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Genesis 1:5
“And there was evening, and there was morning — the first day.”The words ‘evening’ and ‘morning’ doesn’t necessarily mean a literal 24 hour day. Context is key here. A day to God is clearly not a day as we record it, so why do some always see these things from their point of view? Is it not meant to be how God sees it? First off, God is NOT bound to earth and its cycles. Not even the heavens can contain him.
Secondly, there are other verses in the Bible that talk about evening and morning that are not 24 hour days.
Psalm 90:6
“In the morning it flourishes and is renewed; in the evening it fades and withers.”This shows a metaphor for life’s brevity and not a strict 24-hour reference, but a beginning and end.
Ecclesiastes 11:6
“In the morning sow your seed, and at evening withhold not your hand…”Again, this is figurative, meaning to be diligent from start to finish.
As for literal vs figurative meanings in the Bible, you can pick out numerous examples. Take the verses that say that the Son of Man has a two-edged sword coming out of his mouth. Do you think that it is an actual sword like a samurai? Perhaps that is figurative like much of the Bible?
Jesus even said it himself, he spoke in parables. Taking everything literally is carnal thinking. Only a spiritually minded person can discern the scriptures and it is written this way so the wicked will not understand.
Daniel 12:10
Many shall purify themselves and make themselves white and be refined, but the wicked shall act wickedly. And none of the wicked shall understand, but those who are wise shall understand.Proverbs 28:5
Evil men do not understand justice, but those who seek the Lord understand it completely.Matthew 13:10–11
Then the disciples came and said to him, ‘Why do you speak to them in parables?’
And he answered them, ‘To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.’Matthew 13:13
This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.1 Corinthians 2:14
The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.Hi Proclaimer,
To answer your question above, I say no, “evening and morning” is not proof of 24 hour days. We are told this though:
Exodus 20:11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, but on the seventh day He rested. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.
Now add the verses with it for context and we see a period of seven days which seem to be 24 hour days right before the seven days of creation are mentioned without any clarification to say they are not the same:
Exodus 20:8Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God, on which you must not do any work—neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant or livestock, nor the foreigner within your gates. 11For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, but on the seventh day He rested. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.
We are told that the sun was created on day four and it is the sun that rules the day and the sun, moon and stars are to separate the light from the darkness. So, I assume that on day four, the 24 hour cycle was put into place. Before that day, I think the light was of the spiritual nature rather than a physical nature. The spiritual light, imo, was separated from the darkness on day one. On two days of creation, light and darkness are separated, day one and day four. The first time before the sun was created and the second time after the sun was created.
Long time no hear. Good to hear from you again.
To God, a day is like a thousand years, but people insist that a day for him is 24 hours for some reason.
We are not told that the sun was created on Day Four, only that light became visible. The sun already existed before Day One: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
Day One describes the shaping or terraforming of the earth. By Day Four, sunlight finally reached the planet’s surface. This aligns with science: the early earth, much like Venus, was shrouded in thick clouds caused by volcanic activity. Over time, the atmosphere cleared, allowing sunlight and moonlight to illuminate the ground below which was a condition needed for life.
We are now living in Day Seven : God’s rest. And just as before, this day is not limited to twenty-four hours.
Thanks Proclaimer, I’m glad to have gotten to the point in life where I have some spare time on my hands to come here to discuss and learn more about God’s word and ways.
Thank you for your reply and and the opportunity to address your view.
A day to Him could mean 24 hours and seems to in many contexts. It could also mean 12 hours referring to the everyday period between the rising and setting of the sun, also ages of time as in a thousand years, also eternity when in heaven there is only day, no night. I don’t think we can be dogmatic as to how long the days were in creation. As I said in my previous post, the sun which was created to govern our days did not exist until day four. You disagree and claim that the sun existed before day one. However, I believe that is incorrect. Gen 1:1 seems to be more of a title or overview of what is to come in the verses that follow. It is clear that the heavens were created and named on day two, the lights placed in the heavens were created on day four therefore could not have been in existence before day one as you claim. See here:
Gen 1 6Then God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” 7God made the expanse, and separated the waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so. 8God called the expanse heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.
The creation account tells us that the lights that govern the day and night were made on day four and put in the “expanse called ‘heaven'” here:
Gen 1
14Then God said, “Let there be 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; 15and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so. 16God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also. 17God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18and to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good. 19There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.
Btw, where does scripture say that we are living in day seven?
We are told that the sun was created on day four and it is the sun that rules the day and the sun, moon and stars are to separate the light from the darkness. So, I assume that on day four, the 24 hour cycle was put into place. Before that day, I think the light was of the spiritual nature rather than a physical nature. The spiritual light, imo, was separated from the darkness on day one. On two days of creation, light and darkness are separated, day one and day four. The first time before the sun was created and the second time after the sun was created.
