{"id":354409,"date":"2023-11-16T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-11-16T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reasons.org\/?p=354409"},"modified":"2023-11-16T05:00:00","modified_gmt":"2023-11-16T13:00:00","slug":"creations-beginning-a-single-moment-or-an-ongoing-process","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reasons.org\/creation\/earth\/creations-beginning-a-single-moment-or-an-ongoing-process","title":{"rendered":"Creation&#8217;s Beginning: A Single Moment or An Ongoing Process?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the beginning [<em>r\u00ea\u02bcsh\u00eeyth<\/em>] God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering [<em>merahepheth<\/em>] over the waters (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=genesis+1%3A1-2&amp;version=NIV\">Genesis 1:1\u20132<\/a>).&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One important difference between young-earth creationists and old-earth creationists is the interpretation of \u201cbeginning\u201d [<em>r\u00ea\u02bcsh\u00eeyth<\/em>] in Genesis 1:1. Did God create \u201cthe heavens and the earth\u201d in a moment, or was it an ongoing process? Did earth and the universe appear in an instant\u2014as Greek goddess Athena did from the head of Zeus, fully grown in a suit of armor\u2014or did they develop over a period of time?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The answer to this question may be found in the exact meaning of the Hebrew word <em>r\u00ea\u02bcsh\u00eeyth<\/em>. Bible versions uniformly render it as \u201cbeginning\u201d in Genesis 1:1, and Brown, Driver, and Briggs define it in their lexical dictionary as: \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.studylight.org\/lexicons\/eng\/hebrew\/7225.html\">first, beginning, best, chief<\/a>.\u201d Yet to understand its precise meaning\u2014whether it suggests a moment or a process\u2014it\u2019s necessary to analyze its usage elsewhere in the Bible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>How <em>Merahepheth<\/em> Is Used<\/strong><br>A clue comes from the Hebrew word <em>merahepheth<\/em>, rendered \u201chovering\u201d over the waters. <em>Merahepheth<\/em>\u2014and its root <em>r\u00e2chaph<\/em>\u2014is a little-used word. In Mosaic usage (first five books of the Bible), it refers to the nurturing of God. In <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=deuteronomy+32%3A11&amp;version=NIV\">Deuteronomy 32:11<\/a> it appears as an eagle hovering over her nest.<sup>1<\/sup> If the same concept applies to Genesis 1:2, it makes a powerful statement about God and his relation to creation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In Genesis 1:2, <em>merahepheth<\/em> is a participle, for which \u201cthe active participle emphasizes durative, linear action (i.e., as action which is prolonged and uninterrupted). Occasionally the participle is used for actions which are in reality repeated or plural rather than durative. The participle is atemporal (not time-bound), dependent upon the context for its tense (whether past, present, or future). Past Time: expresses durative, linear uninterrupted action in the past.\u201d<sup>2<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>How <em>r\u00ea\u02bcsh\u00eeyth <\/em>Is Used<\/strong><br>The durative, ongoing action surrounding <em>merahepheth<\/em> in Genesis 1:2 suggests the same may be true of <em>r\u00ea\u02bcsh\u00eeyth<\/em> in the previous verse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Regarding <em>r\u00ea\u02bcsh\u00eeyth<\/em>: almost twenty instances refer to firstfruits of agriculture or the best of livestock brought to God.<sup>3<\/sup> Firstfruits are obviously a process. Does a farmer bring zucchini to God when it is 4\u201d long, or when it has grown to 8\u201d? Must a yearling lamb be 365 days old, or approximately a year old? Agricultural produce and livestock undergo a process of development before they can be brought to God as firstfruits. Bringing firstfruits is a <em>moment<\/em>, but the firstfruits themselves represent a <em>process<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Two instances (including this one) of <em>r\u00ea\u02bcsh\u00eeyth<\/em> refer to sexual proclivity:<sup>4<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Reuben, you are my firstborn, My might and the beginning [<em>r\u00ea\u02bcsh\u00eeyth<\/em>] of my strength (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Gen+49%3A3&amp;version=NASB\">Genesis 49:3, NASB<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The same reasoning for firstfruits applies to human offspring. Conception is a <em>moment<\/em>, and the birth of a son is a <em>moment<\/em>; yet there is a nine-month process in the production of a firstborn son.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Five instances of <em>r\u00ea\u02bcsh\u00eeyth<\/em> refer to \u201cchief\u201d as in \u201cAmalek was first among the nations\u201d (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Num+24%3A20+&amp;version=NIV\">Numbers 24:20, NIV<\/a>).