Scriptural evidence for long “days.”

In the book of Job we read:

“Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it? Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof; When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted with joy?” (Job 38:4-7).

When studying Scripture one has to consider all related passages. This passage in Job presents a contradiction to the creationists’ understanding of Genesis 1 regarding the appearance of the stars on day 4. They actually exist before the creation of the earth. One cannot dismiss this passage as just poetry: It is the LORD speaking. Day 4 should be understood as the cleansing of the atmosphere of volcanic ash, steam, and carbon dioxide. We should therefore search Scripture for more information.

“A prayer of Moses the man of God. Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. You turn men back to dust, saying, “Return to dust, O sons of men.” For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night” (Psa 90:1-4).

Here we are instructed that as God's ways are not our ways so God's time is not our time. Our time and space actually began with the big bang. God is not confined to the universe He created, because He is not limited, eternal, omnipresent and omniscient. For Him the past and future are always present, because He lives above the confinements of time.

Another argument made for 24 hour days is that the Hebrew word for day yowm means day, and if God had meant long periods of time he would have used another word. However, this is not entirely true. There are many places in the Old Testament where yowm means something other than a 24 hour day. For the purpose of this study we will look only at a few examples from Genesis.

These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens, And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground. But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground” (Gen 2:4-6).

This is an example where “day” refers to a longer period of time. Whether day means 6 days or 15 billion years makes no difference: it does not mean a 24-hour period.

“But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Gen 2:17). Here day seems to indicate when a judgment was made concerning Adam's future (and ours). But we know that Adam lived a long time after this. Upon banning them from the garden, God clothed Adam and Eve in animal skins to insure their survival. God seems to have wanted them to live and procreate. Most people believe Adam died spiritually that day. Certainly his innocence died. But Adam continued to talk with God after this event and Cain was concerned that he would no longer be in God's presence after being forced to leave his land because he killed Abel.

“And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD” (Gen 4:3). This passage translates yowm as the passing of time. This occurs many times in the Old Testament.

“While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease” (Gen 8:22). The lifetime of the earth is indicated by this use of yowm.

“And it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a window, and saw, and, behold, Isaac was sporting with Rebekah his wife” (Gen 26:8). Time does not relate directly to 24 hours but it is yowm that is used here.

“And the captain of the guard charged Joseph with them, and he served them: and they continued a season in ward” (Gen 40:4). Scripture tells us Joseph was in prison a lot longer than a day. Yowm is translated season in this passage.

“I will be surety for him; of my hand shalt thou require him: if I bring him not unto thee, and set him before thee, then let me bear the blame for ever” (Gen 43:9). How long is for ever? Longer than 24 hours; yet “ever” is yowm in Hebrew.

“And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years: so the whole age of Jacob was an hundred forty and seven years” (Gen 47:28). The age of Jacob, or the day of Jacob, was 147 years.

As has been shown, days can and often are understood in Scripture to mean a period of time greater than 24 hours, and numbering the days does not force a fixed time limit upon the passage.

One argument remains to be addressed: “And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day” (Gen 1:5). Young earth creationists insist that the mention of evening and morning in combination with day forces “day” to be a 24-hour day.

“Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil” (Gen 49:27). The Hebrew word for evening is 'ereb, it is translated night in this passage. The Hebrew word for morning is boqer and it means sunrise or the coming of light. In each of the creation days, we see darkness followed by the coming of light. We see God's hand at work in his creation day as something that did not exist before, therefore in principle was invisible, and then has been brought out into the light to declare His glory. We see what was formless and void receive limits, shape, fulfillment. This does not limit the day in any way to 24 hours. One thing that is certainly inconsistent about the literal reading is that the evening and the morning were not the first day but rather the first night. Of course, understanding that the Hebrew day starts at dusk helps, but then we are still faced with only half a day.