It may be understood that the 6 days of creation were of indeterminate length; God knows.
Would an eternal God create the heavens and the earth, and all that in them is, in six 24 hour days? He most certainly could; but did He?
Many
theologians insist that the 6 days of creation were days of 24 hour duration; based mainly upon the Hebrew word yom; from an unused root meaning the warm hours; the day time; and that the word yom is used many times through Genesis to
mean a 24 hour day. They also suggest that God was setting a pattern of seven 24 hour days to be followed by man.
I would humbly suggest that the pattern is possibly, not a cycle of seven 24 hour
days, but a cycle of seven periods of time; as in seven 24 hour day weeks, seven day cycles of rest for man, seven year cycles of rest for the land, seven milliniums of time for this world (the world being man's societies; as different from the earth, the
planet).
Moses reveals that Yom can
also be used figuratively to denote a period of time as in: Gen.2:4 These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created,
in the day (yom) that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.
We
can be sure that this mention of day is speaking of the period of creation of the Heaven on day two, the earth on day three, and the sun, moon and galaxies in the firmament of the heaven on day four, and the
moving creatures of the waters, the birds in the open firmament of heaven, on day five, and the cattle, creeping things, beasts of the earth, and man on day six; even if we can not be sure of the length of those days.
(Insistance that the days of creation were of 24 hour length, places a stumbling block before many young believers as they pass through their worldly education.)
There
is nothing in Genesis 1 to establish that yom is a day of 24 hours; even though yom is used many times in Genesis to mean a 24 hour day; Moses, in Genesis 2:4, when he speaks of the generations of
the heavens and of the earth when they were created, uses yom (day) to mean the period of time in which the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.
However, on the sixth day, the Lord God caused it to rain, made man, planted a garden, planted the tree of life, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, put the man in the garden, and brought every beast of
the field, and every fowl of the air to Adam to see what he would name them, and Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl, and to the beasts of the field; after which the Lord God made a woman.
It
is my humble opinion that, because it first rained on the sixth day, the sun and the earth were then in their current orbit, and 24 hour days started.
In Gen.40:4, Yom
denotes a period of time;
In Gen.40:4, a season, (yom; Strongs Heb. yowm.)
Gen.40:4b and they continued
a season (yom) in the ward.
On the fourth day (yom) God made lights in the firmament
of the heaven to divide the day from the night. The greater light to rule the day (yom), and the lesser light to rule the night; He set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, and to rule over the
day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness; and for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years; on the fourth day.
Until the forth day, the only light was
the light God brought forth on the first day.
There was no day and night, as we know it, before God set the sun in the firmament of the heaven on the forth day to divide
the day from the night.
There were no 24 hour days on earth until the earth and the sun came into their present position.
Until
God had gathered the waters into one place and the dry land appeared as the earth became a sphere, and God placed the earth in it's present rotation and orbit around the sun, would there be 24 hour days on earth. For God had set
the sun, moon and stars in place on the forth day to divide the light from the darkness, and, although God had set the sun in the firmament of the heaven on the fourth day, there was no rain upon the earth until the sixth day. Rain depends upon the sun drawing up a
mist from the earth into the open firmament of the heaven, where it condenses and falls as rain. The sun was created on the forth day, but, it seems, was not in a position with the earth to cause rain upon the earth
until the sixth day. (see Gen.2:5-9). Neither could there have been 365.25 day years upon the earth, until the sun and the earth came into their current juxtaposition.
In
the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
He created the Heaven on the second day, and the earth on the third day; after which He created the sun, moon
and stars, on the forth day, the living creatures of the waters, and the fowl in the open firmament of heaven on the fifth day, and the living creatures and beasts of the earth, man, every herb bearing seed, and the
trees on the sixth day.
Time, in this
creation; for example, on the earth, is dependent upon, the rotation of the earth, it's orbit around the sun, the precession of the
equinoxes, etc..
Time with the Lord God, Who is the creator of all things; Who is ever present; Whom the heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain, one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand
years as one day (see 2Pet.3:8).
Time itself, is in the ever-present moment, in which constant change is occuring. It is always and ever the present, the now,
in which, time, in the material realm, is passing.
Time, as we know it, shall be no longer; in the days of voice of the seventh angel when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be
finished, as He has declared to His servants the prophets (see: Rev.10:6,7). For at the seventh trumpet, the last trumpet, the Lord shall appear from heaven, and every eye shall see Him, and the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements
shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up, and all these things shall be disolved (see 2Pet.3:7,10,11).
The first days of creation may have been thousands, or more, of earth days or years, in duration. God knows!
We can know that there have been 24 hour days upon the earth since the sixth day, and that around 6,000 years have passed since God greated Adam on the sixth day; but God knows the length of the preceeding 5 days.
