Genesis - the Creation

  • Christian Chat is a moderated online Christian community allowing Christians around the world to fellowship with each other in real time chat via webcam, voice, and text, with the Christian Chat app. You can also start or participate in a Bible-based discussion here in the Christian Chat Forums, where members can also share with each other their own videos, pictures, or favorite Christian music.

    If you are a Christian and need encouragement and fellowship, we're here for you! If you are not a Christian but interested in knowing more about Jesus our Lord, you're also welcome! Want to know what the Bible says, and how you can apply it to your life? Join us!

    To make new Christian friends now around the world, click here to join Christian Chat.
Oct 19, 2024
3,067
697
113
#21
So is Psalm 90:4. which together with 2 Peter 3:8 makes clear that neither is an exact correspondence... therefore, the idea that God intended the 6 days of creation to be likened to 6,000 years is faulty at best.
I think 2PT 3:8 indicates that the purpose of GN 1 is not to explain how the world was created or how long it took (which science studies)
but rather to reveal who created the world and why He did so (which sinners need to learn).
 
Oct 24, 2012
17,206
693
113
#23
that is what I keep seeing, we the people conjecture things off of "Cliff notes" given us. Me at least
The foundation is Christ went to death willingly to kill flesh and be risen for us to be that now risen too in Daddy's Spirit and Truth Born new in Father's spirit and Truth to love all, not a few, thank you
I agree
"How do we know anything?" but the risen Son to be new given us from Father in love to all, includes enemies.
Feed them , do not destroy them feed Love God's love of 1 Cor 13:4-7 is what I see to only do and not having to do that, seeing it as is what is best for us all, thank you
Psalm 100:4. 103:12, Ezekiel 36:26
 
Nov 3, 2024
102
46
28
#24
Peter was quoting from the Hebrew writings which is much like our commentaries. Where rabbis see certain text in the Torah.
The observation that God told Adam he would die in the day he ate of the tree but lived I believe 930 yrs beyond became a concern thus the rabbis had this saying which is still believed today.
More interesting is that many bible scholars believe that ancient Israel did not count past 1000. The reason is that when the text of scripture includes a great number it refers to 1000 or tens of thousands or broken up into half's and scores or a uncountable sum.
It's interesting also that the day of the Lord can point to the thousand year reign.

Besides scripture showing the setting and rising of the sun to represent a 24 hr day God's rest on the 7th day confirms a 24 hr day.
The sabbaths are also of the moon phases which happen quarterly.
Even though days are added or taken away for a year the whole worlds calendar is based on 7 days.

All I got for you right now but yes there is more. 🫠
 

Dino246

Senior Member
Jun 30, 2015
26,010
14,039
113
#25
I think 2PT 3:8 indicates that the purpose of GN 1 is not to explain how the world was created or how long it took (which science studies)
but rather to reveal who created the world and why He did so (which sinners need to learn).
I agree with the second part of your statement (who and why) but not the first (which science studies). Science cannot study how the world was created or how long it took; these things are beyond investigating with scientific methods.
 
Oct 19, 2024
3,067
697
113
#26
I agree with the second part of your statement (who and why) but not the first (which science studies). Science cannot study how the world was created or how long it took; these things are beyond investigating with scientific methods.
I agree that science is fallible, but not that God is tricky, so I test everything using what seems to be the best information available with confidence that science and Scripture will jibe when both are correctly understood.
 

Webers.Home

Well-known member
May 28, 2018
5,949
1,089
113
Oregon
#27
.
Gen 1:5b . . And there was evening and there was morning, a first Day.

There are two kinds of Days in the first chapter of Genesis. One is a creation
day and the other is a natural day. It's very important to keep those two
kinds of days distinctly separate in our thinking because they are as unalike
as sand and gravel.


Natural days are regulated by sunrise and sunset whereas creation days are
a bit problematic because there were no sunrises or sunsets to be seen on
Earth till the fourth day. And-- when you think about it --a strict chronology
of evening and morning defines overnight; viz: darkness (Lev 24:2-4). In
order to obtain a full 24-hour day, we'd have to define creation's Days as a
day and a night rather than an evening and a morning.


