HOW LONG WERE the "Days" of CREATION?
Were the days of creation week "ages"? People insist that God
could not set the world in order and create life forms in six
literal days! Why?
by Kenneth C. Herrmann (1958 - very old article, but truth never
ages - Keith Hunt)
WHY has doubt about creation entered Christian minds today?
Why do men in this "enlightened age" reject the unmistakable
meaning of the Word of God?
For over 3000 years men of God have believed the literal
meaning of the account of creation recorded in Genesis 1 and 2.
To them the Scripture said that in six days, 24-hour days as we
know them, God created the heavens and the earth and rested the
seventh day.
Holy men of old rested on the Sabbath day believing that it
had its beginning as the final day of that creation week - that
it was a memorial of creation. For 3000 years righteous men dared to
take God's inspired record at face value.
No record is found of "ages" rather than days of creation in
the ancient history of the Hebrews or of early Christians.
Why, then, does an "enlightened age" reject the truth of
literal days of creation?
How the Idea of "Ages" Began
Since the days of Darwin a controversy has raged between the
Bible proponents and atheists. The theory of evolution, a theory
which remains unproven even today - and always will - became the
entering wedge to separate the Bible scholars from their trust in
the truth of the Scriptures.
The atheist looked to the evidence on hand: Fossils of
varying types in the earth, evidence of variation among living
organisms; and with his mind stubbornly set that he would not
believe what could not be demonstrated before his eyes, he
preached the idea to the world that man had evolved from lifeless
matter over a period of millions of years - that the Scriptural
account of creation was s gross superstition.
With few exceptions, religious circles denounced evolution
with equal vigor. But they refused even to look at the facts the
atheist presented, much less to question his faulty reasoning.
Between the two extremes a third group sprang up, accepting
the facts of the atheist and swallowing his reasoning without
question. Reverencing the Bible and not willing to give it up,
yet thinking that perhaps it didn't mean quite what it said, this
group concluded that perhaps Moses misunderstood, perhaps the
record had become confused or altered. Evolution looked so
plausible, evolutionists' arguments so sincere and the Bible too
old and uncertain in meaning, so difficult to understand. "Ages
of creation became the cry of the modernists.
That is the history of the modernist teaching in regard to
creation week. An attempt to believe contrary to Scripture and
yet believe she "easier" portions of the Scripture.
What proof is there that Gad created the present order of
things on this earth in six literal days? What difference does it
make whether one believes in "ages" of creation or literal days
of creation? Let's question the record and set aside doubts once
and for all time.
What the Scriptural Record Really Says
Distorted interpretations of the creation record have
resulted mainly from two causes: (1) a desire to read a false
meaning into the Word of God, and (2) a pitiful ignorance of the
account itself.
A brief review of the account of creation is certainly in
order here. Open your Bible and study the account thoroughly as
you read further in this article and after reading it.
"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth" - this
tells about the original creation. The second verse of Genesis 1
refers to a destruction which came upon the earth following the
sin and rebellion of Satan and the angels who followed him.
(That battle between Satan and his angels with him, and God with
His heavenly host, and the resulting global flood over all the
earth, is expounded in various studies on this Website. The
result of that battle can be seen on the earth's moon and planets
like Mars - a cosmic Star-Wars it was indeed - Keith Hunt)
The renewing of our earth in a state of order followed in
six days. Darkness was upon the face of the ocean.
At dawn the first day, light penetrated the dense clouds. As
it grew warmer the clouds rose the second day and an expanse or
heaven was formed, the one in which the birds fly. Thus the
waters on the earth were separated from the water laden clouds
above. The ocean receded, dry land appeared and grass and herbs
were planted the third day. A mist watered them and as the fourth
day progressed the sun became visible through the thinning
clouds. Toward evening the moon and stars appeared.
Notice how agreeable with the laws of science this is. Birds
and sea life were created the fifth day, the land animals with
Adam and Eve the sixth, and a day of rest and worship for the man
the seventh. Thus in one week order was restored to the earth.
But was it a literal week? Carefully notice that no close is
mentioned to the seventh day. Check this point in Genesis 2:1-3.
