# How long is a Creation day?



## Will Galen

How long is a Creation day?

A day is a length of time that varies according to subject matter. For example, it’s common to use the word day to mean an era, an age, a generation, or the life span of a person. The question for this discussion is, “How long is a Creation day?”

Many people are adamant that when Genesis 1:5 says, “and there was evening and there was morning, a first day,” it was a time period of 24 hours. Are they right? Let us see.

Genesis 1:14,15, says of the sun and moon . . . “they must serve as signs and for seasons and for days and years.  They will serve as luminaries in the expanse of the heavens to shine upon the earth.”

Note the sun and moon were to serve the earth. However, the Bible tells us that God doesn’t need to rest and he’s a spirit person so he doesn’t need light to see. Since God doesn’t have our constraints it’s readily apparent that he doesn’t need to use our units of time. So why would we assume God consigned himself to using our 24 hour days in creation?

The Bible tells us a thousand years is as a day to God. (2 Peter 3:8) (See also Psalms 90:4) So the question arises, why would God create everything in 24 hour time periods? Twenty-four hours is the length of our day, not Gods, and he’s the one doing the creating.

Since we know the word day can mean different lengths of time, the best one can do in determining a creation days length is to consider the creation context and to take into account what other scriptures in the Bible have to say about creation. When you do so you find you still won’t know the length of each creative day, but the evidence indicates creative days were much longer than 24 hours.

THE THIRD DAY
(Genesis 1:11-13) 11And God went on to say: “Let the earth cause grass to shoot forth, vegetation bearing seed, fruit trees yielding fruit according to their kinds, the seed of which is in it, upon the earth.” And it came to be so. 12And the earth began to put forth grass, vegetation bearing seed according to its kind and trees yielding fruit, the seed of which is in it according to its kind. Then God saw that [it was] good. 13And there came to be evening and there came to be morning, a third day.

Note that God says, “Let the earth cause grass to shoot forth . . . the seed of which is in it, upon the earth.” It doesn’t say God caused grass to shoot forth. Apparently he only planted the seeds and let the earth produce the vegetation right from the start.

Notice also that in verse 12 the text specifically states that the ". . . Earth began to put forth . . . trees yielding fruit."

Yes, God could have planted full grown vegetation, however he didn’t grow vegetation to maturity himself, he planted seed and let the earth . . . “cause grass to shoot forth.”

Now if you think that this could still all happen in 24 hours, notice that verse 12 shows that the earth began putting forth vegetation. The text specifically states that the “. . . Earth began to put forth . . . trees yielding fruit.” The point here is that fruit-bearing trees require several years growth to produce fruit. The text states that the earth produced these trees.

The text shows that God seeded the earth, and then let the earth do it’s job. Thus the context indicates that the third creative day was longer than 24 hours. 

THE FIFTH DAY
(Genesis 1:20-23) 20And God went on to say: “Let the waters swarm forth a swarm of living souls and let flying creatures fly over the earth upon the face of the expanse of the heavens.” 21And God proceeded to create the great sea monsters and every living soul that moves about, which the waters swarmed forth according to their kinds, and every winged flying creature according to its kind. And God got to see that [it was] good. 22With that God blessed them, saying: “Be fruitful and become many and fill the waters in the sea basins, and let the flying creatures become many in the earth.” 23And there came to be evening and there came to be morning, a fifth day.

Notice that God blessed his creations. The sea creatures were to, ‘fill the sea basins,’ and the birds were to, ‘become many.’ Their doing so would of course take more than 24 hours.

Another point. Consider that God only created two of mankind, Adam and Eve. He then blessed them and told them to fill the earth and subdue it.  Besides the case of Adam and Eve we have Noah's Ark as an example of just a pair of creatures being needed to populate the earth with their kind. That being the case it’s likely he just created two of each creature and let them multiply on their own.

Again when you consider the context of what the Bible says you come to the conclusion that the fifth creative day was longer than 24 hours.

THE SIXTH DAY
(Genesis 1:24-31) And God went on to say: “Let the earth put forth living souls according to their kinds, domestic animal and moving animal and wild beast of the earth according to its kind.” And it came to be so. 25And God proceeded to make the wild beast of the earth according to its kind and the domestic animal according to its kind and every moving animal of the ground according to its kind. And God got to see that [it was] good.

26And God went on to say: “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness, and let them have in subjection the fish of the sea and the flying creatures of the heavens and the domestic animals and all the earth and every moving animal that is moving upon the earth.” 27And God proceeded to create the man in his image, in God’s image he created him; male and female he created them. 28Further, God blessed them and God said to them: “Be fruitful and become many and fill the earth and subdue it, and have in subjection the fish of the sea and the flying creatures of the heavens and every living creature that is moving upon the earth.”

29And God went on to say: “Here I have given to YOU all vegetation bearing seed which is on the surface of the whole earth and every tree on which there is the fruit of a tree bearing seed. To YOU let it serve as food. 30And to every wild beast of the earth and to every flying creature of the heavens and to everything moving upon the earth in which there is life as a soul I have given all green vegetation for food.” And it came to be so. 31After that God saw everything he had made and, look! [it was] very good. And there came to be evening and there came to be morning, a sixth day.

We see on the sixth creative day God created both domestic and wild animals as well as Adam and Eve. The second chapter of Genesis adds further details to the creation account. Notice what Genesis 2:18-23 says,

(Genesis 2:18-23) 18And Jehovah God went on to say: “It is not good for the man to continue by himself. I am going to make a helper for him, as a complement of him.” 19Now Jehovah God was forming from the ground every wild beast of the field and every flying creature of the heavens, and he began bringing them to the man to see what he would call each one; and whatever the man would call it, each living soul, that was its name. 20So the man was calling the names of all the domestic animals and of the flying creatures of the heavens and of every wild beast of the field, but for man there was found no helper as a complement of him. 21Hence Jehovah God had a deep sleep fall upon the man and, while he was sleeping, he took one of his ribs and then closed up the flesh over its place. 22And Jehovah God proceeded to build the rib that he had taken from the man into a woman and to bring her to the man. 23Then the man said: “This is at last bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh. This one will be called Woman, Because from man this one was taken.”

There are several things that indicate the sixth creative day was longer than 24 hours. First, the creation account says that God would bring the birds and animals to the man for him to name them. Obviously there were no artificial lights back then, so this naming task would have to take place in daylight so Adam could see them. So if a creation day was only 24 hours long Adam only had about 12 hours to name all the animals, not a full 24 hours.

Consider the math. Meaning how many animals and birds could Adam name in 12 daylight hours? This would appear to be an impossible job for Adam to accomplish in one day.

Another point. Does it seem to you that God would give Adam a job to do right after he created him? That would have been the case if each creation day were just 24 hours long. Or would he instruct Adam with the things he needed to know and then give him time to orientate himself and time to explore his new home? Big companies routinely give new hires a period of orientation to familiarize themselves with their new surroundings.

Remember Adam is a newborn as to experience and knowledge. He wouldn’t know anything other than what God had told him.

We also need to remember that God said, “It is not good for the man to continue by himself. I am going to make a helper for him, as a complement of him.” That statement is not something God would likely say after only a few hours. And as busy as Adam would have been studying and naming the birds and animals he wouldn’t have had time to get lonely on the first day.

Also notice what Adam said when God brought the woman to him, “This is at last bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh. This one will be called woman, because from man this one was taken.”

Adam’s first sentence where he says, “At last. . .“ indicates he had waited for some time for God to provide him with a mate. This doesn't appear to be what someone would likely say after having only lived for a few hours himself, and has spent most of his time naming animals.

Adam’s second sentence indicates that he studied whatever was brought to him before he provided it with it’s name. Notice he says, “This one,” indicating he had already named others. Then he continues and gives a reason for giving the woman her name saying, “This one will be called Woman. Because. . . ”

The context shows Adam gave a reason for giving the woman her name. The way the sentence is worded indicates he likely gave a reason for giving the birds and animals their names also. Th

They way we view names today gives support to Adam having a reason for each name. We always like to give forethought before providing something or someone a name. We are so serious about names that books full of names have been produced to aid expectant parents in deciding on a baby’s name. And very often when a name is decided on others want to know the reason the name was chosen.

If creation days were 24 hour days as some insist, it’s apparent it would have been rushing things for Adam to have provided names to all the birds and animals in just a few hours, maybe impossible. We might consider too that there would have been no need to rush things, Adam had the prospect of living forever. With such being the case does it make sense that God would give Adam a task to do almost immediately after creating him? That would have had to have been the case if he were to have named all the birds and animals on the first day.

It’s much more likely God gave Adam time to settle in and explore before he gave him the task of naming the birds and animals. Just exploring the Garden of Eden would likely have taken Adam weeks if not months since the Bible says their were four rivers in the Garden of Eden.

In reading about the 6th day and then reasoning on it, it becomes apparent that the 6th day was also longer than 24 hours.

THE SEVENTH DAY
Before the 7th day began the Bible gives closure to the other days with the words:

(Genesis 1:5) . . . And there came to be evening and there came to be morning, a first day. (Genesis 1:8) . . . And there came to be evening and there came to be morning, a second day. (Genesis 1:13) . . . And there came to be evening and there came to be morning, a third day. (Genesis 1:19) . . . And there came to be evening and there came to be morning, a fourth day. (Genesis 1:23) . . . And there came to be evening and there came to be morning, a fifth day. (Genesis 1:31) . . . And there came to be evening and there came to be morning, a sixth day.

However, the Bible says something different about the seventh day:
(Genesis 2:1-3) . . .Thus the heavens and the earth and everything in them were completed. 2 And by the seventh day, God had completed the work that he had been doing, and he began to rest on the seventh day from all his work that he had been doing. 3 And God went on to bless the seventh day and to declare it sacred, for on it God has been resting from all the work that he has created, all that he purposed to make.

The Bible doesn’t give a closure to the seventh day, it says . . . “for on it God has been resting from all the work that he has created, all that he purposed to make.”

There are no reports in the Bible of the seventh day ending. Where it says God has been resting, does it mean it is still ongoing? According to the Bible, yes! The apostle Paul shows it was still ongoing thousands of years later in his day.

In the Bible book of Hebrews the apostle Paul tells us that most of the Israelites that Moses led out of Egypt lacked faith and were disobedient, causing God to become disgusted with them.

They were eye witnesses to God’s miracles, they lived though the ten plagues on Egypt, and they crossed the Red Sea on dry ground because of a Godly miracle, but they rebelled and wanted to elect a leader to take them back to Egypt because 10 of the men sent to spy out the promised land brought back a report saying the people living in the promised land were giants and too much for them.

Their rebellion showed a complete lack of faith in God, so he swore that they would not enter into his rest. Paul then urges Christians to do their utmost to enter into God's rest. Let’s read that account.

 (Hebrews 3:16-4:5) 16 For who heard and yet provoked him to bitter anger? Was it not, in fact, all those who went out of Egypt under Moses? 17 Moreover, with whom did God become disgusted for 40 years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose dead bodies fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did he swear that they would not enter into his rest? Was it not to those who acted disobediently? 19 So we see that they could not enter in because of lack of faith. 4 Therefore, since a promise of entering into his rest remains, let us be on guard for fear someone among you seems to fall short of it.

2 For we have also had the good news declared to us, just as they had; but the word that they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened. 3 For we who have exercised faith do enter into the rest, just as he has said: “So I swore in my anger, ‘They will not enter into my rest,’” although his works were finished from the founding of the world. 4 For in one place he has said of the seventh day as follows: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works,” 5 and here again he says: “They will not enter into my rest.”

