God never ceases to amaze me. Tonight I started out attemting to compare Genesis and Revelation as I had heard that the first two chapters of Genesis is the Alpha (beginning) of creation, and the last two chapters of Revelation is the Omega (ending) of creation, and then it all starts over, creation being a cycle so to speak, what goes around comes around, the ending of one is the beginning of the other ... makes sense right? Well I can't tell you for sure *yet* because I had a little revelation of another kind that I wish to share with you.

Which do you believe was here first? Science teaches that the sun, moon, stars and planets formed from cosmic chaos ... their claim is that the sun (and other suns, galaxies, etc) came into existance first and then the moon and planets were cosmic chaos that developed afterward and have been around for thousands of thousands of years ... all a result of some *big bang*. Well, OK ... I wasn't here (that I'm aware of) so I can't comment on how long the sun, moon, stars and earth have existed as far as time itself goes, maybe my upcoming Genesis/Revelation study will answer that question   :o}

Perhaps, as it is said in the Bible, a day is as a thousand years (Peter 3:8). So perhaps creation took 6,000  years (6 days) total, and God rested for the next 1,000 years (1 day) ... God doesn't live limited to time, since He created it in the first place ... He was before time was ... so there's no way to know how long the creation of things actually took. Consider this though, time itself didn't even start until the creation of the sun & moon, which is what we gauge our days/nights by as told in Genesis 1:14. And if Revelation's end brings us back to Genesis' beginning this could have gone on for millenium ... who can fathom the mind and creativity of God? For the record though, I do believe God is fully capable of doing all that is documented in six earthly days!

I'm on about something completely off topic, let me get back on the path huh!? OK so I'm reading Genesis (first two chapters), thinking I'll just remember what it says and then I'll read Revelation (last two chapters) and see if the one brings me back to the other. But alas it's not to be just yet ...

First I read Genesis 1:1-5 on how the earth was formless and void, darkness over the surface of the deep (waters), and how God was moving over the surface of the waters. Then He created light! What light He created isn't specificied but it's NOT the sun, read on, even if it were the sun the earth is already made! Then He sees that the light is good, and continues on to separate the light from the darkness. That was the evening and the morning of day one. Notice it was EVENING and then MORNING ... that is how God's days are, sundown to sundown, not midnight to midnight as we generally observe today.

Wait a minute ... am I reading that God created 1) the heaven, and 2) the earth? No surprise you say? Read on for the subsequent verses give more details!

Then I'm reading Genesis 1:6-8 where God created an expanse in the midst of the waters (oceans/seas & mist/clouds I assume) and that this expanse (atmosphere) separates the waters (below) from the waters (above) and He calls it heaven (see Genesis 1:20, where the birds fly), that's the EVENING and the MORNING of day two.

Then as I read Genesis 1:9-13 as He gathers the waters below the heavens, which He calls seas, and then dry land appears, which he calls earth. He seems to work doubletime on this day because then we read that vegetation sprouts ... plants yielding seeds, fruit trees yielding fruits AND seeds ... all after their own kind >>> sort of answers the question "Which came first, the chicken or the egg" doesn't it (see also Genesis 1:20-23)? Looks like the chicken to me, containing the seeds needed for future generations. All is good ... it's the EVENING and the MORNING of the third day.

We're just cruising right along eh? But here's where my *newest* revelation comes in, Genesis 1:14-19 (KJV)! Let me quote it exactly for you ...

Gen 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:

Gen 1:15  And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.

Gen 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.

Gen 1:17  And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,

Gen 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.

Gen 1:19  And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

WOW, did you see it? We know the earth was already created from Genesis 1:1-13! The earth was HERE FIRST. The sun, moon and stars came AFTER as we see in Genesis 14-19! The greater light refers to is the sun, the lesser light to rule the night is the moon ... and then the stars also. God made the EARTH FIRST, then the sun, moon & stars ... all other things were made to inhabit it, and subsequently for mankind's rule (dominion).

Genesis 1:14 (Strong's 03974, root word 0215) is indicating lights in the firmament of the heaven, which does not seem to be the same as the light on the earth as seen in Genesis 1:3 (Strong's 0216, root word 0215). Although these come from the same root word, they are different words with slightly different meanings (from BlueLetterBible.org):

Strong's 03974 (Hebrew)
     ma'owr {maw-ore'} or ma'or {maw-ore'} also (in pl.)
     fem. m@'owrah {meh-o-raw'} or m@orah {meh-o-raw'}
     1) light, luminary

Strong's 0216 (Hebrew)
    'owr {ore}
    1) light
        a) light of day
        b) light of heavenly luminaries (moon, sun, stars)
        c) day-break, dawn, morning light
        d) daylight
        e) lightning
        f) light of lamp
        g) light of life
        h) light of prosperity
        i) light of instruction
        j) light of face (fig.)
        k) Jehovah as Israel's light

In all the times I've read these passages, and that's been a few times throughout my life, this is the first time I really notice that God made the earth FIRST! I was so excited by that little revelation that I had to stop reading for a few moments to document this and share it with you!

Well there you have it. I lumped in a couple of other of my previous revelations in bold because they are important to note. I'm sure I'm not finished writing on Genesis, there are so many fascinating aspects to it, so I will revisit it verse by verse in another writing.

Read your bibles ... it's a wealth of knowledge. But not only read it, pay attention to WHAT you are reading ... zoom in on the words and study each word of each verse ... have eyes to see and ears to hear. I hope you have found these little revelations inspiring! God Bless and thanks for reading.

Here's one more tidbit of scripture from 2 Peter 3:5 regarding heaven & earth :o} I bet you didn't notice this either ... 

"For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God {the} heavens existed long ago and {the} earth was formed out of water and by water"