BibleTimeLines.com : Creation Timeline (Redrawn per our studies)

Restudy-page 2

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In several places we have noted in our restudy on page 1 that what is common belief about Creation Week (i.e. that God created the enitre universe on Day 4 of Creation Week) needs to be slightly modified based entirely on our study of God's entire Holy Word, and not by using just a few verses.

Here are the original questions we asked ourselves:

What is it that can be learned about God's love from the story of creation.
Why did God chose to create certain things on certain days and why in this order?
Why did He create so much beauty?
Did He need to make all of this just to support life, or did He do it just to make us happy?

As you study this modified timeline hopefully you will have additional questions, some may be like the following:

The very first words in the Bible are, "In the beginning". Which "beginning" is it talking about? The "beginning" of all created things, or the "beginning" of this earth?
What does Genesis 2:4 & 5 mean? The NLT reads this way:
"This is the account of the creation of the heavens and the earth. When the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, neither wild plants nor grains were growing on the earth ... and there were no people to cultivate the soil."
Was the Earth the first of God's creation, or the last?
When did God create the angels, before or after man?
The angels were created before humans, so where did they live?

When Genesis 1:16 says that God created the "stars also", it could be saying, "Oh, by the way, He created the stars also", or it has been understood by many that God is saying that the enitire universe of galaxies and stars were created on day 4, or it could even be saying that "He created the planets" because when the sun began to shine the planets and the moon would then be seen as well. The original language, though, seems to be saying "Oh, by the way, He created the stars also".

In Job 38:7 God is talking about creation of the earth and said, "When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?" Who are these "sons of God" that shouted for joy and where did these "morning stars" come from? The rest of the Bible seems to support the understanding that the earth is not the first of God's creation, but rather the last.

The Bible's account of the seven days of Creation have been looked at by some as being a figurative period of time and not seven 24-hour literal days, but the Bible makes it very clear that each "day" was a 24-hour period of time which included both an "evening" and a "morning". If the "evening and morning" period was actually longer than 24-hours (such as thousands or millions of years) then during the light portion the earth would get extremely hot and during the dark portion it would be extremely cold, so life could not have existed.

Of course the same problem would exist if just the first 3 "days" were actually 3 years long as some have proposed. Life could not have existed, even if that life consisted only of plant life (Plants were created on Day 3) because plants need light to survive. So if the night that followed their creation were anything other than just a few hours the plants would have all died that first night.

Angels Created

We know that angels had to have been created prior to Creation Week because there was at least one (maybe more) placed at the entrance to the Garden of Eden prior to any human having died. (see Genesis 3:24) This proves that angels are not dead humans, and it also shows that they were in existence before humans.

Lucifer Sins in Heaven

The words spoken in Ezekiel 28:13-15 are obviously not directed to the king so much as they are to the one who was evidently possessing the king, or maybe Lucifer was impersonating a human and had been made king. Either way it is obvious that God is talking directly to Lucifer (aka: the devil, Satan). Ezekiel 28:15, 16 specifically show that Lucifer was not created a devil, but was perfect when created, and that he was in heaven when he first sinned. Eze. 28:17 shows that Lucifer was cast to the earth after sinning. (see also Rev. 12:7-9)

Everything below this line is exactly the same as on the original Creation page.

Below you will see Creation as described in Genesis (KJV):

Genesis 1

1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

1:2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness [was] upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

(NOTE: This is written as if "the heaven and the earth" were created sometime before creation week. Notice the first part of verse 2 says that "the earth was". It was "without form" (no order or organization?), it was "void" (empty), and it was dark and covered by "the face of the deep". It could not be covered by "the face of the deep" if it did not already exist. The last part of verse 2 begins to tell us what God did with this earth that He had already created.)

1:3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
1:4 And God saw the light, that [it was] good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
1:5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
1:6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
1:7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which [were] under the firmament from the waters which [were] above the firmament: and it was so.
1:8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.
1:9 And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry [land] appear: and it was so.
1:10 And God called the dry [land] Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that [it was] good.
1:11 And God said, Let the earth bring 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.
1:12 And the earth brought forth grass, [and] herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed [was] in itself, after his kind: and God saw that [it was] good.
1:13 And the evening and the morning were the third day.
1:14 And God said, Let 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:
1:15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.
1:16 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.
1:17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,
1:18 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.
1:19 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.
1:20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl [that] may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.
1:21 And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that [it was] good.
1:22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.
1:23 And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.
1:24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.
1:25 And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that [it was] good.
1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
1:27 So God created man in his [own] image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
1:28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
1:29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which [is] upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which [is] the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
1:30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein [there is] life, [I have given] every green herb for meat: and it was so.
1:31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, [it was] very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

