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On the earth being over millions or billions of years old. What of the 24 hour days? Were the numbers showing ages that are millions of years? One argument says since the sun and moon were created on the 4th day the measurement of 24 hours cannot apply. Or can it? Lets think this through actually there is consistency, because the light of God acted as the sun when God said let there be light to divide it from the darkness. Gen. 1:3-4 Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. This light was not the sun which was created on the 4th day. Nor was it from any created orb. Gen. 1:14 Then God said, "Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years; And after the time the moon and sun were made it did not change the way God counted the time. It was established as 7 days in a week which we still have, and sunlight and nighttime which we still have. V.16-19 Then 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. God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth, and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. So the evening and the morning were the fourth day. So the other light was removed as the sun and the moon were given and notice he calls it evening and morning (night and day). The evening means sundown a gradual removal of the light into darkness. And the morning means a sunrise (as we call it) a gradual removal of the dark turning into day. So he calls this the fourth day. (combination of day and night) described in terms like the other days before the sun and moon were made. The inauguration of days, years, signs, and seasons in Genesis 1 shows the normal system of time in operation, the same that we have today from our rotation of the earth. If these are not twenty-four hour days it becomes meaningless. Furthermore the mentioning of the same phrases used after must be changed into the same meaning of ages, which changes our days and weeks and years system. I propose it means the same and there is no change of days after the 7th days just as there was no change of days from the first three days to the fourth. Ps 104:19-20 He appointed the moon for seasons; the sun knows its going down. You make darkness, and it is night Why there cannot be days that are millions of years Gen 1:12-13 And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. The sequence of numbers and descriptions shows days (evening - morning) not ages, no plant can live in the dark that long. And since our atmosphere depends on plants giving oxygen it would affect the eco system. Consider the 2 million or more years transpired until day five Gen 1:20 Then God said, "Let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the firmament of the heavens." V.22 And God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth." After this we wait another million years of darkness until the 6th day, nothing could survive in the dark that long. Then he made the species to die off and it could not be pronounced good. Gen. 1:28-31 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth." And God said, "See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food. "Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food"; and it was so. Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day. There would be no sense having made Adam last and name the animals after they have been made prior (been here for a million years) in the way the Bible describes. Nor would they have food from trees after a million years of darkness. The birds, the beasts would have all died because nothing would have grown. So we have a quandary presented in the opposing view of days being an age/ millions of years. Do you believe the bibles record or men who teach evolution who do not believe the Bible or that God exists. And what of those who teach evolution merged into the Bible? On the 6th day Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind"; and it was so. And God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." The last of the creatures was made on the 6th day who was to rule over the other creatures God made. There is no word for age (referring to multiple thousands or millions of years) in the Old Testament. God did not intend for man to think of creation in terms of millions of years past. The Hebrew for a general period of time is yom, a stretch of days. But when we find a number next to EACH YOM it identifies separation of each day. When it says evening and the morning with a number it does not take a math genius to understand he is separating the days as they are recorded in sequential order. The word for day- yom is defined by its first usage in the Bible (Genesis 1:45). In Gen.2:4 in the day, the word yom is used without a numeral, which has its meaning a longer period of time. This yom encapsulates all seven days. Everlasting and Forever are the same word in Hebrew -`olam- meaning a long duration, antiquity, futurity, forever, ever, everlasting, evermore, perpetual, old, ancient, world. ancient time (used of the past) continuous existence, perpetual everlasting, indefinite or unending future, eternity. It also means the vanishing point; from a horizon. Beyond what one can see or conceive in time (past or future), i.e, eternity. The word Ancient quedem means from old, from the earliest of times II Ki 19:25 'Did you not hear long ago how I made it, from ancient times that I formed it? Now I have brought it to pass How did Moses intend the meaning of the words he wrote from God? We must understand it through the compilation of the word of God and not the words (opinions) of man. Exod. 20:11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. God gave Israel that same 7th day that He rested to when He completed the week of work he had done. This gift of rest is often ignored by Genesis old age proponents. Moses who compiled Genesis 1-2 did not have the intention of giving us the date creation occurred but how it occurred. The Breakdown of days in Genesis and relative passages showing the meaning. Gen. 1:5 God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day. Gen. 8:5 And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month. In the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen. Gen. 8:13 And it came to pass in the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month Clearly first day means what it says. It is day one of a sequence of days. In fact the word one (first) echad is used as a compound unity (both evening and morning together) what we call a day today (24 hours). Gen 1:8 And God called the firmament Heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day. Josh. 6:14 And the second day they marched around the city once and returned to the camp. So they did six days. If Genesis is long ages why not here also? A day is a day just as it was in Genesis 1 and 2. Gen. 1:12-13 And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. So the evening and the morning were the third day. Gen. 22:4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off. Exod. 19:11 "And let them be ready for the third day. For on the third day the LORD will come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. Why are these not ages? God communicated to man to understand what he meant. Where does he indicate he changed the meaning? He doesnt. The meaning has been the same since the beginning when Moses wrote it down. The same