The Division of the Earth?

Peleg, Pangaea, and Genesis 10:25

Contrary to the opinion of many people, the Bible and science are in complete harmony with each other. When an apparent conflict presents itself, one can be assured that no genuine contradiction actually exists. Once all relevant evidence has been gathered, and that evidence has been handled correctly (i.e., subjected to accurate logical reasoning), the surface tension will disappear. Unfortunately, possessing an over-zealous desire to establish the Bible’s credibility, believers sometimes allow their exegetical analyses to be colored by the pressure of scientific consensus.

Division

Continental Division in Genesis?

One example of this prejudicial influence is found in Genesis 10:25, which states that Peleg (meaning “division”) derived his name from the fact that “in his days the earth was divided.” Geologists largely believe that, at some time in the ancient past, the continents formed a single land mass called Pangaea. The “continental drift” theory (now better known as the theory of plate tectonics) postulates how this land mass subsequently fractured into several separate units and proceeded to “drift” to the positions that they presently occupy. Accordingly, some Bible commentators claim that Genesis 10:25 refers to this very phenomenon (e.g., Garton, 1991; Sewell, 1990).

It is true that the Bible does not preclude the postulation of a single land mass and a single ocean when God created land and sea at the Creation (Genesis 1:9-10). If, indeed, land was originally a single unit, one biblical explanation for the present multiple continents is the Flood of Noah’s day. The geological impact of a global deluge would have been catastrophic, dramatically reshaping and altering the surface of the Earth. Likewise, the fact that “all the fountains of the great deep were broken up” (Genesis 7:11) could have been responsible for tectonic movement. However, Genesis 10:25 most likely does not refer to the Earth’s continental divisions (see, for example: Leupold, 1950, 1:378; Whitelaw, 1950, 1:161; Clarke, n.d., 1:87; Keil and Delitzsch, 1976, 1:171). Rather, it is more likely referring to the human population of the Earth. Contextual indicators point to this latter conclusion.

First, the Hebrew term for “Earth” (‘erets) may be used figuratively to refer to the Earth’s inhabitants. In fact, two separate figures of speech employ this use: “synecdoche of the whole” and “metonymy of the subject” (Bullinger, 1968, pp. 578,638). A sampling of Old Testament verses where the figure of speech occurs just within Genesis include Genesis 6:11; 9:19; 11:1; 18:25; 19:31; 41:30,57 (Gesenius, 1979, p. 81; Bullinger, p. 578).

Second, verses both before and after Genesis 10:25 provide furtherindication that Moses was referring to a linguistic/political/human division rather than a physical division of the land mass. Earlier in the same chapter, he alluded to a separation of the peoples— “everyone according to his own language, according to their families, into their nations” (Genesis 10:5, emp. added). Later in the same chapter, Moses referred to the generational divisions of Noah’s descendants “in their nations; and from these the nations were divided on the earth after the flood” (Genesis 10:32, emp. added).

Third, it is evident, contextually, that Moses provided a chapter of genealogical explanation (chapter nine) in order to set the stage for the Babel incident that follows immediately (chapter 11). Chapter nine functions as the link needed to bridge the account of the Flood with the next significant event of world history—the origin of humanity’s linguistic diversity (see Miller, Harrub, and Thompson, 2002). With no chapter break in the original autograph of Genesis, it is clear that “Earth” in the first verse of chapter eleven was used by Moses with the same meaning that it has in verse twenty- five of chapter ten. This conclusion is supported further by the allusions to national and linguistic separation in verses five and thirty- two of the same chapter.

Certainly, the Bible has been demonstrated repeatedly to be scientifically advanced, avoiding the blunders and inaccuracies of its literary contemporaries. This kind of accuracy stands as an eloquent witness to its divine origin. However, Christians must guard against imposing on the Bible the uncertainties and unproven assumptions of the latest scientific theories. The premature claims that often come forth from the scientific community constitute neither suitable nor unqualified controls for biblical interpretation.

Dave Miller – http://apologeticspress.org/AllegedDiscrepancies.aspx?article=4636

REFERENCES

Bullinger, E.W. (1968 reprint), Figures of Speech Used in the Bible (GrandRapids, MI: Baker).

Clarke, Adam (no date), Clarke’s Commentary: Genesis-Deuteronomy (New York: Abingdon-Cokesbury).

Garton, Michael (1991), “Rocks and Scripture: From the Flood to Babel,”Origins, 4[11]:8-13.

Gesenius, William (1979 reprint), Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker).

Keil, C.F. and F. Delitzsch (1976 reprint), Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans).

Leupold, H.C. (1950 reprint), Exposition of Genesis (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker).

