Q: In Genesis, how is the word “day” understood in relation to time and other uses of the word day? —Karl
A: Genesis 1 tells us that God made the heavens and earth in just 6 days. While God is certainly able to create anything and everything in an instant, there is disagreement among Bible scholars (even among very godly evangelical Bible-believing scholars) whether the “days” in Genesis 1 are literal 24-hour periods or vast periods of time. A literal 24-hour period is implied by words like, “And evening passed and morning came, marking the first day,” etc. (Genesis 1:5,8,13,19,23,31). But the scientific evidence suggests that the universe and the earth are billions of years old.
In the Bible, the word “day” is used in 2 senses: i) a literal 24-hour period ii) a long (unspecified) period of time. For example, our Lord Jesus spoke of a literal 24-hour period when He said, “There are twelve hours of daylight every day” (John 11:9). And yet elsewhere Jesus also spoke of “day” in a non-literal sense to refer to the time of his own earthly ministry. “As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me” (John 9:4, NIV).
The OT prophets and the NT writers often used “day” symbolically, referring to a long period of time, speaking of Christ’s 2nd Coming and his 1000 year rule on earth collectively as “the Day of the Lord” (eg. Isaiah 13:6, Ezekiel 30:3, Joel 1:15, Amos 5:18, Malachi 4:5, Acts 2:20, 1 Thessalonians 5:2, 2 Thessalonians 2:2, 2 Peter 3:10, Hebrews 10:25). In fact, the apostle Peter reminded us, “But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day” (2 Peter 3:8).
Sound, godly men and outstanding theologians and thinkers (such as Augustus Strong, Louis Sperry Chafer, Scofield, Oliver Buswell, Francis Schaeffer, Millard J. Erickson) may hold different views regarding the length of the creation days, but they chose not to be dogmatic about their views, simply because from a study of the Bible itself, the word “day” is used literally and symbolically.
By the way, Dr. MR DeHaan, founding president of RBC Ministries taught both an old earth and six literal 24-hour days of creation—the universe was created recently, but God created a universe that appears to be billions of years old. —K.T. Sim
Feel free to submit a “you choose Q” to ODJ by using the contact us form on the home page!
daisymarygoldr on February 1, 2012 at 8:14 pm
If “day” was a long (unspecified period) of time, then:
– Genesis 1:14 should read as: “… seasons, long (unspecified period) of time, years”.
– The fourth commandment would tell people to do work for six long (unspecified period) of time and then rest for another long (unspecified period) of time.
– And how about “A long (unspecified period) of time is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a long (unspecified period) of time.
Makes no sense.
Therefore, in Genesis the word “day” is a literal 24-hour period. In 2 Peter 3:8, the word “day” is a literal 24-hour period. Otherwise it could not be compared with a thousand years.
So, a 24-hour period of our “day” on earth is like a thousand years to the Lord because He is outside time. Time is irrelevant to God the Creator but He appointed it for finite creatures to function in a timely and orderly manner.
In specifically stating that He made the heavens and the earth in six days, God did not intend for us to calculate the age of the universe just like we are not to calculate the date of Christ’s return.
marilynmk on February 2, 2012 at 1:53 am
1 day is a thousand years to GOD.