The Status Quo.

Finally after years of disputing the existence of a creator the matter has been scientifically laid to rest. Is this just my opinion? No! consider this fact. The Bible stated at Genesis 1:1

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1)

But many scientists had considered this unscientific, asserting that the universe had no beginning. However, pointing to newer information, “astronomer Robert Jastrow explains: “The essence of the strange developments is that the Universe had, in some sense, a beginning—that it began at a certain moment in time.” Jastrow here refers to the now commonly accepted big bang theory. He adds: “Now we see how the astronomical evidence leads to a biblical view of the origin of the world. The details differ, but the essential elements in the astronomical and biblical accounts of Genesis are the same.”⁶

What has been the reaction to such discoveries? “Astronomers are curiously upset,” Jastrow writes. “Their reactions provide an interesting demonstration of the response of the scientific mind—supposedly a very objective mind—when evidence uncovered by science itself leads to a conflict with the articles of faith in our profession. It turns out that the scientist behaves the way the rest of us do when our beliefs are in conflict with the evidence. We become irritated, we pretend the conflict does not exist, or we paper it over with meaningless phrases.”⁷

The fact remains that while “evidence uncovered by science” disagreed with what scientists long believed regarding the origin of the universe, it confirmed what was written in the Bible millenniums ago.

How does this knowledge affect us? Well consider this fact. If God has the power, the knowledge and the wisdom to create this universe, of which this earth and solar system can be likened to a needle in a haystack for size, then nothing is impossible for him.

Let us now take into account our scientific knowledge in relation to the fact that God exists.

The Implication

If a doctor examined Adam 5 minutes after his creation by God, how old would he have concluded Adam was?  Likely, about 30 years old. This example shows that God can create with an appearance of age. Therefore scientific examination can never show positively how old the earth and the universe are.

(Genesis 1:1) In [the] beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

This scripture indicates that the material universe was created at the beginning. No time is given and so it could have been instantaneous or thousands or even millions of years old. This means that there is no point in arguing the matter as it could have been anything.

(Genesis 1:2) ² Now the earth proved to be formless and waste and there was darkness upon the surface of [the] watery deep; and God’s active force was moving to and fro over the surface of the waters.

This scripture indicates a jump in time to the time when the earth was apparently covered by water. The earth and its canopy of water were also in darkness showing that some sort of obstruction prevented the sun’s rays from reaching and illuminating the earth’s surface. That the sun was already in existence is implied in the statement that the “heavens” which would have included stars and also our sun was created at the beginning.

The Creative Days

(Genesis 1:3-5) ³ And God proceeded to say: “Let light come to be.” Then there came to be light. ⁴ After that God saw that the light was good, and God brought about a division between the light and the darkness. ⁵ And God began calling the light Day, but the darkness he called Night. And there came to be evening and there came to be morning, a first day.

The first creative day was introduced by God with the command for the earth to be illuminated. In some way the obstruction was removed and light from the sun fell upon the earth’s surface illuminating one side while leaving the other side in darkness and so day and night on the earth came into existence.

How long was this day? Was it twenty four hours? The first day stands related in length to following other days including the seventh day.

(Genesis 1:31-2:3) ³¹ After that God saw everything he had made and, look! [it was] very good. And there came to be evening and there came to be morning, a sixth day. 2 Thus the heavens and the earth and all their army came to their completion. ² And by the seventh day God came to the completion of his work that he had made, and he proceeded to rest on the seventh day from all his work that he had made. ³ And God proceeded to bless the seventh day and make it sacred, because on it he has been resting from all his work that God has created for the purpose of making.

The creation activity was finished at the end of the sixth day and so God proceeded to rest. How long was his rest?

The Apostle Paul Explains

(Hebrews 3:7-11) ⁷ For this reason, just as the holy spirit says: “Today if YOU people listen to his own voice, ⁸ do not harden YOUR hearts as on the occasion of causing bitter anger, as in the day of making the test in the wilderness, ⁹ in which YOUR forefathers made a test of me with a trial, and yet they had seen my works for forty years. ¹⁰ For this reason I became disgusted with this generation and said, ‘They always go astray in their hearts, and they themselves have not come to know my ways.’ ¹¹ So I swore in my anger, ‘They shall not enter into my rest.’”

Paul is quoting from Psalm 95;10,11, so God was still resting so long after Adam’s creation.

(Psalm 95:10-11) . . .For forty years I kept feeling a loathing toward [that] generation, And I proceeded to say: “They are a people wayward at heart, And they themselves have not come to know my ways”; ¹¹ Concerning whom I swore in my anger: “They shall not enter into my resting-place.”