The days before the sun was supposedly created had a evening and morning. So you’re saying it was a spiritual day / light that also had evening and morning?
Do you not think it is more likely that the light that strikes the earth is what Day 4 is about and not the creation of the sun that the earth revolves around?
Btw, where does scripture say that we are living in day seven?
Hebrews 3:11 (quoting Psalm 95:11):
“So I swore in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.”There are numerous verses that talk about entering God’s rest. This rest is clearly not 24 hours long.
There are a few key takeaways in this post.
On the first day G-d created light and darkness, HE separated the two; can time, as we understand it, exist without “light”? Theoretically it can, but it would be unobservable. So, on the first day G-d created time when HE separated light from darkness and it was so man could observe it.
On the fourth day HE created heavenly bodies to govern the day and the night. Prior to that what was the source of light…G-d, since he is light. Was HE to remain the source of physical light? No, in HIS infinite wisdom HE put the sun, moon, and stars into place and in the process gave us a way to measure time, among other uses too.
When G-d finished a creation task, we are told there was evening and morning and it was called a “day.” HE gave us the understanding of what a “day” is – evening and morning (pm and am). It is here we now have a physical way to measure seasons, days, and years. Are we questioning what G-d said?
Peter’s statement “one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” means time is of no concern to G-d, he isn’t bound by it like we are; context of this Peter passage is G-d’s timing isn’t the same as ours and has nothing to do with physical time and how it’s kept.
You asked:
So you’re saying it was a spiritual day / light that also had evening and morning?
Good question, I think that the light of day one has to do with the Son of God who is “The Light of the World” entering the dimension of creation.
The term “day” was what God called the light. The darkness that was called night is different and was separated from the light. Darkness is the absence of light.
The following verse shows the terms light/darkness, day/night. It is not talking about the created light from the sun here either:
1 Thessalonians 5: 5For you are all sons of the light and sons of the day; we do not belong to the night or to the darkness.
You wrote:
Hebrews 3:11 (quoting Psalm 95:11):
“So I swore in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.”You do realize that verse has nothing to do with the seventh day rest, right? The rest mentioned in Hebrews 3:11 is about the particular generation of Israelites not being allowed into the promise land due to their disobedience. The destination was the “rest” that God had planned Furthermofor them.
Furthermore, just because the seventh day didn’t say “and there was evening and there was morning the seventh day” doesn’t mean that it has never ended yet. Notice in this verse the past tense word “rested”:
Gen 2:2 By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.
His seventh day rest is in the past.
Besides that, God is said to be working here:
John 5:17 But He answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working.”
Proclaimer, do you think that God can plant seeds, cause them to grow within minutes to maturity and cause fruit to grow within minutes after that? Who is to say that God caused creation to happen within a natural growth rate and not a supernatural growth rate? Do you think Adam started as an infant? it seems to me that he was already a man from his beginning.
As I have stated previously, I don’t think we can be dogmatic one way or the other regarding how many hours were in each day of creation. Btw, 24 hours are not determined by the sun but instead by the complete rotation of the earth on its axis.
Your thoughts?
Blessings, LU
On the fourth day HE created heavenly bodies to govern the day and the night. Prior to that what was the source of light…G-d
It actually doesn’t say that God created the Sun and the Moon in verse 4. Rather it says that they appeared in the firmament / sky / atmosphere. Such is possible when thick choking clouds are not present. Prior to Day 1, God already created the heavens and earth.
The bible hints at and science confirms that the earth was once enveloped in a thick, cloudy atmosphere, (likely dominated by volcanic gases and dust from continuous eruptions). Once the planet cooled, the clouds thinned out and the lights appeared in the firmament.
Que?!!?
I didn’t say verse 4, but day 4 was when G-d created natural light; where HE placed the sun, moon, and stars to govern the day and the night. Nothing in the creation account does it speak of “clouds thinning out” and there being light. There’s a theory which states there was a “cloud” that covered the entire planet creating a greenhouse effect that kept the planet at a relatively consistent temperature.
14 God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them be signs to indicate seasons and days and years, 15 and let them serve as lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth.” It was so. 16 God made two great lights – the greater light to rule over the day and the lesser light to rule over the night. He made the stars also. 17 God placed the lights in the expanse of the sky to shine on the earth, 18 to preside over the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. God saw that it was good. 19 There was evening, and there was morning, a fourth day.
Not sure what you’re reading, but I read on day four G-d created the heavenly bodies to give light to the planet. Do I reject G-d’s words in favor of man’s?
