Today is the start of the Jewish holiday Rosh Hashanah, also known as the Jewish New Year, or the Feast of Trumpets. Did you know there are many Christians, especially Messianic Jews (Jewish people who believe in Jesus as the Messiah), who are inclined to believe that the Rapture will coincide with the blowing of the shofar (trumpet) at this holiday? There are a lot of interesting aspects to this belief, but I am not a theologian and am not going to attempt to weigh in on that, one way or another.
​
This I do know: Jesus, Who came once to die for all men (and women), will be coming back to claim those who have believed on Him. And I also know there will be a judgment day, and it would be a terrible thing to arrive at that day without having your name written in the book of life. Or, as Hebrews 10:31 puts it, “It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God!” (HCSB).

Of all of my 49 Fun Facts, I think the answer to this one may have been just about the hardest one for my students to memorize, and yet, I have one student who, to this day—four years later—can recite this Fun Fact word for word. And to be honest, if he couldn’t recite any of the other 48, I am blessed to know I at least impressed this particularly important one on him:

Who is Jesus?
Fully God and fully man, Jesus is the Creator incarnate Who stepped down into creation to die on a cross to redeem us for eternity. His New Testament words repeatedly confirm the Creation account as told in Genesis.

When discussing or debating on the topic of origins, Creation apologists often point out the difference between observational science and historical science. Truth be told, there is no person on the planet who was around to see (observe) the forming of our universe, planet, or the first human beings. So, we rely on historical data to make determinations. For Christians, we know that there actually was Someone Who did observe the beginning: the Creator Himself. This is why His own words in verses such as Mark 10:6, which says “But from the beginning of creation God made them male and female” (HCSB), are so key to seeing that Jesus—fully God—confirmed the veracity of the historical account of Genesis. And this is why this Fun Fact is included in the set of 49.

But it wasn’t just Jesus’ words that confirmed Genesis. All throughout the Bible (God’s Word, inspired by Him), the writers had an obvious belief of the events of Genesis. They believed them to be historical, and that their impact was ongoing, with spiritual and theological consequences. In Psalm 8:3-4, David wrote, “When I observe Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You set in place, what is man that You remember him, the son of man that You look after him?” (HCSB). In Proverbs 3:19-20, Solomon wrote, “The Lord founded the earth by wisdom and established the heavens by understanding. By His knowledge the watery depths broke open, and the clouds dripped with dew” (HCSB). In Amos 4:13, Amos wrote, “He is here: the One who forms the mountains, creates the wind, and reveals His thoughts to man, the One who makes the dawn out of darkness and strides on the heights of the earth. Yahweh, the God of Hosts, is His name” (HCSB). And John starts his gospel with, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things were created through Him, and apart from Him not one thing was created that has been created” (John 1:1-3 HCSB).

Indeed, the writers of the Scriptures knew and confirmed the Creation account of Genesis. They knew that God was there at the beginning and will be at the end. Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega. He is the Almighty One. He is the Advocate, the Bread of Life, the Deliverer, the Good Shepherd, the Great High Priest, Faithful and True, the King of Kings, the Lamb of God, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the Redeemer, the Rock, the Son of the Most High, Yeshua, the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. He is truth. And He is love.
That’s who Jesus is. But why do we need Him?

Those last two attributes for Him (truth and love) have a way of confounding people. Last week, in my post, “The Value of a Man,” I mentioned the culture we are living in, and how the message of the world tells us we can make all our own choices now: choose your own ethnicity, your own gender, your own age, your own value. But the sad truth is that message hasn’t just fallen on the ears of people who have never believed in God. It has fallen on the ears of many professing Christians. A message wrapped in a bow of love. Jesus is love. And love covers it all. You be you, love is love, and Jesus will love you no matter what. Jesus will love you no matter what, but the Bible also tells us that God will not be mocked. Paul says in Galatians 6:7, “Don’t be deceived: God is not mocked. For whatever a man sows he will also reap” (HCSB).  One way that we mock God is by knowingly or intentionally sinning, taking advantage of His promise of forgiveness. 1

Although the writers of the Old Testament confirmed the Creation account of Genesis and foretold the coming of the Messiah, many of the people around the time of Jesus’ birth misunderstood the prophecies. They were looking for a strong king and mighty warrior to save them. Many confused His second coming for His first and overlooked the humble Jewish Carpenter.
​
In the same way, many people today are overlooking the fact that Jesus is not just love. He is truth. Not only is He truth, but He taught truth. In Matthew 5-7, Jesus delivered the famous Sermon on the Mount, a collection of instructions not just for the people of that day, but for all His followers from that day until He comes again. He taught us how to pray, how to love, how to give. He told us of the promises of blessings. He told us how He had come to fulfill the Old Testament law. But He also taught against hatred, against murder, against lust, and against sexual immorality. And He ended by describing those who listened to His words: anyone who acts on them He described as “a sensible man,” and anyone who doesn’t as a “foolish man” (Matthew 7:24-26).

Jesus came because of His great love for us, and, as Paul said in Romans 5:8, “God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (HCSB). But Jesus was more than love. He didn’t accept us as sinners, condemned for all eternity. He didn’t condone our sin, and He still doesn’t today. He loved us enough to save us from our sin, from the terrible wrath of God, and from eternal damnation.

This is a story that started in Genesis. Death did not exist before Adam sinned. Romans 5:12 says, that “sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, in this way death spread to all men, because all sinned” (HCSB). God’s holiness and justness demanded a consequence for sin, and only Jesus could be that sacrifice. He was blameless, without sin. But just as importantly, He was a human, in the flesh, who could be our Kinsman Redeemer. That’s why it had to be Jesus. Love was the atonement for our sin, the substitution for our death penalty.

