Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Take Care of Your Heart

Matt 5:8
Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.

Written by Imagine Foods


According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. Death from heart attack, stroke, and other cardiovascular diseases claims one American life every 34 seconds.
Like any other muscle in the body, the heart requires preventive care if it is to continue to operate at top form. While some people are afflicted with congenital heart disease, most people who are affected can point to the way they live as a contributor to their problems. Fortunately, with lifestyle changes, many of these contributing factors can be lessened or eliminated entirely.
  • Smoking: The risk of heart disease for smokers is more than twice that of non-smokers. Smokers who quit now will greatly reduce their risk of heart disease and heart attack.
  • High fat/high cholesterol diet: There are many wonderful food products available today that are free of cholesterol and saturated fat. Imagine Foods, a natural foods company, makes an array of beverages (Rice Dream and Soy Dream), soups (Imagine Natural Organic Soups and Broths), and Soy Dream and Rice Dream Frozen Desserts that are nondairy, cholesterol free and delicious.In 2001, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said that foods containing at least 6.25 grams of soy protein per serving that are also “low fat,” can claim to be “heart healthy” on their products’ labels, because these foods play a part in reducing the risk of heart disease. Imagine Foods’ Soy Dream Beverages, by way of example, has 7 grams of soy protein in an 8-ounce serving, so it is considered a “heart healthy” food product according to the FDA’s guidelines.
  • High blood pressure: A healthy diet (low in saturated fat and cholesterol, high in grains, fruits and vegetables (a plant based diet), losing weight, exercising regularly, restricting sodium, and using medication might help lower blood pressure to a healthy level.
  • Family history of coronary artery disease: Make sure that you are aware of your individual medical histories, and that you consult a health care provider for a complete physical.
  • Diabetes: The incidence of type 2 diabetes is nearing epidemic proportions in the United States. Many people who are overweight or obese are at risk for type 2 diabetes.
  • Lack of exercise: In 1996 the U.S. Surgeon General’s Report on Physical Activity and Health advised Americans to get at least a half-hour of vigorous exercise each day. This year, the National Academies’ Institute of Medicine recommended doubling the amount of physical activity from 30 minutes to 60 minutes of moderately intense physical activity each day.
  • Obesity: An estimated 120 million adults in the United States. are overweight or obese. Weight control can be accomplished by various methods including changing your diet to include more “heart healthy” ingredients like those made without saturated fat and cholesterol. Instead of enjoying cream style soups full of dairy and saturated fats, try Imagine Natural Organic Soups and Broths, they’re creamy, delicious and completely dairy and cholesterol free.
  • Stress: Exercise is a wonderful stress reliever, but there are plenty of other ways to stop life’s pressures from reaching the boiling point. Some include keeping a journal, meditating regularly, reading novels that “take you away,” spending time with friends and family and trying your hand at healthy all natural recipes.

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

How Does God Foreknow Free Choices? by Dr william lane Crain




Greetings,
I have been listening to and reading a lot of your material over the last year, and have been learning a lot - not least from the Defenders podcast. I've been searching in your material for the answer to a specific question, but haven't found it - and therefore I write you now.
I'm trying to sort out the matter of free will and God's foreknowledge, and I've come to understand that there is no contradiction between God's foreknowing a free choice, and that choice being truly free. Foreknowing doesn't equal determining.
But - here is my question: How? How does God foreknow what I would freely choose? I can see how he could foresee my choices if I was determined to make a specific choice, based on my genetics/upbringing/situation. But then the will isn't free - is it?
If God knows the position and speed of every particle in the universe - then he could foresee every future event, where the cause/effect is within the realm of materia. But our free choice isn't.
So - in short: By what means can God know what I would freely choose?
Thanks for your time, and for your great work in the Lord.
Paulus


Norway .
Your question presupposes that God exists in time, as we do. But if God exists timelessly, He does not have literal foreknowledge. For what is future for us is not future for Him. So He knows what is future for us, but He does not foreknow it. Defenders of divine timelessness, then, have no difficulty with your question, since it presupposes a temporal deity.
But suppose we think, as I do, that God does exist at every time that there is and so does literally foreknow the future. As you rightly point out, foreknowledge of free choices cannot be based upon inference from present causes, for that would imply determinism and annihilate free choice. So God must know future free choices in some other way.
In getting at this question, it is useful to distinguish two models of divine cognition: a perceptualist model and a conceptualist model. The perceptualist model thinks of God’s cognition on the analogy of sense perception. This model is implicitly presupposed when people talk, as you do, of God’s “foreseeing future events.” He somehow looks ahead in time and “sees” what is there. The language is metaphorical, but I can think of at least two ways to make a perceptualist model of divine foreknowledge work, though they both involve ontological commitments which I am not willing to make.
One way would be to adopt a tenseless theory of time, according to which all events, past, present, and future, are equally real and temporal becoming is just a subjective illusion of human consciousness. The perceptualist model runs into trouble only if time is tensed, for then there is nothing in the future to see. But if all events in time are equally existent, then there is something there for God to perceive. He can just look and see what actually lies ahead.
Another way would be to hold that there are abstract objects (propositions) which bear the values true or false. On a realist view of such objects, there is no need for God to look into the future in order to know what will happen. Rather He can know the future simply by inspecting future-tense propositions (or tenseless propositions about future events) which presently exist and bear the properties true or false. An omniscient God cannot be ignorant of the properties which presently inhere in things. If we are reluctant, as I am, to ascribe reality to abstract objects like propositions, perhaps we could substitute for propositions God’s own belief states or thoughts and the truth values inhering in them.
But there is no reason to adopt a perceptualist model of divine cognition, which is a terribly anthropomorphic way of thinking of God’s cognition—God certainly doesn’t know mathematical or ethical truths, for example, on the basis of anything like sense perception. Rather we can adopt a conceptualist model, which thinks of God’s knowledge more on the analogy of innate ideas. Plato thought that human knowledge is innate and that education consists in simply helping us to recollect the knowledge that we have forgotten. However implausible such a model might be for human cognition, it seems perfectly suited to divine cognition. As an essentially omniscient being God has the property of believing only and all truths. He didn’t get this knowledge from anywhere; He just has it innately. Compare other divine attributes like omnipotence. It makes no sense to ask how God is omnipotent. Exercise? Practice? No, God simply has the essential property of being omnipotent. In the same way He simply has the essential attribute of being omniscient. But then it follows that He must know all future-tense truths, which gives Him complete knowledge of the future.
I am perfectly satisfied with such a simple conceptualist model of divine cognition, but we can push the analysis a notch further. For if God has what theologians call “middle knowledge,” then foreknowledge immediately follows as a consequence. By His middle knowledge God knows what every free person He could have created would freely do in any set of circumstances in which God might place him. So by creating certain persons and placing them in certain circumstances, God knows exactly what they will do, and that without abridging their freedom in any way. God knows the future simply on the basis of His middle knowledge and His knowledge of His choice of which persons and circumstances to create, without any sort of perception of the world.
Of course, this raises the question of the basis of God’s middle knowledge, and here the same sort of answers will be replayed. For example, if individual essences exist (e.g., your essential properties), then God can simply inspect them to see what contingent counterfactual properties inhere in them concerning what the relevant persons would do in various circumstances, were those essences to be instantiated. I’m inclined to regard God’s middle knowledge simply as innate knowledge, which is His in virtue of being an omniscient being.

