| Editor's Note: Norm Voss presented this material at the 2010 Covenant Creation Conference
Six Days of Creation
by Norm Voss
Today, I want to look at Genesis One to examine the purpose and some of the intent found within the Six Days and culminating with the Seventh Day Sabbath Rest. We want to view and flesh out what John Walton has called an Ancient Near East Temple creation inauguration. We also want to look at the six individual Days of creation to determine what correlation they may have to the unfolding of God’s Temple Creation. I will state up front that my premise is that Genesis One can be called a Temple Creation account but it is also a Covenant Creation account establishing God’s people and not a material universe or physical Earth account. I believe that Genesis lays out the entirety of the first heaven and earth that we find under consideration at the end of the Bible in Revelation 21. The first heavens and earth that John sees passing away is found in the entire scope of Genesis 1, and therefore is an exalted story of God’s people from beginning to consummation. We see that indeed, this is the ending theme found at the conclusion of the six Days of Creation when the author brings us to this finale.
Gen 2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
If this was a Temple creation process, then indeed, it makes all the sense in the world to declare that God’s works of creating his people (the host) were ready along with Him for the eternal Sabbath Rest. This mimics the conclusion found in Hebrew 4 in which the Sabbath Rest is about to be obtained by the people.
Heb 4:4 For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: "And God rested on the seventh day from all his works."
Heb 4:10 for he who did enter into his rest, he also rested from his works, as God from His own.
We will attempt to look at what does each Day means and relates to. I believe that what it relates to is found in scriptures extensively because it is about the establishment of God’s people, and if this is true, then we should find these six Days have correlating periods of time matching throughout the OT story.
This brings me to the introduction of Augustine’s ideas about the Six Days and what he believed they represented. I’m going to read an excerpt from one of Augustine’s writings detailing his thoughts on Genesis One’s Days. Augustine was a significant thinker for his age. He was still close enough to some of the earliest Hebrew ideas giving the impression that there were remnants of them still about in his time. However, we know Augustine was a futurist, and so the understanding of the consummated Parousia eluded him, as well as many others for centuries to come. Here is what he has to say:
6. … In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth. Genesis 1:1Thence down to the time in which we are now living are six ages,this being the sixth, as you have often heard and know.
The first age is reckoned from Adam to Noah;
the second, from Noah to Abraham;
the third, from Abraham to David;
the fourth, from David to the carrying away into Babylon;
the fifth, from the carrying away into Babylon to John the Baptist;
the sixth, from John the Baptist to the end of the world.
Folks, what I have just read to you is simply this. Augustine was presenting the Days of Genesis as prophetic ages detailing the Biblical story of the Beginning of Israel with Adam until Christ, the Messiah, arrived. What we Preterist may find amusing is that just like our current futurist brethren, Augustine thought he was still in the sixth Day millennium period waiting for its consummating event. However, I digress, because the point of referencing Augustine is to demonstrate this idea that a figurative application of the Days of Genesis still existed three centuries after Christ. Now, the question is where did he appropriate these ideas from? I would suggest these came from the first Christian writings and from the second Temple Judaism period writings pointing toward Christ, the Messiah. Enoch, Jubilees and the Barnabas Epistle would be the most prominent of written works.
Lets take a look at an excerpt from Barnabas to see if there are some ideas that could have come from the Barnabas letter, likely penned somewhere around 70AD.
Barnabas 15 … And He says in another place, "If my sons keep the Sabbath, then will I cause my mercy to rest upon them." The Sabbath is mentioned at the beginning of the creation[thus]: "And God made in six days the works of His hands, and made an end on the seventh day, and rested on it, and sanctified it." Attend, my children, to the meaning of this expression, "He finished in six days." This implieth that the Lord will finish all things in six thousand years, for a day is with Him a thousand years. And He Himself testifieth, saying, "Behold, to-day will be as a thousand years." Therefore, my children, in six days, that is, in six thousand years, all things will be finished. "And He rested on the seventh day." This meaneth: when His Son, coming [again], shall destroy the time of the wicked man, and judge the ungodly, and change the-sun, and the moon, and the stars, then shall He truly rest on the seventh day.
