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Video
Summary
Each of the seven Genesis days of re-creation correspond to one millennial day of human history. In this lesson we are covering days one and two. In day one of re-creation, God separated the light from the darkness. In day two of re-creation, God separated the waters above from the waters below by means of the sky. These physical acts of separation correlate to the spiritual framework of the first pair of millennial days (days one and two).
Millennial day one was the separation of truth from lies. Just as light is necessary for physical life, the spiritual light of God’s truth is necessary to sustain our spiritual life. God’s promise of the coming Messiah (who is the Light of the world) first appears in millennial day one (in Genesis 3:15). Millennial day two was the separation of human freedom of choice from Satan’s efforts to destroy free will. Just as air is necessary for physical life, human freedom to pursue God’s truth is essential to our spiritual growth.
Content
Audio clip from Ichthys
The first two Genesis days of re-creation are clearly paired in that they alone focus upon acts of separation almost exclusively (the re-kindling of light which marks the beginning of the process over all being the significant exception): light separated from darkness (Day 1); the waters above separated from waters below by means of the firmament or sky (Day 2). This first pair of days provides essential groundwork for physical life through the provision of light and air. This physical provision is analogous to the essential spiritual groundwork provided by the first two millennial days of the Gentile age:
Day #1 – Gentile age millennium #1: Just as light, the foremost necessity of physical life, first appears in the dark world on day one of re-creation, so God’s truth, the foremost necessity of spiritual life, first appears in the devil’s dark world during the first millennium of the Gentile age, beginning with the first promise of Christ (Gen.3:15). This legacy of truth is then perpetuated through the line of Adam and Seth down to Noah and his family.
Day #2 – Gentile age millennium #2: Just as air, a necessity without which physical life cannot be maintained, is provided on day two of re-creation, so during the second millennium of the Gentile age God guaranteed the fresh air of freedom for mankind, an attribute as absolutely essential for spiritual life as air is for physical life, through:
- the prohibition of angelic interference (Gen.6:1-7).
- the restraint of crime through law (Gen.8:21-9:17).
- the repression of one-world tyranny through nationalism (in specific response to the tower of Babel: Gen.11:1-9).
God’s instrument of judgment whereby (1) the angelic outrages of Genesis six are brought to an end, (2) after which the rule of law is established, and (3) in consequence of which the nations are divided, is the great flood, the deluge that temporarily restored the earth to its pre-dry land condition (cf. 1Pet.3:18-22; 2Pet.3:5-6). Therefore it is exactly because of the deluge that the legacy of truth is protected, finding a more secure foothold in the environment of freedom (provided through limitations on further angelic interference, the establishment of law, and the development of nationalism).
Separation: As the first pair of Genesis days focuses on the formation of an essential environment for physical growth through the separation of light from darkness and the waters above from the waters below, so the first pair of millennial days (the age of the Gentiles) focuses on the formation of an essential foundation for spiritual growth through the provision of divine truth (separated and protected from the devil’s lies) and human freedom of choice (separated and protected from the devil’s best efforts to destroy free will through demonic interference, murder and intolerant internationalism).
Summary points
The first two days of Genesis re-creation focused almost exclusively upon separation:
- Day one was the separation of light from darkness.
- Day two was the separation of the waters above from the waters below (by means of the firmament or sky—Hebrew שָׁמַיִם).
These events together provide the essential framework for physical life: light (day one) and air (day two).
The parallelism with respect to the seven millennial days of human history is as follows:
- Millennial day one was the separation of truth from lies. (Central metaphor: light = truth).
- Millennial day two was the separation of human freedom of choice from Satan’s efforts to destroy free will. (Central metaphor: air = freedom).
God’s truth, the foremost necessity of spiritual life, first appears in the devil’s dark world during the first millennium of the Gentile age, beginning with the first promise of Christ (Gen.3:15).
This legacy of truth is then perpetuated through the line of Adam and Seth down to Noah and his family.
During the second millennium of the Gentile age God guaranteed the fresh air of freedom for mankind—an attribute as absolutely essential for spiritual life as air is for physical life—through:
- The prohibition of angelic interference (Gen.6:1-7).
- The restraint of crime through law (Gen.8:21-9:17).
- The repression of one-world tyranny through nationalism (in specific response to the tower of Babel: Gen.11:1-9).