God also knows what may have been in existence before He created this universe, when the earth was without form
(Heb.to' huw; to lie waste); and void (Heb.bo'huw;
emptiness, a vacuity ); and what occured before the foundation of the world (1Pet.1.20), when He afore knew (Ro.8:29), and prepared the spirits, predestinated (Ro.8:29,30; 9:23; Eph.1:5,11) and
chosen in Him (Eph.1:4a); to become, in this life, His children forever.
Some of the story in the Bible, contains some of the story
of some of mankind in his generations; and God's plan, to make man as gods, in giving man a knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 3:22a), through man's falling from God's grace and presence and nature, through the breaking of God's law (the commandments), into
a carnal, natural, mortal state, cut off from God's eternal spiritual life and truth; and then to redeem man, through the legal and perfect, loving innocent-blood sacrifice of God's only begotten Son
Jesus Christ (see etudy on:'The Gospel'); to purge and refine, and reconcile some of mankind unto Himself, conforming some to the image of
His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren; to offer them a promise of an eternal inheritance as His adpoted children, and to give them a hope of eternal life through the resurrection of the dead. This is God's purpose for creating this earth
(see study on: 'The Purpose of Life' on this web-site).
The scope of the Bible reaches from before the creation of the current universe, unto it's end; and
on into the next creation of new heavens, and a
new earth when and where all will know God. The present heaven and earth will not be remembered.
Is.65.17 For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered,
nor come into mind.
Rev.21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first
heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
Rev.21:5 And He that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things
new. And He said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.
This Creation.
Gen.1.1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
In the beginning; not at the beginning (for with God there is no beginning and no end. At the beginning is a particular
moment; in the beginning is the period of time of the creation of the heaven and the earth); in the beginning of this creation. Genesis 1:1 tells of the second and third days, in which God created
the Heaven and the earth; it is not speaking of the creation of the heavens (plural), which God created on the the forth day.
The manifestation of all
natural phenomena requires time, force, energy, space
and matter. All of these requirements are in this first verse of Genesis 1.
Time:
In the beginning.
Force: God.
Energy:
created.
Space: the heaven.
Matter:
earth.
Science liked to teach that the universe is 3.6 billion years old: but since the Hubble telescope has seen much further out into the cosmos, it is taught that the universe
is 13 or so billion years old. If, or when a larger telescope is deployed (the James Webb Telescope is due to be launched in 2018,) and scientists see further out, they will have to revise their teachings yet again. There are now photographs, from a space
probe, that show the cosmos in a very early stage of development; and scientists are now claiming the universe is 13.7 billion years old (neglecting to mentioning that they taught it to be 3.6 billion
years old for a generation or so).
For less than the last hundred years, science likes to teach of the "singlelarity": or how the universe was created in a "big bang" from "a single atom";
which supposedly contained all of the matter of the universe. Now they are not so sure, and speak of "string theory" and "wave theory".
Some scientists are now considering that there must have
been something here before the 'big bang' as they see that the universe could not have been created from nothing; or a single atom; or a "singelarity"; and speak now of "the big bounce"; from a previously
existing 'something'.
It should be remembered that around 500 years ago, science, and the "church", taught that the sun revolved
around the earth.
In the dark ages, many believed that the earth is flat; although it was known, from experiments done in Alexandra, Egypt,
thousands of years ago, that the earth is a sphere.
The children of God, through faith, understand that the universe was created by
God's Word; as God spoke of the good things which He desired to create.
Heb.11.3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed
by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.
Gen.1.2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon
the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
( Many theologians believe that; 'And the earth was without form
and void': speaks of a time when the earth was, apparently, already in existance, but in a state of complete ruin, and covered by the waters; before this earth was formed on the third day.)
And there was darkness, the Spirit of God, and the waters.
These waters must have been created by God in an earlier time, for God's first words of this creation brought forth light; the waters were already here.
Gen.1.3
And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. 4 And God saw the light, that
it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. 5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the
first day.
This Light is not sun light, or starlight, nor
fire light; but the true Light; the Day Star; the bright and morning Star;
the Dayspring.
Jn.1.4 In him was life; and
the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. 6 There was a man sent from
God, whose name was John. 7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. 8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. 9 That was the true Light, which lights every man that comes into the world.
2Pet.1:19
We have also a more sure word of prophesy; whereunto you do well that you take heed, as unto a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:
Rev.22:16 I Jesus have sent my angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and
the bright and morning star.
Lu.1:78 Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high has visited us, 79 To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the
shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.
Is.60:1 Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. 2 For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the
Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. 3 And the Gentiles shall come to thy light,
and kings to the brightness of thy rising.
Is.60:19 The sun shall be no more thy light
by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light,
and thy God thy glory. 20 Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: for the Lord
shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended.