Note that in those last two verses Paul shows that entering into God’s rest means God’s rest day. In verse 4:1 he says, “since a promise of entering into his rest remains, let us be on guard for fear someone among you seems to fall short of it.”

Paul wouldn’t have urged Christians to enter into God’s rest day if it were not ongoing in his day. In verse 4 above Paul says very pointedly, “. . . a promise of entering into his rest remains.”

For our discussion on the length of creative days we see other scriptures point to the 7th day as being thousands of years long.

*In summation*, the Bible doesn't provide a time period on the length of the creation days. However it does give information that points to creation days being longer than 24 hours, sometimes thousands of years long. Ascribing not just 24 hours, but thousands of years to each of the creative days harmonizes with both what the Bible says, as well as with scientific evidence found in the earth, and the universe around us.

*SIDEBAR: What does it mean to enter God’s rest day?*
God swore disobedient Israelites would not enter his rest. The apostle Paul encouraged Christians to enter God’s rest. Apparently it means that obedient, faithful people, that enter and are still faithful at the end of the 7th day have the prospects of then entering into the new creative week and living forever. Conversely, those who are disobedient and unfaithful and don’t enter into God’s rest day will not be alive at the end of God’s rest day.

*SIDEBAR: What will happen after God’s rest day ends?*
Other than another creative day starting we don’t know much. We do know God is finished with the earth. 

The Bible says at Genesis 2:1-3, Thus the heavens and the earth and everything in them were completed. 2 And by the seventh day, God had completed the work that he had been doing, and he began to rest on the seventh day from all his work that he had been doing. 3 And God went on to bless the seventh day and to declare it sacred, for on it God has been resting from all the work that he has created, all that he purposed to make.

The Bible says that God completed the heavens and the earth and everything in them. So after the seventh day is completed it’s logical God will start creating again. Doing what, we can only guess? 

If he’s going to continue creating in the vicinity of the earth maybe he will make Mars, or Venus, livable for some new creation? Then again being God, he could create something that none of mankind would ever conceive of.

*SIDEBAR: What doesn’t God produce miracles in our day?*
There are many people that say if God would just preform miracles today they would put faith in him. But the Israelites that came out of Egypt prove that line of reasoning untrue. They were eye witnesses to miracle after miracle from God, they lived though the ten plagues, they were witnesses to the Red sea being split so they could cross on dry ground, they followed a pillar of smoke during the day and a pillar of fire at night. They drank water produced from a rock, etc., and they still didn’t put faith in God. Instead they rebelled because 10 of the 12 spies sent into the promised land said the people living in the promised land were giants and too much for them.

What’s needed today is for people to read their Bibles. 2nd Timothy 3:16, 17 says, 16 All Scripture is inspired of God and beneficial for teaching, for reproving, for setting things straight, for disciplining in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be fully competent, completely equipped for every good work.

Since the Bible completely equips us for every good work, a miracle is not needed to help us put faith in God. All you have to do is regularly read your Bible.

Note what Proverbs 2:1-12 says about God’s word, “My son, if you accept my sayings And treasure up my commandments,  2 By making your ear attentive to wisdom And inclining your heart to discernment;  3 Moreover, if you call out for understanding And raise your voice for discernment;  4 If you keep seeking for it as for silver, And you keep searching for it as for hidden treasures;  5 Then you will understand the fear of Jehovah, And you will find the knowledge of God.” 6 For Jehovah himself gives wisdom; From his mouth come knowledge and discernment.  7 He treasures up practical wisdom for the upright; He is a shield for those walking in integrity.  8 He watches over the paths of justice, And he will guard the way of his loyal ones.  9 Then you will understand what is righteous and just and fair, The entire course of what is good. 10 When wisdom enters your heart And knowledge becomes pleasant to your soul, 11 Thinking ability will keep watch over you, And discernment will safeguard you, 12 To save you from the bad course . . .”


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## ryanh487

I find it saddening that we believe in a God that is infinite, omnipotent, and omnipresent, but find it so difficult to believe that He could possibly create the earth in 7 literal days just because atheist say it's silly.

The 7 day week is based on creation.  There is no natural time period for it.  The 7th day sabbath is based on Creation, and God meant the literal 7th day "as he had rested and made it holy", not "to symbolize that long period of time that i metaphorically described".  I think the "and it was morning and it was evening" clearly and distinctly defines a 24 hour period, and I don't think it's any stretch of faith or logic to assume that our God is capable of such.


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## Will Galen

The Bible doesn't say it was morning and evening, it says just the opposite.


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## ryanh487

Will Galen said:


> The Bible doesn't say it was morning and evening, it says just the opposite.



you're right, my mistake.  but that's also why God commanded the israelites to begin the day at sundown of the previous day.  evening + morning = 1 day.  Sabbath begins at sundown Friday and lasts until sundown Saturday.


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## doenightmare

2 Peter 3:8

Beloved, do not let this one thing escape your notice: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.


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## ryanh487

doenightmare said:


> 2 Peter 3:8
> 
> Beloved, do not let this one thing escape your notice: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.



In context:

8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

He is not saying that if you go back to Genesis that 1 day = 1000 years.  He is saying that God's promises are sure, and his timing is perfect.  It was a simile to encourage the Christians to remain strong in their faith and be alert even if it seems like it's taking longer than expected for Christ to return.


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## NE GA Pappy

The atheist, the non-believer, the doubter and the agnostic need a long period of time for creation to happen, so they can justify random chance to create what they see. 

The foolishness of this argument is that God rested on the 7th day. After Adam had been created.  So, did Adam live for several millenia resting with God?  Just how long was this 7th day rest that God commanded Adam to take, and how many thousands or millions of years did he have to work before he got another "day" of rest?

If you read a literal translation, it is perfectly plain that the writer believed, and wrote that it was a literal sunset to sunset day.


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## groundhawg

ryanh487 said:


> I find it saddening that we believe in a God that is infinite, omnipotent, and omnipresent, but find it so difficult to believe that He could possibly create the earth in 7 literal days just because atheist say it's silly.
> 
> The 7 day week is based on creation.  There is no natural time period for it.  The 7th day sabbath is based on Creation, and God meant the literal 7th day "as he had rested and made it holy", not "to symbolize that long period of time that i metaphorically described".  I think the "and it was morning and it was evening" clearly and distinctly defines a 24 hour period, and I don't think it's any stretch of faith or logic to assume that our God is capable of such.



Well stated.  Thanks for sharing.


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## Artfuldodger

"And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night."

So even if a day was 1,000 years long, it was light.

Plants appeared on day 3. The sun on day 4. Could plants live 1000 years without the sun's light? 

It depends on how much of God's science we are willing to overlook. God can grow plants with his light?


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## Artfuldodger

We're all trying to add a little bit of science and a little bit of the supernatural.


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## ryanh487

Artfuldodger said:


> "And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night."
> 
> So even if a day was 1,000 years long, it was light.
> 
> Plants appeared on day 3. The sun on day 4. Could plants live 1000 years without the suns light?
> 
> It depends on how much of God's science we are willing to overlook. God can grow plants with his light?



Excellent point. In fact, I would say that the creator in his infinite wisdom chose to order the days of creation like that to make it clear as possible a day meant a day.


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## hobbs27

ryanh487 said:


> In context:
> 
> 8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
> 
> He is not saying that if you go back to Genesis that 1 day = 1000 years.  He is saying that God's promises are sure, and his timing is perfect.  It was a simile to encourage the Christians to remain strong in their faith and be alert even if it seems like it's taking longer than expected for Christ to return.


Thank you.


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## hummerpoo

While time is introduced in the creation passage, I wonder if we sometimes assign more consequence to time, as a factor in creation, than warranted.

The creation passage is about two characters (or one character and one set of characters), the Creator and the creation.  Should we not first consider the question “Which is more beneficial, to gain knowledge of the Creator or to gain knowledge of the creation?” Who of us truly understands the fifth word of our English translations? It could be said that Paul understood the purpose of creation to be what it reveals about the Creator (Rm. 1).  How much does the time factor in the creation passage add to our understanding of the Creator?  Do not who and what take precedence over when and how? Does not “created” sufficiently answer how, and does not “in the beginning” sufficiently answer when?

While it is true that the believer can benefit, in his service to God, from knowledge of everything that has been revealed to us, only God-centered knowledge is truly beneficial.  (Pr. 9:10) “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”

What is understanding?—“knowledge of the Holy One”


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## Artfuldodger

If we realize that God knew us before Creation, time isn't as important.
Suddenly I'm faced with why God uses time. Is time just some concept created by God to keep order within his creation?


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## gordon 2

Artfuldodger said:


> If we realize that God knew us before Creation, time isn't as important.
> Suddenly I'm faced with why God uses time. Is time just some concept created by God to keep order within his creation?



The concept of time, as we know it, used both figuratively and literally, might be a consequence of the fall. I have noticed that many measure time with death (ending).  However time measured in the life due to grace might be viewed without ending, or with no death all in part at least because the the time mark is renewal, creation,  birth, new life and life continuing and sustained post physical death, etc...

So a day to God and believers might just be as a 1000yrs, with 1000yrs being a unit where reference in things that expire or end is harder to come by than the references more easily attained in our daily, and within the yearly,  and the decades of our lives in the world.

So time can be used to order life, that is when it is a platform with an expiry date. If it's God's doing via the curse than yes it might be of use in focusing man's attention to what really matters.  So you might have a point. However the life given due to grace is possibly in a timeless state-- a consequence of eternal life. Maybe.

So a creation day for God is not the same as a creation day for a taxidermist, Maybe.


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## apoint

maybe God was meaning Doris Day and Gladys Night were created in 24 hours?


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## Will Galen

NE GA Pappy said:


> The atheist, the non-believer, the doubter and the agnostic need a long period of time for creation to happen, so they can justify random chance to create what they see.



Add to that list scientists and Christians, not because of a need, but because science and the Bible show creation days took longer than six 24 hour days. Not every one that calls themselves Christian's believes God created the earth in 144 hours.



> The foolishness of this argument is that God rested on the 7th day. After Adam had been created.



God created Adam and Eve on the 6th day. He created Eve after Adam.

I agree on the foolishness of the argument. If creation days were 24 hours long and God’s rest day was 24 hours long, the creation week would have been over a long time ago. God would have went back to creating long ago. Since we can’t see anything happening with our telescopes, whatever work he would be doing would have to be far away. 

My question, what if he is creating other habitable worlds? With a 24 hour a day work week he’s had time to create thousands of worlds. Worlds aren’t all the same size, so what if their days are 50 hours long?  Does he still hold to a 24 hour work day? Why would he do that? Answer, he wouldn’t, he would create on his own time table, not man’s.



> So, did Adam live for several millenia resting with God?



Genesis 5:5 says, “So all the days of Adam’s life amounted to 930 years, and then he died.”



> Just how long was this 7th day rest that God commanded Adam to take, and how many thousands or millions of years did he have to work before he got another "day" of rest?



It’s God’s rest day, not Adam’s. God didn’t command Adam to rest. His command to Adam and Eve involved work. Genesis 1:28 says, God blessed them, and God said to them: “Be fruitful and become many, fill the earth and subdue it, and have in subjection the fish of the sea and the flying creatures of the heavens and every living creature that is moving on the earth.”

The Bible doesn’t say exactly how long creation days were, but it does give enough information to show they weren’t  24 hour days.

If they were 24 hour days, why does the Bible account not have God pronouncing the 7th day over? The reason is because the 7th day is not yet over. The apostle Paul says it was still ongoing in his day. [Read Hebrews 3:16-4:5]



> If you read a literal translation, it is perfectly plain that the writer believed, and wrote that it was a literal sunset to sunset day.



Disagree!


