How Long Were the Creation Days? (Yom Controversy)

[Josh]

Orginally posted 4/3/06:

QUESTION:
Science has shown conclusively that the earth is more than 4 billion years old. Doesn’t an earth that old directly contradict the Biblical idea that everything was created in just six 24-hour periods?

REPLY: First off, Genesis speaks of 7 yoms (Hebrew translated as ‘day’). The Hebrew word yom has 3 literal meanings: a 24 hour day, a 12 hour day, or an indefinite period of time/ age. Even the word day in English has roughly the same alternative meanings: we might say "Back in my day...." or "in George Washington’s day", etc... Also in English we speak of mornings and evenings of ages or long periods of time: “The sun was setting on the classical period” or “at the dawn of the Reformation”.

There are many interesting clues in Genesis 1 and 2 that tip us off that the author is intending yom to mean long periods of time. For instance, interestingly, day 7 does not have an evening, which leaves us with the indication that we are still in day 7, the day of God’s rest from creation (as a side note: this ‘resting’ of God on day 7 predicts that we will find man as the final creature to appear in the fossil record, and that's exactly what we find, no new species after man! Instead, we find only extinctions!)

It is sometimes suggested that this interpretation of yom is a modern attempt to reconcile Genesis with science by stretching the account out of its context or obvious meaning. However, this day/age theory is not something new designed to defend against scientific attacks on Scripture; some early church fathers and early rabbis interpreted the days in genesis to be long periods of time.

One more question if my case needs more ammunition: consider day 6. All the following things happen in just that day:

1) Creation of land animals
2) Creation of Adam
3) Adam names animals in the garden
4) Adam gets lonely
5) Eve created.

Does it seem even remotely likely that all of these events could happen in one 24 hour day? I know men need women, but I'm sure with all the new sights, Adam wouldn't have gotten lonely for at least a week!

For these and other reasons, I personally think it's clear that the author of Genesis clearly intended the reader to understand that each yom is a long period of time. Of course, this interpretation is not something that Christians should divide over, but one that can be investigated and debated well within the realm of Orthodox Christian belief. And honest pursuit of truth should of course be encouraged.

If you have any further questions, I’ll try and post some links by others who have done a more thorough job. Please reply with questions and/ or comments if this is of interest to you.

[Josh]

Originally posted: 11/23/06

Philo (20 BC- 45 AD): "It is foolish to think that the world was created in six days.... " "Six days were mentioned because for the things coming into existence there was need for order"

Josephus (37 AD- 103 AD) in his writings promised to offer an alternate explanation of day "Yom" but failed to do so as far as we know.

Justin Martyr ( AD 100-166) and Irenaeus (AD 130-200) argued that the Creation days were each 1,000 years long, based on a statement in Psalms that says "with the lord a day is like a thousand years".

Hippolytus (AD 170-236) and Clement of Alexandria (AD 150-220) say the days were not literal, twenty-four hour days.

Origen (AD 185-254) argued that since the 7th day hasn't finished yet, each of the other days must not have been 24 hours.

Augustine himself said, "At least we know that it [the Genesis creation day] is different from the ordinary day with which we are familiar"

I could go on throughout Church history before the scientific revolution, but these are some key ones from the earliest periods.

[michelle]

When I was reading the 10 commandments and reading about the Sabbath, I found myself thinking about the length of the "day" (yom) metioned in Genesis. I'm not saying that I agree or disagree with either side, but I found it interesting that one of God's commandments is to rest on the 7th day.

Exodus 20:8 "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. 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. "

I understand the differences in the interpretations of yom, but this statement would seem to me that God is claiming that He created the world in six 24 hour periods. It would not really make sense for God to tell the Isrealites to work for six long periods of time and rest for one long period of time.

Thoughts??

[Josh]

That's a point made by many who hold to a young earth.

