Biblical Defense of Long Creation Days
by Rich Deem

Introduction

Many young-earth creationists say that day-age interpretation model of Genesis is based more upon scientific evidence than biblical interpretation. However, every concept promoted by the day-age interpretation is based upon the Bible. Many of the concepts can be found in the creation accounts found in books other than Genesis. The Bible reminds us that all scripture must be interpreted on the basis of the entire Bible, and not just one isolated passage. Let's examine some of the challenges to the day-age interpretation and see if they are valid or not.

It is important to distinguish between what the Bible says and what we think it says. At one time Christians claimed that the Bible declared that the Earth was at the center of our Solar System and universe (the position of the Roman Catholic Church through the 16th century). The Roman Catholic Church cited scripture to "prove" that the Earth was the center of the Solar System and universe. We (Christians) look back at these scriptural "proofs" as merely interpretations of scripture that were not valid. In fact, the Bible says that the earth is controlled by the heavens and not the other way around (Job 38:33). Likewise, we must be cautious not to make our interpretations of scripture the equivalent of scripture. They aren't. I am not going to claim that my interpretation is the only possible valid interpretation or that I am above being wrong in my interpretation. However, I do believe that my interpretation of Genesis is the most reasonable, both in terms of scripture (based upon all the creation verses in the Old and New Testament) and the record of nature.

 What is this "frame of reference" in the Day-Age interpretation of Genesis?

The day-age interpretation of Genesis is based upon the frame of reference mentioned at the beginning of the account (Genesis 1:2). Although it seems trivial, every inductive study of the Bible begins with establishing a frame of reference. One must first determine who the author is, who he is communicating with, and what is being said. However, many young-earth interpretations of Genesis (also those presented by atheists) begin with the assumption that the frame of reference of Genesis 1 is in the heavens or somewhere above the earth. Obviously, this is not what the text says. It is the personal God of Christianity who came to Earth to specially prepare the planet and create life on it. Yes, God could have created life on earth without actually visiting the earth. However, the God of Christianity is a personal God who is personally involved with His creation and the creatures He loves.

Now, let us look at a passage of the Bible and attempt to analyze it without establishing the frame of reference. We could take any passage, but let's look at Genesis 19:8. The passage says that it is okay for men to do "anything" to virgin daughters but not okay to commit those acts with other men. Is this what the Bible teaches? We need to establish the frame of reference. Who is making this statement and does this represent God's views? What is the context? What does the rest of the Bible say about the topic in question. You can see that if we fail to establish the frame of reference, we can (and probably will - as the cults do) interpret the Bible anyway we wish.

Progressive Creation

The day-age interpretation has been described as being "progressive creation" as if that term is contrary to the Bible. In fact, no matter how you interpret the Genesis creation account, God created progressively. Whether God created and populated the Earth using 24 hour days or long periods of time, He did not create everything instantaneously. Young-earth proponents suggest that for God to take millions of years to create and prepare the Earth somehow limits His power. What they fail to appreciate is that God's timeframe is not the same as ours. Both the Bible and modern science say that God must be eternal and operate in at least two dimensions of time. The Bible clearly states that with God a day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as a day (Psalm 90:4 and 2 Peter 3:8). God's power is in no way limited because He took billions of years to create the universe. Since He can move forward and backward in time, He probably wasn't sitting back and twiddling His thumbs during that time. I suspect He has spent billions of years (relative to our time) listening to the prayers and petitions of billions of people who have inhabited the Earth throughout history.

Yom Refers to 24 hour days only?

Scriptural examples of where the Hebrew word yom refers to a long period of time

Scriptural Reference	Period of Time	Verses
Genesis 2:4	6 "days"	This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made earth and heaven. (Genesis 2:4)
Genesis 2:16-17, 5:5	900+ years	And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die." (Genesis 2:16-17) So all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years, and he died. (Genesis 5:5)
Daniel 8:26	3000+ years	"And the vision of the evenings and mornings which has been told is true; but keep the vision secret, for it pertains to many days in the future." (Daniel 8:26)
Genesis 2:2, Hebrews 4:4-11	6000+ years	The seventh day of Genesis is not closed. In all other days, "there is the morning and the evening, the n day." And by the seventh day God completed His work which He had done; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. (Genesis 2:2) In the book of Hebrews, the author tells us to labor to enter into God's seventh day of rest, which continues to this day. By any calculation, God's seventh day of rest has been at least 6,000 years long:  For He has thus said somewhere concerning the seventh day, "And God rested on the seventh day from all His works"... Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall through following the same example of disobedience. (Hebrews 4:4-11)

