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“For in six days the Lord made heavens and earth, the seas, and all כל that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” ‭‭Exodus‬ ‭20:11‬

Aside from the question of the heavens and earth being made on the first day but along the same lines, to what does the word all apply to? Does it apply to the heavens, or the earth or the seas or all three?

And if ALL created in them does apply to the heavens also and if God Himself is speaking, not a human prophet

“And God spoke all these words, saying,” ‭‭Exodus‬ ‭20:1‬ ‭

If God claims that they were all done within the first six days, how could the hosts of heavens (angels, satan-to-be) predate the heavens themselves? Especially if it says ALL that was in them were made in this timeframe.

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  • Are you asking if God’s oneness excludes “extensions of His light” (angels)? - If “Elohim” in its plural form is “one” (“Echad”) with gematria value of 13, could the oneness of God = YHWH + 12 other hosts?
    – חִידָה
    Dec 9, 2020 at 3:14
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    @ChurchQuestions I’m not asking about Kabbalah, I’m asking about Exodus 20:11, when it says all things made in them, does the ‘all’ refer to all things made in heaven too? And if yes doesn’t that follow therefore that nothing other than God predates Creation?
    – Nihil Sine Deo
    Dec 9, 2020 at 3:53
  • You may also ask where did the people of Nod come from in Genesis 4:16, if Adam's family (Eve, Abel, Cain) were "all" of the humans.
    – חִידָה
    Dec 9, 2020 at 11:35
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    G4:16 doesn’t speak of Nod being inhabited and in true fashion the text being written after the fact gives the name of the location Cain settled in as it was called at the time the text was written. At Cain’s migration the land was nameless. Your inference is not based on the text but on presupposition you have inferred onto the text due to issues you consider problems but which if read in context without inferring a gap theory (Ex20:11 God says He made everything in six days) then it has an explanation in context.
    – Nihil Sine Deo
    Dec 9, 2020 at 13:59

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The principalities and powers who are of the spiritual realm, called 'the sons of God' in the book of Job, are the second heavens.

The first heavens are what we see - sun, moon and stars.

The second heavens are the immaterial whose very existence supports that which is seen.

Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. [Hebrews 11:3 KJV]

These were made first (for their existence supports that which follows) and thus it is written that 'In the beginning, God created the heavens [plural][first] and the earth'.

All that is in the (second) heavens was made within the six days.

The spirit-beings are part of the creation. The do not pre-exist before creation. They are created.

And, necessarily, are created within the six days of creation.

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    I can’t say I agree with the whole post but you make some valid points +1
    – Nihil Sine Deo
    Dec 9, 2020 at 21:46
  • @NihilSineDeo Appreciated. Thank you.
    – Nigel J
    Dec 9, 2020 at 21:49
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I note that in Ex 20:11 -

  • "heavens" is masculine plural
  • "earth" is feminine singular
  • "sea" is masculine singular

Therefore, "all that is in them" cannot apply to just sea. Therefore, I suggest that "all" and "them" applies to the collection of three nouns, "heavens and earth and sea".

This is good evidence that "heavens and earth" does not always mean the entirety of all that is because it clearly does not include the sea, and all that is in the heavens, earth and sea.

By extension, if one believes that on day one of creation week, God created the heavens and earth, that cannot also include the sun, moon and stars because according to Gen 1:8, 14, the light from the sun, moon and stars were placed in the firmament or heavens.

This leads (at least me) to conclude that Gen 1:1 is heading/summary; Gen 1:2 is an introduction, with the creation activities starting with v3 via the formula, "And God said ..." - the same as on all other five days.

This is further reinforced by the observation that the "heavens" were actually created on day 2 (see Gen 1:7, 8); and God created the "earth" on day 3 (see Gen 1:9, 10).

There is nothing that says or demands that "in the beginning" is the beginning of all time, but only the beginning of time for our world. Since God does not need our world and it heavens for His existence; and apparently, according to Job 38:4-7, neither do some other life forms that observed God's creating the "foundations" of the earth.

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  • ”This is good evidence that "heavens and earth" does not always mean the entirety of all that is because it clearly does not include the sea, and all that is in the heavens, earth and sea.” This paragraph is way off base exegetically. ”For in six days the Lord made heavens and earth, the seas” This spanned six days. The heavens contained the seasG1:2, then some were divided and those divided again. Hence the seas in UNseparated form were present in the heavens of G1:1. Now they are treated as a separate entity but if one said heavens and earth day 6 it would include the seas on the earth.
    – Nihil Sine Deo
    Dec 9, 2020 at 13:34
  • In fact in modern cosmology you do the same thing. If someone says earth, they don’t assume you only mean the dry land, they assume you mean the whole earth’s crust and the seas on the earth, even the atmosphere. And if someone wanted to say “everything on earth”, they would understand including the seas but if someone wanted to specify “everything on earth and in the sea and up to space” then they are distinguishing between the dry land, the aquatic and the air. Yet Nothing is excluded. That’s modern understanding. > what exists outside the heavens, earth and seas? When were they made? VERSE
    – Nihil Sine Deo
    Dec 9, 2020 at 13:45

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