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Eighth Day Man
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According to the Genesis creation week, man was created on the sixth day of creation. Is it possible that the man Adam was
actually created on a different day? A study of Scripture gives another creation day.
In Genesis 1, we read
the creation of water and flying creatures on the fifth creation day.
Then God creates the land creatures...
And man on the sixth day of creation.
Later in Genesis 2, we read that God proclaims the seventh day as a Sabbath.
After the Sabbath, God forms a man (Adam)
and then forms the field animals and flying creatures from the ground.
After forming the
man Adam and the field animals and flying creatures, God builds a woman (Eve) from man's rib.
Notice the differences between
the two acts of creation:
On the fifth creation day, God creates water creatures and flying creatures from
the waters (Gen. 1:20). On the sixth creation day, God creates land animals (Gen. 1:24) and then mankind both male
and female, in His image (Gen. 1:26-27).
After the Sabbath, on the eighth day God forms the man Adam from the dust of
the ground (Gen. 2:7) and then forms the field and flying creatures from the ground (Gen. 2:19) and afterwards
builds a woman whom Adam names Eve (Gen. 2:21-23).
These creation stories show two different creations with
obvious differences.
Whereas the sixth day man and woman were created (Hebrew bara: create) (Strong 1254) in God's image,
the eighth day man Adam was formed (Hebrew yatsar: form, shape, mold for a purpose) (Strong 3335) from the dust. The eighth day
animals were also formed, while the fifth and sixth day creatures were created.
Another difference is the fifth day flying creatures
were created from the waters whereas the eighth day flying creatures were formed from the ground.
The order of creation is also
different in each story.
God creates water and flying creatures on the fifth day and then land animals and man as male and female on the sixth. On the eighth day, God forms man, then forms field animals and flying creatures and then builds (Hebrew banah: to build) (Strong 1129) a woman. Fifth and sixth creation days in order are:
water and flying creatures, land creatures, man as both
male and female
The eighth creation day in order is:
the man Adam, field and flying creatures, woman.
Notice how both creation
accounts show a different order.
One clue as to discovering what God's plan was for the two different creation accounts
and the separate eighth day creation is that God says, after creating man on the sixth day, "there was not a man to till the
ground" (Gen. 2:5). If God had previously created man on day six, then why was there no man to till the ground on day eight? Evidently
sixth day man was not created for land tilling.
Another clue as to God's creation day plans is that while the sixth day man was
placed on the earth (and it does not say where), the eighth day man Adam was placed in a direct spot on the earth, in the
garden (Gen. 2:8). God tells Adam he was placed in the garden "to dress it and to keep it" (Gen. 2:15).
In dressing and
keeping the garden ("dress" from Hebrew abad: to till) (Strong 5647) ("keep" from Hebrew shamar: to guard,
lead so as to protect) (Strong 8104), Adam was to till it and keeping it, meaning he was to protect and care for it. Basically,
Adam was designed to be a farmer.
Notice how, unlike the fifth and sixth day creation animals, the eighth day creation animals
were placed in the garden in Adam's field (Gen. 2:19). These eighth day creation animals were formed for the purpose of being
domesticated. They were the animals Adam would look after in his garden.
So why was Adam formed rather than simply created
like sixth day man? First, Adam was formed for the purpose of glorifying the image of God. Scripture says that Adam's wife Eve was
taken directly from him (from his rib) and because of it was one with him. Adam and Eve's oneness is in the image of the Triune God
who are three Persons in one God. The sixth day man as male and female is designed in the image of God as well, but through
Adam God shows exactly how the man and woman are one man. Through Adam the oneness of the Trinity is directly defined.
The
second reason Adam was formed was that through Adam (the protector of the garden) would come the giving of the law. The
third reason Adam was formed was that through Adam's lineage was to come the Messiah or anointed One who would dwell with man
on earth (as decided by God from the foundation of the world) (Eph. 1:4, Rev. 13:8).
From the lineage of Adam, the
rest of mankind would be blessed by the Messiah via his descendant Abraham (Gen. 12:3). And through Adam was the giving
of the law via his descendant Moses (Ex. 31:18).
But Adam also brought sin into the garden which is why the Messiah who
would come through Adam's descendant Abraham was to give his life as a ransom, to remove the sins Adam let enter the garden. (1 Tim.
2:5-6). Christ as the last Adam would rectify the damage caused by the first Adam (1 Cor. 15:5-7).
The eighth day
creation of Adam exemplifies Jesus. Through Adam, God was telling the world what Christ would do. And through Adam's
descendant Moses God would tell the world exactly how Adam would exemplify Christ. Christ would fulfill the holy days of the
Lord given from God to Moses (found in Leviticus) ( Lev. 23) (Col. 2:16-17).