Love was not a license to sin. Let’s not misunderstand, lest we overlook His return, whether it coincides with Rosh Hashanah this year, another year, or not at all. Eventually, He will be coming, and no man knows the hour. The apostle Peter tells us “the Lord does not delay His promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9 HCSB).

If you are a Christian who has wandered down the path of the world’s wisdom and bought into the compromise of sin, take heart. Like the church in Ephesus, repent: “You have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember then how far you have fallen; repent and do the works you did at first” (Revelation 2:4b-5a HCSB).

And if you have never placed your faith in the one true living God, today is the best day to do it. You can visit this website for step-by-step instructions and information to get you started on your relationship with Him.

Don’t just take my word for it! Visit YouFormedMe.com/people/jesus.html to read, watch, and listen to supporting research and commentary from scientists, doctors, theologians, and more!
This blog is from a special series of “Creation Fun Facts” by Terri Kammerzell, starting from June 10, 2020. Read the introduction at TruthOfGenesis.com/blogs/building-a-biblical-defense-of-creation.

1 In the Bible mockery is a behavior and attitude shown by the fool (Psalm 74:22), the wicked (Psalm 1:1), the enemy (Psalm 74:10), the hater of knowledge (Proverbs 1:22; 13:1), the proud (Psalm 119:51; Isaiah 37:17), and the unteachable (Proverbs 15:12). A mocker goes beyond mere lack of judgment to making a conscious decision for evil. Mockers are without a spirit of obedience, teachability, discernment, wisdom, worship, or faith. 1
  https://www.gotquestions.org/God-is-not-mocked.html

Today marks the nineteenth anniversary of one of the top-five deadliest events in American History: the terrorist attacks of 9/11. Those of us old enough to remember where we were when we heard the news are probably also able to remember the great American spirit that it fueled and the wave of compassion and concern that swept our nation as a result. I remember, too, the messages pouring in from other nations of the world, offering their deep condolences and heartfelt sympathy. At that time—and for a little while after—the value of a man was understood. The value of a man was cherished. The value of a man was precious.

But why? After all, the prevailing wisdom of textbook science would say that we all originated from stardust and that human beings are the result of millions of years of evolution, the result of random, chance combinations of chemicals, just slightly more evolved than apes and other animals. If that is true, man has no intrinsic value. Man has no soul. But what if the sentiment that followed the tragedy of those terrorist attacks was actually evidence of Romans 1:20, a Fun Fact I introduced to you several weeks ago? In Romans 1:20, Paul tells us that everyone, in their heart of hearts, knows there is a God.

If Romans 1:20 is true, then it would logically flow that we know we also answer to God. And we know we were made by God. In fact, we were made in a very special way and for a very special purpose by God. Check out my Genesis 2:7 Fun Fact:
After God spoke everything else into existence, how does the Bible describe the uniqueness of man?
Genesis 2:7 says that “the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being” (NKJV).

Do you know that scientists estimate there are over one billion stars in our Milky Way Galaxy alone, and that there are over one billion galaxies in the universe, each with its own collection of millions to trillions of stars? No human could ever count them.

All throughout the Word of God we see references to stars and their importance in creation. In Job 38, God paints a picture of the morning stars singing while He was creating. In Genesis 15, God used the stars as a comparison to the number of offspring Abraham would have. Of course, we know from Matthew 2 about the very bright star that marked the place where the baby was born. And the psalmist tells us in several locations that the stars praise the Lord (e.g., Psalm 19:1, Psalm 148:3).

But the best thing we know about the stars is that God has numbered them and knows each of them by name! (Psalm 147:4, Isaiah 40:26) Yet, even then, with all the detail and explanation of the Creation account in Genesis 1, the creation of this myriad of celestial beings is summed up in five words: “He made the stars also” (Genesis 1:16 KJV).
In Psalm 8, when David stood in awe of creation and the work of God’s fingers, he said, “What is man, that You are mindful of him?” (v. 4 ) God spoke the stars into existence, but later formed man, “crowned him with glory and honor” (v. 5), and gave him dominion over all creation (v. 6 NKJV).

We were made for a very special purpose: for the glory of God. (Isaiah 43:7)

This is something, as a young adult, I dismissed for a time in my life. I was taken in by the culture of the day. I was convinced that I was just a cog in a wheel. How could my actions bear any impact on the world? And how could a busy God be noticing whether I followed His Word or not? I forgot the value of a man (or a woman). I forgot my value. And I used that as a license to do what I wanted, to justify sin, and to rationalize my own version of morality.

Here we are in 2020, and we look around and see a mess. We see the world trying to define the value of a man: some too low and some too high. The world is telling people that their happiness in this life is all that matters, and their value does not extend beyond the grave, so live it up! Do what makes you happy! Be true to yourself and be whomever, whatever, whichever you want to be. Oddly enough, in this message, the world is also promoting the value of a man to be equal to or higher than God. You get to determine what makes you happy. You get to determine not just your actions and character, but even your DNA. Choose your own ethnicity. Choose your own gender. Choose your own age. Choose your own value.

But guess what?! God didn’t just create Adam in His own image and then let nature take its course. Down through the ages, every human being that has ever been conceived has been known by God. Has been created by God. Has been loved by God. God made you, He formed you in your mother’s womb (Psalm 139:13), and even before the foundations of the world, He knew you (Ephesians 1:4). All human beings are equally made in the image of God, and, as such, they have dignity and deserve respect. Ephesians 2:10 tells us that “we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them” (NASB).

