So, God 'let' the lights appear.  You recall that I said that the word 'let' means to allow something to happen.  I 'let' you out of the car.  I 'let' the dog out.

From Genesis 1:2 "And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep."  It was the earth that was void, dark, and without form--not the heavens.  There was water, and creatures in the water--we know this because of verse 20--which I will discuss later.

So when God said, "Let the lights appear," the heavens were now visible.  All the atmospheric junk around the earth that interfered with a clear view of the heavens was swept away.

When I began this blog, I said there were three words that I found interesting.  One was "Create".  One was "Let".   And the third was "Made," which can be best described as meaning to take something and do something else with it.   In Gen. 1:7,  God 'made' the firmament.  (Science says the firmament is still expanding.)

 Now we come to the second time that the word 'made' is used.  Verse 16-18. "And God 'made' two great lights; the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night:  he made the stars also.  And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth.  And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness;  and God saw that it was good."  How long did this take?  Who knows.  It doesn't tell us.

This is the first time the moon is mentioned.  And when the moon began rotation around the earth, something strange took place.  Tides.  Tides change everything.  Life from the oceans--that was already there from when God created the heavens and the earth back in the first verse--can adapt to the changing tides.  Critters crawl onto the land more easily.

Remember, it was land-life that was destroyed.  Not sea-life.  Animals in the water have remained as they always were.  A million year old shark fossil looks like a shark today.  So do crickets.  Roaches. Crocodiles, etc.  Animals that could live in a dark wet place survived the end of the dinosaurs.

Genesis 1:14-15  "And God said, "Let" (there's that word 'let' again; remember, the word means to allow a process to occur.  It is not creative) there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and "let" them be for signs and for seasons, and for days, and years; And "let" them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so."

There are three more verses on this subject of 'lights'. (vs. 16-18) This is the longest passage on any subject so far. Lights in the firmament.  The heavenly expanse.

I've always wondered why this was so important to God that he gave five verses on this subject and nothing on dinosaurs.  Or on the life forms in the water, or on what happened in the verses between vs. 1 and vs. 2.  But He didn't.

We are getting ready for man to appear in this story.  The lights in the firmament will speak to man concerning God.  Concerning creation, and Creator.

Psalms 19:1-3,  "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows his handwork.  Day unto day they utter speech, and night unto night they show knowledge.  There is no speech, nor language, where their voice is not heard."

Jesus said, "I am the light of the world..."

Also, "Let your light shine before men..."

Also, "Don't put your light under a basket..."

Remember, the reason I am going through this again is so that you can guide your children and grandchildren into a solid faith that the Biblical account of Genesis is accurate.  It is not a book of science, however, it meshes with known scientific facts perfectly.   Adam was the first man that held the breath of God, and all people since then have a "God space" within them that searches for meaning, for a supreme source.  Every tribe, every clan, every people that have been found has tried to worship something.  We know within ourselves that there is a Creator.  "...the invisible things of Him...are clearly seen...but they became vain in their imaginations...and changed the glory of...God into an image...to birds, and...beasts, and creeping things."  Rom.1:19-24  We make idols.

Jeremiah described a desolate earth in 4:23-26:  "I beheld the earth, and lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light,  I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly.  I beheld, and, lo, there was no man and all the birds of the heavens were fled.  I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the Lord, and by his fierce anger."

Had men been there?  If the cities were broken down,  someone must have built them.  Which implies that there were people before all this happened.  Birds fled.  Fruit no longer grew on trees.

Did this happen between Gen. l:1 and Gen. 1:2?   God doesn't tell us.  So there isn't much use in speculating.  Archeologists have found very old human bones.  How old?  Well, that depends on methods of dating--which are not very exact.  (More on this later.)  But certainly older than the Biblical account of Adam--if we trace the years of Jewish records.

As far as I am concerned, the story of Genesis begins when God starts over.  When the sun breaks through the darkness and light allows trees to grow, birds to fly--when "The earth brought forth grass, the herb yielding seed and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so." Gen. 1:12

Gen. 1:13  And the evening and the morning were the third day.

When you are on vacation, you meet some of the most interesting people.  Especially taxi cab drivers.  They come from all over the world to big cities such as Paris--to find a new life.  Some of them speak English.  Some don't understand anything you say.  But somehow, with hand signals, and street names, they get you where you are going.

I met a young man from Greece when I ordered a cheese and ham crepe at a walk in cafe.  He was so very pleasant.  I asked him if he was a Christian and he said, "Yes."  So we talked about his family and why he was in Paris.  And if he was staying or going back home to Greece.  Like most people of other nationalities, he was going to make some money and go back home.  I gave him my blog card, and he said he would read it.  Who knows.

But people don't go home again.  They stay.  It's too hard to make any money.

Becky's husband Craig always leaves a big tip when someone serves us and does a good job.  He believes in helping the working poor.  "They are trying.  We should help."  I think that is a good thing to do as well.  Not that we don't help all poor people,  but when someone is poor and working hard, they need a special lift.  There ought to be a reward for working hard.  Craig and Ken are the two most generous men I have known.  And they have always been that way.  Even back when they didn't have much to give.  Now that Ken is gone, it's all on Craig.  

God has blessed us.  We should do so for others.

I made it for ten days with one small bag.  The first time I went to Paris, I got everything in a backpack.  I am always amused--when we check in--at how many bags some people have.  Bags that they have to deal with as they get from one place to another.   Not me.  Two pairs of pants.  Four shirts.  Underwear, meds, and toothbrush.  Lipstick in my purse, etc., and I am good to go.  Becky always says you need two things.  Your meds and your passport.  I have never needed more than what I have taken.  Of course Becky goes overseas four times a year.  She has the rig-a-ma-role down.

