Plants have somehow managed to survive a night in my exposure.
True. And the ‘day is like a 1000 years to the Lord’ is misinterpreted - Peter is simply saying God is outside Time when it comes to His long-term plan and long-suffering for Man.
-So you accept the biblical version of one earth day (one rotation) between the creation of the Sun on "day 4"; which would be one earth rotation *after* the creation of plant life on "day 3"?
Putting aside the completely illogical fallacy that God created the Sun one earth rotation after He created vegetation, consider this thought:
-If you built a house, would you frame up the walls before pouring the concrete foundation? -because that's the order of creation as presented in Genesis 1:
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From Genesis chapter 1:
11 Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so.
12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
13 And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.
14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years,
15 and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so.
16 God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars.
17 God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth,
18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good.
19 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.
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This is really BAD science.