Did God create everything in 6 days?

As a believer I can appreciate the great faith that every Christian puts in the Bible and the belief that the wisdom therein, exposed by the prophets, was received directly from God. Actually, if one does believe that the purpose of the Holy Scripture is to guide nations, one would like to think that God would not allow any errors to creep into it.

However, the argument whether God created everything in six days is a great divide between the faith and science. We think that one of these viewpoints must be wrong; we just can’t agree (outside of our own trenches) which one is it. Does the problem lie in the literal reading of the Bible or is something wrong with the scientific methods of dating archaeological artefacts?

But what if both of these viewpoints are right? If we could assume that the “day of creation” mentioned in Genesis refers to God’s (working) day and not man’s, would it be easier to find the common ground between the two?

When we look into Genesis 1:5 (King James Version, KJV) we will find that the words ‘Day’ and ‘Night’ are capitalized. It can’t be an indication that God spoke them into existence because this paragraph talks about God giving names to certain phenomena after it already occurred. Was this done in order to distinguish them from what we name as ‘day’ (the period of earth day when there is visible light) and ‘night’ (the period of the same characterized with the absence of the visible light); which are actually created (God spoke them into existence) later on the 4^th Day (see Genesis 1:14-19)? If the visible light (from the stars) was created on the fourth Day, what kind of light was created on the first Day?

It is also clear that on the first Day the earth was “without form and void” (see Genesis 1:2). The words “without form” are translation of the Hebrew word ‘tohuw’, which is in KJV also translated as ‘nothing’ and ‘empty space’. This really tells us that the earth did not physically exit yet—it was just an idea in God’s mind. Our creative process also follows this same pattern: we first think about something and then we do practical steps to actually bring it into existence. We are created in God’s image (Genesis 1:27), so we follow His example.

Man lives on the earth and measures his day as one complete revolution of this planet around its axis. So, let us use an analogy to “calculate” the length of God’s Day. From religion we know that God is omnipresent and lives everywhere throughout His creation. The new theory, “The Geometric Concept of Matter” confirms that He is everywhere and everything in the creation, but also that He exists even outside of the creation, because He is the substance out of which everything is created. But, because outside of the creation, space and time do not exist (and that is why we say that God is eternal), let us limit our observation inside the creation, and also to its part which is visible to our sensors – the universe.

The above-mentioned analogy would be very simple if the universe would be rotating around its axis, but it is more likely that the universe lives “in a heartbeat”; a cycle that consists of the expansion which is followed by the contraction. Actually, cosmologists contemplate various scenarios for the end of the universe, but for the sake of the argument, let us assume that the universe will ultimately contract. Thus, we could hypothesize that the length of God’s Day does equal in length to the time it takes the universe to expand plus the time it takes it to implode back to its origin (for more information see the Big Bang theory).

So, let us hypothesize something here – the ‘Day’ and ‘Night’ in Genesis refer to a one complete creation cycle, where at the beginning of the Day creation is reborn (i.e. in the morning), then it exists for a while and when the evening comes it is destroyed. During the ‘Night’ the whole creation doesn’t physically exist but exists only as an idea in God’s mind.

We know that other religions have such a concept. For example, Hinduism has the concept of a “Day of Brahma”, a “Night of Brahma” as well as the concept of the morning and the evening. In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna tells Arjuna “At the dawn of Brahma’s Day all creation, reborn, emerges from the state of nonmanifestation; at the dusk of Brahma’s Night all creation sinks into the sleep of nonmanifestation.” (BG, VIII:18).

But we want to see if the Bible gives some evidence for such an unorthodox theory. Other religious texts may contain some truths, but it’s usually mixed with a lot of unbiblical concepts. For example, all religions would tell you that you have to work hard and perfect yourself in order to earn salvation and your place in eternity with God, but the Bible tells us that God extended His love towards us while we were yet sinners and our salvation was paid by what Jesus did on the cross, so it’s a free gift (see Romans 5:6-10).

You don’t have to earn God’s love, because He loves you already. Jesus said “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30). This is so opposite to “you must earn your salvation; you must work hard to please God,” which other religions proclaim.

When you know that all people and their religions spawned from Noah’s descendants, it is understandable that there are some similarities between them. But the revelation of the caring Heavenly Father is given only in the Bible. So, our goal is to check this unorthodox idea against the Bible, which is the Word of God and is the only source of the complete truth.