Genesis 2

2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
2:2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
2:3 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.
2:4 These [are] the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens,

2:5 And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and [there was] not a man to till the ground.
2:6 But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.
2:7 And the LORD God formed man [of] the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
2:8 And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.
2:9 And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
2:10 And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads.
2:11 The name of the first [is] Pison: that [is] it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where [there is] gold;
2:12 And the gold of that land [is] good: there [is] bdellium and the onyx stone.
2:13 And the name of the second river [is] Gihon: the same [is] it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia.
2:14 And the name of the third river [is] Hiddekel: that [is] it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river [is] Euphrates.
2:15 And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.
2:16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
2:18 And the LORD God said, [It is] not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.
2:19 And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought [them] unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that [was] the name thereof.
2:20 And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.
2:21 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;
2:22 And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
2:23 And Adam said, This [is] now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
2:24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
2:25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

(NOTE: The first few verses of the Bible (verses 1:1-2:4, above) just give us an overview of creation week. Then the Bible seems to take a step back (Genesis 2:2-25) and gives a few more details about specific portions of that week. Details like "the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth" and "there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground" and "And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed."

Please keep in mind that the Bible does not say how long it was from the time that Adam was created until he sinned the first time, but chapter 3 of Genesis continues with the story of how sin entered this world.)

Genesis 3

3:1 Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
3:2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
3:3 But of the fruit of the tree which [is] in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
3:5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
3:6 And when the woman saw that the tree [was] good for food, and that it [was] pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make [one] wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
3:7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they [were] naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
3:8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.
3:9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where [art] thou?
3:10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I [was] naked; and I hid myself.
3:11 And he said, Who told thee that thou [wast] naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
3:12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest [to be] with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
3:13 And the LORD God said unto the woman, What [is] this [that] thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
3:14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou [art] cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
3:16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire [shall be] to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
3:17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed [is] the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat [of] it all the days of thy life;
3:18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
3:19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou [art], and unto dust shalt thou return.
3:20 And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.
3:21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.
3:22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:
3:23 Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.
3:24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

(NOTE: The beginning of the 4th chapter of Genesis tells the story of the first murder.)

Genesis 4

4:1 And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD.

4:2 And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.
4:3 And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD.
4:4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:
4:5 But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.
4:6 And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?
4:7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee [shall be] his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.
4:8 And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.
4:9 And the LORD said unto Cain, Where [is] Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: [Am] I my brother's keeper?
4:10 And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground.
4:11 And now [art] thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand;
4:12 When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.
4:13 And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment [is] greater than I can bear.
4:14 Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, [that] every one that findeth me shall slay me.
4:15 And the LORD said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him.
4:16 And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.

"God desires man to exercise his reasoning powers; and the study of the Bible will strengthen and elevate the mind as no other study can."

Steps to Christ, page 109

Here are a few thoughts about Creation:

The very first words in the Bible are, "In the beginning". Which "beginning" is it talking about? The "beginning" of all created things, or the "beginning" of this earth? Was the Earth the first of God's creation, or the last? When did God create the angels, before or after man? The angels were created before humans of course, so where did they live?

When Genesis 1:16 says that God created the "stars also", it could be saying, "Oh, by the way, He created the stars also" or it could be saying that "He created the planets". When the sun began to be seen the planets and the moon would then be seen as well. The original language, though, seems to be saying "Oh, by the way, He created the stars also". In Job 38:7 God is talking about creation of the earth and said, "When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?" Who are these "sons of God" who shout for joy and where did these "morning stars" come from? The rest of the Bible seems to support the understanding that the earth is not the first of God's creation, but rather the last.

Day 1: Genesis 1:3-5, God created light.

We proved that the Bible is totally correct and accurate (here), so in your studies try to figure out why God created light before He created the Sun on day 4. What kind of light was it if it was not sun light?

To help get you thinking, one belief is that the entire world was created earlier, "In the beginning". The Bible says that the earth was covered with water and it was dark. It sounds like it may have already been here, created sometime in the past by God.

One hypothesis is that the surface may have even been frozen solid because there was no Sun yet. The light that God created may have been used to "melt" the surface to a point needed to support life and to do the other things He was planning to do. As noted, this is only one hypothesis and is by no means straight from the Bible. Please keep in mind that none of this has any bearing on our salvation. We are not saved by what we believe happened way back then, but rather we are saved by our faith and trust in Jesus.)

Day 2: Genesis 1:6-8 God divided the waters.

God placed some water above the sky and He left some on the surface of the earth. A layer of water above the earth would protect life from harmful rays from the Sun. Science has shown that plants will live much longer when protected from these rays.

