Seven reasons why we should accept millions of years - part 2: it fits Genesis 1

The second reason given by Dr Mortenson for a new earth, is that "Exodus 20:11 blocks all attempts to fit millions of years into Genesis 1". The scripture referred to says, "for in 6 days the Lord God made the heaven and on the 7th he rested".

That is hardly scientifically robust. It is a non sequitur that takes a verse that says the same thing as Genesis 11 and holds that up as proof. It is not an objective standard. That's like pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps.

Contrast that with God's way, which used the gospels to cross-reference and independently witness the life of Jesus. 

The operative word in Exodus 20:11, is Yom, which New Earth thinkers say is only ever used to describe a single 24-hour event, but which scripture does not support. So, if Dr Mortenson is going to use scripture to prove scripture, so will I. 

It is an over-simplification of Hebrew to ever assume a single meaning of any word. The language is truly rich. In English, "now" may only mean "this moment", but in Hebrew words generally have layered meanings. Greek was the same.      

The reason is because the Hebrew lexicon was limited to about 8,000 words from 1,500 roots, compared with 170,000 in English. So it had to allow for multiple meanings of words.  

The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (1980, Moody Press) argues that Yom can denote:

1. A period of light (as contrasted with a period of darkness), which allows for the light of creation itself to be the time-piece of Genesis 1. 
2. A period of twenty-four hours.
3. A vague "time" - as in an era, a season, etc.  
4. A point in time.
5. A year (in the plural; I Sam 27:7; Ex 13:10, etc.)

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, bases the word on an an unused root, meaning to be hot; a day (as the warm hours), whether literal (from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next), or figuratively (a space of time defined by an associated term).

Yom can equal Time. 67 verses in the Old Testament, translate Yom as "time."  Genesis 4:3, says "And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord."  Here, Yom refers to a season, probably several months.  In Deuteronomy 10:10, it refers to a time of forty days.  In I Kings 11:42, it says "And the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years."  

Isaiah 30:8 says "Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever."  Here, Yom denotes "forever."  

Yom can equal a Year. Four times in the Old Testament Yom is translated "year."  In I Kings 1:1, "David was old and stricken in years..."  In 2 Chronicles 21:19, "after the end of two years" and in the very next verse "Thirty and two years old."  Finally, in Amos 4:4, "...and your tithes after three years."  In each case, Yom represents years, not days.

Yom can mean Age. Eight times in the Old Testament, Yom is translated "age."   These range from sentences like "stricken in age"  (Genesis 18:11 and 24:1; Joshua 23:1 and 23:2).  Genesis 47:28 refers to "the whole age of Jacob," therefore yom here refers to a lifetime.  In Zechariah 8:4, it says old men and women will sit in the streets of Jerusalem, "each with cane in hand because of his age."

    

Once Yom is translated as "ago."  1 Samuel 9:20 says "As for the donkeys you lost three days ago." 

Four times Yom translates as "always," in Deuteronomy 5:29, 6:24, 14:23, and 2 Chronicles 18:7.  

Three times Yom means "season".  In Genesis 40:4, "...and they continued a season in ward."  Again, in Joshua 24:7, "dwelt in the wilderness a long season," and in 2 Chronicles 15:3, "...a long season Israel hath been...".  In each case yom represents a multi-month period.

When used in conjunction with the word dâbâr, Yom means "chronicles" (27 times).

    

When used in conjunction with kôwl, yom is translated as "continually" (11 times).  Once, in Psalm 139:16, it is translated continuance (without the kôwl).

Nineteen times Yom is translated as "ever", of which 16 cases are expressed as for ever. 

In one case Yom is used in conjunction with kôwl, to translate as "evermore."  Deuteronomy 28:29, "...and thou shalt be only oppressed and spoiled evermore."

Even in the creation account, Yom is used in 3 different ways:

• Genesis 1:5  "And God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night."  Here, it indicates a 24 hour day". 
• Genesis 2:4  "...in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens."  Here it indicates the entire creative week".
• In the summary for each of the six creation days, "and there was morning and evening the first day", Yom denotes a finite, long period of time.  

To show support for this, consider the uses of Yom by Moses:

• Genesis 4:3  already mentioned, denotes a season. 
• Genesis 43:9  "...then let me bear the blame for ever", denotes eternity.
• Deuteronomy 4:40  "...that thou mayest prolong thy days upon the earth, which the Lord thy God gives you, for ever" denotes a lifetime,
• Deuteronomy 19:9  "...to love the Lord thy God, and to walk ever in His ways..." denotes a lifetime.  

Young Earthers insist that Yom, in conjunction with a cardinal, denotes 24 hours. However, in Zechariah 14:7-9, "one day" refers to a period of time when the Lord shall be king over the earth. 

Back to Genesis 1.   Moses said "and there was evening and morning the nth day".  That cannot be actual evenings and mornings, as that was only possible on the 4th day and a consistent time reference is implied for the whole creation cycle. 

It implies that morning and evening refer to event horizons, not to 24 hour periods. Besides, the scriptures do not demand that we should reduce the interpretation to a 24 hour period. 

Morning and evening is used figuratively in Psalm 30:5, Psalm 49:14,15, Psalm 90:6, without denoting a physical day. 

An interesting thing happens in Numbers. Forty years elapses without any record. Nothing of what happened in the 40 years between their turning back at Kadesh Barnea and the resumption of their journey 38 years later. Nothing. 

Is it possible then, that God deliberately left out a mound of data and limited the Genesis account to a simple record of the sequence of creation. That is exactly what happened and, as such, there is no conflict between a 13.7 billion year old universe and Genesis 1. 

He had no need to go into the finite details that made up those eons. He only felt it necessary to explore the patterns of creation, which are consistent with science: the only real objective witness that God could use as no one else could witness it, as happened with the gospels.

Indeed, once the voice of New Earth dogmatist falls silence, the Word speaks eloquently for itself in harmony with science and geological evidence.

Conclusions

It is not only naive and unnecessary to reduce creation days to a 24 hour period, it also creates significant theological problems, let alone conflicts with science. Conflicts with science matter, because it reduces a great story to a parody without objective support.

The simple question arises: if God could do it all in an instance, why bother with a 4,000 grueling journey to the cross? Why not just resolve it all upfront? Or rather, why not just un-create sin and the Devil in a similar moment? 

It all becomes illogical and cumbersome. Yet, accepting an old earth removes all those dilemmas and helps us to see God as one who fashioned solutions, not as a wand-waving magician.

It was not his outstretched arm of raw power that saved us, but his eternal wisdom. The patience and wisdom of creation was as fundamental to that conclusion, as human history was.

(c) Peter Missing @ bethelstone.com

Sources:

• Word Study: Yom by Greg Neyman © 2007, Old Earth Ministries. Published 16 March 2005
• Television Show and Transcript, "Are the Genesis Creation Days 24 Hours or Long Periods of Time," The John Ankerberg Show, 2005