The days of creation are listed in the Bible as follows –
Day 1: Light, Day 2: Atmosphere / Firmament, Day 3: Dry ground & plants, Day 4: Sun, moon & stars, Day 5: Birds & sea creatures, Day 6: Land animals & humans
Those days are often defined as six 24-hour periods. But were they really twenty-four hours or were they something else? After all, God created time and being sovereign, He can apply it however He chooses. I struggle with that 24-hour definition and see the ‘days’ as being more like stages. Here are some of the reasons why –
- The Hebrew word “yom” functions just like the English word in the examples: ‘the day of’ and ‘in that day’. It can translated to mean a 24-hour period as in Genesis 8:4, but it can also be translated as a longer, unspecified time period as it is in Genesis 2:4.
- The length of today’s day is not exactly 24 hours. How precise is the creation day measurement? Is it to be exactly 24 hours or just roughly 24 hours? If it is to be exact, that would differ from almost every other measurement in the universe. If it is rough, then just how rough is that?
- Genesis 1:14 says “And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years.” (ESV)
One of the reasons for those heavenly lights was to provide a way to tell time. They were all created on the fourth day. That means days one, two and three were completed before there was a way to measure time. So how were the lengths of days 1,2 & 3 actually measured? - Each day described in the text is separated by a phrase like “there was evening and there was morning”. In Biblical times a day was from sunset to sunset. How then can the days of creation be thought of as 24-hours long. That was why Augustine of Hippo wrote in City of God, that the “evening and morning” phrase must be a metaphor meaning the end of one period and the beginning of another. Think about that.
- Were all the days of creation the same length? Would it take God 24 hours to make light or a few milliseconds? Wouldn’t it be like flipping a switch?
- Some plants take years to reach maturity – Genesis 1:11 “And God said, Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth. And it was so.” (ESV)
The text doesn’t say that God made the plants fully grown. It says He made the Earth sprout vegetation. That indicates that plants at creation were following their normal life cycles. In order to see plants mature within a 24 hour period, assumptions would have to be read into the Bible text. - On the fifth day God made the creatures that live in the 3-dimensional world of fluids – water and air. That is aquatic life and birds. Then in Genesis 1:22 we see – “And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” (ESV)
Notice that God didn’t fill the air and the sea with creatures – He made the creatures to do the filling themselves. Being fruitful and multiplying implies gestation, birth and maturity enough to fill the air and sea – that would take some time. Again, in order to see the necessary reproduction and maturation of multiple generations within a 24 hour period, some assumptions would have to be read into the Bible text. - Land animals and humans were made on the sixth day. A number of things happened surrounding human creation that suggest an unknown, but rather lengthy time period.
First the man was created. The text doesn’t say at what age of life the man was created. If the pattern of creation seen in earlier days was kept, then man was likely created as an infant and grew to maturity under God’s nurturing care.
Next the Garden of Eden was planted. The act of planting also implies a time of growth to maturity.
Then in Genesis 2:19-20 we see “So out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him.”.(ESV)
While God made the creatures, it was left to man to name the creatures. To name all of God’s creatures would take the man some amount of time even if they were presented to him in rapid succession. - Lastly in Genesis 2:21-22 we see “So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man.” (ESV)
Several questions regarding time arise from this verse. Why was it necessary for God to put the man to sleep? How long did that sleep last? Was woman created as an adult or an infant? It seems that if God’s regular pattern was to allow created things to mature, then it would make sense to put Adam into a deep sleep until Eve, created as an infant, had grown to maturity. Then Eve (the only creature made in the Garden of Eden; the only one made from a preexisting creature and the last being created) would have spent the early part of her life just like Adam (remember – he’s in a deep sleep) – alone under the care and nurturing of God the Father.
The six 24-hour day creation time has gained support in recent years, but it seems to be most important to those wishing to use it to disprove the theory of evolution. The thought being that there wouldn’t be enough time in six days for anything to evolve. I believe that is an unnecessary argument because the theory of evolution is so weak on so many points that those who hold to it cannot be thinking clearly – one more weak argument is not likely to persuade them to change their mind.
It may be that God gave us the convention of a seven day week so we could have a time to rest and worship. (Exodus 20:8-11) Do the six days of labor and one day of rest represent six 24-hour days of creation? If that is true, then the names of the days of the week should reflect that significance. I have been unable to find a society where that is or has ever been true. I presume then, that the seven day week simply parallels the stages of creation on a scale suitable for humans.
I see the ‘stages’ of creation as I have described them, as requiring far fewer assumptions to be read into the text and as a much more realistic interpretation of the text than the six 24-hour day interpretation. I also see the stages as deeply profound expressions of God’s love of companionship and His nurturing nature.
Could God have created everything in six 24-hour days? Yes, He certainly could. But when I see God depicted that way, it seems very mechanical and a serious departure from His gentle, nurturing nature.
What do you think?
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Each of us is a unique spiritual being. We are born individually, die individually and stand before God every moment of our lives as an individual. No matter how large a group we are in, our relationship with God is one on one. Therefore our worship and each of our styles of worship must be accordingly unique. That concept is developed and expanded in the book “Worshiping Alone” which is available in your favorite bookstore as well as Booklocker, Amazon or Barnes and Noble If you haven’t read it, please consider doing so.
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