What's the reason for having 6 days in the Genesis story?

[AmericanChristian91]

Now some say to support old earth, that the days in the creation story are not referring to 6 24 hour days.

But what if they were?

Now that doesn't mean that proves the earth young if that was the case.

And though im sure young earthers would say that the story used 6 24 hour days because that's the amount its referring to how long it took God to complete his creation, i think there is another reason why a 7 day week was used in the story.

So if the creation story intended to have "days" refer to 24 hour ones, what other reason (besides the reason of YEC) do you think there was for a week to be used in the telling of the story? Was there some cultural/allegoric reason?, etc?

 

[kingdomfirst]

Now some say to support old earth, that the days in the creation story are not referring to 6 24 hour days.

But what if they were?

Now that doesn't mean that proves the earth young if that was the case.

And though I'm sure young earthers would say that the story used 6 24 hour days because that's the amount its referring to how long it took God to complete his creation, i think there is another reason why a 7 day week was used in the story.

So if the creation story intended to have "days" refer to 24 hour ones, what other reason (besides the reason of YEC) do you think there was for a week to be used in the telling of the story? Was there some cultural/allegoric reason?, etc?

The word "day" can refer to different things, so it's good to start with the most basic meaning from which all others derive.

"Day" in its most basic sense means a period of time marked with a beginning and an end. Thus we can see the following usages all conform to this basic understanding.

Day - period of daylight (Genesis 1:5)
Day - 24 hour period
Day - Lifetime of an individual (in grandpa's "day" there were no airplanes)
Day - Every dog has its day (brief time at best but not 24 hours)

In the Genesis account there are at least 3 different uses of "day" to refer to various time periods.

Gen 1:5 - day refers to the daylight period
Gen 1:5 - day refers to the "creative" day
Gen 1:14 - luminaries divide "day" and night
Gen 1:19 - End of the 4th creative day
Gen 2:1-3 - 7th creative day begins
Gen 2:4 - entire creative process referred to as one "day"

The three meanings of "day" in the creation account can then be categorized as:

1) Period of time when daylight was seen
2) Creative time period
3) Entire creative process

At no time in the account do we see any reference to a 24-hour period since this only makes sense to human observers on the earth. The creative process must be viewed from God's perspective instead and no such limits exist when He is involved.

Of course Romans refers to God's "rest" of the 7th day continuing in Paul's day and God has not told us that it is yet over. Thus we must conclude that the creative days were at the very least several thousand years each.

Nothing in the Genesis account forces us to believe that the periods of time involved were 24 hours each.

 

[AmericanChristian91]

The word "day" can refer to different things, so it's good to start with the most basic meaning from which all others derive.

"Day" in its most basic sense means a period of time marked with a beginning and an end. Thus we can see the following usages all conform to this basic understanding.

Day - period of daylight (Genesis 1:5)
Day - 24 hour period
Day - Lifetime of an individual (in grandpa's "day" there were no airplanes)
Day - Every dog has its day (brief time at best but not 24 hours)

In the Genesis account there are at least 3 different uses of "day" to refer to various time periods.

Gen 1:5 - day refers to the daylight period
Gen 1:5 - day refers to the "creative" day
Gen 1:14 - luminaries divide "day" and night
Gen 1:19 - End of the 4th creative day
Gen 2:1-3 - 7th creative day begins
Gen 2:4 - entire creative process referred to as one "day"

The three meanings of "day" in the creation account can then be categorized as:

1) Period of time when daylight was seen
2) Creative time period
3) Entire creative process

At no time in the account do we see any reference to a 24-hour period since this only makes sense to human observers on the earth. The creative process must be viewed from God's perspective instead and no such limits exist when He is involved.

Of course Romans refers to God's "rest" of the 7th day continuing in Paul's day and God has not told us that it is yet over. Thus we must conclude that the creative days were at the very least several thousand years each.

Nothing in the Genesis account forces us to believe that the periods of time involved were 24 hours each.

Thanks for that info

 

[Assyrian]

It is a metaphor to teach Sabbath observance, which in itself is a prophetic picture of Christ and the true rest we enter in him (see Col 1:17 and Heb 3&4). It also show God's identification with weary labourers and migrant workers out in the fields who desperately need a days rest every week. Compare:
Exodus 23:12 Six days you shall do your work, but on the seventh day you shall rest; that your ox and your donkey may have rest, and the son of your servant woman, and the alien, may be refreshed.
with:
Exodus 31:17 It is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed. The word refreshed only occurs three times in the bible, so the language God used to describe his Sabbath that is used to describe migrant and child labourers is hardly coincidental. It literally means stopping to to get you breath back (c.f. 2Sam 16:4 where David is fleeing from Absalom). This hardly applies to God literally, was God who never slumbers of sleeps refreshed after a days rest? Did the Almighty have to stop to catch his breath? It show us the picture of God as a labourer building the heavens and the earth in seven days is an anthropomorphic metaphor not to be taken literally.

This emphasis of the Sabbath as God's care for weary labourers, and teaching the Israelites empathy to their workers too, is most clearly seen where the Sabbath command is repeated in Deuteronomy.

Deut 5:14 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant, or your ox or your donkey or any of your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. 15 You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.

It is also seen in Jesus' The Sabbath was made for man not man for the Sabbath Mark 2:27.

