If the days of creation were not actual solar days, why didn't God call them "long ages" instead of "days"?


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The reason God chose the word "yom" (day) is, it was the only word that would accurately describe what He wanted to say, a day. How else could you describe a day with out a clock? He could have said just about any thing He wanted, to describe long ages. He had the words but didn't. If they were not days, why didn't God call them "long ages" instead of "days"?

If you read Exodus 12:1-20, it's pretty obvious God expected the Israelites to understand what He meant by "day". In chapter 19:9 God tells Moses He wanted the people to believe him (Moses) forever. Then in 20:8-11, Christ being The Word and the one who was there "in the beginning" lays down the commandment about working six days (hmmmm, wonder if He expected them know what He mean by "day"?) and then again says, oh you know what He said, again I wonder if He expected the people to know what He meant by "day"? Oh golly He went and did it again in 31:15-18, then wrote it on stone with His finger. He seems to have this one track mind that He's able to communicate.

In Acts 15:21, (oh remember God telling Moses the people would believe in him forever), it says Moses is read every Sabbath in every Synagogue, wonder why God would do that, let His people read believe something that wasn't true all those years? Last but not least. Leviticus 23, Numbers 28 & 29, Deuteronomy 16:4-8, Jeremiah 33:19-26 and Malachi 4:4, kinda give me the impression God DEMANDED the Israelites understand and believe what He said and, not forget it.

Now show me one scripture that either refutes or insinuates that the word day in any of those passages does not mean a day. We know that many times in the OT the word day means exactly that, a day, why not there? Show me one scripture that refutes or insinuates that the six day creation stated in Exodus 20:11 and 31:17 is not historical narrative or factual. Tell me why you think the word day doesn't mean day in those scriptures. Show me one scripture that insinuates the chronologies in Genesis 5 & 11 are inaccurate. Notice I asked for scripture, not commentary.


Ted’s Response:

The "days" of creation were viewed and described from God's perspective, not from ours. Humans were the primary beings for whom He made solar days, and he gave us the concept of clocks so that we could measure the passage of time.

However, people were not even on the earth until the last part of the sixth "day" of creation. The things that were going on prior to the appearance of the first humans, Adam and Eve, were not observed by them. Those creative events did not have to be comprehended by them from their frame of reference but, rather, only from God's frame of reference, which was not based on the passage of time measured by solar days. In fact, the sun and moon were not even observable from earth until the fourth "day" of creation, and of course there were no people around at that time to view these objects in the sky.

When you use the word "accurately," you are presuming that, in every case, God's "day" is exactly equal to a 24-hour day, which is the only "day" that you have experienced as a human observer here on earth. We use man-made clocks to count out these repetitive days, which we observe as the earth rotates on its axis from darkness to daylight to darkness again.

Even on the earth, a "day" does not have to be 24-hours in length. Inside the Artic Circle, for instance, each solar day consists of 24 hours of darkness in the winter and 24 hours of daylight in the summer. In fact, there are 6 months of darkness and 6 months of daylight; so a "day," consisting of one period of darkness followed by one period of daylight, actually lasts a full year there. The people there may mark each calendar date using clocks so that they can manage their circadian rhythms and will be on the same time schedule as the rest of the world. But, relatively speaking, a dark-light "day" for them lasts for one year.

Consider astronauts who orbit the earth once every few hours. Since they are out in space, their perception of a dark-light "day" is completely different from what it is when they are on the earth. They see the dark/light cycle several times during a 24-hour period. It all has to do with one's point of reference.

Essentially, you are assuming that God counts time in the same way that we do on earth. But God is not attached to the earth, as we are; He dwells in unapproachable light (1 Timothy 6:16). His celestial "clock" is supernatural, and where He is located there is not the "night" and "day" that we observe. Presumably, there is no darkness in heaven; even if there is, it is not governed by the rising and setting of the sun and moon. God set the sun and the moon in the sky to separate the light from the dark, to mark seasons, days, and years, and to provide light on the earth (Genesis 1:16,17), not in heaven. This is for us, not for Him.

Young-earthers often will look at "evening and morning" in the description of the creation days and insist that this must be indicative of the dark and light portions of consecutive 24-hour days. However, in Genesis 1, "evening" is erev (or ereb) and "morning" is boqer (or boker) in Hebrew. Besides "evening" and "morning," additional meanings of these words are "darkness" and "light." In the latter context, we can see God's hand at work, in each creation day, as bringing forth something that did not exist before, or was invisible, from darkness into the light (or from nonexistence into existence) to declare His glory.

It makes sense that each "day" of the Creation would begin with "evening" and continue through the next "morning," since the first yôm = "day" (that is, unspecified or unknown period of time) began with darkness "over the surface of the deep" (Genesis 1:2) and ended with light (1:3), the daylight portion of that same creation "day." After that, the "dark" or void portion of the next "day" (yôm) would begin, out of which God again would create something new out of nothing and cause it to be visible or bring it into the "light."

Furthermore, "darkness" often is associated with evil and "light" with good. As such, it makes complete sense that God repeatedly called the things that He had created "good," since they arose from "darkness" into "light" or from nothing into something, just as "morning" followed "evening."