Ok, let’s continue. In Genesis 2:4 it says: “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.” Wait a minute! Generations? These verses follow the account of how God created everything in 6 Days. So, why would they talk about ‘generations’ if everything happened within six 24-hour days?

Is this some kind of an error in translation? The Hebrew word ‘towlĕdah’, is in KJV translated as ‘generations’ 38 times and once as ‘birth’. It’s used in the Bible to talk about descendants, generations and genealogies. Hence, we are really talking about the generations of the heavens and the earth. This implies that each heaven and earth were completely new incarnations, given a new birth with every new Day. To talk about generations means to talk about grandparents, parents, children, and so on. Consequently, we are talking about longer passages of time. Therefore, if we identify God’s Day as the time when particular incarnation of the heavens and the earth exists, then it means that such a Day coincides with the existence of the creation. We can easily conclude that the length of such a Day is not just 24 hours.

So, what is Moses telling us in Genesis? Is he saying that within the first creation cycle God created a blueprint of the creation (in His Mind) and that He worked out how to go about manifesting it by creating the ‘light’, which by that definition needs to be a creative force that brings everything else into existence? Can we find in the Scripture a passage where ‘light’ is described as the source of life itself?

Yes, we can. Have a look at John 1:1-5, it says: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.”

Within those verses, where John describes Jesus as the Creator, the creative Word, which created everything; we find that light is actually the very life of men. Without this light there would not be any life. In other words, God can play with the ideas in His mind, and they would float like little bubbles in Him, but unless He would shine on them with His light, they would not have life. The light is the mechanism by which God’s ideas come to life and have their separate existence in Him. “For in him we live, and move, and have our being” (Acts 17:28).

We are objects of His love, and all things, the whole creation was created for His pleasure (see Revelation 4:11). If we are just ideas in His mind, we cannot respond, we cannot love back. If we are just puppets, without free will, our response is not genuine, it is automatic. The only love that He wants to receive back is the love that is freely given, the love we choose to give. But remember that God doesn’t need our love to be happy, because He is love itself (see 1 John 4:8), so what is this telling us? God is a God of relationships; He wants to have a relationship with the beings He has created (this includes you!).

When we feel love we feel God. When we give love back to God we are actually returning His own to Him, acknowledging that we need Him and that we want that relationship to grow. Here is another difference between Christianity (with its Jewish roots) and other religions. Other religions teach that you have to clean your life with good deeds and become perfect in order to have any kind of a relationship with God. The truth is totally different—God loves us unconditionally and we just have to come to Him, confess that we can’t do it on our own, and He will make us clean just for the asking: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

So, what happened on the second Day, what did God create then? On that Day, God went about organizing His creation into sections and He also created a divider between them so they are kept separate. There are three sections: ‘top’, ‘bottom’ and middle. The middle section, which God named the Heaven, divides the top from the bottom section: “And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day” (Genesis 1:6-8).

Have you ever wondered which substance did God use to create everything? Which substance existed before creation was created? What could be the only possible substance that everything is made of? The answer is: God, as God is the only one that existed before everything else. God is the “universal substance” that God (the Word) used to build every object in the universe. Due to this, God is omnipresent throughout the whole creation, but also, it can be said that He is everything; every created object and every created being and also the intelligence behind it.

When Bible talks about the ‘waters’ above and below the firmament, it indicates that there is pretty much the same “stuff” everywhere—‘waters’. We have to remember that these waters were created on the first Day, as a monolith mass of “water”, and on the second Day God is not changing their essence, but is just organising them a little bit.

It’s interesting to examine the Hebrew word ‘mayim’, which is translated as ‘waters’. It literally means ‘juice’ and it could be also used to indicate ‘semen’. Also, the same word is in KJV translated as ‘watersprings’ and ‘waterflood’, which when applied to the context of Genesis, would indicate that these ‘waters’ are in flux, are moving and have their source in God. So, ‘waters’ are really “creative juices” which are essentially God’s ideas given life and separate existence.

Coming back to the creation cycles, on the third Day, God wanted to do something more with the creative juices (waters) beneath the heaven. He caused them to form into matter as we know it today: “And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good “ (Genesis 1:9-10).

