Gn 1:
It began with darkness.
The first day was demarcated by darkness and the creation of light. This was followed by a symbolic evening. The "evening and morning" formula served more as a literary device to structure the narrative than as a literal time measurement. Then:
God created Heaven on the 2nd day. Again, a symbolic evening followed.
On the third day, God created Earth and plants. The sun came next:
If God created the sun on the fourth day, what form of measurement determined the beginning and end of the first three “days”?
There wasn't a precise numerical measurement to define those the first 3 days. Rather, those were logical divisions/days in the creation narrative.
the 24-hour day was created on the 4th Day. There were no sun and moon as we know it on first 3 Days. So what is evening and morning at the end of each Day?
I believed that the word Day implies a stage, a phase, a timeframe. It is figurative. The creation took place in organized stages. At the first phase, light was created, followed by the sky, then the land and sea. Later, in distinct stages, God created the stars, vegetation, flying creatures, sea habitants, and finally, land animals, followed by man and woman. He did not create randomly, so to speak: He did not make the stars, then the land, some living creatures, and then create more stars again; instead, He proceeded in an orderly way.
Why did the Bible use the word Day instead of stage or phase? The word Day fits the prose of writing in religious scriptures. For different subjects, be it engineering, human literature, fiction, magazines or newspapers, there are different ways of writing. Chemistry books are written in a factual way, while consumer magazines use words to capture our interests and promote sales. In Chinese culture, the word day can refer to heaven or the deities that dwell in heaven -- and this is not a unique view; it is not unusual for earthly beings to look at the sky and moon, and wonder if there are gods that live far beyond the stars. In the Bible, in the context of creation, Day alludes to a passage of time.
In the first chapter of Genesis, at the end of each day, the Bible said, “There was evening and there was morning.” However, if the sun and moon were created on the fourth day, how did evenings and mornings happen during the first three Days? As well, notice the order: It was not morning, then evening. Instead, it was the reverse: Evening first, followed by morning. I believe that
evening means the end of a stage, not sunset. And morning means the beginning of another phase, not sunrise. As well, it does not mean that the amount of time for each day was the same. To gather the land into one place would take much less time than to create the thousand kinds of sea creatures.
The Bible gives a brief summary of how the t
wenty-four hour day was created on the fourth Day (or stage). “And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years" [Genesis 1:14]. This is the construction of day, night and years – which are based on the twenty-four hour timeframe we live in.
The Creator made a greater light (the sun), the lesser light (the moon) and the stars, then “set them (the sun, moon and stars) in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness” [Genesis 1:18]. For the first time in the creation process, the sun, moon and stars were used to create day and night as we know it; and this is different from the first day of creation, when God used the word day (to denote light) and night (to denote darkness). Observe how the same word, day, is used both figuratively and literally, and in different ways – similar to how the term, God's will, refers to a deliberate plan, permissive will or His will for our way of life. It demonstrates the point: Don’t read words only, understand the context.
Moses said to the people, “For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them” [Exodus 20:11].
But back then, could they have known that, in the context of creation, the word ‘day’ was figurative? Indeed, I believe that Moses would be amused at the thought of how thousands of kinds of living things – falcons, kingfishers, leopards, giraffe, hens, worms, ants, ant-eaters, cats and so on – would materialize suddenly in seventy-two hours, as if God had used CGI (computer graphics interface). Why would He rush to create at such a superfast pace? Instead, I believe the Lord planned out the ecology, constructed the atmosphere and elements, then the landscape and fauna. With these structures in place, He placed the sun and moon in place so the earth has day and night, then proceeded to design and make the lifeforms in the sea and on land. Likewise, for people that like to work on jigsaw puzzles, do they buy an already assembled product or do they enjoy connecting the pieces?
- Excerpt from 'Understanding Prayer, Faith and God's Will' by Roman Ri