MISC POEMS AND WRITINGS

THE BIRTHMARK

A BEAUTIFUL, TRUE ADOPTION STORY

NOBODY KNOWS

By Ruth Lyberger    September 1999

[Birth Mother of Roger Meir]

Nobody knows what a mother goes through

When she gives up her baby so tiny and new 

Nobody knows what lies ahead

Sometimes a life that the mother dreads 

Nobody knows the hurt and the pain

Of not knowing if she will ever see him again 

Nobody knows how it feels

To know that time does not heal 

Knowing your son is somewhere out there

Not knowing what his parents will share 

Nobody knows how a mother longs

To know her son and to see how he’s done 

Nobody knows if you’ll ever meet

The son you gave up when you were weak 

Nobody knows what joy it is to

Hear the words “I forgave you” 

Nobody knows what God has in store

He gave me a son and a whole lot more 

Nobody knows how happy I’ve been

To meet my son and start over again 

Only God knows that this was His plan

And now with joy and love we are both in God’s hand 

So till you walk in this mother’s shoes

You’ll never know what she’s been through

THE ERRORS OF THE GAP THEORY IN GENESIS 1

Scofield and McGee – Scofield first published his cross reference Bible in 1905, and revised it with dispensational notes in 1917. McGee began his Thru the Bible ministry in 1967. Both were influential about the Gap Theory, based on a misinterpretation of two Hebrew phrases.

Scofield annotates Genesis 1:2 to the effect that the word translated was in that verse can also mean became. Now if we read ‘and the earth became without form and void,’ it does suggest that something evil happened, something against what we know as the perfect character of God and His works, and this paves the way for a theory about pre-Adamic beings in a world spoilt by Satan, before the Fall of man recorded in Genesis 3.

 

What are the facts about the Hebrew word hayethah? First, it normally means ‘was,’ not ‘became.’ A typical example is Genesis 29:17 which says Rachel was (hayethah) beautiful and well favored. This word hayethah is the one used about the earth in Genesis 1:2, and there is no difference in the construction of ‘Rachel was beautiful and well favored,’ and ‘the earth was without form, and void.’ There is therefore no need to suggest that it has the rare meaning ‘became’ on the grounds of context.

 

But is there something about the actual words translated ‘without form, and void’ which would force us to choose the rarer reading? Scofield seemed to think so, probably because he took the Hebrew words tohu wa bohu to mean ‘chaotic.’ Today, this word is very negative, but of course the Hebrew doesn’t say it was, or became, chaotic. It merely points to a condition of shapelessness, or unformedness.

But they were not the firsts to promote the Gap Theory.

In 1814, Dr. Thomas Chalmers, a respected Scottish Presbyterian minister began to advocate the idea of a gap between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2. The reason for this was not theological—it was geological. By interpreting the first two verses of Genesis in this way, Dr. Chalmers felt that he could accommodate the views of the geologists of his day who were teaching millions of years, while at the same time maintaining a literal interpretation of the Genesis account of creation.

There are many different versions as to what supposedly happened during this gap of time, but most versions of the gap theory place millions of years of geologic time (including billions of animal fossils) between the Bible’s first two verses. This version of the gap theory is sometimes called the ruin-reconstruction theory. Most ruin-reconstruction theorists have allowed the fallible theories of secular scientists to determine the meaning of Scripture and have, therefore, accepted the millions-of-years dates for the fossil record.

 As a result of many years of this teaching:

     Many people assume there is a great gap in time between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2. Most of these do this to accommodate the geological age system of billions of years of supposed earth history in the Genesis record of creation. The idea is something like this: billions of years ago God created the space-mass-time universe. Then the geological ages took place over billions of years of earth history. The different forms of life developed that are now preserved in the fossil record. These life-forms represent those ages - the invertebrates of the Cambrian Period, the dinosaurs of the Cretaceous Period ... finally the mammals, birds and ‘ape-men’ of the Tertiary Period - just before the recent epoch.

·         Then the idea is that, at the end of these geological ages, a great cataclysm took place on earth, with Satan having rebelled in heaven and many of the angels following him in that rebellion. God, therefore, cast him to the earth, and the earth underwent a great cataclysm, leaving it finally without form and void, and with darkness on the face of the deep, as described in Genesis 1:2.

