Before we get much deeper into the creation account contained in the book of Genesis, we are going to briefly look at the two most popular theories about when the earth (and the entire universe) was created. These theories are known as Young Earth Creationism and Old Earth Creationism. These theories are fascinating to study, but the truth is we simply don't know when or how everything that exists in our universe was created. We must keep in mind that knowing the answer to our questions about how and when the creation began is not as important as knowing the awesome and mighty God by whom all these things were created.
The book of Genesis is going to tell us that the Lord created the universe and everything in it within six days. Young Earth theorists believe that the six days of creation were six literal 24 hour days. This is because Genesis uses the Hebrew word "yom" to mean "day". In almost every instance where the word "yom" is used in the Old Testament, it appears to indicate an actual one-day period. (The New Testament was written almost entirely in Greek, though its authors occasionally use a Hebrew or Aramaic word, so we aren't using the New Testament as an example of what a day means.) The Hebrew word itself, when used outside of the Bible, can mean either a literal day or a period of time. It can be used interchangeably with words such as "age" or "era". We often use the English word "day" in this same manner. For example, we might refer to the years of our youth as "back in the day". Or we might use the word "day" when speaking of things that are going on in our world in modern times. For an example of this, I recently said to my husband regarding the upcoming presidential election, "I never thought I'd live to see the day when socialists could run for office in America." Obviously I didn't mean one single day when I made this remark; I was referring to the period of time in which certain political beliefs have begun to gain popularity.
So does the word "yom" in Genesis refer to an actual 24 hour day? There is good evidence to support that this is what Moses (the author of Genesis) intended, considering that the Bible's use of this word throughout the Old Testament refers to an actual day. On the other hand, we don't know how long a day was when the earth was first formed and when the earth began to orbit the sun. Was the earth's orbit the same as it is today or did it take some time for everything in our solar system to come into the alignment with which we are familiar? Depending what method the Lord used to create the planets, it may have taken a great deal of time for the earth and the other planets to spin into their more-or-less round shape and to contract into their permanent mass. The size, shape, and weight of the earth would affect how long it takes to make a complete turn as it orbits the sun...in other words, it would affect how long a day actually was during the early years of our solar system.
Young Earth theorists speculate that human beings were placed on the earth around 6,000 years ago. They estimate this period of time by adding up the generations of Bible characters who lived before Christ, then they add to this the years that have passed since the crucifixion of Jesus. However, some Bible scholars say that it was the habit of people during Old Testament times to leave out of genealogies the names of various ancestors who lived shameful lives. It was also habitual for a person to call himself the "son" of his most respected ancestor, thus skipping over the generations in between.
Young Earth theorists often try to explain away the science that appears to back up the Old Earth theory by saying that the Lord caused the earth and the universe to appear old. I don't know whether we are living on a young earth or an old earth, but this isn't a good explanation for why everything around us appears to have had its beginning in the very ancient past. God is not deceptive. I can't imagine Him causing everything around us to appear old if it is not actually old. A better explanation would be that conditions in the early universe caused things---let's say the formation of the various layers of rock which geologists say took billions of years---to form at a much more rapid rate than they do today. That would cause the earth to look far older than it is. Another good example would be the formation of things like coal or oil under the surface of the earth. These are believed to have taken billions of years to form. If this is not so, then something about the early universe caused everything in it to form at an extremely rapid pace so that it could all come into existence within the years in which the Young Earth theorists propose for the time the universe has been in place.
The Old Earth theorists believe that God created the universe and everything in it way back in the very distant past and that there was a long lapse of time before He placed human beings on the earth. This allows for the billions of years which scientists say were needed for the stars and planets and solar systems to form. This would allow time for the fossil fuels to develop. This would allow time for conditions on the earth to become absolutely perfect to sustain human, animal, and plant life. If Old Earth theorists are correct, then their theory lines up quite nicely with the scientific "big bang" theory, for suddenly something came out of nothing. There would have been a dark void, then the Lord said, "Let there be light!", and in one split second a massive explosion occurred in which light, matter, space, and time were born. Everything needed to create the universe and all that is contained in it would have sprung forth in that instant.
The Old Earth theory is in conflict with the six days of creation indicated by the words of Moses, so this is a problem. This conflict can be reconciled only if we do not consider "yom" to mean a literal 24 hour day, or if the early days our earth experienced were not 24 hour periods but were instead much longer, or if the Lord allowed the universe to exist for billions of years while conditions on it became perfectly right for the existence of human beings. There are problems in reconciling the time of man's sojourn on earth with the apparent age of the remains of human beings that have been found all over the world, unless early conditions on the earth caused things to look much older than they are or unless our methods of calculating age (the Carbon 14 dating method, for example) are entirely in error.
If God created the universe billions of years ago but only created man on the earth 6,000 years ago, what was He doing during that long span of time? We have to keep in mind that God is not governed by the laws of time and space which govern us. He has existed for eternity, long before the universe was created. Because He is not of our universe, He is not subject to the laws of our universe. God may move back and forth throughout time, working things out according to His will. While the planets spun into existence or while the dinosaurs roamed the earth, He may have moved forward in time to set various circumstances and opportunities up for you and me in our present day. He may have been busy lining the things up which are necessary in order to work all things for the good of those who love Him. (Romans 8:28)
We could spend a great deal of time being puzzled about how and when God created the universe and everything in it. We could be like the Grinch and "puzzle til our puzzlers are sore". It's fascinating to think about these things, but God didn't explain all this stuff to us in detail because the theme of the Bible is not how and when God created all that exists. The theme of the Bible is man's fall from grace. The theme of the Bible is about man's broken relationship with the Creator and how man can be reconciled to his Creator. The Bible doesn't discuss how the universe was formed or how old the earth is. The Bible doesn't talk about the dinosaurs or about any other things that existed before the creation of man because these things have nothing to do with the redemptive plan of God for mankind. Would discussing the dinosaurs help us recognize our sinful state and turn us toward our Savior? Likely not. Would explaining to us in detail how God brought everything out of nothing help us live holy and honorable lives? Probably not, because we'd get so caught up in studying the science of God that we'd neglect forming a relationship with God.
As we continue on with our study, we must content ourselves with knowing that although God hasn't told us everything we want to know, in the Scriptures He has told us everything we need to know.
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