Notice that waters ‘gathered’ both to form the ‘dry land’ as well as the ‘seas’. Hebrew word ‘qavah’ that is translated as “be gathered together” means to bind together, to collect, but it also literally means ‘to expect’- i.e. gather together, patiently wait and look for the formation of something. Could you better describe, with one word, the process of the whole universe slowly being formed, by binding the creative juices and collecting them together to form celestial bodies and the space between them? And with that same word also not fail to mention the caring eye of the Almighty Creator patiently waiting for the earth to form and become perfect to carry life as we know it?

Can you see your Heavenly Father watching over the process, tweaking and fine-tuning the cosmic parameters so that life will be possible? Can you see that with the “discovery” of every new life-sustaining parameter (and science is now up to the number #154) the probabilities for the complex life to appear and be sustained are not just astronomically improbable but are mathematically  impossible ? However, with God all things are possible (see Matthew 19:26)! All of this scientific evidence points to the incredible design of the earth and its solar system, and so the patient work of the Creator (as discussed above) is another factor that leads us to believe that His Day runs much longer than 24 hours.

During the same (third) Day God spoke “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth”; and it was so (Genesis 1:11). Previously barren earth was covered with vegetation. But the water cycle as we know it today was not yet established. Genesis 2:5-6 says that before man was created (on the sixth Day) rain didn’t fall, “but there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.”

One question arises, did all of that vegetation appear instantly upon God’s command or did it slowly “evolve”? The story of creation, as Moses tells it, describes what God did in each cycle of creation and wraps it up with “and the morning and the evening were” so and so Day, giving us an indication of the time period during which things happened. This gives us a very good ground to assume that God was constantly busy, continuously changing His creation throughout the Day to bring it to the desired state, after which He “saw that it was good “.

Also, at each creation cycle He added something completely new and He was happy about it. So what would we see if we stood aside as observers during this period when God was conceptualizing this creation? Would we see that things were constantly changing (“evolving”) and would we see that they even “evolved” from cycle to cycle until the 7^th day; when God decided that the structure of His hobby is perfect and that no new concepts are necessary?

Even though this universe might give us an impression that everything “evolved” by itself, we should not be fooled into such thinking. Especially after we understand that God is patiently using natural laws to bring about any desired change. Modern science, and information theory in particular, gives us a definite proof that evolution is simply impossible.

A good article that explains the nature of information, which is a separate entity from matter and energy, could be found here. Basically, the initial information that was coded into the very first DNA had to come from somewhere. Code in general (and DNA is a sophisticated code!) doesn’t occur spontaneously in nature. It always points to the mind that created it. In this case DNA code points to the Creator, and that’s the end of the evolution debate.

The universe on the third Day was not exactly the same as we know it today, because the stars were not yet present (i.e. they were formed on the fourth Day). Does this mean that the whole universe was in darkness or was there some kind of a perennial aurora light spreading everywhere? In any case, the universe was full of primordial planets and on the earth we could find some kind of grass, herbs and trees growing.

In regards to the fourth creation cycle Moses tells us that God wanted to make the universe more dynamic. On the fourth Day He created heavenly luminaries and threw them into motion. Planets also started to move around stars, so day, night and seasons occurred, thus providing more changeable environment and infinitely more interesting one (see Genesis 1:14-19).

Does this mean that the planets in the previous creation cycle were static? Perhaps they were, and perhaps we should also assume that the concept of the universe in constant motion, as we know it today, was worked out in the fourth creation cycle. Again the question is, did God hang all the stars and planets into their places instantly or did that come about slowly through the application of laws of motion and interaction? Like in the case with the previous Days, one would like to think that this was a slow process guided by God through His laws.

On the fifth Day, God created creatures of the sea and the birds. In the next creation cycle, He created land animals. All these animals, like plants before them, had the ability to procreate and produce offspring “after their kind ”. But there was nothing in this creation that would be in the likeness of Him, so on the sixth Day God created man “in His own image” (Genesis 1:26-27). This new being was to subdue the material creation and have dominion over other creatures (Genesis 1:28) and thus become an extension of God’s will in the creation.

After the account of creation at the beginning of the Bible, in Genesis 2 and the following chapters we read the story of Adam and Eve and how they were disobedient to God and consequently lost their immortality and were expelled from the Garden of Eden. The devil tempted them and they ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, even though God told Adam not to do that or otherwise he would die.

