7 Day creation- literal or figurative?

[Aman777]

Also 6 days of creation, one day of rest for man. Not 6 million years of creation and 1 million years for sabbath rest.

It's also God's rest when He rests/ Heb-ceases from ALL of His work. In 6 of His Creative Days/Ages, He makes a perfect physical Heaven and fills it with perfect people, who live forever. Then HE rests from ALL of HIS work of creating since HIS creation has been made perfect or "finished" and filled with its entire "host", which INCLUDES the last sinner who will ever be saved. Gen 2:1 Today, God is STILL creating mankind in His Image or in Christ Spiritually, for we live at Gen 1:27 at the end of the present 6th Day, the Day of Salvation. 2Co 6:2

 

[benelchi]

Psalm author says: one day for man, thousand years for God. And vice versa.

There is no need to argue about the concept of time used in the Bible. We do not understand time yet. What's said in the Bible related to time MUST be right. Assume the DAY in Genesis 1 is 24 hours on God's side. That is fine. The emphasis of time in Genesis 1 is on the time sequence, not the time period.

I would disagree, when I read the text, I don't get the impression that the EMPHASIS is on either the time period or the time sequence. That being said, I do recognize that most English translations lend themselves to that impression; some to a greater degree and some to a lesser degree.

Before I share a few observations from the text, let's look at a specific issue of Hebrew grammar. In Hebrew, like Spanish, adjectives follow they noun they modify rather than proceed them like in English. In Spanish, for example we say "la casa blanca / the house white" and not "la blanca casa." Similarly in Hebrew, we say "הבית הלבן / the house, the white."

Understanding this is important because "one day" in Hebrew is written in Hebrew as "יום אחד/day one" exactly as it appears in Ge. 1:5. This is a phrase that is repeated in Scripture and almost always translated as simply "one day" (Ge. 27:45, 33:13, Num. 11:19, 1 Sam. 9:15, 27:1, Ezr. 10:17, Isa. 9:13, Jon. 3:4), and the meaning of "one day" is can be as loose as it is in English; for example let's look at how it is used in 1 Sam 27:1, "Now I shall perish one day by the hand of Saul." Additionally, in Ge. 1:3-2:3, only the 6th and 7th days include the article ("the"), the first five days are all indefinite i.e. "one day," "a second day," "a third day," etc.... When we look at English translations, the NASB alone allows us to see these issues in the text; other translations add the article in the translation of the first 5 days i.e. "the 2nd day," "the third day," etc..., and some change "one day" to "the first day" which is a significant departure from the text (and is inconsistent with their translation of this exact same phrase elsewhere). In Hebrew, "the first day" is "יום ראשון" and not "יום אחד" These are just some of the issues that jump out of the Hebrew text, that are glossed over in many English translations.

When I read the text, I do not see an EMPHASIS on time periods or on time sequences, I see an EPHASIS on creation being caused by God alone i.e. this is what he did.

 

[juvenissun]

When I read the text, I do not see an EMPHASIS on time periods or on time sequences, I see an EPHASIS on creation being caused by God alone i.e. this is what he did.

You may analysis it according to whatever linguistic study says. But I understand it from a scientific point of view. If the sequence of DAYs were not so arranged, then there will be major errors in the correctness of science. The argument would be like this: if what's described on DAY (n) did not happen, then the descriptions on DAY (>n) would not be right.

 

[Papias]

... I understand it from a scientific point of view. If the sequence of DAYs were not so arranged, then there will be major errors in the correctness of science.

So you are saying that the sequence in Genesis matches the sequence discovered by science?

Umm... what? The sequence is not "correct". It's all mixed up. Again and again the sequence in Genesis is completely mismatched from science if read literally.

Some examples, by day of "creation":

Initial State
Watery abyss

wrong - Land has always existed on Earth

1 Light (no Sun yet)

wrong - Light without sun?

2 Firmament/inverted bowl
wrong - Hebrew word shows this to be solid, but there has never been a solid dome over the earth.