Folks, this Barnabas’ commentary clearly lays out Genesis 1 as being six figurative Days with each one representing the Day as a thousand years. Now, all of us that are familiar with 2 Peter 3:8, should perk up when we hear the expression “a day is with Him a thousand years.” We Preterists recognize Peter was referring to the intermediate time that was unfolding concerning the coming Parousia. This Day to Peter appears to be reflective of the same idea as it does to Barnabas and Augustine. What I find interesting is this unique saying is found 200 years before Christ in the book of Jubilees where it discusses Adam’s premature death at age 930 years. Here is what it says:
Jubilees 4:29 … “thereof, Adam died,… And he lacked seventy years of one thousand years; for one thousand years are as one day in the testimony of the heavens and therefore was it written concerning the tree of knowledge: 'On the day that ye eat thereof ye shall die.' For this reason he did not complete the years of this day; for he died during it.
No one can really say that the Jews, before Christianity, did not have metaphorical understandings for Genesis Days, as it’s clear that Adam not making 1000 years means he died in the 1000 year Day. It’s plain and simple, and appears to be the same formula of Barnabas and Augustine along with Peter, and most probably John in Revelation with his living and reigning for 1000 years. The 1000 years of Barnabas, Peter, Enoch, and John gives impetus to the long held belief that the earth is only 6000 years old.
Now. I’ve established how these were understandings that had been in existence for 500 years before Augustine, but more importantly, this appears to be the early Christian perspective of Genesis. It doesn’t mean all Jews understood this concept or accepted it because there were many factions within Judaism at the time of Christ. Some read with strict literal ideas and others with messianic viewpoints. It turned out that the legalistic and literal-reading Jews were the ones who had the most difficulty understanding Christ, His parable language, and seeing His fulfillment from OT scripture. The ones who had an eye for the Parable were more discerning of the message’s fulfillment.
Okay, I’m ready to get into the heart and meat of this discussion. It is whether the Days of Genesis One correspond with Augustine’s idea of six Jewish ages, or epochs of time, fulfilling a Covenant Creation account of God’s Holy Temple establishment with man. Let’s begin with the opening first two verses of Genesis 1.
Gen 1:1-2 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (2) And the earth was waste and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep: and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
In the beginning is found in two other locations that reference Genesis 1 and that is John 1:1 and Heb 1:10. Both of them are obviously referring to the old Covenant under consideration as being established from the beginning of Genesis 1. The waste and void description is the condition of the world in which God began His works of Creating. If we turn to Jeremiah 4, we see the same state of affairs describing Israel in similar language and conditions that we find in Gen 1 and 2 without light or man/Adam.
This is the wilderness state of existence without light from a covenant man working a fruitful land.
This idea can be compared to the world that Jimmy Stewart portrayed in the movie It’s a Wonderful Life as he revisits a world in which he had never been born. Remember, the city was dark and without Good, or light, and full of wickedness. This is the imagery that the Genesis author is painting for us in these first two verses.
That is the condition in which there is no man (light bearers), or Godly representative, to assist God in His dominion of the earth. We will see that this is fully addressed by the time of God’s Sabbath Rest. Here is the Jeremiah quote:
Jer 4:23-26 KJV I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. … (25) I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled. (26) I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the LORD, and by his fierce anger.
The above is the picture of Israel without God’s righteous people performing their dominion service, and it is the picture of the world at the beginning of creation in Genesis 1.
The first age is reckoned from Adam to Noah;
Alright, does the first day correspond to Adam through Noah? Let’s see if that scripture picks up on the creation of Light out of Darkness to illustrate the possible creation of the First Adam to initiate the process of God’s covenant people. At the end of the process, we should see the completion of the covenant people if the first day is the beginning of the old covenant heavens and earth, so be on the lookout for the Sabbath Day rest as a recognition that God’s Heavenly people have been formed completely, with no more work needed.
