Rapture before the antichrist in Matthew 24

Diaste · February 15, 2020

2 hours ago, The Light said:

No, the Word says they embarked in one day. That day happened to be 7 days BEFORE the flood. I'll post the rest of the scripture that was conveniently left off that prove that Noah and his family and ALL THE ANIMALS entered on the same day.

Gen 7

¹³In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark;

¹⁴They, and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort.

¹⁵And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life.

Cherry picking indeed. What selfsame day? This one:

"In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, on the seventeenth day of the second month, all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. And the rain fell upon the earth for forty days and forty nights."

A very specific day and the object of 'selfsame day'. Sorry, but that day was not 7 days before when the evidence,

And after seven days the floodwaters came upon the earth. In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, on the seventeenth day of the second month, all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. And the rain fell upon the earth for forty days and forty nights. On that very day Noah entered the ark,"

tells us that AFTER 7 days the deluge began and on the day of the onset of the catastrophe Noah entered the ark. It can be read like this:

And after seven days the floodwaters came upon the earth. On that very day Noah entered the ark

After 7 days on that day Noah entered the ark.

JoeMo · February 15, 2020

7 hours ago, OldCoot said:

And this is even more a wonderful thing now that I was diagnosed with advanced Esophageal Cancer yesterday by my doctor. The Lord is to be praised in all things!

God bless you for your faith and faithfulness brother! You will be in my prayers.

OldCoot · February 15, 2020

11 minutes ago, JoeMo said:

God bless you for your faith and faithfulness brother! You will be in my prayers.

Thanks so much JoeMo! Even with this, I am blessed beyond what anyone deserves. Given the military and other situations in my life, I am surprised the Lord let me go this long. My wife is who I truly worry about. She has a far tougher time than I do dealing with news like this and she is taking it pretty hard.

Thanks again!

Cliff

Diaste · February 15, 2020

Ok. I'll bite....

On 2/14/2020 at 8:30 AM, Revelation Man said:

They will never see it, they already knows it in their minds and isn't going to change no time soon. When they gets to heaven they will find out they were in error. They get hung up on TWO COMINGS for the two advents of God, it doesn't matter how many times you show them Jesus has come to earth more than twice already, or that the two advents have nothing to do with how many times Jesus comes to earth, they see the small scale 1 and 2 and seem to limit God, they do not see the the grander picture via the advents.

We aren't talking about any other idea but Rapture before Trib. We all know Jesus walked in the Garden, was at Sodom, was at Babel, etc.

On 2/14/2020 at 8:30 AM, Revelation Man said:

What gets me is there are 100's of scriptures that point to the factual pre trib Rapture and they not only discount them but some of them then get all huffy when you point out their errors on the subject {not all}.

I mean Rev. 12:17 proves a Pre trib rapture and they don't get it ? It proves the Remnant can't be a Jew, thus it has to be the Gentile Church.

There are no passages in scripture that explicitly speak to a pretrib gathering. Two of the most important to Pretrib are 1 Thess 4:15-17 and 1 Cor 15:51. What you and most miss is the clear timing in 1 Thess 4:15-16

"By the word of the Lord, we declare to you that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God,"

Nearly identical to:

"They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. And He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet call, "

That's just too many similarities to think it's two separate comings. Even 2 Thess 2 points out the gathering is only after the beast is revealed. That's midpoint. Not pretrib.

On 2/14/2020 at 8:30 AM, Revelation Man said:

Anyone who denies the Remnant can not be ANY Jews...

I have no idea what this means.

On 2/14/2020 at 8:30 AM, Revelation Man said:

Rev. 12:17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

OK, so the Woman is a Fleeing Israel whom the Dragon can't get at via the Anti-Christs army so hes angry that God PROTECTED her, so he turns to go get at the REMNANT {KEY WORD} of HER {Israels} SEED {Jesus is her Seed, see Gal. ch. 3} who keep God's Commandments and have the TESTIMONY of Jesus Christ in their hearts/mouths.

So why can't the REMNANT be the Jews ? Well lets take Zechariah 13:8-9 at FACE VALUE, 1/3 of the Jews Repent and 2/3 do not. The 1/3 God Protects and the 2/3 will perish, that is what the bible says, they will die.

So the 1/3 can't be the REMNANT because that is who the Dragon chased into the Wilderness and can't get at. The 2/3 can't be the REMNANT because they do not have the TESTIMONY of Jesus Christ nor do they keep God's Commandments !! So its not them either, and when you add 1/3 and 2/3 that don't leave any other Jews to count !!

That thing I said about dark fantasy? This is it. But you don't stop there...

On 2/14/2020 at 8:30 AM, Revelation Man said:

SO WHO IS THE REMNANT ? The plain reading tells us.

Its the Remnant of Israels SEED who Galatians chapter 3 says is Jesus Christ !!

Gal. 3:16 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.

So the REMNANT can only be the Partial Body that is left of THE SEED which is Jesus Christ, thus we have a Remnant Church.....thus the Church can't be on earth in full, because ONLY the Remnant Church is on earth. And we know why don't we brother.........

That's a wild conclusion. First, plain reading leads to, " the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." Second, the literal seed of Abraham is Jesus as Jesus comes from the line of Abraham. Jesus is not the seed of the woman, He is the seed of Abraham. Third, we are not talking about the 'church' here we are literally hearing scripture speak about the seed of Israel that bears the testimony of Jesus and keeps the commands. That birth from Israel is due to the FACT, the easily understood FACT, the first to spread the Gospel were Jews. Every one of them. The 12 Apostles and Paul were all Jews, of the nation of Israel and of Spiritual Israel. So the 'church' fathers were all Jews of the faith. Fourth, any remnant is of that faith first delivered by Jews to the Gentiles. Fifth, that means that every Gentile believer is the remnant of the woman Israel. And sixth, only logical gymnastics leads you to some partial 'church' members left behind to fight the dragon. Seriously, how can you think that? You'll abandon your church brothers? Jesus died for you; you gleefully send your own brethren to certain death.

On 2/14/2020 at 8:30 AM, Revelation Man said:

Rev. 19 says the Church is in Heaven Marrying the Lamb readying herself to come back with the Lamb whilst the Beast and his minions are still on earth !!

No it does not. You're fooling yourself if you think one follows the other. At the beginning of the chapter is the cheering for the end of the whore. We have no idea when that occurs. Your take would have that going on at the Marriage Supper. In fact since you are such a big proponent of the Jewish wedding ritual you should know you have it out of order. If the bride has only made herself ready the bridegroom has not yet arrived, "and his wife hath made herself ready." Jesus is on the way to get her. Nothing in the text says she is already been taken up, the bride is made ready only.

Further, the group accompanying Jesus is armies, "And the armies [which were ] in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean"; 'armies', defined as "an expedition, an army, a company of soldiers". You seriously think this is the bride of Christ? The bride is often depicted riding white horses? Righteous armies of the Most High do not wear white linen?

On 2/14/2020 at 8:30 AM, Revelation Man said:

But lets pretend these are not facts, then we can keep our understandings going, oblivious to the facts. The facts however are all that matter to me.

So in just ONE VERSE I can point out why there is a Pre Trib Rapture.

Only in a dark and twisted fantasy.

Diaste · February 15, 2020

5 hours ago, OldCoot said:

I do relish prayers for me, but especially for my wife, Mischelle. She is having a very tough time accepting this. I think she will have a tougher time thru this than I will, irregardless of outcome.

Cliff

I am truly saddened to hear about your physical trial. I will be praying for you both. I'll ask my friend to help as well.

I don't know what I can do to help but if you have needs and it's in my power to give you'll have it.

Daniel

OldCoot · February 16, 2020

1 hour ago, Diaste said:

I am truly saddened to hear about your physical trial. I will be praying for you both. I'll ask my friend to help as well.

I don't know what I can do to help but if you have needs and it's in my power to give you'll have it.

Daniel

You are a great guy, Daniel. That is much appreciated. Like I have told others, while I cherish prayers and support for me, it is my wife Mischelle whom I truly fear for in this. She is having the worse time in dealing with this. please keep her in mind also. I have been blessed beyond measure to have lived and experienced what I have in life. The Lord is truly good.

Thanks to everyone. A true example of what family is supposed to mean. Blessings to all of you!

Cliff

angels4u · February 16, 2020

9 hours ago, OldCoot said:

True enough. But what house is one attempting to build and on what rock? Is one counting on their efforts? The statement by Yeshua is what is commonly known as an analogy, not a literalism. Yeshua is the rock. I don't need to build anything. I pitch my tent with Yeshua and am protected by Him.

Boy, how I love the simplicity of the Gospel. Nothing I can do nor am I required to do but simply trust and believe.

And this is even more a wonderful thing now that I was diagnosed with advanced Esophageal Cancer yesterday by my doctor. The Lord is to be praised in all things!

Quote

And this is even more a wonderful thing now that I was diagnosed with advanced Esophageal Cancer yesterday by my doctor. The Lord is to be praised in all things!

I'm so sorry to hear of your trouble and will be praying for you and your wife ...

Love in Christ,Angels

OldCoot · February 16, 2020

10 minutes ago, angels4u said:

I'm so sorry to hear of your trouble and will be praying for you and your wife ...

Love in Christ,Angels

Thank you so much. I will take it all gladly!

I have to apologize to everyone here that I might have derailed the conversation by bringing this diagnosis of my health up. But one thing that I am truly inspired by is though some of us may disagree on various topics like this one, and may appear to some that we are fighting like cats in a sandbox, we can come together as family when it is time to do so.

And that has to put a smile on the Lord's face! I am so moved. I look forward to meeting all of you one day!

Cliff

Edited February 16, 2020 by OldCoot

Retrobyter · February 16, 2020

Shalom, Revelation Man.

To my statement, "You need to become a "Genesis Man!" A yowm is "an evening and a morning!" The spin of the earth to the light God created!" you said,

On 2/12/2020 at 7:51 AM, Revelation Man said:

No its not, if you want to get technical the root word for YOWM is "to be hot" and we went from 400 million years of darkness to Stars being created. The microwave mapping of the universe is real, it shows exactly how the universe was created, you guys are way behind the times man. So we see light from millions of light years away, and we know the constants of light travel, yet the Universe is 6000 years old. The earth wasn't even around at verse 1, if you listen you will see that, it says the earth was VOID and without FORM, do you even stop to think what those two words entail ?

Void noun

1. a completely empty space.

Form noun

1. the visible shape or configuration of something.

verb

1. bring together parts or combine to create (something).

So lets look at it now.......

Gen. 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. {This means God COMMANDED it to go forth, not that it was complete}

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.

3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

I don't mind getting technical, but beware, because my technicality is not only TRUE science, but I stick quite closely to the Scriptures in the original languages!

So, let's begin: Strong's entry reveals more than you are suggesting.

3117 yowm (yome). From an unused root meaning to be hot; a day (as the warm hours), whether literal (from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next), or figurative (a space of time defined by an associated term), (often used adverb)
-- age, + always, + chronicals, continually(-ance), daily, ((birth-), each, to) day, (now a, two) days (agone), + elder, X end, + evening, + (for) ever(-lasting, -more), X full, life, as (so) long as (... Live), (even) now, + old, + outlived, + perpetually, presently, + remaineth, X required, season, X since, space, then, (process of) time, + as at other times, + in trouble, weather, (as) when, (a, the, within a) while (that), X whole (+ age), (full) year(-ly), + younger.

The thing you have to understand is that there are noun facts and there are grammatical facts that are involved in this "space of time":

Brown-Driver-Briggs gives an extensive view of the usage of the word "yowm":

Brown-Driver-Briggs

1 day, opposed to night, Genesis 7:14,12; Genesis 8:22 (all J), Genesis 31:39,40 (E), Exodus 24:18; Exodus 34:28; Numbers 11:32 (twice in verse); Joshua 10:13 (all J E), Deuteronomy 9:9,11,18,25; Deuteronomy 10:10 (D), Genesis 1:5,14,16,18 (P), 1 Samuel 30:12; Judges 19:8,9 (twice in verse); Judges 19:11; Amos 5:8; 1 Kings 8:29; 1 Kings 19:8; Nehemiah 4:16; Ecclesiastes 8:16; "" לִפְנֵי בוֺאהַֿשֶּׁמֶשׁ 2 Samuel 3:35; ׳חֹם הַיּ Genesis 18:1(J) the heat of the day 1 Samuel 11:11; 2 Samuel 4:5; עוֺד גָּדוֺל ׳הַיּ Genesis 29:7 (J) the day is still high, not near its end; ׳רוּחַ הַיּ Genesis 3:8 coll of the day; מִןהָֿאוֺר עַדֿ ׳מַחֲצִית הַיּ Nehemiah 8:3 from dawn until mid-day; so also probably of mid-day הוֺלך ואור עַדנְֿכוֺן הַיּוֺם Proverbs 4:18 growing lighter and lighter until the full day; note phrase in Judges 19, ׳עַדנְֿטוֺת הַיּ Judges 19:8 until the declining of the day; לַעֲרוֺב ׳רָפָה הַיּ Judges 19:9 the day hath sunk down to become evening; ׳חֲנוֺת הַיּJudges 19:9 the declining of the day; רַד מְאֹד ׳הַיּ Judges 19:11 the day has gone down exceedingly (is far spent).