It is a treacherous time we are living in, but one thing we can still be certain of is what Paul tells us in Philippians 1:6: “He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus” (NASB). In fact, Isaiah compares us to potter’s clay (64:8). With God as our Potter we have two options: we can remember our value to our Maker and submit ourselves to Him, pliable and moldable on the Master’s wheel. Or, we can be unyielding, hardened in heart, deceived by the world into choosing our own destinies but ultimately crumble under the Master’s hand.

If you have forgotten your value to the Lord, today is a good day to remember it. He has not forgotten. Psalm 103:14-18 is a good place to be reminded:
     For He Himself knows our frame;
     He is mindful that we are but dust.
     As for man, his days are like grass;
     As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
     When the wind has passed over it, it is no more.
     And its place acknowledges it no longer.
     But the lovingkindness of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him,
     And His righteousness to children’s children,
     To those who keep His covenant
     And remember His precepts to do them (NASB).
 
Don’t just take my word for it! Visit YouFormedMe.com/bibleVerses/genesis27.html to read, watch, and listen to supporting research and commentary from scientists, doctors, theologians, and more!
This blog is from a special series of “Creation Fun Facts” by Terri Kammerzell, starting from June 10, 2020. Read the introduction at TruthOfGenesis.com/blogs/building-a-biblical-defense-of-creation.

Whether you’ve heard of it before or not, this Sunday is the annual “National Mustard Day.” If you didn’t know, don’t feel badly; after all, it’s considered as a “food holiday that might get overlooked.” Yet, there are people all over the country who will celebrate by using their favorite variety of the yellow condiment at lunch and dinner, and perhaps even invite their friends over for a mustard-tasting party. If mustard is your favorite condiment, you might like to know the National Mustard Museum in Middleton, Wisconsin, is taking their annual parade online for 2020, so you can get in on the uber-celebrating too!

Reading about this “holiday” reminded me of an object lesson I once did with my homeschool drama class. It was in the spring semester of 2014 when I directed a Kathie Hill musical called “AmeriKids,” which was the story of the founding of the United States of America. The object lesson was that when we have faith even the size of a mustard seed, great things can happen. (Matthew 17:30; Luke 17:5-6) In this context, we know our founding fathers had a dream and, in faith, planted a seed that has flourished into a great nation. At the start of the semester, I brought a single mustard seed to class and planted it in a pot of soil in front of my students. Every week I carted that little plant to and from class, and every week my students and I marveled at its progress. On the night of our musical I carried that leafy green plant on the stage and introduced it and the musical. The audience was as impressed as we were. But in the gospels, we find that the Lord Himself tells us that the kingdom of heaven is like the mustard seed because even though it’s smaller than the other seeds, it can grow to be larger than the other plants. (Matthew 13:31-32; Mark 4:30-32; Luke 13:16-19). Isn’t that amazing? Even without a spoken word, we can see in God’s created nature signs and symbols of both His love and His kingdom.

And what about the rocks? Isaiah tells us, “You will indeed go out with joy and be peacefully guided; the mountains and the hills will break into singing before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands” (55:12 HCSB). And Jesus Himself told the Pharisees in Luke 19 that even if the disciples stopped singing His praise the “stones would cry out!” (v. 40 HCSB) Indeed, God has created our world in such a way that if we never read a word of His Word, we could see Him revealed in nature.

At no time in my life was this truth more real to me than later that year. In May we did our musical, and in June my son and I were given an opportunity to travel to Europe and to do some sightseeing. We visited some long-time missionary friends in southern Austria who took us on a day trip to Slovenia and Italy. Just inside the Slovenian border we stopped and walked around a site of a former concentration camp. While the somber reality that we were walking on a ground that once was the foundation of horrible atrocities was gripping, across the street was a metal sculpture by Boris Kobe depicting a prisoner with his arms raised to the heavens, crying out for relief. But on that day what accosted my emotions the most were the giant tree-covered stone mountains that encompassed that little valley. I remembered the verses from Isaiah and Luke and thought not so much about the prisoners but about their captors. Even if those men had never heard the truth of God’s love for all from John 3:16, or the definition of sin from James 4:17, or the wages of sin from Romans 6:23, even so—they had God’s majestic creation surrounding them, crying in chorus with those prisoners, telling them that God is real and that God is in control of this world.

Paul tells us this same thing in Romans 1. In fact, through the ages, philosophers have offered a picture of Paul’s passage of verses 18-23 as humans having been created with a “God-shaped vacuum.” How true this is! God made us for the purpose of knowing and worshiping Him. As humans we crave and desire to do that, and the created world around us points our attention to the Creator Who can fill that vacuum. So that brings us to our first Bible verse Fun Fact:

According to Paul, why is no man excused from knowing God?
In Romans 1:20, Paul says, “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse” (NKJV).

Nobody is without excuse. Nobody. God has given us all the ability to know Him.

In the world of creation science and apologetics, this passage pops up a lot. Of course, Darwinian evolution has become so commonplace, and the “accepted science” of the public schools in our country. But as I mentioned briefly in my July 17 post about the incompatibility of the Big Bang and the Bible, the idea of Darwinian evolution is simply that: an idea. It is not scientific fact and doesn’t even fulfill the requirements of being called a scientific theory. We will discuss this more with future Fun Facts, but this week I want to remind you that when it comes down to it, evolution—as a scientific model—was developed to try to find a way to explain origins without a Creator, without a God to Whom each one of us is accountable.

But what does God’s Word say? It says everyone--everyone—knows God exists. And verses 21-22 say, “because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools” (NKJV).

