The Evening And The Morning

Debbie3832

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I can't seem to find info I'm looking for about why the Bible says the evening and the morning were the first day, and on until the seventh day when it says God rested why was each day labeled as the evening and the morning. Just as from the beginning when it is daytime on one side of the world it is nighttime on the other, so where the Bible says evening and morning then the morning and evening should have been the first day on the other side of the world.
 
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I can't seem to find info I'm looking for about why the Bible says the evening and the morning were the first day, and on until the seventh day when it says God rested why was each day labeled as the evening and the morning. Just as from the beginning when it is daytime on one side of the world it is nighttime on the other, so where the Bible says evening and morning then the morning and evening should have been the first day on the other side of the world.
Another way of reading Genesis 1 concerning the 7 days of creation. While we could take the "days" to be literally 24 hour days, but they could be "days" in the prophets time of reference. Genesis 1 is a vision. And so it must be, as there was no human around to actually see what was happening. Furthermore, God is being spoken of as in the third person (he) as opposed to the first person (I), as if someone were viewing the events happening and recording them, as opposed to God Himself directly telling us what was happening. This all lends itself to the idea that a prophet (Moses) is being given a vision by God, seven visions that lasted one day each.

For example, Moses spent many days on Mount Sinai when God gave him the Law. What if God took a week during that time and revealed to him this vision. On the first day (Sunday), God shows Moses Gen 1:1-5. Then Moses goes to sleep and wakes up the next day (Monday) and God shows him Gen 1:6-8. Etc. If this is the case, that the creation days were a vision, then what the vision meant is subject to interpretation.

Consequently that interpretation would easily resolve conflicts between science and creation.

As for the meaning of the vision, note that the first three days about creating an environment, and the 2nd 3 days were about inhabiting the corresponding environment.

Day:
1. Light 4. Sun, moon & stars
2. Sky & Ocean 5. Birds & Fish
3. Land 6. land Animals & Man
7. Rest

The opposing religions at the time were polytheistic. The believed that separate gods created different things. Here there is one God who create every particular thing. That could be one of the major points of Genesis 1.
 
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Halbhh

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I can't seem to find info I'm looking for about why the Bible says the evening and the morning were the first day, and on until the seventh day when it says God rested why was each day labeled as the evening and the morning. Just as from the beginning when it is daytime on one side of the world it is nighttime on the other, so where the Bible says evening and morning then the morning and evening should have been the first day on the other side of the world.
Each of the six days in Genesis chapter 1 had an evening and a morning.

Since the normal day/night cycle starts on the first day, we can expect that the sun is shining on the Earth, which is rotating. That the "light" on day 1 was the sun, implying cloudy skies also.

The sun, moon and stars would not be visible through cloudiness, so we can expect in the vision the first 3 days were much like many days in England, cloudy and bright, but the sun unseen. Later, the sun, moon and stars would become visible for the first time on day 4.

One of the key messages of the chapter to us is repeated 7 times -- that this home of ours is "good".

Indeed, "very good", for our kind of life. Instead of merely a surface in a blank void, we have a beautiful, wonderful home, with pleasant vistas and amazing sights to look upon.

The text is not about trivial things like how the sun shines, or how long passed during verse 1 before the moment in verse 2. Such numerical amounts of time would not matter a bit, compared to the profound messages in Genesis.
 
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R.J. Aldridge

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I can't seem to find info I'm looking for about why the Bible says the evening and the morning were the first day, and on until the seventh day when it says God rested why was each day labeled as the evening and the morning. Just as from the beginning when it is daytime on one side of the world it is nighttime on the other, so where the Bible says evening and morning then the morning and evening should have been the first day on the other side of the world.
While there may be a scientific explanation as to why the day is moving from evening to morning from the first day to the sixth day, The fact that the seventh day is excluded from that pattern tells me that it has less to do with the time of day and more to do with how God takes the creation from one state (a mixed state), to a new state (an ordered state). Because the roots of the Hebrew words for evening and morning basically mean "to mix" and "to divide", it almost carries the idea that God is bringing order out of disorder, bringing the creation from an evening state, where darkness hinders our view, to a morning state, where we more clearly distinguish between objects. The seventh day therefore is exempt from this pattern because the creation was complete at that point.
 
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Sound Doctrine

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I can't seem to find info I'm looking for about why the Bible says the evening and the morning were the first day, and on until the seventh day when it says God rested why was each day labeled as the evening and the morning. Just as from the beginning when it is daytime on one side of the world it is nighttime on the other, so where the Bible says evening and morning then the morning and evening should have been the first day on the other side of the world.

