Bible Questions & Answers Archive 

Created vs. Made
By Dr. Max D. Younce
0111

 Question 

I have been looking into creation science and have found a verse that does not seem to support the re-creation theory. “For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that in them is...” (Exodus 20:11a).

 Answer 

You will notice that the word used in this verse is “made” from the Hebrew “asah” meaning a use of pre-existing materials; and not “created”, or “bara” in the Hebrew meaning “creating from nothing”. In Genesis 1:16 the word “made” or “asah” is used of the sun, moon, and stars. Here it has the meaning of “ordering or appointing” the sun, moon, and stars, already in existence, to a specific function. God appointed them as signs, or markers of time, of day and night, and the seasons. (Genesis 1:14,17,18).

The sun, moon, and stars were already in existence as in Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created (“bara” - from nothing) the heaven(s) (plural in the original) and the earth.” In Genesis 1:1 the “heavens” (or shamayim), included Planet Earth and all the solar systems of the universe. Because of the judgment rendered when the earth “became” without form and void”, they were hidden in the “darkness” of Genesis 1:2 and had to be brought into use again. Looking at the sentence structure in the original Hebrew, Genesis 1:2a should be rendered, “Now the earth had become without form and void.”

Only two creative acts are recorded in the six days of re-creation (Genesis 1:2b-31): animal life (Verse 21), and man (Verse 27). Animals are both said to be “created” and “made”. Created, never having existed before (Verse 21) and made, or “appointed” to reproduce after his kind, not evolve! (Verse 25).

Man was “made” or “appointed” to be in the image of God (body, soul, and spirit, a triune being) and exhibit God’s righteousness. Man was “made” or “appointed” to have dominion over animal life and the earth. (Verse 26). God “created” man and woman as no human life had existed before. Man was not an animal, he did not evolve. Adam was fully human, walking, talking, speaking with intelligence and having the ability to make decisions. He was able to understand the consequences of obedience or disobedience to God. God gave him everything he needed. Adam and Eve were totally capable of being responsible for their decisions

Genesis 2:7 gives the specifics. God “formed” man of the dust of the ground (just as a sculptor makes a statue) and “breathed into him the breath of life and he became a living soul.” The specifics of the creation of woman are given in Genesis 2:21,22.

In Genesis 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.” God saw everything He had “asah”, “appointed or re-ordered” in the six days of re-creation, including things created and things reused from original creation. Then He rested on the seventh day. This is the basis for Exodus 20:11. Exodus 20:11 does not mean the earth is only 6,000 years old.

The Bible is not the history of the planet. It is a record of the history and future of mankind, on the planet, as inspired by God!