Gen 1:4 ESV And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. … the first day
Yes, we see in the NT and the OT that the beginning of light out of darkness originated at the beginning and that the pagan world is equated with this darkness. When we go to the Genealogy of Adam, we see also that this is the time that the covenant people begin to call upon on the name of YHWH, which is Israel’s name for God.
Joh 1:1 ASV In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. … 5 And the light shineth in the darkness; and the darkness apprehended it not.
2Co 4:4 ASV in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should not dawn upon them. 6 Seeing it is God, that said, Light shall shine out of darkness, who shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Eph 5:8 ASV For ye were once darkness, but are now light in the Lord: walk as children of light
Gen 4:26 ESV To Seth also a son was born …. At that time people began to call upon the name of the LORD.
Gen 2:5 KJV And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.
Augustine understood the first day of creation as corresponding to Adam’s beginning and not to Day 6 as most presume. Adam as the first covenant head of mankind was the beginning of the “Light bearers” called into covenant with God, so that is the essence of the story that corresponds from Gen 2:4 until Noah’s time.
It is also clear in the NT that Light and Darkness derives its symbolism from Gen 1 where there is a clear division and separation of the Light from the Darkness. Genesis embodies spiritual literature as it was understood by the faithful Hebrew. Genesis Day one, with the introduction of the lightbearers, corresponds to Adam’s period until the flood when darkness overtakes Adam’s offspring, thus bringing God’s Covenant judgment upon them.
Let’s look at Day Two.
the second, from Noah to Abraham;
Gen 1:6 ESV And God said, "Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters."
And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. … God called the expanse Heaven… the second day
First, let’s try to define how scripture uses “the waters.” So, by searching scripture, we find that Revelation says the waters represent peoples, nations, and languages. Can this make sense to describe the story form Noah to Abraham?
Rev 17:15 ESV And the angel said to me, "The waters that you saw, where the prostitute is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages.
Gen 10:32 These are the families of the sons of Noah, after their generations, in their nations: and of these were the nations divided in the earth after the flood.
Gen 10:5 By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations.
Do the waters/peoples above the expanse represent the line of Shem after Babel? Revelation says that the waters represent peoples, nations, and languages – the very issues we find under discussion from Noah until Abraham.
Gen 11:9 Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth. And from there the LORD dispersed them over the face of all the earth. 10 These are the generations of Shem.
The creation or separation of the peoples are documented in Gen 10-11 in the Table of Nations. Babel is surely a religious division of heavenly magnitude. It has been recognized that Pentecost was the re-gathering of the Nations back into fold of God in the one language of God through Christ.
On another note, we have the first designation of the heavens declared, which we Preterists recognize as one of the designations for Israel as they are called the heavens and the earth. I would anticipate shortly that we should see the further creation of the earth out of the waters to complete the heavens and earth of Israel.
the third, from Abraham to David
Gen 1:9 ESV And God said, "Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear." And it was so. 10 God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas.
Well, it didn’t take long to see that along with the heavens the people of the Land were separated from the people of the Seas. This is exactly how the story is told in scripture regarding the development of Israel from Abraham to David.
Exo 14:15-16 And the LORD said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward: (16) But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.
Neh 9:11 And thou didst divide the sea before them, so that they went through the midst of the sea on the dry land; and their persecutors thou threwest into the deeps, as a stone into the mighty waters.
Jos 4:22 Then ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land.
Psa 66:6 KJV He turned the sea into dry land: they went through the flood on foot:
Jon 1:9 And he said unto them, I am an Hebrew; and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land.
We have just seen the creation of the Heavens and the Earth called Israel as a process from Noah to David. Day two and three is therefore the full establishment of Israel as the heavens and earth’s peoples, and correlates to the language of their OT story.
The establishment of Israel begins most specifically with Abraham, and the language related to its establishment is often described in poetic terms such as the Dry Land being born out of the Sea (out of the Gentile waters). The period from Abraham to David is considered an age of beginnings. The language of Day Three surely appears to represent the language in the OT that corresponds with God’s establishing his covenant people. Israel is thus known as the people of the Land and the Gentiles are known as the Sea. So, we see a clear delineation here on Day three with a further process of establishing the people of God illustrating God’s ongoing work in progress of constructing His Holy Temple.