2 Day as division of time:

a. working-day Exodus 20:9,10 (E) = Deuteronomy 5:18; Exodus 16:26,30 (twice in verse) (J), Exodus 23:12 (JE), Exodus 31:15 (P), Leviticus 23:3 (H); יְמֵי הַמַּעֲשֶׂה Ezekiel 46:1.

b. דֶּרֶךְ יוֺם a day's journey Numbers 11:31 (twice in verse)( J E), 1 Kings 19:4; מַהֲלַךְ יוֺם אֶחָד Jonah 3:4; דֶּרֶךְ שְׁלשֶׁת יָמִים a three days' journey Genesis 30:36; Exodus 3:18; Exodus 5:3; Exodus 8:23 (all J), Numbers 10:33 (twice in verse) (JE), Numbers 33:8 (P); מַהֲלַךְ שְׁלשֶׁת יָמִים Jonah 3:3; so seven days' journey Genesis 31:23 (E), 2 Kings 3:9; without דֶּרֶךְ etc., שְׁלשֶׁת יָמִים Exodus 15:22 (E) they went three days, etc.

c. to denote duration of various other acts or states: seven days Genesis 7:4,10; Genesis 8:10,12; forty days Genesis 7:17; Genesis 8:6 (all J); 150 days Genesis 7:24; Genesis 8:3(both P), 1 Samuel 25:38; 1 Kings 8:65 (twice in verse); Jeremiah 42:7; Ezekiel 4:5,6; 1 Chronicles 9:25; Ezra 6:22; Esther 1:4 etc. In Esther 4:16

1 &

2 are combined: וְאַלתִּֿשְׁתּוּ שְׁלשֶׁת יָמִים לַיְלָה וָיוֺם do not eat and do not drink for thee days, night or day (see Zechariah 14:7 below

3 below)

d. day as defined by evening and morning Genesis 1:5,8,13,19,23,31 (all P; compare further בֹּקֶר, עֶרֶב); see also Genesis 2:2 (twice in verse); Genesis 2:3 (P), Exodus 20:11 (twice in verse)(E), Exodus 32:17 (twice in verse) (P).

e. day of month (with ordinal number), chiefly P and late: Genesis 7:11; Genesis 8:4,14; Exodus 12:6,18 (twice in verse) +, 1 Kings 12:32; 1 Kings 12:33; Ezekiel 45:21; Ezekiel 45:25; Zechariah 1:7; Haggai 1:1; Haggai 1:15; Haggai 1:18; 2Chronicles 29:17 (twice in verse); Ezra 3:6; Nehemiah 8:2; Nehemiah 9:1; Daniel 10:4; Esther 3:12; Esther 9:1 +; (יוֺםoften omitted e.g. Genesis 8:5,13; Exodus 12:10; 2 Kings 25:1,3; Ezekiel 1:1,2; Haggai 2:1,20; Zechariah 7:1; 2Chronicles 3:2; Ezra 6:19; Esther 3:13, etc.)

f. יוֺם defined by substantive, infinitive, or other clause: (1) construct יוֺם הַשֶּׁלֶג = the snowy day 2 Samuel 23:20 = 1 Chronicles 11:22; יוֺם סַגְרִיר Proverbs 27:15 = rainy d.; יוֺם קָרָה Proverbs 25:20 = cold d.; (so, = time יוֺם צָרָתִי Genesis 35:3 (E) d. of my distrees; Jeremiah 18:17; Lamentations 1:7; Proverbs 24:10; Proverbs 25:19; Proverbs 27:10; יוֺם מוֺתוֺetc. Judges 13:7; 2 Samuel 6:23; 2 Kings 15:5 + often; compare יוֺם הֻלֶּדֶת אֶתמַּֿרְעֹה Genesis 40:20 (E) = Pharaoh's birthday; כְּיוֺם הִוָּלְדָהּ Hosea 2:5 compare Ecclesiastes 7:1 (see also 7d below; compare יוֺמוֺ Job 3:1), יום חֲתֻנָּה Songs 3:11; of day emphatically characterized by prophets and others יוֺם מְהוּמָה וּמְבוּסָה וּמְבוּכָה Isaiah 22:5 (see מְהוּמָה below הום); יוֺם צָרָה וְתוֺכֵחָה וּנְאָצָהIsaiah 37:3 = 2 Kings 19:3; on the other hand ׳יוֺם רָצוֺן ליIsaiah 58:5 a day of acceptableness to ׳י; plural followed by substantive יְמֵי שָׂכִיר Leviticus 25:50 (H) the days of an hireling; יְמֵי (מִלֻּאֵיכֶםׅ Leviticus 8:33; Numbers 6:13; followed by rel. clause אָרוּר הַיּוֺם אֲשֶׁר יֻלַּדְתִּי בּ֑וֺ יוֺם אֲשֶׁריְֿלָדַתְנִי ׳אִמִּי וגו Jeremiah 20:14 compare Job 3:3; also Psalm 118:24 (see i).

g. particular days defined by proper name, of a location: יוֺם יִזְרְעֶאל Hosea 2:2 i.e. of judgement, with implied restoration; see also Isaiah 9:3; Ezekiel 30:9; יְמֵי הַגִּבְעָהHosea 9:9; Hosea 10:9, i.e. of the outrage at Gibeah (Judges 19:22ff.); יוֺם ירושׁלם Psalm 137:7 i.e. of Jerusalem's calamity, compare Jeremiah 50:27,31.

h. with suffix, thy, his, or their day, in sense of (1) day of disaster or death: Psalms בָּא יוֺמְךָ Jeremiah 50:31 thy day has come; אוֺ יומו יָבאֹ וָמֵת 1 Samuel 26:10; יומו in this sense also Ezekiel 21:30; Psalm 37:13; Job 18:20; בָּא יוֺמָםJeremiah 50:27; Ezekiel 21:34.

i. specifically a holy day: יוֺם הַשַּׁבָּת the sabbath day (see also שַׁבָּת), Exodus 20:8,11(E) = Deuteronomy 5:12,15; Exodus 31:15; Exodus 35:3 +; = יוֺם קָדְשִׁי Isaiah 58:13; repetition בְּיוֺם הַשַּׁבָּת בְּיוֺם הַשַּׁבָּת Leviticus 24:8 every Sabbath day; also יוֺם הַכִּמֻּרים Leviticus 23:27; Leviticus 25:9; יוֺם כִּמֻּרִים Leviticus 23:28; יוֺם הַבִּכּוּרִים Numbers 28:26; יוֺם חַגֵּנוּ Psalm 81:4; יוֺם מַלְכֵּנוּ Hosea 7:5; also of false gods, יִמֵי הַבְּעָלִים Hosea 2:11.

3 ׳יוֺם י day of Yahweh, chiefly as time of his coming in judgment, involving often blessedness for righteous (see RS^{Proph. 396 f.} Dr^{Isaiah 28}); Amos 5:18 (twice in verse); Amos 5:20; Isaiah 2:12; Isaiah 13:6,9; Zephaniah 1:7 (compare Zephaniah 1:8), Zephaniah 1:14; Zephaniah 1:14 (compare Zephaniah 1:15; Zephaniah 1:16), Jeremiah 46:10; Ezekiel 13:5; Ezekiel 30:3 (compare Ezekiel 36:33; Ezekiel 39:8,11,13); Obad 15; Zechariah 14:1; Malachi 3:23 (compare Zechariah 14:7; Malachi 3:2,17; Malachi 3:19 (twice in verse); Malachi 3:21), Joel 1:15; Joel 2:1,11 (compare Joel 2:2; Joel 2:2), Joel 3:4; Joel 4:14; ׳יוֺם עֶבְרַת י Zephaniah 1:18; יוֺם עֶבְרָה Proverbs 11:4; יוֺם חֲרוֺן אַמּוֺ Isaiah 13:13; Lamentations 1:12; יוֺם נָקָם Isaiah 34:8; Isaiah 61:2; Isaiah 63:4; יוֺם נְקָמָה Jeremiah 46:10; ׳יוֺם אַף י Zephaniah 2:2,3; Lamentations 2:22; יוֺם אַמּוֺ Lamentations 2:1; compare also Zechariah 14:7 (where senses of 1 and

2 are combined, compare Esther 4:16 2c above); וְהָיָה יוֺםֿ לֹא יוֺם וְלֹא לָ֑יְלָה ׳אֶחָד הוּא יִּוָּדַע לי but there shall be one day, known shall it be of ׳י not day and not night; compare also ביום ההוא 7g below

4 Plural days of any one:

a. = his life, his age Genesis 6:3 (J), Deuteronomy 22:19,29; Deuteronomy 23:7; Joshua 24:31 (twice in verse) (D), Judges 2:7 (twice in verse); Judges 2:18; 1 Samuel 25:28, etc.; Genesis 5:4,8,11; Genesis 9:29; Genesis 11:32 (all P), Job 7:1 (twice in verse); Job 7:6,16; Job 8:9, Psalm 39:5(twice in verse); Psalm 90:9; Psalm 90:10; Psalm 90:12; Psalm 90:14; Psalm 103:15; כָּליְֿמֵי חַיֶּיךָ Genesis 3:14,17 (J), Psalm 23:6, so Proverbs 31:12; יְמֵי שְׁנֵי חַיִּים 2 Samuel 19:35; Genesis 25:7; Genesis 47:8,9 (all P); יְמֵי חַיָּיוEcclesiastes 5:17; Ecclesiastes 5:19; יְמֵי שָׁנָיו Ecclesiastes 6:3; יְמֵי שְׁנוֺתֵינוּ Psalm 90:10; מִסְמַּר יְמֵי חַיֵּיהֶםEcclesiastes 2:3; מִסְמַּר יְמֵי חַיֵּי הֶבְלוֺ Ecclesiastes 6:12 the number of the days of the years of his vanity, i.e. his empty, fleeting years; כָּלהַּֿיָּמִים אֲשֶׁרהֵֿם חַיִּים עַלמְּֿנֵי הָאֲדָמָה 1 Kings 8:40; יָמִים רַבִּים long life 1 Kings 3:11= 2Chronicles 1:11; בָּא בַּיָּמִים advanced in days = of advanced age Genesis 18:11; Genesis 24:1 (both J), Joshua 13:1 (twice in verse) (JE), Joshua 23:1,2(D), 1 Kings 1:1; מִיָּמָיו 1 Kings 1:6from his (earliest) days, so מִיָּמֶיךָ 1 Samuel 25:28 (see Dr), Job 38:12; שְׂבַע יָמִים Job 42:17; 1 Kings 8:40; יַאֲרִכוּן יָמֶיךָExodus 20:12 (JE) that thy days may be long = Deuteronomy 5:16, see further ארך; יָמִים עַליְֿמֵימֶֿלֶךְ תּוֺסִיף Psalm 61:7i.e. prolong the king's life; outlive is הֶאֱרִיךְ יָמִים אַחֲרֵיJoshua 24:31(D), Judges 2:7; אֹרֶךְ יָמִים וּשְׁנוֺת חַיִּיםProverbs 3:2 length of days and years of life; אֹרֶךְ יָמִיםProverbs 3:16; כְּיָמֶיךָ דבאך Deuteronomy 33:25 according to (the length of) thy life shall be [ thy strength ? read רבאך?] see Di VB; rarely singular e.g. קְשֵׁהֿ יוֺם Job 30:25 one hurd of day, i.e. whose day (= life) was hard; of life as approaching its end, וַיִּקְרְבוּ יְמֵי ישׂראל לָמוּת Genesis 47:29 (J) and the days of Israel drew near for dying, so Deuteronomy 31:14; 1 Kings 2:1 (compare Job 7:6,16; Job 8:9; Ecclesiastes 2:3 above)

b. (in) the days of (i.e. life-time, reign, or activity of) Genesis 10:25 (J), Genesis 14:1; Judges 5:6 (twice in verse); Judges 8:28; 2 Samuel 21:1; 1 Kings 16:34; 1 Kings 21:29 (twice in verse); 1 Kings 22:47; 2 Kings 20:19; 2Chronicles 13:20; 35:18 + often (so M 2 Chronicles 1:6. 8.8.9.33).

c. hence in phrase סֵפֶר דִּבְרֵי הַיָּמִים לְ 1 Kings 14:19,29 31t. Kings, Nehemiah 12:23; Esther 2:23; Esther 10:2; מִסְמַּר דִּבְרֵי הַיָּמִים 1 Chronicles 27:24; סֵפֶר הַזִּכְרֹנוֺת דִּבְרֵי הַיָּמִים Esther 6:1.