“There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his.”
— Hebrews 4:9–10I didn’t say verse 4, but day 4 was when G-d created natural light; where HE placed the sun, moon, and stars to govern the day and the night. Nothing in the creation account does it speak of “clouds thinning out” and there being light. There’s a theory which states there was a “cloud” that covered the entire planet creating a greenhouse effect that kept the planet at a relatively consistent temperature.
I’ll make it simpler for you.
It doesn’t say that God created the sun and moon on Day 4. They merely appeared in the firmament. God created the heavens and earth before Day 1. And yes, it reaffirms that God created these lights for a purpose as stated.
The clouds thinning etc is a scientific view which I explained and I also explained that it matched or was a possible explanation of Day 4 in the Genesis account. So I just pointed out that the Genesis account was not contrary to the scientific view in this instance.
Too often people interpret all kinds of crazy things in scripture like God created the Sun on the fourth 24 day after the creation of the earth and that the earth is stationary and the Sun is a light that goes around the earth and this earth is flat and no one is allowed to visit the Antarctica and see the ice wall that hems in the oceans.
The way people interpret scripture often discredits scripture in the eyes of many. Such fools do not realise that they are putting a stumbling block in front of people who may have been interested in the truth of scripture.
And the fact that the Sun was supposedly created on Day 4 and that there were 3 days before that is just hilarious.
Regarding what you wrote:
We are now living in Day Seven : God’s rest. And just as before, this day is not limited to twenty-four hours.
There have been many of God’s Sabbath rests in God’s Feasts alone. Obviously, we are not in the 7th day Sabbath rest.
LU
You wrote:
It doesn’t say that God created the sun and moon on Day 4. They merely appeared in the firmament.
14And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to distinguish between the day and the night, and let them be signs to mark the seasons and days and years. 15And let them serve as lights in the expanse of the sky to shine upon the earth.” And it was so.
16God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night. And He made the stars as well.
17God set these lights in the expanse of the sky to shine upon the earth, 18to preside over the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.
19And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.
Proclaimer, verse 16 tells us that God made the two great lights in the context of day four. Throughout out Genesis 1 “God made” is repeated over and over.
There have been many of God’s Sabbath rests in God’s Feasts alone. Obviously, we are not in the 7th day Sabbath rest.
You are entitled to believe that God rested for a 24 hour period after creating a universe in 6 x 24 hour days and even before the sun was supposedly created on Day 4 and yet day 1-3 were still 24 hours.
But I personally think any rational thinking person is not going to take this seriously and relegate it to either myth or misinterpretation of the text.
It is so mixed up.
Proclaimer, verse 16 tells us that God made the two great lights in the context of day four. Throughout out Genesis 1 “God made” is repeated over and over.
Read it properly.
“Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to distinguish between the day and the night, and let them be signs to mark the seasons and days and years.”
The subject here is lights in the expanse above the earth. That is basically saying that there are two visible lights in the earth sky. It is not saying that God created these lights at this point, but it is saying that God did create these lights. When? Read what God did before Day 1.
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
It was all there before Day 1.
The days are about terraforming earth to be suitable for life and eventually man. But feel free to let tradition override what the text says.
You wrote:
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
It was all there before Day 1.
I read the beginning of Genesis as a title or overview of what is to come in the verses that come after the first part of chapter one. For instance, we are told that the expanse called heaven was not made till day two, so therefore, obviously heaven was not there before day two. Also, we are told that earth wasn’t even named earth until after the waters were gathered and dry land appeared and that was day three. Therefore, earth couldn’t have been created before day one if it wasn’t even formed and dry and named earth till day three.
Conclusion, the heavens couldn’t have been created before the expanse was created on day two. The earth couldn’t have been considered ‘created’ until the sea was gathered and dry land appeared on day three.
Regarding “24-hour days” I don’t think that I have stated whether or not I believe in 7–24-hour days. I’m not against the idea that there were 7-24-hour days though. Think about this, if a day was 1000 years for example, it would take the earth 500 years to turn halfway around on its axis and half of the earth would not have sun for those plants for 500 years.
On the seventh day, God rested from His creating work, it’s not like He took a day off. He is working all the time. Like I said, many Sabbaths have come and gone since creation was finished on day six. The seventh day of creation was the first of many sabbaths that came afterwards even unto this day. We are not still in the seventh day.
Final conclusion, since creation points to a creator according to this passage: Romans 1:20 — No One Has an Excuse
“For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, being understood by what has been made, so that they are without excuse.” (NASB)Scientists try to explain the creation with natural processes, but God meant creation to show supernatural processes and thus point to eternal power and divine nature.
LU
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