In other words: the evenings and mornings relative to creation days aren't
solar events. So it's very likely the terms are merely index flags indicating
the beginnings and endings of unspecified periods.


Now, according to Gen 1:24-31, God created humans and all terra critters
on the sixth day; which has to include prehistoric creatures because on no
other day did God create beasts on land but the sixth.


However; the sciences of geology and paleontology, in combination with
radiometric dating, strongly suggest that prehistoric creatures preceded
humans by several million years. So then, in my estimation, the days of
creation should be taken to represent eras rather than 24-hour events.
That's not an unreasonable posit; for example:


"These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were
created, in the day that the Lord God made earth and heaven." (Gen 2:4)


The Hebrew word for "day" in that verse is the very same word for each of
the six days of God's creation labors. Since day in Gen 2:4 refers to a period
of time obviously much longer than a 24-hour solar event; it defends the
suggestion that each of the six Days of creation were longer than 24 hours
apiece too. In other words: Bible days are ambiguous and not all that easy
to interpret sometimes.


Anyway; this "day" thing has been a stone in the shoe for just about
everybody who takes Genesis seriously. It's typically assumed that the days
of creation consisted of twenty-four hours apiece; so Bible readers end up
stumped when trying to figure out how to cope with the 4.5 billion-year age
of the earth, and factor in the various eras, e.g. Triassic, Jurassic, Mesozoic,
Cenozoic, Cretaceous, etc, plus the ice ages and the mass extinction events.


NOTE: Galileo believed that science and religion are allies rather than
enemies-- two different languages telling the same story. He believed that
science and religion complement each other: science answers questions that
religion doesn't bother to answer, and religion answers questions that
science cannot answer.


For example: theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking understood pretty well
how the cosmos works; but could never scientifically explain why it should
exist at all. Well; in my estimation, the only possible answer to the "why" is
found in intelligent design; which is a religious explanation rather than
scientific. Religion's "why" is satisfactory for people of faith. No doubt deep
thinkers like Michio Kaku, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Michelle Thaller, and the late
Carl Sagan would prefer something a bit more empirical.


* One of the very few thing I look forward to in Heaven is the possibility of a
library where everything that can be known about the cosmos is stored. Carl
Sagan would've loved a library like that because he went to his grave with a
lot of unanswered questions. But now they'll never be answered because Carl
was, at best, an agnostic, and at worst, an atheist.
_
 

Webers.Home

Well-known member
May 28, 2018
5,949
1,089
113
Oregon
#28
God's rest on the 7th day confirms a 24 hr day.

Ex 31:16-17 . .The children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe
the sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. It is a
sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days The Lord
made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was
refreshed.

The Jews' weekly routine day of rest is a liturgical day. As such it is no more
than twenty-four hours in length, whereas the creator's day of rest is very
different.

Six of the creation days were bounded by an evening and a morning;
whereas the seventh day wasn't bounded at all, viz: God has yet to
terminate His rest and pick up where He left off making things. In other
words; God's rest has thus far been a perpetual, never-ending day, viz: it's
an on-going rest primarily because the entire work of creation, from
beginning to end, was completed and God left no unfinished business
awaiting His return to work. (Gen 2:1)

Heb 4:10 . . For all who enter into God's rest will find rest from their
labors, just as God rested after creating the world.

"their labors" are relative to the covenant that Moses' people entered into
with God by means of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy--
a.k.a. the Law -- which rewards compliance with blessings, while at the
same time penalizes non compliance with retribution, e.g. Lev 26:3-38, Deut
27:15-26, and Deut 28:1-69.

So then, the people can never relax because the law-- with its requirements
and its consequences --is constantly hanging over their heads like a sword of
Damocles, suspended by a slender thread easily severed by the slightest
infraction.

By no stretch of the imagination is the Law comparable to God's rest wherein
He ceased from His labors when He was all done and there was nothing else
to do; whereas the Law doesn't permit the people to cease from their labors
because for one thing, there are no sacrifices in the covenant's atonement
system for willful sinners. And for another; Yom Kippur always reaches back,
never forward; so as quick as the ritual ends, the Jews begin accumulating
sins towards the next great day of atonement. In other words: the people
cannot get by on just one Yom Kippur.