Now, the interesting question is: “Why did God even made that tree available in the Garden?” Some people say it was to give choice to Adam and Eve. Because God gave man free will, this was something that man could choose to be disobedient about. Really? Making that choice meant certain death, as God said, so would someone in his or her right mind ever choose such a thing? I don’t think so.

So, what then? The story in Genesis 3:1-5 goes like this: “Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.”

With these statements Satan (the devil, the “serpent of old”) slandered God and implicated that He is really not a good God and that He wanted to keep Adam and Eve subdued, not becoming like Him. The implication was that He was withholding something from Adam and Eve, which was the real reason why He has made the rule about not eating from that tree. Satan was projecting his own feelings about the Father God and I think this is the real reason why that tree was planted in the Garden. The tree was there to flush out Satan’s jealousy and hatred against God.

In the story of creation heaven was created before the earth and man. Consequently, angels were created before men. Scripture teaches us that Satan was one of the high angels and that he desired to be worshiped the same way Father God is (see Isaiah 14:12-15). But this jealousy and hatred were hidden until he maligned God to Adam and Eve. Omniscient God was obviously aware of the feelings Satan had, but there was nothing in the creation that would bring them out and make them public (so they could be judged).

Man was created to be in a love relationship with God, similar to the one angels have. That stirred Satan’s jealousy and ambition even more. When he tempted Adam and Eve by slandering God, his lack of love for God was revealed. As Adam and Eve failed the obedience test, Satan failed the love test. From that point forward it’s only a downward spiral for him. In Revelation 12:7-9 we read that Satan and his angels are removed from the heaven and cast down to earth. In Revelation 20:1-3 Satan is thrown into the bottomless pit and locked up for a 1000 years. And in Revelation 20:10 he is cast into the lake of fire, which is his final destination. Similarly, all that served Satan and chose to reject God who gives life, consequently chose the opposite of life—death, and will be also thrown into the lake of fire, together with death and hell itself (see Revelation 20:11-15).

The Bible says that man will judge angels (1 Corinthians 6:3). In other words man will witness against angels that worked evil towards him. Man is an instrument of God’s judgement on the invisible realms of the creation. God created man to rule the earth, but when man fell he was actually given even a more important role—to be an active participant in God’s plan of the redemption of not just the earth but also the whole creation. God said to Satan: “I will put enmity between thee [Satan] and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed [Jesus]; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:15, brackets mine).

Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8) and we should do the same. All this opposition from the devil and our struggle to endure devil’s temptations has a purpose—to create condemning evidence against Satan and his supporters. Remember that God is not the author and creator of evil. Evil is anchored on lies, which are a complete opposite of truth, which is anchored and found only in the loving and life-giving Creator. Evil is devil’s doing (see James 1:13-17) because he is the father of all lies (see John 8:44).

So, if you are in Christ you are fully equipped to withstand all the wiles of the devil. Our weapons are mighty (2 Corinthians 10:4) and we battle not against flesh but against spiritual forces (Ephesians 6:12). God is for us so who can be against us (Romans 8:31)? It’s not that God had created us and then abandoned and left us stranded, so that we are now helplessly tossed by life to and fro (as some religions would like to teach you).

No, God created us to rule with Him and when the mankind fell, God gave them even a bigger role. Don’t you know that we are co-creators and fellow workers with God (1 Corinthians 3:9)? So, awake to Father’s love, put on the full armour of God (Ephesians 6:10-18) and destroy the works of the devil!

Friend, if you are reading this it means you are on a journey and you would like to discover the truth. Like you, I was once looking for Truth and after a long search I’ve found Him. Or should I say Jesus found me? Friend, time for long searches is up. Every religious tradition speaks of the future end times, and the funny thing is that the end has to come someday. And the Bible is very detailed when it comes to the end time prophecy.

We are living in time that prophets spoke about. The world doesn’t have much more time. I’ve laid out some Bible prophecies in here, and according to the several signs we are at the very end. The time is near when Jesus will come back and you will have to face Him. Will it be on the good terms or bad terms? If you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior you can be sure it will be on good terms.

If you want to become a disciple of Jesus (i.e. make Him your Lord) and you want to be sure of your salvation (i.e. get eternal life as a free gift) simply say the following words and mean them:

Lord Jesus, I repent of my sins. Come into my heart, I make you my Lord and Savior.

Tags: Moses, Genesis, God, creation, evolution, religion