Bible Recap

Does science and Creation meet on the mountain top?

/ Bybrendat / Leave a comment

Well, I just fell into quite a rabbit hole. Today’s talk of the two mountains in the Bible Recap reading plan—Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim—got me curious about mountains in general. We all know that mountains have much significance to God in scripture and many pivotal moments happen on mountaintops. Mountains are a portrait of many qualities of God.

Photo credit: This photo is from National Geographic’s website.

And so, I did a little digging into mountains and what they actually are and what they do for us. Here are a few things I found of interest.

  1. Even after mountains stop growing, they exist for millions of years before eroding away.
  2. Mountains play a major role in determining global and regional climates. They are the source of most rivers, act as cradles, barriers and bridges for species, and are crucial for the survival and sustainability of many human societies. They provide 60-80% of all freshwater resources. In other words, mountains are crucial to our survival.

But, perhaps, this next bit of information plunged me into the deepest rabbit hole of all while struggling with the scientific claims of the earth being 4.5 billion years old. I hope you can follow this, because I’m not sure I can. Haha. But something here just won’t let go of me.

  1. I found this on a website which explores what would happen with no mountains.

“To have a world with no mountains occur naturally, there must be no plate tectonics. To have no plate tectonics, there must either be no moon, or the moon must be tidally locked to prevent its gravitic influence causing heat-producing deformation of the world.

A consequence of this is that there would be no earthquakes and erosion would eventually level land and sea-floor alike until it was eventually all an equal depth beneath the water”

And, pause!

I could be a billion miles off with this, BUT could this explain how science claims the earth is 4.5 billion years old and how biblical timing actually line up. When God appears in Genesis to create the earth as we know it:

“Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.”

Hmmmm…

I told you it was a deep rabbit hole!

What do you think?

Regarding Moses

/ Bybrendat / Leave a comment

Writer’s Note: I am reading chronologically through the Bible in a year using Tara-Leigh Cobble’s Bible Recap. You can find in podcast form or on the You Version Bible App. God is really opening up His Word in a fresh way this time through and I’ve never been more excited to dig in everyday. Starting today, I thought I might share some of my thoughts from the day’s reading, which today was Exodus 4-6. If you are looking for a guided way to walk through the Word with links to study tools and videos, check out the Bible Recap. I think you will love it as much as I do. 

I have both dreaded and been excited about this story. The reason? Because I relate to Moses so deeply. I, too, have come up with every excuse in the book not to do what God has called me to do. I, too, have felt inadequate and felt that God got it all wrong when He picked me. I, too, have felt convicted and convinced by His patience with me and His power that I started the walk, but then freaked at the first sign of difficulty. Which, by the way, Satan is happy to exploit and keep you from doing God’s will.

I—we—must remember that we are operating under the authority and power of God Almighty. He knows our weaknesses. Our weakness is why He selects us so that He can display His full power.

It’s sometimes easy to look at Moses and wonder how in the world he could doubt. But, then I realize that if someone saw all the signs and wonders God has performed in my own life, they would wonder the same about me.

Moses was human. I am human. We all are human. And God understands that and is patient and compassionate with us.

I am thankful for Moses’ story. And I’m thankful that Moses walked it out even with his doubt. He could have walked away and said, “no thanks…find someone else.” And God would have…

And we would be reading about someone else. What a personal tragedy that would be. I pray that I—that we—walk the walk God has chosen us for; that we don’t run or let Satan stop us. We can’t thwart God’s plans but we can choose to not be a part of it. And, I for one, desperately want to be a part of everything He has for me. Now, to pick up my staff—-my pen—and resume doing the thing!

Pray for me as I pray for you. I don’t even know most of you, but I love you all. Thank you for being on this journey with me.

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