontal layers, and if undisturbed, we may assume that the older sedimentary rock lies beneath the younger layer.

Organic Succession: Based on our understanding of the changes that have occurred in plants and animals over millions of years, and particularly on our knowledge of when certain types of life became extinct, it is possible to use the fossil remains found in sedimentary rock to date that rock.⁵

A closer look at these assumptions follows.

Uniformitarianism

Uniformitarianism: Processes that act to change the earth today are the same as the processes that have acted in the past. Hence the present is the key to understanding the past.

The law of uniformitarianism was developed by James Hutton in the second half of the eighteenth century.⁶ But it was Charles Lyell who popularized the concept in his three-volume work, Principles of Geology (1830-33). This work, in turn, had a profound effect on the thinking of Charles Darwin. ‘I feel as if my books,’ Charles Darwin once confessed, ‘came half out of Sir Charles Lyell’s brain.’⁷

At first glance, the phrase the present is the key to the past seems quite innocuous. Who could disagree with such a simple statement? Is it not important to know the history of an object in order to understand it better?

A personal illustration may demonstrate the significance of this phrase. While taking a course in historical geology, this author was required to write a book review. The assignment was to submit a critique of the book Earth in Upheaval by Immanuel Velikovsky. This work claimed to present physical evidence for a cataclysmic encounter of the earth with the planet Venus. My analysis centered on the cataclysmic nature of the evidence, for I thought that by emphasizing the irregular and non-constant nature of Velikovsky’s evidence, I had somehow dealt a significant blow to uniformitarianism. But at the end of the critique, the professor scrawled these words: If V.[elikovsky’s] catastrophes could be proven, wouldn’t this be uniformitarianism?

My mind was awash in questions during the lecture of the day. For if uniformitarianism included everyday uniform happenings and if uniformitarianism included catastrophic events, what was excluded?

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Figure 3: Available options

In response to this question, the professor gave a simple answer: It [uniformitarianism] excludes the supernatural. To the evolutionist, any explanation is acceptable as long as it does not include God.⁸ An adjustment to the age of the universe does not affect the essence of the evolutionary scheme. A major change in the sequence of stellar evolution does not upset the evolutionist. The discovery of a genuine missing link or the discrediting of the same has no effect on the belief system of the evolutionist—as long as God is kept out of the equation. The law of uniformitarianism is not a statement about scientific inquiry. It is rather a theological statement, a dogma, disavowing the activity of God in the realm of earth history. Therefore, one who holds to the doctrine of uniformitarianism is a practical atheist.⁹

Predictability is a part of the makeup and composition of this natural world. Creationists do not deny the existence of laws of nature such as the laws of thermodynamics. But creationist teaching knows more than the law of conservation of matter and energy or the law of entropy. Creationists also understand that this natural world with its natural laws had a beginning. There was a time before these laws of thermodynamics came into existence. "For He commanded and they were created. He has also established them forever and ever; He has made a decree that will not pass away" (Ps. 148:5b-6 NASB).

Since the close of the creative week, this world has operated under the influence of the laws of nature that God established. A Christian researcher performs experiments in full confidence that the laws of the natural world will hold. In addition, creationists recognize that, at various points in history, God has intervened with supernatural acts, such as extended daylight when Joshua fought the Amorites (Josh. 10:12-14). Creationists also acknowledge that God will again intercept earth history at the close of this age (Joel 2:28-32).

The uniformitarianist has arbitrarily chosen to limit his field of inquiry, though this is not immediately apparent in the ebb and flow of the scientific enterprise. Uniformitarianism is, however, critically damaged when it comes to a study of the origin of the universe or the development of the fossiliferous stratigraphic rock layers. The correct solution to the question of origins has been categorically ruled out before the investigation has begun. God, acting by supernatural means, can never be a hypothesis in the uniformitarianist’s quest for truth.

Sometimes uniformitarianism is seen as a debate about the rate at which natural processes occur. Was it slow? Or was it sudden? Did it happen naturally or catastrophically? Is time actually the evolutionist’s friend? Does time increase the probability that an unlikely event will occur? Probability is independent of time. For example, a shuffled deck of nine cards dropped from a second-story window has a certain probability of falling in a row, spelling E-V-O-L-U-T-I-O-N. How does one increase the time in this example? Repeating the experiment does not increase the time. To increase the time, the cards must be dropped from, say, a tenth-floor window. Would that improve the chances of the cards falling in a row to read the word evolution? Obviously not. Uniformitarianism is not about the rate or the speed at which something occurs. It is about the cause that produced the result. For evolutionists, only natural causes are allowed: We are not authorized in the infancy of our science to recur to extraordinary agents.¹⁰

Is God in the business of creating today? No. For the evolutionist this means that God never created because creation is not a process that we can observe today. Uniformitarianism unnecessarily limits the purview of the evolutionary scientist.

Horizontality and Superposition

Horizontality and Superposition: Virtually all sediments are deposited in horizontal layers, and if undisturbed, we may assume that the older sedimentary rock lies beneath the younger layer.

The second assumption of evolutionism derives from the pattern that James Hutton first observed in the fossiliferous strata.¹¹ The regularity in the sequencing of the layers and of the fossils imbedded in those layers led to the conclusion that this type of sequencing must occur worldwide. But what about the exceptions? In many places the exposed strata are layered contrary to the currently accepted geologic column.¹² For example, Chief Mountain in Glacier National Park, Montana, has at its base a layer of Cretaceous gray shale. For the evolutionist, this layer is at the very top of the geologic column. At Chief Mountain, however, atop the Cretaceous layer lies a thick Precambrian layer, which for the evolutionist is just below the region where life begins. The geologic column of Chief Mountain is in exactly the reverse order from what is expected by the evolutionist. Would this evidence not disprove the conclusions of the evolutionary understanding of geology?

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Figure 4: Chief Mountain, Glacier National Park

Instead of dealing with the evidence, the evolutionist states that the crust is disturbed in this case. He posits that a huge overthrust folded the bottom layer up and over the top layer. The only component that this theory lacks is physical evidence. No geologic evidence of overthrusting exists at the boundary of the two plates.¹³

The law of horizontality and superposition contains this exception clause that allows the evolutionist to reject certain pieces of physical evidence: if the younger layer does not lie atop the older strata, the evolutionist has the prerogative to declare that the sequence has been disturbed, even where no physical evidence exists for such a disturbance.

The law of horizontality and superposition gives the evolutionary geologist the authority to determine which layers are in the correct sequence. Even without physical evidence for a geologic displacement, the law of horizontality enables the practitioner to declare that evidence that is contrary to accepted theory is not, in fact, evidence at all. Instead, he contends