 

[Gottservant]

The days refer to revolutions of the Earth that occured at the time life came to develop, but they were not exactly 24 hour cycles.

Abraham called them days because the sun rose and set as the revolutions took place, not because they were a specific time in length.

You must remember Jesus words that "Abraham did not tell the truth as he heard it from God".

What Abraham said was in the way of the truth, but it was not actually the truth.

 

[gluadys]

Why six days?

To explain why the Sabbath falls on the seventh day.


Nothing to do with the age of the earth at all. If the Sabbath were observed every 10 days instead of every 7 days, the story would spread creation over 9 days instead of 6. If the Sabbath were being observed every 5 days, the story would give creation a chronology of 4 days.

So the real question is "Why was the Sabbath being observed every seven days?"

IOW it was the actual celebration of the Sabbath every seven days (especially among monotheists) which needed to be explained and that determined how many days of creation to put into the story.

In the contemporary pagan nations, a week of seven days is a no-brainer. They worshipped the Sun, Moon and stars, especially the movable stars (planets) and named the days after them. Prior to the invention of the telescope, this meant they named the days after the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. (In English we use the Nordic names for Mercury, Venus, Mars and Jupiter) Seven days. The Hebrews no doubt picked up the length of the week from the common ANE culture.

But how do you justify a seven-day week with a special observance on the seventh day when you no longer worship the pagan gods? The biblical response is Creation & Sabbath. The six days commemorate Creation and the seventh day is the day of rest for all labourers (even animals).

Sabbath practice is really quite revolutionary. It is about a lot more than going to church or synagogue once a week. It is, as Assyrian's post suggests, about respecting workers, labourers, migrants, animals and even the land by providing them with opportunities to rest and be refreshed. There were Sabbath years and the Jubilee (the Sabbath of Sabbaths) as well as the weekly observance and all of them have practices attached to them which restore a right relationship between rich and poor, humans and non-humans as well as between humans and God.

Emphasis on the number of days over everything else in the creation story diverts attention from a very important and consistent teaching in scripture about social justice. It is that teaching that the six-days + seventh day that the creation story is meant to draw attention to.

 

[AmericanChristian91]

Thanks for the responses people. I learned things i didn't know before.

 

[Calminian]

The days refer to revolutions of the Earth that occured at the time life came to develop, but they were not exactly 24 hour cycles.

Abraham called them days because the sun rose and set as the revolutions took place, not because they were a specific time in length.

You must remember Jesus words that "Abraham did not tell the truth as he heard it from God".

What Abraham said was in the way of the truth, but it was not actually the truth.

Abraham didn't tell the truth about what?

 

[juvenissun]

Thanks for the responses people. I learned things i didn't know before.

What Gluadys and Assyrian said are good. But look at this creation account right at the front (instead of seeing the background reasons):

First day: material
Second day: Planets
Third day: Plants
Fourth day: (our) Sun, (our) moon and stars
Fifth day: Animals in water
Sixth day: Animals and human on land.

This sequence and events are basically what's needed in a creation process. These objects are separated into six origins or processes in a perfect scientific sense. It would be awkward if the time separation is one day shorter or one day longer.

Thus: Six Days + a day of rest.

Of course, Moses (or whoever) could never imagine this kind of reasons. And that is the most wonderful part of the Six-Day Creation.

 

[Gottservant]

Abraham didn't tell the truth about what?

About the beginning.

 

[Calminian]

About the beginning.

I'm listening. Don't be shy, explain.

 

[Gottservant]

I'm listening. Don't be shy, explain.

I've said all I know: Abraham spoke of the beginning in the way of the truth, but not in the truth. The way of the truth is not the same as the truth. That means that although it takes a "format" that "accords" with the truth, it is not "literally" the "process" that took place in truth.

In the beginning, nothing was created.

That is the true beginning of the world and it accords with the scripture that Jesus was slain from the beginning of the world. If Jesus is the creator and there is no creation, then the process of creation cannot be contained or the title Creator is void.

Abraham chose to say "Darkness was over the face of the deep and the Earth was null and void", which points to a time when the Sun was not ignited and Earth had no light, this is the way all things "begin" in a state where they are able to differentiate into something more, but are limited by the action or in action of the Creator, the first Cause.

 

[mindlight]

Now some say to support old earth, that the days in the creation story are not referring to 6 24 hour days.

But what if they were?

Now that doesn't mean that proves the earth young if that was the case.

And though im sure young earthers would say that the story used 6 24 hour days because that's the amount its referring to how long it took God to complete his creation, i think there is another reason why a 7 day week was used in the story.

So if the creation story intended to have "days" refer to 24 hour ones, what other reason (besides the reason of YEC) do you think there was for a week to be used in the telling of the story? Was there some cultural/allegoric reason?, etc?

The number 7 is woven into biblical ideas about God throughout scripture from a 7 day week to the 7 spirits of God or the 7 churches of Revelation. Since we are made in Gods image and are central to his creation it is unsurprising that the number 7 appears in our origins and working week.

It is entirely possible that God did what he could have done in an instant over a definite time period in full accordance with the design he was implementing. Man was made for 6 days work and 1 day rest. Attempts to change this (e.g. at the time of the French revolution who tried to decimalise the week into 10 days) have failed miserably. Each of the days of forming or of filling may also show a hierarchy and pattern of how God interacts with his creation.