Is the Creation account in Genesis Literal?

[Free]

I find it hard to believe that 'day' in Gen 1 refers to 24-hr periods simply because the sun and moon weren't created until the 4th 'day'.

Gen 1:14-19", "14 And God said, Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth. And it was so. 16 And God made the two great lights, the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night, and the stars. 17 And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day."

 

[Sinthesis]

How long did Adam exist BEFORE Eve was created?

So, Adam was created, "born", informed of his purpose, (to KEEP God's garden), met and named all the animals, it was recognized that there was NO suitable compaion for him, he was PUT to SLEEP and a rib was taken from him, then Eve was formed from this rib, then they were informed of the rules of the garden and disobeyed these rules, and all this was performed in ONE LITERAL DAY?

Genesis 1:31 requires they did not disobey the rules on the 6th day, otherwise God would not have called everything that he had made 'very good'.

 

[John]

I find it hard to believe that 'day' in Gen 1 refers to 24-hr periods simply because the sun and moon weren't created until the 4th 'day'.

So after the fourth day the remaining 2 days were 24 hours?

Does God need a sun and moon to establish a time frame?

;)

 

[Free]

No, that's not what I'm saying. If the sun and moon, which determine the 24-hour day, weren't created until the fourth day, then how can 'the first day' and right up until 'the seventh day', refer to 24-hour periods?

It seems to me that the only point at which 'day' is used to specifically refer to a 24-hour period is in verse 14, the part which I underlined.

 

[John]

Hard to say Free.

There is another way to look at it.

The First Day
The first recorded Words of God that we have are "Let there be light" (Genesis 1:3 NIV). The sun was already shining brightly, but God made the earth's thick new atmosphere allow diffuse light to penetrate to the surface. And so it was that the light was made separate from darkness. The first day of earth's creation was literally the first "day" as someone on earth's surface would experience it - a period of opaque light, and a period of darkness. (Genesis 1:3-5)

The Second Day
The separation of the waters. There was yet no liquid water, no oceans. All of the water was in the form of a vapor, a worldwide super-fog, extending a number of kilometers/miles up from the very hot (above the boiling temperature of water) bare-rock earth's surface (the earth's core remains molten right to the present day). God's "hovering over the waters" in verse 2 describes His being above that gaseous-water atmosphere, not a liquid ocean. God then caused most of the water to condense onto the cooling earth which simultaneously formed a whole-planet ocean and cleared the sky. (Genesis 1:6-8)

The Third Day
The first appearance of dry ground. The further cooling of the surface set in motion a process of natural contraction, uplifting and motion of the crust (the process continues today, called "plate tectonics"). The earth changed from a smooth one-level molten "cue ball" to a planet with an irregular surface with ocean basins and continental landmasses. With dry ground available, the first plants were made to grow in great abundance. (Genesis 1:9-13)

The Fourth Day
With the sky now clear, the sun, moon and stars were dependably visible. They were to "serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years." The sun marked the day (sunset to sunset), the moon the month (new moon to new moon), and the stars the seasons (constellations are seen in particular seasons e.g. "Orion" is visible in winter in the northern hemisphere, which is summer in the southern hemisphere). (Genesis 1:14-19)

The Fifth Day
Great numbers of birds and sea creatures. God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth." (Genesis 1:20-23)

The Sixth Day
Vast numbers of land animals. Man. From the man, woman. (Genesis 1:24-31)

The Seventh Day
The Sabbath Day. "By the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing; so on the seventh day He rested from all His work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it He rested [or ceased] from all the work of creating that He had done." The day that is the basis for The Fourth Commandment. (Genesis 2:2-3)

The question of whether the seven days of creation were literal days, or symbolic of stages of development is actually irrelevant to the undeniable reality that Creation happened. The observable universe, the earth beneath our feet, and every one of us exist. Who needs more proof than that?

 

[shad]

Bubba,

I 100% agree. Genesis is literal therefore it is wrong.


Thanks,
Eric

Excuse me for butting in, but are you saying that the Genesis' account is wrong? Are you saying that you are not Christian?

thank you

 

[Free]

Wavy is not a Christian. That is why under his pic it says "Not a Christian".

 

[LanceEh]

I believe it to be literal.

 

[Sinthesis]

There is another way to look at it.