In the beginning the earth was dark, void, formless. Time had not yet been created. God created time in the form of 24-hour days starting with when He said, "Let there be light." The evening and the morning were the first day starting at that point, where the shekhinah glory of God shone on one side of the earth as the earth rotated, causing 12 hours of light, then of darkness. On the 4th day, God created the sun, moon, and stars, and the sun took over for the shekhinah glory to make the days on the earth. Although rotation of the earth is not mentioned here, there is no reason to doubt that it was happening. How old the earth was before God said, "Let there be light" is impossible to say, since time had not yet been created.
 
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Kerensa

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I can't seem to find info I'm looking for about why the Bible says the evening and the morning were the first day, and on until the seventh day when it says God rested why was each day labeled as the evening and the morning.

Judaism traditionally counts the start of a day from sunset, rather than sunrise. That's why the Jewish Sabbath begins at sunset on what we would consider Friday and lasts until sunset the next day. They're counting the 24 hours from sunset to sunset as a day. So the first chapter of Genesis reflects that way of reckoning a day, starting from the evening — "the evening and the morning", up to the next evening, making a complete day.
 
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The Righterzpen

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I can't seem to find info I'm looking for about why the Bible says the evening and the morning were the first day, and on until the seventh day when it says God rested why was each day labeled as the evening and the morning. Just as from the beginning when it is daytime on one side of the world it is nighttime on the other, so where the Bible says evening and morning then the morning and evening should have been the first day on the other side of the world.

I think @Sound Doctrine has hit on something as earth starting "in darkness" and God causes the light of His creative power to not be suppressed; and this is why "calendar days" as the Bible relays them, run sundown to sundown.

Now at that point, we could fairly ask, was the earth rotating prior to the sun, moon and stars being created? That's a good question, because our current understanding of "keeping of time" relates to laws of physics as they bear force on the motion of planetary bodies in space. Yet if planetary bodies don't exist yet; we have not "evening and morning" ruled by currently understood laws of physics.

Genesis does say that the sun and moon are placed to measure days, seasons and years. These were created on the 4th day; and so time as we understand it by bodies in the solar system that measure it; does not exist until the 4th day. How long were the first 3 days? Not sure; assuming they were 24 hours, but that may actually be immaterial.

Now it's interesting and I'm sure has some spiritual meaning the the first 3 days, prior to "time keepers" is "3 days and 3 nights". (Where have we heard that before? 3 days and 3 nights in the heart of the earth has to do with the atonement.)

Now look at the first 3 days of creation. We have a planetary body with evening / morning, an atmosphere and plant life on it - and that's it.

Day 4 is consumed with creating solar systems.

Day 5 is sea creatures and birds.

Day 6 is the rest of the animal kingdom and man.

Now I'm sure there's symbolism there related to redemption; but I'm not prepared to expound upon what that would be at this point.

So, I don't know if that sheds some light on your question?
 
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eleos1954

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I can't seem to find info I'm looking for about why the Bible says the evening and the morning were the first day, and on until the seventh day when it says God rested why was each day labeled as the evening and the morning. Just as from the beginning when it is daytime on one side of the world it is nighttime on the other, so where the Bible says evening and morning then the morning and evening should have been the first day on the other side of the world.

1In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

2Now the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.

The First Day

3And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4And seeing that the light was good, God separated the light from the darkness. 5God called the light “day,” and the darkness He called “night.”

And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

Created light and revealed what He called/named them (and separated them) - light - day dark - night

The Fourth Day

14And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to distinguish between the day and the night, and let them be signs to mark the seasons and days and years. 15And let them serve as lights in the expanse of the sky to shine upon the earth.” And it was so.

16God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night. And He made the stars as well.

17God set these lights in the expanse of the sky to shine upon the earth, 18to preside over the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.

19And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.

Created all the great lights and revealed they would be used as time measurement for us.

So God creates and reveals on the fourth day, how what He created is measured and the other purposes of the lights.

So that being the case .... and being reaffirmed .... "there was evening & morning on the whatever day being stated at the end of each creation day according to the time measurement He set forth re-affirms

If the phrase evening & morning didn't appear in verses 1-3 (in relation to a day) there would be nothing "time-wise " for us to relate them to. ie we wouldn't know what a day is, we wouldn't know what night is and what their measurements are. Also, of quite importance, we would not know or understand His special day ... the Sabbath, the 7th day and therefore much everything else biblically would be a bunch of non-sense.

So, to make sure we could understand, evening and morning appears after every creation day to "drive that point home"

Yes, the Lord wanted us to know how much time it took for Him to create everything and it took 7 days (evening & morning) using the great lights created on day 4 as the measurement for it.

so ... by the time we get to the 7th day .... we are very clear what a day is and signifies the last day of His creation work.

1Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. 2And by the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing; so on that day He rested from all His work.

3Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because on that day He rested from all the work of creation that He had accomplished.

God established what the general guideline of what a "day" is ... the specifics within that general guideline then came forth through man learning more details about the sun, moon, stars, etc but they are in fact based on the general guidelines as in (fourth day)

Sunset to sunrise is a day to the Lord and it's doesn't matter where on earth one lives.
He's not on a 24-hour clock ;o) In fact He's not on a clock at all.

The short answer is:
No matter where one lives in the world 7 sunsets to sunrise = 7 days

Isaiah 55:8-9

8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.
9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts.
 
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roman2819

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I can't seem to find info I'm looking for about why the Bible says the evening and the morning were the first day, and on until the seventh day when it says God rested why was each day labeled as the evening and the morning. Just as from the beginning when it is daytime on one side of the world it is nighttime on the other, so where the Bible says evening and morning then the morning and evening should have been the first day on the other side of the world.

In the first three days, Genesis said after each day, there was "evening and then morning". This was even before the sun and moon were created on the fourth day. Therefore evening does not mean sunset and morning does not mean sunrise. Instead it means the end of one stage of creation and the beginning of another.

I am sure the creation did not just happen in six days. I believe God took much time and interests to create the ecology, varieties of trees and vegetation , then design the multitude of living creatures and animals. The word "day" means "stage", But the Scripture use the word "day" because "day"t fit the prose of writing in religious manuscript; "day" in Genesis 1 and 2 certainly does not mean a 24-hour day. In other words, "day" is figurative, not literal.

The real creation might have taken years, decades or 100s or 1000s of years. Humans are finite, we live one generation - usually less than 90 years - and we think short term. But God is timeless and HE is not rushed by time. Why would HE create millions of fauna and creatures in 6x24 hours?

Instead God take interests and pleasure to plan out and create the many varieties of fauna and vegetation. Then He designed the multitude of creatures - He took much interests and pleasure in their appearance and characteristics.

An analogy: Think of people who love to assemble models of planes, tanks or figures. They wouldn't want to buy a ready all-finished models -- instead, they enjoy the processing of putting the pieces together, then paint them. Same for people that enjoy assembling a 1000-pieces jigsaw puzzle - the process takes time, it is slow, but to them it is interesting and intriguing.
 
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DamianWarS

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I can't seem to find info I'm looking for about why the Bible says the evening and the morning were the first day, and on until the seventh day when it says God rested why was each day labeled as the evening and the morning. Just as from the beginning when it is daytime on one side of the world it is nighttime on the other, so where the Bible says evening and morning then the morning and evening should have been the first day on the other side of the world.
The sun doesn't get created until day 4 so this should be a clue that the first day light is not the light we expect and as such doesn't follow rules we would expect either.

I prefer not to try and force reconcile the literal by adding information and rather leave the words as they are. I find actually the literal conversation to be the most uninteresting part of the account and I don't find much value in its discussion. That's not me rejecting the literal but rather deemphasizing the conversation because I see there are more important things to discuss in the account.

The days are ordered with intention and the whole account follows a chiastic structure. Day 1 is paralleled with day 4, day 2 is paralleled with day 5 and day 3 is parelleled with day 6. What we see in the first 3 days is God organizing that which is already there with the exception of light, God sends the light then he separates it, with day 2-3 God just separates and organizes what's already there. The account starts in chaos and darkness then God speaks light and starts a processes of separating and preparing. Days 4-6 God then fills the darkness/light, he fills the oceans and skies and fills the land. The word create is not from exnilo it is a concept of forming that which is already there or filling up, like an empty pillow case. We are given an example of how Adam and Eve are created and they are not just zapped into being they are formed using preexisting materials.

Day 7 in fact is paralleled with before day 1 when the earth was formless and empty and darkness was everywhere, I like to call it Day 0 for convenience to give it a reference. (and this fits the overall void during this time) So right in verse 2 it sets a stage of an earth that is in need of being formed, filled and light spoken into it. This is paralleled with all the days but specifically day 7 because it is its exact opposite. That which was formless on day 0 is formed in day 7, that which is empty is filled, that which was dark is light. Day 0 the earth existed in chaos and a state of unrest, day 7 is the answer to this, existing in a state of finish and rest.

I don't see the first verse an action but rather a synopsis or bookend to the account. Verse 1 is paralleled with 2:1. "In the begining the heavens and earth were creations" is the bookend and it is closed with "thus the heavens and the earth were created".

