Re: Non-truths that do not transform

I will probably regret getting involved in this thread but recent Bible
quotes bring up a long standing question of mine.

Vernon wrote:
<<But are you not rejecting the authority of the Bible when, ... (a) You
deny Ex.20:11 confirms the matter of a 6-day creation, followed by a day of
rest? ...>>

I have lost count of the number of times that Exodus 20:11 (within the 10
Commandments) has been thrown at me as proof of a 6-day creation. After
all were not these words written by God Himself on the stone tablets given
to Moses at Mt. Sinai? If any part of the Bible could be said to contain
the actual literal words of God, wouldn't these rank among the most
certain? How can you deny the actual words of God with respect to the
Creation account? et cetera, et cetera

Yet what has always puzzled me is that years later when Moses pulled out
the 10 Commandments for a second time, this is the one and only part that
really changed. In Deuteronomy 5, Moses repeats the Decalogue almost
verbatim -- except for the Sabbath commandment with the 6-day Creation
comment.

Exo. 20:8-11
8 Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. 9Six days you shall labor and
do all your work. 10But the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God;
you shall not do any work--you, your son or your daughter, your male or
female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. 11For in
six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them,
but rested the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and
consecrated it.

Deut. 5:12-15, 22
12 Observe the sabbath day and keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded
you. 13Six days you shall labor and do all your work. 14But the seventh day
is a sabbath to the LORD your God; you shall not do any work--you, or your
son or your daughter, or your male or female slave, or your ox or your
donkey, or any of your livestock, or the resident alien in your towns, so
that your male and female slave may rest as well as you. 15Remember that
you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you
out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the
LORD your God commanded you to keep the sabbath day.

22 These words the LORD spoke with a loud voice to your whole assembly at
the mountain, out of the fire, the cloud, and the thick darkness, and he
added no more. He wrote them on two stone tablets, and gave them to me.

My question: What happened during those intervening years that caused the
words on the stone tablets to change? Which version was the actual
unchanging Words of God? According to Moses, it appears that the
Deuteronomy version was the correct one. So why is it that every time
someone uses Exo. 20:11 as undeniable evidence, they always ignore the
Deuteronomy version? Could it be that forcing the OT to be a literal book
of science about the Creation actually misses some significant points when
it comes to the variations in the Sabbath commandment?

Steve
[Opinions expressed herein are my fault. Don't blame or attribute them to
my employer.]
_____________
 Steven M. Smith, Geologist, U.S. Geological Survey
 Box 25046, M.S. 973, DFC, Denver, CO 80225
 Office: (303)236-1192, Fax: (303)236-3200
 Email: smsmith@usgs.gov
 -USGS Nat'l Geochem. Database NURE HSSR Web Site-
  http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/1997/ofr-97-0492/
Received on Wed May 4 11:19:08 2005