5 Days:

a. indefinite: יָמִים אֲחָדִים some days, a few days Genesis 27:44 (J), Genesis 29:10 (E), Daniel 11:20; יָמִים alone Dan 40:4 (E) they were days (a certain time) in the prison 1 Kings 17:15; Nehemiah 1:4; עוּל יָמִים Isaiah 65:20 a suckling of (a few) days; מִיָּמִים Judges 11:4 after a time, Judges 15:1; so מִקֵּץ יָמִים Genesis 4:3 (J) after the end of days, 1 Kings 17:7; יוֺם אוֺ יוֺמַיִם Exodus 21:21(JE) a day or two. יָמִים אוֺ עָשׂוֺר Genesis 24:55 (J) some days, or ten (days or a dekad; on question of text see Di).

b. of long time, זֶה יָמִים אוֺ זֶה שָׁנִים 1 Samuel 29:3 these days or these years; אוֺ יֹמַיִם אוֺ חֹדֶשׁ אוֺ יָמִים Numbers 9:22 (P) whether two days or a month or days (an indefinitely long period); יָמִים רַבִּים many days Genesis 21:34 (JE) Genesis 37:34 (J) +; ׳וַיִּרְבּוּ הַיָּמִים וגו Genesis 38:12 (J) and the days were multiplied (= time passed) and Judah's wife died, 1 Samuel 7:2; אָֽרְכוּ לוֺ שָׁם הַיָּמִים Genesis 26:8 (J) the days were long to him there = he had been there a long time; בְּהַאֲרִיךְ הֶעָנָןיָ֗֗֗מִים רַבִּים Numbers 9:19 (P) when the cloud prolonged many days (remained a long time) upon the tabern — See also 6 below

c. days of old, former or ancient times (especially of early period of Israel hist): יְמוֺת עוֺלָם Deuteronomy 32:7 (poem); יְמֵי עוֺלם Micah 5:1; Micah 7:14; Isaiah 63:9,11; יְמֵי קֶדֶםMicah 7:20; יָמִים מִקֶּדֶם Psalm 77:6; Psalm 143:5; compare הַיָּמִים הָרִאשֹׁנִים Ecclesiastes 7:10; coming days הַיָּמִים הַבָּאִים Ecclesiastes 2:16; coming time יוֺם אַהֲרוֺן Proverbs 31:25; especially (ב)אַחֲרִית הַיָּמִים see above; לְקֵץ הַיָּמִיןDaniel 12:13.

6 יוֺם = time;

a. vividly in General sense (see also

5 above): time of harvest Proverbs 25:13; usually יְמֵיGenesis 30:14 (J), Joshua 3:15; Numbers 13:20 (twice in verse) (all J E), Judges 15:1; 2 Samuel 21:9; proper time for paying wages Deuteronomy 24:15 compare Job 14:6; time of parturition וַיִּמְלְאוּ יָמֶיהָ לָלֶדֶת Genesis 25:24.

b. apposition to other expressions of time (Dr^{§ 192} (1) Da^{Synt. § 29. d}): חֹדֶשׁ יָמִים a month of time Genesis 29:14 (J; literally a month, time), Numbers 11:20,21 (JE); = יֶרַח יָמִיםDeuteronomy 21:13; 2 Kings 15:13; יָמִים ארבעה חדשׁיםJudges 19:2 time, four months (si vera lectio, see 1 Samuel 27:7); (מִקֵּץ) שְׁנָתַיִם יָמִים Genesis 41:1 (E) two years (of) time, 2 Samuel 13:23; 2 Samuel 14:28; Jeremiah 28:3,11; שְׁלשָׁה שָׁבֻעִים יָמִים Daniel 10:2,3three weeks (of) time.

c. plural in specific sense, apparently = year, literal יָמִים 1 Samuel 27:7; Leviticus 25:29 (H); לַיָּמִים Judges 17:10; זֶבַךְהַיָּמִים 1 Samuel 1:21; 1 Samuel 2:19; 1 Samuel 20:6; יָמִים וארבעה חדשׁים 1 Samuel 27:7 = a year and four months(compare Judges 19:2 above

b.); מִיָּמִים יָמִ֫ימָה = from year to year, yearly Exodus 13:10(JE), Judges 11:40 (compare v^b), Judges 21:19; 1 Samuel 1:3; 1 Samuel 2:19; מִקֵּץ יָמִים לַיָּמִים 2 Samuel 14:26; יֹמַיִם אוֺ חֹדֶשׁ אוֺיָֿמִים Numbers 9:22 (P); distributive Numbers 14:34 (twice in verse) (P), Ezekiel 4:6 (twice in verse); וַיְהִי לְיָמִים מִיָּמִים וּכְעֵת צֵּאת הַקֵּץ לְיָמִים שְׁנַיִם2Chronicles 21:19 and it came to pass at days from days (=after some days) even about the time of the outgoing of the end of two(series of) days (i.e. probably years, see Be).

7 Phrases, without preposition and with, are:

a.-1הַיּוֺם = to-day Genesis 4:14; Genesis 31:43,48; b. וַיְהִי הַיּוֺם וַֹֿ and the day came, that (or when) 1 Samuel 1:4 (see Dr), 2 Kings 4:8,11,18; Job 1:6,13; Job 2:1.

c. הִנֵּה יָמִים בָּאִים lo! days are coming, when, etc.; especially in Amos, Jeremiah: 1 Samuel 2:31; Amos 4:2; Amos 8:11; Amos 9:13; Isaiah 39:6 = 2 Kings 20:17; Jeremiah 7:32 13t. Jeremiah

d. יוֺם in construct def. verbs, both literally, the day of, and (often) in General sense = the time of (forcible and pregnantly, representing the act vividly as that of a single day): (1) before infinitive, (α) singular without preposition אֶתיֿוֺם צֵאתְךָ Deuteronomy 16:3 and thou shalt remember the day of thy going out from the land Egypt, Isaiah 58:5; Ezekiel 39:13; Malachi 3:2 compare Ecclesiastes 7:1 (מִןcomparative); (β) עַדיֿוֺם Joshua 6:10; Judges 18:30 5t.; (γ) בְּיוֺם Genesis 2:4,17; Genesis 3:5 53t.; (δ) כְּיוֺם Hosea 2:5; Hosea 2:17; Zephaniah 3:8; Zechariah 14:3; (ε) מִיּוֺם 1 Samuel 7:2; 1 Samuel 8:8; 1 Samuel 29:6; 2 Samuel 13:32; 2 Kings 8:6; Deuteronomy 9:24; Leviticus 23:15; Ezekiel 28:15; (ζ) לְמִיּוֺם Judges 19:30; 2 Samuel 7:6; Isaiah 7:17; (2) plural construct before infinitive: (α) כָּליְֿמֵי Judges 18:31; 1 Samuel 22:4; 1 Samuel 25:7,16; Leviticus 26:34,35; Numbers 6:6; 2Chronicles 36:21; (β) בִּימֵי Ruth 1:1; 2Chronicles 26:5; (γ) כִּימֵי Micah 7:15; (3) singular construct with preposition before finite verb in perfect: (α) compare בְּ, ׳בְּיוֺם דִּבֶּר יExodus 6:28 in the day (when) ׳י spoke, so Numbers 3:1; Deuteronomy 4:15; also Leviticus 7:35; 2 Samuel 22:1 = Psalm 18:1; Psalm 138:3; Zechariah 8:9; (β) מִיּוֺם Jeremiah 36:2; (4) singular construct before imperfect: בְּיוֺם אֶקְרָאPsalm 56:10 in the day (when) I cry, Psalm 103:3; Lamentations 5:7; also without בְּ, יוֺם אִירָא Psalm 56:4 (at the) time (when) I am afraid; (5) plural construct before perfect: כָּליְֿמֵי הִתְהַלַּכְנוּ אִתָּם 1 Samuel 25:15, so Leviticus 14:46 (probably, see Di); כִּימוֺת Psalm 90:15; (6) plural construct before imperfect: כִּימֵי אֱלוֺתַּ יִשְׁמְרֵנִי Job 29:2; -7מִיּוֺם construct before rel. clause: מִיּוֺם אֲשֶׁר הָיִיתִי לְפָנֶיךָ 1 Samuel 29:8 since the day when (= as long as) I have been before thee, Nehemiah 5:14; (8) plural construct before rel. clause כָּליְֿמֵי אֲשֶׁר יִשְׁכֹּן Numbers 9:18 as long as the cloud remained, etc.

e.-1יוֺם יוֺם day by day Genesis 39:10 (J), 1i (b), p. 253 above and Dr^{Intr. 505}); בְּכָליֿוֺם וָיוֺם Esther 2:11; כְּיוֺם בְּיוֺם 1 Samuel 18:10 as daily = according to daily habit; (2) מִיּוֺם לְיוֺם Esther 3:7, is in phrase of casting lots for one day after another; (מִיָּמִים יָמִ֫ימָה see 6c); (3) of daily duties, observances, etc.: דְּבַר יוֺם בְּיוֺמוֺ each day's affair in its dayExodus 5:13,19; Exodus 16:4 (all J), Leviticus 23:37 (H), 1 Kings 8:59; 2 Kings 25:30 = Jeremiah 52:34; Ezra 3:4; Nehemiah 11:23; Nehemiah 12:47; Daniel 1:5; לִדְבַר יוֺם בְּיוֺמוֺ 1 Chronicles 16:37; 2Chronicles 8:14; 31:16. feminine כָּלהַֿיָּמִים = always, continually, Genesis 43:9; Genesis 44:32 (both J), Deuteronomy 4:40; Deuteronomy 5:26; Deuteronomy 6:24; Deuteronomy 11:1; Deuteronomy 14:23; Deuteronomy 18:5; Deuteronomy 19:9; Deuteronomy 28:29,33; Joshua 4:24 (D), Judges 16:16; 1 Samuel 2:32,35; 1 Samuel 18:29; 1 Samuel 23:14; 1 Samuel 28:2; 2 Samuel 13:37; 2 Samuel 19:14; Jeremiah 31:36; Jeremiah 32:39; Jeremiah 33:18; Jeremiah 35:19; 1 Kings 5:15; 1 Kings 9:3; 1 Kings 11:36,39; 1 Kings 12:7; 1 Kings 14:30; 2 Kings 8:19; 2 Kings 13:3; 2 Kings 17:37; 2Chronicles 7:16; 10:7; 12:15; 21:7; Job 1:5; also (only in prophetic writers and in poetry) כָּלהַֿיּוֺם Genesis 6:5 (J), Hosea 12:2; Deuteronomy 28:32; Deuteronomy 33:12; Jeremiah 20:7,8; Isaiah 28:24; Isaiah 51:13; Isaiah 52:5 (both תָּמִיד כלהֿיום), Isaiah 65:2,5; Lamentations 1:13; Lamentations 3:3,14,62; Psalm 25:5; Psalm 32:3; Psalm 35:28; Psalm 37:26; Psalm 38:7; Psalm 38:13; Psalm 42:4; Psalm 42:11; Psalm 44:9; Psalm 44:16; Psalm 44:23; Psalm 52:3; Psalm 56:2; Psalm 56:3; Psalm 56:6; Psalm 71:8; Psalm 71:15; Psalm 71:24; Psalm 72:15; Psalm 73:14; Psalm 74:22; Psalm 86:3; Psalm 88:18; Psalm 89:17; Psalm 102:9; Psalm 119:97; Proverbs 21:26; Proverbs 23:17.

g. additional phrase with בְּ = on a particular day: בַּיּוֺםהַחֲמִישִׁי Judges 19:18, so Genesis 2:2 (twice in verse) + often; בְּכָליֿוֺם every day Psalm 7:12; Psalm 88:10; Psalm 145:2; בַּיּוֺם הַהוּא of definite time in past Genesis 15:18; Genesis 33:16 + (see also

3 above); compare הַיּוֺם הַזֶּה (no preposition) Exodus 13:3(JE); בַּיּוֺם הַהוּא of time defined in subsequent context, 1 Samuel 3:2 at that time when Eli was laid down, i.e. at the particular time of the following incident (= at a certain time, on one particular day; compare Genesis 39:11 Sub

h; see Da^{Synt. § 21. e. R. 1, 2 and} especially Dr 1 Samuel 1:4; 1 Samuel 19:3); בַּיּוֺם הַזֶּה Genesis 7:11 +; בְּעֶצֶם הַיּוֺם הַזֶּהon this selfsame day Genesis 7:13 (see עֶצֶם); בַּיּוֺם הַהוּאalso of future 1 Samuel 3:12; Deuteronomy 31:17 (twice in verse); Deuteronomy 31:18; and very often in prophets, as formula in describing what is to come at time of future blessing, retribution, etc., Amos 8:3,9; Hosea 2:18; Hosea 2:20; Hosea 2:23 etc., especially Isaiah 2:11,17,20; Isaiah 3:7,18; Isaiah 4:1,2+ often; plural בַּיָּמִים הָהֵם of past Genesis 6:4 (J), Judges 18:1 (twice in verse); Judges 19:1; Judges 21:25; 1 Samuel 3:1 + often; of future Deuteronomy 17:9; Deuteronomy 19:17; Deuteronomy 26:3.

