Would you please explain this for me?

Question

If the Bible-idea of creation, as it is written in Genesis, states that six days were all that God required to complete the task of creating everything and if the Bible is the virtual dictation from God and written by inspired men, why would there be any confusion over how long a day is?

I've heard people tout the idea that a day for God is longer than a day, but this isn't told of in the Bible.

Wouldn't God understand the confusion it would cause in the mind of men if he reported that he did his work in just six days rather than over the course of several millennia of days if it wasn't so? And wouldn't the inspired men writing down what God had communicated to them recognize the difference between a millennia of days and a single day?

The Bible claims that only six days were required. Certainly both God and the writers of Genesis knew what they intended to communicate, didn't they? If a day didn't equal a day, why would either God or his inspired writers have said it?

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The trees were created on the 3rd day but the sun wasn't created till the 4th day. The trees must have been in a real bad state by the time the sun arrived if a day was 1000 years.

(excerpt taken from shovelead, the 9th responder - Thank you.)
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Answer 1

I don't believe that the Bible is a virtual dictation from God written by inspired men.

You're right, if it was a dictation from God then He would have prevented several kinds of confusion throughout the Bible. And if He did, He should also have inspired the translators of the Bible to make sure everyone in the world would read the original, true meanings of His word. (Which, in my opinion, is not the case because there are at least 10 different translations in my country, and at least 20 different divisions.)

For example, Luke 1:1-4 states clearly that he has written the book himself, relying on his own investigations. He doesn't give any credit to God's inspiration.

Throughout the whole Bible God communicated directly or through messengers to us. This way we didn't have to rely on the human inability to remember/translate/interpret words correctly.
But at some point after the biblical times, it looks as if God has left us alone. This isn't the case, but that's a whole different story unrelated to your question. ;)

(Check the link below for the free online book I read to obtain more insight on these matters.)

Answer 2

Unfortunately this is a problem which will not be easily resolved. You pays your money and makes your choice. With the regard to the creation story the actual number of words in Hebrew is much fewer than that of the English translations. The words "and there was" are not in the Hebrew, but added to make the English flow better. The actual translation is "evening and morning 'n' day." There is no way to tell from the context that the text is referring to 24 hour days. Study of the use of the Hebrew word 'yom' (day) shows that it can refer to: sunrise to sunset (12 hours); a 24 hour day; and a long, unspecified period of time (as we say - in the day of the dinosaurs).

Answer 3

First of all, you said, "I've heard people tout the idea that a day for God is longer than a day, but this isn't told of in the Bible."
That isn't true. Read 2 Peter 3:8. It says it right there. One reason why God didn't reveal this to Moses and the people of his time is because they didn't understand much of what we know today. The whole creation story is simply written for everyone in any time with no knowlege of science. Now we can look back and see that science and fossil evidence supports the creation story and understand that the days He spoke of were thousand year days and not 24 hours. The answer to your question is because mankind was young back then and needed it written simply to understand it. It just goes to show that the bible is timeless and written for all generations and not just for back then but for us, too.

Answer 4

The confusion arises because so called Christians refuse to believe the plain word of scripture. They try to rationalize it to fit their finite minds instead of taking God at his word.
THEY DONT HAVE THE FAITH TO BELIEVE WHAT GOD SAID.
The trees were created on the 3rd day but the sun wasn't created till the 4th day. The trees must have been in a real bad state by the time the sun arrived if a day was 1000 years.

Answer 5

If you are inclined to believe everything in the bible as literal then you must believe that the earth was created in six 24 hour days and believe every word as literal translation to today.

However, many of us can look at the bible and realize that much of it was written in parable and symbolism. If you take this view then you must allow that all of the bible is up to interpretation and individual experience.

Now, I will say this. If god wanted to write a book that could apply to people thousands of years ago and also to people thousands of years from now. Wouldn't he have to write it in the form of a parable. Obviously, literal translation does not stand the test of time, but a parable will be understood until the end of time. The spirit of God to be written in a book, must take the form of spirit and not some archaic textbook about the exact steps and time frame to create everything.
Parable expresses the concept or spirit of something and is easily understandable.

Answer 6

Genesis 1's day should be consider as one earth day. It was very simple.
Hebrew had word for one period, day, month, and year.
Author of genesis 1 used DAY and
explain why it was one day. Sun Set and Rise.
God needs no sun to count a day.
And remember Christian claimed that God is not inside the time, then how could He count time.

Answer 7

For those who believe the Bible is a God-inspired book, a day is 24 hours, and creation took six of them.

Not everyone believes that premise, however. Then, the whole thing changes. If you think the Creation story is a myth, like the Creation myths of other cultures, it could mean many other things.

Answer 8

Dear Friend

I am afraid this is told of in the Bible, in the book of 2 Peter and also in the Psalms:

Psalm 90:4
For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night

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.

God Bless

Answer 9

And I see people are quoting the verses that say "one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day". Don't they see that this is a simile? It's a literary devise that you learn about before you even get to high school. It's used to teach that God is outside of time, demonstrating that to the eternal Creator of time, a short period of time and a long period of time may as well be the same.

Did these people even MAKE IT to high school?

Answer 10

Moses wrote Genesis. What he wrote was in terms that he understood. If you think that the Prophets of the Bible wrote so that it could be understood try reading Isaiah!