The establishment of the Seas in this first Heavens and earth would ultimately find it’s dismissal in the New Heavens and earth. The Sea represented the Gentile peoples which found no covenant existence in the period of this first dispensation under Law. No more would there be a division or wall of separation between the people because in the new Heaven and earth there is no more Sea.
Isa 60:1-5 Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee. (2) For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. (3) And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. (4) Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side. (5) Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee.
Next, we have plants and fruit and seeds which make sense from understanding of parable language. With the light bearers and dry land established, fruit can be produced where once there was a dry wilderness with no man to till the ground.
"Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth." … the third day
the fourth, from David to the carrying away into Babylon; Fourteen (14) Generations
"Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years,
16 And God made the two great lights--the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night--and the stars.
17 And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. the fourth day
The First Temple era sees the establishment of times and seasons corresponding with the usage of the Sun and Moon to establish feast and celebrations. In the final Temple, we see there is no need for the Sun and the Moon as the Lamb is the Light. John Walton describes much of the creative processes going on in Genesis 1 as functional creations. A functional creation is an assignment by God for functional use. This functional creation is clear here with the assignment of the Sun and the Moon for determining signs, seasons, festivals, days, and years. These are important if we read the book of Jubilees or Enoch concerning the luminaries and the recording of Day and Night in the law, but in the new heaven and earth there will be no night there to measure.
Rev 21:22-23 And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. (23) And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.
25 and its gates will never be shut by day--and there will be no night there.
Enoch “The book of the Heavenly luminaries”
The book of the courses of the luminaries of the heaven, the relations of each, according to their classes, their dominion and their seasons, according to their names and places of origin, and according to their months, … and he showed me all their laws exactly as they are, and how it is with regard to all the years of the world and unto eternity, till the new creation is accomplished which dureth till eternity.
the fifth, from the carrying away into Babylon to John the Baptist; Matthew 1:17 Fourteen (14) Generations
And God said, "Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens."
So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind.
"Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth."
the fifth day
The swarms of Living creatures correspond with Ezekiel 47 in which the peoples of the oikoumene have been brought into contact with the People of God through the exile of the Ten Tribes, and then finally Judah living and sharing their ways with the Kings and peoples of Babylon and Assyria. The Sea creatures are the Gentiles, and specifically, the Great Sea Monster are those rulers of these Nations, such as Pharaoh of Egypt, Assyria, Greece, etc. God is the God of all peoples and Kings as illustrated time and again in the OT when judgment is declared on them because they did not acknowledge that God had established them.
Eze 47:7-12 Now when I had returned, behold, upon the bank of the river were very many trees on the one side and on the other. (8) Then said he unto me, These waters issue forth toward the eastern region, and shall go down into the Arabah; and they shall go toward the sea; into the sea shall the waters go which were made to issue forth; and the waters shall be healed. (9) And it shall come to pass, that every living creature which swarmeth, in every place whither the rivers come, shall live; and there shall be a very great multitude of fish; for these waters are come thither, and the waters of the sea shall be healed, and everything shall live whithersoever the river cometh. (10) And it shall come to pass, that fishers shall stand by it: from En-gedi even unto En-eglaim shall be a place for the spreading of nets; their fish shall be after their kinds, as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many. … And by the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow every tree for food, whose leaf shall not whither, neither shall the fruit thereof fail: it shall bring forth new fruit every month, because the waters thereof issue out of the sanctuary; and the fruit thereof shall be for food, and the leaf thereof for healing.
Daniel and Ezekiel describe the Kings of Assyria, Egypt, and Babylon as Great Trees established by God. These Trees were to protect the people in their dominion but each of these trees fell leaving the creatures (peoples) without. This is contrasted above to the living water of the Messianic Temple water that will not fail, but brings life and healing.
Dan 2:37-38 You, O king, the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, and the might, and the glory, (38) and into whose hand he has given, wherever they dwell, the children of man, the beasts of the field, and the birds of the heavens, making you rule over them all--you are the head of gold.