Monday, July 27, 2015

INTRANSIGENCE ABOUT OBJECTIVE MORAL VALUES

Intransigence about Objective Moral Values
Question:

Hello,

The last few weeks I have been working my way through On Guard (and was, needless to say, thrilled by it, just as I was by Reasonable Faith).

I just had a long conversation with a fellow student of our local university. He knows that I am a Christian, and since the topic shifted toward values and ethics, I began asking him questions about his beliefs on the existence of subjective and objective values - based on the premises that

1. If God does not exist, then objective values do not exist.

2. Objective Values exist.

3. Therefore, God exists.

It was a very tough conversation (albeit a cordial one), and I am very glad that my friend is still interested in picking up the conversation where we left off (it is now past 3am in Germany) - he seemed surprisingly hooked by the debate, took his time to think his answers through, and was the one to suggest continuing it sometime soon. (I am praying for him to find Christ).

So I just have a few questions: This person is not unsympathetic, in fact, he is generally kinder than most people I have known.

However, he seems to cling to the belief that objective values do NOT exist - because however bad we might think an action to be, there will never be universal consensus on its being bad.

I tried to explain that this was moving into the realm of subjective values - for instance, even if everyone on earth had been brainwashed and persuaded of national socialism (in which condition the whole world would be subject to a subjective value), this wouldn't change the fact that objectively spoken, the holocaust was still wrong (just like, while the whole world subjectively thought that the earth was flat, objectively the fact remained that it was round, not flat, even when no one believed this). He didn't disagree on this, however he is still not convinced that objective values exist, saying that objectivity only applies to facts, not values.

How could I respond to this?

My friend also does not find any "problem" with the naturalist assumption that without God naturalism reigns and morality is a delusion (Although he does admit that it is a bitter truth) - and although I countered with naturalist, Darwinist and evolutionary arguments (the shark forcing the female to mate, humanity as compared to bees in a hive, the baboon's self-sacrifice as equal to man's conditioned values, etc.), he still clings to this naturalist worldview. (I also might add that he comes from a Chinese background, thought he isn't per se religious at all. I don't even know yet whether he is an agnostic or an atheist, but am destined to find out soon.)

Is there any argument or example I could use that might be able to open his eyes? How am I to adequately continue this conversation?

It is the first time that I have dared to venture into the realm of philosophical debate - and I feel very incompetent, as I am very new to it all.

I would be really grateful for help (and prayers)!

Sincerely,

Christina
Germany

Dr. Craig responds:

I’ve been told that the attitude that there are no objective moral values or duties is very widespread among German youth, Christina. I find this surprising, almost shocking, in a country that experienced the horrors of Nazism, including the Holocaust. It seems incredible that people would sincerely believe that such an atrocity is morally indifferent.

It makes me wonder if these people are just assuming the truth of atheism, for if they are, then I agree with them that on that assumption there are no objective moral values and duties. That’s just premiss (1) of the argument! So I, like your friend, do not “find any ‘problem’ with the naturalist assumption that without God naturalism reigns and morality is a delusion.” You should not try to counter that belief; you should reinforce it!

But the point is that naturalism can’t just be assumed to be true, for such an assumption would beg the question in favor of atheism. We need to ask ourselves, setting aside the assumption of atheism, do objective values and duties exist? In moral experience we find that various values and duties present themselves to us as objectively binding and true. So why deny that experience?

Your friend’s argument—that “objective values do NOT exist because however bad we might think an action to be, there will never be universal consensus on its being bad—is a bad argument, as you point out. He’s confusing objectivity with universality. But universality is neither a necessary nor sufficient condition of objectivity. Just as I don’t allow a blind person’s failure to observe a tree to lead me to doubt the objective reality of what I see clearly, so I shouldn’t let the moral blindness of the Nazi war criminal lead me to doubt that the Holocaust was evil. To think that a lack of universal consensus undercuts objectivity is to confuse moral epistemology with moral ontology.

Now it sounds as if your friend was convinced by your reply to his objection—way to go, Christina! That’s progress! But now he comes back with a new objection: “objectivity only applies to facts, not values.” Unlike his first objection, this claim is not an argument but merely a reassertion of moral subjectivism. It’s just saying in different words that there are no objective moral values and duties. But what we wanted from him was some reason to doubt the deliverances of our moral experience. He hasn’t provided one.

I see that your friend is Chinese. If he was raised and educated in China, then he may well be presupposing a defunct positivistic epistemology, according to which ethical statements make no factual assertions. He needs to understand that this view, popular in the 1930s and ’40s, has been virtually universally abandoned in Western philosophy. It was rooted in the Verification Principle of meaning, which held that if a statement cannot be empirically verified, it is meaningless and devoid of factual content. This principle was not only implausible, consigning vast tracts of human discourse to meaninglessness, but also proved to be self-defeating, since it cannot itself be empirically verified and so is by its own lights devoid of factual content.

So why can’t it be a fact that the Holocaust was evil? Why can’t it be a fact that the incarceration and gassing of innocent people was wrong? Why can’t it be a fact that Germany society today is, overall, morally better than it was during the 1930s? These seem like facts to me. A fact is just a true statement. Why should I think that these statements are not true?

Louise Anthony, herself a non-theist, put it so well in her debate with me: “Any argument for moral scepticism is going to be based on premisses which are less obvious than the reality of moral values themselves.” Your friend’s scepticism certainly bears out her claim.

You ask if there is “any argument or example I could use that might be able to open his eyes?” That’s a question about his personal psychology. See my QoW #431 concerning unbelievers who refuse to be convinced. You’re giving him good arguments and can’t guarantee that he’ll find them convincing. If he was raised in China, you might use illustrations of moral atrocities that might connect with him, like the rape of Nanking by Imperial Japan or the killing of students in Tiananmen Square. Ask him if he thinks it would be all right for him to betray his parents to the government authorities if they were secretly sheltering a North Korean refugee. Remind him that he has to set aside his presupposition of atheism in answering these questions, since we agree that on atheism there are no objective values and duties. You might also share with him other arguments for God’s existence, so that he can see that the moral argument is part of a powerful cumulative case for Christian theism. And, of course, continue to be his friend, regardless of what he thinks. That personal interest may be more effective in opening his heart than the arguments.



