Creation: Was our World created in six 24-hour days?
Many will think you are in conflict with true science if you believe that it was. Is that true? Is our existence as the Bible describes it, or do we go with the thinking of many scientists? Or is it a case where they can both be right? As you may know, there’s ongoing debate about all of this.
Many people believe the World and the universe as we see it today came into existence over a period of billions of years or more. But what does the Bible tell us about that? Is it in conflict with that belief?
Exodus 20:11a
11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is,… [Emphasis added]
Someone may quickly retort that those “days” may refer to long periods of time. Is that true? In answer to that, let’s look at the context in which we find this statement in Scripture. Here we have a body of information and commands [a constitution] God gave Israel when they first became a nation.
Exodus 20:10-11
10 But the seventh day [clearly speaking of 24-hour days] is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
Here we see that God’s workweek runs parallel to ours today.
11 For in six days [still speaking of 24-hour 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. [Emphasis added]
So, when Moses wrote Exodus, was he wrong? If he was, then God is wrong because we know that it was God who gave Moses this information. Moses certainly wasn’t there when the creation occurred.
2 Timothy 3:16-17
16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God [THEOPNEUSTOS = literally – God-breathed], and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
17 That the man of God may be perfect [TELEIOS = complete or mature], thoroughly furnished unto all good works. [Emphasis added]
Isn’t the Exodus information God gave Moses talking about the weekly 24-hour Sabbath day? But some will claim we can’t trust the Bible on the things of science. Really? By what authority would someone say that? They have none!
The Bible teaches us that the creation was an act of God the Son, Jesus Christ.
Colossians 1:16
16 For by him [Jesus Christ is the antecedent in the passage] were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: [Emphasis added]
Jesus didn’t begin in a cradle in Bethlehem. He is eternal! He is God personified. His birth was simply His incarnation, His taking on of flesh.
John 1:1-3, 14
1 In the beginning [speaking of eternity past] was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 The same was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
All that seems plain to me. Then we have verse fourteen of that same passage.
14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us [speaking of Jesus Christ], (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. [Emphasis added]
The “Word” spoken of here is God. Always realize that His Word is not rejected because there’s no evidence to substantiate it, but because most people don’t want to believe it. They ignore true science to believe what they want to believe. They also prefer the approval of man over the approval of God.
John 12:43
43 For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God. [Emphasis added]
People have chosen not to believe all kinds of things that are discussed in the Bible, not just God’s work in creation. Here are a few of those items but the list is much longer—
—A young Earth of approximately 6,000 years
—The global flood in Noah’s day
—The virgin birth of Jesus Christ
—The multitude of miracles Jesus performed
—The resurrection of Christ three days after His death
—Christ will someday return to bring judgment upon the unbelieving
If I were an unbeliever, I wouldn’t want to believe these things either.
2 Peter 3:10
10 But the day of the Lord [in this case a reference to the occasion of His bodily return to the Earth] will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. [Emphasis added]
Please note that here we have another reference to the word, day. Here, too, it refers to a 24-hour day. It is agreed that this word isn’t always used this way in Scripture. But that’ll have to be a subject for another article. What is important to realize here is that the days spoken of in Genesis and elsewhere in relation to the creation are 24-hour days, not long periods of time. What may seem to be correct is not.
Proverbs 14:12
12 There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. [Emphasis added]
Then we have another passage that tells us the same thing. We surely must beware of this. Our authority must be the words spoken in the Bible.
Proverbs 16:25
25 There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. [Emphasis added]
We simply can’t trust human judgment, especially when it conflicts with the teaching of Scripture.
The fact of the matter is that if evolution is true, the Bible can’t be trusted. Furthermore, if Jesus Christ is not our Creator as the Bible tells us, He’s also not our Savior. That also can’t be relied upon. And if that’s the case, let us all eat, drink and be merry and not be concerned about what lies before us after death. But such is not the case! There IS “life” in some place for all of us beyond the grave. The issue before us all is where and how that time will be spent. For us as believers in the work Christ did to provide a way of salvation for us, we’ll be with the Lord Jesus Christ in Heaven.
2 Corinthians 5:1-8
1 For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle [our body] were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
2 For in this [our present body] we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house [our new resurrection body] which is from heaven:
3 If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.
4 For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.
5 Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.
This “earnest of the Spirit” can be thought of as God’s downpayment, guaranteeing that someday we’ll have a perfect resurrection body like that of Jesus Christ.
6 Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:
7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)
8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. [Emphasis added]
And where will He be? He is in this wonderful place called Heaven. It is there that we will get to live forever. And just as it only took our Lord a few days to create the world and space as we know it, think what He could be creating for us over a few thousand years. I’m completely convinced it is indescribable in human terms.
Conclusion—
Yes, the “days” of Genesis are 24-hour days! If the claims of Scripture can’t be trusted on that, we all must ask what else is in the Bible that should not be believed? Christ dying for our sins, His resurrection, His promise to someday provide a resurrection body for us as believers? If Genesis can’t be trusted, why should anyone believe all these other things given in the other 65 books of our Bible?
From the very beginning of human history, Satan has challenged God’s Word.
Genesis 3:1
1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? [Emphasis added]
There’s not a generation that goes by where this challenge to the authority of Scripture is not going on. We must never fall prey to it. The most important thing Satan works to hide from us is not this six-day creation, but the means for our salvation and entrance into Heaven.
2 Corinthians 4:3-4
3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
4 In whom the god of this world [Satan] hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. [Emphasis added]
In just six 24-hour days God did His work in creation just as it is told in the pages of Scripture.