Miller, Dave, Brad Harrub, and Bert Thompson (2002), “The Origin of Language and Communication,” Reason and Revelation, 22(8): 57-63, August.

Sewell, Curt (1990), “What Did Peleg See?,” Bible-Science Newsletter, 28[10]:1-2,4-5, October.

Whitelaw, Thomas (1950 reprint), “Genesis,” The Pulpit Commentary, ed. H.D.M. Spence and Joseph Exell (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans).

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Just a Question

The Question Everyone Should Face

When Ananias came to Paul, he asked one question which each of us should face. He was hesitant to come to meet Saul of Tarsus, who was to become the great apostle Paul, because Paul was at the forefront of the assault being made against the church. At God’s urging, Ananias stood before the persecutor and asked one question. “And now why are you waiting?” This question should be answered by each of us, for we all face the decision about becoming a Christian.

question

Just a Question

Some are waiting because they have not heard about the salvation in Christ. However, this is not the case with those who are reading these words. The motivation for world evangelism is the fact that some have not heard of the Lord, yet that is not the case with you. Why are you waiting?

Some are waiting because they feel they are good enough already. This view of how God judges a man is unknown to God. Some think that God will put all the good we have done on a heavenly balance scale and if it outweighs all the evil we have done, He will save us. The Judge of our eternal destiny has said that salvation is not by works of righteousness which we have done (Titus 3:5). It is not of works which we have done (Eph. 2:8-10). Salvation is by grace, and the price of sin cannot be paid by doing more good than evil. “All our righteousness is filthy rags” (Isa. 64:4). Why are you waiting?

Some are waiting because they do not feel worthy of salvation. They are so ashamed of past actions and those around them sometimes remind them of what they have done. What they fail to realize is that it is God who determines their worth. He is the One who decides who can be saved. Christ died for all and the invitation is for “whosoever” (Rev. 22:17). Why are you waiting?

Some are waiting because they feel they simply do not know enough. If this is why you are waiting, then think of how little was known by those who first obeyed the gospel. Read Acts 2 and listen to that one sermon which was heard by the 3,000 who became Christians. They knew that Jesus was the Christ, that He was the Lord and He wanted them to repent and be baptized. Those in Acts 16 learned enough in just one hour to obey the gospel. They did not wait to commit their lives to the Lord. Why are you waiting?

Some are waiting for a better time to come for them to obey. They intend to obey the Lord, but not right now. Their heart has good intentions. What they fail to see is that this intention is a decision to not obey Him now! Satan has blinded them and won the battle! Why are you waiting?

Let me ask again, Why are you waiting?

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Oh the Guilt!

 Guilt

When speaking spiritually, all of us experience guilt: “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). Of course, sin produces guilt, since sin is “transgression of the law” (1 John 3:4).

Guilt

No More Guilt!

However, more than a simple pronouncement, guilt can be a terrible feeling. Notice some characteristics about this feeling of guilt. First, guilt produces shame. Following their first sin, Adam and Eve “heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden” (Gen. 3:8). Their guilt produced shame. The sins of Ezra and Israel produced the same feeling:

And at the evening sacrifice I arose up from my heaviness; and having rent my garment and my mantle, I fell upon my knees, and spread out my hands unto the Lord my God, And said, O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God: for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass is grown up unto the heavens. (Ezra 9:5-6)

Second, guilt produces misery. David wrote,

For mine iniquities are gone over mine head: as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me…For innumerable evils have compassed me about: mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of mine head: therefore my heart faileth me…For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. (Ps. 38:4; 40:12; 51:3)

Third, guilt arises from the innermost conscience that is within all of us. When Jesus said to the accusers of an adulteress,

He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her…And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. (John 8:7-9)

Thus, guilt produces a conviction of sin that indicates unrest, burden of soul, misery, sting and terror. Many experience these everyday. Such ones cannot live with themselves. Many in such circumstances who do not know Jesus Christ and his forgiveness will even take their own lives to end the powerful feeling of guilt (cf. Matt. 27:3-5).

Nevertheless, we do not have to experience such feelings for long. The answer to guilt is the forgiveness of God. Consider the wonderful ways God explains his forgiving nature:

• “As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us” (Ps. 103:12).

• “…though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Isa. 1:18).

  • “…for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back” (Isa. 38:17).

• “I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins” (Isa. 43:25).

  • “…for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more” (Jer. 31:34).

• “He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea” (Mic. 7:19).

Therefore, one can experience forgiveness of sins and removal of guilt whenever one acknowledges such sin before God in the way that He has prescribed (cf. Acts 2:38; 1 John 1:8-10).