To protect human freedom, God utilized a means of judgment: the great flood. In the flood:
- The angelic outrages of Genesis six are brought to an end,
- After which the rule of law is established, and
- From that comes the division of the nations
How do the first pair of millennial days relate to the concept of separation?
The first pair of millennial days (the age of the Gentiles) focuses on the formation of an essential foundation for spiritual growth through the provision of divine truth (separated and protected from the devil’s lies) and human freedom of choice (separated and protected from the devil’s best efforts to destroy free will through demonic interference, murder, and intolerant internationalism).
Follow-on topics
The Bible occasionally uses light as a metaphor for truth (cf. Psalm 43:3; Psalm 119:105; Proverbs 6:23). Sometimes the opposing concept is not just darkness, but metaphorical blindness (cf. 2 Corinthians 4:4-6; Revelation 3:17-18). Where we are going with this is that it not a particularly large interpretive leap to align the light of the Genesis days of re-creation with truth in the seven millennial days of human history.
Equating air and freedom is perhaps a bit less obvious a relationship, but it definitely has a certain logic to it too. For the openness of the “heavens” (which in Hebrew were plural: the air directly around us, the layers of atmosphere surrounding earth, and even what we now call the vacuum of space = the area that stars and planets and so on inhabit) is a fitting symbol of freedom, at least relative to the un-separated waters.
But where the parallels really shine is in analyzing what things exactly provide the underlying foundation for physical life (Genesis re-creation) vs. spiritual life (seven millennial days). More than anything else, the availability of God’s truth in the world (given to us in the form of natural revelation and special revelation) and the ability to freely choose to follow it or not are the cornerstones of all spiritual growth. Without the truth we obviously would not be able to grow. But without freedom of pursue said truth, we would also be equally hamstrung. And so it is that these are things are just as essential to the spiritual life as light and air are to the physical life.
In this way, freedom as a concept is not just a vague democratic ideal that we might strive for in our construction of a productive civic society, but is actually also quite important for being productive spiritually. I would go so far as to say that one can actually measure the relative suitability a given nation as a place to grow spiritually largely as a function of the freedoms protected in that nation’s legal code. (Or perhaps lack of such protections).
I suppose I should say that we are not talking about freedom to do anything (as in “freedom to murder” or what have you), but rather the preservation of human free will. Killing someone obviously removes their ability to choose. Censoring someone removes their ability to speak. So actually from a certain perspective, law codes exist not to deprive people of freedoms, but instead to protect freedoms; this ought to be their underlying telos.
God handles the defense against angelic interference in human free will (as we can see through His actions in the flood and the tower of Babel). However, a very large measure of human freedom of choice is actually subject to control by various human institutions—be they government, non-profit, or even religious (in the sense of organized religion). As politically incorrect as it may be to state things so bluntly, some ways of doing things are objectively better than others on this front. That is:
- Some governments are better than others at maximizing human freedom of choice.
- Some forms of religious organization are better than others at maximizing human freedom of choice.
- Etc.
We should not be at all shy about gravitating towards the things that are actually the best environments to grow spiritually in. In fact, we should be rather zealous about insisting upon it at every turn, even to the point of offending others and seeming a bit “out there” to others. Because freedom is critically important for spiritual living, just as much as air is necessary for physical living.
If all of this seems too abstract, consider these sorts of things:
- The relatively modern impulse to pursue full globalization erodes the barriers of nationalism that have been present for millennia, and is setting the stage for a coming one-world state that will be able to remove human freedoms on a scale never seen since the the one-world state God destroyed at the tower of Babel.
- Almost all forms of formally organized religion have as their raison d’être some form of limitation of freedom. Denominations tell you what you are and are not allowed to believe, for example. Any form of ecclesiological structure that does not preserve the independence of local Christian assemblies runs afoul of these considerations right from the get-go.
- Forms of local church organization that encourage group-think and “falling into line” while discouraging honest questions and discussion are also opposed to freedom of belief. This can be true even if the churches in question are not part of some wider organization that tries to control things top-down.
So in fact, this matter is actually all around us in the world. We would be wise to consider the fact that God’s strict superintendence of human freedom is direct evidence that He views this thing as being important for mankind. If He thinks it is important, then should not we also do the same? Why then do we let ourselves settle in any regard?