The question of whether the seven days of creation were literal days, or symbolic of stages of development is actually irrelevant to the undeniable reality that Creation happened. The observable universe, the earth beneath our feet, and every one of us exist. Who needs more proof than that?

If you have to look at it 'another way' can it really be considered literal?
We know there is a Creation, the topic is: 'Is the Creation account in Genesis Literal?'
Do you then not believe the Creation account in Genesis is literal?

 

[John]

I believe it to be literal 100%. It happened, we know that however the Bible does not say how, so that is open for interpretation, It is rather irrelevant IMHO, we are here, what further proof do we need.

 

[Ret]

I find it hard to believe that 'day' in Gen 1 refers to 24-hr periods simply because the sun and moon weren't created until the 4th 'day'.

Gen 1:14-19"....

I agree that this does raise some questions.

Sinthesis wrote:
If you have to look at it 'another way' can it really be considered literal?
We know there is a Creation, the topic is: 'Is the Creation account in Genesis Literal?'
Do you then not believe the Creation account in Genesis is literal?

Back to OP: Re: Is the Creation account in Genesis Literal?

If we put part of Genesis 2 into Genesis 1, let's put ALL of Gen 2 in to Gen 1...
If we do this, we are saying in effect, that both are 'literal'....right?

Gen 2:4-9
4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made earth and heaven.
5 Now no shrub of the field was yet in the earth, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the LORD God had not sent rain upon the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground.
6 But a mist used to rise from the earth and water the whole surface of the ground.
7 Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.
8 The LORD God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden; and there He placed the man whom He had formed.
9 Out of the ground the LORD God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. NASU

Gen 2:10-14
10 Now a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it divided and became four rivers.
11 The name of the first is Pishon; it flows around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 The gold of that land is good; the bdellium and the onyx stone are there.
13 The name of the second river is Gihon; it flows around the whole land of Cush.
14 The name of the third river is Tigris; it flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

Gen 2:15-17
15 Then the LORD God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. 16 The LORD God commanded the man, saying, "From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; 17 but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die."

Gen 2:18-25
18 Then the LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him."
19 Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name.
20 The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him.
21 So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place.
22 The LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man.
23 The man said,
" This is now bone of my bones,
And flesh of my flesh;
She shall be called Woman,
Because she was taken out of Man."

24 For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.
25 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.
NASU w/emphasis by Ret

Note: v16,17 says God told the 'man', does not say God told them both not to eat of the tree
v25 doesn't sound like the male and female of Gen 1:26,27
So, can we put Gen 1 & 2 together and make them both literal?....??

 

[wavy]

Accepting the phrase 'in the day' as meaning 'when' or 'at the time' doesn't solve for the problem of the perceived immediacy of 'in the day' versus a lifespan of 930 years.

There is no 'problem'. Moses and the Israelites were encamped for over a year at the foot of Sinai, yet Numbers iii.1 covers that entire period with the idiom 'in the day'.

Exodus 20:11 doesn't hold water as an explanation. Moses was shown to have modified the law of divorce to accomodate the hard hearts of the Israelites [Matthew 19:8 & Mark 10:5]. It's not unthinkable that Moses would simplify the explanation and justification of the 4th Commandment to appease the geologic ignorance of the Israelites as well.

This explanation doesn't hold water because it is baseless. 'Appease the geologic ignorance of the Israelites', lol. This doesn't strike you as completely contrived and totally read into the text? I assume it won't.

Further, Exodus 23:10-11 applies the sabbath principle to a time span of years.

And? It's an annual Sabbath and has nothing to do with the literal, seven-day Sabbath nor does it bear on the meaning of the'days' in the opening chapter of Genesis.


Thanks,
Eric

 

[wavy]

I find it hard to believe that 'day' in Gen 1 refers to 24-hr periods simply because the sun and moon weren't created until the 4th 'day'.

That's not because the days aren't literal...as they clearly are as indicated by the accompanying numerical adjectives, their division into 'evening and morning', Exodus xx.11, and the lack of any evidence to the contrary.

That's because we should infer here a misunderstanding of the correlation between a 'day' and the 'sun' on the part of the Hebrews. The sun merely 'ruled' the day (or is this not literal as well?)and the moon 'ruled' the night. This is explicit in the text itself.