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Marriage and God’s Blessing

Does God Honor All Marriages?

I am a brother in Christ and I want to know, Does God honors all marriages?

A: Your question is one that is on a lot of people’s hearts and minds. In recent years the number of divorces in our country has outpaced the number of marriages. This has affecting many people both within and without the church.

Marriage

Marriage isn’t a Convenience, it is a Covenant.

First, I want to make sure that you understand that God loves everyone (Romans 5:8). He sent his Son Jesus to die for everyone (John 3:16) and God wants everyone to be saved (2 Peter 3:9). However, we must be saved upon God’s terms, not our own (Ephesians 2:8). So we must be obedient if we want God to save us (Hebrews 5:8,9).

Having said those few things, we should look to the word of God in regard to marriage, as it is an area in which we must be obedient to Him. When we look at the Bible teaching on marriage, we find the law of marriage mentioned in Matthew 19:5, 6. “For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.” This is God’s law of marriage. From the beginning, Jesus says, God made them male and female. Neither Adam nor Eve had been in a marriage before. God joined them together. Jesus says that when a man and a woman leave their father and mother and are married for the first time to each other, that is acceptable to God. Once they are married, God joins them together. No MAN can separate them. So someone who has never been married before is a candidate for marriage. This is God’s law of marriage.

Jesus gives one exception to this rule in Matthew 19:9. He says, “And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery.” When a couple divorces and either party remarries again, they commit adultery and are not acceptable to God. The only exception to this rule is in the case where one of the partners in the marriage commits fornication. When this occurs, the partner who is innocent of fornication (adultery) may divorce and remarry. So, here we have candidate number two. The person who has divorced his/her spouse because the spouse committed fornication (adultery), is a candidate for marriage. This is God’s law for divorce.

We have one more person who is a lawful candidate for marriage. In Romans 7:2. Paul writes here, “For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.” When someone’s spouse dies, they are a candidate for remarriage. Paul calls this, the law of the husband. In this regard, see also 1 Corinthians 7:39.

There are some who say that there is a fourth candidate for marriage based upon Paul’s teaching in 1 Corinthians 7:15 which says, “But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases: but God hath called us to peace.” Some say that “not under bondage” means not under bondage to God’s law of divorce, and that therefore, they can remarry again. However, the text does not warrant this. First, by saying this, Paul would be in clear contradiction with the Lord on this point. The Lord gave one exception. Surely if He had wanted to give another exception, he would have done so in Matthew 19:9. To what law, then is she “not under bondage?” This woman in 1 Corinthians 7 is a Christian and has an obligation to God’s law of marriage, “What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.” Her husband is putting her marriage asunder. Is she now going to be condemned by God because her marriage is being broken? I believe that Paul is saying that she is not under bondage to pursue the marriage in this situation. NOTE: This situation only applies to the believer who is married to an unbeliever. This does not apply to unbeliever married to unbeliever, or believer married to believer. Many want to use this text as an excuse to end a marriage, but that is not the purpose of it. God wants us to keep our marriages whole because he hates divorce (Malachi 2:16).

There are also some that say that non-Christians may divorce and marry as many times as they wish before they become Christians, but after they become Christians, they may no longer behave in such a way. The Bible rejects this idea because God’s law applies to all men whether they are Christians or not. All men will stand before the judgment seat of Christ one day and give an account of the things they have done in the body (2 Corinthians 5:10). God will judge those who have disregarded his law of marriage and divorce whether they are Christians or not. We also read in 2 Thessalonians 1:8 that God will render vengeance on those that “obey not” the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus started preaching the gospel when he began his ministry (Matt.4:23, Mark 1:1, Luke 4:18). Are we to say that the teaching regarding marriage, divorce, and remarriage that Jesus gave in Matthew 19:9 is NOT part of the gospel? The inspired writers certainly thought it was. Who am I to disagree with them?

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Playing with Praise

Stop Playing With God’s Praise

“I appreciate the ride home very much Joe, thanks,” Chuck said as both he and his co-worker climbed into Joe’s car Thursday afternoon after work. “I didn’t think it would take two days at the garage.”

praise

Praise God As He Has Stated.

“No problem Chuck,” Joe replied. “I’ve been wanting to talk with you anyway about something and this’ll be a good chance to do that.”

“What’s on your mind, Joe?” Chuck asked cheerfully.

