Day in genesis 1?...was it 24hr?

[Andrew Withall]

Hi all,

In genesis 1 do you think it is 24hr day or a long period of time? I have my own views on this and have been reading Psalm 90; Exodus 20:11; and 2 peter 3:8

Now i know most of you will say who cares aslong as we all recognize that God created the heavens and the earth but I would really love any more information you could help me out with this one

I will list the verses that have been pointed out to me previously, you can skip through the longer ones.

Exodus 20:11

For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

2 Peter 3:8

But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.

Genesis 1

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

2 Now the earth was [a] formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

3 And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning

[Giaour]

3 And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning

[Guest Outlaw]

Hi Andrew Your the second person from downunder I have talked to within a week I was drawn to your post in a very direct manner.. Thats a mighty big order you placed there brother. If I may scripture especially foundational scripture like the creation is a multidimensional and thus multiinterpretational piece. You have knocked on the physical door of the Word. Physics is the art of Measurement .The bible is the ultimate measuring stick. We could do some math now but lets not. Lets start with some prophecy. This could take awhile if done right and could leave a thread that could be copied and shared. Are you game?I will begin with Revelations 3:18" I counsel you to buy from me gold having been purified by fire that you may be rich,and white garments that you may be clothed and not be manifested the shame of the nakedness of you and salve to rub the eyes of you that you may see I as many as am fond of I reprove and discipline be hot therefore and repent. " The reason I wanted to start with prophecy is that the creation is the vital part of prophecy's essence.Now what is this gold spoken of ? Well gold in Egyptian is (Neb) King Solomon didnt marry pharaoh's daughter for nothing. Neb also means lord .Egypian and hebrew are intermingled. All we have to do is take a hop over to hebrew and (nabi) is prophet.Lets step back for a minute and take a look at that in reference to Gold refined 7 times. Could it mean prophecy refined in the furnace 7 times? How is prophecy refined in a furnace 7 times? Perhaps it is fullfilled in a seven fold process. Perhaps it is fullfilled within the structure of the 7 day plan laid down In the Beginning. What do you think so far? You have asked a question that really requires alot of in depth analysis of the Word. I promise I will get to the 24 hour period of time.Shalom for now drop me an email if you wish.Blessings to all that read this in JHS Good night. Outlaw

[WayneB]

But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. [2 Peter 3:8]

[Guest Outlaw]

But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. [2 Peter 3:8]

Please check This Thread for discussions that have already taken place. This question gets asked in every message board, over and over.

Personally, the day/age theory and others which attempt to meld evo with the Bible don't stand up to scrutiny. Evolution is not scientifically proven or provable, so why try to read it into Genesis? There are no scientific proofs that the universe could not have been created in six 24-hour days.

Yes it does get asked alot.But Hello and Shalom! Iam pretty sure my response to it is a bit different from other you have read. I would like to take some time with it as the question put forth merits some real study.Peace Outlaw

[Openly Curious]

Hello All,

Thought I would put my two cents in here for what it may be worth. I have studied the creation alot over the years personally and always find it ever so fancinating each time I embark on a new study of it. I think it is the 6th day of creation that has been the most fascinating of all the days to me.

Before I go into it I would like to say that I believe the the days were not literal 24 hour days as some have suggested from the scriptures "and the evening and morning were the 1st, 2nd, 3rd" and so on day as God said it was good. I believe that time did not exist until after the "fall" in the garden took place hence time as mankind knows it to be started at that very moment. Mankind began to die physically and you can read where both Adam and Eve as well as all the people after them have died. I believe it was after the fall that the 24 hour scenario came into play. From the fall man has been on a clock and a calendar, weeks, months, years, minutes, seconds, etc., All of this was not the case before the fall of man.

It is important for us to realize that God Himself is not on a time table as the scripture in 2 Peter 3:8-9 has said,

"But beloved be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day" (you can read verse 9 on your own).

This verse does not imply that with the Lord a day is in fact a 1000 years. But if you look closer at the verse it uses the terms within the verse "As" A Thousand Years not a 1000 years. It is implying to us that God's time is not our time and He does things within His own time table and we can rest assurred that all of His promises will surely come to pass whenever He wants them to, not us. All we have to do is trust in those promises for they will surely come to pass and we must not get impatient while we await the glorious appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ. For in His Time He will come and we must not faint in the meantime as some have given up on His promises. So it is important to understand this about God for He is not limited to time as man has been since the fall in the garden.

Now as I said earlier the 6th day of creation is the most fascinating of the days to me when I study it. Also, it will show you why I believe some of the things I do in regards to the length of days being either 24 hour periods or not.

