A lot can happen in six days. And a lot did happen in six days when God created the universe and the earth. Exodus 20:11 states, “For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but He rested on the seventh day.” Yet today there are many people that challenge this account as inaccurate? Is God inaccurate?
Six days is a relatively short period of time compared to the eons of time the secular worldview postulates that it took for everything to evolve. Evolution is presented as a fact and in order to facilitate it, the earth is portrayed to be 4.5 billion years old. If you ask Google how old the universe is, the answer will be 13.7 billion years with an uncertainty of only 200 million years. So it is no wonder that most people have difficulty with the notion of a young earth and the biblical view that God created the heavens and the earth in six days.
Genesis is viewed as allegory by some, an outright fairy tale by others and those who interpret the creation account as six literal days are usually in the minority. “Young earthers” are often dismissed as misinformed and lumped in with “flat earthers” and scoffed at for their lack of understanding. Conversations among theistic evolutionists, old earth creationists and young earth creationists can be both spirited and damaging, causing one’s faith to come into question.
Many believe there is no consequence to buying into evolutionary theory while touting Christ as their savior. Although we are saved by grace through faith, I believe our worldview can be detrimental to our faith and our perception of who God is, if we place the wisdom of man over the authority of scripture.
When we adopt a literal interpretation of scripture, we recognize that all prophecies that have been fulfilled, have come to fruition literally. The more than 360 predictions about Jesus Christ’s birth, life, death and resurrection were all fulfilled as actual historical events. In order to be consistent in our exegesis, a literal examination of scripture is essential otherwise errors in interpretation cannot be held accountable. Claims that the return of Jesus has already occurred qualified by the caveat that He only returned “spiritually” as some religions teach, are a case in point.
A Hebrew Perspective
Applying this understanding to the creation narrative of Genesis 1 and 2 gives a much deeper appreciation of the omnipotence of God and His methodologies in the six days of creation. The Torah is and always has been fundamental to the very fabric of Hebrew life. Investigating the Hebrew language used in scripture and understanding the cultural nuances of Hebraic society and Judaism help bring insight to the true intent of the Genesis account.
Each day of creation in the narrative was marked by the distinction of evening and morning before the next day commenced. This is the Hebrew format for measuring days that portrays the evening as the beginning of the first 12 hours of a day and morning as the beginning of the second 12 hours, and this basic premise is still applied to the Hebraic or Jewish comprehension for a 24 hour day.
The Sabbath day begins Friday evening in Jewish culture today, just as it did in the first century, and lasts until Saturday evening. When Jesus was crucified along with two criminals, the Jews did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, so they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down (John 19:31). By breaking the legs of a crucified person, they would no longer be able to support themselves and would quickly asphyxiate as they hung by their arms. Christ’s crucifixion occurred on the day of preparation (the day before the Sabbath), and John declares the testimony is true (John 19:35).
The text of Genesis illustrates the days as being subject to God in the same pattern as the order of creation, being darkness and light. God created the heavens and the earth from nothing. The Hebrew word “bara” is used, which means to create from nothing. Darkness was everywhere. This is not to be confused with spiritual darkness since the context here is the physical creation of everything.
Integral to our understanding is the fact that even darkness was created by God, since Genesis 1:2 tells us that when the earth was created it was dark, formless and empty. At God’s command, and through His “bara” all things came into existence, including darkness. Isaiah 45:7 confirms this truth. “I form the light and create darkness,”
Genesis 1:3-5 tells us, “And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. God called the light ‘day,’ and the darkness ‘night.’” The Hebrew word vayomeir is used in verse three, which means commanded. So God commanded “Be light,” and light was.
God commands creation. All things are subordinate to Him and when He speaks, everything “becomes.” Therefore, the days and the nights of creation are subject to God. Interestingly, the Hebrew text lists the days as: yom shinee, yom sh’lishee, yom re’vee’ee, yom chameeshee, yom sheeshee, and Shabbat. Day one, day two, day three, day four, day five, day six and Sabbath. The days of the week are still referred to in this regard in modern Hebrew.
Both ancient and modern Hebrew readers comprehend the days as literal, 24 hour days comprising a week. There is no implication of undetermined periods of time between the days nor is there the allusion of the days themselves being extended periods of time. This truth is reiterated by Moses in Exodus 20:11. “For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but He rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”
When the creation was complete, including making man in His own image, “God saw all that He had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning – the sixth day.” (Genesis 1:31). The second chapter of Genesis begins with the statement, “Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing; so on the seventh day He rested from all His work.”
It is noteworthy that the work of creation was finished in six days, needing nothing more to make it complete. There was no need for an evolutionary process to improve upon what God had made. To the contrary, God saw what He had made and said that it was very good. Any attempts to apply a scientific explanation to God’s handiwork ultimately fail to grasp the magnitude of God. “For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight.” (1 Corinthians 3:19a).
Eisegesis Errors
Eisegesis is defined as the interpretation of a Biblical text by reading into it one’s own ideas. The context of how the original text was intended to be understood through a Hebrew lens leaves no room for conjecture regarding the length of the creation event. All was completed in six literal days. Attempts to impose “a day with the Lord is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day,” logic into the creation narrative simply do not fit.
If each day of creation were a thousand years, it is nonsensical to think that God would rest for a thousand years on the seventh day. God spoke everything into existence and called it good. There was no need for extra time to allow things to develop through natural processes.
Jesus taught that Adam and Eve were created “in the beginning” (Mark 10:6). He did not say they were made five thousand years after the beginning, when the heavens and the earth were created. He didn’t even say they were created “near” the beginning. Furthermore, Jesus conveyed the writings of Moses at face value (John 5:45) and in a Hebraic context. He recognized the Law of Moses as authoritative, which stipulates the Sabbath is 24 hours long.
Science cannot attempt to explain supernatural phenomenon of which the creation event is one. If one cannot accept that an omnipotent God could create the heavens and the earth and everything in them in six literal days, then how can they accept the parting of the Red Sea, the virgin birth or the resurrection of Jesus Christ? God’s revelation of Himself to mankind is as supernatural as God Himself.
The apostle Paul can be considered a credible authority on scripture. He was from the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrews’ Hebrew and an educated Pharisee (Philippians 3:5). He studied under Gamaliel who was a renowned teacher of the Torah (Acts 22:3). Paul declares in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, “All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
There are many mysteries that the natural man cannot comprehend and yet they are the very foundation of the Christian faith. It is a belief founded in faith and if our faith be authentic we must unequivocally reject man’s attempts to explain the beginning of all things through natural processes and perspectives. Paul concisely sums up the concept of faith in Romans 3:3-4, “What if some did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God’s faithfulness? Not at all! Let God be true and every man be a liar.”