Faith the size of a mustard seed is all it takes to fill the God-shaped vacuum you have in your heart, and then you can sing along with the rocks. Don’t forget to mention that to your friends this Sunday as you’re topping your hot dogs, mixing your egg salad, or seasoning your tofu with your favorite yellow condiment!
 
Don’t just take my word for it! Visit YouFormedMe.com/bibleVerses/romans120.html to read, watch, and listen to supporting research and commentary from scientists, doctors, theologians, and more!
This blog is from a special series of “Creation Fun Facts” by Terri Kammerzell, starting from June 10, 2020. Read the introduction at TruthOfGenesis.com/blogs/building-a-biblical-defense-of-creation.

July 17, 2020, marks 126 years from the day Georges Lemaître was born. I know what you’re wondering: Who on earth was Georges Lemaître, and what does this have to do with our Fun Facts? Let me tell you: Georges Lemaître was a Belgian astronomer, mathematician, physicist, and—believe it or not—a Catholic priest. It might be hard for some of us to believe the last one because he is also the scientist credited with the formulation of the modern “big bang” philosophy of the origin of the universe.

Unfortunately, that isn’t such a leap for some Christians because there are some who actually believe God may have used evolution—and specifically the Big Bang—to execute His creative process. And that is what this week’s Fun Fact is about:

Is the Big Bang compatible with the Bible?
Not even remotely. . . . The Big Bang is the naturalistic explanation for how the universe came into existence over billions of years, whereas the Bible makes it clear that God specially created supernaturally over six days.

There is one similarity between the Genesis account of Creation and the big bang scenario: both models acknowledge the universe had a beginning, at which point nothing existed. Beyond that, there really is no comparison between the two. From a scientific viewpoint, I could present all sorts of reasons why the big bang conjecture—although taught in secular textbooks as fact—isn’t even a valid model.  However, the naturalistic principle, “from nothing, comes nothing,” is proof enough.  The big bang model is built on non-falsifiable, speculative hypotheses that cannot be tested, repeated, or observed.  It cannot explain the origin of matter, galaxies, or stars.  It cannot account for the lack of antimatter in the universe, and even many secular scientists and atheists are skeptical of the big bang model.

​Instead, I want to consider three questions: One, what are some of the differences between the two models? Two, what would the theological implications be if the big bang model were true?  Three, why do some Christians want to make the two models match?

First, what are some of the scientific differences between the big bang model and the Genesis account of Creation?

• Natural vs. Supernatural: The big bang philosophy was designed as an attempt to explain the origin of the universe from an atheistic, or naturalistic, view. Naturalism is the belief that everything that happens in this world is the result of natural processes. However, the Bible tells us repeatedly that God, Who is an omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent God, has supernaturally caused things to happen. Creation was just the beginning. We read accounts all through His Word about rivers being held back, signs and wonders being performed, bread falling from heaven, dead people being raised to life, and so on and so forth. As Christians, we believe in a supernatural God, but to limit His supernatural wonders to only after the origin of the universe is not only an illogical and inconsistent worldview, but it discredits His Word from the very beginning.
• Timescale: The big bang model is built on a timescale of 13.8 billion years, with a suggested 9 billion years between the sudden appearance of space, matter, energy, and time, and the existence of the earth. However, a straightforward reading of the Genesis account of Creation tells us that God created everything in just six ordinary days, and the Bible confirms this in Exodus 20:11 and 31:17. Reading the genealogies throughout the Bible then gives us an approximate timescale of about six thousand years since Creation.
• Order of Events: In the big bang model, the stars appeared long before the earth came to be. Genesis 1:1 (Day 1) tells us, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,” and in verse 16 (on Day 4), we read, “God made the two great lights—the greater light to have dominion over the day and the lesser light to have dominion over the night—as well as the stars” (HCSB). Additionally, big bang cosmology suggests reptiles evolved into birds, but Genesis 1 tells us birds were created on Day 5 (verse 20) and reptiles were created on Day 6 (verse 24). The big bang model says that the sun came to be before any vegetation on Earth, but Genesis 1 tells us God created vegetation on Day 3 (verse 11) and didn’t create the sun until Day 4 (verse 14).

These are just a few examples of many inconsistencies between the big bang philosophy and the Bible’s record of the origin of the universe. On top of these, throughout the entire Bible, we have repeated confirmations that God created everything: Nehemiah 9:6; Isaiah 42:5; Jeremiah 32:17; John 1:3; Acts 4:24; Ephesians 3:9; Colossians 1:16; and Revelation 4:11 are just some of the examples.

Indeed, the glaring differences of the naturalistic vs. supernatural beginning, the timescale, and the order of events display, scientifically, that the two models are not only incompatible, but in direct contrast to each other. But the most important things that would be out of order are death and sin. That brings us to the next question.

What would the theological implications be if the big bang model were true? In last week’s blog post, I wrote about the fact that God originally created everything perfect. We read six times in Genesis 1—at the end of each working day of Creation—that “God saw that it was good” or “very good.” I mentioned that Deuteronomy 32:4 tells us that God’s “work is perfect.” We know that status changed at the curse. Adam and Eve, who were given free will by their Maker, sinned. Romans 5:12 tells us, “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, in this way death spread to all men, because all sinned” (HCSB). God’s creation was perfect, but the first sin introduced death.

As a contrast, the big bang philosophy teaches a history of the universe that is full of decay and destruction. Generational cycles of death and evolution would have had to take place before humans ever came on the scene. Death would have come before sin, and this undermines the whole foundation of the gospel.

