What is a Day?

Sorry no Youtube this week. Internet stopped in the middle of the recording.

What is a Day?

Genesis 1:1-13

Psalm 8

Genesis 1:14-25

Genesis 1:26-2:4a

What does the word day mean? It is interesting because depending on the context of how the word is used it can have very different meanings. We can say that it took a day to complete and this could mean a 24-hour period or could mean and 8 hour working day. One could say that back in their day things were different. In this case the word means a certain period of time in the past. We can say that the day has come that etc. and this has a whole different meaning than just time. We can also say that “one day” to refer to the past or the future. The English language can use the same word in different contexts to have different meanings. The same is true with the Hebrew language as well when we are translating the word for day into English. Context matters and has different meanings. Martin Luther found it most challenging to translate the Bible into German and have the same meaning and interpretations as it is written in the original manuscripts. Other translators have met the same challenge over time to do the same in the many languages that the Bible is translated in today. The interesting thing is that the Bible is the inspired Word of God. This means that even within different translations as long as it is translated from the original language, then we can have an accurate interpretation and context of all scripture and it therefore remains God breathed. The same is true in the book of Genesis and in its context and use of language specifically with the word ‘day.’

This word seems to have caused all kinds of controversy between the written word and of those who follow the world. People get so wrapped up in this word and those of the world will try to use this one word to fit it in a context that would argue in favor for what the world chooses to believe to be true. The foundation of all scripture and of our faith is found in Genesis chapter 1. Chapter one is where God tells us how He created everything. He brought everything into existence. He tells us that he created everything in the universe in 6 days and then rested from his work on the seventh. The problem we have though is that there are people who wish to hold on to the world and they will try to reinvent the context of scripture when it comes down to translating the meaning of the word day so that they can fit the world’s desire for evolution and billions of years to their faith. You see there are places in scripture that the word day, “Yom” in Hebrew can mean a long period of time just the same as the word can be used this way in English. Therefore, in order to fit their evolution agenda, they will say the in Genesis we cannot be sure what a day means. They therefore, try to say that a day for God could have been a million years and since we know that it is impossible for everything to be created in a one-week period. Therefore, God must have meant this when he was talking about a day. A day must have meant a very long time according to them of the world and because of this we then leave room open for us to believe that God cannot and could not create the whole universe in just 6, 24-hour days. They have been taught by the world that this is impossible and illogical.

There was a time in my life in which rather than trust and defend what the Bible says about creation, I tried to appease the world with this concept that just maybe time was different when God created everything. After all Peter tells us that a thousand years to us is like a day to God. So many Christians misuse the context of this scripture and somehow try to fit it in with Genesis therefore, appeasing the world’s belief that creation had to take a long period of time. Peter was explaining that God operates outside of time and is not bound by the limits of time as we are therefore, he is able to be patient with all of us. This does not give us license to modify our understanding of Genesis to appease the world. Romans 12:2 says, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” This means that if you once believed what the world believes about how everything came to be, now that you have faith in Christ you must stop conforming your life and faith to what the world believes and renew your mind to what the Word of God says as it is written.

I believe that God, knowing how language could be misused or reinterpreted, did everything he could to give us the information we need in Genesis to show us with out a doubt that he created the world and the universe in 6, 24-hour days as we understand them even today. The Word of God says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” This is important because the world would say that the beginning was a random explosion and a series of random accidents and events that put together all matter in the universe. However, the Bible says that an intelligent creator, God created the entire structure of the universe at the beginning. “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 he called ‘night.’” God defines for us what a day is in this sense of time by describing to us that light is day time and darkness is night time. Then God adds one more peace of information for us to tell us how long it took him to complete this task of creating light and then separating that light from darkness. It is interesting concept to think about that light had to be separated from darkness. God could have just made light and there could have been no darkness at all, however, he chose to separate the two to give us day time to see and work and night time to rest and sleep. Again, God tells us how long this task took by telling us that, “there was evening, and there was morning – the first day.” God did not say there was billions of years and finally he got these photons to work correctly to give the appearance of light and to separate itself from the darkness. He uses the word Yom in the context of one 24-hour day of evening to morning to complete that day.

God continues to define for us the time frame in which it takes him to create each new step of the world. On the second day he creates an expanse between the water below and above therefore creating an atmosphere and he defines that water above as the sky. Then on the third day he gathers the water all into one place and creates land and vegetation for that land with fruits and trees of various kinds. It isn’t until the fourth day that God decides to create something else for us to help us once again define a finite amount of time. He creates, the sun for us to see by day and the moon to see by night and the stars in the sky to mark certain times and seasons. Before that there was just light and darkness and now, he created something tangible to produce that light and darkness that we can observe and understand. So then once again God defines the amount of time this all took for creating this. He calls this the fourth day, and describes how long that day took by saying there was evening and morning.  

There are now 2 other days in which God creates all living creatures of the world and creates man in His image as the world was finally ready and put together for man. Once again, he defines the time periods it took him to created these things. Finally, there is one last thing that created. He created a seventh day. It was a day that completed the days of the week and we continue to measure time in this way since that day. Everything that God created was finished up to this point in 6, 24-hour days as he defines them and then on the seventh day, he creates a day of rest for himself for all of the hard work he had done. He separated the day out to be different than all of the other days. This is what it means when he says he has made the seventh day holy. It was made holy for himself and for Him alone.

So, if God has defined the amount of time it took for him to create everything that we know and understand today, then why is there any argument about how long a day was back then? It is because some of us lack the faith to believe in the possibility and power of God to do as he says he did. It just seems too big to be true to us. We can shape and create things ourselves and can only do so in the amount of time that it takes for us to do it. If it takes an entire week to build something then that is what it takes. We look at the complexity of creation though and realize that we could not create anything like this ourselves if we had billions of years to do so. So then how could God have thought of every little detail of cells, atoms, and systems to function so perfectly in just a matter of 6, 24-hour days. It is just too much for some of us to accept. However, the same God who raised Jesus from the dead also was able to do the more amazing thing of creation in 6 literal days.

The problem with appeasing to the world is that if we given to the world about the foundation of our existence then we will eventually be asked to give into to the foundation of our faith in Christ. If God is unnecessary for creation, then Christ becomes unnecessary for salvation. Do not be conformed to the patterns of this world because once you do, the Word of God no longer becomes the authority over you and it is then possible for you to lose your salvation. We cannot have it both ways. A day is a 24-hour day as God defines it and God created it according to His Word. Do not let someone give you the excuse that a day in Genesis can be defined by any different way. Do not allow yourself or others be conformed to the patterns of this world and still call yourselves Christ followers for this is truly impossible to exist according to the authoritative Word of God.