3 Dry land, then All land plants

wrong - sea animals preceded land plants

4 Moon, Sun, stars and the whole universe

wrong - Those existed long before life and most of the other things made in days 1-3.

5 Aquatic Animals & Birds

wrong - Birds were not before animals on land.

6 Land animals and humans

But this is a different order than Genesis 2.

7 Rest

Just like any other primitive creation story, some things are right here and there - especially since most of these stories (as shown above) go from simpler to complex, as makes sense.

Our story isn't anywhere close to being right. The most accurate stories are by religions made up recently - like scientology. But that, of course, only means that we knew more when they made up the religion, not that scientology is right.

The point of the story is a refutation of the Babylonian creation story - which the Genesis story follows, and scholars recognized it as being a reflection of. It's a clarification by God that God is the one doing the creating, not the Babylonian gods. Taking it literally both misses God's point as well as not matching what's been found by science.

In Christ-
Papias

 

[juvenissun]

So you are saying that the sequence in Genesis matches the sequence discovered by science?

Umm... what? The sequence is not "correct". It's all mixed up. Again and again the sequence in Genesis is completely mismatched from science if read literally.

Some examples, by day of "creation":

Initial State
Watery abyss

wrong - Land has always existed on Earth

1 Light (no Sun yet)

wrong - Light without sun?

2 Firmament/inverted bowl
wrong - Hebrew word shows this to be solid, but there has never been a solid dome over the earth.

3 Dry land, then All land plants

wrong - sea animals preceded land plants

4 Moon, Sun, stars and the whole universe

wrong - Those existed long before life and most of the other things made in days 1-3.

5 Aquatic Animals & Birds

wrong - Birds were not before animals on land.

6 Land animals and humans

But this is a different order than Genesis 2.

7 Rest

Just like any other primitive creation story, some things are right here and there - especially since most of these stories (as shown above) go from simpler to complex, as makes sense.

Our story isn't anywhere close to being right. The most accurate stories are by religions made up recently - like scientology. But that, of course, only means that we knew more when they made up the religion, not that scientology is right.

The point of the story is a refutation of the Babylonian creation story - which the Genesis story follows, and scholars recognized it as being a reflection of. It's a clarification by God that God is the one doing the creating, not the Babylonian gods. Taking it literally both misses God's point as well as not matching what's been found by science.

In Christ-
Papias

One at a time. Please.

 

[-57]

So you are saying that the sequence in Genesis matches the sequence discovered by science?

In Christ-
Papias

Which is why the bible and the modern misinterpretation of science doesn't mix well.

 

[benelchi]

While there are some significant questions about the order in Genesis, it isn't as black and white has you have suggested.

So you are saying that the sequence in Genesis matches the sequence discovered by science?

Umm... what? The sequence is not "correct". It's all mixed up. Again and again the sequence in Genesis is completely mismatched from science if read literally.

Some examples, by day of "creation":

Initial State
Watery abyss

wrong - Land has always existed on Earth

What is being spoken about here has long been highly debated. Note, most scholars see Ge. 1:1-2 as an introductory text that summarized all of what is coming in the rest of the narrative.

1 Light (no Sun yet)

wrong - Light without sun?

That is exactly what science tells us happened i.e. light existed at the very moment of the "big bang" before any stars existed, but until the "big bang" cooled moments, light could not be seen. At the point where it cooled enough, light became visible.

One may debate whether this is what Genesis 1 is talking about, but one cannot argue that there cannot be light without the sun because science tells us otherwise.

2 Firmament/inverted bowl
wrong - Hebrew word shows this to be solid, but there has never been a solid dome over the earth.

This is a highly debated theory that is rejected by the majority of Hebrew scholars.

3 Dry land, then All land plants

wrong - sea animals preceded land plants

4 Moon, Sun, stars and the whole universe

wrong - Those existed long before life and most of the other things made in days 1-3.

Theories like the "Framework" theory, resolve a whole lot of these issues.

5 Aquatic Animals & Birds

wrong - Birds were not before animals on land.