Saturday, May 30, 2015

WORLD BEFORE ADAM( PART6)

. The main difference between God’s judgements of Lucifer’s world and Noah’s world is that Lucifer’s world was completely destroyed. All life on earth in Lucifer’s world totally perished. This was not the case resulting from God’s judgement of Noah’s world. God did not completely destroy all of Noah’s world. All life on earth did not totally perish, as in the case of Lucifer’s world. Of course, in both of these judgements of God, Satan and his fallen angels could not perish because God created them as immortal spirit beings. Finally, let us now consider some relevant scientific theories, which complete our study of the Pre-Adamic Age.  The K-T extinction event Many scientists now believe in a theory proposed in 1980 by the physicist Luis Alvarez and his son Walter Alvarez, a geologist. Their theory says that a mass extinction of plant and animal species occurred as a result of a huge asteroid impacting the earth's surface at the end of the Cretaceous period, sixty-five million years ago. This is known as the K-T extinction event. The following quote summaries the general scientific belief about this K-T extinction event. 'In the Alvarezes' scenario, an asteroid 10 kilometers in diameter struck the earth at high velocity, forming a crater 150 kilometers wide. In addition to the immediate devastation of tidal waves, global fires, and giant storms, impact debris hurled into the atmosphere at high altitude spread around the Earth,preventing sunlight from reaching the ground. With photosynthesis blocked, herbivorous and carnivorous species died as the food chain was snapped at its base.' It is interesting, yet not surprising, that this scientific theory supports the Bible's account of God's global tohuw and bohuw judgement in the Pre-Adamic World. We know from Scripture that God's global tohuw and bohuw judgement involves the powers of the heavens being shaken, stars (asteroids) falling on earth and sunlight being withheld or blocked from reaching the earth’s surface. Do you know that the Bible is amazingly clear that the earth will be struck by an asteroid once again in the future tohuw and bohuw judgement, at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ? Revelation 9:1-21 Then the fifth angel sounded: And I saw a star (asteroid) fallen from heaven to the earth. To him (the angel) was given the key to the bottomless pit. 2 And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace. So the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit.  Uniformitarianism Scientists worldwide are increasingly beginning to realise that they must include catastrophic events in their philosophy of uniformitarianism. This is a scientific theory, which says that geological processes operating at present are the same processes that operated in the past, and that there have been no catastrophic events in earth's history. Uniformitarianism is commonly described as 'the present is the key to the past'. Scientists are now beginning to accept that geological evidence shows that catastrophic events occurred in earth's history and 'the present is not always the key to the past'. Obviously, uniformitarianism has played a part in the shaping of earth's geology, as the earth is millions of years old. However, it is clear that earth's geology has also been greatly impacted by God's global cataclysmic tohuw and bohuw judgement of Genesis 1:2. We believe that Christians who are knowledgeable geological scientists, and who understand and accept the truth of the Pre-Adamic world, which lasted many millions of years, are in the best position to correctly understand earth's geology. The ‘Big Bang’ theory The Big Bang theory, which teaches that the universe began with an explosion of a primeval atom, is unbiblical and nonsensical. How can the vast universe, with billions of galaxies and stars and our beautiful planet earth with its amazingly complex and intricate design and life, come from an explosion of one tiny atom? Where would this primeval atom have originated in the first place? The truth of the Bible that God created the universe and the earth in the beginning instantaneously, many millions of years ago, makes a lot more sense than the Big Bang theory. The theory of Evolution God is the Creator of all things. He commands and things happen. There is not a hint anywhere in the Bible that God used evolution to create life. As we reject Young Earth Creationism, we also reject the theory of Evolution. Conclusion We appreciate that Young Earth Creationists are passionate in their belief that the Bible is the infallible Word of God, God is the Creator and Evolution is a false theory. However, the sad irony is that YEC itself, with its false interpretation of the creation account in Genesis and belief in a young earth, supplies evolutionists and atheists with all the ammunition they need to ridicule the Bible as contradictory, illogical and scientifically nonsensical. Young Earth Creationism has yet to discover the biblically correct 'Answers in Genesis', answers that are not only very logical, but also, scientifically and geologically defensible, answers that not only protect, but also, enhance the credibility of the Bible as the true Word of God. The correct biblical understanding of the Genesis account of creation and acknowledgement of the Pre-Adamic World is the best and the only way to fight the false theories of The Big Bang and Evolution taught in our schools and universities today.   

WORLD BEFORE ADAM ( PART 5)

