THE HEAVENS WERE OF OLD….NOT CREATED IN VAIN!
February 1st, 2012
BY LORI CLAYTONHow we read the Bible should be different than the way we read a fictional novel. If we read a romance novel, for example, it is not important if we miss a few words or sentences. It doesn’t matter if we do not understand a word. And really, if we are distracted reading our romance novel, it will not make much of a difference in the grand scheme of our life. However if we read our Bible’s in that manner, it will make a difference in the grand scheme of life. Take for example someone who promotes the idea of no hell. If we do not read for study, memorization, content, and detail we could be fooled into thinking someone speaking about there not being a hell could be right. That does make a difference to your personal eternal life.
When we read the Bible we should read every word. Some scholars believe that Moses was given the Torah one letter at a time. That is the way we should read the Bible. Each word, each letter, and each combination of words are very important, and we have to analyze it fully to understand it. If we do not, we will allow ourselves to be as dumb sheep, and anyone with a smile on their face can lie to us and we will believe a lie.
The devil has every intention of keeping people ignorant, but we are told that we are not ignorant of his devices, therefore as we continue our study of the beginning, we should keep in mind that it has been the devil’s plan all along to confuse us so that we would not see the damage he has caused. We live a much shorter life because of destruction and decay on the earth than God ever intended us to. Living a shorter life means that humanity has a shorter time to receive salvation. It is time to dig deep into the word of God as if our very lives depended on it.
God’s word tells us the Earth was old and that he did not create the earth formless and void. Many people assume that this verse in 2nd Peter is about Noah, but there are some very big differences between Noah and this verse. We seem to overlook that there was water and a lot of it in Genesis 1:2. By definition it was a surging mass of many waters. It may be because we read the words in Genesis and don’t put them into practical sense in our minds. Something we should remember is that the Earth became formless, void and dark on the faces of the deep waters or abyss, therefore there was a problem with land and water in Genesis 1:2. Peter tells us more.
2 Peter 3:5-7 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: 6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.KJV
· Firstly the heavens were of old, which means they were not young or made new. The heavens were around a long time to make them old. Remember that it was the Earth that was formless, void and dark, but the heavens were still intact.
· Secondly Peter says some of the Earth was not affected by the water because there was land standing out of the water. Noah’s flood covered the whole earth.