author wrote this. Gen. 1:17-19 God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth, and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. So the evening and the morning were the fourth day. Zech. 7:1 Now in the fourth year of King Darius it came to pass that the word of the LORD came to Zechariah, on the fourth day of the ninth month, Chislev. Num. 7:30 On the fourth day Elizur the son of Shedeur, leader of the children of Reuben, presented an offering. (what follows is a very descriptive narrative of his offering on this day) v.31 one silver platter, the weight of which was one hundred and thirty shekels. Gen. 1:22-23 And God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth." So the evening and the morning were the fifth day. Ezek. 1:1 Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the River Chebar, that the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God. The recordings of the Hebrews are very specific and consistent in the way days and years are used (with rare exceptions to the rule). Gen. 1:31 Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day. Exod. 16:5 "And it shall be on the sixth day that they shall prepare what they bring in, and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily." V.22 And so it was, on the sixth day, that they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each one. And all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses. They did this because no work was to be allowed on the 7th day, which was for rest. Gen. 2:3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made. Exod. 12:15 'Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses. For whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. Here we see both the first day and the seventh day described by the author who penned Genesis 1 and 2. Exod. 16:26 "Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, which is the Sabbath, there will be none." 6 days of work, as God worked 6 days. The Hebrews who became a theocracy under God (them alone) they were to rest as God rested on the last day of the week from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday. Exod. 20:10-11 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. (this is just as he wrote in in Gen.2:2-3 before he reiterates it with a synopsis with other details about man in the next verses) The Sabbath law given to Israel as the Law of Moses, has its basis from the 6 days of creation and the 7 day of rest (6 days you shall work and on the 7th day rest). The genealogies of Genesis 5 and 11 give a very specific detailed chronological order. The genealogical lists that we have are the records from Genesis. There are possibly a few omitted generations, but even with those unknown factors added in it still would not account for changing multiple thousands of years to million[s].We are told of the generations before the flood and later in Genesis 10-11 we have the generations after. What of the generations we count after the flood, do the numbers change from the ones before? We can calculate them and they do coincide with Scripture. Genesis chapters 1-11 cannot be interpreted in a symbolic sense. Because if each day is a thousand years (or more) than when we read of the ages of man such as Adam being 930 years we would have to apply the same measure of days to his years which would make him hundreds thousand years old (not 930), an absurdity for sure. Did Adam die at 930 years or do these years not mean years and he lived far longer? This is not a trick question, because this is a necessity if the days of Genesis are made into ages like progressive creation theologians propose. How is it possible for each day to be a thousand years or more and change with no explanation when Adam is alive? The genealogies must coincide with the bibles account? Then either God does not know what hes speaking of, or, the bible is translated incorrectly, or, these men of science have it wrong. Not much of a choice. Genesis numbers must be accepted as literal and in the plain sense of the words in which they were written. Was Jesus is wrong when He said Matt 19:4"Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning 'made them male and female.' The beginning of what? How can this work with the genealogical record of years they lived? You cant change days into thousands of years and keep Adams lifespan of 930 years or any other of his seed who lived in that time period. Neither does this coincide with the Bible teaching us in Rom 5:12 through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin. Not through some race of hominids or aliens before they were made. 1 Cor. 15:45 And so it is written, "The first man Adam became a living being." Matthew 1:1 says Jesus was the son of David who was the son of Abraham. Matthew rounds out the number of Generations from the Father of the Jewish people. The author omitted generations not pertinent to the lineage. However Luke goes backwards from Jesus day. Luke 3:23-24 Now Jesus Himself began His ministry at about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, the son of Heli, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Janna, the son of Joseph, V.38 the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God. Traces the genealogy back to the beginning of man and his creator. For one to change the days in Genesis they have to also change the genealogies of man recorded by the same author. There are numerous other mentions of creation in Scripture but none are historical sequential narratives of the creation account as we have in Genesis 1 and 2. Genesis 69 describes a global flood that is catastrophic. The Flood destroyed all the land animals and birds and the surface of the earth. The bible says all that had breath, only a global flood , not a local flood would accomplish this. The Arks purpose was to save two of every kind of land animal and bird (and seven of some) to repopulate the earth after this Flood. Building the Ark would be unnecessary if the Flood was only local. People, animals, and birds could have migrated from the area before it occurred, (Noah took over 100 years to build the ark). This makes God's instructions to Noah unnecessary. Gen 9:11 "Thus I establish My covenant with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth." The Lord said he would never flood the earth again like this yet we have had numerous local floods since, so it can only mean a global flood. When we count the generation from Noah and his family we a have a specific account. Gen. 10:1 "Now this is the genealogy of the sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. And sons were born to them after the flood. V:32 These were the families of the sons of Noah, according to their generations, in their nations; and from these the nations were divided on the earth after the flood." Science says the earth is 4.5 billion years old. Old earth creationists may not agree with this number and say its millions of years. It is God's word that tells us He was present and the instigator of creation. If we are to make a choice we should take Gods word for it, not the opinions of men who base their understanding on flawed and ever changing science. Did creation happened in 4000 or 6000 or more BC? I assume, and trust that the record in Genesis is much closer to the truth than the current state of our science.
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