   Day Five (Genesis 1:20-23)God creates sea life and bird life. Day Six (Genesis 1:24-31)God creates animal life on land. Then, God creates man in His own image, the pinnacle of His creation.  The important difference between Bara and Asah  Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created (bara) the heavens and the earth. The inspired Hebrew word for create in Genesis 1:1 is bara, when God created the heavens and the earth in the beginning. However, the inspired Hebrew word for make in Genesis 1:16 is asah, when God made the sun, the moon and the stars to be set in the firmament on Day Four of the six-day creation week.  These two accounts are not contradictory as they refer to two different situations. The first account of creation (bara) in Genesis 1:1 relates to the beginning of time, millions of years ago at the start of the Pre-Adamic Age, when God instantaneously created the heavens and the earth at His command. The second account in Genesis 1:16 of making (asah) the sun, the moon and the stars relates to their appearance in the firmament (meaning the sky), from an earthly perspective, on Day Four of the six-day creation. period , approximately six-ten thousand years ago at the start of the Adamic Age.
    The single most important 'proof text' used by some Creationists is Exodus 20:11. Let us examine this verse in detail, and show that it is also misunderstood by these Creationists. Exodus 20:11 For in six days the LORD made (asah) the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.  The Bible is consistent. In this verse, we see that the inspired Hebrew word asah, and not bara, is used to refer to the making of the heavens and the earth in six days.The Bible makes a clear distinction between the creation of the heavens and the earth in the beginning, by using the Hebrew word bara, and the renewal of the heavens and the earth in six days, by using the Hebrew word asah. These Hebrew words bara and asah are not used interchangeably with respect to the heavens and the earth, despite what some Creationists say. We shall now prove this point by using relevant scriptures.There are five places in the Bible where bara denotes the instantaneous creation of the heavens and the earth in the beginning. These five places are Genesis 1:1, Genesis 2:3-4, Psalm 148:5, Isaiah 42:5 and Isaiah 45:18. We have already looked at three of these references, Genesis 1:1, Psalm 148:5, and Isaiah 45:18. Let us now consider the remaining two references Isaiah 42:5 and Genesis 2:3-4. Isaiah 42:5 says, “Thus says God the LORD, Who created (bara) the heavens and stretched them out”. This clearly refers to the instantaneous creation of the heavens (the universe) in the beginning, agreeing with Genesis 1:1. We will now take a detailed look at Genesis 2:3-4, where the context clearly shows that bara is specifically used to denote the instantaneous creation of the heavens and the earth in the beginning.Genesis 2:3-4 (KJV)3 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created (bara) and made (asah). 4 These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created (bara), in the day that the LORD God made (asah) the earth and the heavens. These two verses clearly demonstrate the distinction in the use of the inspired Hebrew words bara and asah, and show that they are not interchangeable when relating to the heavens and the earth. Please note, in verse 3 above, that God rested from all His work, which He had created and made. The Holy Spirit would not have used bara and asah in the same sentence, one following the other, if they had both meant the same thing and were interchangeable. It is clear that there is a distinction between these two words. This distinction is reinforced in verse 4 above, when relating these two words to the heavens and the earth. Please note that the generations of the heavens and the earth include both their creationand their making (renewal). The fact that the word ‘generations’ is plural further confirms that God is speaking about two separate situations in the history of the heavens and the earth. This verse demonstrates that the instantaneous creation (bara) of the heavens and the earth in the beginning was followed, in a later generation, by the making (asah) of the heavens and the earth in six days, which is referred to in this verse as 'the day'. This scripture agrees with both Genesis 1:1 and Exodus 20:11. Let us now make further comments on the Hebrew word asah. The Hebrew word asah occurs 2633 times in the Old Testament. Out of these, asah is used approximately twenty times to refer to the making of the heavens and the earth, when God renewed them in the six-day creation week. We have already considered three of these twenty occurrences in Genesis 1:16, Exodus 20:11 and Genesis 2:3-4. We will consider one more example, Nehemiah 9:6, which is a key text used by Young Earth Creationism to wrongly say that bara and asah are interchangeable, when the Bible speaks about either the creation or the making of the heavens and the earth.      Nehemiah 9:6You alone are the LORD; You have made (asah) heaven, The heaven of heavens, with all their host, The earth and everything on it, The seas and all that is in them, And You preserve them all. The host of heaven worships You.  In this scripture, Nehemiah is praising God for what he sees from man’s earthly perspective, for the generation of the heavens and the earth that God made (asah) in six days when He renewed the face of the earth, thus agreeing with Genesis 2:3-4, previously commented on. Nehemiah 9:6 only refers to the making (asah) of the heavens and the earth in the six-day creation week, but it has nothing to say about the creation (bara) of the heavens and the earth in the beginning. So, these Creationists are far from the real situation in saying that Nehemiah 9:6 proves that the Hebrew words bara and asah are interchangeable. We have shown from Scripture that God makes a clear distinction between the Hebrew words bara and asah when referring to the heavens and the earth. This is to uphold the truth of the Pre-Adamic Age, and God’s global tohuw and bohuw judgement against Satan and his fallen angels.  It was very good In this chapter, we have already examined two of the three key proof texts, Romans 5:12 and Exodus 20:11, used by these Creationists to prop up their unbiblical theory of a young earth. Let us now examine their third key proof text, Genesis 1:31. Genesis 1:31Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.  The theory of a young earth Creationism argues that God could not have pronounced that everything was very good in the Garden of Eden if there had been evidence of death and destruction, in the form of millions of animal fossils underneath the earth's surface, from a previous Pre-Adamic world. This is an erroneous argument, which is easily refuted by considering Jeremiah 31:40.  Jeremiah 31:40And the whole valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes, and all the fields as far as the Brook Kidron, to the corner of the Horse Gate toward the east, shall be holy to the LORD. It shall not be plucked up or thrown down anymore forever.  Jeremiah Chapter 31 is a prophecy about the coming Millennial Kingdom of God to earth following God’s future global judgement against this sinful world at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. This judgement will cause massive worldwide death and destruction, and in Israel there will be huge numbers of dead bodies, including those of the armies of Gog and Magog who will fight in the final great battle of Armageddon. Please note in Jeremiah 31:40 above that the whole valley and all of the fields of dead bodies in and around Jerusalem will be holy to the Lord. Obviously, holy means that it is very good in the Lord's eyes. Would Young Earth Creationists argue with God that He does not have the right to make the valley and fields of dead bodies holy? In fact, God will turn all of the desolate, wasted and ruined places, including the valley and fields of dead bodies, into a very good Garden of Eden during His Millennial Kingdom. Ezekiel 36:35 So they will say, 'This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden; and the wasted, desolate, and ruined cities are now fortified and inhabited.'  As we have seen, Young Earth Creationists have no ‘proof texts’ to support their false theory of a young earth. They have misunderstood and misinterpreted all three of their so-called proof texts, Romans 5:12, Exodus 20:11 and Genesis 1:31, to uphold their unbiblical belief in a young earth of approximately six thousand years. Let us now go on to see that earth's geology abundantly supports God’s Pre-Adamic global tohuw and bohuw judgement, which Young Earth Creationism rejects.   Earth's geology supports God's global judgements The Bible speaks of two global judgements in the history of the earth, which resulted in catastrophic mass extinctions of life on earth, first in Lucifer's World during the Pre-Adamic Age, and then in Noah's World during the Adamic Age. There is overwhelming support for God's global tohuw and bohuw judgement against Lucifer's world in the Pre-Adamic Age. Scientists have long been puzzled about how the continents moved apart to their present day positions. We believe that God’s tohuw and bohuw judgement in the Pre-Adamic Age was so massively cataclysmic that the earth’s crust broke up into plates and caused the large-scale movement of these tectonic plates resulting in the continents moving apart, as well as causing earthquakes, volcanoes, oceanic trenches, mountain range formation, and many other geological features. There were such upheavals that even the seabeds were raised to form sedimentary mountains like the Himalayas. We believe that other impressive geological features such as the huge and deep Grand Canyon were birthed at this time. In addition, earth's strata folded trapping the dense Pre-Adamic forests resulting in vast deposits and reservoirs of fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas. Earth's rocks contain millions of fossils of sea and land animals. These include some amazingly huge animal fossils, like woolly mammoths and dinosaurs, which must have roamed the Pre-Adamic world in the Pre-Adamic atmosphere. Many scientists believe that these animals suffered a sudden and abrupt extinction, many millions of years ago. It is highly significant that no human fossils have been found alongside dinosaurs, woolly mammoths and other ancient animal fossils. This does not surprise us, as God did not create man in the Pre-Adamic Age. It is clear from Genesis 1:2 that God's global judgement against Lucifer's world resulted in a global Ice Age, which is supported by earth's geology. ‘Snowball Earth’ is a scientific hypothesis that the earth's surface became entirely frozen over at least once in its history. It is worth noting that the geological community generally accepts this hypothesis because it best explains glacial geological features surprisingly found in the tropics. During the 1970's, in the Namibian desert, geologist Joseph Kirschvink found sedimentary deposits containing drop stones, which are of glacial origin. This scientific evidence, showing that even the tropics were once completely under water and frozen, supports the biblical account of God’s judgement against Lucifer’s world resulting in a global Ice Age. Although Noah’s world suffered God’s judgement of a global flood, very little geological evidence of it survives today. This is because Noah's world did not suffer a global tohuw and bohuw judgement, as experienced by Lucifer’s world. In God’s judgement of Noah’s world, the powers of the heavens were not shaken, and there were no cataclysmic upheavals of the earth's surface such that mountains were formed. Also, there was no withdrawal or darkening of the sun to cause global freezing of the flood waters. In order for fossils to form, living organisms need to be buried quickly between two layers of rocks and/or quickly frozen before the natural process of decay can take place. Geologists have failed to discover fossils in any vast number, which they consider to be only a few thousand years old. The fact that no human fossils have been found in any number anywhere on earth proves that Noah's world did not suffer a global tohuw and bohuw judgement. It is therefore clear that it was not God’s judgement against Noah's world, but God’s judgement against Lucifer's world in the Pre-Adamic Age that caused massive cataclysmic upheavals of the earth's surface greatly impacting earth's geology to bear witness for us all to see today. Young Earth Creationism uses Noah's Flood as a catchall solution to explain earth's geology. In order to fit with Noah's Flood, Young Earth Creationism must massage, manipulate and assume scientific data to explain away many of earth's geological features such as the massive sedimentary mountain ranges, fossil fuels, dinosaurs, the Ice Age and millions of animal fossils like woolly mammoths found in ice. Also, it has no valid explanation for the lack of human fossils in the geological record. High hills and mountains already existed before Noah's Flood, as the Bible clearly tells us. Noah must have used tons of pitch to cover and seal the incredibly huge Ark and, as pitch is derived from coal and oil, this proves that fossil fuels preceded Noah's Flood. Young Earth Creationism tries to explain the Ice Age unconvincingly as a post Noah's Flood event, yet the Bible clearly speaks about an Ice Age in the second verse of the Bible. Apostle Peter speaks about both global floods, Lucifer’s flood and Noah’s flood. 2 Peter 2:5and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly This scripture clearly refers to Noah’s flood. Now, let us carefully examine the second scripture spoken by Apostle Peter about the other past judgement of God, which also resulted in global flooding. 2 Peter 3:5-65 For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, 6 by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. Please note that this scripture says ‘the world that then existed perished’. This scripture refers to Lucifer’s flood in the Pre-Adamic Age, and not to Noah’s flood in the Adamic Age.