All the other days were an "evening and a morning" but this
expression does nor follow the seventh day. Why?
Now if, as same teach, the seventh day hasn't ended yet, it
would already be almost 6000 years long. And if it were that long
couldn't the first six days be similar periods.
The Seventh Day Did End! Here's proof not from the
imagination of men but from God's Word that the seventh day did
end!
Genesis 2:2. "He (God) rested on the seventh day from all
His work" Not "is resting" from all His work! Exodus 20:11. "The
Lord ... rested the seventh day." Again Genesis 2:3. "In it {the
seventh day] He had rested" He blessed the Sabbath AFTER HE had
rested on it.
Hebrews 4:4. "God did rest the seventh day from all His
works." Not "is resting"!
The seventh day of creation is PAST, for on it God rested.
No Scripture exists saying He "is resting" on a continuing
seventh day! The seventh day of creation week did end.
Double proof of this fact is found in the Scriptures telling
of the WORK God has done since that day of rest. "My father
WORKETH hitherto (even now], and I work" (John 5:17). Jeremiah
50:25. "This is the WORK of the Lord God of hosts in the
land of the Chaldeans." Exodus 32:16. "The tables were the WORK
of God, and the writing was the writing of Gad, graven upon the
tables"
Joshua 24:31. "Joshua, and . . . the elders . . . which had
known all the WORKS of the Lord, that He had done for Israel."
God has worked since that seventh day. Both the Father and the
One who became Jesus Christ by flesh birth have worked since that
first Sabbath day ended!
Man Still Disagrees!
Yet in the face of God's word, men will believe "days" to be
"ages" end that God is now testing and being refreshed. Thus one
certain sect teaches, "Measured by the length of the seventh
day, on which God desists from work and ii refreshed, each of
those days was 7000 years long." (From "Let God be True," second
edition, page 168.) How often error goes under the title of
truth!
Reread the preceding Scriptures: The 24 hour day upon which
God rested had passed and has been followed by nearly 6000 years
in which God has worked. (Actually we do not know how many
thousands of years have been since Genesis creation - Keith
Hunt). Then compare the above quote with Exodus 31:17, "in six
days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He
rotted and was refreshed." Not is (being) refreshed!
Here is the truth from which man seeks to shield himself. It
was on a literal seventh day that God tested. It was a literal
seventh day of the week that God hallowed for the human race. The
observance of the seventh day and the origin of the week go back
to Adam, not Moses!
Following that rest, God blessed the seventh day and set it
apart for holy use. The first week, creation week, had ended.
The Witness of Nature
In the time of Moses the witness of two men was accepted as
being the truth. Many "witnesses" have been given from the Word
of God that these creation days were literal days and there is
yet more proof. God leaves no room for doubt in the minds of
those who diligently study his word.
Consider the plants which were created on the third day. The
sun did not appear until the next day. If there "days" were each
7000 years long then these plants would have had to survive 7000
years without sunshine. A few might possibly survive such an
ordeal but the majority of plants require direct sunshine. Those
who believe the days to have been ages which were millions of
years long are faced with an even greater absurdity.
Or consider this, plants were made the third day, insects on
the sixth. How did certain specialized plants continue to exist
through ages without their insect partners? The Encyclopedia
Britannica states that two groups of insects which include bees,
wasps, butterflies and moths could not have existed without the
honey or nectar bearing plants, NOR COULD THESE PLANTS HAVE
EXISTED WITHOUT THE INSECTS. Without insects to pollinize them
they could not bear seed.
The types of plants which require insects for pollination
are those with brightly colored flowers, having an odor to
attract insects and containing nectar to provide them with food.
They include such common plants as the maple tree, the
strawberry, the blackberry, the honeysuckle, and the poppy. The
Bible state that these plants were made on the third day and that
the insect, were not made until three days later. Those who claim
creation days were each 7000 years long are faced with the
conclusion that these original plants must have had to live
21,000 years before they could produce seed - an utter
impossibility!