But the capper is the consequences specified by Lev 26:3-38, Deut 27:15
26, and Deut 28:1-69. Aaron's high priesthood can bring about their delay,
but he cannot prevent them from eventually catching up with his people and
ruining their day. (Ex 34:6-7)

Matt 11:28-30 . . Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will
give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and
humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and
my burden is light.

Within the context of the letter to Hebrews, the rest Jesus spoke of consists of
a new covenant, a new high priesthood, and a new atonement system.

Heb 4:11 . . Let us do our best to enter that place of rest.
_
 

Sipsey

Well-known member
Sep 27, 2018
1,536
738
113
#29
When God is creating the heavens and earth, I assume his days are much longer than ours. Has anyone figured out how long they were in our time?

Did he create the dinosaurs first and they evolved into the animals we know now? Was Adam a caveman? It seems that period of time is missing unless it is combined and not mentioned in any detail.

Thanks for any information about this.
Here is an interesting take by Dr. Gerald Schroeder —

What is a "Day?"
Let's jump back to the Six Days of Genesis. First of all, we now know that when the Biblical calendar says 5700-plus years, we must add to that "plus six days."

A few years ago, I acquired a dinosaur fossil that was dated (by two radioactive decay chains) as 150 million years old. My 7-year-old daughter says, "Abba! Dinosaurs? How can there be dinosaurs 150 million years ago, when my Bible teacher says the world isn't even 6000 years old?" So I told her to look in Psalms 90:4. There, you'll find something quite amazing. King David says, "One thousand years in Your (God's) sight are like a day that passes, a watch in the night." Perhaps time is different from the perspective of King David, than it is from the perspective of the Creator. Perhaps time is different.

The Talmud (Chagiga, ch. 2), in trying to understand the subtleties of Torah, analyzes the word "choshech." When the word "choshech" appears in Genesis 1:2, the Talmud explains that it means black fire, black energy, a kind of energy that is so powerful you can't even see it. Two verses later, in Genesis 1:4, the Talmud explains that the same word ― "choshech" ― means darkness, i.e. the absence of light.

Other words as well are not to be understood by their common definitions. For example, "mayim" typically means water. But Maimonides says that in the original statements of creation, the word "mayim" may also mean the building blocks of the universe.

Another example is Genesis 1:5, which says, "There is evening and morning, Day One." That is the first time that a day is quantified: evening and morning. Nachmanides discusses the meaning of evening and morning. Does it mean sunset and sunrise? It would certainly seem to.

But Nachmanides points out a problem with that. The text says "there was evening and morning Day One... evening and morning a second day... evening and morning a third day." Then on the fourth day, the sun is mentioned. Nachmanides says that any intelligent reader can see an obvious problem. How do we have a concept of evening and morning for the first three days if the sun is only mentioned on Day Four? There is a purpose for the sun appearing only on Day Four, so that as time goes by and people understand more about the universe, you can dig deeper into the text.

Nachmanides says the text uses the words "Vayehi Erev" ― but it doesn't mean "there was evening." He explains that the Hebrew letters Ayin, Resh, Bet ― the root of "erev" ― is chaos. Mixture, disorder. That's why evening is called "erev", because when the sun goes down, vision becomes blurry. The literal meaning is "there was disorder." The Torah's word for "morning" ― "boker" ― is the absolute opposite. When the sun rises, the world becomes "bikoret", orderly, able to be discerned. That's why the sun needn't be mentioned until Day Four. Because from erev to boker is a flow from disorder to order, from chaos to cosmos.

That's something any scientist will testify never happens in an unguided system. Order never arises from disorder spontaneously and remains orderly. Order always degrades to chaos unless the environment recognizes the order and locks it in to preserve it. There must be a guide to the system. That's an unequivocal statement.

The Torah wants us to be amazed by this flow, starting from a chaotic plasma and ending up with a symphony of life. Day-by-day the world progresses to higher and higher levels. Order out of disorder. It's pure thermodynamics. And it's stated in terminology of 3000 years ago.
 

lrs68

Active member
Dec 30, 2024
653
203
43
#30
The Holy Spirit of God Inspired that the concept of 1 DAY = 1,000 YEARS be mentioned TWICE in the Bible. Once in the Tanakh and a second time in the New Testament.