WORLD BEFORE ADAM (PART 4)

Let us now summarise the events that lead to the fall of Lucifer and his angels. Lucifer was the anointed cherub who governed the beautiful luxuriant Garden of Eden earth in the Pre-Adamic world. He was adorned with precious stones and gifted with musical instruments to worship God. He had freedom of movement as a trusted holy angel of God to move back and forth from earth to heaven (God’s dwelling place). Lucifer became tempted and sinned when iniquity was found in his heart. He became jealous of God and decided to lead a rebellion to try to usurp God from His throne in heaven. Lucifer, a holy angel and bearer of light, became Satan, a sinful angel of darkness, because of his sin of rebellion. Satan and his angels (a third of the angels) ascended from the earth to rebel against God in heaven. War broke out in heaven and Michael and his angels defeated Satan and his angels, who were violently cast back down to earth (Revelation 12:4) with cataclysmic global consequences for the earth. Satan and his angels are now confined to earth and its atmosphere, chained in spiritual darkness, reserved until their final judgement in the Lake of Fire. We can now confidently conclude that when the Bible says in Genesis 1:2, 'The earth became chaotic and wasted and darkness was on the face of the deep... ' that the Bible is speaking about God's global cataclysmic tohuw and bohuw judgement when He cast Satan and his fallen angels back down to earth because of their sin of rebellion. This all happened sometime, millions of years ago, in the Pre-Adamic Age. The beautiful Pre-Adamic Garden of Eden earth of Genesis 1:1, which God created in the beginning, was transformed into a totally ruined chaotic earth shrouded in darkness and covered by deep frozen flood waters (ice) by the time we come to Genesis 1:2.  The Bible affirms that Genesis 1:2 is indeed speaking about the state of the earth, which resulted from God’s judgement, and it is not the description of a stage in the construction of the earth, as mistakenly believed by some Creationists. The Hebrew words tohuw and bohuw occur together in the same verse only twice in the whole of the Bible. The first time is in Genesis 1:2 and the second time is in Jeremiah 4:23, which also describes God’s global judgement. However, the Jeremiah 4:23 global judgement of God is yet to be carried out against this present sinful world at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Let us now clearly further demonstrate that the words tohuw and bohuw used in Genesis 1:2 are in fact describing God’s global judgement in the Pre-Adamic Age. We demonstrate this by comparing Genesis 1:2 with Jeremiah 4:23 to appreciate that both of these verses speak about God’s tohuw and bohuw global judgements. Genesis 1:2 (NIV)Now the earth was (hayah, meaning became) formless (tohuw), and empty (bohuw), darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. Jeremiah 4:23 (NIV)I looked at the earth, and it was formless (tohuw), and empty (bohuw); and at the heavens, and their light was gone. Genesis 1:2 is a description of God’s global tohuw and bohuw judgement against sinful fallen angels carried out at some point in the Pre-Adamic Age millions of years ago, as discussed previously.   
    We know from the Bible that there was another global judgement when God flooded and destroyed the whole of Noah’s world, approximately 4300 years ago, because of the wickedness of men who were deceived and inspired by Satan and his fallen angels. This global judgement of God against Noah’s world was not a tohuw and bohuw judgement. However, there will be yet another global judgement referred to in Jeremiah 4:23 above, which will be a tohuw and bohuw judgement against this present sinful world of man, which remains deceived and inspired by Satan and his fallen angels. This future global judgement will occur at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Jeremiah was inspired to write about future events that will come to pass in this present age, during the final period of the Great Tribulation at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Jeremiah 4:5-28 is a prophecy about God's horrific tohuw and bohuw judgement against Israel and the whole world ,readers may have to refer to Jeremiah 4:5-28 in their Bibles to note the following points. Verses 6 and 7 say that God will bring disaster and destruction from the north upon Israel. Israel will become desolate, and its cities will be laid waste. Verse 8 says that the fierce anger of the Lord will not be turned back. Verse 12 says that God will speak judgement against the people of Jerusalem. Verse 13 speaks about the return of Jesus Christ on the clouds. Verses 14 to 18 speak about people's wickedness. Verse 20 says that God will bring destruction upon destruction. We now come to the key verse Jeremiah 4:23.  Jeremiah 4:23 (NIV)I looked at the earth, and it was formless (tohuw), and empty (bohuw); and at the heavens, and their light was gone. Notice that Jeremiah saw the whole earth in a state of tohuw and bohuw, which means a chaotic, wasted and empty state. Also, he saw that the heavens had no light, meaning that the earth was plunged into total darkness. The state of the earth, which Jeremiah saw, resembles the description of the earth as given in Genesis 1:2, except that there was no global flooding. This is because God promised never to flood the earth again following Noah's flood. Let us now read Jeremiah 4:24-28, in order to clearly understand what the future tohuw and bohuw judgement will involve. 
    Jeremiah 4:24-28. 24 "I beheld the mountains, and indeed they trembled, And all the hills moved back and forth. 25 I beheld, and indeed there was no man, And all the birds of the heavens had fled. 26 I beheld, and indeed the fruitful land was a wilderness, And all its cities were broken down at the presence of the LORD, by His fierce anger. 27 For thus says the LORD "The whole land shall be desolate; Yet I will not make a full end. 28 For this shall the earth mourn, And the heavens above be black, Because I have spoken. I have purposed and will not relent, Nor will I turn back from it".  Please bear in mind that in these verses Jeremiah is speaking about the future judgement against this present world, at the return of Jesus Christ. Notice that this future tohuw and bohuw judgement will not only involve the sun being darkened but also the mountains will shake and the hills will be moved out of their place, and the earth will be reduced to a wilderness. This tohuw and bohuw judgement against the whole earth at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, as prophesied by the prophet Jeremiah, is also described and prophesied by Apostle John in Revelation 6:12-17, and by Jesus Christ Himself in Matthew 24:29-30. You will note that there are close similarities between these three prophecies, which means that they are speaking of the same global tohuw and bohuw judgement.  By putting together the scriptures Jeremiah 4:24-28, Revelation 6:12-17 and Matthew 24:29-30, we can clearly see that God’s future global tohuw and bohuw judgement at the end of this present age will be absolutely cataclysmic, involving the powers of the heavens being shaken, the stars (meteorites) falling onto earth, the sun and the moon being darkened, great earthquakes and upheavals causing every mountain and every island to shake and move out of its place, great global devastation of the earth's surface causing chaos and waste, massive destruction of all types of life, and surviving unbelievers so terrified that they hide away from the face of the returning Jesus Christ and His wrath. Unlike the previous tohuw and bohuw judgement in the Pre-Adamic Age when all living plants and animals were totally destroyed, God will not totally destroy ‘not make a full end’ to all life on earth in the future tohuw and bohuw judgement. There will be a proportion of earth’s population who will survive it to enter Christ’s Millennial Kingdom on earth, over whom Christ and His resurrected Bride will rule and reign. As mentioned, it is significant that the Hebrew wordstohuw and bohuw occur together in the same verse only twice in the Bible, the first time in Genesis 1:2 and the second time in Jeremiah 4:23. We have highlighted and described in detail the future judgement against this present sinful world of man referred to in Jeremiah 4:23, to further prove the point that Genesis 1:2 also speaks about God’s global judgement. Genesis 1:2 is definitely not the description of a stage in the construction of the earth, as mistakenly believed by some Creationists. There should now be no doubt in the minds of our readers that Genesis 1:2 is a description of the state of the earth resulting