4:14 He proclaimed aloud and said thus: 'Chop down the tree and lop off its branches, strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit. Let the beasts flee from under it and the birds from its branches.
21 whose leaves were beautiful and its fruit abundant, and in which was food for all, under which beasts of the field found shade, and in whose branches the birds of the heavens lived--
Also, the fishermen casting nets is an important motif of the Apostles as fishers of men in the New Testament.
Joh 21:6-11 And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes. … But the other disciples came in the little boat … dragging the net full of fishes. … (10) Jesus saith unto them, Bring of the fish which ye have now taken.(11) Simon Peter therefore went up, and drew the net to land, full of great fishes, a hundred and fifty and three: and for all there were so many, the net was not rent.
Do we maybe have an idea now why the early Gentile Christians adopted the sign of the Fish as emblematic of themselves?
Let’s spend a little more time with these “living creatures” found in Ezekiel 47 who are going to live. We see that they are indeed established in Genesis 1 day 5 which is the time of the 70 year exile of God’s people into the heart of the Gentile world (cast back into the Sea as Jonah might say). The saints were cast into the Sea and during this time, like Jonah’s time, they perform a precursor of what will happen from Pentecost to the Parousia; that is, they will convert and influence some of the Gentiles such as King Neb and King Cyrus.
Next, The Great sea monsters are identified also here in Ezekiel and are very similar to the Beast from the Sea in Daniel 7. We see this fulfilled in Revelation where the Beast and the monster of the Sea, along with the Serpent, all meet their final demise.
Eze 32:2 "Son of man, raise a lamentation over Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him: "You consider yourself a lion of the nations, but you are like a dragon (Monster) in the seas;
Isa 27:1 In that day Jehovah with his hard and great and strong sword will punish leviathan the swift serpent, and leviathan the crooked serpent; and he will slay the monster that is in the sea.
However, again back to the Living Creatures, as we find them also described in Ezekiel 10, illustrated with four faces of a man, lion, eagle, and cherub. Now, that is a strange creature indeed but it reappears in Rev 4 again as a Living Creature, except the Cherub is replaced with an Ox (which represents a priestly position in Hebrew animal symbolism). So, in effect we have a designation of the living creatures as those who are seeking God, both Gentile animals and Jewish clean animals, but also with Covenant Man included.
Eze 10:14-15 And every one had four faces: the first face was the face of a cherub, and the second face was the face of a man, and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle. (15) And the cherubims were lifted up. This isthe living creature that I saw by the river of Chebar.
Rev 4:6-7 and before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal. And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: (7) the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight. 9 And when the living creatures shall give glory and honor and thanks to him that sitteth on the throne, to him that liveth for ever and ever,
These living creatures that first appear in Gen Day 5 are also designated as attributes of Adam and of the animals in Gen 2. and onwards.
Gen 2:7 then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.
Gen 2:19 Now out of the ground the LORD God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man (adam) to see what he would call them. And whatever the man (adam) called every living creature, that was its name.
Lev 11:44-47 For I am the LORD your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. You shall not defile yourselves with any swarming thing that crawls on the ground. (serpent types) (45) For I am the LORD who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy." (46) This is the law about beast and bird and every living creature that moves through the waters and every creature that swarms on the ground, (47) to make a distinction between the unclean and the clean and between the living creature that may be eaten and the living creature that may not be eaten.
Ultimately, we know Peter was told to kill and eat those unclean creatures in Acts 10’s vision, symbolically representing the end of a covenant distinction between clean and unclean, or Jew and Gentile peoples. This is a mystical understanding that the Jews developed in telling this story, but it is not one that is always easily grasped in its entire covenant nuance. In the New Spiritual Kingdom, all these old covenant designations would pass into oblivion.
We see in Isaiah 11 that the Day of the Messiah would bring about the time when the clean and unclean animals will lie down together at rest. Also, Hosea prophesied that Israel and Judah will come into covenant with these various animals and lie down together in a similar manner to Peter’s vision of Acts 10.
