Wrested Scriptures

Creative Days
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Creation
  Genesis 1:5
  Genesis 2:4
  Genesis 4:14
  Genesis 4:16,17
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Genesis 1:5
" . . . And the evening and the morning were the first day."

Problem:
In attempting to reconcile the creative acts of Genesis 1 with the great ages currently postulated for life on the earth, religious persons have interpreted the creative days to mean "geological epochs" or "1,000 year" days.1 Support for this position is taken from 2 Peter 3:8 - "one day is with the Lord as a thousand years".

Solution:
  1. In Exodus 20:11 (Also Exodus 31:17) God commanded Israel to observe the Sabbath as a sign of the covenant: "For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it." Would an Israelite receiving the instruction (to rest one day because God had rested after six days of work), understand the six days as six "geological epochs" of unspecified length, or six one-thousand year periods?

  2. If one day = 1,000 years, then Adam must have lived at least 1,000 years before dying. Even if he was created at the very end of the sixth day (1,000 year period) it is inconceivable that his fall occurred on the Sabbath (the next 1,000 year period), since God sanctified the Sabbath, Genesis 2:3, and "everything" was declared "very good" on the sixth day. (Gen. 1:31). The record states that Adam lived only 930 years (Gen. 5:5), therefore, the days of creation cannot be 1,000 year "days".

  3. Plants were created on the third day. Genesis 1:11, 13, but insects did not appear until the sixth day. (Gen. 1:24-31). If one day = 1,000 years, how did certain specialized plants requiring insect pollination (the maple tree, the strawberry, the blackberry, the honeysuckle, and the poppy) continue to exist without the ability to reproduce?

  4. Proof is required that Genesis 1:5 alludes to Peter's statement that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day, (2 Peter 3:8). There is no necessary connection between the two passages.
Footnotes:
  1. The J.W.'s for example are among this group. They reason as follows: " . . . the Bible tells of six 'days' during which life appeared. But the Bible's use of 'day' here means a period of time and not a twenty-four hour day." Did Man Get Here By Evolution Or By Creation?, (New York: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, Inc., 1967), p. 97. Return