from the horrific cataclysmic global judgement, which God carried out in the Pre-Adamic Age, because of the sins of angels; and there is indeed an age-gap of many millions of years between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2. This age-gap is the Pre-Adamic Age. Please understand that the Pre-Adamic Age consisted of two long periods of time, which together would have been millions of years. During the first long period of time, the earth was a beautiful Garden of Eden as first created in the beginning when the angels rejoiced over it. During the second long period of time, the earth was in a totally ruined state, after it had been destroyed in God’s judgement of Satan and his angels, until it was renewed by God at the beginning of the Adamic Age. The Pre-Adamic earth was destroyed because of the sins of angels. However, God understood right from the beginning, before He created the universe and the earth, that this would happen because God is all knowing and He knows the end from the beginning. Although God destroyed the Pre-Adamic earth, it was always in His Plan to renew the earth and start the Second Age, the Adamic Age. This was when God created man in His image, the pinnacle of His creation. God created the first man, Adam, at the beginning of the Second Age when God renewed the earth and its atmosphere in the six-day creation week.  Some Creationists confuse the beginning of the Pre-Adamic Age, which happened many millions of years ago with the beginning of the Adamic Age, which happened only approximately six-ten thousand years ago. 
    Let us be clear in our minds that: Genesis 1:1 refers to the beginning of time, many millions of years ago, when God first created the heavens and the earth. This also marked the beginning of the First Age, the Pre-Adamic Age, in God's Plan of the Ages. Genesis 1:3-5 refers to the first 24-hour day in the beginning of the Adamic Age, the Second Age, long after God had destroyed the Pre-Adamic world through His global tohuw and bohuw judgement because of the sins of angels. The Adamic Age started about six-ten thousand years ago.  The Beginning of the Adamic Age As we have shown, the original beautiful Garden of Eden earth of Genesis 1:1 became the ruined, chaotic, dark and flooded earth of Genesis 1:2 when Satan and his fallen angels were cast back down to earth, following their rebellion at some point in the Pre-Adamic Age. In Genesis 1:3-5, we find that God reintroduced the light of the sun to shine onto the earth's surface at the dawn of the Second Age, the Adamic Age. Genesis 1:3-53 Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. 4 And God saw the light that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.  It is clear and logically follows that when God said, ‘Let there be light’ in verse 3 above, it was the light of the sun, which God had previously withheld from reaching the earth’s surface when it became shrouded in darkness in God’s global tohuw and bohuw judgement. We know for certain that the sun had already been created in the beginning (Genesis 1:1), along with the rest of the heavens, and this was many millions of years before God reintroduced the light (of the sun) as described in the verses above. Please understand that there could not have been the first 24 hour day of evening and morning without the light of the sun, and it is impossible for the earth to hang and rotate by itself in the universe without the gravitational pull of the sun. Since, Some Creationists believes that it was not until the fourth day that God created the sun, it becomes a huge problem for these creationists to explain how there could have been the first 24 hours of day and night without the sun. In order to get over this dilemma, they teach that it was the light of the Holy Spirit which shone on the earth for the first three 24 hour days of the six-day creation week. Of course, anything is possible with God, but we find the this explanation not only unscriptural, but also totally illogical. It further invites derision and unbelief in the Word of God from educational establishments and scientists. The rest of the Genesis account of creation, Genesis 1:3-31, makes complete sense, once we understand that God had darkened the sun and withdrawn its light from the earth in His Pre-Adamic tohuw and bohuw judgement against Satan and his angels. When God began the Second Age, the Adamic Age, He reintroduced the light of the sun to the earth, and renewed the earth's surface and its atmosphere. Then, God recreated plant and animal life, and finally He created mankind for the very first time, as described in the six-day creation account of Genesis 1:3-31, which happened approximately six-ten thousand years ago.  God’s creation in the first six 24-hour days of the Adamic Age   Let us clearly understand that there is absolutely no contradiction whatsoever between Genesis 1:1, where it is says that God created the heavens and the earth in the beginning, and Genesis 1:14-19 where it says that God made the sun, the moon and the stars on the fourth day. Once we see and understand that the whole of the six-day creation account is written from man’s earthly perspective rather than from a cosmic perspective, then the scriptures become clear and everything make sense. 
    Day One (Genesis 1:3-5)God reintroduces the light of the sun to reach and shine onto the surface of the deep frozen flood waters that completely covered the ruined earth. The effect of this heat and sudden change in temperature resulted in a massive global ice melt. The massive ice sheet covering the surface of the whole earth must have been so thick that the Spirit of God first needed to shake, break and soften it in preparation for the melting process. We believe that this is exactly what happened as Genesis 1:2 says that 'the Spirit of God was moving (rachaph) over the face of the waters (ice)'. The Hebrew word "rachaph" translated to mean ‘moving’ in some versions of the Bible also means ‘shaking’, as confirmed by Strong’s H7363. God’s Spirit first actively shook, broke up and softened the deep ice sheet covering the whole earth in preparation for the great ice melt that took place, once the intense sunlight with its heat was reintroduced onto the earth's surface on Day One. 
   Day Two (Genesis 1:6-8)God forms the firmament by lifting the 'waters from the waters'. The firmament refers to the space or expanse within the earth’s atmosphere between the earth’s surface and the cloud strata. God formed the firmament using the process of evaporation, when the intense heat of the sunlight caused vast volumes of water vapour to rise up from the surface of the melt-waters to form dense dark clouds in the sky. 
   Day Three (Genesis 1:9-13)God forms the dry land by causing the melt-waters to recede from the flooded earth. He also causes plant life on land to start germinating in this warm, humid, cloud-darkened, cocooned environment.
   Day Four Genesis 1:14-1914 Then God said, "Let there be lights in the firmament (the space between the earth’s surface and the clouds) of the heavens (the earth’s atmosphere) to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years; 15 and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth"; and it was so. 16 Then God made (asah) two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also. 17 God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth, 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. 19 So the evening and the morning were the fourth day.  At the beginning of Day Four, God said, ‘Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven’. Therefore, we can certainly conclude that by the end of Day Three the firmament of the heaven (the space between the earth’s surface and the clouds) had become darkened by the dense clouds of water vapour formed on Day Two. These clouds would have blocked out light - sunlight, moonlight and starlight - from reaching the firmament and thus the earth's surface. So, on Day Four God thinned and dispersed these dense dark clouds so that the sunlight, moonlight and starlight could shine through the firmament down onto the earth’s surface. Therefore, from an earthly perspective, the sun, the moon and the stars were made (asah) on Day Four 'for signs and seasons, and for days and years' for the benefit of man, who was yet to be created on Day Six. Notice that verse 17 above, does not say that God created (bara) these lights on Day Four, but that He set these lights in the firmament, meaning that He made them appear, be visible, in the firmament from man’s earthly perspective. We know from the very first verse of the Bible, Genesis 1:1, that these lights (planets, stars) had already been created (bara) in the beginning, and not on Day Four.