Jn.12:46 I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believes on me should not abide in darkness.
1Th.5:5
You are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.
1Jn.1:5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth. 7 But
if we walk in the light, as he
is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin.
The true Light is another manifestation
of the Word and the Life of God.
Gen.1:6 And God said, Let there be a firmament, in
the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters
from the waters. 7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under
the firmament, from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. 8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the
second day.
Throughout the Bible, God reveals His meanings, either in following scriptures or elsewhere, in context. The meaning of the firmament of Vs.6
and 7, is revealed in V.8; And God called the firmament Heaven.
Gen.1:9 And God said, let the
waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. 10 And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.
The original waters must have been scattered, because God gathered them unto one place, here on the earth; not as science
likes to teach; on Mars and on the moons of Jupiter, etc..
On the third day, the dry land appeared out of the waters.
The land was already under the waters, or in the waters; as the sun and stars, which produce the elements of matter, were not created until the fourth day. God did not say, "Let there be dry land", but "Let
the dry land appear."
Our sun is 99% Hydrogen and Helium, with some trace elements making up 1%. Most elements, are created in
the tremendous heat and presure of stars much larger than our sun, and occur in the formation of new stars, and in collapsing stars, and super novas; none of which were, at this time, created: so these building blocks of matter must have been already in the waters. Were these waters
the remains of a former creation; perhaps one destroyed by waters ? God knows.
Science can not understand how the earth could possibly exist
before the stars: this is of course because they leave the Creator out of the equation; and therefore must be in error.
Many theologians, teach that Genesis 1:2 is saying that the earth was already in existance, but became without form, or lying waste (Heb:to' huw,) and void or empty (Heb:bo' huw). If this is so, then God resurrected the earth on the third day. However we must consider Revelation 21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first (Gk: pro' tos; foremost in time, place, order or importance: from pro; fore, in front of, prior) heaven and the first
earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. This may indicate that before the creation of this earth, on the third day, that the earth was yet unformed, and there was a void, or a vacuity or emptyness. God knows.
When the Lord God destroyed all living things from upon the earth in the flood, the earth was covered with water for 184 days until the tops of the mountains appeared. It was a further 90 days until the earth was
dry, and a further 56 days until God told Noah to leave the ark. This was 370 days after the rain started (Gen.7 , 8). These were 24 hour days.
From the day that the tops of the mountains were seen until the day that the ground was dry, was a period of 147 days. This was with the evaporization caused by the sun, and the waters asswaging into the
fountains of the deep.
When the dry land appeared as the earth on the third day, there was no sun to aid the drying of the land, and so it would have naturally
taken much longer to dry.
Gen.1:11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself,
upon the earth: and it was so. 12 And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good. 13 And the evening and the morning were the third day.
(Consider Gen.2:5-9)
Gen.1:14
And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of heaven
to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: 15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.
16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the
stars also. 17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, 18 And to rule over the day and over
the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. 19 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.
The sun, moon, and stars
were set in the firmament of the heaven; which God called Heaven. Therefore the waters above the
firmament are out beyond the stars; out beyond the finite universe; along with outer darkness; (and were not, as many think, in an envelope around the earth until the deluge).
Outer darkness is out
beyond the Light; and still receding as the Light forces it away, at the speed of light. Outer
darkness is the destination, on judgement day, of many of the children of the kingdom; many of the Called who will not be chosen, who
will be rejected by the Lord Jesus. (see study on 'Eternal Judgement' in First Principles.)
Prayerfully consider this: The original waters are seperated by the firmament, which God called Heaven.
On the third day, God said, let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place,
and let the dry land appear: and it was so. On the forth day, God set the sun, moon and stars in the
firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth. The universe then, is in the firmament of the heaven. Therefore, as the waters under the firmament of the heaven are in one place, here on earth, and as the earth is a sphere, then in all directions out from the surface of the sea and the land is the
firmament of the heaven, and so the earth and our Solar system are in the centre of the Heaven, and of the universe.
What do you think?
Ephesians 4: 9 (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He that descended is the same also that ascended
up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)
He descended into the lower parts of the earth, and ascended far above all heavens. The heavens are out from the earth in every direction.
To fill all things, He would have had to go up from the earth in all directions.
The earth is unique in all of the universe, as it was not created by the stars; but before the
stars were themselves created, it was created by God. Hallelujah!
The earth and it's people are central and uppermost in all of God's plan to choose an everlasting family of children, conformed
unto the image of His Son, that He should be the firstborn among many brethren; through the redemption and reconciliation of some of mankind unto Himself through the one time, perfect, loving, legal, blood sacrifice of His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.