It was man’s sin, with death as its wages (Romans 6:23), that necessitated our redemption by Christ’s death on the cross. If death came before sin, that would totally negate Romans 5:12 and our need for salvation. Indeed, the consequence of subscribing to a big bang model is not only removing God as a Creator, but even as a Savior.

Finally, why do some Christians want to make the two models match? And that is an important question to answer, isn’t it? I think, for some Christians, they have been taught by public-school textbooks and teachers that evolution is true, and they haven’t stopped to recognize the implications. Some probably don’t understand what the big bang model actually says and what the inconsistencies are in believing it. Hopefully, if I have any readers who fit that category, you will be able to see now how contradictory the big bang conjecture is to the Bible.

Still, I think there are others who, at least when it comes to science, have not digested what John says in 1 John 3:13: “Do not be surprised, brothers, if the world hates you” (HCSB). Instead, they want to find a way to be friends with the world, to compromise the plain reading of Genesis in order to accommodate what “real scientists” speculate could have happened if there were no God. But here’s the secret: This is not a battle between science and the Bible because God gave us science as a tool, and the Bible as His Word. In fact, real science is the friend of the believer, and we can rest in His Word as our authority rather than changing it to match what fallible scientists see or think about nature. Scientific philosophies come and go, but God’s Word will never change. And that is the biggest contrast between a model that itself continues to evolve and a standard that has been provided by the only Eyewitness to the origin of the universe.
 

Don’t just take my word for it! Visit YouFormedMe.com/astronomy/bigBang.html to read, watch, and listen to supporting research and commentary from scientists, doctors, theologians, and more!
This blog is from a special series of “Creation Fun Facts” by Terri Kammerzell, starting from June 10, 2020. Read the introduction at TruthOfGenesis.com/blogs/building-a-biblical-defense-of-creation.

     In a few weeks our thirteen-year old son will be taking the United States Constitution test.  He must pass it in order to move to eighth grade, so over lunch we studied flashcards to prepare.  One question dealt with ‘unalienable rights.’  In the Declaration of Independence these well-known words are penned, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”[1]    
     A few flashcards later the question was posed, “Did the Constitution abolish slavery?”  He quickly said “no,” which was the correct answer.  So much in our human existence consists of juxtaposition.  Our worldviews don’t always line up logically or morally.  The stark contrast of the founding fathers allowing slavery while eloquently stating mankind’s equality is as glaringly opposed as darkness is to light. 
     Just as Solomon tells us in Ecclesiastes, “there is nothing new under the sun,” our sinful condition is evident in all periods of time in human history, even now.  Slavery did not begin in the United States.  The first account of harsh bondage of one group to another is described in the book of Exodus when the Egyptians were enslaving the Israelites.  Yet, racism and slavery are grievously unmistakable in our country’s history. 
Slavery, in what became the United States, most likely is traced to the arrival of approximately twenty enslaved Africans to the British colony of Jamestown, Virginia, in 1619. It ended legally when the Thirteenth Amendment was ratified in 1865.[2]  Some slave buyers, transporters and owners tragically used erroneous “Biblical theology,” designated ‘the curse of Ham,’ to rationalize their heinous deeds. 
     Thousands of years ago, shortly after the global flood, Noah’s youngest son, Ham, sinned against him.  After the incident, described in Genesis 9, Noah cursed Canaan (who was Ham’s youngest son.)  Noah said, “Cursed be Canaan, a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren,” In Exodus 9:25. 
     Why did God curse his grandson Canaan if it was Ham that sinned against him?  Biblical scholars disagree on this topic.  Professor James J.S. Johnson theorizes that Canaan may have been to blame for the sinful act, and therefore received the punishment.[3]  Dr. Jonathan Sarfati proposes several possible reasons why Canaan was cursed instead of Ham.  One, God already blessed Noah’s three sons, so Noah couldn’t counteract God’s blessing with a curse.  Two, since Ham sinned as the youngest son, he would be punished with a curse on his own youngest son.  Three, Canaan may have been the perpetrator of the sinful act.  Four, it was an act of mercy, because only one of Ham’s sons was affected.  Five, Noah discerned that the evil that appeared in Ham had developed to a greater degree in Canaan.[4]
     Regardless of the reason, Canaan received the curse.  Why then did people cite the ‘curse of Ham’ when they justified enslaving African-Americans?  David Goldberg, a historian, states that errors were made when interpreting the Hebrew word ‘Ham’ to mean ‘dark,’ ‘black’ or ‘heat.’[5]   The descendants of Ham included the Sumerians, the Egyptians, the Ethiopians, and there is a good possibility it included some of the Asiatic nations of the present as well.[6]   Although not all of these people groups have black skin, (the Canaanites were painted in Egyptian murals to have olive skin), misguided individuals proclaimed that dark-skinned people were doomed to be slaves because of the prophecy given to them from Noah.[7]
     As Tony Evans states, when addressing this issue, “This process is known as sacralization, the development of theological and religious beliefs to serve the interest of a particular ethnic or racial group.”[8]Slave owners dolefully used twisted beliefs to give themselves ‘permission’ to treat others in ways God would not approve.  God is clear in His Word when He tells us the entire law is fulfilled when you love others as you would love yourself.  He does not advocate, anywhere in His Word or express in His character, that slavery is acceptable.  In fact, anyone caught kidnapping a person and keeps or sells him, is to be put to death, God says in Exodus 21:16.  God’s two greatest desires are that we love Him and that we love others.  Anyone striving to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ would honor what He asks us to do.  When Abraham Lincoln said, “slavery is founded in the selfishness of man’s nature,”[9]  he rightfully identified selfishness, and not the curse of Ham, was the root of slavery in America.
 