THE WORLD BEFORE ADAM ( PART 3)

   God has chained Satan and his fallen angels in spiritual darkness and confined them to earth and its heaven (earth’s atmosphere) awaiting their final judgement in a future age-to-come Lake of Fire. Who sinned first, angels or man? The fact that angels sinned before man cannot be disputed, because Satan was already present as a sinner in the Garden of Eden before Adam and Eve sinned. Young Earth Creationists deny this obvious and basic truth that sin first entered the world through angels. This obvious truth is confirmed by the historical sequence of the three judgements listed in the verses above, where the Bible places the sins of angels before the sins of man.
   Most Creationists misunderstand Romans 5:12 when they argue that sin and death first entered the world through man, and not through angels.  Let us examine Romans 5:12 in detail, as it is one of three key 'proof texts' used by some Creationists to support their belief. The other two key 'proof texts' are Exodus 20:11 and Genesis 1:31, which we shall also fully deal with later in this chapter. Romans 5:12Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.  This verse specifically speaks about the sin of one man affecting the whole of the human race. Yes, sin entered the human world through one man, Adam, thus God judged man’s sin by bringing death (the wages of sin is death) and death spread to all men because of Adam’s sin. However, please note that Romans 5:12 above speaks only about the sin and death which entered the Adamic world through the sin of Adam, but this scripture does not address the sin which entered the Pre-Adamic world through the sin of angels. The fact that sin brings God’s judgement of death to men only, and not to angels who are spirits that cannot die, further confirms that Romans 5:12 specifically refers to sin entering the human world through one man.   Some Creationists misunderstand Romans 5:12 above to teach that man sinned before angels sinned. Remember that Satan was already a sinful fallen angel in the Garden of Eden when he tempted Adam and Eve to sin, thus, it is totally unscriptural and nonsensical to say that Adam sinned before Satan.  
    The Bible is clear that Satan is a fallen angel and he has the following of other fallen angels. Jesus Christ said that He beheld Satan fall like lighting from heaven.    Luke 10:18And He said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven”. When did Jesus Christ see Satan fall like lighting from heaven? It can only have been during the Pre-Adamic Age, and not during the Adamic Age. This is because Satan was already a sinful fallen angel confined to earth at the start of the Adamic Age. There is absolutely nothing in the Bible to suggest that Satan was cast down to earth from heaven after God had created Adam and Eve, during the Adamic Age.We will now examine relevant scriptures in some detail to see how sin first entered the Pre-Adamic world through Satan and his fallen angels. Isaiah 14:12-15, 12' How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer (heylel), son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations! 13 For you have said in your heart: 'I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north; 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.' 15 Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol (meaning the Pit), To the lowest depths of the Pit. This scripture confirms Jesus’s statement in Luke 10:18 above that He saw Satan fall from heaven. It was indeed Satan (previously the holy angel Lucifer) whom Jesus saw fall from heaven when God cast him back down to this earth. Isaiah Chapter 14 refers to both the king of Babylon and Lucifer. However, it is important to note that Isaiah 14:12-15 above is specifically speaking about Lucifer, who became Satan. This scripture is not referring to the king of Babylon. It is referring to a fallen angelic being and not a man, as no man is capable of ascending above the heights of the clouds. Notice that Lucifer coveted the throne of God and he wanted to become like the Most High. However, God judged him for his sin of rebellion by casting him down to the lowest depths of the pit of this earth. As a result, the earth became chaotic, empty, dark and submerged under water because of God’s tohuw and bohuw judgement of the sinful rebellious angels, as previously described. Please note that the Hebrew word heylel is translated as Lucifer in the NKJV verse Isaiah 14:12 above. Lucifer is a Latin word meaning ‘Light Bearer’, which first appeared in the Latin Vulgate circa 400 AD. This Latin word Lucifer has been retained by both the KJV and the NKJV, thus the Christian world has been familiar with the name Lucifer for over a thousand years. Modern versions of the Bible translate heylel to mean Morning Star, Bright Star, Shining One and Day Star, all of which are similar to the Latin word Lucifer, meaning Light Bearer. Therefore, Lucifer is as good a name to use as any of the other names given in other translations. Let us now read a parallel scripture about the fall of Lucifer given in Ezekiel 28.  Ezekiel 28:12-1512 Son of man, take up a lamentation for the king of Tyre, and say to him, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "You were the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. 13 You were in Eden, the garden of God; Every precious stone was your covering: The sardius, topaz, and diamond, Beryl, onyx, and jasper, Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes was prepared for you on the day you were created.” 14 You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones. 15 You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, Till iniquity was found in you. Ezekiel Chapter 28 begins by describing the king of Tyre whose heart was lifted up and who thought that he was god. The power and deceiver behind the king of Tyre was Satan himself. The scripture Ezekiel 28:12-15 above takes us on from speaking about the king of Tyre to speaking about Lucifer who became Satan, as these verses can only fit the description of a fallen angelic being, and not a man. Lucifer was created perfect in his ways. He was the seal of perfection, full of wisdom, the anointed cherub and perfect in beauty before iniquity was found in him when he rebelled against God. In contrast, the king of Tyre was born imperfect with a fallen, sinful Adamic nature (the old man), and he was not the anointed cherub. Therefore, these verses can only refer to Satan, who was the real influencing power behind the king of Tyre.  It was Lucifer and not the king of Tyre whom God had placed in Eden, the Garden of God. This Garden of Eden was not the same Garden of Eden of the Adamic Age, where Satan was present as a sinful fallen angel who lied to and deceived Eve. 
     It is important to understand that the Bible speaks of at least three Gardens of Eden in three different ages. There was the first Garden of Eden in the Pre-Adamic Age, as given in Ezekiel 28:13 above. There was the second Garden of Eden during the Adamic Age, as given in Genesis 2:15. There will be yet another, the third Garden of Eden, in the coming Millennial Age of Jesus Christ, as given in Ezekiel 36:35.  A garden has both plant and animal life, thus God created the Pre-Adamic world with plants and animals. The enormous deposits and reservoirs under the earth's surface of the fossil fuels; coal, oil and gas, and the abundant existence of fossils, throughout the world today, bear witness to the fact that the Pre-Adamic earth was absolutely teeming with luxuriant plant and animal life. The beautiful Pre-Adamic Garden of Eden earth was destroyed after ‘war broke out in heaven’ between the holy angels led by Michael and the fallen angels led by Satan. Revelation 12:7-97 And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, 8 but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. 9 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.  These verses describe a war that broke out in heaven between two armies of angels. We are speaking about an angelic war between God’s Holy angels and the sinful rebellious angels. This angelic war started in heaven but was finished on earth when God cast Satan and his angels out of heaven back down to earth. As a result, the whole beautiful Pre-Adamic Garden of Eden earth suffered cataclysmic violence of unimaginable proportions of death, destruction, flooding, and darkness. Jude 6 "And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day. Angels ‘did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode.’ This was during the Pre-Adamic age when iniquity (sin) was found in Lucifer’s heart. The holy angel Lucifer became the sinful angel Satan, who along with a following of his angels, left this earth (their proper domain) and ascended above the clouds in rebellion to try to usurp God’s throne in heaven. God cast them back down to earth and they are now kept in chains of spiritual darkness, restricted in movement to this earth and its heaven (earth’s atmosphere) and reserved for their final judgement which will take place during the age-to-come Lake of Fire Judgement Age, as discussed in Chapter 13. Job 1:6 which says, “Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them” does not mean that Satan can leave earth and its atmosphere, and have access to God’s throne in heaven. The Bible does not contradict itself. Revelation 12:8 quoted above clearly says that no place was found in heaven any longer for Satan and his angels. We showed in Chapter 3 that Father God does everything through His Son. So, it was on earth that Satan presented himself before the Lord, God the Son, who represented His Father God in heaven. 

