Replies

When the Bible says that G-d created the world in seven days, is that really seven days?

When God gave the Ten Commandments on Mt. Sinai here is what He said when He gave the commandment about keeping the Sabbath day:

Exodus 20:
[11] For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested on the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

Applying the "Day-Age" theory to this passage renders it meaningless. God is instructing the Israelites to keep the Sabbath, a literal 24-hour day. He tells them why in verse 11: because He created the earth and everything in it in six days and rested on the seventh.

If the "days" of Genesis 1 and 2 are really ages or epochs than God would have been telling the Israelites to work for six epochs and rest on the seventh epoch.

God's Word is the greatest commentary on itself. When the Bible is not intended to be taken literally, it usually says so within itself.

With God, "one day is as a thousands years and a thousand years as a day." which is found in this context:

2 Peter 3:

1 Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. 2 I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles.

3 First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 4 They will say, "Where is this 'coming' he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation." 5 But they deliberately forget that long ago by God's word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. 6 By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. 7 By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.

8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.

11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.

14 So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.

The point before us is really not how the World came into being - though we can take Him at HIS INFALLIBLE WORD how it began. The point to ponder is - what is ahead for this world, for us as individuals????

We are to take the wisdom God has given us in His Word - and apply it to our lives - by the power of the Holy Spirit who transforms us by the renewing of our minds, taking every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ.

In other words, yes, we are to pursue truth - and there is NO CONFLICT between the God of the Bible, His Word, and the True Truth about our world, our universe, or any of the laws or facts within it. He is the Creator of it all - from out of nothing. And, similarly, He is the Author and Finisher of our Faith.

If you seek Him you shall find Him if you seek Him with all your heart. And likewise if you seek the truth you will never be disappointed in the One who is THE WAY, the TRUTH, and the LIFE. He fully satisfies the intellect as well as the heart's search for meaning and purpose in life.

Best wishes and blessings to you in your search.

When the Bible says that G-d created the world in seven days, is that really seven days?

Yes.

Could there be a similar comparison between our concept of time and G-d's?

If there could be, all it would mean is that your concept of time is erroneous. I suggest you grab a physics book and read a bit about special relativity; it'll make things a bit clearer. Assuming the (obvious) case that God is in a different inertial frame of reference, it becomes clear that, instead of other people taking the biblical account of creation "too literally", it is instead the "metaphor crowd" that isn't taking it literally enough.

Put more simply; the flow of time is dependent upon your frame of reference. If I were to accelerate you to a very high velocity (near the speed of light), and send you on a journey to one of the nearest stars and back, you might experience perhaps only a few hours or days (depending on your exact velocity), while those remaining on Earth would experience nearly a decade (depending upon your precise path and velocity). No one flow of time is "more correct" or "more accurate" than another, and thus those that claim that the Bible's "6 days" is a myth are only showing their ignorance of basic physics.

When the Bible says that G-d created the world in seven days, is that really seven days?

Two possible conversations on judgement day:

Conversation 1

God: How come you didn't believe me when I told you of a 6-day creation.

You: Well it was obvious that you meant 6 'ages' cause science told me that the universe was around for much longer.

God: Oh ye of little faith. Depart from me.

Conversation 2

God: How come you believed in a 6-day creation when all of the scientific evidence told you otherwise. Don't you know that was just a 'story' to explain a concept that humans were unable to grasp yet?

You: Because you said it, I believed it.

God: Well done, good and faithful servant.