How is it that the same people who believe the earth was created in a literal 6 days (24 hrs each)?

Question

Are the same people who believe that the week talked about in Daniel, insist that it is years not a literal week? Can they both be literal? Or must they both be figurative and Why do you think that?

Daniel 9:27( KJV)

27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

Answer 1

Hi Jan, that is a good question, and the answer lies in comparing scripture with scripture. First, we need to realize that the term "week" is a figure of speech. In our vernacular, a week means 7 days. In the biblical times, a week meant 7 years. We know this by seeing how Jacob had to work another seven years to gain Laban's daughter Rachel. This is confirmed in Genesis 29:27

“Fulfill her week, and we will give you this one also for the service which you will serve with me still another seven years.”

As you can see, we are not allegorizing the week in the Daniel prophecy, but rather relating to the vernacular of the period. And in case you are going deeper in to Daniel 9, remember that a year is a Babylonian year which is exactly 360 days.
http://www.schneblin.com/studies/pdfs/seventieth_week_of_daniel.pdf

Now the creation period was never referred to as the "week of creation" but rather the "days of creation". It says clearly that the evening and the morning were the first day. Ge 1:8 And God called the firmament Heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day. The evening and the morning were the third day. The evening and the morning were the fourth day. The evening and the morning were the fifth day. The evening and the morning were the sixth day.

And remember the words of the law in Exodus 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. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it."

Answer 2

I'm not someone who believes that each day was 24-hours long, but I think it's debatable whether Paul was trying to claim that God's rest was equal to the seventh day. He could have meant that, or he could have just being using it as an illustration. Having said that, we know that both Adam and Eve were both made on the sixth day. Yet we also know that there was time on the sixth day for Adam to be made, to 'be settled' in the Garden of Eden, to name all the different kinds of animals, to start to notice that all the animals had mates and he didn't (and you need to observe most animals for quite a while to learn to distinguish their sex, and apparently he observed them for a while to choose their names as well), and then for him to be go into 'a deep sleep' (not a 10-minute nap) and Eve to be created. Now while I agree with what young-earth-creationists say that it is theoretically possible for God to do all that stuff in however short a time he wanted, Adam was a mere man - I don't think he could have done all that stuff in between his creation and Eve's in 24 hours. And indeed, I think the statement of God that 'it is not good for the man to continue by himself' implies that he had by this time 'continued by himself' for more than just a few hours. With regard to the observable universe, be wary when trusting what scientists say if it can't be tested. No scientific measurements have really been made about what the universe was like 10000 years ago or what it's like 10000 light-years from here - all we can do is look at the light that arrives here now, and assume that most conditions in the universe are the same as here - that gravity has always worked the same as it does now, that light has always travelled at the same speed it does now, etc. The predictions we come to based on that are based on a hundred sweeping assumptions about the nature of the universe, many of which rarely get questioned, because nobody will ever know if they're wrong. Which is why I don't criticise young-earth-creationists on scientific grounds. Scientists have come up with a lot of evidence to support the 4500MY age of the earth, and it might be true. But it's kind of suspicious that a much younger earth, (not necessarily 6000years, maybe just 100million years) would be crippling to the atheistic-evolution theory that they're so desperate to hold on to no matter how much evidence there is that it's impossible. If evolution required the earth to be 6000years old, do you think that's what all scientists would have proven by now? Of course they would. So don't be too dogmatic about the age of the earth - remember that most evidence on both sides of the argument is found by people who have a vested interest in proving a particular age because of their theism or atheism.

Answer 3

Hi^^
I just want to help shed some light on this subject.

What we are talking about is a words from a what was very ancient and from a total different culture than ours. God wasn't telling us how He created the world. Again, it is a religious story trying to explain to us a little bit about God.

We don't know how long a day for God is. Could God created the world in seven days? Sure. Did He actually? Who really knows. Several observations arise just from this quick reading. First, this passage will not easily lend itself to logical analysis. For example, there is an "evening and morning" for 3 days before there is a sun to define days. This, as well as other features, suggests that a logical or literal reading of this passage will most likely miss what it is trying to communicate.

Since the Jewish "day" was traditionally measured from sundown until sundown the next day, the fact that the days are marked as "evening and morning" suggests that we are dealing with a way of describing time that comes from a Jewish cultural background.

It is an affirmation about God he is the beginning of all. His love knows no bounds.The intention of its author clearly was to write a historical account. He uses " " to set a clear meaning as to the powers of God. In Creation,God created the universe, the earth, the sun, moon and stars, plants and animals, and the first two people ^^.

Greek philosophy, which caused them to interpret the days as allegorical. Many realize after much study they reasoned that the creation ‘days’ were related to God’s activities, and God being timeless meant that the ‘days’ could not be related to human time. Again saying that God is timeless.

I hope this helps a little,
As always,
Seek,Learn,Discover,Love,
Your Sister In Christ

Answer 4

Time and stories from the Old Testament teach more about salvation history than about actual time and dates.History in Ancient Times was much different than it is today.Modern historians have more ways to provide accurate information, while in the OT times, oral tradition prevailed and then written word.The ideas and meaning behind them was/are more important than the specifics.

It really does not matter how many days it took God to make the world. What does matter is that he made it and he has a plan for us in it.

Answer 5

That's a good question Jan....

I've always held to the literal 6 day creation belief myself. If I'm not mistaken, the week spoken of in Daniel is a metaphor for 7 years.......or something like that.

Again, great question.......but I guess we'll just have to wait until we get there to find out.

Answer 6

I don't really know how to explain this but Eschatology is certainly a very interesting and highly debated Biblical Topic.
You might want to ask some of the more noted responders on the R&S category on this one. Email them directly.



I suspect that knowing Hebrew and Greek would be of
great advantage.

I Cr 13;8a

Answer 7

A day or a week FOR GOD can be a long "time".

Since GOD is eternal and exist anywhere and whenever HE CHOOSES, TIME RELATIVE TO GOD's RECKONING AND PASSING may be difficult to determine.

The relatively literal approximation of an unknown is inversely proportional to the complete understanding and knowledge of GOD divisible by a gnats eyebrow and the span of the universe times the number of subatomic particles in all of creation.

>>>>>>> short answer " I do not know."

dave

Answer 8

Read Genesis 1 in the Spirit. Pray in the Spirit then read it out loud. Hear what you are saying.

The days were different back then. The sun, moon & stars weren't put into place till the evening & the morning & the 4th day. So, even then the tragedy of the world flood & the fall of the tower of bable didn't happen yet. Where people's lives were shortened much from the near 1000 yr life span.

Answer 9

I personally hold that Young Earth creationism is unbiblical, and I could provide proofs to that. The word translated into "day" in Genesis is "yom" which while it does mean day also means "a period of time" or "an Age" like in "Age of Chivalry".

I think the more important question is not how long did God take to create the universe but whether God did so in the first place. Is God capable of doing so? In my mind, yes, he is. Could he have done it in 6 24-hour periods? My God is certainly powerful enough to acheive such a feat. I suppose I will learn more when I stand before him in the end.

Answer 10

God works in mysterious ways.
it is not for me to understand the ways of God, whether it is days, weeks, months, years, or time periods.
I try not to limit God to any time frame,
i simply accept that he is and that He has and will do what He says.
if that make me simple, then I can only pray that more people become simple in the same way.