These are classic chiastic structures, passages that open then have a distinct close within a pattern. And here is the pattern:

1. Intro (open)
2. [Day 0] (open)
A. Day 1 (open)
B. Day 2 (open)
C. Day 3 (open)​
A. Day 4 (close)
B. Day 5 (close)
C. Day 6 (close)​
1. Conclusion (close)
2. Day 7 (close)
It all fits so well because it was written and order with this in mind. Looking at the creation account it builds to a goal and that goal is the 7th day. Ancient accounts are typically goal driven and all the details are there to support the goal. And that is what's happening in the creation account. The account builds until it reaches the state of rest, and it is this rest that is the goal, the point of the account.

If you step back you can actually see a salvation metaphor in this account. We all start in darkness and are unformed and empty but then light is spoken into us that starts a process that ends in rest. We start in chaos our goal is to end in rest. The creation account parallels the new creation within us and our goal is the rest of God that is only brought on from a state of completeness and finish. Chaos cannot enter rest, it needs to be broken, reshaped and formed until his work in us is complete and then God's rest will come. Just as in creation God does not rest because he is tired, he rests because the work is finished and we share the same goal in the new creation.

The creation account is a gospel message that leads us to God's rest. Is it literal? It doesn't matter, that's not the part that's important and we do a disservice to the account when it's all we can talk about.
 
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The Righterzpen

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The sun doesn't get created until day 4 so this should be a clue that the first day light is not the light we expect and as such doesn't follow rules we would expect either.

I prefer not to try and force reconcile the literal by adding information and rather leave the words as they are. I find actually the literal conversation to be the most uninteresting part of the account and I don't find much value in its discussion. That's not me rejecting the literal but rather deemphasizing the conversation because I see there are more important things to discuss in the account.

The days are ordered with intention and the whole account follows a chiastic structure. Day 1 is paralleled with day 4, day 2 is paralleled with day 5 and day 3 is parelleled with day 6. What we see in the first 3 days is God organizing. The account starts in chaos and darkness then God speaks light and starts a processes of separating and preparing. Days 4-6 God then fills the darkness/light, he fills the oceans and skies and fills the land. The word create is not from exnilo it is a concept of forming that which is already there or filling up, like an empty pillow case. We are given an example of how Adam and Eve are created and they are not just zapped into being they are formed using preexisting materials.

Day 7 in fact is paralleled with before day 1 when the earth was formless and empty and darkness was everywhere, I like to call it Day 0 for convenience to give it a reference. (and this fits the overall void during this time) So right in verse 2 it sets a stage of an earth that is in need of being formed, filled and light spoken into it. This is paralleled with all the days but specially day 7 because it is its exact opposite. That which was formless on day 0 is formed in day 7, that which is empty is filled, that which was dark is light. Day 0 the earth existed in chaos and a state of unrest, day 7 is the answer to this, existing in a state of finish and rest.

I don't see the first verse an action but rather a synopsis or bookend to the account. Verse 1 is paralleled with 2:1. "In the begining the heavens and earth were creations" is the bookend and it is closed with "thus the heavens and the earth were created".

These are classic chiastic structures, passages that open then have a distinct close within a pattern. And here is the pattern:

1. Intro (open)
2. [Day 0] (open)
A. Day 1 (open)
B. Day 2 (open)
C. Day 3 (open)​
A. Day 4 (close)
B. Day 5 (close)
C. Day 6 (close)​
1. Conclusion (close)
2. Day 7 (close)
It all fits so well because it was written and order with this in mind. Looking at the creation account it builds to a goal and that goal is the 7th day. Ancient accounts are typically goal driven and all the details are there to support the goal. And that is what's happening in the creation account. The account builds until it reaches the state of rest, and it is this rest that is the goal, the point of the account.

If you step back you can actually see a salvation metaphor in this account. We all start in darkness and are unformed and empty but then light is spoken into us that starts a process that ends in rest. We start in chaos our goal is to end in rest. The creation account parallels the new creation within us and our goal is the rest of God that is only brought on from a state of completeness and finish. Chaos cannot enter rest, it needs to be broken, reshaped and formed until his work in us is complete and then God's rest will come. Just as in creation God does not rest because he is tired, he rests because the work is finished and we share the same goal in the new creation.

The creation account is a gospel message that leads us to God's rest. Is it literal? It doesn't matter, that's not the part that's important and we do a disservice to the account when it's all we can talk about.

You make a lot of good and interesting points here.

Thing that popped into my head as I was reading this; is that obviously prior to creating anything God is eternal; and subsequent to the recreated cosmos is another incorruptible "eternal" (meaning not having an end) existence; although this time of the creature too.

So yes, agreed this is symbolic of the "salvation metaphor" as you've called it; but also interesting of how the atonement manifests in the material cosmos.

Yet also true that once Christ establishes redemption; He rests for eternity. Thus the reason he made the statement to the pharisees that both his Father and himself work even until now. (John 5:17)
 
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