People find it easier to swallow a camel than to believe the
plain simple statement of Scripture: "In six days God made heaven
and earth." You will either have to accept God's account of
creation as being true or lose your faith and trust that His Word
is dependable.
Evolution will not mix with the Scriptures any more than
iron will mix with clay. Ages and evolution must go!
What Is the Meaning of "Day"?
The word "day" in the Bible is often used to represent an
indefinite period of time. In fact the Hebrew word, Yom,
translated day is occasionally translated "time:" But in EVERY
CASE where the numeral, first, second, third, etc. occur, the
word day is obviously and clearly referring to a natural 24-hour
day as we know it.
The Scripture speaks of the day of vengeance, the day of
adversity, the day of temptation, just as we do today, meaning a
time or season. Yet when it speaks of the fourteenth day of the
month (Lev.23), the seven days of Unleavened Bread or the fifty
days until Pentecost, the word "day" can mean only a 24-hour
period.
Symbolically a day may represent a "year' (Ezek.4:6), or a
"thousand years" (2 Peter 3:8): but symbolic interpretations
may not be applied in all cases. The three days Christ was in the
grave were not 3 years or 3000 years. Neither would any symbolic
interpretation fit in the first chapters of Genesis where we have
proven from nature that they must have been normal days of
twenty-four hours.
Another Bible meaning of the word day as a 12-hour period is
also in common usage today. When it speaks of the three days and
three nights Jonah was in the great fish's belly or the three
days and three nights Christ was in His grave, the word day
refers to the daylight part of the 24-hour period. This "day" is
by Christ's own definition 12 hours. "Are there not 12 hours in
the day?" John 11.9.
The Scripture used by many as an excuse to believe the days
of creation were ages really suggests no such meaning. It is Gen.
2:4 which refers to the time of creation, "In the day that the
Lord God made the earth and the heavens, and every plant . . .
and every herb." Lacking a numeral before it, it can refer to a
longer period of time than 24 hours and it does! This "day"
refers to the first six days of creation week.
It takes a great deal of imagination to use this as a proof
that a day means an age or even 7000 years.
The Obvious Meaning
Can the word day mean 24 hours in one part of a sentence and
an age in another put? It would have to if one were to believe in
"ages" of creation! Exodus 20:9-11: "Six days shalt thou labour
and do all shy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the
Lord thy God; ... for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day:
wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it"
The word day occurs five times in this one sentence. Can you
believe that in the third and fourth occurrences it means an age
while in the other three it means a day? Had God meant an age
wouldn't He have used the Hebrew word "dor" to mean age as in Job
8:8, "Enquire, I pray of thee, of the former age"?
In each of these five occurrences in Exodus 20, God is
obviously speaking of the same unit of time, a 24-hour day. And
as the word "day" means a twenty-four hour period here it had to
mean the came in Genesis!
If God had created light, day and night, and then waited
1000 years (or 7000 years) to form the heavens, He would have
been resting before the seventh day arrived!
If He formed the heavens on a second day and then waited
1000 years to form the seas and the land, He would have been
resting again before the seventh day arrived. Note the Scripture
again:
"For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the
seventh day he rested, and war refreshed:" After six days of
continual labor - six days spent in bringing our earth to a state
of order - God rested. He was refreshed on the seventh day. If
that seventh day were still continuing, the Scripture would read
that He is now "being refreshed."
As a final proof that the days of creation were literal
days, re-read Genesis 1:3-5, 14-19, with special attention
on the words evening and morning, night and day, darkness and
light. All have continued since creation. We are not confused
as to what they are.
Note that the sun was appointed "to divide the light from
the darkness" to divide day from night. Does sun-down divide
anything but literal days?
No place in the Scripture does God imply that He took
anything but a natural week of ordinary days to bring life and
order to the earth.
Evenings and mornings have continued, the week has
continued, the Sabbath set apart for rest at creation has
continued, all pointing back to that first creation week. The
truth is plain and without Scriptural contradiction. There is no
room to believe in the ages which evolutionists require, when you
accept the Scriptures as they are, explained not in the fog of
human imagination but in the light of the Word of God and in
accordance with nature, the handiwork of God.
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