Hos 2:18 And I will make for them a covenant on that day with the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the creeping things of the ground. And I will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land, and I will make you lie down in safety.
Isa 11:1 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
6 The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them.
7 The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
Act 10:12-15 In it were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air. (13) And there came a voice to him: "Rise, Peter; kill and eat."(14) But Peter said, "By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean." (15) And the voice came to him again a second time, "What God has made clean, do not call common."
The important story, in my opinion, to glean from the fifth Day is that it was a movement toward all men becoming more acquainted with God through Israel’s dispersion to prepare the rest of humanity surrounding Israel to become fruitful receptacles for the coming Messiah. This would be accomplished through His body, the church, moving within the Sea and bringing healing to the Living Creatures as Ezekiel 47 describes.
However, it is time to move into the climatic sixth Day according to Augustine. Augustine saw the six water Jars filled with water at the Cana wedding as representative of Christ fulfilling the sixth Day of creation. His taking those six empty Jars, representing the Old Covenant, demonstrated what had been going on from the first day of Genesis. Because they were empty and had run their course, He was there to fill them miraculously with New Wine, representing the coming consummation with the concluding marriage.
the sixth, from John the Baptist to the end of the world. Moreover, God made man after His own image on the sixth day, because in this sixth age is manifested the renewing of our mind through the gospel, after the image of Him who created us;
Christ gives the Jews a reminder that God indeed was still working and had not entered His Sabbath Rest in John 5. The process had not yet been completed, so Christ told them that the Night was about to come when no man can work. Paul later reminds us in Romans 12 that the night though was now far spent and the new Sabbath Day rest was at hand.
Joh 5:17 But Jesus answered them, "My Father is working until now, and I am working."
Now for the most important Day when God said let US make man in our image. We have already spoken about the living creatures, but they are in view again now in this final consummating Day, along with the Adams whom God has plans for them to sustain His Likeness and Image. It is very important to understand the distinction between Likeness and Image in Hebrew terminology. Image is a fuller and richer understanding of a representative view of someone than the Likeness façade signifies. The likeness attribute is what the First Adam begins with in his genealogy of Gen 5:1-3. He passed on this covenant image to his progeny Seth in whom all covenant people would follow with until Christ. Paul lays out the difference in 1 Cor 15 when he explains Adam’s covenant nature as the natural and earthy man who is indeed first, yet, he is followed by the second Adam who is the Spiritual Image of God.
1Co 15:49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
Gen 1:24-31 ESV And God said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds--livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds." And it was so. (25) And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. (26) Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." (27)So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
The sixth Day full creation of covenant man in God’s image is fulfilled only through Christ’s Death and resurrection on the Cross raising us from Adam’s lesser likeness to Christ full Godly Image.
Col 3:9-10 … seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.
2Co 3:17-18 Now the Lord is the Spirit, … And we all, … are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.
Now, in the sixth Day, we get into the Covenant Dominion command to fill the earth and have dominion over it. This is reaffirmed after the flood account in Genesis 9 and more explicitly in Dan 7 in the prophecy concerning the defeat of the final Beast from the Sea and the turning over the dominion to the Saints of the most high. Of course, that is speaking regarding what is going on in Rev 20-22 whereupon the Beast is cast into the pit and the faithful enter into the New Jerusalem arrayed in New Clothes. This all happens after the Gospel message is taken to the world by the Apostles and fellow members of the Body of Christ.
Gen 1:(28) And God blessed them. And God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth."
Here is the Daniel prophecy:
Dan 7:26-27 But the court shall sit in judgment, and his (the Beast) dominion shall be taken away, to be consumed and destroyed to the end. (27) And the kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High; their kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey them.'
Gen 1:(29) And God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. (30) And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food." And it was so.
Christ told the parable of the small “Seed” that is sown in the Ground that would rise to become the greatest of Garden plants or Trees. The Birds of the Heavens denoting the spiritual realm of the coming Kingdom would find their rest in its branches.
1Co 15:37 And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain.
Mat 13:31-32 Another parable set he before them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like unto a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field:(32)which indeed is less than all seeds; but when it is grown, it is greater than the herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the heaven come and lodge in the branches thereof.