This sacrifice is forever marked, throughout the annals of eternity, with a cross. Jesus Christ is come in the flesh! Thank You Lord Jesus! Thank You Father! To God be the Glory! Hallelujah!
Gen.1:20 And God said, let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that has life, and
fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. (the open firmament of heaven is where the birds fly, and not the firmament of heaven in which are the galaxies): Heaven
is up from the earth in all directions, and reaches out past the stars; and is a spiritual dimension in which the galaxies exist. Science liked to call that dimension, "dark matter"; but since they found that the universe was not contracting,
but expanding, they call it "dark energy". They know something must be there, but know not what. It is in fact, not dark, nor matter, but Light Spirit (all things are in God).
All things are in God.
Jeremiah
23:24b Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord.
Ro.11:36 For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things.
Eph.4:9 Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth ? 10 He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.
Col.1:19 For
it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell.
Gen.1:21 And God created great whales, and every living creature that moves, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. 22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let
fowl multiply in the earth. 23 And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.
Gen.1:24 And God said,
Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. 25 And God made the
beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good. 26 And God said, Let us make man in our image,
after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27 And God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replentish
the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
Let us make man in our
image. God refers to Himself in the plural: He is the Elohiym; which is plural of Elowahh. He is the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit.
1Jn.5:7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.
God is One; God is three; God is many. There are seven Spirits of God; God is Light; God is Love; we can not limit God to our limited
understanding.
In
our image.
Do we look like God? head, body, arms, legs: are we made in His physical image ?
God has arms, hands, fingers, feet; God can see, hear, smell,
touch and taste; we can see, hear, smell, touch and taste; think, reason, decide; we have feelings of self and selflessness, love, hate, compassion, anger, mercy, desire, immagination etc.; we can create and destroy:
Or, or and, is it because we have a body, soul, and spirit ?
Has God got wings?
Ps.17:8 Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings.
Ps.36:7; 57:1; 61:4; 63:7;
Ps.91:4 He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust:
All these things will be made known to those of us who endure, and follow the Lord Jesus Christ in Spirit and in Truth unto the end of our lives upon the earth.
John
17:3 And this is eternal life, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent.
Did God say, Replentish the earth ?
Replentish: (Strongs; 4390; mala; (maw lay):- to fill.
KJV translators have, in some scriptures, rendered this word:- to refill.
God knows.
Gen.1:29 And God said, Behold, I have
given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall
be for meat. 30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to everything that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.
31 And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
Gen.2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished. and all the host of them.
2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. 3 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he rested from all his work which God created and made.
God's days are from evening to morning; and not as man's;
from morning to evening. The seventh day begins in the evening of the sixth
day, and continues until the evening of the seventh day. (see study on 'the Sabbath')
Gen.2:4
These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day (Heb.yom), that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.
This is the first mention of the Lord: Jehovah. The Lord God: Jehovah Elohiym. (see study on 'God's name forever').
Gen.2:5 And every plant of the field before it was
in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no man to till the ground. 6 But there
went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground. (Rain is caused by a mist going up from the earth, condensing as clouds, and falling as rain). 7 And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living soul.
Every plant of the field and every herb of the field, before
they were in the earth, and before they grew? The earth brought forth the grass, the herb, the fruit tree, on the third day. Gen.1:12
And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good. 13 And the evening and the morning were the third
day.
However in Gen.2:5 there was no garden, because there was no rain, and because there was no man; in Gen.2:6 the Lord
God caused it to rain, and in Gen.2:7 He formed man on the sixth day; and in Gen.2:8 so planted a garden.
The grass, and the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his
kind, whose seed is in itself were brought forth by the earth on the third day,
but the plants of the field and the herb of the field were not planted in the earth until the sixth day. The Lord God also planted in the garden, every tree that is pleasant to the sight,
and good for food; and also the tree of life, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Gen.2:8 And the Lord God planted
a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9 And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
(see study on 'The Commandments')
God has given man experience of good and evil, that we might become as one of them, and choose the good and eschew the
evil.
Gen.3:22a And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to
know good and evil:
It is through our fall from grace through sin,(the breaking of God's law; the commandments), into
a knowledge of good and evil, that God tries us; that He might redeem us, and purge and refine us, and reconcile us unto the adoption of sons: having predestinated us unto the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of His will, that we might be conformed to the image of His Son; in
His time.
It is for this purpose
that the Lord God created this earth, and mankind (see study on "the purpose of life").
God is
good. His mercy endures forever. Hallelujah!
Please
read the study on:'the Gospel', for it is the power of God unto salvation.
And do not argue about the
truth of creation; preach the gospel;
if a person is then not convicted of sin, righteousness and judgement; and that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living
God, then God is not drawing them unto Himself; so argument is futile.
Love God, obey His commandments.
Do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with thy God.