h. with כַּיּוֺם ׃כְּ as or like the day Psalm 139:12; כַּיּוֺם הַהוּאJoshua 10:14; כְּיוֺם Hosea 2:5 as at the day of; כְּיוֺם תָּמִיםJoshua 10:13 about a whole day; כַּיּוֺם literally at (about) to-day = now (see כְּ) 1 Samuel 9:27; 1 Kings 22:5 2Chronicles 18:4; Isaiah 58:4; so כְּהַיּוֺם 1 Samuel 9:13 + 1 Samuel 9:12We Dr (for ᵑ0 כי היום), Nehemiah 5:11; כַּיּוֺם = at once, first of all Genesis 25:31,33; 1 Samuel 2:16; 1 Kings 1:51; often with adjective pronoun to point out agreement of result with promise or prediction, כַּיּוֺם הַזֶּה as it is this day Genesis 50:20 (E), 1 Samuel 22:8,13, and especially Deuteronomy, Jeremiah and subsequent writing: Deuteronomy 2:30; Deuteronomy 4:20,38; Deuteronomy 8:18; Deuteronomy 10:15; Deuteronomy 29:27; Jeremiah 11:5; Jeremiah 25:18(gloss, omitted by ᵐ5, compare especially Kue^{Einl. § 56. 1}), Jeremiah 32:20; Jeremiah 44:6,23; 1 Kings 3:6; 1 Kings 8:24,61; 1 Chronicles 28:7; 2Chronicles 6:15; Daniel 9:7,15; so כְּהַיּוֺם הַזֶּה Deuteronomy 6:24; Jeremiah 44:22; Ezra 9:7,15; Nehemiah 9:10; in Genesis 39:11 (J) this phrase = on this particular day (when the incident to be narrated occurred; compare ביום ההוא

g above)

i. with לְיוֺם ׃לְ on, at (literally with reference to) Hosea 9:5(twice in verse) what will ye do on the day of assembly, etc., Isaiah 10:3; לְיוֺם אֶחָד 1 Kings 5:2 bread for one day; הַמְּלָאכָה לֹא לְיוֺם אֶחָד וְלֹא לִשְׁנַיִם Ezra 10:13; distributive phrase נָשִׂיא אֶחָד לַיּוֺם נָשִׂיא אֶחָד לַיּוֺם Numbers 7:11 (P), Job 21:30 (twice in verse); compare לַיּוֺם Malachi 1:17; לַיּוםagainst, i.e. in expectation of Exodus 19:11, so לְיוֺם קְרָבJob 38:23; Proverbs 21:31; לְיוֺם קוּמִי almost = untilZephaniah 3:8; לִפְנֵי יוֺם Isaiah 48:7 before to-day; late phrase are לְיָמִים מִיָּמִים2Chronicles 21:19 = in the course of time; לְיָמִים רַבִּים Daniel 8:26 at (the end of) many days; לַיּוֺם for every day, daily, Exodus 29:36,38; Numbers 7:11(twice in verse); Numbers 28:3; Numbers 28:34; 1 Chronicles 26:17; Jeremiah 37:21; Ezekiel 4:10; Ezekiel 43:25; Ezekiel 45:23 (twice in verse); Ezekiel 46:13; לַיּוֺם in exclamation ׳הָהּ לַיּ Ezekiel 20:2 alas for the day! ׳אֲהָהּ לַיּ Joel 1:15.

j. with מִיּוֺם ׃מִן since the day (time) of (or when), Exodus 10:6; Leviticus 23:15; Deuteronomy 9:24; 1 Samuel 7:2 etc.; מִיּוֺם הראשׁן Exodus 12:15 from the first day (on omission of article see Dr^{§ 209} (1)); מִימֵי השׁפטים 2 Kings 23:22, etc.; מִיּוֺם = from to-day, from this day forth Isaiah 43:13; Ezekiel 48:35; מֵהַיּוֺם הַהוּא וָמָ֑עְלָה 1 Samuel 16:13; 1 Samuel 30:25 from that day forward; so וָהָ֑לְאָה ׳הַה ׳מֵהַיּ 1 Samuel 18:9; מִןהַֿיּוֺם הַזֶּה וָמָ֑עְלָה Haggai 2:15,18 from this day onward (see Add. on p. 751:b); עַדהַֿיּוֺם הַזֶּה Genesis 47:26until now; מִיָּמִים רַבִּים after many days Joshua 23:1; Ezekiel 38:8; מִיָּמִים after a time Judges 11:4; Judges 14:8; Judges 15:1; but usually ׳מִקֵּץ י, see קֵץ; מִיֹּמָ֑יִם Hosea 6:2after two days; — מִיָּמִים יָמִ֫ימָה see e (4) above

k. with לְמִן (see לְ near the end): לְמִן הַיּוֺם אֲשֶׁרDeuteronomy 4:32; Deuteronomy 9:7; 2 Samuel 7:11; Jeremiah 7:25; Jeremiah 32:31; Haggai 2:18; twice followed by infinitive in apposition Exodus 9:18; 2 Samuel 19:25(compare also 2 Chronicles 8:16; see Dr^{Sm. & § 190, Obs}.); קֶדֶם ׃לְמִימֵי ׳למ 2 Kings 19:25 since days of old = long ago, compare Malachi 3:7 since the days of your fathers.

1 ׃עַד (ה)יום ׳עַד יוֺם הָאֶחָד וגו Exodus 12:18 until the 21st day, Leviticus 19:6 +; עַדיֿוֺם מוֺתוֺ Judges 13:7; 1 Samuel 15:35; 2 Samuel 6:23 +, etc., see also (followed by infinitive)

c above; עַדהַֿיּוֺם until to-day, denoting especially permanence of a name or situation, or of result of an event, Genesis 19:37,38 (J), Genesis 35:20 (E), 2 Kings 10:27; Ezekiel 20:31 ; more often עַדהַֿיּוֺם הַזֶּה until this dayGenesis 26:33 (J), Genesis 32:33 (P or R), Genesis 47:26 (J), Genesis 48:15 (E), Exodus 10:6; Numbers 22:30 (both J), Deuteronomy 2:22; Deuteronomy 3:14; Deuteronomy 10:8; Deuteronomy 11:4; Deuteronomy 29:3; Deuteronomy 34:6; Joshua 4:9; Joshua 5:9; Joshua 6:25; Joshua 7:26 (twice in verse); Joshua 8:28,29; Joshua 9:27; Joshua 13:13; Joshua 14:14; Joshua 15:63; Joshua 16:10 (all J E), Joshua 22:3 (D), Joshua 22:17 (P), Joshua 23:8,9 (D), Judges 1:21,26; Judges 6:24; Judges 10:4; Judges 15:19; Judges 18:12; Judges 19:30; 1 Samuel 5:5; 1 Samuel 6:18; 1 Samuel 8:8; 1 Samuel 12:2; 1 Samuel 27:6; 1 Samuel 29:3,6,8; 1 Samuel 30:25; 2 Samuel 4:3; 2 Samuel 6:8 = 1 Chronicles 13:11; 2 Samuel 7:6= 1 Chronicles 17:5; 2 Samuel 18:18 + often; עַדעֶֿצֶם הַיּוֺםהַזֶּה Joshua 10:27 (JE), Ezekiel 2:3 (compare Leviticus 23:14H); עַדֿ הַיּוֺם הַהוּא Judges 18:1; Nehemiah 8:17. masculine once עַליֿוֺם טוֺב 1 Samuel 25:8 upon a good day, i.e. a day of social cheerfulness, feasting, rejoicing (with rare עַל temporal compare Dr; יוֺם טוֺב also Esther 8:17; Esther 9:19,22, see טוֺב adjective )

Ironically, NONE of the above usages of yowm are as you are suggesting! None of them mean a long period of time, except phrases like "all the days of one's life." If you could read Hebrew, you'd understand that many times when the word refers to a length of time greater than a single 24-hour period it is in one of the plural forms! As a masculine word, "yowm" is made plural by adding a yod-mem ending (and dropping the vav) and altering the vowel sounds to "yaamiym." This is a COLLECTION of at least two days and possibly MANY days!

Second, in the noun construct state, a special case of Hebrew grammar, the plural changes to "ymeey." Micah 5:2 (not 5:1) has the phrase "ymeey `owlam," meaning "days of-[the]-vanishing-point" or "days of-time-out-of-mind." Think about looking down a set of railroad tracks and how they seem to merge at the horizon. However, the word "ymeey" is also the PLURAL of "yowm!" It's a collection of MANY days!

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So God SPEAKS CREATION, and the Heaven and Earth thus come into being BUT the earth was WITHOUT FORM {was not there yet} and VOID {was not there yet}.

Okay, now you've proved that you don't know what you're talking about. The words here for "without form and void" are "tohuw vaaVohuw." "Tohuw" does NOT mean "was not there yet." It means it was without oganization! "Bohuw" (at the beginning of a word, it's a bet; in the middle of the word without a dot, it's a vet) also does NOT mean "was not there yet." It means it was EMPTY of life!

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All planets are formed around a ball of gases or a nebula that creates a star; our planet is no different, and God said let there be light in vs. 3.

Again, you don't know what you're talking about. FIRST, know this: Science is "OBSERVATION and EXPERIMENTATION!" You can't do that with Evolution or with Creation. These are PHILOSOPHIES, not "science!" Evolution is, strictly speaking, a HUMANISTIC PHILOSOPHY. No human being was present to see any of the supposed evolving! These are ASSUMPTIONS that "planets are formed around a ball of gases" and that "stars are created by nebulae!" They can't say (or WON'T say), "God did it"; so, they make guesses that they THINK are "plausible." To the contrary, spinning gases do not have the gravitational force needed to "pull themselves together" and congeal into stars or planets. Their inertia pulls them apart more than the gravity pulls them together! It's like the atmosphere at the extremes of the sky. The molecules cannot cohere and fly apart in the rarified atmosphere, and their gravitational attraction to each other or even to the massive earth below is not enough to keep them together or bring them down to earth!

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NOTICE: God moved on the face of the WATERS and only THEN did God say let there be light. We have illuminated light on our planet, but why ? The Outer space just outside our atmosphere is much darker, why ? Because light is but a beam, it has to be REFLECTED in order to illuminate things.

Light is both a wave and a particle. Light consists of photons that are assumed to be packets of energy that consist of waves of fluctuating electric fields and magnetic fields. A dying electric field generates a magnetic field, and a dying magnetic field generates an electric field. They are particles because they can be blocked by matter and leave shadows, but they are waves of energy because they can interfere with other waves of energy making interference patterns that defy particle physics. Two peaks of a wave will combine to make a higher peak; two troughs of a wave will combine to make a deeper trough; a peak and a trough will cancel each other out and be a null spot in the wave combination.

Evolutionists feel that the source of light must be present before the photons can exist; many Creationists feel that God created light EN ROUTE to earth, creating the photons of the LIGHT before a source is detected! The Scriptures do NOT say that God created the "sun (Hebrew: shemesh) and the moon (Hebrew: yaareeach); it says that God created a "greater light" (Hebrew: hamaa'owr hagaadol) and a "lesser light" (Hebrew: hamaa'owr haqaaton)! God didn't create the sun and wait 8-1/3 minutes for the light to arrive, nor an additional 1.28 seconds for the light to arrive from the moon! Why would He wait 4.5 years for light to arrive from the closest star outside our solar system, and even farther for the light from other stars?

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Our Biosphere dome that holds in the Moisture allows out planet to be illuminated, likewise, even in the outer space, it would just be darkness without light being reflected in some manner. So God illuminated via water. Its a scientific fact, I just threw that in there to show God's word is so much more detailed than we ever really thought, if we look for those facts it science will prove God because God created all things and all Science is is a journey to the facts.

That's sort of true; however, your wording was a bit problematic: First, we don't have a "dome." We have an atmosphere that is thicker at the bottom and thins out at the top. We speak of a column of atmospheric pressure above a square unit of area, like "pounds per square inch" or "psi." Refraction of the light is caused by light being absorbed by molecules in the air and then re-emitted at a different frequency.

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Creation is a 6 YOWM PERIOD. I was asked this so I endeavored to study the facts to get the answers, mind you I started my journey knowing the universe is much older than 6000 years so that was never in question, I wanted to bridge the biblical account to the scientific facts.

Do you believe that the Earth is 4.5 billion years old according to science, or 6000 years old according to the Bible ?

There's no doubt that "Creation is a 6 yowm period." However, your definition of "yowm" leaves much to be desired. I believe that it may be slightly more than 6,000 years, but it's more between 6,000 years and 10,000 years than it is BILLIONS of years old!

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I as a 30 year Christian try to think outside the box of normality. Is the universe 6000 years old? Is the universe 13.7 billion years old? Do these two questions clash or is there a translation barrier !! This is how I think. I try to bring both poles of thought towards each other starting with the facts. We know the universe has to be over 6000 years old because we see light from stars that are millions of light years away, so we would have to be naive to think the universe is 6000 years old.

