BIBLICAL BRIEFS 27
Many proponents of the creation theory believe that God created the earth in just six days, each consisting of 24 hours.This corresponds to the explicit pronouncement including the Law in Ex. 20:11 – “For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and made it holy.” The fact that God used the pattern of the order of creation as an exampleanalogy for Israel is true indeed, but 2 Pet. 3: 8 points out that God often considers one day as a thousand years or a thousand years as one day. Daniel 9:25 speaks for example of a prophetic week, which is seven years, and Ezekiel (Eze. 4:4-6) had to lie down on his side for 430 days to signify 430 years. Periods of time are sometimes simply meant to symbolically represent specific orders of God. In Gen. 1: 1, we read: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” The word “beginning” in Hebrew indicates the plural form, implying that there are several ‘beginnings’ in the unfolding of God’s greater plan for creation. God created the universe, including the earth, in the undefined period afore time. According to recent scientific estimates, the universe is approximately 14 milliard years old. The six days mentioned in Genesis during which God created, do not imply that these days consisted of 24 hours each. In fact, in the Bible, the word ‘day’ is used to refer to different periods. For example, it calls the entire time of creation as “the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens” (Gen. 2: 4). Apparently, these “days” during which creation took place were actually thousands of years (Ps. 90: 4). Our concept of a 24-hour day is based on our definition of the time it takes the earth to revolve its own axle. But the sun was only created on day 4 of creation, which indisputably clarifies that a day did not consist of a 24-hour period.
Dr. Tom Gouws
