Immanuel Lutheran Church Study Forum

Did God really do all that creating in just 6 days? That seems incredible! I have a lot of questions and thoughts about that.

2 Peter 3:8 tells us "But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day."

The sun and moon were not in place to be seen from earth as they now do and mark the days until day 4 of the creation.

There were no human witness to record creation.

I read a book by a guy who worked through Einstein's relativity equations for how time is effected by speed and gravity of the "Big Bang" and compared time at the origin point and a speck of stuff that would become part of earth. Interestingly 24 hours at the origin roughly fit modern science's ideas geological eras. (Genesis and the Big Bang, Gerald L Schroeder, PhD, Bantam, 1990)


So what is my point? We really don't know how, or even if, time works for God or if He is bound by time to our 24 hour days (probably not). He had to explain creation to Moses in a way the 1500 BC society could understand what they needed to know. In the big picture, it doesn't matter, but it is a favorite debate point for those that wish to discredit God in general and the Bible in particular. Maybe I'll get a tour guide in Heaven that can explain that. Until then I have to be confident enough in my beliefs to not let the 6 day debate distract me from seeking God and His truth.

The six days or creation really are six 24-hour days. This is what Genesis says and the time is based on the following:

In the Bible, evening and morning are consistent terms for a 24-hour day. That God established the 24.-day on Day 1 does not depend on there being a sun or moon. Yes, on the 4th day, the sun and moon are created to rule over the already existing 24-hour day.

Another indication of the six days being 24-hours, is the word day itself. The Hebrew word, yom, usually means a 24-hour day. It can be something else, so you have to consider the context. In Genesis, the word yom is often modified by a number. e.g., evening and morning were the sixth day/ When you is modified by a number, it ALWAYS means a 24-hour day. Any competent Hebrew linguist would state that these are 24-hour days.

Tje Bible unequivocally6 states that the six days of creation are 24-hour days.