I am a 56-year Christian trying to wrap my head around the sheer magnitude of the Creative Ability of God Almighty! What God tells us in His Word trumps any theory by mankind. And, man-made "science" (falsely so-called) is in error if it disagrees with God's Word. One does NOT KNOW that "the universe has to be over 6000 years old!"

We see light because God created LIGHT! Evolutionists ASSUME that the light comes from sources like stars so many "millions of light years away" because of red and blue shifts to the light spectrum, assuming that the shifts come from the Doplar Effect on the light waves! We DON'T really "know this to be true"; scientists just IMAGINE it to be true. While it is true for sound waves, we don't have definitive proof that it is also true for light waves.

If we take measurements of relatively closer objects using parallax, THAT can be discovered true because it follows mathematical calculations from observable facts, using geometry and trigonometry.

For instance, we can measure the distance to certain stars or phenomena by viewing them against the relatively static background stars at one time of the year and then again six months later. By taking the angle difference and the fact that the earth is approximately 93,000,000 miles (150,000,000 km) away from the sun on the ecliptic plane (for a diameter of approximately 186,000,000 miles or 300,000,000 km), we can calculate the distance from the earth to the relatively close star or phenomenon. Multiple viewings, each six months from the last, will tell us if the object is truly moving, relative to our position.

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Onward to what Genesis says about creation, does it really say the universe or earth is 6000 years old? I don’t think it does, I think its a mistranslation of a primitive language that had only around 4000 words at the time Genesis was written, whereas the English language has 500,000 words.

Hebrew is a "primitive language?!" Talk about being BIASED! While there may have been 4000 words to write Genesis (whether that's true or not, I don't know), the language had SIGNIFICANTLY more words! How quickly we forget the simple truths of God's Word:

Genesis 2:18-20 (KJV)

18 And the LORD God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet (suitable) for him." 19 And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. 20 And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.

How many names would that be? How did Adam RETAIN that information? Could it be he had an ability to WRITE IT DOWN? And, just how many creatures can YOU name? And, this doesn't even count the fish and aquatic life!

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So many of the Hebrew words were used in multiple ways. For instance the original meaning of the Hebrew word YOWM (Day) means “to be hot” and there are at least 50 other meanings listed in strong’s concordance’s lexicon of Hebrew words. A year, a month, a period of time, chronicles, evening and morning (Beginning and end), age, perpetually, long, some time, whole, X required season, continually etc. etc., well you get the point.

(See Brown-Driver-Briggs above.)

Hebrew has FAMILIES of words where a particular verb may be the root of the family, like the root of a plant. With different inflections and vowel pointing, that one word can be MANY words, and each one of those words is an independent word! Every name in Hebrew meant something. They were ALL based upon a word or phrase that was important around the time of their birth. Furthermore, their names were often given to their land or their city or their mountain, and people who also lived in that land, city, or mountain were surnamed by that land, city, or mountain. Languages like English, French, and Spanish are living languages; that is, the develop along with the populations that speak that language. As new discoveries are made, new words are formed to fit those discoveries. Latin is considered a dead language because no people speak the language as a primary language. Its vocabulary and grammar are "locked in" to what we remember from their historical usage.

At one point in time, Hebrew was considered to be a dead language because only Judaism's liturgy still used the language. Today, however, that language has been revived and is now considered to be a living language, particularly among the Jews in Israel.

And, you are TOTALLY WRONG about the usage of the word "yowm." It does NOT mean "a year, a month, a period of time, chronicles, evening and morning (Beginning and end), age, perpetually, long, some time, whole, X required season, continually, etc." The word in a PHRASE or with other words may be translated as such.

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YOWM or “To be hot”, what would this mean and why was it used since God is supposed to have given Moses the first five books of the Torah.

It's really quite simple: When is the hottest part of a twenty-four-hour period? It's WHILE THE SUN IS VISIBLE IN THE SKY! Why complicate matters unnecessarily?

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Well when the universe was spoken into existence by God, it took 400 million years for the first stars to form.

Again, you're ASSUMING that the sources existed BEFORE the light! God said that He created the LIGHT FIRST! Then, almost as an after-thought, we read,

Genesis 1:16b (KJV)

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.

Timing IS everything!

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So the first Day (to be hot) was the Evening (Darkness, 400 million years of darkness) and the Morning ( The stars started forming) and the first day was a “period of time” and in my opinion it lasted from 13.7 Billion BC until 4.5 Billion BC (9.2 Billion years) when the Sun & Earth were formed. So lets take a second and look at the Bible and the WMAP research and see if this matches.

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

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.

3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

Genesis 1:1 is a SYNOPSIS of what is to follow:

Here's how we can know this:

The Hebrew of Genesis 1:1 is ...

B'reeshiyt 1:1

1 B'reeshiyt baaraa' Elohiym et hashaamayim v'et haa'aarets:

1 B'reeshiyt = 1 In-beginning
baaraa' = created
Elohiym = God
et = (the next word is a direct object)
hashaamayim = the-skies
v'et = and-(the next word is a direct object)
haa'aarets: = the-earth:

The "ha-" and "haa-" are the definite article in Hebrew.

Then, we read later in the chapter:

B'reeshiyt 1:6-13

6 Vayyo'mer Elohiym "Yhiy raaqiya` btowkh hamaayim viyhiy maVdiyl beeyn mayim laamaayim":
7 Vaya`as Elohiym et-haaraaqiya` vayaVdeel beeyn hamayim asher mittachat laaraaqiya` uwVeeyn hammayim asher mee`al laaraaqiya`; vayhiy-keen:
8 Variqraa' Elohiym laaraaqiya` "shaamaayim"; vayhiy-`ereV vayhiy-boqer yowm sheeniy: (F)
9 Vayyo'mer Elohiym "Yiqqaavuw hammayim mittachat hashaamayim el-maaqowm echaad vteeraa'eh hayyabaashaah"; vayhiy-keen:
10 Vayiqraa' Elohiym layabaashaah "erets"; uwlmiqveh hammayim qaaraa' "yammiym"; vayyar' Elohiym kiy-towV:
11 Vayyo'mer Elohiym "Tadshee' haa'aarets deshe' `eeseV mazriya` zera` eets priy `oseh priy lmiynow asher zar`ow-bow `al-haa'aarets"; vayhiy-keen:
12 Vattowtsee' haa'aarets deshe' `eeseV mazriya` zera` lmiyneehuw v`eets `oseh-priy asher zar`ow bow lmiyneehuw; vayyar' Elohiym kiy-towV:
13 Vayhiy-`ereV vayhiy-boqer yowm shliyshiy: (F)

6 Vayyo'mer = 6 And-said
Elohiym = God
"Yhiy = Let-there-be
raaqiya` = an-expanse
btowkh = in-[the]-middle
hamaayim = of-the-waters
viyhiy = and-let-it
maVdiyl = divide
beeyn = between
mayim = waters
laamaayim": = to/from-the-waters":
7 Vaya`as = 7 And-made
Elohiym = God
et-haaraaqiya` (direct-object-follows)-the-expanse
vayaVdeel = dividing
beeyn = between
hamayim = the-waters
asher = that-were
mittachat = under
laaraaqiya` = to/from-the-expanse
uwVeeyn = and-between
hammayim = the-waters
asher = that-were
mee`al = above
laaraaqiya`; = to/from-the-waters;
vayhiy- = and-it-was
keen: = so:
8 Variqraa' = 8 And-called/gave-the-name
Elohiym = God
laaraaqiya` = to-the-expanse
"shaamaayim"; = "skies";
vayhiy- = and-there-was
`ereV = evening
vayhiy- = and-there-was
boqer = morning
yowm = a-day
sheeniy: = second:
(F) = (punctuation at end of thought)
9 Vayyo'mer = 9 And-said
Elohiym = God
"Yiqqaavuw = "Let-be-gathered-together
hammayim = the-waters
mittachat = under
hashaamayim = the-skies
el- = into
maaqowm = a-place
echaad = one
vteeraa'eh = and-let-appear
hayyabaashaah"; = the-dry-ground";
vayhiy-= and-it-was
keen: = so:
10 Vayiqraa' = 10 And-called/gave-the-name
Elohiym = God
layabaashaah = to-the-dry-ground
"erets"; = "earth";
uwlmiqveh = and-to-[the]-collection
hammayim = of-the-waters
qaaraa' = He-called/gave-the-name
"yammiym"; = "waters"
vayyar' = and-saw
Elohiym = God
kiy- = that-it-was
towV: = good:
11 Vayyo'mer = 11 And-said
Elohiym = God
"Tadshee' = "Let-bring-forth
haa'aarets = of-the-earth
deshe' = grass
`eeseV = herb
mazriya` = bearing
zera` = seed
eets = tree
priy = of-fruit
`oseh = that-bears
priy = fruit
lmiynow =to/for-its-kind
asher = that-has
zar`ow- = seed
bow = in-itself
`al- = upon
haa'aarets"; = the-earth";
vayhiy-= and-it-was
keen: = so:
12 Vattowtsee' = 12 And-brought-forth
haa'aarets = the-earth
deshe' = grass
`eeseV = herb
mazriya` = bearing
zera` = seed
lmiyneehuw = to/for-its-kind
v`eets = and-[the]-tree
`oseh- = that-bears
priy = fruit
asher = that-has
zar`ow = seed
bow = in-itself
lmiyneehuw; = to/for-its-kind;
vayyar' = and-saw
Elohiym = God
kiy- = that-it-was
towV: = good:
13 Vayhiy- = 13 And-there-was
`ereV = evening
vayhiy- = and-there-was
boqer = morning
yowm = a-day
shliyshiy: = third:
(F) = (punctuation at end of thought)

Thus, the same words that are used in verse 1 for "skies" ("heavens") and "earth" He doesn't form and name until days 2 and 3!

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Now look below at the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) which launched in 2001 and won many awards, they mapped the whole universe out. Below as we see, you had Quantum Fluctuations which I contend is God, then you had Inflation, followed by Afterglow, followed by 400 MILLION YEARS of Darkness !! Just like the bible says in verse 2, and there was Darkness on the Face of the Deep !! Gods word is perfect, it is us who are confused. DARK AGES Mapped out by the WMAP, followed by what? The first stars forming at the 400 million year mark. Verse three says what? and God said “Let there be light” God is right again. We are looking at Creation from Gods POV, no man was there of course and with God he is not subject to time, he created time for us via this universe, but He is eternal and thus was never created. Remember the verse, a thousand years is like a day and a day like unto a thousand years unto God. In other words God lives in the past, present and future all at the same time.

Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP)

Despite the pretty graphics, microwaves are just another form of light energy. Microwaves are light waves with a shorter wave length than radio waves and longer than infrared waves.

They are still "guesstimating" what they WANT to see based upon their cosmological model!

This is still part of the LIGHT that He created on the first 24-hour yowm, Day 1!

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So we had the Big Bang, followed by Inflation, followed by Cosmic Microwave background where after 375,000 years loose electrons cool enough to combine with protons. The Universe becomes Transparent to Light. The Microwave background begins to shine. Then the dark ages/clouds of dark hydrogen gas cool and coalesce.

The first stars appear….Gas Clouds collapse, the fusion of Stars begin, the first of which appears at about 400 million years after the big bang. So, when the bible says Darkness was on the face of the deep, God knew exactly what was happening in the very beginning !! The more we look for the answers, the more that science and the bible will converge, if both sides with differing viewpoints would only take their blinders off.

All you're doing is spouting off the rhetoric of Evolutionistic Cosmology! AND, you are STRETCHING to find it in the Bible, too! It's not there because it's not REAL! It's not TRUE! The Humanistic philosophy of Evolution is FUNDAMENTALLY INCOMPATIBLE with the Truth of God's Word.

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The second day (period of time) of course would be from the Earth & the Suns formation until the grasses and trees came forth on the Third day (period of time) then on the Fourth day it seems God Set the Seasons or placed the Moon in its perfect orbit where our seasons are not strange, but orderly, I know the moon and earth is supposed to have collided. Anyway, that set the seasons, times, years etc. etc. Mind you, all of these ideas are rudimentary observations. A theory of how the things God says in His Holy Word and Science can both be factual. They are not meant to imply everything went down just so and in like manner, the dates of course are guesstimates, I wasn’t there.

Seasons are NOT created by the moon. Seasons are due to the earth's 22.5-degree tilt of its axis to the light of the sun! That's why the seasons are reversed in the Southern Hemisphere!

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On the Fifth day God created the Sea animals/birds and what not, were the Dinos created here or with the land animals?