In the Hebrew Communities that I grew up in we believed that Creation took ONE WEEK to complete and that Creation would last ONE WEEK.

How that works is interesting.
Look at today. We believe we're almost at the 6,000 YEAR point from Adam being removed from the Garden. But in reality, God is viewing it as 6 DAYS.

That means Creation at the 7th DAY = 7,000 YEARS
+
Today, 2025 is almost the 6,000 YEARS from Adam = 6th DAY
+
MILLENNIUM REIGN 1,000 YEARS = 1 DAY
=
The Holy Spirit of God mentioning 1 DAY = 1,000 YEARS {TWICE}
=
14 DAYS = 14,000 YEARS
 

Gideon300

Well-known member
Mar 18, 2021
5,705
3,458
113
Frankston, Victoria
christianlife.au
#31
Authorized (King James) Version
Psalm 90:4
4 For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past,
and as a watch in the night.


Authorized (King James) Version

2 Peter 3:8

8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

It is conjecture, all the Bible is full of "Cliff notes" that people conjecture from and make troubles to one another over it all. Now worse having added Chapters and verses, straining out gnats, possibly swallowing camels, not well for my Soul The entire Bible without verse, I get to read the whole and see a gigantic love story from God Father and Son to us all. Son not known in the old, predicted to come to earth first, and has done that now and completed everything needed for us to be new in love and mercy to all, at least to me presently
However it is our free choice to choose, and then it works out or not, does it really matter? to choose is all tha tis left after that cross of Son, to me anyways. Man could not figure it out who Jesus was/is and that got him killed, by his being willing to love all as did do that. As evil regrets that now, getting him killed since Son is risen where new life is given free from Father to us. As, we the people are still trying to figure out the mysterious ways of God, wow Trust Daddy through Son you are reconciled, and new life is offered , accept this free gift, and be dead to your first birth willingly, since at that cross all sin is now condemned to flesh nature
Be dead to be alive as in Acts 17:28 tells me at least thanks
I understand Isaiah now in /Is 6:1-7
Is your full stop key not working? It helps. "Joe Biden is going great!" or "Joe Biden is going. Great!"
 
Oct 16, 2024
16
13
3
#33
I still wonder about the dinosaurs and why not mentioned. So, I just prayed and asked God. I will know eventually. They were magnificent creatures - although I wouldn't want to meet one alive. Since that's not going to happen, I am not worried.

There are some wild animals that exist now that I wouldn't want to meet, like, lions and tigers and bears. But I love the birds and they don't intimidate me. I love the birds in Missouri. The Tufted Titmouse is so cute and he taps on the window. The Cardinal is one of my favorites.

If you don't believe in God, just look at nature.

Thanks for all the comments.
 
Jun 30, 2015
26,010
14,039
113
#34
I still wonder about the dinosaurs and why not mentioned. So, I just prayed and asked God. I will know eventually. They were magnificent creatures - although I wouldn't want to meet one alive. Since that's not going to happen, I am not worried.

There are some wild animals that exist now that I wouldn't want to meet, like, lions and tigers and bears. But I love the birds and they don't intimidate me. I love the birds in Missouri. The Tufted Titmouse is so cute and he taps on the window. The Cardinal is one of my favorites.

If you don't believe in God, just look at nature.

Thanks for all the comments.
The word “dinosaur” didn’t even exist until the 19th century, so it isn’t surprising that it doesn’t appear in Scripture. There are, however, descriptions of beasts in Scripture that sure sound like sauropod dinosaurs.
 

Gideon300

Well-known member
Mar 18, 2021
5,705
3,458
113
Frankston, Victoria
christianlife.au
#35
I still wonder about the dinosaurs and why not mentioned. So, I just prayed and asked God. I will know eventually. They were magnificent creatures - although I wouldn't want to meet one alive. Since that's not going to happen, I am not worried.

There are some wild animals that exist now that I wouldn't want to meet, like, lions and tigers and bears. But I love the birds and they don't intimidate me. I love the birds in Missouri. The Tufted Titmouse is so cute and he taps on the window. The Cardinal is one of my favorites.

If you don't believe in God, just look at nature.