<sup>5 <\/sup>This type of leadership is not a moment but a process; Amalek\u2019s position of leadership was not a one-time coronation: it had to be both <em>developed<\/em> and <em>maintained<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Perhaps the most compelling argument for a continuing process is found in two instances of <em>r\u00ea\u02bcsh\u00eeyth<\/em> that clearly refer to an ongoing period:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The beginning [<em>r\u00ea\u02bcsh\u00eeyth<\/em>] of his kingdom was Babel and Erech and Accad and Calneh, in the land of Shinar (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Genesis+10%3A10&amp;version=NASB\">Genesis 10:10, NASB<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">. . . in the beginning [<em>r\u00ea\u02bcsh\u00eeyth<\/em>] of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year, in the fifth month . . . (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Jeremiah+28%3A1&amp;version=NASB\">Jeremiah 28:1, NASB<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">(We use the NASB in some of the above verses because\u2014for reasons the authors find hard to understand\u2014the NIV and some other Bible versions translate <em>r\u00ea\u02bcsh\u00eeyth<\/em> with words other than \u201cbeginning.\u201d When the translation is not indicated, NIV is the default translation we refer to.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>\u201cBeginning\u201d as a Process, Not a Moment<\/strong><br>In summary, in all instances in the Bible for which the temporal element can be discerned, <em>r\u00ea\u02bcsh\u00eeyth<\/em> refers to a beginning process or period; none clearly refer to a beginning moment. Hence the use of <em>r\u00ea\u02bcsh\u00eeyth<\/em> elsewhere in the Bible suggests that Genesis 1:1 refers to an ongoing creation <em>process<\/em>. This means that when God created the \u201cheavens and the earth,\u201d they did not spring into existence immediately, fully formed. Instead, the <em>r\u00ea\u02bcsh\u00eeyth<\/em>, the \u201cbeginning\u201d in Genesis 1:1, was a process similar to the growth of produce or livestock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If it is established that <em>r\u00ea\u02bcsh\u00eeyth<\/em> is a beginning period, how long does it extend? Does it stop with the earth being formless and empty and dark? Does it continue up until God\u2019s Sabbath rest following the creation of humans?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Our opinion, based on the biblical text, is the former: the \u201cbeginning\u201d included the process of creating the universe and an early Earth covered with water. Then the Holy Spirit hovered lovingly like an eagle over her nest as the balance of God\u2019s creative process unfolded: removing the conditions of formlessness and emptiness as described in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=genesis+1%3A3-2%3A1&amp;version=NIV\">Genesis 1:3\u20132:1<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This textual review shows that the use of the Hebrew word <em>r\u00ea\u02bcsh\u00eeyth<\/em> in Genesis 1:1 offers support for the old-earth creationist position. The exact process God used to form \u201cthe heavens and the earth\u201d can probably never be discerned by humans, but we can say with some confidence that it was a combination of divine action and the laws of physics which we believe God ordained \u201cin the beginning.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Endnotes<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\" type=\"1\">\n<li>The only other usage of the word is in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=jeremiah+23%3A9&amp;version=NIV\">Jeremiah 23:9<\/a> as a man \u201cshaken\u201d by God\u2019s holiness.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>J. Paul Tanner, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Hebrew-Syntax-Quick-Reference-Manual-Exegesis\/dp\/B08JHP7Y2J\"><em>Hebrew Syntax: A Quick-Reference Manual for Hebrew Exegesis<\/em><\/a>, 11th rev. ed, (Middletown, DE: J Paul Tanner, 2020), 26.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Exodus 23:19, 34:26; Leviticus 2:12, 23:10; Numbers 15:20\u201321, 18:12; Deuteronomy 18:4, 26:2, 10, 33:21; 1 Samuel 2:29; 15:21; Psalm 105:36; Proverbs 3:9; Jeremiah 2:3; Ezekiel 20:40, 44:30, 48:14.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Genesis 49:3; Deuteronomy 21:17<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Numbers 24:20; Job 40:19; Jeremiah 49:35; Daniel 11:41; Amos 6:1.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Explore the Hebrew term r\u0113\u02be\u0161\u00eeyth in Genesis 1:1, supporting an ongoing creation process aligned with old-earth creationism.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":588,"featured_media":354489,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_person_authors":[402077,401966],"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","footnotes":"","_classifai_error":"","_classifai_text_to_speech_error":"","_classifai_text_to_speech_scheduled":false},"categories":[63985,63993],"tags":[71002,67155],"discipline":[71262],"reading-level":[64149],"class_list":["post-354409","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-earth","category-universe","tag-creation-interpretation","tag-old-earth-creationism","discipline-earth-science","reading-level-advanced-deep-dive"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.7 (Yoast SEO v28.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Creation&#039;s Beginning: A Single Moment or An Ongoing Process? 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