Most dinosaurs were created with the land animals. They are numbered with the "beasts of the earth." Dinosaurs are large reptiles, and reptiles never cease growing as long as they live. If a five-year-old Jackson's Chameleon can grow up to 2 feet, then if it continues to grow, it will get even larger. When men were on the earth before the Flood of Noach's day, they lived, according to the records of the Bible, to be 910 years old on average. Today, we're lucky to live 100 years old. The average age of human beings at death is more in the 70 to 80 years old range, even longer due to advances in medical technology. If a Jackson's Chameleon were allowed to live proportionately longer, they would grow proportionately larger! At 910/70 x 5 years, we would get a Jackson's Chameleon living for 65 years and growing 26 feet in length!

A Jackson's Chameleon (and a Johnston's Chameleon) have three horns on their face, two above their eye ridges and one upon its snout. It has the start of a cartilage neck frill, and the beginning of a "beak." If it were to continue to grow, it would look amazingly close to the Triceratops, as cartilage turns to bone!

The aquatic forms of dinosaurs were created with the other sea-going "air-breathers."

Many of the legends of dragons and other creatures living in the remote areas of the jungles could very well be based upon such creatures still surviving or recently extinct! Many believe they have spotted the Loch Ness monster and believe it to be a surviving plesiosaur! Such "monsters" have also been caught off the coast of Japan by fishing boats!

Don't be too quick to relegate them to 83.5 million years ago! Remember: They USED to think the Coelacanth was an extinct lobed fish that was a "missing link" between fish and amphibians, how many millions of years old? Finding them ALIVE off the coast of Madagascar FORCED them to alter their theory!

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The fifth day lasted 300 million to 400 million years or so. On the Sixth Day around 300–350 Million BC God created the Land Animals. During this period of time the Dinosaurs became extinct about 70 Million years ago. Then during this “TIME PERIOD” (6TH DAY) God decided to create man 6000 or so years ago. Some might protest that men have been around much longer, but I offer this up, where is the data? Men are record keepers and we don’t have proof of men going back further. Now as per “MEN” being observed by scientists to have been around X Number of years, I never said Animal like men weren’t around, I stated Human Beings were created 6000 years ago, when God placed His spirit in us and thus we are immortal in that our souls can not die. We were at that point in time “Created in Gods Image”. The other fossils and bones mean nothing, because Scientists have no way of testing for God imparting His spirit into mankind and creating “Human Beings” with powerful intellects.

Here, you have death before you have Adam sinning. How is that possible if death is the RESULT of Adam's sin through which the ground is cursed along with the Man?!

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On the Seventh Day God rested, which only means He ceased Creating the Heavens/Earth/Mankind/Animals. So when we see stars and galaxies created today, it was ordered forth 13.7 Billion years ago. So its not necessarily either or. We need to start looking at things with an open mind, be we an atheist or a Christian.

P.S. Just something to think about. Einstein’s theory of relativity is in the very first verse of the bible, relatively speaking…LOL.

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning (TIME) God created the heaven (SPACE) and the earth (MATTER).

Remember that there are TWO "theories of relativity," the "general" and the "specific." The specific theory of relativity is boiled down to the formula: E = mc^2 or E = m x c x c. This formula gave us the idea that mass and energy are interchangeable, allowing for nuclear fission and fusion to convert small amounts of mass to enormous amounts of energy! However, we've NEVER been able to convert energy back to mass. That is God's department alone.

What you are talking about is the space-mass-time continuum, such that the movement of a mass, as matter, through space gives us the means by which to measure time. The letter "c" in the formula above, representing the speed or velocity of light, is an example: The velocity (m/s) is a measurement of the distance a mass has traveled through space (in meters) in the time it took to travel (in seconds).

The general theory of relativity I don't believe in at all. I much rather prefer the four-field-effect theory of gravitation that scientists of the Institute of Creation Research have discovered. They also give the formula for the specific theory of relativity but without all the nonsense of shrinking distances and expanding mass that Einstein proposed!

Revelation Man · February 16, 2020

39 minutes ago, Retrobyter said:

Shalom, Revelation Man.

To my statement, "You need to become a "Genesis Man!" A yowm is "an evening and a morning!" The spin of the earth to the light God created!" you said,

An Evening and a Morning can be a beginning and an Ending, instead of me trying to explain this I will use a piece already written that can't be beast.

40 minutes ago, Retrobyter said:

Ironically, NONE of the above usages of yowm are as you are suggesting! None of them mean a long period of time, except phrases like "all the days of one's life." If you could read Hebrew, you'd understand that many times when the word refers to a length of time greater than a single 24-hour period it is in one of the plural forms! As a masculine word, "yowm" is made plural by adding a yod-mem ending (and dropping the vav) and altering the vowel sounds to "yaamiym." This is a COLLECTION of at least two days and possibly MANY days!

Second, in the noun construct state, a special case of Hebrew grammar, the plural changes to "ymeey." Micah 5:2 (not 5:1) has the phrase "ymeey `owlam," meaning "days of-[the]-vanishing-point" or "days of-time-out-of-mind." Think about looking down a set of railroad tracks and how they seem to merge at the horizon. However, the word "ymeey" is also the PLURAL of "yowm!" It's a collection of MANY days!

A Biblical Case for Old-Earth Creationism
by Jon W. Greene

Introduction:

One of the most fundamental doctrines held dear by Christians is God’s creation of the world and all living creatures. Yet among evangelicals, an ongoing controversy exists regarding the age of the earth and when God created the universe and life. Indeed, the “young-earth” vs. “old-earth” debate is one of the most polarizing and divisive issues within the Christian community.

This paper presents the biblical case for “old-earth creationism” (OEC) and endeavors to clear up theological misconceptions regarding OEC held by many well-intentioned “young-earth creationist” (YEC) believers. The purpose is not to dissuade young-earth believers from their position, but rather to propose OEC as a well-reasoned, Bible-honoring view that has been embraced by scholars such as Francis Schaeffer, James Boice, and Norman Geisler.

Old earth beliefs

Before presenting a more detailed explanation of OEC, here is a brief summary of core beliefs. Old earth creationists contend:

God miraculously created the universe from nothing (ex nihilo), created life from non-life, and progressively intervened in history to supernaturally create new species of life.

The age of the earth has no bearing on the creation of life. An ancient earth does not equate with Darwinian evolution.

Darwinian evolution (change through unguided naturalistic processes) is unbiblical, biologically untenable, and not supported by the fossil record. Old-earth creationists adamantly reject the Darwinian concept of common descent—the hypothesis that all plant, animal, and human life ultimately evolved from primitive single-celled organisms through unguided mutations and naturalistic processes.

God miraculously created Adam and Eve, humanity’s historical parents, who were new distinct creatures from whom humanity’s sin originated.

Earth’s geologic features formed over long ages through both gradual and catastrophic processes.

Genesis 1 is a literal account of God’s creation. After God created the heavens and the earth, He then created life over six successive “days,” which in the original Hebrew may be literally interpreted as long epochs of time.

Old Earth Believers:

Old-Earth Creationism (AKA “day-age” or “progressive” creationism) is distinct from other types of creationism, namely Gap theory, Framework Hypothesis, and Theistic Evolution. The most prominent 21st century proponent of OEC (progressive creationism) is Reasons to Believe, an international, non-denominational ministry founded by astronomer Hugh Ross, Ph.D. While young-earth believers may regard the OEC view as lacking Biblical authority, many conservative theologians and well-respected Christian apologists embrace the old-earth hermeneutic and vigorously defend Biblical inerrancy, including the following:

19th century Theologians: Charles Hodge (A.D.1797-1878), A.A. Hodge (A.D.1823-1886), John Gresham Machen (A.D.1881-1937), William G.T. Shedd (A.D. 1820-1894), Benjamin B. Warfield (A.D. 1851-1921).1

20th century Theologians: Gleason Archer and R. Laird Harris (co-authors, Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament), James Montgomery Boice (Chairman of the International Council on Biblical Inerrancy), Francis Schaeffer (founder of L’Abri Fellowship), R.A. Torrey (Editor, The Fundamentals (A.D.1907-1917), Edward J. Young (whose work was regarded as “the epitome of conservative exegetical orthodoxy”).

Contemporary Theologians and Apologists: John Ankerberg, Bill Bright (Founder, Campus Crusade for Christ), C. John Collins (Chairman, Old Testament Committee, The ESV Bible; Ph.D., Hebrew linguistics), Chuck Colson, Paul Copan, William Lane Craig, Norman Geisler (author of numerous books, including Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics), Wayne Grudem (General editor, The ESV Study Bible; author, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine), Hank Hannegraff (Bible Answer Man), Jack Hayford, Walter Kaiser (President Emeritus, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary), Phillip E. Johnson (founder of Intelligent Design movement), Greg Koukl (Stand to Reason ministry), J.P. Moreland, J.I. Packer, Nancy Pearcey, Vern Poythress, Earl Radmacher (President Emeritus, Western Seminary), Lee Strobel (author of The Case for Christ, The Case for a Creator), and Dallas Willard.

So what exactly do old-earth creationists believe? Below are the fundamental beliefs of old-earth (“day-age”) creationism.

The Bible: Proponents of OEC believe the Bible is the inspired, infallible, inerrant Word of God and believe the Genesis creation account to be historical narrative—not myth, allegory, legend or poetic expression. While YECs believe a “plain reading” of the English translation of Genesis 1 necessitates belief that God created the world in six 24-hour days some six to ten thousand years ago, OECs believe that textual and grammatical nuances of the original Hebrew suggest six long epochs of time. Indeed, OECs contend a literal reading of the Biblical creation accounts in Hebrew provides certain exegetical clues pointing to prolonged creation “days.”

CREATION DAYS:

Biblical Hebrew has a very limited vocabulary (approximately 3,100 words) compared to the English vocabulary (estimated to be 1,000,000 words). Hebrew words often have several literal meanings. Linguistic scholars acknowledge the Hebrew word yôm (translated “day” in English) has several literal meanings: a period of daylight, 12-hour day, 24-hour day, time, period of time with unspecified duration, and epoch of time. While modern English has numerous words to describe a long time-span, no word in biblical Hebrew adequately denotes a finite epoch of time other than yôm.

Young-earth creationists such as Kenneth Ham, founder of Answers in Genesis, claim “day” (yôm) attached to a number or “ordinal” (1st, 2nd, 3rd “day”)necessarily means 24-hour days. However, noted Bible scholars dispute that assertion.

Hebrew linguist Gleason Archer writes, “On the basis of internal evidence, it is this writer’s conviction that yôm in Genesis could not have been intended by the Hebrew author to mean a literal twenty-four hour day. Dr. Norman Geisler states, “Numbered days need not be solar. Neither is there a rule of Hebrew language demanding that all numbered days in a series refer to twenty-four hour days. Even if there were no exceptions in the Old Testament, it would not mean that ‘day’ in Genesis 1 could not refer to more than one twenty-four-hour period.”

Note, however, there are Old Testament verses where yôm attached to a number actually does refer to long time periods. Here are two examples:

Hosea 6:2, He will revive us after two days; He will raise us up on the third day. This refers to Israel’s ultimate restoration hundreds or thousands of years in the future.

Zechariah 14:7, describing the Day of the Lord, contains yôm echad (translated “unique day”), which is identical to yôm echad of Genesis 1:5 (translated “one day”). The context of Zechariah 14:7-8 suggests yôm echad will be a period of time spanning at least one summer and one winter, obviously longer than a 24-hour calendar day.

Archer and Geisler also point out that no definite article (“the”) appears with yôm on days one through five in Genesis one. Archer says the absence of “the” implies a more vague meaning than 24 hours—an indefinite but literal sense of time or age.

Similarly, YECs claim “day” (yôm) accompanied by the phrase “and there was evening and there was morning” necessitates a 24-hour day interpretation. Others dispute that assertion, suggesting the phrase was merely intended to communicate that each “day” or epoch had a definite beginning and ending. For instance, The Wycliffe Bible Commentary states, “These are not ordinary days bounded by minutes and hours, but days of God…The beginning of each act of creation is called morning, and the close of that specific divine act is called evening.” Noted Hebrew linguist Gleason Archer concurs: “Concerning the recurring [evening and morning] formula at the end of each creative day…there were definite and distinct stages in God’s creational procedure…it serves as no real evidence for a literal twenty-four-hour day concept on the part of the biblical author.” Other Hebrew language scholars (C. John Collins, Bruce Waltke, and Rodney Whitefield) agree the evening/morning phrase does not necessitate a 24-hour day interpretation. Collins comments that the order of evening and morning is a time-span that includes no daylight. While it is commonly thought that evening/morning represents a “day,” Collins says “Logically, this is nonsense [since] a day must describe 24 hours or at least a period of daylight.” He further states “and there was evening, and there was morning” brackets the night and marks the end points of each workday of God.

Furthermore, the seventh day lacks the concluding refrain, “and there was evening and there was morning,” suggesting a non-ending day. The ongoing nature of the seventh day is implied in Hebrews 4:1-11, which describes God’s Sabbath rest: “Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands…” (Hebrews 4:1). Verse 4 clearly ties God’s rest to the seventh day of creation, “And God rested on the seventh day,” while verse 6 states “Since therefore it remains for some to enter it.” If God’s seventh day were limited to 24 hours, it would be impossible for believers to enter it now. Though the work of creation has ceased, God’s ongoing work of bringing salvation to humanity continues: “Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said…Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience” (Hebrews 4:3,11).