You are trying to equate God's eternal, infinitely-dimensional frame of reference with your limited, one-dimensional perspective. Basically, it is an attempt to bring Him into the little box in which you exist. This is a futile endeavor, indeed. Furthermore, the notion that the sixth "day" of creation was a 24-hour day defies reason and logic, taking into account the considerable number of tasks that were performed on that "day": the sixth day.

In Leviticus 23, Numbers 28 & 29, and Deuteronomy 16:4-8, God demanded that the Israelites—located on this rotating earth and with the sun at the center of their solar system—observe and commemorate specific 24-hour days on the annual calendar that He had set out for them. From their perspective, a "day" was a 24-hour day.

In Jeremiah 33:19-26, God was speaking to the prophet about covenants He had made with David and with the Levites. Again, all of these were people dwelling on this spinning earth orbiting around a fixed sun, which God had put in place for them. Their night began at sunset, and their day began at sunrise. They could not escape the sun-centered "sphere," into which God had situated them, and view things from His perspective; therefore, from their perspective, a day was a 24-hour day.

Malachi 4:4 simply was a reminder, to the Israelites, that they were to continue to observe the instructions laid out in the Torah, which included the observance of specific 24-hour solar days during each annual cycle. They were (and are) to observe them, over and over again, all the days of their lives.

Exodus 20:8-11 and 31:15-18 are not superimposing God's very lengthy creative "week" onto the same time frame as man's cyclical week of 24-hour days. God's extraterrestrial "week," during which He spent six "days" creating everything and rested on the seventh "day," was a template and a guideline for man's earthly week of seven solar days. These passages were written to specify that God's "week" should be a type or pattern that people would use to work and rest during each week of 24-hour days while living on this revolving earth as it orbits the sun. The same concept even applied to a "week" of seven years (Exodus 21:2; Leviticus 25:2-4), not just to a week of seven days. Moreover, the 70th Week (Daniel 9:27) also is a "week" of seven years.

There also are several cases in the ancient Hebrew text where yôm conspicuously designated something other than a 24-hour day. Here are some examples:

1) These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens. (Genesis 2:4)

Even if I believed in a "young" earth, which I do not, I would have to acknowledge that "day" (yôm) in this verse refers to at least six 24-hour periods of time. Therefore, yôm unquestionably can designate something other than a 24-hour day.

2) In that day shall the branch of the LORD be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel. (Isaiah 4:2)

And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious. (Isaiah 11:10)

This "day" refers to the time when Jesus will rule over the earth from Israel. It is similar to the meaning of "day" in the phrase "in my grandfather's day" or "in the day of Abraham Lincoln," which indicates an unspecified period of time significantly longer than a 24-hour day. The "rest" that Jesus will provide believers will not last for merely one 24-hour day but for a "day" of 1,000 years (Revelation 20:6; 2 Peter 3:8).

3) For it is the day of the LORD's vengeance, and the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion. (Isaiah 34:8)

To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn. (Isaiah 61:2)

For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come. (Isaiah 63:4)

In each of these three cases, Isaiah indicated that the future "day" of vengeance will equate to a year in length. It will be a "day" from the viewpoint of the Lord, who can designate any length of time that He wishes to be a "day." For the people of earth (those in Zion = Israel, as well as those who are mourning and those who will be redeemed via the Pre-wrath Rapture), this period of time will be about a year in duration. Simply speaking, God, occupying eternity, views things, such as earthly lengths of time, differently than we do.

I believe that the "day"/year of vengeance will be the final year of the 70th Week (that is, the last year of the 7 years). The Trumpet Judgments, which will constitute the bulk of God's vengeance, will commence upon the opening of the Seventh Seal (Revelation 8:1). During that year-long period of time, the Fifth Trumpet Judgment alone will last for 5 months (9:1,5,10). Certainly, the "day" of vengeance will not be merely 24 hours in length.

4) After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth. (Hosea 6:2,3)

In this case, each "day" is approximately a 1,000-year period. The first two "days" are the period of time from the first coming of Jesus to His second coming. The third "day" equates to the Millennium, when He will "come unto us" to rule and reign on the earth for 1,000 years (Revelation 20:6).

5) And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the LORD come. (Joel 2:30,31)

It will be shortly after the opening of the Sixth Seal that the sun will appear to turn dark and the moon blood red (Revelation 6:12). Terrified, unsaved people will be running and hiding in caves and under rocks (6:15), fully aware that the great "day" of God's wrath, which is the "day" of His vengeance, is imminent (6:17). As explained in #3 above, the "day" of vengeance will last for about a year, not for a solar day. The "day" of vengeance will be the initial dreadful and frightful segment (in a sense, the "dark" portion) of the overall "day" of the Lord period or Millennium, which will be filled with "light" and joy.

6) For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night. (Psalm 90:4)

Again, God's perspective is different from ours. A thousand years (such as the Millennium during which Jesus will reign on the earth) is as a "day" or even as a brief "watch in the night" to Him. For all intents and purposes, a "day," from God's standpoint, can be whatever period of time He wants it to be to accomplish some particular goal, purpose, or task.

"Day" can mean a solar day, especially if God is describing a 24-hour day that is being observed from our perspective. However, people were not around during the first six "days" of creation, and the sun (by which solar days are measured) was not even observable until the fourth creation "day." Since that period of time was recorded from God's standpoint, then it really is not up to any of us to assert that His measurement of each creation "day" was equivalent to one of our 24-hour days.


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