Was Earth Really Created In Six Days?

God said He made the earth in six days, and then He rested on the seventh day. Some people will say that the six days of creation could have been millions of years, not literal days. That’s not what the Bible says. Having a correct understanding on the subject of creation is crucial to every believer’s faith, and their understanding of God’s Word.

If we don’t believe that God wrote creation occurred in six literal days, when it’s written clearly and specifically, what else in the Bible will we consider figurative? What else will we determine is not literal in meaning? This kind of thinking undermines the entire Bible. This is what the Bible says:

Genesis 1:5 And the evening and the morning were the first day. This clarifies a day being literally 24 hours – evening and morning. This is repeated seven times.

Genesis 2:2 And the seventh day God ended his work which he had made. God tells us that it took seven days. He didn’t say seven eons of time. Then God tells us again, and compares His working for six days and resting the seventh, to how man should live, working for six, and resting the seventh.

Repeated again:

Exodus 20:11 Six days shalt thou labor…For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them.

Exodus 31:15 Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord. 

Repeated again in the New Testament:

Hebrews 4:3-4 The works were finished from the foundation of the world; for God did rest the seventh day from all his works.

John D. Morris, Ph.D explains in his book, The Young Earth, page 29, “Why did He take six days? The answer is, to provide a pattern for our workweek. We are to work six days and rest one, just as He did. The seventh day rest is a commemoration of His perfect work of creation.” 

Dr. Morris also said, “If words mean anything, and if God can write clearly, then creation occurred in six solar days, just like our days. Furthermore, when the plural form of yom is used, yamim, as it is over 700 times in the Old Testament, including Exodus 20:11, it always means a literal, solar day.” 

Dr. Morris also quoted Jim Stambaugh, theologian, in the ICR newsletter, Acts and Facts Impact, article No. 184, “When the Hebrew word yom is modified by a number, such as “six days” or the ‘third day’ (as it is some 359 times in the Old Testament outside of Genesis 1) it always means a literal day” (page 28).

Henry Morris in his book, Defending the Faith, page 66,  “The biblical record says that God created the universe and everything in it in six days, then rested on the seventh day. This fact is stated explicitly, not only in the first chapter of the Bible, but also in the fourth of God’s Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:8-11). It could not be said any more plainly.” 

Believer’s Bible Commentary, page 33 states, “No scientific evidence has ever refuted the concept that they were literal solar days. The expression, “the evening and the morning” points to 24-hour days.”

MacArthur Bible Commentary, page 9, “God established a pattern of creation in seven days which constituted a complete week…evening and morning…this cannot mean an age, but only a day reckoned by the Jews from sunset to sunset (vv. 8,13,19,23,31). Day with numerical adjectives in Hebrew always refers to a twenty-four hour period.”

Josh McDowell and Don Stewart say in their book Reasons,”page 36, “To interpret figuratively we must find a good reason in the passage to justify doing this…The words of a given text should be interpreted literally if possible.”

The reason many Christians, and even some Christian scientists, believe in six eons of time is because it seems more rational and acceptable to the evolutionists. It is a more convenient belief for scientists who support an old earth creation scenario.

Do we compromise the truth of God’s Word in order to be more tolerant of a secular worldview? No. We must take the Bible literally, and not attempt to make up our own belief to suit those who cannot grasp God’s ability.

God says what He means, and He said earth was created in six days. 

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By Bill Wiese, author of 23 Minutes in Hell