·         Subsequently, according to this idea—usually known as the ‘gap’ theory—God then re-created or reconstituted the earth in the six literal days of creation recorded in the first chapter of Genesis. The argument for this theory makes verse two read, ‘The earth became without form and void’ (some would render it ‘The earth became waste and desolate’), as though it had previously been a beautiful world. But now, because of the cataclysm, it was a devastated remnant of a world, so that there was a change of condition. It became without form and void.

In the book 100 Christian Books That Changed the Century, William J. and Randy Petersen acknowledge the long-term impact of The Genesis Flood: “Creation science has been controversial within the evangelical community as well as in society at large, but there is no doubt of the impact of this book by Whitcomb and Morris. . . . By the end of the century the book had gone into its forty-first printing. . . . Creation science became a major force . . . and has a substantial presence in the fields of science and education, all stemming from the influential book by Whitcomb and Morris.”

How did this happen? By the mercy of God, through His inspired, infallible written Word.

We firmly believed that all compromise views, such as the gap theory, the day-age theory, and the framework hypothesis, which had been taught in one form or another for over one hundred years, would eventually be crushed by the rock of Holy Scripture. Our Lord Jesus Christ was there when the earth was created, for “all things were made through Him” (John 1:3). His account of creation and the Flood are perfectly true because He “cannot lie” (Titus 1:2) and He “is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). (John Whitcomb & Henry Morris – 1961)

For non-Hebrew readers like me, there is another easy way to show that there cannot be a gap. Exodus 20:11 plainly says, “In six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them.” So God made everything in six days, including things in the heavens.

Sources: Answers in Genesis / Scofield Bible / Wikipedia / Modern Times / The Genesis Flood

GRATITUDE LIST    By Donna Carr-Jenkins

Love -from so many, family, friends, even when they don’t say it. But God’s love shines through their darkest moments and overshadows any human love. 

Breath - even when my nose is clogged  and I have a sore throat He is not done with me here on earth as He continues to give me breath. 

Sight - even when my eyes are filled with tears or my eyes are closed, seeing Gods creation but also God at work past, present and knowing I’ll see more in the future with spiritual eyes moving my heart. 

A sound mind - even though I may lose it at times, He brings me back to truth. We do not fight against flesh and blood but against the powers…..which Jesus has already defeated if we walk in the Spirit. So the fight is as easy as knowing He is in charge and has it handled as long as we are resting in Him. 

Taste and smell - bombarding the senses with His creation. From  the air after a spring rain, flowers,  and sweetness of fruit off the trees. But the presence of the Lord in all His goodness tops them all. 

Touch - the hugs from those who love you, miss you, and or greet you, a soft back rub, being able to detect the dish is not clean and something is still stuck on, and the warmth of a blanket on chilly nights. But when God touches that part of you that He’s been waiting for the perfect moment, because He is patient, kind, and gentle, brings healing and truth, that’s heaven touching earth. 

Afraid?   Of What?           By Ruth Bell Graham
       

Our mission board made it a policy never to pay ransom, a policy that spread rapidly by word of mouth. As a result, none of our missionaries was ever held for ransom. One, however, was killed in cold blood.

“Uncle” Jack Vinson was recovering from an appendectomy when bandits pillaged a village inhabited by a number of Christians. He insisted on going to check on them. While he was there, the bandits returned and Uncle Jack was captured. After being roped together with a long line of prisoners, he was ordered to start walking. Because of his recent surgery, he was unable to keep up.

A young Chinese girl heard a bandit threaten to shoot him if he did not hurry. Uncle Jack replied, “If you shoot me, I shall go straight to heaven.” The soldier shot him.

When “Uncle” Ham heard this account, he wrote a poem that I think reflects the feelings of all those missionaries under whose influence we were reared:

Afraid? Of What?

To feel the spirit’s glad release?

To pass from pain to perfect peace,

The strife and strain of life to cease?

Afraid—of that?

Afraid? Of What?
Afraid to see the Savior’s face
To hear His welcome, and to trace
The glory gleam from wounds of grace?
Afraid—of that?

Afraid? Of What?
A flash, a crash, a pierced heart;
Darkness, light, O heaven’s art!
A wound of His a counterpart!
Afraid—of that?

Afraid? Of What?
To enter into Heaven’s rest,
And yet to serve the Master blest,
From service good to service best?
Afraid—of that?

Afraid? Of What?
To do by death what life could not—
Baptize with blood a stony plot,
Till souls shall blossom from the spot?
Afraid—of that?

—E.H. Hamilton