You can read in Genesis 1:26-31 where God gets an idea to create man vs 26 and he decided what he was going to do vs 26 and decided what he would look like vs 27. Now it is important to realize that Eve here is still within Adam even though she has not been formed yet from Adams rib she is still there with Adam.

Now let's look further in chapter 2 of Genesis which gives us much depth into the things that happened on this 6th day and why I do not believe it was 24 hour days.

First still on the 6th day here God took Adam and puts him in the garden of Eden to keep and dress it Gen. 2:15 and tell the man not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil or "he will surely die" but says he can eat of every other tree 2:16-17 in the garden.

Then in Gen. 2:18 God says that it was not good for man to be alone and that He was going to make him a helpmeet.

But before God does this in verses 19-20 God forms the beast of the field these were the ones mentioned in chapter 1:24-25 as we are still on the 6th day. Then after God forms the beast of the field and the fowls of the air in 2:19 He brings them all to Adam to see what Adam would call them.

Now if one will stop and reason for just a moment in the 24 hour day period idea. It would be virtually impossible for any one person to go through all of the different species of wild animals, cattle and all the birds of the air to give them all names with a 24 hour period of time so it is illogical for one to do so in that amount of time it's impossible.

Let's move on a little further, in Gen. 2:20 when Adam gets done with the big huge task of naming all of these creatures that God had made it is here that Adam realizes for the first time that he himself does not have a helpmeet for himself as all of the other creatures on the earth had a companion. I believe this is what God was trying to teach Adam all along so he would know the purpose of his helpmeet for Adam could not replenish the earth as he was told to do in Genesis 1:28. So God wanted him to realize this and when Adam does then it is at this time in Gen. 2:21-23 that God causes a sleep to come over him and he takes one of his ribs and forms woman and God takes this woman and gives her to Adam to be his wife.

Now what all of this shows us is that,

#1 - It would logically take more than 24 hours to name all of the creatures God had formed or made on this particular day.

#2 - That there was indeed a gap (who knows how long this gap was) between the time Adam was formed from the dust of

the ground Genesis 2:7 and the time in which Eve was taken out of Adam and she was formed from his rib 2:21-22.

As this shows us that "Adam was First Formed"

The gap between Adam being formed from the dust of the ground and the time Eve was formed from his rib who knows how long Adam was on this earth prior to God giving him and helpmeet it could have been 10 days (our time) or 100 years who knows. But it is these things that cause me to believe they were not literally 24 hour days as we know them.

Hope I've helped someone today

God Bless

Openly Curious

[Guest Outlaw]

Openly Curious I dissagree. The scriptures are loaded with time relevent markers and the restoration of the true timeline of history is of importance. Perhaps your observation of the fall has some truth to it as far as Adam and Eve and thier perception of creation.But time does exist outside of man's perception of it you can count on it.Peace Outlaw

[Guest yod]

Hebrews 4:4

For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works.

The word translated "day" in the Greek is:

hemera

Tame, Gentle, a Day.

(Lit) space between dawn and dusk, or the whole 24 hours.

(fig.) a period (of time)

First of all, the genesis account is in hebrew and not in Greek

Secondly, this definition of a Greek word used by Paul has multiple meanings and one of them is "a period" as in Epoch or Age.

The hebrew word "yom" which is translated as "day" in the Bible can also mean "epoch" as in the phrase the "the day of the dinosaur" which certainly lasted more than 24 hours. Each "yom" could have lasted millions of years and that would make the biblical account consistant with scientific evidence. Not that science validates the Bible....but science is the measurement of visible fact and there is no reason why it has be contradictory either.

And who is to say that the evening and the day were 24 hours then? If you live at the North Pole TODAY it's about 6 months. The "evening and the day" occured before the Sun and Moon were created so what is that about?

Science also says that a quantum leap occurred in the evolution of man. I believe that there were hominids (two legged creatures walking upright) resembling men before Adam but what make us in the "image of God" is the spirit within us.

It all hinges on how you interpret the word "yom". I see no reason to force a contradiction to the evidence.

[eric]

I agree with Yod. Why try and confuse everybody. It's like asking how long is forever or eternity. I prefer to focus on the present, we'll all find out about the future when it happens and the past has gone.

eric.

[Iryssa]

My question is, if the idea of an extended period of time was meant, not a literal 24-hr period, why bother with the phrase "and there was evening, and there was morning..."? The Hebrew people had a very deliberate and precise style of writing: even when using figures of speech, they usually had a very precise image in their minds. Why would such precise record-keepers bother to use the phrase "and there was evening, and there was morning," unless they meant EXACTLY that?

Well...I don't think they would.