6 Land animals and humans
But this is a different order than Genesis 2.

This is one of the more difficult sequence issues.

7 Rest

Just like any other primitive creation story, some things are right here and there - especially since most of these stories (as shown above) go from simpler to complex, as makes sense.

Our story isn't anywhere close to being right. The most accurate stories are by religions made up recently - like scientology. But that, of course, only means that we knew more when they made up the religion, not that scientology is right.

The point of the story is a refutation of the Babylonian creation story - which the Genesis story follows, and scholars recognized it as being a reflection of. It's a clarification by God that God is the one doing the creating, not the Babylonian gods. Taking it literally both misses God's point as well as not matching what's been found by science.

In Christ-
Papias

The creation account in Genesis is uniquely different from the other ANE creation accounts. To try and equate them requires one to ignore significant evidence to the contrary.

 

[Aman777]

Today remains the 6th Creative Day/Age in the creation of the perfect Heaven. Gen 1:28 tells of events which will NOT happen until AFTER Jesus returns and fulfills the prophecy of Gen 1:28-31. IF you don't agree, then tell us WHEN Humans were given dominion or rule over mosquitoes viruses and Angels, Gen 1:29 OR when ALL living creatures became vegetarians. Gen 1:30

 

[-57]

Today remains the 6th Creative Day/Age in the creation of the perfect Heaven. Gen 1:28 tells of events which will NOT happen until AFTER Jesus returns and fulfills the prophecy of Gen 1:28-31. IF you don't agree, then tell us WHEN Humans were given dominion or rule over mosquitoes viruses and Angels, Gen 1:29 OR when ALL living creatures became vegetarians. Gen 1:30

You do understand that the bible says the sixth day ended and the 7th day began...

Gen 1:31 tells us the sixth day ended. "And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day". Gen 2:2 tells us God completed the 7th day...and rested on that day. Even the 10 commandments agree.

 

[Aman777]

You do understand that the bible says the sixth day ended and the 7th day began...

Gen 1:31 tells us the sixth day ended. "And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day". Gen 2:2 tells us God completed the 7th day...and rested on that day. Even the 10 commandments agree.

The hidden secret to understanding the entire Bible is in the first 34 verses of Genesis. This is because those verses contain the ENTIRE, COMPLETE, HISTORY of the 7 Day/Age Creation of the perfect 3rd Heaven. God wrote our History, including future events at the end of the present 6th Day, Before these events took place.

Isa 46:10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure:

 

[SayitStraight]

I'm after thoughts and opinions Gods 7-day creation. Did Moses right it as a narrative to the Israelites? Is Genesis all figurative language?

Thoughts and opinions on the controversial topic!

this topic is not controversial in itself . it is made controversial by MEN who do not believe .
some like to say that with god SOME things are impossible ,like creating the earth in 6 days and from that stance of declaring that God is unable to do a thing they declare him to be " no longer God " . they dethrone him from their hearts and minds.
They make up fables about theistic evolution and justify it by saying "this is how god did it or that is how god did it" . But his Spirit has already stated how he did it .so until they agree with the spirit of God they remain at enmity to him in their thinking and their declaration.
All scripture is God breathed it is given by the Holy Spirit of God and he cannot lie .If one does not accept that then one have not yet accepted that God is and that he is true to his word . they remain in a stance of unbelief .they have listened to the lying spirit of this world which at every turn seeks to discredit god and lie .they have believed a lie .

if God is not able to create the earth in 6 days ,as he states he did, then he is not God. those who say he did not ,but rather it took millions of years , then declare that the spirit of God lies all over the place .for in declaring the beginnings untrue they declare the scripture to be untrue all the way through it .

for the Spirit of God has stated (all scripture is given by inspiration (god breathed) ) - God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
And by the same spirit it is written
"For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.