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## ryanh487

Will Galen said:


> Add to that list scientists and Christians, not because of a need, but because science and the Bible show creation days took longer than six 24 hour days. Not every one that calls themselves Christian's believes God created the earth in 144 hours.
> 
> 
> 
> God created Adam and Eve on the 6th day. He created Eve after Adam.
> 
> I agree on the foolishness of the argument. If creation days were 24 hours long and God’s rest day was 24 hours long, the creation week would have been over a long time ago. God would have went back to creating long ago. Since we can’t see anything happening with our telescopes, whatever work he would be doing would have to be far away.
> 
> My question, what if he is creating other habitable worlds? With a 24 hour a day work week he’s had time to create thousands of worlds. Worlds aren’t all the same size, so what if their days are 50 hours long?  Does he still hold to a 24 hour work day? Why would he do that? Answer, he wouldn’t, he would create on his own time table, not man’s.
> 
> 
> 
> Genesis 5:5 says, “So all the days of Adam’s life amounted to 930 years, and then he died.”
> 
> 
> 
> It’s God’s rest day, not Adam’s. God didn’t command Adam to rest. His command to Adam and Eve involved work. Genesis 1:28 says, God blessed them, and God said to them: “Be fruitful and become many, fill the earth and subdue it, and have in subjection the fish of the sea and the flying creatures of the heavens and every living creature that is moving on the earth.”
> 
> The Bible doesn’t say exactly how long creation days were, but it does give enough information to show they weren’t  24 hour days.
> 
> If they were 24 hour days, why does the Bible account not have God pronouncing the 7th day over? The reason is because the 7th day is not yet over. The apostle Paul says it was still ongoing in his day. [Read Hebrews 3:16-4:5]
> 
> 
> 
> Disagree!




The 7th day rest was established for all people before Sinai and the 10 commandments.  

Also, science's demand for creation to take longer than 6 days is based on the idea that it knows how things were in the beginning.  And frankly, it is completely blind to these things.  We do not know what state or how much of each isotope/etc existed when God said "let their be" or how long the formless and void earth existed before God began creation, or even if the current creation is the only one to have ever existed on this planet.  The earth being billions of years old as a physical entity and the current creation only taking 6 days to form a matter of thousands of years ago are not entirely exclusive.  Nor does it say anywhere that our planet, or even our dimension/reality, is the only creation in existence. Job speaks of the 24 elders reporting to God, and Lucifer was present as a representative of earth.  It is absolutely conceivable that there are infinite other creations in parallel with our reality even if they are not a part of our reality.  As has been said, our dimension of time did not exist until creation started, and not only that, but since God is not limited by our dimension or our physical world, there is no reason to conclude that there are not other dimensions and physical worlds in existence, intangible to our own, as a result of our creator.


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## swampstalker24

Will Galen said:


> How long is a Creation day?
> 
> A day is a length of time that varies according to subject matter. For example, it’s common to use the word day to mean an era, an age, a generation, or the life span of a person. The question for this discussion is, “How long is a Creation day?”
> 
> Many people are adamant that when Genesis 1:5 says, “and there was evening and there was morning, a first day,” it was a time period of 24 hours. Are they right? Let us see.
> 
> Genesis 1:14,15, says of the sun and moon . . . “they must serve as signs and for seasons and for days and years.  They will serve as luminaries in the expanse of the heavens to shine upon the earth.”
> 
> Note the sun and moon were to serve the earth. However, the Bible tells us that God doesn’t need to rest and he’s a spirit person so he doesn’t need light to see. Since God doesn’t have our constraints it’s readily apparent that he doesn’t need to use our units of time. So why would we assume God consigned himself to using our 24 hour days in creation?
> 
> The Bible tells us a thousand years is as a day to God. (2 Peter 3:8) (See also Psalms 90:4) So the question arises, why would God create everything in 24 hour time periods? Twenty-four hours is the length of our day, not Gods, and he’s the one doing the creating.
> 
> Since we know the word day can mean different lengths of time, the best one can do in determining a creation days length is to consider the creation context and to take into account what other scriptures in the Bible have to say about creation. When you do so you find you still won’t know the length of each creative day, but the evidence indicates creative days were much longer than 24 hours.
> 
> THE THIRD DAY
> (Genesis 1:11-13) 11And God went on to say: “Let the earth cause grass to shoot forth, vegetation bearing seed, fruit trees yielding fruit according to their kinds, the seed of which is in it, upon the earth.” And it came to be so. 12And the earth began to put forth grass, vegetation bearing seed according to its kind and trees yielding fruit, the seed of which is in it according to its kind. Then God saw that [it was] good. 13And there came to be evening and there came to be morning, a third day.
> 
> Note that God says, “Let the earth cause grass to shoot forth . . . the seed of which is in it, upon the earth.” It doesn’t say God caused grass to shoot forth. Apparently he only planted the seeds and let the earth produce the vegetation right from the start.
> 
> Notice also that in verse 12 the text specifically states that the ". . . Earth began to put forth . . . trees yielding fruit."
> 
> Yes, God could have planted full grown vegetation, however he didn’t grow vegetation to maturity himself, he planted seed and let the earth . . . “cause grass to shoot forth.”
> 
> Now if you think that this could still all happen in 24 hours, notice that verse 12 shows that the earth began putting forth vegetation. The text specifically states that the “. . . Earth began to put forth . . . trees yielding fruit.” The point here is that fruit-bearing trees require several years growth to produce fruit. The text states that the earth produced these trees.
> 
> The text shows that God seeded the earth, and then let the earth do it’s job. Thus the context indicates that the third creative day was longer than 24 hours.
> 
> THE FIFTH DAY
> (Genesis 1:20-23) 20And God went on to say: *“Let the waters swarm forth a swarm of living souls and let flying creatures fly over the earth upon the face of the expanse of the heavens.” * 21And God proceeded to create the great sea monsters and every living soul that moves about, which the waters swarmed forth according to their kinds, and every winged flying creature according to its kind. And God got to see that [it was] good. 22With that God blessed them, saying: “Be fruitful and become many and fill the waters in the sea basins, and let the flying creatures become many in the earth.” 23And there came to be evening and there came to be morning, a fifth day.
> 
> Notice that God blessed his creations. The sea creatures were to, ‘fill the sea basins,’ and the birds were to, ‘become many.’ Their doing so would of course take more than 24 hours.



The more interesting question IMO is whether or not animals have souls??


----------



## NE GA Pappy

Will Galen said:


> A
> 
> 
> 
> Disagree!



the reason you disagree is because

1) you don't understand Hebrew

or 

2) you are intellectually dishonest.

Outside of Genesis 1 and 2,every time, and I do mean each and every time, in the Bible, when the word yom (day) is mentioned with the term evening and morning, it means a literal 24 hour day.

Why would it be different in Genesis 1 and 2?

Answer..... it wouldn't.

Now you may not believe God did it in 6 equal 24 hour days, but that the writer meant for it to be understood that way is absolutely correct.


----------



## welderguy

Just a thought but isn't the earth's rotation timed perfectly so that the earth doesn't overheat from too much exposure to the sun?In other words,wouldn't the earth be like the flaming marshmallows that I roast over the campfire,if the length of days and seasons were a lot longer during creation?


----------



## apoint

welderguy said:


> Just a thought but isn't the earth's rotation timed perfectly so that the earth doesn't overheat from too much exposure to the sun?In other words,wouldn't the earth be like the flaming marshmallows that I roast over the campfire,if the length of days and seasons were a lot longer during creation?



The whole universe is perfectly timed beyond our comprehension. The wonders of creation is GODS signature.................


----------



## ryanh487

swampstalker24 said:


> The more interesting question IMO is whether or not animals have souls??



Neither animals nor humans HAVE souls, they are souls. Soul = body + breath (spirit of life).  Humans are naturally mortal and God alone is immortal, which is why the penalty of sin is to perish, permanent death, vs the reward of righteousness is eternal, transformed life.


----------



## Will Galen

swampstalker24 said:


> The more interesting question IMO is whether or not animals have souls??



The Hebrew word â€˜neÊ¹pheshâ€™ and the Greek word â€˜psy·kheÊ¹ is translated soul in English.

Lev. 24:17,18: â€œIn case a man strikes any soul [Hebrew, neÊ¹phesh] of mankind fatally, he should be put to death without fail. And the fatal striker of the soul [Hebrew, neÊ¹phesh] of a domestic animal should make compensation for it, soul for soul.â€� [Notice that the same Hebrew word for soul is applied to both mankind and animals.]


Revelation 16:3 (ASV) And the second poured out his bowl into the sea; and it became blood as of a dead man; and every living soul died, [even] the things that were in the sea.

Revelation 16:3 (KJV) And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea.


*Animals have the same spirit too.*
Eccl. 3:19: â€œThere is an eventuality as respects the sons of mankind and an eventuality as respects the beast, and they have the same eventuality. As the one dies, so the other dies; and they all have but one spirit [Hebrew, ruÊ¹ach].â€� [Thus both mankind and beasts are shown to have the same ruÊ¹ach, or spirit too.]


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## kmckinnie

A creation day = 16 hours. 
God is on salary so no overtime. He rested a little and when to work again the next morning. 
He did all of this for us. I think he still works 16 hours a day minimum. 6 days a week. 

Hope this helps. 

My dog has a beautiful soul. Kind hearted 100%


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## welderguy

kmckinnie said:


> A creation day = 16 hours.
> God is on salary so no overtime. He rested a little and when to work again the next morning.
> He did all of this for us. I think he still works 16 hours a day minimum. 6 days a week.
> 
> Hope this helps.
> 
> My dog has a beautiful soul. Kind hearted 100%



Huh?

Oh.OK. you're from Tallahassee...that explains it.


----------



## Artfuldodger

Why did God rest on the Seventh day? I'm assuming it means he ceased not that he actually rested. It's not like he was wore out.

Why do you reckon he broke creation down into literal days like he did? He could have made everything in one day or one second.
Was he using time for us? Creating a Sabbath?


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## NE GA Pappy

Mk 2:27

Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.


He made is as an example of our routine and life.  Work six days, rest one day and regard it as holy. You see the same thing in the 6 years of planting, and one year of Shemitah.  God has always led by example, and He was doing it from day one.


----------



## Banjo Picker

*The 7 days*



ryanh487 said:


> I find it saddening that we believe in a God that is infinite, omnipotent, and omnipresent, but find it so difficult to believe that He could possibly create the earth in 7 literal days just because atheist say it's silly.
> 
> The 7 day week is based on creation.  There is no natural time period for it.  The 7th day sabbath is based on Creation, and God meant the literal 7th day "as he had rested and made it holy", not "to symbolize that long period of time that i metaphorically described".  I think the "and it was morning and it was evening" clearly and distinctly defines a 24 hour period, and I don't think it's any stretch of faith or logic to assume that our God is capable of such.



Ryan you are right the seven days are 24 hours same as our time.


----------



## Artfuldodger

NE GA Pappy said:


> Mk 2:27
> 
> Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.
> 
> 
> He made is as an example of our routine and life.  Work six days, rest one day and regard it as holy. You see the same thing in the 6 years of planting, and one year of Shemitah.  God has always led by example, and He was doing it from day one.



So the seven day/seven year plan was presented or given in creation to give us an example of our own lives? The weekly schedule of work 6 and rest/worship 1.
I can see this. 

There is a lot of the use of the number "7" in the Bible.
In all, the number 7 is used in the Bible more than seven hundred times

What do you call biblical examples of predestined events like this and the Ark/flood? Types, shadows, mirrors?