For more information, see the page, Biblical Evidence for Long Creation Days

The Hebrew word yom combined with an ordinal always refers to a 24 hour day

This is a common claim that can be found on nearly every young earth site. However, the claim is false. Zechariah 14:7 contains the word yom combined with an ordinal (number one, echad), exactly as seen in Genesis 1:5.

And God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day [echad yom]. (Genesis 1:5)

For it will be a unique day [echad yom] which is known to the LORD, neither day nor night, but it will come about that at evening time there will be light. (Zechariah 14:7)

However, the context of Zechariah indicates that the day in question will last at least through summer and winter (Zechariah 14:8), which is obviously longer than 24 hours. See page Does the Bible Say God Created the Universe in Six 24-Hour Days? for more examples.

Death, Pain, bloodshed before the fall

The Young-Earth interpretation states that the process of survival of the fittest and that death, violence, pain, fear, suffering, are evil. If God did not create these, who did? My Bible says God created everything (Genesis. 1:31, Nehemiah. 9:6, Isaiah 44:24, John 1:3, Mark 13:19, Colossians 1:16, Ephesians 3:9, Revelation 4:11). In fact, the Bible says specifically that God created carnivores on day 6. There are those who think that Satan turned God's perfect creation into the current "mess" it is in. I have a real problem with this theology, since 1) it attributes creative ability to Satan (who is a deceiver) and 2) says that God is not powerful enough to have stopped it.

Actually, although scripture says that God's creation was "very good", it does not say there was no "violence, pain, fear, suffering, or death." In fact, scripture says that there was death, mourning, crying, and pain before the fall. This can be seen in part from the curse given to the woman as a result of Eve's sin:

 To the woman He said, "I will greatly multiply Your pain in childbirth, In pain you shall bring forth children; Yet your desire shall be for your husband, And he shall rule over you." (Genesis 3:16)

 You will notice that God multiplies the pain, but that childbirth was already to have been associated with pain. The presence of pain before the fall is confirmed in the book of Revelation:

 "and He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there shall no longer be any death; there shall no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away." (Revelation 21:4)

This verse tells us that death, mourning, crying and pain are some of the "first things." the Greek words translated "first things" is "prwtos prwtos" which would literally be translated "first first" being actually repeated for emphasis.

Pain, in itself is not evil, but necessary for humans and animals. If we never felt pain, we would occasionally inflict great damage on ourselves. Most people, when they touch a hot object move their hand away from the object rather quickly. If we had no pain receptors, we probably wouldn't move our hand until we smelled the smoke of charred flesh. This is obviously not good. Therefore pain is a good thing in this life. In the new creation there will be no pain, since entropy, the leading, if not only, cause of pain will be eliminated.

The Bible doesn't say why the Earth was dark in Genesis 1:2

Young-earth creationists say that the Day-Age interpretation assumes the Earth was dark because of clouds and gases only from what scientists have said, because Genesis doesn't say why the surface of the oceans was dark. However, one of the first rules of interpretation of scripture is that no scripture is interpreted independently of the rest of scripture. God's own words to Job tell us why the Earth was dark:

"Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding... Or who enclosed the sea with doors, When, bursting forth, it went out from the womb; when I made a cloud its garment, and thick darkness its swaddling band, (Job 38:4-9)

The Bible not only tells us that the Earth was dark during its infancy, but it tells us why the Earth was dark - it was covered with thick clouds - something that science confirms.

Biblical genealogies require that Adam was created on or about 4004 B.C.