[1] www.usconstitution.net/declar.html.  Accessed February 10, 2019.
[2] www.nationalgeographic.com/interactive/slavery-united-states.  Accessed February 10, 2019.
[3] Johnson, James J.S..  “Mankind’s Social Dynamics After Eden.”  Institute for Creation Research. 2011.  Page 12-14.
[4] Sarfati, Dr. Jonathan D..  “The Genesis Account.”  Creation Book Publishers.  2015.  Page 621
[5] Lee, Felicia R..  “From Noah’s Curse to Slavery’s Rationale.”  www.nytimes.com/2003/11/01/arts/from-noah-s-curse-to-slavery-s-rationale.html.  2003.  Accessed February 14, 2019.
[6] Morris, Henry M.  “The Genesis Record.”  Baker Books.  2009.  Page 238.
[7] Sarfait, Dr. Jonathan D.  “The Genesis Account.”  Creation Book Publishers.  2015.  Page 623
[8] Evans, Tony.  “Are Black People Cursed?  The Curse of Ham.”  www.epm.org/resources/2010/Jan/18/are-black-people-cursed-curse-Ham.  January 18, 2010.  Accessed February 15, 2019.
[9] www.brainyquote.com/topics/slavery

     One of the things that I remember growing up and going to school was the teaching of evolutionary theory.  We were taught that there were different races of people and some were just better than others.  Fortunately for me, the humanistic philosophy of evolution taught in schools never became racism.  I never really thought much about people being of other races, and I treated them all the same. When my parents were working, a Japanese couple on the Air Force base we lived on took care of me as if I was one of their own.  I’m told they loved me very much.
 
     In high school I was chosen to be my school’s representative at a weeklong cultural diversity camp called “Anytown Arizona”.  At the student union in college, I lunched every day with Asians, Blacks and people from the Middle East.  I ignored “racial divisions” as best I could.  Sometime after my college years I had a deal with a neighborhood friend from my elementary years that if neither of us were married by a certain age we would get married.  Her black skin didn’t hinder me from strongly caring for her.  But there was still a very ugly world out there whose history came directly out of the “scientific” notions of Charles Darwin. 

     According to the book, Darwin’s Plantation, “Biological arguments for racism may have been common before 1850 but they increased by orders of magnitude following the acceptance of evolutionary theory.”[1]  Darwin did more than anybody to give people an excuse for racism based upon physical differences through his books “On the Origin of Species and The Descent of Man.[2]  Because he “proved” that humans descended from apes it was natural for scientists to theorize that some races had descended further than others.[3]  In his opinion, some races (i.e. the white ones) had left the others far behind.  Particularly pygmy people, according to evolutionary thought, had hardly matured at all.[4]

      Of course, we know sin is the ultimate cause of racism. But Darwin’s theories gave people scientific “proof” that some people were just inferior to others.  Darwinian scientists have been trying to place some races closer to apes and others higher on the evolutionary scale since its inception.  The justifications are formed solely on outward appearance, even though modern genetics have clearly proven our slight differences are no deeper than our skin color.

     Humanistic ideas are most dangerous when put into practice.  The concepts of evolution were put into a social framework by Friedrich Nietzsche, who strongly believed in the “science” and the concept of a “master race.”[5] Sound familiar?  Well, it should.  Adolf Hitler was an ardent evolutionist, as were Stalin and Mao.  Sir Arthur Keith, one of the twentieth centuries premier evolutionary anthropologist’s, said, “The German Fuhrer…has consciously sought to make the practice of Germany conform to the theory of evolution.”[6]  I won’t go into great detail of Hitler’s genocide against the Jews, Gypsies and others who he saw as inferior.  He was just following Darwin’s so called “science” of evolution and putting it into practice for his own gain.  While Darwin saw darker skinned people as inferior, Hitler expanded the concept to other Europeans.  Evil knows no bounds and will use any intellectual concept of man to further its agenda of serving the “god of this world.”

     One of the great, but lesser known, atrocities of Darwin’s time was the genocide of the Aborigines who were “studied” with the desire of finding the “missing link” between apes and humans.[7]  As a side note, there has never been a verified “missing link” anywhere along the evolutionary tree.  Skeletal remains of perhaps ten-thousand Aborigines were sent to British museums as evolutionary “scientists” engaged in a feeding frenzy of study.  The Smithsonian Institute in America holds over fifteen-thousand remains.   Unfortunately, grave robbing did not satisfy these evolutionists.  Edward Ramsay, who was curator of the Australian Museum beginning in 1874, not only put out a pamphlet on grave robbing but also described how “…to plug bullet wounds from freshly killed ‘specimens’”. Ken Ham further describes in his book Darwin’s Plantation that at Ramsay’s request a scientist sent him the skulls of the last two members of the Bungee Blacks tribe that he had shot. [8]

     Unfortunately, there are many more horrible examples of evolutionary racism in action.  Ota Benga, a Pygmy from Africa, was put on display at the 1904 St. Louis World’s fair after his family was slaughtered. [9]   This despite evidence that pygmies were actually very intelligent and monotheistic.  Those facts, among others, didn’t suit the evolutionary dogma.  Racism continued strongly in practice with groups like the Ku Klux Klan and policies like “Separate but Equal.”  It continues now in the hearts and minds of individuals because no law can convince them that “… all men are created equal, that they are all endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights…”