----------



## SemperFiDawg

Creation Day =7000yrs/ (1000 yrs=1day) >\< (1 day=1000 yrs) subtract first 4 days of creation / 360 days per prophetic year / number of years with 2 Blood Moons ( must be visible in Israel) - 70 a.d. +\- a couple of days will get you close.


----------



## hobbs27

SemperFiDawg said:


> Creation Day =7000yrs/ (1000 yrs=1day) >\< (1 day=1000 yrs) subtract first 4 days of creation / 360 days per prophetic year / number of years with 2 Blood Moons ( must be visible in Israel) - 70 a.d. +\- a couple of days will get you close.



That's funny!!!  Unfortunately true for some folks but I think this is Babylon Bee material in the making!


----------



## Bama4me

Artfuldodger said:


> Why did God rest on the Seventh day? I'm assuming it means he ceased not that he actually rested. It's not like he was wore out.
> 
> Why do you reckon he broke creation down into literal days like he did? He could have made everything in one day or one second.
> Was he using time for us? Creating a Sabbath?



It would seem the Bible would answer "to create a pattern for the COI to follow in ordering their week".

On the original post, it's amazing how many contradictions and issues that people raise when they will simply reject what God's word says. A number of answers against this absurd view have been well presented in this thread.


----------



## ryanh487

Artfuldodger said:


> So the seven day/seven year plan was presented or given in creation to give us an example of our own lives? The weekly schedule of work 6 and rest/worship 1.
> I can see this.
> 
> There is a lot of the use of the number "7" in the Bible.
> In all, the number 7 is used in the Bible more than seven hundred times
> 
> What do you call biblical examples of predestined events like this and the Ark/flood? Types, shadows, mirrors?



 The prophets also tell us that Sabbath is kept in heaven,  and that the 10 commandment law is the law of heaven that existed before earth,  not a set of rules created just for man.   The commandments issued in stone were a reminder to his people who had forgotten how to follow him,  not a new concept.  Cain knew murder was wrong,  even the foreign king in Abraham's time knew it was a sin to sleep with Abraham's wife even though Abraham thought him to be godless,  and Joseph said sleeping with Potipher's wife would be a sin against God.  There are many other examples.  God made us in His image and gave us the instruction to live in this earth with the same guiding principles that we will have in heaven.


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## formula1

*re:*

A Creation day might be defined as 'whatever period of time God needed to do what He needed to do on that particular day'.

I'm good with that!  He is God!


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## LittleDrummerBoy

ryanh487 said:


> I find it saddening that we believe in a God that is infinite, omnipotent, and omnipresent, but find it so difficult to believe that He could possibly create the earth in 7 literal days just because atheist say it's silly.
> 
> The 7 day week is based on creation.  There is no natural time period for it.  The 7th day sabbath is based on Creation, and God meant the literal 7th day "as he had rested and made it holy", not "to symbolize that long period of time that i metaphorically described".  I think the "and it was morning and it was evening" clearly and distinctly defines a 24 hour period, and I don't think it's any stretch of faith or logic to assume that our God is capable of such.



Six.  The Bible says creation occurred in 6 days.


----------



## marketgunner

NE GA Pappy said:


> the reason you disagree is because
> 
> 1) you don't understand Hebrew
> 
> or
> 
> 2) you are intellectually dishonest.
> 
> Outside of Genesis 1 and 2,every time, and I do mean each and every time, in the Bible, when the word yom (day) is mentioned with the term evening and morning, it means a literal 24 hour day.
> 
> Why would it be different in Genesis 1 and 2?
> 
> Answer..... it wouldn't.
> 
> Now you may not believe God did it in 6 equal 24 hour days, but that the writer meant for it to be understood that way is absolutely correct.



but YOM is also used as in the "day of our Lord"  quoted  by Jesus. it is clearly not a Day but an "age" or period of time"

if God could have created All in an instant,  (which we all agree), why did it take so long?
What was the purpose of 7 days ot 7 ages?


----------



## Spineyman

NE GA Pappy said:


> the reason you disagree is because
> 
> 1) you don't understand Hebrew
> 
> or
> 
> 2) you are intellectually dishonest.
> 
> Outside of Genesis 1 and 2,every time, and I do mean each and every time, in the Bible, when the word yom (day) is mentioned with the term evening and morning, it means a literal 24 hour day.
> 
> Why would it be different in Genesis 1 and 2?
> 
> Answer..... it wouldn't.
> 
> Now you may not believe God did it in 6 equal 24 hour days, but that the writer meant for it to be understood that way is absolutely correct.



You are correct. It is also the perfect model of our work week.


Exodus 20:9-11 

9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.
He could have done it in the blink of an eye but chose to model it for our week that He set up for us!


----------



## rjcruiser

Interesting....this debate comes back up.

I'll ask the same question I always do....How old was Adam when he died?  If his days/years were the same as the rest of the OT folks in Genesis 5, would it prove that the days of the creation account were the same?  

It's amazing how people will say they believe in an infinite omnipotent God and then try and handicap His omnipotent powers to explain that which liberal science says is true but can't prove.


----------



## GeorgiaBob

OK guys, I'll throw my 2 cents in here.  

The first TWO creation stories in Genesis are holy, and wholly, poetry.  In ancient Hebrew (as written and spoken post Babylon and before the Roman occupation) both stories follow a build up of cadence with one additional beat per line, then reverses the cadence with one less beat per line.  Both creation stories (the first Genesis 1,1 through 2,3 and the second Genesis 2, 4B through 2, 25) tell of the origin of humanity, but in very different ways.  The first creation story is a "stand alone" complete in itself.  The second story is just the first verse of a very long opera.

The second version of creation actually segues into the "Garden" and humanity's almost immediate fall from grace.  Consider the garden as verse two of the second song of our creation.  More verses follow, reciting the important stories of the people, and key names from the early generations.  It is a long and "wandering" opera, beautiful, tearful, heartrending.  A careful reader might even think that the first creation story, and it's "seven days" was something different placed in front of the "real" story of Genesis.  And that careful reader might be right.  I am not going to address the second story, just the first.

The first story of creation, very determinedly cites the cosmic history of all of creation.  Note that the story dates to at least 1,200 BC (perhaps earlier) and there is no evidence of any modern cosmology (outside of this story) in that epoch of human history, yet the sequence of events described in Genesis 1 corresponds to our "modern" understanding of developmental sciences.  The Big Bang  vs. "a formless void" and "a wind from God swept over," culminating with God expressing, "Let there be light."  From the Bang, to coalescing matter into planetary bodies, from the first organic life, to plants and animals, to a final development of sentient life, the "modern" theory has a corresponding reference (poetic license allowed), asserted IN proper modern order, in the first Genesis story.  

How does a primitive people with an understanding of their world that is literally flat - having a physical underworld and some kind of "plumbing" to get the water back up to the "dome" of the sky so it can rain again - manage to get the cosmology in the right order?  The answer to that question is much more important to our understanding of God, than putting a stopwatch on day three!  

The answer to, "How long is a creation day?" is only relevant in relation to asking how our primitive ancestors knew the truth about the creation of the universe.

The very human people who wrote the many pieces that became the Bible, (and some think that the composers of both creation stories were women in David's or Solomon's court) were all trying to tell about humanity's relationship with God, about God's steadfast love, about human failings, and about the fact that for everything we do wrong - God has the faith in us to help us make it right.  The first creation story is NOT about ticks of a clock, or days as we know them.  The story is about how we came to be, WHO we came to be, and Who's we came to be.

As a tiny but very real point of order, the "day" was shorter (by a very tiny bit) 3,000 years ago, and even shorter 6,000 years ago.  Some very qualified cosmologists could even explain all the physics involved, but the spin of the Earth is slowing down and days are now longer than they used to be.  That means for anyone who wants to argue God took just one day to complete each of the tasks of the six "days" - I have to ask, How long was that day?

Personally, I am very comfortable with the understanding that faulty humans, inspired by a perfect Creator, wrote, edited, redacted, rewrote, assembled, translated, re-translated, and printed the Bible.  I do not see any conflict between "inspired" but faulty - and perfect Biblical Truth.  Poetry does not attempt to dictate details of history, but it can sometimes MUCH more effectively relay Truth.  The inspired word is truth told to your heart and soul.

Please, do not get hung up on whether the Hebrew word for the passing of time, a word often used to define a day but sometimes used to describe an era, was used as a literal sunset to sunset "day" or something else.  That is NOT what God is saying to your soul.


----------



## NE GA Pappy

rjcruiser said:


> Interesting....this debate comes back up.
> 
> I'll ask the same question I always do....How old was Adam when he died?  If his days/years were the same as the rest of the OT folks in Genesis 5, would it prove that the days of the creation account were the same?
> 
> It's amazing how people will say they believe in an infinite omnipotent God and then try and handicap His omnipotent powers to explain that which liberal science says is true but can't prove.



the only reason people don't accept a literal 24 hour creation day is because of the attempt to make creation fit in somehow with the evolutionist eons of time story.  

It is amazing to me what is written in the old testament about science, and each time a fact is written, we have been able to prove it.  Did you know that David wrote about the earth being a sphere, and hanging on nothing?  Or that in Psalms 8, David wrote about there being paths in the seas, and because of that, Matthew Maury studied the seas and found the currents that enabled shipping to be much more efficient.  We didn't understand these shipping lanes until the 1840's, yet David wrote about them almost 4000 years ago.

The bible speaks of the great fountains of the deep being broken apart and a world wide flood.  When I was studying science in high school, the train of thought was that the center of the earth was a huge burning ball of magma.  Now there is a sincere theory that says the center of the earth is filled with water and it recycles to refresh the surface supply that we use.

I wish that people would approach Genesis with an open mind and read it for what it says.  You might not believe it, but if you study it for a bit, you will have to admit that the writer (Moses, not some lady who wrote poetry) meant for it to be interpreted that everything that was created came about in 6 literal, natural, sunset to sunset days.  Not some convoluted one thousand year days, or days we can't know the length.  

and for what it is worth... the Jewish sages agree that it was Moses who wrote the first 5 books of the bible.  That he wrote 13 perfect, uncorrected copies of those 5 books in a literal 24 hour period, by his own hand, after he came down from Mount Sinai having been in God's presence for 40 days and 40 nights.  A copy of each was given to each of the tribes, and one copy went into the Ark of the Covenant.