James Ussher and John Lightfoot took the genealogies of Genesis and used them to calculate the date of Adam's creation. In fact, Lightfoot went so far as to announce not only the year, but the month day and time of day! In doing this, both men made two assumptions. First, they assumed that the genealogies were complete and exhaustive. Second, they assumed that the English translations (citing "father of" and "son of") are accurate. Both assumptions are provably false. There are provable gaps in the biblical genealogies, along with differences in the number of generations between the different genealogies listed in the Bible. For example, look at the genealogies of Matthew compared to that found in 1 Chronicles:

As can be seen, Matthew's genealogy leaves out at least three generations, Ahaziah, Joash, and Amaziah. In contrast, Luke adds a generation (Cainan) to the genealogy of Shem:

Therefore, it seems likely that the Genesis genealogies represent the highlights of biblical genealogies, and not necessarily an exhaustive list.

In addition, the Hebrew word, ab (father) can have the meaning "grandfather," "great-grandfather," etc., and ben can have the meaning "grandson, "great-grandson," etc (Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament). There are specific examples where ab clearly refers to a family line:

• Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. His brother's name was Jubal; he was the father of all those who play the lyre and pipe. (Genesis 4:20-21)
• Also to Shem, the father of all the children of Eber, and the older brother of Japheth, children were born. (Genesis 10:21)
• "As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, And you will be the father of a multitude of nations. (Genesis 17:4)
• The firstborn bore a son, and called his name Moab; he is the father of the Moabites to this day. (Genesis 19:37)
• As for the younger, she also bore a son, and called his name Ben-ammi; he is the father of the sons of Ammon to this day. (Genesis 19:38)

In this instance, it is clear that "father" refers to the patriarch of a line. Hebrew has no word for grandfather or grandson. Therefore, verses that are commonly translated as father and son could be translated as follows:

The provable existence of gaps in the biblical genealogies and the use of ab to designate a line of descendents makes it entirely likely that Adam could have been created 10's of thousands of years ago. The Bible itself states that the covenant and laws of God have been proclaimed to a "thousand generations" (Deuteronomy 7:9, 1 Chronicles 16:15, Psalm 105:8). The Bible does not give 1000 genealogies, so one must assume that those given are only highlights of the actual genealogies. Since the Bible declares that there have been 1,000 generations, even if a generation is considered to be 20 years, this adds up to at least 20,000 years. A biblical generation is often described as being 40 years, which would represent at least 40,000 years. However, since the first dozen or more generations were nearly 1,000 years, this would make humans nearly 50,000 years old, which agrees very well with dates from paleontology and molecular biology (see Descent of Mankind Theory: Disproved by Molecular Biology). For more information, see The Genesis Genealogies: Are They Complete?

Genesis 3 indicates that snakes were cursed and lost their legs at the Fall

The New Testament makes it clear that the "snake" of Genesis 3 is none other than Satan:

And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, (Revelation 20:2)

In particular, Genesis 3:15 (the curse on the snake) has been interpreted as a Messianic prophecy:

And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel." (Genesis 3:15)

The seed of the woman is Jesus Christ, who was bruised on the heel at the cross, but will deliver the mortal blow to Satan at the judgment. This interpretation is supported by the rabbinical writings of the Jews:

And I will put enmity between thee and the WOMAN, and between the seed of thy sons, and between the SEED of her sons; and shall be when the sons of the WOMAN keep the commandments of the LAW. Thou wilt be prepared to smite thee on thy HEAD; but if they forsake ;the commandments of the LAW, thou wilt be prepared to wound them in the heel. Nevertheless for them there shall be a MEDICINE; and they shall make a REMEDY for the heel in the days of the KING MESHIHA (Targum Palestine, Targum Jerusalem)

And I will put enmity between thee and between the WOMAN, and between thy son and her SON. HE will remember thee and what thou didst to HIM from (at) the beginning, and thou shalt be observant unto HIM at the end." (Targum Onkelos)

Therefore, it seems that the curse of the serpent does not necessarily apply to all snakes, but probably just to the snake called Satan. In addition, the curse is pronounced upon the one snake. Never is a plural indicated nor that the "kind" (Hebrew min) would be cursed.

Marriage began at the beginning of the creation

Mark 10:6 says that God created male and female humans at the beginning of the creation:

"But from the beginning of creation, God MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE. (Mark 10:6)

However, if you look at Genesis 1, it says quite clearly that mankind was not created at the beginning of creation, but not until the end of creation - on the sixth day. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. So did Jesus forget how He created the universe and life on earth?