“It’s about the whole instrumental music thing we discussed a little bit ago. Now I really appreciated the whole ‘pearls and puzzles’ illustration and everything – and I understood it very well. But really, what’s the big deal about instrumental worship music anyway? None of the other churches I’ve ever tried seem to have a problem with it. And besides, I was just talking to my brother whose father-in-law is a Baptist preacher, and he said that the bible never says we can’t use it, so why the fuss?” Joe blurted out all at once, wondering what Chuck’s response would ultimately be. After all, he thought to himself, if God had as big a problem with it as Chuck and the church of Christ seemed to think, then surely there should be some biblical reason… right?

“He’s exactly right, Joe,” Chuck responded. “There is no New Testament verse anywhere, specifically stating that we are not to use instruments in our songs of praise.”

Joe smiled smugly. “Finally!” He thought.

“There doesn’t have to be,” Chuck continued, “and here’s why. When God specifies for us exactly what He does want, He doesn’t have to tell us all the things that that means He doesn’t want. We see this in multiple passages throughout scripture. For example, in Leviticus 10:1-2, God incinerated two of his priests, Nadab and Abihu. Do you know what for Joe?” Joe shook his head no, wondering why he’d never heard a sermon about these two before…

“For using fire on God’s altar that He had not specifically told them to,” Chuck continued. “You see, God had told them very specifically where they were to get the fire from to place on His altar, and when He did, it automatically excluded all other sources. He didn’t have to expressly tell them all the other places in the world that they were not to get fire from; when He told them where they were to, that excluded all others. What it really boils down to is a matter of faith and trust in God.”

“The same can be said for King David, the great ‘man after God’s own heart.’ God had given extremely specific instructions as to how He wanted the Ark of the Covenant moved; it was to be borne on the shoulders of the Levites. David however, had a different idea. Duplicating the precedent of those pagans who did not know God’s specific instructions, David tried to move the Ark using two milk cows and a cart. God was so angry with David that He killed Uzzah the priest as a sign of His divine displeasure. Why was God so angry? –Remember: He had not specifically said His people couldn’t use the cart and cows – but He didn’t have to! When God had instructed that the Ark was to be borne on the shoulders of the Levites, that excluded all other options – without God having to list every single one! And the reason for His divine displeasure was because David didn’t exhibit enough faith and loyalty to God, to do it exactly the way God had said!

Remember, Jesus said, ‘If you love Me, you’ll obey My commandments.’ Hebrews 11 records many examples of the fact that in order to be pleasing to God, we must have faith enough in Him to do exactly what He said, exactly the way He said to do it. And I can show you eight bible passages regarding the type of music God requires in New Testament worship, and every single one of them says ‘sing.’ But neither you nor your brother’s preacher can show me one single New Testament verse where God says to ‘play’ can you Joe?” Joe shook his head somewhat hesitantly.

“And when God says ‘sing,’ He doesn’t have to follow that up with, ‘Now what I mean by that is, don’t whistle, don’t hum, don’t play an instrument,’ don’t whatever,’” Chuck continued. “Can you imagine how thick that would make our bibles? By stating specifically how He does want something done, God has successfully eliminated all other kinds of… well, ‘fire’ if you’re Nadab and Abihu; ‘Ark transportation’ if you’re David; or ‘musical expression’ if you’re a New Testament Christian.”

“And instrumental music is a different form of music than vocal or acapella,” Joe said thoughtfully.

“Yes; and to show just how serious God is about this ‘silence’ – or not having to note all the exceptions when He gives specific instructions – consider that, according to Hebrews 7:13-14, even though God’s message through Moses ‘spoke nothing’ concerning priests and whether or not they could come from the tribe of Judah, He didn’t have to! When He said they must be from the tribe of Levi, that settled it – even to the point that His perfect Son, Jesus Christ Himself could not have served as the one exception,” Chuck said. “Take a good look at that passage when you get home tonight Joe. It really proves the point. God doesn’t have to tell us not to use instruments in order for it to be so. All He has to do is exactly what he did. And when He said ‘sing,’ eight times, that settled it.”

“Wife called and asked me to stop and pick up a couple of gallons of milk and a loaf of bread,” Joe said as he pulled into the local Hopeland grocery store. “And she didn’t have to say, ‘Now what I mean by that is don’t buy eggs, bologna, paper towels, bottled water, or anything else. When she said ‘a couple of gallons of milk and a loaf of bread,’ that eliminated all those other things,” Joe conceded. “I see what you mean. We use that logic everyday – it’s not just a bible thing.”

Chuck nodded. “And it would be a ‘big deal’ if you instead brought home something other than what she specifically called to tell you to, wouldn’t it Joe – such as a bottle of laxative and a bag of onions? But because you love your wife and trust her to know what she’s talking about, you simply go in and get her what she wants, without her having to state what she doesn’t, don’t you Joe? So why should it be any different with those that love the Lord?”

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