(Hebrews 3:17-4:5) ¹⁷ Moreover, with whom did [God] become disgusted for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose carcasses fell in the wilderness? ¹⁸ But to whom did he swear that they should not enter into his rest except to those who acted disobediently? ¹⁹ So we see that they could not enter in because of lack of faith. 4 Therefore, since a promise is left of entering into his rest, let us fear that sometime someone of YOU may seem to have fallen short of it. ² For we have had the good news declared to us also, even as they also had; but the word which was heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who did hear. ³ For we who have exercised faith do enter into the rest, just as he has said: “So I swore in my anger, ‘They shall not enter into my rest,’” although his works were finished from the founding of the world. ⁴ For in one place he has said of the seventh day as follows: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works,” ⁵ and again in this place: “They shall not enter into my rest.”

Here the apostle Paul shows that our reasoning is correct on this matter of understanding the length of the seventh day.

(Hebrews 4:9-10) . . .So there remains a sabbath resting for the people of God. ¹⁰ For the man that has entered into [God’s] rest has also himself rested from his own works, just as God did from his own. . .

Man’s Rest and the Millenium

What is the “Sabbath resting that remains for the people of God?” The Bible records that Jesus Christ will rule as our heavenly king for a thousand years, called the the millennium. If mankind will rest for a 1000 years then this must be our Sabbath. During that time we rest with God so that his rest must continue alongside mankind’s Sabbath rest.

If Mankind’s rest is 1000 years long then our week of labor under sinful conditions must total about 6000 years because the Sabbath’s length dictates the length of the previous days. The Bible explains what happens after that

(1 Corinthians 15:24-28) ²⁴ Next, the end, when he hands over the kingdom to his God and Father, when he has brought to nothing all government and all authority and power. ²⁵ For he must rule as king until [God] has put all enemies under his feet. ²⁶ As the last enemy, death is to be brought to nothing. ²⁷ For [God] “subjected all things under his feet.” But when he says that ‘all things have been subjected,’ it is evident that it is with the exception of the one who subjected all things to him. ²⁸ But when all things will have been subjected to him, then the Son himself will also subject himself to the One who subjected all things to him, that God may be all things to everyone.

This shows that Jesus hands over rulership back to his father at the end of the 1000 years. As God once again takes control it appears that his rest has ended.

The Length of the Seventh Day

The conclusion is that God’s rest day is about 7000 years. Not exactly 7000 years because there is a time difference between God’s creation of Adam and when the first children of Adam were born and entered the world of slavery to sin and death.

It follows then that the preceding six days of creation were each slightly more than 7000 years long. This means that from the time that God said let there be light until Adam, more than 42,000 years had elapsed.

From the foregoing we can conclude that the Bible does not teach a creation in seven 24 hour days. Therefore creationist scientists do an injustice when they insist on a creation in seven 24 hour days. Doubtless many persons have stumbled over this false teaching of a 24 hour creation day, and doubted the Bible’s accuracy. However in the light of the more up to date scientific understanding of creation it becomes apparent that the wise thing to do is to accept the Bible as God’s inspired word because unlike science which has to continually update its knowledge, The Bible has been in existence for thousands of years and have withstood the test of time.

The practice of using the word “day” to indicate periods of time is not unusual in the Bible, so we should not insist on our own ideas when trying to understand what it teaches. Better to allow the Bible itself to prescribe the meanings of the expressions it uses. The Bible is only using language the way we do. We speak of 24 hour days, but also speak of the daylight hours as a day. We speak of “my father’s day” when discussing events that occurred when he was a young man so this is not unusual. Similarly the Bible did exactly the same when discussing the Genesis account.

(Genesis 1:3-5) ³ And God proceeded to say: “Let light come to be.” Then there came to be light. ⁴ After that God saw that the light was good, and God brought about a division between the light and the darkness. ⁵ And God began calling the light Day, but the darkness he called Night. And there came to be evening and there came to be morning, a first day.

(Genesis 2:4) . . .This is a history of the heavens and the earth in the time of their being created, in the day that Jehovah God made earth and heaven. . .

(2 Peter 3:8) . . .However, let this one fact not be escaping YOUR notice, beloved ones, that one day is with Jehovah as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day. . .

(2 Peter 3:10) . . .Yet Jehovah’s day . . .

Benefitting From this Knowledge

Creation Scientists who oppose the evolution theory should keep an open mind on what the Bible really teaches rather than holding to religious dogma. which only makes them sound ridiculous and damages their otherwise sound scientific work.

When discussing the path of truth Jesus made it plain that there would be two roads, the broad road that would accommodate many false ideas and the narrow road that would lead to life. In my experience only Jehovah’s witnesses study the Bible using the topical method that was used by Jesus at Luke 24:27. This method is to check all related scriptures on any subject and allow the harmony between them to indicate the correct understanding of the subject. They have had more than a hundred ears to improve their understanding of scripture using this method. They have had to unlearn many false ideas and gradually allow the Bible to correct their understanding of may common and popular ideas.

As the bible has an important message for our time, one needs to take time out to allow them to give one the benefit of their research. I have benefited greatly during my life by studying the bible with them and will certainly recommend that you do the same.

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