Actually, there is a quite simple explanation for the verse. One will notice that the verse is never quoted in context (Mark 10:2-9). Why do you think young earth creationists might do this? Jesus is talking about marriage. The Greek word, ktisis, translated "creation" has several other translations. Here is what my lexicon says:

G2937. ktisis, from G2936; creation (the act or the product):-- created thing(1), creation(14), creature(3), institution(1).

Jesus is simply explaining that the institution of marriage was commanded from the beginning of the very first two creatures. It makes no sense to translate the word "creation," since it makes the statement of Jesus false. The verse really has no bearing on the age of creation. Those who insist that it does make Jesus into a liar.

Doesn't Exodus 20:8-11 indicate that the days of the week correspond to the days of the creation week?

The ten commandments tell us to keep the Sabbath (Saturday) holy and to not work on that day (Exodus 20:8-11). Observant Jews follow this commandment today, often observing elaborate rules in order to not perform any work. The commandment goes on to compare the six days of our labor to the six days God used to create the heavens and earth. Some Christians say that a comparison of the two weeks means that they both represent seven 24-hour days. It seems like a good argument until one looks at other Sabbaths.

However, God also declared a Sabbath for the land, which consists of six years of cultivation followed by a seventh year of rest:

"Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, 'When you come into the land which I shall give you, then the land shall have a sabbath to the LORD. Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its crop, but during the seventh year the land shall have a sabbath rest, a sabbath to the LORD; you shall not sow your field nor prune your vineyard.'" (Leviticus 25:2-4)

This text establishes the principle of six periods of work followed by one period of rest. And in this case, the "days" are one year long.

As Christians, we recognize that man's Sabbath week represents the one in seven principle, since we do not rest or devote the actual Sabbath day (Saturday) to worship, but usually do so on the first day of the week (Sunday, the Lord's day). If we insist upon taking this verse concretely, we would have to start worshipping on Saturday only.

Some have asked, "If God is referring to each creation day in this passage and each day was not a 24-hour period, when then would the 7th day be? How would we know at what point to worship Him if each day was an unspecified amount of time?" Actually, if you read the creation account, there is no reference to the end of the seventh day. On every other day, there is "evening and morning, day 'n'." Not so on the seventh day. In fact, Hebrews tells us that the seventh day continues into the present:

For He has said somewhere concerning the seventh day: "AND GOD RESTED ON THE SEVENTH DAY FROM ALL HIS WORKS"; (Hebrews 4:4)
Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience. (Hebrews 4:11)

We cannot enter God's seventh day of rest unless it continues to this day, since we were not alive during the first 24 hours after the sixth day. If God's seventh day of rest was 24 hours long, than the author of Hebrews is telling us to do something that is impossible. This is just another example of the problem of assigning each creation day to 24 hours.

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Related Pages

• Does the Bible Say God Created the Universe in Six 24-Hour Days?
• Is the Young-Earth Interpretation Biblical?
• The Literal Interpretation of the Genesis One Creation Account
• Genesis One and the Age of the Earth: What does the Bible say?
• Genesis Clearly Teaches that the Days Were NOT 24 Hours
• The Genesis Genealogies: Are They Complete?
• Appearance of Age - A Young Earth Problem
• No Death Before the Fall - A Young Earth Problem
• Plants Don't Die According to Young Earth Creationists
• Was Evil and Suffering a Result of Adam's Sin?
• Day-Age Genesis One Interpretation
• Biblical Evidence for Long Creation Days
• Did God Create Carnivores on Day 6?
• A Biblical Case for Old-Earth Creationism

