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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | How old is the earth? | Gen 1:1 | llaws | 158521 | ||
Ps. 119:130 “The opening of thy words giveth light; It giveth understanding unto the simple.” Being of infinite wisdom and power, who was himself before all time and all worlds, in the entrance into God's word gives this light.(both the physical and the "light" of understanding). The first verse of the Bible gives us a surer and better, a more satisfying and useful, knowledge of the origin of our universe, than all the volumes of the philosophers. It tells us in this self same verse that God created “light” by simply saying “heavens” because the “stars” are the major portion of this “heavens”. Creationists are wrong when they say “light” was created in a 24-hour period, say on the first day, or perhaps the 4th day? They too often say that the entire universe was created in six literal 24-hour days some 6,000 years ago. With teachings like this, they misrepresent the Bible, which says that God created the heavens and the earth “in the beginning”—at some unstated point (perhaps billions of years ago) before the more specific "creative days” began. (Genesis 1:1) Significantly, the Genesis account shows that the expression “day” is used in a flexible sense. At Genesis 2:4, the entire period of six days described in the preceding chapter is spoken of as only one day. Logically, these were, not literal days of 24 hours, but long periods of time. Each of these epochs evidently lasted thousands of years. |
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2 | How old is the earth? | Gen 1:1 | kalos | 158526 | ||
Does Genesis chapter 1 literally mean 24-hour days? 'The English word "day" can mean more than one thing. It can refer to the 24-hour period of time that it takes for the earth to rotate on it's axis (i.e. "there are 24-hours in a day"). It can refer to the period of daylight between dawn and dusk (i.e. "it gets pretty hot during the day but it cools down a bit at night"). And it can refer to an unspecified period of time (i.e. "back in my Grandfather's day..."). Likewise, the Hebrew word "yom" (which translates into the English "day") can mean more than one thing. It is used to refer to a 24-hour period in Genesis 7:11. It is used to refer to the period of daylight between dawn and dusk in Genesis 1:16. And it is used to refer to an unspecified period of time in Genesis 2:4. So what does it mean in Genesis 1:5-2:2 when it's used in conjunction with oridinal numbers (i.e. the "first day," the "second day," the "third day," the "forth day," the "fifth day," the "sixth day," and the "seventh day")? Are these 24-hour periods or something else? Could "yom" as it is used here mean an unspecified period of time? How can we tell? 'We can determine how "yom" should be interpreted in Genesis 1:5-2:2 simply by examining the context in which we find the word used and then comparing it's context with how we see its usage elsewhere throughout scripture. By doing this we let Scripture interpret itself. Ken Ham of Answers in Genesis wrote a good article on this. It's published at: www.answersingenesis.org/cec/ study_guides/answersSG2.pdf. Mr. Ham writes, "The Hebrew word for day (yom) is used 2301 times in the Old Testament. Outside of Genesis 1: Yom plus ordinal number (used 410 times) always indicates an ordinary day [i.e. a 24-hour period]. The words ‘evening’ and ‘morning’ together (38 times) always indicate an ordinary day. Yom plus ‘evening’ or ‘morning’ (23 times each) always indicates an ordinary day. Yom plus ‘night’ (52 times) always indicates an ordinary day." 'Now let’s look at the context in which we find the word "yom" used in Genesis 1:5-2:2... 'Day 1 - "And God called the light 'day' [yom] and the darkness he called 'night.' So the EVENING and the MORNING were the FIRST DAY [yom]." (Genesis 1:5) 'Day 2 - "So God called the firmament 'Heaven.' So the EVENING and the MORNING were the SECOND DAY [yom]." (Genesis 1:8) 'Day 3 - "So the EVENING and the MORNING were the THIRD DAY [yom]." (Genesis 1:13) 'Day 4 - "So the EVENING and the MORNING were the FOURTH DAY [yom]." (Genesis 1:19) 'Day 5 - "So the EVENING and the MORNING were the FIFTH DAY [yom]." (Genesis 1:23) 'Day 6 - "Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the EVENING and the MORNING were the SIXTH DAY [yom]." (Genesis 1:31) 'Day 7 - "Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. And on the SEVENTH DAY [yom] God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the SEVENTH DAY [yom] from all His work which He had done." (Genesis 2:1-2) 'I think its quite clear by the context that the Author of Genesis chapter 1 meant 24-hour periods. This was the standard interpretation up until the 1800s when a paradigm shift occurred within the scientific community and the Earth's sedimentary strata layers were reinterpreted. Whereas previously the rock layers were interpreted as evidence for Noah's flood, Noah's flood was thrown out by the scientific community and the rock layers were reinterpreted as evidence for an excessively old earth. Some well meaning but terribly mistaken Christians then sought to reconcile this new anti-Flood, ant-Bible interpretation with the Genesis 1 account by reinterpreting "yom" as meaning vast unspecified periods of time. This was a mistake. 'The truth is, the evidences in favor of Noah's flood and a young earth far outnumber those in favor of an old earth and many of the old earth interpretations are known to rely upon faulty assumptions. Unfortunately the scientific community is entrenched on the matter and apparently they refuse to change their minds despite the weight of evidence contrary to their currently accepted paradigm. But please don't let their stubborn refusal influence how you read your Bible! According to Exodus 20:9-11, God used six literal days to create the world in order to serve as a model for man's work week. Work six days, rest one. Rest assured, God could have created everything in an instant if He wanted to. But apparently He had us in mind even before He made us (on the sixth day) and wanted to provide an example for us to follow.' ____________________ www.gotquestions.org/Genesis-days.html |
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3 | How old is the earth? | Gen 1:1 | llaws | 158555 | ||
True the Bible doesn't specify the length of each of the creative periods. Yet all six of them have ended, it being said with respect to the sixth day (as in the case of each of the preceding five days): “And there came to be evening and there came to be morning, a sixth day.” (Ge 1:31) However, this statement is not made regarding the seventh day, on which God proceeded to rest, indicating that it continued. (Ge 2:1-3) Also, more than 4,000 years after the seventh day, or God’s rest day, commenced, Paul indicated that it was still in progress. At Hebrews 4:1-11 he referred to the earlier words of David (Ps 95:7, 8, 11) and to Genesis 2:2 and urged: “Let us therefore do our utmost to enter into that rest.” By the apostle’s time, the seventh day had been continuing for thousands of years and had not yet ended. The Thousand Year Reign of Jesus Christ, who is Scripturally identified as “Lord of the sabbath” (Mt 12:8), is evidently part of the great sabbath, God’s rest day. (Re 20:1-6) This would indicate the passing of thousands of years from the commencement of God’s rest day to its end. The week of days set forth at Genesis 1:3 to 2:3, the last of which is a sabbath, seems to parallel the week into which the Israelites divided their time, observing a sabbath on the seventh day thereof, in keeping with the divine will. (Ex 20:8-11) And, since the seventh day has been continuing for thousands of years, it may reasonably be concluded that each of the six creative periods, or days, was at least thousands of years in length. | ||||||