Here's my take, and why I'm not persuaded by this line of reasoning:

Besides the fact that day one in Genesis is the only day that isn't said to have ended, here are some other reasons to see the 'weekly 24-hr Sabbath' as representative of the original Sabbath-age (which we are still in, according to this view) rather than an original 24-hr day:

In the Pentateuch there are not only Sabbaths every week, but Sabbaths every 7th year and after every 49th year (7 sevens). There is also another Sabbath theme in Daniel, when he predicts the sacrifice of the Messiah after 70 sevens (490 years). If we apply the above logic (a one-to-one correspondance) to these, then might we not come up with a Creation week lasting 7 years, 49 years, or even 490 years?

I think the Psalmist articulates this flexibility of the theme of 7 when he articulated that "with the Lord a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like a day". I don't think we should be looking for a one-to-one correspondance, but a general, variable correspondance around the theme of 7.

Since I think the Hebrew is demonstrably flexible enough for a variety of interpretations on this issue, and the text itself has several clues which one could argue support an old-earth perspective, I think it's only fair that we let science chime in on this issue. And science is, overwhelmingly supportive of an old earth.

I'm curious if anyone has specific doubts or questions about the scientific approach to dating the age of the earth?

[michelle]

That explanation might hold up for verse 11, but what about verses 9-10? "9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates." I think that most would agree that God is not telling the Isrealites to not work fork 7, 49, or 490 years at a time. I would conclude that God was referring to the Sabbath as being 1 day. And based on the the fact that these 2 verses come before 11, isn't it implied that the days in verse 11 would be the same as the days mentioned in verses 9 and 10?

I'm not saying that this excerpt alone can overthrow the old earth theory and I'm not saying that it can prove the new earth theory. I'm just trying to see how it can fit into each and I'm having a hard time seeing how it supports old earth.

[Josh]

Yes, in that passage God is speaking about a 24 hr Sabbath every week, patterned after God's original Sabbath-rest. But, just like the 8 days of the Feast of Tabernacles are symbolic of a much larger time period (40 years of wilderness wanderings), something smaller can be symbolic of something larger.

I brought up the sabbath years and years of jubilee (every 49 years) as examples of how even Sabbaths can be of varying lengths. In other words, 'Sabbath' is not a fixed length in Scripture, just as 'yom' doesn't have just one definition, but three interchangeable ones.

But, yeah, we could probably go back and forth on this one. I mean, I'll concede that one could certainly read a 1-to-1 correspondance into these verses, but I think it would fly in the face of other Scripture passages and science.

There's a book in our library entitled A Matter of Days that goes into greater detail on this subject from both a scriptural/ theological perspective as well as a scientific perspective if anyone's interested.

[michelle]

I definitely wouldn't hold so firmly to this verse (or any verse) that I would discount other evidence. As far as I'm concerned, if 80% of evidence points one way and 20% points another way, I'm willing to overlook the 20% for the 80%.

[robin]

OK, there is allot here but I will start with your first post.

You wrote:

One more question if my case needs more ammunition: consider day 6. All the following things happen in just that day:

1) Creation of land animals
2) Creation of Adam
3) Adam names animals in the garden
4) Adam gets lonely
5) Eve created.

Does it seem even remotely likely that all of these events could happen in one 24 hour day? I know men need women, but I'm sure with all the new sights, Adam wouldn't have gotten lonely for at least a week!

First I would like to point out that Adam was not commanded to name every animal created, but only every beast of the field and the birds of the air. This greatly reduces the number of animals, and we should keep in mind that he would name each kind and not each variety of animals that exist with in kind.

Also, Genesis says nothing of Adam being lonely, but only that he did not find a suitable mate among the animals.

For reference, here is what Genesis 2 actually says.

Genesis 2:18-25
18 And the Lord God said, "It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him." 19 Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him.

21 And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. 22 Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. 23 And Adam said: "This is now bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man." 24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. 25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

Besides the fact that day one in Genesis is the only day that isn't said to have ended, here are some other reasons to see the 'weekly 24-hr Sabbath' as representative of the original Sabbath-age (which we are still in, according to this view) rather than an original 24-hr day:

I would like you to unpack this a little bit. Are you saying that after the sixth day-age, God has been at rest? How does Jesus' work upon the cross fit into your understanding? If we are still in the original Sabbath day-age, What is it representative of? Perhaps some future rest? It may be that I just don't understand what you are saying.

