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When did time begin? We do not know exactly how far this is in the distant past but we do know time started in Genesis 1 v.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 let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth"; and it was so. 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. (Genesis 1:14–19, NKJV) This becomes the beginning of other celestial bodies in space and our measuring of time, days to years. We read that God made the sun, moon, and stars to be used to measure time. However this tells us it was the 4th day. Some respond by pointing out that if the sun, moon, and stars weren't around for the first three days, then there was no way to determine time, so the first three "days" may have been periods of indeterminate length. Time actually began "in the beginning" (Genesis 1:1), or else it would not have been "the beginning," which is a time reference. In fact, "day" is a time reference, and there are three of those prior to day four. God was the one who measured the length of the first three days and He revealed that the first three days were a period of "evening" and "morning," just like the last three days. How? In Gen 1:3-5 we read 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. God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.” These days before the celestial bodies were created had no different measurement of time than when he fixed the sun and the moon and stars in the heavens. Thus the phrase in the beginning has to do with his creation, the heavens made first so that the earth is placed Also, God confirmed in Exodus 20:11 that these six days, plus God's day of rest, comprised one week and formed the basis for our workweek. This is repeated in Exodus 31:17–18, with the additional comment that these words were written by God Himself. These all began in Gen.1:3 |
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