Here again is evidence that the earth was already here and had been created at some point in time prior to Creation Week because the water was not the first thing God created on day one, light was. Here on day 2 God is seperating the water from the dry land. Water and rock/land had to have been here already. (Keep in mind that John 1:3 tells us that it was Jesus who made everything, and Genesis 1:16 tells us that He made the stars, which means He also made the earth. So the earth was not just an uncreated form that God used.)

Day 3: Genesis 1:9-13 God separated the dry land from the water and created all the plants.

Could God have used the light that He had already created to dry the land? It's also interesting to note that this would have been the day that God created both the "Tree of Life" and the other tree called the "Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil".

Day 4: Genesis 1:14-19 God created two great lights, one to rule the day and the other to rule the night.

(He created the stars also.)

Was the Sun created at some point in the past and God just made it start producing light on this day? As it began to give off light, the Moon would begin to shine, so would the other planets in our solar system. Is that what is meant by "He created the stars also"?

We know that the angels of God were created before we were because Lucifer, who became the Devil and tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden, was a fallen angel. The Bible says that Lucifer was created "perfect" (Ezekiel 28:13-19). Before Lucifer sinned and eventually became Satan he must have lived someplace. The Bible also says that the "morning stars sang together" (Job 38:4-7) for joy when the Earth was created. Some of the "stars" were already created with living beings evidently, so it becomes obvious that the whole universe was not created on Day 4 as some have been taught.

The King James Version of the Bible seems to say that the whole universe was created on day four of this creation week, but the original language can be understood differently. Either way, do you trust God with your life?

Day 5: Genesis 1:20-23 On day five, God created the water animals (fish) and the air animals (birds).

It is totally amazing to realize that by Day 6 there was a greater variety of fish and birds on this earth than there are now. Even today there are over 10,000 species of birds, and over 29,000 species of fish. Wow!

Day 6: Genesis 1:24-31 On day six, God created all land animals, which includes humans.

It is interesting to note that for all of creation, before humans, God only spoke and it was done. When He created humans though, God used a different way of creating. Genesis 2:7 says, "And the LORD God formed man [of] the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." God used His own hands to create humans. Why?

Day 7: Genesis 2:1-3 On day seven, God's creation was done and so He made a special day, as a memorial for all of eternity, so that we will remember His creation. He called Day 7 the "Sabbath". God rested on, and blessed this specific day.

Some say it does not matter anymore which day we keep as long as we keep one day holy. If that is true, why did it matter that Eve ate from the forbidden tree? She could have just chosen another tree to stay away from. The fact is, it does matter which day we keep because God blessed a specific day. When God says something specific no one else has the right to try and change it.

(NOTE: The Bible does not say how long it was after creation week before man sinned.)

The First Lie to Humans, First Sin and First Death

God had told Adam and Eve that of all of the plants in the Garden of Eden they were not to eat from only one tree and that if they even touched that tree they would die. This tree was a test to see if people would trust God, or not. The serpent (Satan, the Devil) lied to Eve and fooled her into believing that she would not die. Eve proved that she did not trust God when she ate what she was told she was not to eat.

(Question: Why didn't both Adam and Eve die the same day they ate of that tree? Wasn't it because a "substitute" for them died instead? )

Adam and Eve were clothed with skins that God made for them, but where did the skins come from? Some animal had to have died to make that happen. It appears that this is the beginning of the sacrificial offerings, because shortly after this, Cain killed Abel after they offered sacrifices to God. Who was Abel's animal a "substitute" for? All God-ordained sacrifices pointed toward the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus! (See Genesis 3:1-21)

Garden Home was Blocked

The Bible says that to keep sinful humans from living forever God barred access to the Tree of Life. Adam and Eve were not allowed into the Garden of Eden ever again. (See Genesis 3:22-24)

Please note here that the way was barred back into the garden by 2 angels. This was before there had ever been a human death, so angels are not humans who have died.

Sacrifice

Evidently the sacrificial service began at this point because the Bible tells us that both Adam and Eve were given clothes made by God from the skins of animals (Genesis 3:21). These skins must have come from an animal(s) that had given its life, and the fact that Adam's 2 sons were sacrificing according to God's instructions just a bit later indicates that this would most likely be correct.

First Human Death

Adam and Eve first had two boys, Cain then Abel. (See Genesis 4:1, 2) Cain became angry when Abel's sacrifice was accepted by God, but his was not. He became so angry that he later killed his brother, Abel. (See Genesis 4:1-8)

More Children

Many people do not realize that the Bible says that Adam and Eve had other children besides Cain and Abel. (See Genesis 5:4)

For further study read: