The Days of Creation
The whole premise behind the idea that each of the creative “days” were of a literal 24 hour duration is unfounded, it is based upon the erroneous assumption that God Himself is subject to time, to the same time restraints he placed upon man. With God time is not reckoned as it is with us (See Psa 90:4; 2 Pet 3:8). God is immortal, eternal without beginning of days or ending and therefore not subject to time, He inhabits eternity. Time has no relevance with him except in that he uses it to mark out certain aspects or unfolding’s of the divine purpose.
When on the fourth day of creation God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years,” (Gen 1:14) he was not saying let these mark out our “days and years”, i.e. Himself and the Logos, or for that matter any other of the spirit beings inhabiting the spiritual realms, No! These lights (Sun, moon and stars) were for the benefit of man to mark out his days.
Any attempt to assign a literal 24 hour interpretation upon each of the days of creation work falls flat, for if we were to accept the narrative as given in Chapter One of Genesis as depicting these days as literal 24 hour days we would then need to explain how it is then stated in Chapter Two (Verse 4) that the LORD God created the heavens and the earth IN ONE DAY.
“This is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day (singular) that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.”
Now of course we understand what is actually implied here, but the point is that we are not at liberty to pick and choose which statements in scripture we wish to take as a literal and which we wish to accept as symbolic or figurative in nature simply to uphold our own personal views or beliefs.
If the “day” mentioned here in Gen 2:4 is not to be taken literally by what right have any to assume that the “days” spoken of in the First Chapter are to be taken as literal?
Which was it then, did the Lord create the heavens and the earth in seven literal days or in one literal day?
So then the question is, how we determine the true length of each of the creative days, some say they were they were literal 24 hour days while others say they were unspecified periods of time perhaps a thousand years perhaps more.
Well since we know that ORDER is heavens first law we can assume and rightly so that whatever the length of each day they were most likely of uniform periods of time, equal duration. How can we know this for sure, well just look at the literal days of the week, each day divides equally into 24 hours, not one day of which is any more nor any less then another.
Man was originally created to live forever, having continuance access to the trees of life, thus possessing everlasting life. Being that this life would be perpetual; so long as he remained loyal to God, like his creator he would not be subject (or restrained) by time, the lights in the firmament (Sun, moon and stars) simply there to help him mark out certain aspects and blessings of the divine plan as they related to him.
It was not until AFTER his expulsion from the Garden that he became subject to time. Prior to this his day, the day in which he was created would have been endless, not that there would not be daylight and night as the earth revolved upon it’s axis, merely that his day, the time in which he existed would be endless and not subject to any time limits.
However this all changed after the fall when he became subject to time, his days thence being numbered. After his exile the day or daytime was divided into twelve hours and the night into twelve (See Matt 20:1-12; John 11:9; Acts 23:23); 6 a.m. would correspond to the first hour, 9 a.m. to the third; 12 noon to the sixth, etc. The hours were longer during the longer days and shorter during the shorter days, since they always counted 12 hours between sunrise and sunset. Thus a day consisted of a 24 hour period.
The days of man (literal days) established after his fall had nothing to do with the creative days, which were the days of God, with whom one day is as a thousand years. We should understand that this is merely an expression denoting that in comparisons to man’s 24 hour day God’s day is like a thousand years, NOT that his day is a thousand years, as God is not subject to lengths of time.
“For a thousand years in your sight are like yesterday (24 hours) when it is past, and like a watch in the night (3 hours).” Psa 90:4
“But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as (or like) a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” (2 Pet 3:8)
The Lord could have as equally had said, “A day with Lord is as a million years,” or some other un-fathomless length of time. Matthew Poole’s Commentary puts it so:
“A thousand years is put for any, even the longest revolution of time; and the sense is, that though there be great difference of time, long and short, with us, who are subject to time, and are measured by it; yet with Him who is eternal, without succession, to whom nothing is past, nothing future, but all things present, there is no difference of time, none long, none short, but a thousand years, nay, all the time that hath run out since the creation of the world, is but as a day.”
In our next post we will continue with this discussion and consider why we believe the creative days were of equals lengths or duration of 7000 years each even as the literal days of the week are equal lengths and duration 24 hours each.
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The whole premise behind the idea that each of the creative “days” were of a literal 24 hour duration is unfounded, it is based upon the erroneous assumption that God Himself is subject to time, to the same time restraints he placed upon man. With God time is not reckoned as it is with us (See Psa 90:4; 2 Pet 3:8). God is immortal, eternal without beginning of days or ending and therefore not subject to time, He inhabits eternity. Time has no relevance with him except in that he uses it to mark out certain aspects or unfolding’s of the divine purpose.
When on the fourth day of creation God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years,” (Gen 1:14) he was not saying let these mark out our “days and years”, i.e. Himself and the Logos, or for that matter any other of the spirit beings inhabiting the spiritual realms, No! These lights (Sun, moon and stars) were for the benefit of man to mark out his days.
Any attempt to assign a literal 24 hour interpretation upon each of the days of creation work falls flat, for if we were to accept the narrative as given in Chapter One of Genesis as depicting these days as literal 24 hour days we would then need to explain how it is then stated in Chapter Two (Verse 4) that the LORD God created the heavens and the earth IN ONE DAY.
“This is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day (singular) that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.”
Now of course we understand what is actually implied here, but the point is that we are not at liberty to pick and choose which statements in scripture we wish to take as a literal and which we wish to accept as symbolic or figurative in nature simply to uphold our own personal views or beliefs.
If the “day” mentioned here in Gen 2:4 is not to be taken literally by what right have any to assume that the “days” spoken of in the First Chapter are to be taken as literal?
Which was it then, did the Lord create the heavens and the earth in seven literal days or in one literal day?
So then the question is, how we determine the true length of each of the creative days, some say they were they were literal 24 hour days while others say they were unspecified periods of time perhaps a thousand years perhaps more.
Well since we know that ORDER is heavens first law we can assume and rightly so that whatever the length of each day they were most likely of uniform periods of time, equal duration. How can we know this for sure, well just look at the literal days of the week, each day divides equally into 24 hours, not one day of which is any more nor any less then another.
Man was originally created to live forever, having continuance access to the trees of life, thus possessing everlasting life. Being that this life would be perpetual; so long as he remained loyal to God, like his creator he would not be subject (or restrained) by time, the lights in the firmament (Sun, moon and stars) simply there to help him mark out certain aspects and blessings of the divine plan as they related to him.
It was not until AFTER his expulsion from the Garden that he became subject to time. Prior to this his day, the day in which he was created would have been endless, not that there would not be daylight and night as the earth revolved upon it’s axis, merely that his day, the time in which he existed would be endless and not subject to any time limits.
However this all changed after the fall when he became subject to time, his days thence being numbered. After his exile the day or daytime was divided into twelve hours and the night into twelve (See Matt 20:1-12; John 11:9; Acts 23:23); 6 a.m. would correspond to the first hour, 9 a.m. to the third; 12 noon to the sixth, etc. The hours were longer during the longer days and shorter during the shorter days, since they always counted 12 hours between sunrise and sunset. Thus a day consisted of a 24 hour period.
The days of man (literal days) established after his fall had nothing to do with the creative days, which were the days of God, with whom one day is as a thousand years. We should understand that this is merely an expression denoting that in comparisons to man’s 24 hour day God’s day is like a thousand years, NOT that his day is a thousand years, as God is not subject to lengths of time.
“For a thousand years in your sight are like yesterday (24 hours) when it is past, and like a watch in the night (3 hours).” Psa 90:4
“But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as (or like) a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” (2 Pet 3:8)
The Lord could have as equally had said, “A day with Lord is as a million years,” or some other un-fathomless length of time. Matthew Poole’s Commentary puts it so:
“A thousand years is put for any, even the longest revolution of time; and the sense is, that though there be great difference of time, long and short, with us, who are subject to time, and are measured by it; yet with Him who is eternal, without succession, to whom nothing is past, nothing future, but all things present, there is no difference of time, none long, none short, but a thousand years, nay, all the time that hath run out since the creation of the world, is but as a day.”
In our next post we will continue with this discussion and consider why we believe the creative days were of equals lengths or duration of 7000 years each even as the literal days of the week are equal lengths and duration 24 hours each.
Return to Index
