In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1.1 NIV
Although long familiar with this profound assertion, I am recently reading it with new attention and awareness. For one thing, I had assumed it was part of the first day of the six days of creation. Not so, points out Oxford mathematics professor John Lennox. His evidence from the text: a careful look at Genesis 1 noting the chapter divisions into six days all of which begin with “And God said;” all of which end with “And there was evening, and there was morning—the [first/second/third/fourth/fifth/sixth] day.” NIV These repetitive patterns are not uncommon in Hebrew.
Observe that the “And God said” for day one begins in verse 3, not verse 1. This puts verse 1, God’s creation of the heavens and the earth, outside of the six days of creation week—previous to those days. It could have been immediately before; it could have been eons before, maybe even 4,500,000,000 years, or more, before. Thus, says Lennox, the Bible makes no claim as to the age of the earth. Very interesting.
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