And the same Holy Spirit says ......
"And all the host of heaven will wear away, And the sky will be rolled up like a scroll; All their hosts will also wither away As a leaf withers from the vine, Or as one withers from the fig tree. "
Does this take millions of years to occur ? no

-"Mountains quake because of Him And the hills dissolve; Indeed the earth is up-heaved by His presence, The world and all the inhabitants in it."
Does this take millions of years to occur ? no

-"But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar, the elements will be dissolved in the fire, and the earth and its works will not be found."
Does this take millions of years to occur ? no

-"And when I saw the Lamb open the sixth seal, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black like sackcloth of goat hair, and the whole moon turned blood red, and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, like unripe figs dropping from a tree shaken by a great wind. The sky receded like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved from its place.

-Then the kings of the earth, the nobles, the commanders, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and free man, hid in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains. And they said to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the One seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. For the great day of Their wrath has come, and who is able to withstand it?”

Does this take millions of years to occur ? no! he will utterly change the entire face of the planet in the moment of his coming -for he is GOD and those that implied he lies and cannot do what he says he did, shall be among them that call to the rocks in their terror and shame saying FALL ON US AND HIDE US .

 

[-57]

The hidden secret to understanding the entire Bible is in the first 34 verses of Genesis. This is because those verses contain the ENTIRE, COMPLETE, HISTORY of the 7 Day/Age Creation of the perfect 3rd Heaven. God wrote our History, including future events at the end of the present 6th Day, Before these events took place.

Isa 46:10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure:

There is no hidden secret to understanding the bible. The bible tells us the sixth day of creation ended.

 

[Aman777]

There is no hidden secret to understanding the bible. The bible tells us the sixth day of creation ended.

Not in the Hebrew tense of the following:

Gen 1:27 So God created man (Adam) in His Own Image, in the Image of God created he him; male and female created He them.

The word "created" is in Hebrew Imperfect tense, which means,

Strongs:>>The imperfect expresses an action, process or condition which is incomplete,

IOW, God is STILL creating Adam in His Image which is Spiritually in Christ. It takes the AGREEMENT of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to "create" eternally. We live today at Gen 1:27 because God's creation of sinners into Christians, who will live forever, CONTINUES as ANY Gospel preacher will affirm. God will NOT rest from ALL of His work of Creating until His Creation is finished (Heb-brought to perfection) and filled with ALL of its "host" which includes the last sinner who will ever be saved as the following shows.

Gen 2:1 ¶ Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.

The perfect Heaven cannot be perfect until the entire host of Heaven is safely in Heaven. Then, God will rest (Heb-shabath-cease) from ALL of His works of creating, as Gen 2:2-3 clearly states. Can you tell us HOW to be created in Christ apart from God the Father and Spirit? Gen 1:26 AND John 14:16

 

[benelchi]

Not in the Hebrew tense of the following:

Gen 1:27 So God created man (Adam) in His Own Image, in the Image of God created he him; male and female created He them.

The word "created" is in Hebrew Imperfect tense, which means,

Strongs:>>The imperfect expresses an action, process or condition which is incomplete,

This is a gross misunderstanding of the Hebrew text. In biblical Hebrew there is a grammatical issue called the "vav consecutive/vav conversive" i.e. when a perfect tense is prefixed with the vav it takes on the sense of the imperfect, and when a imperfect tense is prefixed with a vav it takes on the sense of the perfect. While there is debate among Hebrew scholars about whether the yiqtol and vayiqtol forms constitute separate verb constructions, there is no debate about the change to the tense that results. This is a feature that is seen many times on every page of Genesis, and the book of Genesis could not be understood without understanding this. For example "Let there be (imperfect) light, and there was (imperfect +vav) light." This grammatical feature can be seen in almost every verse in Genesis including Ge. 1:27 "And he created (imperfect + vav)!

FYI: the second instance in Ge. 1:27 is a perfect without a vav, if understood as you suggested, we would have a conflict between the first statement and the second statement in this same verse.

