God Created a 24 hour Day! Not Millions of Years!

 

     Did God create a twenty-four hour day, or were there gaps between the days?  Some Christians believe what is called the Gap Theory.  So, the question is whether the gap theory is correct or not?  Well I propose that the gap theory is false and in this article I will explain why I think the gap theory is false.  In this paper we will examine:

 

1)     What the gap theory is?

2)     Was there death and dying before the fall of man?

3)     Taking a Hebrew perspective of the creation account in the book of Genesis.

 

What is the Gap Theory?

 

     There is a popular device used today in an attempt to accommodate the evolutionary ages of the geologists and astronomers in the creation record of the Bible which has been called the “gap theory”—also called the “ruin-and-reconstruction” theory.

     According to this concept, Genesis 1:1 describes the initial creation of the universe.  Following this the standard events of cosmic evolution took place, which eventually produced our solar system about five billion years ago.  Then, on the earth, the various geologic ages followed, as identified by their respective assemblages of fossils (dinosaurs, etc).

     But then occurred a devastating global cataclysm, destroying all life on earth and leaving a vast fossil graveyard everywhere.  This situation is then said to be what is described in Genesis 1:2 “and the earth was without form and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.”  The cataclysm is thought to have occurred as a result of the rebellion of Satan and his angels against their Creator in Heaven, with God then casting them out of Heaven to the earth.

     The gap theory was developed mainly for the purpose of accommodating the great ages demanded by evolutionary geologists.  A Scottish theologian, Thomas Chalmers, first popularized this idea early in the 19^th century. 

 

Death And Dying Before The Fall Of Man?

 

     Does the Bible teach billions of years of animals suffering, and dying before Genesis 1:2?  If there really had been billions of years of suffering and death, why would God say nothing about it?  The best that can be offered in support of such a notion are some out of context quotes from Isaiah and Jeremiah, along with an “ad hoc” translation of Genesis 1:1,2.  Actually the Bible says: “Rom8:22  For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. (KJV)” because of the great curse pronounced by God on man’s dominion (Genesis 3:17-19), as a result of Sin.

     The groaning creation has indeed experienced one global cataclysm, one described in great detail in Genesis chapters 6 – 9, namely the worldwide flood in the days of Noah.  Most vast fossil graveyards in the earth’s can best be explained as one of the results of the flood.

     This awesome spectacle of destruction and death was not part of God’s “very good” creation.  There was no death in the world until sin was in the world! “Rom5:12  Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: (KJV)” “1Cor15:21  For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. (KJV)” In fact, death itself is “the wages of sin” “Rom6:23  For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (KJV)” and our future deliverance from sin and death has been purchased by the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ, who is “the propitiation for our sins and … also for the sins of the whole world” “1Jo2:2  And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for our's only, but also for the sins of the whole world. (KJV)”

     If “death reigned” not “from Adam to Moses,” as the bible says: “Rom5:14  Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. (KJV),” but had already reigned for billions of years before Adam, then death is not the wages of sin, but instead was part of God’s creative purpose.  How then could the death of Christ put away sin?  The gap theory thus undermines the very gospel of our salvation, as well as the Holy character of God!

 

A Hebrew Perspective

 

     Now lets take a closer look at the creation account in the book of Genesis.  The first thing we need to understand though is how the Hebrew days of the week are numbered and spoken?  First, is a short explanation of the Hebrew Days of the week.

 

     The Hebrew days of the week are numerical, as opposed to the other cultures naming them after pagan gods.  They can be seen in the creation account in the first chapter of Genesis.  Here are the days of the week.

 

ימי השבוע                 Transliteration              “The days of the week”

 

יום ראשון                       Yom rishon                                           First Day

יום שני                          Yom shni                                              Second Day

יום שלישי                      Yom shelishi                                         Third Day

יום רביעי                        Yom revii                                             Fourth Day

יום חמישי                       Yom khmishi                                        Fifth Day

שישי יום                        Yom Shishi                                           Sixth Day

יום שבת                         Yom shabbat                                        Seventh Day (Sabbath Day)

 

     I want to make mention of the seventh day יום שבת (Yom Shabbat) Sabbath.  שבת is taken from the verb form meaning “ceased” (from work)  or rested.  In this noun form it implies, of course, “day of rest.”  Even though in Genesis it is called יום שביעי, today we only call this day יום שבת (Yom shabbat) in terms of a day of the week, or (Shabbat) שבת in terms of worship.

     Now, I want you to understand that the days of the week are normally written as ordinal numbers NOT counting numbers:

 

Ordinal Numbers                   NOT                Counting Numbers

ראשון                 “First”                                     אחת                  “One”

שני                   “Second”                                  שתים                 “Two”

שלישי               “Third”                                     שלוש                “Three”

רביעי                 “Fourth”                                   ארבע                 “Four”

חמישי                “Fifth”                                      חמש                  “Five”

שישי                 “Sixth”                                      שש                   “Six”

שביעי                “Seventh”                                 שבע                  “Seven”

 

     Lets now take a look at the Hebrew scriptures in בראשית א:א-ח (Genesis 1:1-5):

 

בראשית א:א-ח  בראשית ברא אלהים את השמים ואת הארץ: והארץ היתה תהו ובהו וחשך על-פני תהום ורוח אלהים מרחפת  על-פני המום:  וימר אלהים יהי-אור ויהי-אור:  וירא אלהים את-האור כי-טוב ויבדל אלהים בין האור ובין החשך:  ויקרא אלהים | לאור יום ולחשך קרא לילה ויהי-ערב ויהי-בקר יום אחד:

 

     Now, as I said earlier, the days of the week can be seen in the creation account in the first chapter of בראשית berishit (Genesis).  But, there is an exception here, and it occurs with “the first day.”  In the creation account there is no יום ראשון (first day);  there is only  יום אחד (yom ekhad) – “one day” or “a day.”  There is a reason why this is so, and this reason should not be overlooked.  Elsewhere in Scripture, the term יום ראשון (yom rishon) is used to mean “the first day of the week.”  Why then was it not used in בראשית berishit (Genesis)?  To be consistent with the rest of the ordinal order of the days in the week is why.  This is because אחד (echad) there represents the contents of “a day.”  “A” day represents the period of time God established after light and darkness were separated, and then He called its two parts (light and darkness) “one day.”  בראשית א:ח פרק ב"” literally reads “...ויהי-ערב ויהי-בקר יום אחד: “ (… and there was evening and there was morning, one day.)  The emphasis here is not yet on the order but, rather, on the contents, nature and purpose of a full twenty-four (24 שעה (24 hour)) day as God created it.  The order of the days of the week begins in the next verse with יום שני (yom sheni) 

 

     It is clearly obvious that the gap theory does not hold up to an intense scrutiny of the Bible!  God created all of creation in six ordinary twenty-four hour days!  God did not institute evolution; he literally spoke the universe into existence.  What a wonderful and powerful God we have! Amen!

 

 

Lets Recap By Looking At Some Facts!

 

 

    

MATSATI (#Hebrew, Undernet IRC)

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