Click or Tap Icons to Share! Thank you!

Authored By  :
Published On :
Last Updated :



Continuing our discussion from part one, now to enforce this particular point, I am now going to share a set of questions with you which easily reveal what kinds of problems we can run into when we fail to recognize a Biblical day as exactly a twenty-four hour period.

Do you believe that the Prophet Jonah spent three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, or was it actually three thousand years, or three million years? Do you believe that it rained for forty days and forty nights in the Book of Genesis, or did we get it wrong and it actually rained for forty thousand years, or perhaps even for forty million years?

Do you believe that Moses was on the summit of Mount Sinai -- a.k.a. Mount Horeb -- for forty days and forty nights in order to receive the Ten Commandments from God, or was he actually up there for a period of forty thousand years, or quite possibly even for forty million years? Now what about those Israelite spies that Moses sent to scout out the land of Canaan? Did they really do it for just forty days, or did their espionage campaign actually endure for a total period of forty thousand years, or for even forty million years?

And concerning our final two examples, did Jesus spend forty days fasting in the wilderness area of the Jordan River, or did He actually fast out there for forty thousand years, or perhaps even for forty million years? And lastly, following His miraculous resurrection from the dead, was the Lord seen for a period of forty days by His followers, or is it maybe possible that they really saw Him for forty thousand years, or even for forty million years?

Now, I know that it may seem a little bit silly the way in which I presented those examples to you; but do you see my point? If we try to interpret the word "days" as anything other than a 24-hour period, none of those verses make any sense whatsoever, do they? So the point is that God's Word is consistent in meaning throughout the pages of the Bible. A day is a day is a day. To believe otherwise is perverting God's Word and creating confusion in the process.

Now to firmly prove this point -- for any hardhearted people who aren't already convinced -- allow me to give you a final rather mind-blowing example. Do you realize that God created vegetation on the third day of Creation? Even an elementary school child learns that plant life requires the process of photosynthesis in order to produce chlorophyll and fuel for its cells so that it can grow and thrive.

However, as most people will know, this amazing process of photosynthesis requires direct sunlight in order to work. God obviously knew this as well. That is precisely why on the very next day -- the fourth day -- He also created the Sun and the Moon. Smart God! He knew exactly what He was doing, don't you think? He knew that plant life would not survive for very long without direct sunlight.

On the other hand, do you naysayers believe that between the time that God created vegetation on the third day, thousands or perhaps millions of years passed before God created the Sun on the fourth day? Come on now, friends! That is highly unlikely, isn't it? You are going to have a very difficult time explaining how all of that vegetation survived without direct sunlight to help it to produce its own fuel, and to grow.

It's indeed sad that naysayers -- such as the brother who I mentioned earlier -- lack the faith to simply believe the Scriptures for exactly what they state, and thus find the need to resort to such ungodly science -- which contradicts God's Word time and time again -- in order to make certain things more understandable in their faithless minds.

As we have seen, due to their own lack of faith in accepting and believing the Genesis account for exactly what it says, they endeavor to find some kind of logical way around it. In the case of the brother I mentioned, he very intentionally misinterpreted what the Apostle Peter is actually saying in 2 Peter 3:8. Let me share that verse with you one more time:

"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."


My friends, for those of you who may not understand it, the Apostle Peter is NOT saying that one day equates to 1,000 years. I am personally and fully convinced that what Peter is really saying in that verse is that whether a day passes, or one thousand years transpire, it is all the same to God, because He exists outside of time in the timeless realm of the "Eternal Now" where past, present and future are all one. In fact, that is precisely why God is able to see the end from the beginning, as we discover in these two verses:

"Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:"


To reiterate the previous point, in my view, 2 Peter 3:8 is NOT some kind of secret code instructing any of us to treat a day as a thousand years, or vice versa. That is simply a man-made doctrine as far as I am concerned. Yet sadly, that false interpretation of the verse has led many Christians down the path of deception.

In conclusion, my friends, instead of inventing our own pet numerical theories in order to try to make God's Word more rational and logical to our human minds, we need to simply ask God to give us more faith. After all, as it is written, without faith it is impossible for us to please God, as we see by the following verse:

"But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him."


If you are one who has struggled, and who has experienced any doubts with regard to the veracity and validity of any part of God's Word -- including the Six Days of Creation -- I truly hope that my previous explanation has both inspired your faith, and has put you on the right path again.

With these thoughts, I will bring this article to a close. It is my hope that you've found it informative and enlightening, and I pray that it has been a blessing in your life as well. If you have an account with Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr or with any other social network, I would really appreciate if you'd take the time to click or tap on the corresponding link that is found on this page. Thanks so much, and may God bless you abundantly!

For additional information and further study, you may want to refer to the list of reading resources below which were either mentioned in this article, or which contain topics which are related to this article. All of these articles are likewise located on the Bill's Bible Basics web server. To read these articles, simply click or tap on any link you see below.

Adaptation, EVILution and the Six Days of Genesis
Amazing 430 Years: Bible is an Accurate Historical Record
Do You Stand Up for Your Faith?
Famous Forties: One of God's Special Numbers?
Fifty Days Which Changed the World
He Who Fights and Runs Away: Choose Your Battles Wisely
Is Science Better Than the Bible?
Is the KJV Bible the Inerrant Word of God?
Keeping Things in Proper Perspective: ET, Where Are You?
Last Seven Years Chart
Science and Technology: The Forbidden Knowledge?
The Battle is Not Yours Alone!
The Earth is Under Seven Thousand Years Old!
The Lord Will Lift You Up
The Plight of the Children: School Gun Violence!
The Public School System and School Prayer
What is Wrong With Modern America

Click or Tap Icons to Share! Thank you!

---

---

Please avail yourself of other areas of the Bill's Bible Basics website. There are many treasures for you to discover.