Many in the young-earth community point to Exodus 20:9-11 as evidence for a creation week of 24-hour days: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Reference to the Sabbath in Exodus 20 illustrates God’s pattern of six days of work and one day of rest, not their duration: God’s six yôms (epochs) of creating and one of rest. Man’s six days of work and one day of rest. The land’s six years of cultivation and one year of rest (Leviticus 25:4). Gleason Archer notes, “By no means does this demonstrate that 24-hour intervals were involved in the first six ‘days,’ any more than the eight-day celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles proves that the wilderness wanderings under Moses occupied only eight days.”

Here are the views of several respected scholars on the meaning of the creation “day” (yôm):

R.A. Torrey (1856-1928), founder of Talbot Seminary and editor of The Fundamentals (12 volumes, published in 1910): “Anyone who is at all familiar with the Bible and the way the Bible uses words, knows that the use of the word ‘day’ is not limited to twenty-four hours. It is frequently used to denote a period of entirely undefined length…There is no necessity whatsoever for interpreting the days of Genesis 1 as solar days of twenty-four hours length.”

J. Gresham Machen (1881-1937), considered the last of the great orthodox Princeton theologians: “It is certainly not necessary to think that the six days spoken of in that first chapter of the Bible are intended to be six days of twenty four hours each. We may think of them rather as very long periods of time.”

Edward J. Young (1907-1968), regarded as the epitome of conservative exegetical orthodoxy: “But then there arises the question as the length of these days. That is a question which is difficult to answer. Indications are not lacking that they may have been longer than the days we now know, but the Scripture itself does not speak as clearly as one might like.”

James Montgomery Boice (1938-2000), chairman of the International Council on Biblical Inerrancy: “[Young-earth] creationists insist that the days cover a literal 24 hours, but this is not necessarily the case. Sometimes the word ‘day’ is used with a broader meaning…it can mean a period of indefinite duration.” “Any view that makes the earth 12 to 20 thousand years old flies in the face of too much varied and independent evidence to be tenable. In my judgment the earth and universe are indeed billions of years old.”

Both young-earth and old-earth creationists believe the Bible is inspired and defend their views as being literal. The issue is interpretation of the Genesis text. Bruce Waltke asserts young-earth exegesis is hindered by an adherence to a “woodenly literal” reading of Genesis. Gordon Wenham concurs: “Six days has been seized on and interpreted over-literally, with the result that science and Scripture have been pitted against each other instead of being seen as complementary.”

The when of creation

The Bible does not specify the age of creation. The YEC belief that God created the world 6,000 years ago originated from a mid-17th century examination of the Genesis genealogies by Archbishop James Ussher and theologian John Lightfoot. Based on the ages of patriarchs, Ussher and Lightfoot both calculated the universe, earth, and life were created in 4004 B.C. Over the next several centuries, this date became firmly entrenched in Christian belief. The cornerstone of belief in a 6,000-year-old earth rests solely on the genealogies providing a totally accurate and complete chronology. Is it?

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Professor William Henry Green and theologian Benjamin B. Warfield noted gaps and omissions in the Genesis genealogies. This suggested the creation was conceivably older than the 6,000-year timeframe proposed by Ussher and Lightfoot. Today many Bible scholars believe the Genesis genealogies were written primarily to provide only highlights and not necessarily a complete record of every actual generation. R.A. Torrey (1856-1928 A.D.), who was selected by D.L. Moody to become the first dean of the Moody Bible Institute, wrote the following of Bishop Ussher’s chronology: “Its accuracy is altogether doubtful. It is founded upon the supposition that the genealogies of Scripture are intended to be complete, but a careful study of these genealogies clearly shows they are not intended to be complete, that they oftentimes contain only some outstanding names.” There are gaps in the genealogies. Wayne Grudem writes, “…closer inspection of the parallel lists of names in Scripture will show that Scripture itself indicates the fact that the genealogies list only those names the biblical writers thought it important to record for their purposes. In fact, some genealogies include names that are left out by other genealogies in Scripture itself.”

As evidence the genealogies are telescoped (compressed or abbreviated), scholars point to examples such as the genealogy of Moses, which appears four separate times in Scripture (Exodus 6:16-20, Numbers 26:57-59, 1 Chronicles 6:1-3, 23:6-13). Moses’ genealogy is given as Levi to Kohath to Amran to Moses. As straightforward as this seems, related Bible passages suggest that several generations were likely skipped between Amram and Moses. 1 Chronicles 7:20-27 provides a parallel genealogy of Ephraim, son of Joseph (brother of Levi), from the same period of history as the Mosaic genealogies. While only 4 generations are listed from Levi to Moses, 12 generations listed from Joseph to Joshua during the same time period.

MOSES’ GENEALOGY	JOSHUA’S GENEALOGY
Levi	Joseph
Kohath	Ephraim
Amran	Beriah
	Raphah
	Resheph
	Telah
	Tahan
	Ladan
	Ammihud
	Elishama
	Nun
Moses	Joshua

It has been suggested that the Mosaic genealogies are perhaps only 20 to 40 percent complete. Those who hold that the genealogies are telescoped place the creation of Adam and Eve around 10 to 30 thousand years ago, but perhaps as late as 60,000 years ago.

Experts in Old Testament genealogy note there is wide-spread consensus regarding dates and chronology from the time of Abraham. However, prior to Abraham, there is little available Biblical or historical information on which to build a solid chronology. Grudem specifically mentions “prior to Abraham, the setting of dates is very uncertain.”

In addition to gaps and omissions, genealogical words such as “son” (Hebrew ben), “father” (ab), and “begat” or “fathered” (yalad) are central to this issue. “Son” (ben) has many literal meanings: son, grandson, great-grandson, great-great-grandson, or descendent. “Father” (ab) can literally mean father, grandfather, great-grandfather, great-great-grandfather and ancestor. “Begat” or “fathered” (yalad) is not limited to just the immediate generation, but can also apply to distant generations. R.A. Torrey noted, “The word translated ‘begat’ is sometimes used not of an immediate descendent, but of succeeding generations.” Further, “son” may be a literal son or a distant descendant many centuries removed. A good example can be found in Genesis 46:15, which enumerates the offspring of Jacob and Leah: “altogether his sons and his daughters numbered thirty-three.” A careful look at this genealogy reveals that the “sons” (ben) included multiple generations of sons, grandsons, and great-grandsons.

As a result, the early Hebrew convention of including just the most historically important individuals in the genealogical record, coupled with the broad meanings of ben, ab, and yalad, raise serious questions whether the Genesis genealogies may be regarded as an absolute chronology pointing back to a 6,000-year-old earth. The genealogies themselves provide a rationale for human origins dating earlier than six to ten thousand years ago.

Creation of the universe and heavenly bodies

When the universe was first proved to have a beginning, cosmologists were up-in-arms, since they had always believed in an eternally-existing universe with no First Cause. Astronomer Fred Hoyle coined the term “Big Bang” as a term of derision, while Sir Arthur Eddington, a British cosmologist, said, “Philosophically, the notion of a beginning to the present order of Nature is repugnant…I should like to find a genuine loophole.”

Atheists attribute the Big Bang origin of the universe 13.8 billion years ago to purely naturalistic mechanisms, theorizing the universe is “self-caused” or just “popped into existence.” However, OECs believe the Big Bang supports the creation account in Genesis 1:1 with God speaking the universe into existence, creating it from nothing (creatio ex nihilo).

Genesis 1:1 is an amazing statement of God’s miraculous creation of the universe: In the beginning (re’shît), God created (bara) the heavens and the earth (ha’shamayim we ha’erets).

Beginning (re’shît): Hebrew scholar John Sailhamer states, “Since the Hebrew word translated ‘beginning’ refers to an indefinite period of time, we cannot say for certain when God created the world or how long He took to create it. This period could have spanned as much as several billions years, or it could have been much less; the text simply does not tell us how long. It tells us only that God did it during the ‘beginning’ of our universe’s history.” Whitefield notes that re’shît does not allow an instantaneous creation. The word suggests a period of time of unstated length which precedes the conditions described by Genesis 1:2. “Genesis 1:1 places no limits on how old the universe may be.” C. John Collins suggests that the perfect verb form used in Genesis 1:1 distinguishes “the beginning” from the six-day creation narrative of Genesis 1:3-31, which is written with the wayyiqtol verb form. The time period between “the beginning” and the creation week is unstated in the text.

Created (bara): The Hebrew word for “created” (bara) means to create out of nothing. It is a completed verb form, meaning only that the creation was accomplished at some point in the past.

“The heavens and the earth” (ha’shamayim we ha’erets): This Hebrew phrase (known as a merism) means “all the raw materials needed to make sun, planets, stars, nebulae, galaxies, molecules, atoms”, “the entire universe”, or “the organized universe, the cosmos.” This matches perfectly with the view of the big bang beginning—a cosmological singularity from which all matter, energy, space and time originated, and clearly supports ex nihilo creation as described in Genesis 1:1 and Hebrews 11:3: By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.

Respected Christian philosopher William Lane Craig notes, “This cosmological singularity, from which the universe sprang, marked the beginning, not only of all matter and energy in the universe, but of physical space and time themselves. The Big Bang model thus dramatically and unexpectedly supported the biblical doctrine of creatio ex nihilo.”

One bone of contention is when the sun and moon were created. As noted above, “the heavens and the earth” (ha’shamayim we ha’erets) is inclusive of the sun and moon, suggesting they were created “in the beginning.” However, YECs point to the fourth creation day (Genesis 1:14-18) as evidence the sun and moon were created later. Let’s examine the passage.

Genesis 1:16 says, And God made (Hebrew asah) the two great lights. In contrast to the verb “create” (bara), the verb asah expresses making something from pre-existing material, not ex nihilo creation of Genesis 1:1. Further, it does not specify when God made the heavenly bodies, only that the task was completed. Several Bible scholars believe Genesis 1:16 is more accurately interpreted as meaning God had made the heavenly bodies prior to the fourth day. James Boice writes, “It is not said that these [sun and moon] were created on the fourth day; they were created in the initial creative work of God referred to in Genesis 1:1.” (For those wishing to delve further into the Biblical Hebrew grammar and verb forms, please see footnote below on Whitefield’s “The Fourth Creative ‘Day’ of Genesis: Answers to questions about the Sun, Moon, and Stars.”)

One additional detail of the original Hebrew merits consideration. Genesis 1:14-15 tells us, And God said, “Let there be [hāyāh] lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years”…And it was so. Verse 14 focuses on the function of the lights (“for seasons, and for days and years”) rather than their origin. The completed-action phrase, “And it was so,” confirms the sun and moon had completed the functions God commanded in Genesis 1:14-15 (providing signs, seasons, days and years) for at least one cycle. The completion of the cycle of seasons, days and years requires much longer than 24 hours, and therefore is an additional indication the creation yôm is a long time period.

Age of the earth

The Christian faith is based on truth. Scripture speaks of man knowing the Creator from His creation:

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. Their measuring line goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. (Psalm 19:1-4)

For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. (Romans 1:19-20)

Philosopher and theologian Augustine of Hippo believed that science could not contradict orthodox Christianity because the Creator God and the Redeemer God are one. Truth cannot contradict truth.

Old-earth creationists accept the geological and cosmological estimates of a 4.5 billion year old earth. Scripture speaks not of a young earth or an old earth, but an ancient earth: Hear O mountains…you everlasting foundations of the earth (Micah 6:2). The ancient mountains crumbled, and the age-old hills collapsed (Habakkuk 3:6).

Multiple independent evidences confirm an ancient earth, including 40 different methods of radiometric dating and numerous non-radiometric measurements: Ice core samples from Antarctica and Greenland provide an unbroken record of annual ice layers spanning the past 800,000 years. Annual tree ring records provide a continuous record of the past 15,000 years. Coral reefs record long ages of growth (Eniwetok Reef 140,000 years, and the Grand Bahama Reef 790,000 years). Ancient annual lake varve sediments provide evidence of earth’s history dating back 15 to 20 million years.

Augustine presciently wrote, “In matters that are obscure and far beyond our vision, even in such as we may find treated in Holy Scripture, different interpretations are sometimes possible without prejudice to the faith we have received. In such a case, we should not rush in headlong and so firmly take our stand on one side that, if further progress in the search of truth justly undermines this position, we too fall with it.” Copernicus and Galileo were castigated by the Church for advocating the cosmological theory of heliocentrism (earth revolving around the sun), which the Church deemed contrary to their geocentric understanding of Scripture (Psalm 93:1, Psalm 104:5, Ecclesiastes 1:5). Ultimately scientific discovery helped clarify Scripture and prompted correction of a faulty interpretation.