Thanks,
Eric

 

[shad]

Wavy is not a Christian. That is why under his pic it says "Not a Christian".

ok, thanks free.

 

[disciple_of_truth]

Two points:
1. Pastor/Teacher John MacArthur's commentary on Genesis 1:5 states that when there is a numerical adjective (such as one, second, third) attached to or associated with the word "Day" in Hebrew it always refers to a 24 hour period. (Genesis 1:5 "one day, 1:8 second day, 1:13 third day)

2. What in the world makes it so hard for us to believe that God could have done this in 6 literal (24 hour) days?

Comments?

 

[Imagican]

wavy,

Inconsistency in MY statements or inconsistencies in The Word?

MEC

 

[Imagican]

Hard to say Free.

There is another way to look at it.

The First Day
The first recorded Words of God that we have are "Let there be light" (Genesis 1:3 NIV). The sun was already shining brightly, but God made the earth's thick new atmosphere allow diffuse light to penetrate to the surface. And so it was that the light was made separate from darkness. The first day of earth's creation was literally the first "day" as someone on earth's surface would experience it - a period of opaque light, and a period of darkness. (Genesis 1:3-5)

The Second Day
The separation of the waters. There was yet no liquid water, no oceans. All of the water was in the form of a vapor, a worldwide super-fog, extending a number of kilometers/miles up from the very hot (above the boiling temperature of water) bare-rock earth's surface (the earth's core remains molten right to the present day). God's "hovering over the waters" in verse 2 describes His being above that gaseous-water atmosphere, not a liquid ocean. God then caused most of the water to condense onto the cooling earth which simultaneously formed a whole-planet ocean and cleared the sky. (Genesis 1:6-8)

The Third Day
The first appearance of dry ground. The further cooling of the surface set in motion a process of natural contraction, uplifting and motion of the crust (the process continues today, called "plate tectonics"). The earth changed from a smooth one-level molten "cue ball" to a planet with an irregular surface with ocean basins and continental landmasses. With dry ground available, the first plants were made to grow in great abundance. (Genesis 1:9-13)

The Fourth Day
With the sky now clear, the sun, moon and stars were dependably visible. They were to "serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years." The sun marked the day (sunset to sunset), the moon the month (new moon to new moon), and the stars the seasons (constellations are seen in particular seasons e.g. "Orion" is visible in winter in the northern hemisphere, which is summer in the southern hemisphere). (Genesis 1:14-19)

The Fifth Day
Great numbers of birds and sea creatures. God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth." (Genesis 1:20-23)

The Sixth Day
Vast numbers of land animals. Man. From the man, woman. (Genesis 1:24-31)

The Seventh Day
The Sabbath Day. "By the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing; so on the seventh day He rested from all His work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it He rested [or ceased] from all the work of creating that He had done." The day that is the basis for The Fourth Commandment. (Genesis 2:2-3)

The question of whether the seven days of creation were literal days, or symbolic of stages of development is actually irrelevant to the undeniable reality that Creation happened. The observable universe, the earth beneath our feet, and every one of us exist. Who needs more proof than that?

John,

Do you literally BELIEVE that 'plate techtonics', which we are able to judge NOW in millimeters a year, is REALLY possible to have SEPARATED the continents in ONE DAY?

MEC

 

[Sinthesis]

Further, Exodus 23:10-11 applies the sabbath principle to a time span of years.

And? It's an annual Sabbath and has nothing to do with the literal, seven-day Sabbath nor does it bear on the meaning of the'days' in the opening chapter of Genesis.

Right. The point is that the concept of Sabbath does not always mean a period of 1 in 7 days of 24hrs each. Therefore, it is not 'Sabbath' that would limit 'day' to, at most, 24hrs.

 

[Sinthesis]

I find it hard to believe that 'day' in Gen 1 refers to 24-hr periods simply because the sun and moon weren't created until the 4th 'day'.

That's because we should infer here a misunderstanding of the correlation between a 'day' and the 'sun' on the part of the Hebrews. The sun merely 'ruled' the day (or is this not literal as well?)and the moon 'ruled' the night. This is explicit in the text itself.

Are you saying the Hebrews weren't good celestial mechanics? Good point though.

 

[wavy]

wavy,

Inconsistency in MY statements or inconsistencies in The Word?

MEC

In the bible.

Thanks,
Eric