THE WORLD BEFORE ADAM. (part 2) ~By Gods plan for All

Genesis account of creation literally to justify their belief in a young earth. They say that anything other than about six-ten thousand years is playing around with the literal translation of the creation account. In actuality, it is the Young Earth Creationists themselves who play around with the literal meaning of the Genesis account of creation. Let us now see what the Bible says and what Young Earth Creationism (YEC) says. The Bible says that God created the earth in the beginning; YEC says that God created the earth in the first day. The Bible says that God created the sun and the moon in the beginning; YEC says that God created the sun and the moon in the fourth day. The Bible says that God created the heavens and the earth in the beginning; YEC says that God created the heavens and the earth in six days. Young Earth Creationism misunderstands the Genesis account of God's creation when it misinterprets the very first verse of the Bible (Genesis 1:1) as being a summary statement of the six-day creation account, which is described in Genesis 1:3-31. This misunderstanding of the very first verse of the Bible has led Young Earth Creationism to believe that God created the earth on the first day without the sun, and that it wasn't until the fourth day that God created the sun, the moon and the stars. This is not only biblically untrue but also scientifically nonsensical. It is impossible for a 24-hour day comprising of both light and darkness, day and night with morning and evening to occur, without both the earth and the sun existing together. This is elementary physics and common sense.
  The Bible is extremely logical and it does not contradict true science, after all God Himself is the greatest scientist. God does not want us to believe in something that is illogical and scientifically stupid. We shall show you later why Young Earth Creationism confuses the beginning of the heavens and the earth many millions of years ago, as stated in Genesis 1:1, with the beginning of the Adamic Age, approximately six-ten thousand years ago, as described in Genesis 1:3-31.   Let us now go on to understand the literal interpretation of the Genesis creation account as the Bible actually teaches. What was the state of the earth when God created it, along with the rest of the universe, in the beginning? Let us see what the Bible says. Job 38:4-7 (NIV)4 "Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation? Tell me, if you understand. 5 Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? 6 On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone 7 while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy? Job Chapters 38 and 39 show God humbling Job, who thought that he had a great fount of knowledge. In the verses above, God challenges Job about his knowledge of the creation of the earth. God did this to make Job acknowledge God's greatness and to show Job that he knew absolutely nothing about how and when God had created the earth.
    Notice that all the angels sang and shouted for joy when God laid the foundations of the earth. ‘Morning stars’ here also refers to angels. The verses above reveal two important truths:God created angels before He created the earth and the universe.When God created the earth in the beginning, He created it in such a beautiful and perfect condition that the angels responded with joyful singing and shouting.However, shockingly, in the second verse of the Bible, Genesis 1:2, we read that the earth had changed from its beautiful and perfect state, when it was first created in the beginning, to a totally different ruined state. It had become formless, empty, in darkness and submerged under water.  Genesis 1:2 (NIV)Now the earth was (hayah, meaning became) formless, and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. Since God did not create the earth in a formless, empty, dark and flooded state in the beginning, then it must have become that way at a later date. This is exactly what happened to the earth, because an accurate translation of the Hebrew word hayah, in Genesis 1:2 above, is became as given in Strong's H1961, and as also confirmed by the NIV in their footnote. Young Earth Creationism argues that Genesis 1:2 is the description of a stage in the construction of the earth. It is a misunderstanding and misinterpretation of this verse to believe that God firstly had to create the earth in a formless, empty, dark state and totally submerged under water in order to proceed and complete the rest of His beautiful creation on earth. The truth of the Bible is that Genesis 1:2 is the description of the earth resulting from God's massive cataclysmic global judgement because of the sins of angels. It is not speaking about a stage in the construction of the earth, as mistakenly believed by Young Earth Creationists. Let us now have a closer look at Genesis 1:2 to understand that it is indeed a description of God’s global judgement.   God's global judgement of rebellious angels in the Pre-Adamic Age Genesis 1:2 (NIV)Now the earth was (hayah, meaning became) formless (tohuw), and empty (bohuw), darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. The Bible is abundantly clear that the inspired Hebrew words tohuw and bohuw in Genesis 1:2 above, when used together, are the descriptive words for God's global judgement. The Hebrew word tohuw occurs 20 times in the Old Testament with meanings of chaotic, nothing, confusion, waste, wilderness, emptiness, formless and vain. The best meaning of tohuw in Genesis 1:2 is chaotic. Something that is in a confused, wasted, empty, flooded and dark state is obviously in a chaotic state.The Hebrew word bohuw occurs 3 times in the Old Testament with meanings of void and waste.          
     We believe that God inspired the use of the Hebrew word bohuw in Genesis 1:2 to reinforce the meaning of tohuw, which we have just shown means chaotic. The Bible specifically confirms in Isaiah 45:18 below that the earth was not created in the chaotic state that we see in Genesis 1:2. Isaiah 45:18For thus says the LORD, Who created the heavens, Who is God, Who formed the earth and made it, Who has established it, Who did not create it in vain (tohuw, meaning chaotic), Who formed it to be inhabited: 'I am the LORD, and there is no other'.  So an accurate translation of Genesis 1:2 is: Genesis 1:2The earth became chaotic and wasted and darknesswas on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.Please understand that God did not create the earth in the beginning (Genesis 1:1) in a chaotic, wasted, dark state submerged under water. The earthbecame like that because a massive cataclysmic change took place on earth between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2. Let us believe what the Bible says that God did not create the earth in vain in an uninhabitable, chaotic (tohuw) state. As we have shown from Scripture, the earth was created in such a beautiful state that the angels sang and shouted for joy. Most certainly, the angels would not have sung and shouted for joy over the creation of a chaotic, wasted, flooded and dark earth. It is abundantly clear from Scripture that there was agap of time between the creation of the beautiful earth of Genesis 1:1 and the totally ruined chaotic earth of Genesis 1:2. This gap of time is the Pre-Adamic Age, which lasted for many millions of years. So, the key question is: ‘Why did the earth become chaotic and ruined as described in Genesis 1:2?’ Let us now go on to understand that Genesis 1:2 is the description of the earth resulting from God's global judgement because of the sins of angels.  The sins of angels 2 Peter 2:4-6 is an account of three important historical judgements of God, which helps us to understand the consequences of sin. 2 Peter 2:4-64 For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell (tartarus) and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; 5 and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly;  6 and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly.  Sin has consequences and it brings judgement from God in the form of death and destruction. Please take note of the correct chronological order in which these judgements are listed in the scripture above. The judgement against the angels who sinned happened first, followed much later by the judgement against Noah’s world, which in turn was followed much later by the judgement against Sodom and Gomorrah. In verse 4 above, the Greek word 'tartarus' is mistranslated as ' hell'. Tartarus is used only once in the Bible, and the context in which it appears reveals the meaning of the word as a 'prison of spiritual darkness'.