 

[Aman777]

This is a gross misunderstanding of the Hebrew text. In biblical Hebrew there is a grammatical issue called the "vav consecutive/vav conversive" i.e. when a perfect tense is prefixed with the vav it takes on the sense of the imperfect, and when a imperfect tense is prefixed with a vav it takes on the sense of the perfect. While there is debate among Hebrew scholars about whether the yiqtol and vayiqtol forms constitute separate verb constructions, there is no debate about the change to the tense that results. This is a feature that is seen many times on every page of Genesis, and the book of Genesis could not be understood without understanding this. For example "Let there be (imperfect) light, and there was (imperfect +vav) light." This grammatical feature can be seen in almost every verse in Genesis including Ge. 1:27 "And he created (imperfect + vav)!

FYI: the second instance in Ge. 1:27 is a perfect without a vav, if understood as you suggested, we would have a conflict between the first statement and the second statement in this same verse.

Do you think this is WHY the story of the creation is so badly misunderstood? I don't study the "beliefs" of ancient Jewish theologians since God tells us HOW He hid His Truth from them and WHY. Can you tell us WHY God hid His Truth from everyone except the people of the last days before Jesus returns? Scripturally?

 

[benelchi]

Do you think this is WHY the story of the creation is so badly misunderstood? I don't study the "beliefs" of ancient Jewish theologians since God tells us HOW He hid His Truth from them and WHY. Can you tell us WHY God hid His Truth from everyone except the people of the last days before Jesus returns? Scripturally?

Are you really suggesting that every translator of Scripture throughout church history, including the ancient translations like the Greek Septuagint, the Aramaic Targums, the Syriac, the Latin Vulgate, etc..., all got this wrong, but you alone are here to give us the corrected interpretation? Over, and over, over again this verb has been translated as a perfect (which is consistent with our understanding of ancient Hebrew).

 

[-57]

IOW, God is STILL creating Adam in His Image which is Spiritually in Christ. I

Wrong. The bible says God created man in his own image.

Gen 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

Gen 1:27 said God finished.

Gen 9:6 confirms what I said "Whoever sheds man's blood, By man his blood shall be shed, For in the image of God He made man."

 

[-57]

The perfect Heaven cannot be perfect until the entire host of Heaven is safely in Heaven. Then, God will rest (Heb-shabath-cease) from ALL of His works of creating, as Gen 2:2-3 clearly states. Can you tell us HOW to be created in Christ apart from God the Father and Spirit? Gen 1:26 AND John 14:16

Dude, the earth and the entirety was perfect....God took a break....Then there was the fall of Adam. Remember? Later on...in the future...it will all be restored.

 

[SayitStraight]

Dude, the earth and the entirety was perfect....God took a break....Then there was the fall of Adam. Remember? Later on...in the future...it will all be restored.

and add to that the transformation is not of the created "flesh" but is of the spirit . the new body which shall clothe that NEW Christ natured creature (the born again) will be given us at his coming for it is already prepared fro us and awaits the full manifestation of the sons of God . it has nothing to do with the external material creation . it is done completed and it was perfect until made imperfect by sin .

 

[Aman777]

Are you really suggesting that every translator of Scripture throughout church history, including the ancient translations like the Greek Septuagint, the Aramaic Targums, the Syriac, the Latin Vulgate, etc..., all got this wrong, but you alone are here to give us the corrected interpretation? Over, and over, over again this verb has been translated as a perfect (which is consistent with our understanding of ancient Hebrew).

Amen, since God hid His Truth in the discoveries of Science currently being announced. Here's what He told Daniel:

Dan 12:4 ¶ But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.

Increased knowledge at the time of the end will pour out God's Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, upon ALL Flesh, including Unbelievers.

Act 2:17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of My Spirit upon ALL flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:

A good example is the Scientific Fact that every living creature that moves had it's origin in water. Meet Luca, the Ancestor of All Living Things - The New York Times
www.nytimes.com/2016/07/26/science/last-universal-ancestor.html

This was announced in July 2016. God told us the SAME thing in Genesis 1:21 more than 3k years ago. It's empirical (testable) evidence of the Literal God. The future scientific discoveries, in the last days, will continue to confirm what God told us in Genesis chapter One.