You see, I hold a different view. I see a literal fulfillment of the original 24 hour sabbath day, being fulfilled by Jesus as he rested in the tomb on Saturday after he declared "It is finished" referring to his work upon the cross and his fulfillment of the law and prophets, and on Sunday a new day was born.

Anyways, I need to run. Mens group will start soon.

Robin

[Josh]

Thanks for the reply.

I'm agreed on the kinds/ amount of animals that Adam would have named.

In regard to Adam being lonely, granted I read some loneliness into "this is now" (some translate it as "At long last!"- though I don't know much about how solid that is).

In regard to "God's rest"- the idea would be that God's work had been "creating" and he was now resting from doing His creative "work".

In fact, no new species appear in the fossil record after the appearance of modern man. God is never said elsewhere in Scripture to create any new creatures.

How do you explain the lack of an ending for day 7?

[robin]

How do you explain the lack of an ending for day 7?

Well, I would see it like this. For the first 6 days it was important to state a clear dividing line, so the reader would know what was created in each day. After the 7th day there would be no need to divide it from the 8th due to the fact that the 8th day has no significance in creation. I believe it is simply implied. For example, if I say that I worked in my yard all day, and when I was done I took a nap, you shouldn't assume that I will nap indefinitely should you?

I did notice in Genesis 2:1-3 it reads like this:

1 Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. 2 And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 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.

(bold mine)

If the author wanted to give an accurate description of how you understand the passage, would it not have been better to state that God now is resting in this seventh day?

Robin

[Josh]

I would like you to unpack this a little bit. Are you saying that after the sixth day-age, God has been at rest? How does Jesus' work upon the cross fit into your understanding? If we are still in the original Sabbath day-age, What is it representative of? Perhaps some future rest? It may be that I just don't understand what you are saying.

You see, I hold a different view. I see a literal fulfillment of the original 24 hour sabbath day, being fulfilled by Jesus as he rested in the tomb on Saturday after he declared "It is finished" referring to his work upon the cross and his fulfillment of the law and prophets, and on Sunday a new day was born.

Genesis 2:2
And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done

I think this verse is clear on what God's rest means- ie, his work of creation.

However, like you, I read parallels to this rest throughout Scripture- and I can see a nice parallel with Easter weekend as well.

As to rested/ resting... both usages would work IMO.

[Josh]

I think the following passage from Hebrews lends support to the notion that Day 7- God's day of rest extends to this present day:

Hebrews 3:7- 4:11

7So, as the Holy Spirit says:
"Today, if you hear his voice,
8do not harden your hearts
as you did in the rebellion,
during the time of testing in the desert,
9where your fathers tested and tried me
and for forty years saw what I did.
10That is why I was angry with that generation,
and I said, 'Their hearts are always going astray,
and they have not known my ways.'
11So I declared on oath in my anger,
'They shall never enter my rest.' "
12See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. 13But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. 14We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first. 15As has just been said:
"Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts
as you did in the rebellion."

16Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? 17And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the desert? 18And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? 19So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.

So far, we see that there is something that God calls "his rest". It is implied that this rest currently exists, but that through their disobedience the Israelites were not able to enter into it.

Hebrews 4

1Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. 2For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith. 3Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said,
"So I declared on oath in my anger,
'They shall never enter my rest.' " And yet his work has been finished since the creation of the world. 4For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: "And on the seventh day God rested from all his work." 5And again in the passage above he says, "They shall never enter my rest."

Here the author of Hebrews makes it clear that the rest he's talking about is that very rest that Genesis was talking about- the work of creation.


6It still remains that some will enter that rest, and those who formerly had the gospel preached to them did not go in, because of their disobedience. 7Therefore God again set a certain day, calling it Today, when a long time later he spoke through David, as was said before:
"Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts." 8For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. 9There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. 11Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience.

The rest isn't something we're waiting for. It's available Today- for us to enter into now.