Matthew 13 finds its origin in Ezekiel 17 in which a tender twig will be cut off and planted on the mountain, and is in contrast to the Garden Trees that Ezekiel expresses as those who all met their demise and could not sustain the animals and birds that rested in their boughs. These great Tree Nations like Assyria would become like King Nebs’ great tree and all fall because they usurped God’s people by not feeding them properly. In the New Covenant Spiritual Kingdom in Rev 22, the River of Life would have Trees that provide food and Healing for the Nations, just as prophesied and described above in Ezekiel 47.
We are drawing near to the end when the night is far spent and is turning to the eternal day with no night, and so God looks around and considers His creation. His previous observation about the previous work being good is now changed and exclaimed to be “Very Good.” The Work is accomplished and there is day light ahead when this Heavenly Creation Week is about to be celebrated and God sits on His throne looking over the works of His Hand of creation. This Temple construction Week is now complete.
Gen 1:(31) And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
Paul tells us in Romans that the night is far spent and the Day is at hand. The works of the Law are now relegated to outer Darkness as the Light of Day approaches.
Rom 13:11-12 Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. (12)The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.
There is not much left to say about the Seventh Day as it is self explanatory to the full Preterist.
The Seventh Day
Gen 2:1-3 ASV And the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. (2) And on the seventh day God finished his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. (3) And God blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it; because that in it he rested from all his work which God had created and made.
The interesting thing about the Temple construction is that in the first Temple planned by King David and finished by his son Solomon, the Gentiles helped to build it. However, in doing so, they were made slaves by Solomon. In the Second Temple, the Gentiles were harshly refused their offer of help to build the Temple. In the last Temple of the Messiah, those who are afar off (Gentiles) will get to come and help build the Temple of the Lord in the uniting of all peoples in God’s House.
Zec 6:12-15 And say to him, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts, "Behold, the man whose name is the Branch: for he shall branch out from his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD. (13) It is he who shall build the temple of the LORD and shall bear royal honor, and shall sit and rule on his throne. And there shall be a priest on his throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between them both."' … (15) "And those who are far off shall come and help to build the temple of the LORD. And you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you. And this shall come to pass, if you will diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God."
In summary, it is important to remember that Light bearers were established out of chaos and darkness, and that begins the journey of the special people from Adam to Christ. Our ancient first Christians had the Apostles to instruct them, and it appears through the Barnabas letter that they understood all this symbolism when it was explained to them. That was the reason for the Barnabas letter, hence, its influence upon the early church fathers for centuries. However, it lost its Preterist influence and the church turned to a literal futurist reading of Revelation and Genesis. In retrospect, Augustine understood the middle 6 Days pretty well but he had lost the understanding of the Parousia of Revelation and the Beginnings of Gen 1:1-2. The moral of that story is that just because a person gets a couple of things incorrect doesn’t mean he has gotten all of it wrong. Or just because the church has misunderstood the Parousia for nearly 1900 years, it doesn’t mean it can’t be reclaimed. The same holds true for the Origins story since we see the revealing of its mystery language come to light just as we did 40 years ago when Max King unleashed his book upon the world.
40 years prior to Max King, and beginning around 1930, in obscurity, my Grandfather debated and taught full preterism. He decided that the Preterist message needed to live on past his death, so he put it in graphic form on his Grave stone for all posterity to come and view. Grandfather corresponded with Max in 1971 and 6 months later the Lord took him, yet he was able to get a glimpse of the coming tide of Preterism viewing it from afar after his 40 year sojourn in a dry and desert land finding few who would listen.
The lesson is now yours.
Blessings,
Norm Voss
(Editor's Postscript: It seems reasonable to view the six days of creation as prophetic ages spanning the entire Old Covenant era. At this point the reader should deeply ponder the opening of Hebrews which reads as follows:
"In many parts, and many ways, God of old having spoken to the fathers in the prophets, in these last days did speak to us in a Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He did make the ages" Hebrews 1:1-2 YLT)
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