----------



## Spineyman

GeorgiaBob said:


> OK guys, I'll throw my 2 cents in here.
> 
> The first TWO creation stories in Genesis are holy, and wholly, poetry.  In ancient Hebrew (as written and spoken post Babylon and before the Roman occupation) both stories follow a build up of cadence with one additional beat per line, then reverses the cadence with one less beat per line.  Both creation stories (the first Genesis 1,1 through 2,3 and the second Genesis 2, 4B through 2, 25) tell of the origin of humanity, but in very different ways.  The first creation story is a "stand alone" complete in itself.  The second story is just the first verse of a very long opera.
> 
> The second version of creation actually segues into the "Garden" and humanity's almost immediate fall from grace.  Consider the garden as verse two of the second song of our creation.  More verses follow, reciting the important stories of the people, and key names from the early generations.  It is a long and "wandering" opera, beautiful, tearful, heartrending.  A careful reader might even think that the first creation story, and it's "seven days" was something different placed in front of the "real" story of Genesis.  And that careful reader might be right.  I am not going to address the second story, just the first.
> 
> The first story of creation, very determinedly cites the cosmic history of all of creation.  Note that the story dates to at least 1,200 BC (perhaps earlier) and there is no evidence of any modern cosmology (outside of this story) in that epoch of human history, yet the sequence of events described in Genesis 1 corresponds to our "modern" understanding of developmental sciences.  The Big Bang  vs. "a formless void" and "a wind from God swept over," culminating with God expressing, "Let there be light."  From the Bang, to coalescing matter into planetary bodies, from the first organic life, to plants and animals, to a final development of sentient life, the "modern" theory has a corresponding reference (poetic license allowed), asserted IN proper modern order, in the first Genesis story.
> 
> How does a primitive people with an understanding of their world that is literally flat - having a physical underworld and some kind of "plumbing" to get the water back up to the "dome" of the sky so it can rain again - manage to get the cosmology in the right order?  The answer to that question is much more important to our understanding of God, than putting a stopwatch on day three!
> 
> The answer to, "How long is a creation day?" is only relevant in relation to asking how our primitive ancestors knew the truth about the creation of the universe.
> 
> The very human people who wrote the many pieces that became the Bible, (and some think that the composers of both creation stories were women in David's or Solomon's court) were all trying to tell about humanity's relationship with God, about God's steadfast love, about human failings, and about the fact that for everything we do wrong - God has the faith in us to help us make it right.  The first creation story is NOT about ticks of a clock, or days as we know them.  The story is about how we came to be, WHO we came to be, and Who's we came to be.
> 
> As a tiny but very real point of order, the "day" was shorter (by a very tiny bit) 3,000 years ago, and even shorter 6,000 years ago.  Some very qualified cosmologists could even explain all the physics involved, but the spin of the Earth is slowing down and days are now longer than they used to be.  That means for anyone who wants to argue God took just one day to complete each of the tasks of the six "days" - I have to ask, How long was that day?
> 
> Personally, I am very comfortable with the understanding that faulty humans, inspired by a perfect Creator, wrote, edited, redacted, rewrote, assembled, translated, re-translated, and printed the Bible.  I do not see any conflict between "inspired" but faulty - and perfect Biblical Truth.  Poetry does not attempt to dictate details of history, but it can sometimes MUCH more effectively relay Truth.  The inspired word is truth told to your heart and soul.
> 
> Please, do not get hung up on whether the Hebrew word for the passing of time, a word often used to define a day but sometimes used to describe an era, was used as a literal sunset to sunset "day" or something else.  That is NOT what God is saying to your soul.



Your entire line of thinking is not Biblical or backed by scripture.


2 Timothy 3:16-17 

16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

 2 Peter 1:21 

21 for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God  spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.
Because you are trying to input mans emotions it will not hold water. Let God be true and every man a liar. Genesis is actual History, not stories and allegories.


----------



## Artfuldodger

Why is the first creation account performed by Elohim and the second creation account performed by Yahweh?


----------



## NE GA Pappy

Genesis 1:1 references Elohim, and Genesis 2:4 reference Yahweh.  they had a bunch of different names for God, because their language is much more descriptive than ours.  

Just as we say love, and have 42 (not really, but a lot) of meanings for that word, they have lots of names that describe an attribute of the thing they are speaking.

Elohim is a name that is interpreted as God... where Yahweh(if that is the correct spelling, we don't really know) means Lord or Master... it shows omnipotence.

The words are used just to describe a different facet of Gods character


----------



## Artfuldodger

NE GA Pappy said:


> Genesis 1:1 references Elohim, and Genesis 2:4 reference Yahweh.  they had a bunch of different names for God, because their language is much more descriptive than ours.
> 
> Just as we say love, and have 42 (not really, but a lot) of meanings for that word, they have lots of names that describe an attribute of the thing they are speaking.
> 
> Elohim is a name that is interpreted as God... where Yahweh(if that is the correct spelling, we don't really know) means Lord or Master... it shows omnipotence.
> 
> The words are used just to describe a different facet of Gods character



Then you don't buy into the first one being creation of the whole world and the second one being Israel?

You don't see Romans 1 as pertaining to Israel. Considering that they "knew God by his creation?
Many Jews consider the 2nd creation as Israel. 

They exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.

Psalms 106:19-21
They made a calf in Horeb And worshiped a molten image. 20Thus they exchanged their glory For the image of an ox that eats grass. 21They forgot God their Savior, Who had done great things in Egypt.

Similar accounts or the same account? I'm wondering how one could "exchange"  the worship of God for animal images if they never "new" God?
"they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind."

This doesn't appear to be random Eskimos or Congo villagers.


----------



## 1gr8bldr

I believe God created everything in the 7 days "in word", he spoke everything into existence. Even 1gr8bldr was created in word during this time but had not reached fulfillment or come to pass until 53 years ago. I don't think God creates  as he goes along. Interesting thread, not that I feel the need to figure it out as 24 hours or not... but well laid out with very good supporting scripture. Good job Art


----------



## Spineyman

Artfuldodger said:


> *Then you don't buy into the first one being creation of the whole world and the second one being Israel?*
> 
> You don't see Romans 1 as pertaining to Israel. Considering that they "knew God by his creation?
> Many Jews consider the 2nd creation as Israel.
> 
> They exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.
> 
> Psalms 106:19-21
> They made a calf in Horeb And worshiped a molten image. 20Thus they exchanged their glory For the image of an ox that eats grass. 21They forgot God their Savior, Who had done great things in Egypt.
> 
> Similar accounts or the same account? I'm wondering how one could "exchange"  the worship of God for animal images if they never "new" God?
> "they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind."
> 
> This doesn't appear to be random Eskimos or Congo villagers.



No sir I sure do not. Genesis is recorded by God as to His creation. Thus it says In the beginning God! Israel didn't even come about for a long time after that. You have 1656 years just to the flood of Noah's day.

1. From Adam to Noah entering the ark  = 1656 years from creation
2. After the flood, Noah lived for 350 years = 2006  years from creation
3. From Death of Noah to the Birth of Isaac 43 years = 2049 years from creation
4. From Birth of Isaac to the death of Joseph is 260 years = 2309 years from creation. So no I do not believe that is referring to Israel.


----------



## jrickman

To save time I'll just copy/paste this from one of my earlier posts on this topic...

2 things...

1. A wise man once said to me, "Son, the Bible doesn't say that it contains everything there IS to know about creation. It simply contains everything you NEED to know about God. He gave you a brain for the rest."

2. When people talk about reconciling modern science with the story of the creation from Genesis, they most often are talking about geology and biology, which are far from settled science, and our knowledge and understanding of them evolve with the generations. What is often mysteriously overlooked when discussing the 6 day literal vs. interpreted timeline is the science of physics. Do some research on the concept of time dilation from the theory of relativity. Time dilation has been demonstrated and proven. Put simply, time dilation is the difference in time as observed from 2 points caused by either a difference in velocity of motion or proximity to a large gravitational field.

For the purpose of this post, let's focus on some known examples. Gravity literally slows down the passage of time, as measured by our methods. Clocks on many satellites run faster than clocks on the ground, for instance. This is due to their proximity to the earth. Meanwhile, clocks on the space shuttle have been shown to run faster due to its orbital speed. Now for a moment, lets imagine the potential gravitational force of either God Himself, or any physical body He is present on, somewhere way out there in space. For the skeptics, let's just imagine a grey bearded old man standing on a planet several thousand light years away that is many times larger than earth. It is entirely plausible that a day in that location is equivalent to 1000 years here on Earth, as referenced in the New Testament. Add in the potential difference in velocity between the two objects and this can increase further. Bottom line, time is not a universal constant. It is different based on where you're standing and where you're going. 

There is much we do not understand about creation and personally I believe that those who try to box God in, whether by insisting on a literal 6 day timeline and thus supposing that God is somehow bound by the law of physics, as well as those who adamantly refute the 6 day timeline, based on some conclusions literally drawn from the dirt, are all failing to acknowledge the simple reality that God has no obligation to break things down for us kindergarten style, or to prove Himself to us. The pride and arrogance of man is on full display on both sides of this argument, among believers as well as skeptics.


----------



## marketgunner

Jesus created all things.

Creation and redemption are through Jesus


----------



## Spineyman

jrickman said:


> To save time I'll just copy/paste this from one of my earlier posts on this topic...
> 
> 2 things...
> 
> 1. A wise man once said to me, "Son, the Bible doesn't say that it contains everything there IS to know about creation. It simply contains everything you NEED to know about God. He gave you a brain for the rest."
> 
> 2. When people talk about reconciling modern science with the story of the creation from Genesis, they most often are talking about geology and biology, which are far from settled science, and our knowledge and understanding of them evolve with the generations. What is often mysteriously overlooked when discussing the 6 day literal vs. interpreted timeline is the science of physics. Do some research on the concept of time dilation from the theory of relativity. Time dilation has been demonstrated and proven. Put simply, time dilation is the difference in time as observed from 2 points caused by either a difference in velocity of motion or proximity to a large gravitational field.
> 
> For the purpose of this post, let's focus on some known examples. Gravity literally slows down the passage of time, as measured by our methods. Clocks on many satellites run faster than clocks on the ground, for instance. This is due to their proximity to the earth. Meanwhile, clocks on the space shuttle have been shown to run faster due to its orbital speed. Now for a moment, lets imagine the potential gravitational force of either God Himself, or any physical body He is present on, somewhere way out there in space. For the skeptics, let's just imagine a grey bearded old man standing on a planet several thousand light years away that is many times larger than earth. It is entirely plausible that a day in that location is equivalent to 1000 years here on Earth, as referenced in the New Testament. Add in the potential difference in velocity between the two objects and this can increase further. Bottom line, time is not a universal constant. It is different based on where you're standing and where you're going.
> 
> There is much we do not understand about creation and personally I believe that those who try to box God in, whether by insisting on a literal 6 day timeline and thus supposing that God is somehow bound by the law of physics, as well as those who adamantly refute the 6 day timeline, based on some conclusions literally drawn from the dirt, are all failing to acknowledge the simple reality that God has no obligation to break things down for us kindergarten style, or to prove Himself to us. The pride and arrogance of man is on full display on both sides of this argument, among believers as well as skeptics.



The reason the Creation account really matters is because if it were long periods of time then death would have entered in before God told Adam and Eve, that if you eat of this fruit which is the only commandment they had to obey, then they would surely die. They ate and the rest is His tory! Long periods of time did not happen, either you can take God at His Word or you can't . You can not have it both ways. I guess I am simple enough to believe that God said what He meant and meant what He said! His Creation is the example for all mankind. 6 days shall you labor and do all your work, but the 7th is the Sabboth of the Lord. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabboth day and hallowed it. Which means made it Holy!


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## Artfuldodger

Spineyman said:


> The reason the Creation account really matters is because if it were long periods of time then death would have entered in before God told Adam and Eve, that if you eat of this fruit which is the only commandment they had to obey, then they would surely die. They ate and the rest is His tory! Long periods of time did not happen, either you can take God at His Word or you can't . You can not have it both ways. I guess I am simple enough to believe that God said what He meant and meant what He said! His Creation is the example for all mankind. 6 days shall you labor and do all your work, but the 7th is the Sabboth of the Lord. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabboth day and hallowed it. Which means made it Holy!



Unless the Adamic Covenant was not for the whole earth.


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## Spineyman

Artfuldodger said:


> Unless the Adamic Covenant was not for the whole earth.



I guarantee you it isn't for the whole earth. It is for the elect of God. If the Spirit of the Living God does not draw a person then they are without hope! The Bible tells us we are dead in our trespasses and sins and if God doesn't call you forth, then you will remain dead .


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## RegularJoe

Because I have not read every one of the above 52 replies I may be repeating a thought already stated and_ if so_ please forgive me for the duplication?
Today we measure a day by the earth's turning on its axis relative to the Sun.
During the 7 days of Creation the Sun was not in place till the 4th 'day.'
I have wondered for the longest time ~ how, therefore, were the first three days measured by today's method of measuring a day?  How long was 'a day' those first three days :- )?
- Best of blessings wishes to all.


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## Mako22

Just like it says 1 day


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## Artfuldodger

RegularJoe said:


> Because I have not read every one of the above 52 replies I may be repeating a thought already stated and_ if so_ please forgive me for the duplication?
> Today we measure a day by the earth's turning on its axis relative to the Sun.
> During the 7 days of Creation the Sun was not in place till the 4th 'day.'
> I have wondered for the longest time ~ how, therefore, were the first three days measured by today's method of measuring a day?  How long was 'a day' those first three days :- )?
> - Best of blessings wishes to all.



You bring up a good point. Also, where was the earth within the universe if made before the Sun? The light was being provided from God. Maybe he kept the earth revolving around his Spiritual being until the 4th day.


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## marketgunner

_yom_  is only used as one day, or daylight, it is also the same word for "chronicles" of a king  or" period of time,"  or longer in "Day of the Lord"  as in God's judgement.

If God could have formed the universe in an instant , why did it take 6 days?

It was 6 yom,


----------



## Artfuldodger

marketgunner said:


> _yom_  is only used as one day, or daylight, it is also the same word for "chronicles" of a king  or" period of time,"  or longer in "Day of the Lord"  as in God's judgement.
> 
> If God could have formed the universe in an instant , why did it take 6 days?
> 
> It was 6 yom,




If God could have formed the universe in an instant , why did it take 6 yom?


----------



## GeorgiaBob

God did what God did.  It appears to me that God may have, in the process of creation, created the "rules."  Although we do not understand all the rules, the ones we have identified so far, seem to be very consistent.  Rules like quantum physics, chemistry (both organic and inorganic) and gravity all seem to be very carefully designed and thorough.   Perhaps, God took six identifiable and distinct epochs in creating this universe because God wanted to create a complete, naturally flowing and consistent universe.  

One point posters here seem to neglect.  God is everlasting.  Our Lord was here before there was a universe and God will be here when all of this is gone.  Why would God be in the least bit be concerned in how long it took to create?  Perhaps God has identified the ages (epochs, periods, days) of Creation as a tool for us, to help us find a closer relationship with God, the one God, the God who IS the creation, who IS the Creator, who is Eternally God.

(And maybe, like Adam, and so many of us since, we have found a way to miss the point - seeking to define the chronological instead of appreciate the divine.)


----------



## Artfuldodger

GeorgiaBob said:


> God did what God did.  It appears to me that God may have, in the process of creation, created the "rules."  Although we do not understand all the rules, the ones we have identified so far, seem to be very consistent.  Rules like quantum physics, chemistry (both organic and inorganic) and gravity all seem to be very carefully designed and thorough.   Perhaps, God took six identifiable and distinct epochs in creating this universe because God wanted to create a complete, naturally flowing and consistent universe.
> 
> One point posters here seem to neglect.  God is everlasting.  Our Lord was here before there was a universe and God will be here when all of this is gone.  Why would God be in the least bit be concerned in how long it took to create?  Perhaps God has identified the ages (epochs, periods, days) of Creation as a tool for us, to help us find a closer relationship with God, the one God, the God who IS the creation, who IS the Creator, who is Eternally God.
> 
> (And maybe, like Adam, and so many of us since, we have found a way to miss the point - seeking to define the chronological instead of appreciate the divine.)



Amen! The Great Architect creating using science.


----------



## NE GA Pappy

Artfuldodger said:


> Amen! The Great Architect created science.



fify


----------



## marketgunner

GeorgiaBob said:


> God did what God did.  It appears to me that God may have, in the process of creation, created the "rules."  Although we do not understand all the rules, the ones we have identified so far, seem to be very consistent.  Rules like quantum physics, chemistry (both organic and inorganic) and gravity all seem to be very carefully designed and thorough.   Perhaps, God took six identifiable and distinct epochs in creating this universe because God wanted to create a complete, naturally flowing and consistent universe.
> 
> One point posters here seem to neglect.  God is everlasting.  Our Lord was here before there was a universe and God will be here when all of this is gone.  Why would God be in the least bit be concerned in how long it took to create?  Perhaps God has identified the ages (epochs, periods, days) of Creation as a tool for us, to help us find a closer relationship with God, the one God, the God who IS the creation, who IS the Creator, who is Eternally God.
> 
> (And maybe, like Adam, and so many of us since, we have found a way to miss the point - seeking to define the chronological instead of appreciate the divine.)



I think, He was influencing the fallen angels that were here .

In the Beginning God ...., is wrong the correct translation is In the Beginning *of* God creating ....

We know angels and sons of god already existed

Job 38:7

When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?


----------



## Artfuldodger

NE GA Pappy said:


> fify



I agree, good fix.


----------



## RegularJoe

Another matter about which i have long time wondered 
(has no bearing, of course, on whether i am 'saved' or not, thankfully :- ) .....
Can I actually 'safely' assume that back 'in the day' when He was creating the Creation that the glorious Earth was _actually_ rotating on her axis (1 rotation = 1 'day') in the same time frame as she is at this present time .....
thus affecting the actual time length of a day.
IF i have to guess (i am not any kind of 'scientist,' fyi :- ), i'd guess that she _was_ rotating at the current speed; however, _perhaps_ it is niave of me to assume so.


----------



## SemperFiDawg

Which is harder for your god,  to forgive your sins or create the world in 7 days, allow a fish to swallow a man and spit him out after 3 days, raise up men from stones, make stones cry out Hosannah, etc?  Many of you claim faith, but few actually BELIEVE because you simple KNOW better.  That’s not Faith: it’s foolishness cloaked in pride attempting a charade of beliefism.


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## marketgunner

One can believe without understanding or believe through understanding. My understand in not important.  My believing cannot depend on my strength,  The faith is a gift of God , given to us to exercise. It is up to use to exercise faith correctly.

The how strong is my belief is not important, it is the truth of what I believe.


----------



## Artfuldodger

marketgunner said:


> One can believe without understanding or believe through understanding. My understand in not important.  My believing cannot depend on my strength,  The faith is a gift of God , given to us to exercise. It is up to use to exercise faith correctly.
> 
> The how strong is my belief is not important, it is the truth of what I believe.



Amen!


----------



## Banjo Picker

*They Were 24 Hour Days*

They were 24 hour days just as they are today, And the Earth was made before these seven days, for it was cover with water from the first flood !


----------



## NE GA Pappy

Not only was the earth, stars, sun, and all the other stuff here created, God created time at this point.

some people find it hard to imagine a place that existed (heaven) with beings ( God, angels and heavenly creatures) outside of our time / space continum, even though this is the biblical teaching on the subject.  God has always existed, was not created, He just was. 

This infinite being then imagined a universe that was in perfect working order and created it, and in the process created time.

I can only imagine.


----------



## kmh1031

*How long were the Creative days?*

Much discussion and arguments have been had over this question...however what does the Bible have to say, or not say on this topic?

The Bible does not specify the length of each of the creative periods. 

Yet all six of them have ended, it being said with respect to the sixth day (as in the case of each of the preceding five days): “And there came to be evening and there came to be morning, a sixth day.” (Ge 1:31)
 However, this statement is not made regarding the seventh day, on which God proceeded to rest, indicating that it continued. (Ge 2:1-3)

 Also, more than 4,000 years after the seventh day, or God’s rest day, commenced, Paul indicated that it was still in progress. 

At Hebrews 4:1-11 he referred to the earlier words of David (Ps 95:7, 8, 11) and to Genesis 2:2 and urged: “Let us therefore do our utmost to enter into that rest.” By the apostle’s time, the seventh day had been continuing for thousands of years and had not yet ended. 

The Thousand Year Reign of Jesus Christ, who is Scripturally identified as “Lord of the sabbath” (Mt 12:8), is evidently part of the great sabbath, God’s rest day. (Re 20:1-6) 

This would indicate the passing of thousands of years from the commencement of God’s rest day to its end. The week of days set forth at Genesis 1:3 to 2:3, the last of which is a sabbath, seems to parallel the week into which the Israelites divided their time, observing a sabbath on the seventh day thereof, in keeping with the divine will. (Ex 20:8-11) 

And, since the seventh day has been continuing for thousands of years, it may reasonably be concluded that each of the six creative periods, or days, was at least thousands of years in length.

That a day can be longer than 24 hours is indicated by Genesis 2:4, which speaks of all the creative periods as one “day.” 

Also indicative of this is Peter’s inspired observation that “one day is with God as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day.” (2Pe 3:8) Ascribing not just 24 hours but a longer period of time, thousands of years, to each of the creative days better harmonizes with the evidence found in the earth itself.


----------



## Artfuldodger

NE GA Pappy said:


> Not only was the earth, stars, sun, and all the other stuff here created, God created time at this point.
> 
> some people find it hard to imagine a place that existed (heaven) with beings ( God, angels and heavenly creatures) outside of our time / space continum, even though this is the biblical teaching on the subject.  God has always existed, was not created, He just was.
> 
> This infinite being then imagined a universe that was in perfect working order and created it, and in the process created time.
> 
> I can only imagine.



Did God create time on the fourth day?


----------



## NE GA Pappy

kmh1031 said:


> Much discussion and arguments have been had over this question...however what does the Bible have to say, or not say on this topic?
> 
> The Bible does not specify the length of each of the creative periods.
> 
> Yet all six of them have ended, it being said with respect to the sixth day (as in the case of each of the preceding five days): “And there came to be evening and there came to be morning, a sixth day.” (Ge 1:31)
> However, this statement is not made regarding the seventh day, on which God proceeded to rest, indicating that it continued. (Ge 2:1-3)
> 
> Also, more than 4,000 years after the seventh day, or God’s rest day, commenced, Paul indicated that it was still in progress.
> 
> At Hebrews 4:1-11 he referred to the earlier words of David (Ps 95:7, 8, 11) and to Genesis 2:2 and urged: “Let us therefore do our utmost to enter into that rest.” By the apostle’s time, the seventh day had been continuing for thousands of years and had not yet ended.
> 
> The Thousand Year Reign of Jesus Christ, who is Scripturally identified as “Lord of the sabbath” (Mt 12:8), is evidently part of the great sabbath, God’s rest day. (Re 20:1-6)
> 
> This would indicate the passing of thousands of years from the commencement of God’s rest day to its end. The week of days set forth at Genesis 1:3 to 2:3, the last of which is a sabbath, seems to parallel the week into which the Israelites divided their time, observing a sabbath on the seventh day thereof, in keeping with the divine will. (Ex 20:8-11)
> 
> And, since the seventh day has been continuing for thousands of years, it may reasonably be concluded that each of the six creative periods, or days, was at least thousands of years in length.
> 
> That a day can be longer than 24 hours is indicated by Genesis 2:4, which speaks of all the creative periods as one “day.”
> 
> Also indicative of this is Peter’s inspired observation that “one day is with God as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day.” (2Pe 3:8) Ascribing not just 24 hours but a longer period of time, thousands of years, to each of the creative days better harmonizes with the evidence found in the earth itself.




such a perversion of the original text.


Gen 1 uses the word 'yom' to indicate day... along with the term 'evening and morning'

each and every time those words appear in the Bible, it is interpreted day... a literal 24 hour day.

Now please explain to me how, the first time it is used it could mean anything else?  If you are introducing a new word, you have to have a definition of that word.  How could that word, use the first time mean something different than it did in the rest of book of Genesis?

It is only logical that it wouldn't and it doesn't.


----------



## NE GA Pappy

Artfuldodger said:


> Did God create time on the fourth day?



no.. it was created on day one.  First Day.

'yom' is the term for day, and 'evening and morning' defines it as a literal 24 hour day.  Each time this is used in the Bible, it means a literal 24 hour day, and no one argues that point.  But they try to say in Gen 1 and Gen 2 that those terms means something else.  

Weird and perverted.


----------



## kmh1031

*Creation day*

If we are still in the 7th day, gods day of rest.. how long has that been?


----------



## kmh1031

*Creation day*

Not all days mentioned in bible are 24 hr days...
Notice 2Pet 3:8 

8 However, do not let this escape your notice, beloved ones, that one day is with God as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day.

Is a day in the Bible always literally 24 hours in length? Genesis 2:4 speaks of “the day that God made earth and heaven.” 

This one day encompasses all six of the creative days of Genesis chapter 1. 

According to Bible usage, a day is a measured period of time and can be a thousand years or many thousands of years. 
The Bible’s creative days allow for thousands of years of time each. Further, the earth was already in existence before the creative days began. (Genesis 1:1) 

On this point, therefore, the Bible account is compatible with true science.â€‹—2 Peter 3:8.


----------



## kmh1031

*A final comment on the Creation day time frame*

24 hour creative day? 

The Hebrew word translated “day” has a variety of meanings, including ‘a long time; the time covering an extraordinary event.’
 (Old Testament Word Studies, Grand Rapids, Mich.; 1978, W. Wilson, p. 109) 

The term used allows for the thought that each “day” could have been thousands of years in length.

Consider this fact regarding a 24 hr day vs a longer day...

Light from the Andromeda nebula can be seen on a clear night in the northern hemisphere.

 It takes about 2,000,000 years for that light to reach the earth, indicating that the universe must be at least millions of years old. 

End products of radioactive decay in rocks in the earth testify that some rock formations have been undisturbed for billions of years.

Genesis 1:3-31 is not discussing the original creation of matter or of the heavenly bodies.
However it describes the preparation of the already existing earth for human habitation. 
This included creation of the basic kinds of vegetation, marine life, flying creatures, land animals, and the first human pair. 

All of this is said to have been done within a period of six “days.”


----------



## NE GA Pappy

the word day 'yom' when used with the term 'evening and morning' each and every time it is used always means a literal 24 hour day... even when it it is used in Gen 1.


----------



## Banjo Picker

*The Six Days are Literal Days*



kmh1031 said:


> Not all days mentioned in bible are 24 hr days...
> Notice 2Pet 3:8
> 
> 8 However, do not let this escape your notice, beloved ones, that one day is with God as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day.
> 
> Is a day in the Bible always literally 24 hours in length? Genesis 2:4 speaks of “the day that God made earth and heaven.”
> 
> This one day encompasses all six of the creative days of Genesis chapter 1.
> 
> According to Bible usage, a day is a measured period of time and can be a thousand years or many thousands of years.
> The Bible’s creative days allow for thousands of years of time each. Further, the earth was already in existence before the creative days began. (Genesis 1:1)
> 
> On this point, therefore, the Bible account is compatible with true science.â€‹—2 Peter 3:8.



 That the six days of Gen. 1 were literal twenty-four hour days as we have know days every since, is very clear in Scripture. the reason why they were literal are as follows: The word evening is from Hebrew ehred, meaning dusk, evening or night. It is translated evening forty-nine times, but it is not once used in a figurative sense. The word morning is from the Hebrew boker, meaning dawn, break of day, morning or early light. It is translated morning 187 times, but not once in a figurative sense. This shows that the words day and night, or light and darkness are literal days and nights, and are regular periods of light and darkness regulated by the sun, moon and stars, as mentioned elsewhere in Scripture (Gen. 8:22; Ps. 19:2; Job 38:12; Jer. 31:35-37; 33:19-26). There is no hint in Scripture anywhere that day and night ever did, or ever will come from a different source than from the sun, moon, and stars that were created before the Earth, as we have seen, or that we are to understand day and night in a symbolic sense.
  It is true that the word day, which is used 2,182 times as a literal day, may refer to a prolonged period when it is qualified as "the day of the Lord" or "the day of God" However, when it is used with qualifying words beginning or ending the day, like evening and morning, it can only be understood in the literal sense. It is further proved to be literal by numbering each day as first, second, third, etc, as one naturally would number days when speaking of any seven days which he wishes to mention. No symbolic period is ever numbered in Scripture.


----------



## KyDawg

I dont understand what the argument is about. I think we Christians have a lot more to worry about than deciding what a day constituted.


----------



## Banjo Picker

KyDawg said:


> I dont understand what the argument is about. I think we Christians have a lot more to worry about than deciding what a day constituted.



I think one needs to understand as much of the Bible as he can. no argument here just Bible learning.


----------



## NE GA Pappy

KyDawg said:


> I dont understand what the argument is about. I think we Christians have a lot more to worry about than deciding what a day constituted.



It is important, Bo$$, because either the Bible is true and believable, or it isn't.  If the first conversation in the Bible is false, or has errors, how can you believe the rest?


----------



## Jack Ryan

Will Galen said:


> How long is a Creation day?
> 
> A day is a length of time that varies according to subject matter. For example, it’s common to use the word day to mean an era, an age, a generation, or the life span of a person. The question for this discussion is, “How long is a Creation day?”
> 
> Many people are adamant that when Genesis 1:5 says, “and there was evening and there was morning, a first day,” it was a time period of 24 hours. Are they right? Let us see.
> 
> Genesis 1:14,15, says of the sun and moon . . . “they must serve as signs and for seasons and for days and years.  They will serve as luminaries in the expanse of the heavens to shine upon the earth.”
> 
> Note the sun and moon were to serve the earth. However, the Bible tells us that God doesn’t need to rest and he’s a spirit person so he doesn’t need light to see. Since God doesn’t have our constraints it’s readily apparent that he doesn’t need to use our units of time. So why would we assume God consigned himself to using our 24 hour days in creation?
> 
> The Bible tells us a thousand years is as a day to God. (2 Peter 3:8) (See also Psalms 90:4) So the question arises, why would God create everything in 24 hour time periods? Twenty-four hours is the length of our day, not Gods, and he’s the one doing the creating.
> 
> Since we know the word day can mean different lengths of time, the best one can do in determining a creation days length is to consider the creation context and to take into account what other scriptures in the Bible have to say about creation. When you do so you find you still won’t know the length of each creative day, but the evidence indicates creative days were much longer than 24 hours.
> 
> THE THIRD DAY
> (Genesis 1:11-13) 11And God went on to say: “Let the earth cause grass to shoot forth, vegetation bearing seed, fruit trees yielding fruit according to their kinds, the seed of which is in it, upon the earth.” And it came to be so. 12And the earth began to put forth grass, vegetation bearing seed according to its kind and trees yielding fruit, the seed of which is in it according to its kind. Then God saw that [it was] good. 13And there came to be evening and there came to be morning, a third day.
> 
> Note that God says, “Let the earth cause grass to shoot forth . . . the seed of which is in it, upon the earth.” It doesn’t say God caused grass to shoot forth. Apparently he only planted the seeds and let the earth produce the vegetation right from the start.
> 
> Notice also that in verse 12 the text specifically states that the ". . . Earth began to put forth . . . trees yielding fruit."
> 
> Yes, God could have planted full grown vegetation, however he didn’t grow vegetation to maturity himself, he planted seed and let the earth . . . “cause grass to shoot forth.”
> 
> Now if you think that this could still all happen in 24 hours, notice that verse 12 shows that the earth began putting forth vegetation. The text specifically states that the “. . . Earth began to put forth . . . trees yielding fruit.” The point here is that fruit-bearing trees require several years growth to produce fruit. The text states that the earth produced these trees.
> 
> The text shows that God seeded the earth, and then let the earth do it’s job. Thus the context indicates that the third creative day was longer than 24 hours.
> 
> THE FIFTH DAY
> (Genesis 1:20-23) 20And God went on to say: “Let the waters swarm forth a swarm of living souls and let flying creatures fly over the earth upon the face of the expanse of the heavens.” 21And God proceeded to create the great sea monsters and every living soul that moves about, which the waters swarmed forth according to their kinds, and every winged flying creature according to its kind. And God got to see that [it was] good. 22With that God blessed them, saying: “Be fruitful and become many and fill the waters in the sea basins, and let the flying creatures become many in the earth.” 23And there came to be evening and there came to be morning, a fifth day.
> 
> Notice that God blessed his creations. The sea creatures were to, ‘fill the sea basins,’ and the birds were to, ‘become many.’ Their doing so would of course take more than 24 hours.
> 
> Another point. Consider that God only created two of mankind, Adam and Eve. He then blessed them and told them to fill the earth and subdue it.  Besides the case of Adam and Eve we have Noah's Ark as an example of just a pair of creatures being needed to populate the earth with their kind. That being the case it’s likely he just created two of each creature and let them multiply on their own.
> 
> Again when you consider the context of what the Bible says you come to the conclusion that the fifth creative day was longer than 24 hours.
> 
> THE SIXTH DAY
> (Genesis 1:24-31) And God went on to say: “Let the earth put forth living souls according to their kinds, domestic animal and moving animal and wild beast of the earth according to its kind.” And it came to be so. 25And God proceeded to make the wild beast of the earth according to its kind and the domestic animal according to its kind and every moving animal of the ground according to its kind. And God got to see that [it was] good.
> 
> 26And God went on to say: “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness, and let them have in subjection the fish of the sea and the flying creatures of the heavens and the domestic animals and all the earth and every moving animal that is moving upon the earth.” 27And God proceeded to create the man in his image, in God’s image he created him; male and female he created them. 28Further, God blessed them and God said to them: “Be fruitful and become many and fill the earth and subdue it, and have in subjection the fish of the sea and the flying creatures of the heavens and every living creature that is moving upon the earth.”
> 
> 29And God went on to say: “Here I have given to YOU all vegetation bearing seed which is on the surface of the whole earth and every tree on which there is the fruit of a tree bearing seed. To YOU let it serve as food. 30And to every wild beast of the earth and to every flying creature of the heavens and to everything moving upon the earth in which there is life as a soul I have given all green vegetation for food.” And it came to be so. 31After that God saw everything he had made and, look! [it was] very good. And there came to be evening and there came to be morning, a sixth day.
> 
> We see on the sixth creative day God created both domestic and wild animals as well as Adam and Eve. The second chapter of Genesis adds further details to the creation account. Notice what Genesis 2:18-23 says,
> 
> (Genesis 2:18-23) 18And Jehovah God went on to say: “It is not good for the man to continue by himself. I am going to make a helper for him, as a complement of him.” 19Now Jehovah God was forming from the ground every wild beast of the field and every flying creature of the heavens, and he began bringing them to the man to see what he would call each one; and whatever the man would call it, each living soul, that was its name. 20So the man was calling the names of all the domestic animals and of the flying creatures of the heavens and of every wild beast of the field, but for man there was found no helper as a complement of him. 21Hence Jehovah God had a deep sleep fall upon the man and, while he was sleeping, he took one of his ribs and then closed up the flesh over its place. 22And Jehovah God proceeded to build the rib that he had taken from the man into a woman and to bring her to the man. 23Then the man said: “This is at last bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh. This one will be called Woman, Because from man this one was taken.”
> 
> There are several things that indicate the sixth creative day was longer than 24 hours. First, the creation account says that God would bring the birds and animals to the man for him to name them. Obviously there were no artificial lights back then, so this naming task would have to take place in daylight so Adam could see them. So if a creation day was only 24 hours long Adam only had about 12 hours to name all the animals, not a full 24 hours.
> 
> Consider the math. Meaning how many animals and birds could Adam name in 12 daylight hours? This would appear to be an impossible job for Adam to accomplish in one day.
> 
> Another point. Does it seem to you that God would give Adam a job to do right after he created him? That would have been the case if each creation day were just 24 hours long. Or would he instruct Adam with the things he needed to know and then give him time to orientate himself and time to explore his new home? Big companies routinely give new hires a period of orientation to familiarize themselves with their new surroundings.
> 
> Remember Adam is a newborn as to experience and knowledge. He wouldn’t know anything other than what God had told him.
> 
> We also need to remember that God said, “It is not good for the man to continue by himself. I am going to make a helper for him, as a complement of him.” That statement is not something God would likely say after only a few hours. And as busy as Adam would have been studying and naming the birds and animals he wouldn’t have had time to get lonely on the first day.
> 
> Also notice what Adam said when God brought the woman to him, “This is at last bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh. This one will be called woman, because from man this one was taken.”
> 
> Adam’s first sentence where he says, “At last. . .“ indicates he had waited for some time for God to provide him with a mate. This doesn't appear to be what someone would likely say after having only lived for a few hours himself, and has spent most of his time naming animals.
> 
> Adam’s second sentence indicates that he studied whatever was brought to him before he provided it with it’s name. Notice he says, “This one,” indicating he had already named others. Then he continues and gives a reason for giving the woman her name saying, “This one will be called Woman. Because. . . ”
> 
> The context shows Adam gave a reason for giving the woman her name. The way the sentence is worded indicates he likely gave a reason for giving the birds and animals their names also. Th
> 
> They way we view names today gives support to Adam having a reason for each name. We always like to give forethought before providing something or someone a name. We are so serious about names that books full of names have been produced to aid expectant parents in deciding on a baby’s name. And very often when a name is decided on others want to know the reason the name was chosen.
> 
> If creation days were 24 hour days as some insist, it’s apparent it would have been rushing things for Adam to have provided names to all the birds and animals in just a few hours, maybe impossible. We might consider too that there would have been no need to rush things, Adam had the prospect of living forever. With such being the case does it make sense that God would give Adam a task to do almost immediately after creating him? That would have had to have been the case if he were to have named all the birds and animals on the first day.
> 
> It’s much more likely God gave Adam time to settle in and explore before he gave him the task of naming the birds and animals. Just exploring the Garden of Eden would likely have taken Adam weeks if not months since the Bible says their were four rivers in the Garden of Eden.
> 
> In reading about the 6th day and then reasoning on it, it becomes apparent that the 6th day was also longer than 24 hours.
> 
> THE SEVENTH DAY
> Before the 7th day began the Bible gives closure to the other days with the words:
> 
> (Genesis 1:5) . . . And there came to be evening and there came to be morning, a first day. (Genesis 1:8) . . . And there came to be evening and there came to be morning, a second day. (Genesis 1:13) . . . And there came to be evening and there came to be morning, a third day. (Genesis 1:19) . . . And there came to be evening and there came to be morning, a fourth day. (Genesis 1:23) . . . And there came to be evening and there came to be morning, a fifth day. (Genesis 1:31) . . . And there came to be evening and there came to be morning, a sixth day.
> 
> However, the Bible says something different about the seventh day:
> (Genesis 2:1-3) . . .Thus the heavens and the earth and everything in them were completed. 2 And by the seventh day, God had completed the work that he had been doing, and he began to rest on the seventh day from all his work that he had been doing. 3 And God went on to bless the seventh day and to declare it sacred, for on it God has been resting from all the work that he has created, all that he purposed to make.
> 
> The Bible doesn’t give a closure to the seventh day, it says . . . “for on it God has been resting from all the work that he has created, all that he purposed to make.”
> 
> There are no reports in the Bible of the seventh day ending. Where it says God has been resting, does it mean it is still ongoing? According to the Bible, yes! The apostle Paul shows it was still ongoing thousands of years later in his day.
> 
> In the Bible book of Hebrews the apostle Paul tells us that most of the Israelites that Moses led out of Egypt lacked faith and were disobedient, causing God to become disgusted with them.
> 
> They were eye witnesses to God’s miracles, they lived though the ten plagues on Egypt, and they crossed the Red Sea on dry ground because of a Godly miracle, but they rebelled and wanted to elect a leader to take them back to Egypt because 10 of the men sent to spy out the promised land brought back a report saying the people living in the promised land were giants and too much for them.
> 
> Their rebellion showed a complete lack of faith in God, so he swore that they would not enter into his rest. Paul then urges Christians to do their utmost to enter into God's rest. Let’s read that account.
> 
> (Hebrews 3:16-4:5) 16 For who heard and yet provoked him to bitter anger? Was it not, in fact, all those who went out of Egypt under Moses? 17 Moreover, with whom did God become disgusted for 40 years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose dead bodies fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did he swear that they would not enter into his rest? Was it not to those who acted disobediently? 19 So we see that they could not enter in because of lack of faith. 4 Therefore, since a promise of entering into his rest remains, let us be on guard for fear someone among you seems to fall short of it.
> 
> 2 For we have also had the good news declared to us, just as they had; but the word that they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened. 3 For we who have exercised faith do enter into the rest, just as he has said: “So I swore in my anger, ‘They will not enter into my rest,’” although his works were finished from the founding of the world. 4 For in one place he has said of the seventh day as follows: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works,” 5 and here again he says: “They will not enter into my rest.”
> 
> Note that in those last two verses Paul shows that entering into God’s rest means God’s rest day. In verse 4:1 he says, “since a promise of entering into his rest remains, let us be on guard for fear someone among you seems to fall short of it.”
> 
> Paul wouldn’t have urged Christians to enter into God’s rest day if it were not ongoing in his day. In verse 4 above Paul says very pointedly, “. . . a promise of entering into his rest remains.”
> 
> For our discussion on the length of creative days we see other scriptures point to the 7th day as being thousands of years long.
> 
> *In summation*, the Bible doesn't provide a time period on the length of the creation days. However it does give information that points to creation days being longer than 24 hours, sometimes thousands of years long. Ascribing not just 24 hours, but thousands of years to each of the creative days harmonizes with both what the Bible says, as well as with scientific evidence found in the earth, and the universe around us.
> 
> *SIDEBAR: What does it mean to enter God’s rest day?*
> God swore disobedient Israelites would not enter his rest. The apostle Paul encouraged Christians to enter God’s rest. Apparently it means that obedient, faithful people, that enter and are still faithful at the end of the 7th day have the prospects of then entering into the new creative week and living forever. Conversely, those who are disobedient and unfaithful and don’t enter into God’s rest day will not be alive at the end of God’s rest day.
> 
> *SIDEBAR: What will happen after God’s rest day ends?*
> Other than another creative day starting we don’t know much. We do know God is finished with the earth.
> 
> The Bible says at Genesis 2:1-3, Thus the heavens and the earth and everything in them were completed. 2 And by the seventh day, God had completed the work that he had been doing, and he began to rest on the seventh day from all his work that he had been doing. 3 And God went on to bless the seventh day and to declare it sacred, for on it God has been resting from all the work that he has created, all that he purposed to make.
> 
> The Bible says that God completed the heavens and the earth and everything in them. So after the seventh day is completed it’s logical God will start creating again. Doing what, we can only guess?
> 
> If he’s going to continue creating in the vicinity of the earth maybe he will make Mars, or Venus, livable for some new creation? Then again being God, he could create something that none of mankind would ever conceive of.
> 
> *SIDEBAR: What doesn’t God produce miracles in our day?*
> There are many people that say if God would just preform miracles today they would put faith in him. But the Israelites that came out of Egypt prove that line of reasoning untrue. They were eye witnesses to miracle after miracle from God, they lived though the ten plagues, they were witnesses to the Red sea being split so they could cross on dry ground, they followed a pillar of smoke during the day and a pillar of fire at night. They drank water produced from a rock, etc., and they still didn’t put faith in God. Instead they rebelled because 10 of the 12 spies sent into the promised land said the people living in the promised land were giants and too much for them.
> 
> What’s needed today is for people to read their Bibles. 2nd Timothy 3:16, 17 says, 16 All Scripture is inspired of God and beneficial for teaching, for reproving, for setting things straight, for disciplining in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be fully competent, completely equipped for every good work.
> 
> Since the Bible completely equips us for every good work, a miracle is not needed to help us put faith in God. All you have to do is regularly read your Bible. . . .”



What difference does it make to  Christian how long was a "creation day"?

I believe it is just more divisive bull crap, a diversion evil uses to distract you from God's work. It doesn't matter. Quit wasting efforts you could be using for good arguing and thinking about useless trivia.


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## Banjo Picker

*That The Bible TellsYou How Long Each Of The Six Days Of Gen.1 Was*

They were literal twenty-four hours days as by the qualifying statements, "evening and morning," which began and ended each day like it has been doing every day since. Then too Ex. 20:8-11 speaks of literal days in which God restored the Earth to a second perfect state. The record of what was done on these six days also proves they were literal days.


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## NE GA Pappy

Jack Ryan said:


> What difference does it make to  Christian how long was a "creation day"?
> 
> I believe it is just more divisive bull crap, a diversion evil uses to distract you from God's work. It doesn't matter. Quit wasting efforts you could be using for good arguing and thinking about useless trivia.



the creation story is incredibly important. It is the foundation on which the rest of the Bible rests.  If you can't believe God when He told us how He created the world, how can you believe Him when He says that you have an eternal home with Him to live in peace forever more?


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## Spineyman

Jack Ryan said:


> What difference does it make to  Christian how long was a "creation day"?
> 
> I believe it is just more divisive bull crap, a diversion evil uses to distract you from God's work. It doesn't matter. Quit wasting efforts you could be using for good arguing and thinking about useless trivia.





NE GA Pappy said:


> the creation story is incredibly important. It is the foundation on which the rest of the Bible rests.  If you can't believe God when He told us how He created the world, how can you believe Him when He says that you have an eternal home with Him to live in peace forever more?



You see Genesis ( the beginning, the foundation ) does indeed matter.God spells it out for us and we are slow of hearing to learn what He is saying. Another reason that Genesis matters is because God said if you eat of the fruit you shall surely die. There was no death before the fall, as you see in all creation that God made everything very good. If God did not mean Genesis to say exactly what it says then He is a liar, and I am here to tell you let God be true and every man a liar. In order for it to be millions of years then there would be death before the fall, and that can not be. So yes Genesis does matter!


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## Banjo Picker

*They Were 24 Hour Days*



SemperFiDawg said:


> Creation Day =7000yrs/ (1000 yrs=1day) >\< (1 day=1000 yrs) subtract first 4 days of creation / 360 days per prophetic year / number of years with 2 Blood Moons ( must be visible in Israel) - 70 a.d. +\- a couple of days will get you close.



Here the question arises how could vegetation live so long without the sun? Further, vegetation was here about 2,000 years before animal life was on Earth; so the Earth must have been dense forest for 2,000 years; fish and fowls were 1,000 years before man and other animals, so they were the rulers of the Earth all these years. Then, too, we would have to conclude that it took God 1,000 years to create fish and fowls and another 1,000 years to create land animals and man. According to Gen. 2:7-25 man was created before the animals, and the animals were all created before the woman, or Adam was created in the beginning and the woman at the end of the sixth day. If this day was 1,000 years long man was a 1,000 years old before a wife was made for him. God rested another 1,000 years between the making of Eve and fall of man; so there about 2,000 years from  Adam's creation at the beginning of the sixth 1,000 years and the fall of man after the seventh 1,000 years . And yet Adam was only 130 years old when Seth was born (Gen. 5:1-3). How are these theories of men when examined in the light of common sense and the Scriptures! Therefore that the six days of Genesis were literal, twenty-four-days as is plainly evident by the facts themselves.


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