As Adam was formed on the eighth day of creation,
Christ was resurrected on the eighth day Sunday which fulfilled the day of firstfruits. Before fulfilling this day, Christ
would become the passover lamb of Leviticus who would remove the sins Adam let enter the world (Rom. 5:12-14).
God
the Son as Jesus born on the first of Tishri (beginning of the Jewish New Year) fulfilled the day of trumpets of Leviticus 23. Because
of this, it is likely that Adam was formed on the first day of Tishri thus beginning the calendar of man after creation.
As
Adam exemplifies the Messiah, so also Eve exemplifies the Church. For as Eve was the bride of Adam so also is
the church the bride of the Messiah (Eph. 5:25).
If Adam was created on the eighth day, the day the Messiah
was resurrected, then Eve was created forty nine days after Adam or fifty days counting the day of Adam's creation. Why" Because fifty
days after Christ's resurrection the church began on the day known as as Pentecost. The Pentecost fulfilled the harvest day of Leviticus
23.
It is possible that during this time, between the Jewish month Tishri 1 and the time Eve was designed that God
created the domestic creatures who were then named by Adam.
Note also that as the church was taken from Christ
at His rest during death, the woman was created from Adam at his rest during sleep. And as Eve came from Adam during this
sleep, so also the church came from Christ after His death.When Adam awoke, His bride Eve was given to Him. When Christ was resurrected,
His bride the church was given to Him (Gen. 2:20-24, Matt. 27:50, Matt. 28).
Now, if Adam was created on the day following
the first Sabbath after creation, then who was the man that was created on the sixth day? (Gen. 1:26-27). It would only make sense
that this would have been the creation of every race male and female.
It has been believed that the two creation accounts
were one in the same despite discrepancies of both stories. This belief uses the words of Jesus' apostle Peter as proof of this
claim.
In this verse, Peter was referring to those of the lineage
of Adam who were "eight souls." These souls were Noah and his three sons and their wives. Does it say that these souls were of adamic
lineage? Yes, because Noah and his family were of the lineage of Adam and therefore adamic lineage.
Because God found only Noah
righteous, he and his family were "saved by water." Notice it does not say the eight were saved "from the water" instead. These eight
souls were of the adamic lineage whose lineage was still pure and untainted from the pre-flood corruption.
Referencing this verse
with other Scripture near it and with other texts will help to understand it better. (All Scripture should be referenced this
way. Pulling out a verse by itself without further study may not give the meaning God intended for it to have.) (2 Timothy
3:16)
In Genesis is the account of the flood and of man's corruption and Noah's righteousness.
("perfect" from Hebrew tamiym: without blemish) (Strong 8549) ("generations" from Hebrew dore: generation) (Strong 1755) Noah's lineage or "generations" ("these are the generations of Noah") (v.9) was not corrupted by sin as was the rest of mankind on earth at the time of Noah, which means Noah's lineage was still perfect ("without blemish"). What does it mean when it says Noah's lineage had not been corrupted? It means his lineage was still pure and untainted from sin. How is it the lineage of the rest of mankind became tainted? They had intermingled with the fallen Sons of God (fallen angels) who intermarried with mankind "they took them wives of all which they chose" (Gen. 6:1-2). The fallen angels sought to taint the lineage of mankind so that the promised Messiah could not be born through mankind (Gen. 3:15). None of the generations from Adam to Noah had intermarried with the fallen angels. So, Noah's lineage was still pure. Noah's lineage as found perfect by God was saved from the old world that had been corrupted. His lineage was saved by the waters of the flood and brought in to the new world which existed after the flood. The world that existed before the flood was so tainted that Noah's lineage risked eventual contamination.
Noah and his family, having been saved by the waters, was an archetype of baptism where the old self is washed away and the new person in Christ now exists. It is not about the putting away of the filth but instead about having a good conscience toward God by the resurrection of Christ. Peter explains the metaphor in the verse that follows.
God saved the adamic lineage from corruption by delivering the eight souls from the previously tainted world. But God also told Noah to bring into the Ark "every living thing of all flesh,
two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark" (Gen. 6:19). ("thing" from Hebrew chay: creatures, everything that lives) (Strong
2416) ("flesh" from Hebrew basar: body, person, flesh) (Strong 1320). This "flesh" included man and animals. God saved
one of every kind of creation both man and animal from the flood so that no life would be totally destroyed.
After
the flood, sixth and eighth day man continued to exist.
All sixth and eighth day man since the beginning of creation
who sought after God's righteousness through the future Messiah will continue to exist with God through God's plan of salvation as
also will those of every race, creed, and color who accept Jesus as their Messiah since His appearance. The second
Adam Jesus is a blessing to all sixth and eighth day man (Gen. 12:3; Col. 1:20).
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Works
Cited
Strong, James. Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. Hendrickson Publishers, Incorporated, 2009. |