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References

1. "Do you know the ordinances of the heavens, or fix their rule over the earth?" (Job 38:33)
2. And the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. (Genesis 1:2)
3. "Now behold, I have two daughters who have not had relations with man; please let me bring them out to you, and do to them whatever you like; only do nothing to these men, inasmuch as they have come under the shelter of my roof." (Genesis 19:8)
4. For a thousand years in Thy sight Are like yesterday when it passes by, Or as a watch in the night. (Psalm 90:4)
5. But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. (2 Peter 3:8)
6. And it will come about in that day that living waters will flow out of Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and the other half toward the western sea; it will be in summer as well as in winter. (Zechariah 14:8)
7. And God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. (Genesis 1:31)
   "Thou alone art the LORD. Thou hast made the heavens, The heaven of heavens with all their host, The earth and all that is on it, The seas and all that is in them. Thou dost give life to all of them And the heavenly host bows down before Thee. (Nehemiah 9:6)
   Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, and the one who formed you from the womb, "I, the LORD, am the maker of all things, Stretching out the heavens by Myself, And spreading out the earth all alone, (Isaiah 44:24)
   All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. (John 1:3)
   "For those days will be a time of tribulation such as has not occurred since the beginning of the creation which God created, until now, and never shall. (Mark 13:19)
   For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities-- all things have been created by Him and for Him. (Colossians 1:16)
   and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God, who created all things; (Ephesians 3:9)
   "Worthy art Thou, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for Thou didst create all things, and because of Thy will they existed, and were created." (Revelation 4:11)
8. Harris, R.L., G.L. Archer, and B.K. Wilke. 1980. Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, Vol. 1. Moody Press, Chicago, IL, pp. 5-6, 113-114.
9. "Know therefore that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments;" (Deuteronomy 7:9)
   Remember His covenant forever, The word which He commanded to a thousand generations, (1 Chronicles 16:15)
   He has remembered His covenant forever, The word which He commanded to a thousand generations, (Psalm 105:8)
10. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1)
11. Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. And God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day. (Genesis 1:3-5)
12. Then the LORD God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die." (Genesis 2:15-17)
13. but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die." (Genesis 2:17)
    Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned (Romans 5:12)
14. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made. (Genesis 2:3)
    For He has thus said somewhere concerning the seventh day, "AND GOD RESTED ON THE SEVENTH DAY FROM ALL HIS WORKS"; (Hebrews 4:4)
15. Abel, on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and for his offering (Genesis 4:4)
16. Every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you; I give all to you, *as I gave the green plant. (Genesis 9:3)
17. Then God said, "Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens." (Genesis 1:20)
18. Then the LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him." (Genesis 2:18)
19. To the woman He said, "I will greatly multiply Your pain in childbirth, In pain you shall bring forth children; Yet your desire shall be for your husband, And he shall rule over you." (Genesis 3:16)
20. but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away. (1 Corinthians 13:10)
    For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 1:6)
    But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; (Hebrews 9:11)
21. Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Indeed, has God said, 'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden'?" (Genesis 3:1)
22. "and He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there shall no longer be any death; there shall no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away." (Revelation 21:4)
23. And the city is laid out as a square, and its length is as great as the width; and he measured the city with the rod, fifteen hundred miles; its length and width and height are equal. (Revelation 21:16)
24. "No longer will you have the sun for light by day, Nor for brightness will the moon give you light; But you will have the LORD for an everlasting light, And your God for your glory. "Your sun will set no more, Neither will your moon wane; For you will have the LORD for an everlasting light, And the days of your mourning will be finished. (Isaiah 60:19-20)
    And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine upon it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. (Revelation 21:23)
    And there shall no longer be any night; and they shall not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God shall illumine them; and they shall reign forever and ever. (Revelation 22:5)
25. Note: Atheists often use this argument to "prove" the God does not exist (a perfect God could not create an imperfect universe). However, the Bible clearly states that the universe was designed to be temporary and will be replaced by a new, perfect universe (Isaiah 60, Revelation 21).
26. And some Pharisees came up to Him, testing Him, and began to question Him whether it was lawful for a man to divorce a wife. And He answered and said to them, "What did Moses command you?" And they said, "Moses permitted a man TO WRITE A CERTIFICATE OF DIVORCE AND SEND her AWAY." But Jesus said to them, "Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. "But from the beginning of creation, God MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE. "FOR THIS CAUSE A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH; consequently they are no longer two, but one flesh. "What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate." And in the house the disciples began questioning Him about this again. And He said to them, "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her; and if she herself divorces her husband and marries another man, she is committing adultery." (Mark 10:2-12)
27. "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. "Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. "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; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and made it holy. (Exodus 20:8-11)

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