Young-earth believers attribute virtually all of earth’s geologic characteristics to catastrophic processes that occurred during the flood of Noah. OECs believe earth’s surface was formed through both rapid catastrophic processes (earthquakes, flash floods) and slow processes (plate tectonics; mountain building; formation of coal, oil, & diamonds; coral reef formation, etc.). OECs believe in the Noahic Flood and God’s judgment on sinful man, but reject YEC “flood geology.” (For those interested, the history of “flood geology” is a fascinating tale, which first originated in the mid-1800s through the “divine visions” of Ellen G. White, prophetess and founder of the Seventh Day Adventist movement. See references below.)

The truth is that many geological features of earth simply do not support the YEC flood-geology model. Christian geochemist W.U. Ault writes, “The serious Bible student will not seek to support the physical aspects of Bible history with pseudo-science.” Conservative theologian Wayne Grudem comments: “ am not persuaded that all of the earth’s geological formations were caused by Noah’s flood rather than by millions of years of sedimentation, volcanic eruptions, movement of glaciers, continental drift, and so forth…its advocates have persuaded almost no professional geologists, even those who are Bible-believing evangelical Christians.”

Young-earth believers posit the 6,000 to 10,000 year-old creation just appears to be much older. OECs reject the “appearance of age” concept. The “appearance of age” theory was first conceived by Philip H. Gosse in 1857. It was rejected in Gosse’s day, but was once again resurrected by John Whitcomb in 1961. Theologian Wayne Grudem asks, “Why would God create so many different indications of an earth that is 4.5 billion years old if this were not true?” Hebrews 6:18 states, It is impossible for God to lie. It is not in God’s nature to create something young and fallaciously give it the appearance of age. The concept runs contrary to Romans 1:19-20: For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

In the final analysis, it is antithetical to God’s nature to create a young earth and give it an artificial appearance of old age.

Creation of life and mankind

Both young-earth and old-earth creationists believe God created all life. OECs believe God created the earliest primitive micro-organisms on earth approximately 3.8 billion years ago and continued to create life through the “days” of creation (long epochs of time), including all plant life, sea and flying creatures, land animals including primitive bipedal primates, and finally humanity’s actual historical parents, Adam and Eve, God’s “crown-jewel” of creation, made in His image (Imago Dei).

Young-earth and old-earth views on God’s creation of plant-life reveal significantly different interpretations of Scripture. The young-earth view is well stated by John MacArthur: “He created them as fully mature, fully developed…He did not create just seeds and cells…He made trees with already-mature fruit…The garden itself was created mature, fully functional, and therefore with the appearance of age.” But what does Genesis say?

And God said, “Let the earth sprout [dasha] vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit after their kind, with seeds in them, on the earth,” and it was so. The earth brought forth [yatsa’] vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is there seed, each according to its kind.

The old-earth interpretation differs in several important ways. First, the old-earth view posits the sun is already present, having been created “in the beginning,” as part of “the heavens and the earth” (ha’shamayim we ha’erets), as opposed to the young-earth view in which the sun is not created until the fourth day of creation (the day following the creation of plant life). Second, Genesis 1:11 does not literally state that God created vegetation and trees fully formed. Rather, it says that God commanded the earth to sprout vegetation and trees. The Hebrew word translated “sprout” (dasha) means “to cause to sprout or shoot forth,” and “brought forth” (yatsa’) means to “come out or go forth.” There is no mandate that God created fully-formed plants and fruit trees. Third, the Hebrew phrase translated “and it was so” in Genesis 1:3-31 merely indicates the completion of God’s commands. (It is the waw-consecutive form of the imperfect verb “to be” and has the completed action meaning.) This phrase does not mean that the command was achieved immediately. It only indicates completed action (see footnote 34), but not when the action was completed. “And it was so” means God’s command, “the sprouting of vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit,” was fully completed. These completed processes (“plants yielding seed and trees bearing fruit”) require seasons and years, not just 24-hours. Textual evidence, therefore, seems to favor a view much longer than 24 hours.

OECs believe God created all life, from the simplest one-celled organism to the most complex creature. Origin-of-life researchers are stumped in their quest to find unguided naturalistic processes necessary for bringing life from non-life, since even the simplest primitive organism is unimaginably complex. Francis Crick, co-discoverer of DNA, comments, “An honest man, armed with all the knowledge available to us now, could only state that in some sense, the origin of life appears at the moment to almost be a miracle, so many are the conditions which would have had to have been satisfied to get it going.”

Regarding mankind, as noted earlier, the Genesis genealogies do not define the exact date of the creation of Adam and Eve. Whether humanity’s parents were created less than 10,000 years ago (YEC view) or more than 10,000 years ago (OEC view), both OEC and YEC believe in the historical creation of Adam and Eve and the historical Fall. They were at the headwaters of the human race and the result of special creation. In contrast, “Theistic Evolution” denies the historicity of Adam and Eve and the Fall. This has profound theological implications, because the Fall of our historical parents is inseparable from the origin of sin and the doctrine of redemption. If mankind did not fall in Adam, we cannot be redeemed in Christ.

A quick note from science: Recent mitochondrial DNA studies in human females and recent Y-chromosomal studies in males trace all human origins back to one woman and one man, who geneticists refer to as “Mitochondrial Eve” and “Y-chromosome Adam.”

Darwinian evolution

Many in today’s secular society believe that Darwinism has reduced the Bible to a foolish fairy tale. The “New Atheists” (Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris, and Daniel Dennett) routinely denigrate Christians as being “flat-earthers who reject real science and believe in a 6,000 year old earth.” Evolutionists incorrectly assume that an ancient universe makes Darwinism true, and YECs mistakenly assume that since OECs believe in an old earth, they also believe in evolution. Both assumptions are false.

Like young-earth advocates, old-earth creationists accept “micro-evolution” (i.e., variation in bird beak size, development of bacterial resistance to antibiotics, minor changes within species, etc.), but adamantly reject Darwinian “macro-evolution,” which posits that all life originated from primitive one-celled organisms that ultimately evolved by unguided naturalistic processes into the broad diversity of plants and animals that have populated planet earth.

Old-earth creationists believe God supernaturally created all life over long ages of time, allowing early species to die out and then create new species, “renewing the face of the ground” (Psalm 104:29-30). OECs accept the geologic record as an indication of the age of the earth, but contrary to evolutionists, believe the fossil record more correctly reflects God’s creation of life rather than evolution. For example, during earth’s geologic Cambrian Period (circa 530 million years ago), numerous complex life forms appeared abruptly in the fossil record with no prior historical traces. The sudden and simultaneous appearance of more than 70 complex animal phyla defies a naturalistic explanation. Complex Cambrian life-forms just suddenly appeared, in agreement with Genesis 1:20-23. Paleontologists refer to this as the Cambrian Explosion. Harvard evolutionary paleontologist George Gaylord Simpson writes, “It remains true, as every paleontologist knows, that most new species, genera, and families and nearly all new categories above the level of families appear in the [fossil] record suddenly and are not led up to by known, gradual, completely continuous transitional sequences.” The fossil record actually comports better with special creation than Darwinian gradualism. Mathematician Granville Sewell writes, “[T]hose who claim that science has eliminated the supernatural from Nature have a view of science that has been out of date for 80 years.”

Further, OECs believe the irreducibly complex biomachinery found in cells and the complex specified information present within protein molecules and DNA code clearly and unequivocally point to an Intelligent Designer—God. Renowned British Philosopher Antony Flew, a former atheist, writes, “It is impossible for evolution to account for the fact that one single cell can carry more data than all the volumes of the Encyclopedia Britannica.” Herbert Yockey, physicist and information theorist, states the universe is at least 1010,000,000,000 times too small or too young to permit life to be assembled by natural processes. So whether planet Earth is 6,000 years old or 4.5 billion years old, it is still too young to generate life through naturalistic processes.

Death before the fall

Though animal death before the Fall is not found in orthodox creedal statements, today’s young-earth leaders treat it as a defining issue of Christian orthodoxy. John Morris, president of the Institute for Creation Research, states, “If death and fossils predate man’s sin, then the death of Jesus Christ did not pay (sin’s) penalty, nor did His resurrection from the dead provide eternal life.” While YECs reject all death before the Fall, OECs believe animal death was part of God’s creation long before Adam was even created. The OEC view is that Adam’s sin caused his spiritual death, eventually followed by physical death, and pre-Adamic animal death is not related to man’s salvation or Christ’s atoning work on the cross. Here is the Scriptural support for the old-earth position:

In Genesis 2:17, God warned Adam in the garden, “For in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die.” There was no mention of animal death, just Adam’s death. Both John MacArthur (YEC) and Gleason Archer (OEC) agree this was spiritual death for Adam, followed hundreds of years later by Adam’s physical death. Neither Adam nor Eve suffered physical death the day of the Fall. Following God’s warning, Adam fathered Seth after 130 years followed by other sons and daughters, and then physically died having lived 930 years (Genesis 5:3-5).

Romans 5:12 states that “sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin.” The Greek word used for “world,” kosmos, is the same word used in John 3:16, “for God so loved the world…” Though kosmos may mean “universe” or “earth,” the most appropriate contextual meaning is “the inhabitants of earth, men, the human family” or “the ungodly multitude of men alienated from God.” The verse continues, “death came to all men [anthropos], because all sinned.” This makes it clear that death came to men (Greek anthropos). Anthropos specifically refers to human beings, not animals. Only man sins, not animals. Animal death is neither mentioned nor inferred in Romans 5:12 and is excluded by Paul’s use of the word anthropos. Writing of death before the Fall, theologian Louis Berkof (YEC) writes, “All of this does not mean, however, that there may not have been death in some sense of the word in the lower creation apart from sin…” James Montgomery Boice (OEC) echoes Berkof: “But this does not really pertain to the animal realm, in that animals do not have God-consciousness…[It] is conceivable that animals could be created to enjoy a normal lifespan and then to die without having any of the judgmental qualities death has for man.”

1 Corinthians 15:21-22 is similarly used by YECs to suggest Adam’s sin brought about all death, including animal death. “For since by a man came death, by a man also came resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive.” However, the context clearly pertains only to mankind, with humanity’s death being defeated through the resurrection of Christ. The passage states those who die are the same as those resurrected and made alive in Christ. If ‘all’ that die in Adam includes animals, then the ‘all’ made alive by Christ must also include the animals. Certainly this is not the intent of the text, since no mention is made in the Scriptures suggesting the spiritual nature of animals, the moral capacity of animals, the need for animal redemption, nor the physical or spiritual resurrection of animals.

Job 38:39-41, 39:27-30, penned prior to the Genesis creation account, describes animal predation and death as part of God’s creation: Can you hunt the prey for the lion, or satisfy the appetite of the young lions, when they crouch in their dens and lie in wait in their lair?…The eagle mounts up and makes a nest on high…Spies out food; His eyes see from afar. His young ones also suck up blood; And where the slain are, there is he.

Adam named the animals before the Fall. (Genesis 2:19-20). Though Adam obviously did not know Hebrew, the animal names chosen by the Divine Author suggest carnivorous activity. The Hebrew word for “lion” (Strong’s number H738) means “in the sense of violence.” “Cormorant” (H7994) means “bird of prey.” “Hawk” (H5322) means “unclean bird of prey.” “Eagle” (H5404) means “to lacerate.” “Owl” (H8464) means “do violence to.” The selected animal names suggest that Adam, in his pre-fallen state, may have understood animal death and had likely even witnessed it.

Psalm 104, a poetic parallel to Genesis 1, alludes to the creation and extinction of life over eons of time: When you hide your face, they are dismayed; When you take away their breath, they die and return to the dust. When you send forth your Spirit, they are created and you renew the face of the ground. (Psalm 104:29-30) Over time animals die, return to the dust, and are subsequently followed by new generations created by God.

The issue of animal death pre-Fall is summed up succinctly by Augustine, who did not consider animal death a direct result of the Fall. He wrote, “One might ask why brute beasts inflict injury on one another, for there is no sin in them for which this could be a punishment, and they cannot acquire any virtue by such a trial. The answer, of course, is that one animal is the nourishment of another. To wish that it were otherwise would not be reasonable.”

Conclusion

Reflecting on God’s days of creation, I conclude with the words of the late Gleason Archer, Hebrew linguist, Bible scholar, educator, author, and champion for biblical inerrancy. He wrote the following in Hermeneutics, Inerrancy, and the Bible:

“Moses never intended the creative days to be understood as a mere twenty-four hours in length, and the information he included in [Genesis] chapter 2 logically precludes us from doing so. It is only by a neglect of proper hermeneutical methods that this impression ever became prevalent among God’s people, during the post-biblical era. Entirely apart from any findings of modern science or challenges of contemporary scientism, the twenty-four hour theory was never correct and should never have been believed—except by those who are bent on proving the presence of genuine contradictions in Scripture…Who can calculate the large numbers of college students who have turned away from the Bible altogether by the false impression that it bounds the conscience of the believer to the 24-hour Day theory?”

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