Thanks for all the comments.
A dinosaur is mentioned, book of Job.
 

Gideon300

Well-known member
Mar 18, 2021
5,705
3,458
113
Frankston, Victoria
christianlife.au
#36
I think 2PT 3:8 indicates that the purpose of GN 1 is not to explain how the world was created or how long it took (which science studies)
but rather to reveal who created the world and why He did so (which sinners need to learn).
Instead of your opinion, why don't you see what God said? God equates an earthly day with the day of creation. We are also told that God simply spoke everything into existence. Man is the exception, and woman was formed from man.

Yes, 1,000 years is as a day - to God.
 
Oct 19, 2024
3,067
697
113
#37
Instead of your opinion, why don't you see what God said? God equates an earthly day with the day of creation. We are also told that God simply spoke everything into existence. Man is the exception, and woman was formed from man.

Yes, 1,000 years is as a day - to God.
Why don't you see that what you say is your opinion about what God meant?
 
Oct 19, 2024
3,067
697
113
#38
I still wonder about the dinosaurs and why not mentioned. So, I just prayed and asked God. I will know eventually. They were magnificent creatures - although I wouldn't want to meet one alive. Since that's not going to happen, I am not worried.

There are some wild animals that exist now that I wouldn't want to meet, like, lions and tigers and bears. But I love the birds and they don't intimidate me. I love the birds in Missouri. The Tufted Titmouse is so cute and he taps on the window. The Cardinal is one of my favorites.

If you don't believe in God, just look at nature.

Thanks for all the comments.
The creation account did not mention amoebas either, because its purpose was to explain who created and why rather than what was created and how.

I love watching the birds attracted to the feeder outside my sunroom window, which include those you mentioned, but not robins (no dried worms :^)

Yes, as we have seen on the KISSed HOB thread, general revelation has been the main mode of revealing God until recently.
 
Oct 24, 2012
17,206
693
113
#39
I still wonder about the dinosaurs and why not mentioned. So, I just prayed and asked God. I will know eventually. They were magnificent creatures - although I wouldn't want to meet one alive. Since that's not going to happen, I am not worried.

There are some wild animals that exist now that I wouldn't want to meet, like, lions and tigers and bears. But I love the birds and they don't intimidate me. I love the birds in Missouri. The Tufted Titmouse is so cute and he taps on the window. The Cardinal is one of my favorites.

If you don't believe in God, just look at nature.

Thanks for all the comments.
the Lion will lay down with the lamb
Daniel was put in. a lions pit to get eaten by them. And he was not eaten by them
What?????????????????????
Father takes away her as we each stand in belief to see this truth, given us. Which does not mean to be foolish either
When needed, depending on Daddy, PaPa, Father of risen Son Jesus for us. We will by Father be delivered, which depends on us not being in fear. Seeing it be. not us that get us out of fear
1 John 4:18
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
 
Feb 19, 2025
13
16
3
#40
When God is creating the heavens and earth, I assume his days are much longer than ours. Has anyone figured out how long they were in our time?

Did he create the dinosaurs first and they evolved into the animals we know now? Was Adam a caveman? It seems that period of time is missing unless it is combined and not mentioned in any detail.

Thanks for any information about this.

This is something I’ve thought about too. If God created all things, then time itself wasn’t a limitation for Him. When He made the heavens and the earth, the timeline we try to measure things by wouldn’t have mattered to Him the same way it does to us.

Take Adam, for example: when God created him, he wasn’t a baby that had to grow up. He was fully formed from the start. The same could be said for creation itself. If God made a tree and wanted it to be 5 million years old, He could have created it with that age already built in. Just because something appears old to us doesn’t mean it wasn’t created in an instant.

Carbon dating, or any other method of measuring time, assumes a natural process over time, but if God created the world with maturity:- mountains already towering, rivers already flowing, forests already grown, then what we perceive as ‘millions of years’ could have been put in place immediately. It doesn’t mean the science is wrong, but it does mean we’re measuring something from within time that was made by a God outside of time.

So whether it was six literal days, long ages, or something else entirely, what matters is that He made it, and time was never a barrier to His creation. The details of how He did it? That’s part of the mystery we get to explore