     So, why didn’t I go down the path of racism since I was a person who really enjoyed science and was taught evolution? I would have to say it had a lot to do with my parents, who were Christians, Jesus who is my Savior, and His word.  God’s word contains no reference or support for racism.  What it says is exactly the opposite, “…there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all…”.  Romans 10:12

     Tragically, some people with racist philosophy have tried to use scripture to support their arguments.  Genesis 4:3-8 is misinterpreted to be the curse of Ham, which some have used to justify slavery, and we will address this in a separate blog.  Instead, the Bible talks about “nations, peoples and languages” in scriptures like Revelation 7:9 and Genesis 10:5 showing us that God created many different people groups.  Modern science shows there is little difference between any two people genetically, perhaps 0.1 percent.  Only a fraction of that percentage deals with racial differences.[10]  Of course, God created language divisions, Genesis 11:9, at the “Tower of Babel”.  But the intent wasn’t to discriminate but instead to get people to obey his command to “fill the earth” in Genesis 9:1.
​   
     The Bible’s intent is born out in the New Testament in the book of Acts which says, “And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings”[11].  The language of the Bible is one of love, hope and promise for all people.  The only real division in the Bible is between those who know Him and those who don’t.  Let’s live as a people not divided, but united, through the one blood of Christ.

[1] Ham, Ken and Ware, Charles A.  Darwin’s Plantation.  Master Books.  2007, p. 91. 
[2] Ibid, pp. 90-91.
[3] Ibid, p. 91.
[4] Ibid, pp. 16-21.
[5] Morris, Dr. Henry M.  “Evolution and Modern Racism.”  www.icr.org/article/evolution-modern-racism.  Accessed January 21, 2019.
[6] Morris, Dr. Henry M.  “Evolution and Modern Racism.”  www.icr.org/article/evolution-modern-racism.  Accessed January 21, 2019.
[7] Ham, op. cit. p.  91.
[8] Ibid, pp. 24-25. 
[9] Ibid, pp. 16-21.
[10] Ham, Ken.  “There’s Only One Race.”  www.answersingenesis.org/media/audio/answers-with-ken-ham/volume-129/only-one-race.  Accessed January 21, 2019.
[11] The New King James Version. (1982). (Acts 17:26). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

     One of my favorite things to do while I eat lunch is to play Classic Words on my Kindle.  It’s a game that resembles Scrabble, and it allows me to test my vocabulary prowess.  Today while I was playing, I formed a three-letter word, yom.  This Hebrew word was accepted by the computer, and it told me the definition of the submission was “day.” 
     When my husband, Dave, was first studying Biblical Creation I would often pepper him with questions.  One of which was, “How are you sure the days in the timeline of the beginning of the world aren’t long?”  I wasn’t convinced that God’s six days of work, outlined in Genesis, didn’t happen over lengthy periods of time.
     The tiny word yom was a cornerstone in the case.   In most of its uses in the Old Testament it means a literal, twenty-four-hour day; and when it doesn’t the context makes it clear. [1] In Genesis 1:5-2:2, the word yom is used in conjunction with a number (day one, day two, etc.). [2] In all these instances where yom and a number are used (four hundred and ten times in the Old Testament), the word means an ordinary day, a literal twenty-four-hour period.  [3]
     Another place in the Old Testament where the word yom is used is in Exodus 20:9-10.  “Six  days  you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day in a sabbath of the LORD your God.”  God is speaking directly to Moses in this passage.  As Terry Mortenson says, “If God meant that the Jews were to work six days because He created over six long periods of time, He could have used one of three indefinite Hebrew time words.  He chose the only word that means a literal day.”[4]
     For most of Christian history the literal six-day creation account was not questioned.  Some even wondered why the days would have to have been twenty-four hours.  This seemed too long!  Christians in Martin Luther’s time thought that God could have created everything instantly.[5]  Luther’s response was to stand behind the authority of scripture and not support creative notions of what God “could have done” but instead validate what God did.  Luther said:
“When Moses writes that God created heaven and earth and whatever is in them in six days, then let this period continue to have been six days, and do not venture to devise any comment according to which six days were one day. But if you cannot understand how this could have been done in six days, then grant the Holy Spirit the honor of being more learned than you are. For you are to deal with Scripture in such a way that you bear in mind that God Himself says what is written. But since God is speaking, it is not fitting for you wantonly to turn His Word in the direction you wish to go.” [6]
     The change in mindset to long periods of time was driven by hostility to the Christian religion and by extra-biblical influences (influences outside of the Bible) in the nineteenth century.[7] 
     When I heard the explanation of that tiny Hebrew word, I was convicted that yom meant a literal twenty-four-hour day, and that it could be trusted to mean God created all that we see and know in six literal days. The Genealogies in Genesis 5 and 11 give detailed chronological information that also confirms an approximately 6,000-year-old universe.[8] 
​     If you believe God is all-powerful and able to do things that are incomprehensible to our human minds, speaking the world into existence in a short period of time is only another miracle on His list of many.
 ________________________________________________________________________
[1] Mortenson, Terry.  (2006).  Why Shouldn’t Christians Accept Millions of Years.   In Ham, K. (ed).  The New Answers Book 1.  [pg. 26].  Green Forest: Masterbooks.
[2] Mortenson, Terry.  (2006). Why Shouldn’t Christians Accept Millions of Years.  In Ham, K (ed).  The New Answers Book 1.  [pg. 26] Green Forest: Master Books. 
[3] “Does Genesis Chapter 1 Mean Literal 24-hour days?” GotQuestions.Org. 
[4] Mortenson, Terry.  (2006) Why Shouldn’t Christians Accept Millions of Years.  In Ham, K (ed).  The New Answers Book 1. [pg. 27].  Green Forest: Master Books.
[5] Johnson, James J.S. “Luther The Reformation and Taking Creation Seriously.” Icr.org.  Sept. 29th, 2017. ICR.org/article/luther-reformation-taking-creation
[6] “Luther on the days of creation.”  Creation.com.  https://creation.com/luther-on-creation-days.
[7] Ham, Ken.  (2006).  Could God Really Have Created Everything in Six Days...  In Ham, K. (ed).  The New Answers Book 1.  [90].  Green Forest: Master Books.
[8] Mortenson, Terry.  (2006).  Why Shouldn’t Christians Accept Millions of Years.  In Ham, K (ed).  The New Answers Book 1.  [pg. 26].  Green Forest: Master Books.