I am going to finish the Genesis account starting tomorrow.

We always stay at the Grand Hotel Leveque on the Rue Cler.  This street is wonderful.  No cars.  Just food stands, crepe shops and everything you can imagine on three blocks.  It is different since Rick Steves found it.  Once he advertised it, it went more commercial.  But it is still wonderful.  Becky just happened to find it first, so the first few times we went, the street was filled with local people.

And of course, our friend Christophe met us at the entrance to the hotel with kisses and kisses.   On both cheeks.  I love it.  Every time I came in the door, I got kisses on the left cheek, then the right.  Then left and right all over again.  He is the sweetest man.  Becky goes to Paris so often that they have become good friends.  God gives us friends.  All kinds of friends.  They are the best part of life.

We all went out to dinner together one night and it was lovely. Christophe, his wife Carrine, (I bet I didn't spell her name right) and another lady that works at the hotel, Francoise.  French food is to die for.  That is, French food in a "real" French restaurant.

We had an incident on the return flight out of Paris.  We were revved up on the runway ready to take off when the pilot throttled back the engines and said, "We are returning to the gate."  It seems that a woman in the back of the plane was not cooperating with the no smoking rule and refused to comply. She said, "I'm on French soil.  I can smoke if I want to."  The flight attendant said, "You are on an American plane.  You will put it out."   Security couldn't get her to get out of her seat, so the French Police came aboard with their guns and forcibly removed her.  The flight attendant won.  And when everything was over, she came  back and laughingly said, "Anyone else back here want to cause any trouble?"  Everyone was clapping.

But it made us an hour late into D.C. and we only had sixty minutes to clear customs and make it a mile and a quarter to the next gate.  Becky put Carolyn and me in wheel chairs and the attendants raced us through the crowds.  We made it.  A little excitement never hurt anyone.

God is good.  But I can't help but remember when Ken got back to America after Viet Nam, he said: "God willing, I'll never leave home again."  I'm not sure I'm there quite yet.  But I'm close.  



 

The reason I have been re-posting the Genesis story from four years ago is because I have been out of the country and couldn't mess with taking my Mac.  So, I left three weeks of posts for Pat to send out for me.  Thank you Pat.

I just wanted to see Paris one more time.  First time I went was 28 years ago.  And three or four times in between those two times.  Well, I've seen it.  I don't plan to ever go to Paris again.  The slanted sidewalks and the cobblestone streets are too much for someone my age to walk on.  My friend Carolyn went with me and agrees.

I was amused at all of the old people who used two canes.  A short one for the high side of the sidewalk and a long one for the low side.  But they still had a hitch in their git-along.  I ended up wasting two days sleeping from jet lag (I had never had that problem before) and read two books.  I just couldn't work up the enthusiasm to go revisit the sights.  Way too much walking.  Too many stairs.   "Taxi" became my byword.  Whereas before, I took a bus or the Metro.  No problem.

But on two days, we took "field trips" on the train to see the tapestries of the Apocalypse at Anjou.  Woven in the 1300's depicting many scenes from the book of Revelation.  Very interesting.  Huge.  Around 786 feet wide by 20 feet high.  Ninety scenes, of which 71 survive.  Back then, nobody could read.  The Gutenberg press hadn't been invented, and so "Preaching" came in the form of the scenes of the Bible depicted in stained glass or tapestries.

One of the train trips was to see a number of huge castles.  Also, Leonardo da Vinci's home and inventions.  Interesting. Carolyn and I ate chocolate crepes while the others explored the castles.  Too much walking.  I'll have to watch those kind of things on TV on the Discover channel from now on.
It is humbling to admit that I can't do what I used to do.  It's also irritating.

When I returned, I learned that my two 18 inch Koi had bit the dust.  I had turned the pump off because it had turned cold, but while we were gone the weather turned miserably hot and they died.  I feel terrible about it.  I'm the girl that can hardly bring myself to kill a bug.  And I have to take full responsibility for what happened.  It makes me very sad.  The two small ones survived.  I'm sure God forgave me.  The fish didn't.

Genesis 1:11-12  And God said, 'Let' (there's that word again) the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding fruit after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and  God saw that it was good.  And the evening and the morning were the third day.

I've always thought this was such a provocative verse.  The seed that was in itself.  What does that mean?  Perhaps that each tree had fruit with the seed inside the fruit.  Or perhaps the earth brought forth seed that was in itself.  I personally think it was both.  I think some seeds survived those first destructions.  Perhaps in pockets that the waters didn't reach.  I don't know.  What I do know is that many plants--such as gingko trees--survived.  And new plants appeared.

It's probably time to say the word 'evolution'.

We are losing our wisdom teeth.  Some people are still born with four.  Some with two, and some with none.  Most people don't have room in their mouth for wisdom teeth.  We no longer 'gnaw' our food.  But this is 'natural selection'.  We don't really need wisdom teeth anymore.  Things change.  They 'evolve'.  But Darwin's theory of evolution is an entirely different ball of wax.

It used to be that if you had diabetes, you were doomed.  People died before they reproduced.  But then we found cures and treatments.  As  a result, diabetes is no longer rare.  People with a gene for certain types of diabetes now live to pass that gene on.  (Of course we are also 'naturally selecting' to overeat and get diabetes.

Four word combinations:  Natural Selection.  Evolution of a species.  Survival of the fittest.  And Darwin's Theory of  Evolution.  Just exactly what do we know is true?  Well, let's start with the Bible.  I believe it is the inerrant word of God.  Everything else has to fall in place with God's word.

The first three combinations happen.  Darwin's theory didn't.  That is now a known scientific fact.  So science is struggling to explain where we came from.  One current theory is outer space.  Anything to avoid saying that there is a Creator.  That there is a God.