Who Wrote the Book of Genesis? 

When I was in 4-H many years ago, I did a genealogy project where I traced my ancestral history and made a family tree.  Although I could only go back about four generations, it was a good research activity.   More recently, my mother in law gave our family the gift of tracing our roots, and I found out through a DNA testing company that I was more Danish than I thought, and less German than I had assumed.  It’s fascinating to discover pieces of information about my personal pedigree, but even more intriguing is the wonderment of the lineage of humankind.
 
All people need to know where they came from.  It’s natural to wonder about our history.  How did we get here?  Who were our ancestors?  History taught in elementary school doesn’t go back far enough to cover these details.  However, the Bible gives us a narrative about how humans were formed, and how we dispersed over the planet.  When I open my New International Version Bible on the first page, before each book, the author is listed on the side.  My NIV Bible states Moses is the author, not only of Genesis, but also the next four books as well.  Together, these five books are also known as the Pentateuch or the books of the law.  Bible studies and reading plans will often refer to the collection by these names.   But, how do we know Moses wrote Genesis?
   
 First, the Old Testament attributes authorship to Moses.   We can read in the Old Testament fourteen times where Moses is directed by God to write down things being spoken to Him.  Let’s look at Exodus 17:14a, “Then the LORD said to Moses, “Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure Joshua hears it.”  Another scripture from Exodus states, “Moses then wrote down everything the Lord had said.” (Exodus 24:4a).  Other places Moses is given authorship are found in Exodus 34:27; Numbers 33:1-2; Deuteronomy 31:9-11; Joshua 1:8; 8:31-32; 1Kings 2:3; 2 Kings 14:6; 21:8; Ezra 6:18; Nehemiah 13:1; Daniel 9:11-13; and Malachi 4:4. [1]  How does this prove Moses wrote Genesis?  It can be inferred that Moses was given direct revelation from God on what to write throughout the first five books of the Bible.
   
 Second, the New Testament gives Moses credit.  We find fourteen references in the New Testament that refer to the Law of Moses, clearly stating that in the mind of the Jewish people the authorship was not in question, but rather presupposed as Moses.  When Jesus says in Mark 12:26, “Have you not read in the book of Moses, in the account of the bush, how God said to him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’” He is not questioning whether or not Moses wrote the book, but rather using it as a reference.  If Moses was not the inspired journalist wouldn’t Jesus have corrected the matter?  Instead, He affirms it.  Other New Testament scripture references can be found in Matthew 8:4; Luke 16:29; Luke 24:27; Luke 24:44; John 5:46; John 7:22; Acts 3:22; Acts 15:1; Acts 28:23; Romans 10:5; Romans 10:19; 1 Corinthians 9:9; and 2 Corinthians 3:15. [2]
 
 Third, Moses had a royal, Egyptian upbringing.  The privileges afforded to him growing up under the Pharaoh would have included a royal education.  In Acts 7:22 it states that “Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action.”   He was an eyewitness to the events that occurred in Exodus to Deuteronomy, which include references to Egyptian gods, people, places, cultural factors, and idioms. [3]  He was qualified to write these historical books.
 
 Fourth, he was a prophet.   He was regarded as an inspired teacher and proclaimer of the will of God. [4]  On the mountain of Sinai he was given the ten commandments to share with the Israelites (Exodus 20:2-17).  He foretold that Israel would become a wasteland (Deut. 29:23), and he proclaimed that the Jewish people would never be completely destroyed (Lev. 26:32-33). [5]  Because Moses was used by God to tell future events, could we also imagine that God used him to pen past events as well? 
 
When we study the history of human kind, God told Moses to write down that we were formed out of the dust of the earth.  A man and woman, not a young boy or girl, were created as the first humans, and given the names Adam and Eve.  God explained to Moses (perhaps directly and/or through written accounts) that Adam and Eve had children, and they had children.  Eventually God causes them to disperse over the globe taking with them their unique languages and DNA that would form specific people groups.  In closing, God spoke to Moses face to face as a man, as one speaks to a friend (Exodus 33:11).  God really had a deep, personal, intimate relationship with his child, Moses, and wanted to use him to tell His story.   Moses was called a friend of God.  He gave Moses the amazing replay of the history of the first humans, and we can trust his account. 

Who wrote Genesis?  Logic and sound biblical interpretation say that Moses wrote the Book of Genesis.
 
[1] Ken Ham and Bodie Hodge, How Do We Know the Bible is True: Volume 1 (Master Books, 2011), p.89
[2] Ken Ham and Bodie Hodge, How Do We Know the Bible is True: Volume 1 (Master Books, 2011), p.90-93
[3] Ken Ham and Bodie Hodge, How Do We Know the Bible is True: Volume 1 (Master Books, 2011), p.94
[4] Oxford Dictionary, prophet, Bing Translator
[5] Aboutbibleprophecy.com, Moses’ prophecies