The Days of Creation

Because we cannot go back and observe creation, nor can we exactly duplicate the conditions at the time, it is impossible to empirically prove whether a theory regarding the origins of the world are true or not.   While we can compare such theories with what we know from science, to see if they are logically possible, our conclusions will still be very subjective, literally based on faith rather than fact, whether we accept the scriptural account of creation by God, some evolutionary theory, or any of the hundreds of explanations by other religions and cultures.  As we see with the Flat Earth society, some people insist on clinging to their faith regardless how much empirical evidence there may be to prove them wrong.   

The biblical record starts with God having created a blob of matter covered with water of no particular shape hanging in space.  God then began to systematically work on that blob of matter, changing into the world we know today, over a period of a few days. 

Genesis 1:3-5 describes the first day.  “And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.  And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.  And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.”   It was entirely dark until God created light and separated it from darkness.  Thus the first day moved from darkness or night to light or day.  Hence, the statement that the evening and the morning were the first day.  It would appear that on the first day, God started the earth to rotating, which would ultimately cause the world to assume the slightly flattened spherical shape it now has. 

According to Genesis 1:6-8, on the second day, God created what we know as the atmosphere.  “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.”  Our atmosphere supports a vast amount of water vapor in the clouds.  The Hebrew word for Heaven just means what is above us, whether the atmosphere, the stratosphere, or outer space. 

On the third day, God caused the dry land to appear, as Genesis 1:9-13 describes.  “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.  And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.  And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.  And the evening and the morning were the third day.”

As the earth rotated and gravity pulled the water to the lowest places, the dry land began to appear.  When it did, God commanded the various forms of plant life to grow.  With soil, water, light and an atmosphere the plants had everything they needed to survive and grow. 

On the fourth day, God created the various stars and planets, including the sun and the moon, according to Genesis 1:14-19.  “And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.  And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.  And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.” 

It is the earth’s rotation in the sunlight that determines our day and night.  It is the earth’s alignment with the sun that determines our various seasons.  Originally our months were determined by the movement of the moon, as are our tides. 

On the fifth day, God created the sea animals and the birds, according to Genesis 1:20-23.  “And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.  And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.  And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.  And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.”

With the various seasons and tides established, and plant life readily available both in the sea and on land, birds and sea animals would have access to the food they needed to survive.  Each variety brought forth after their own kind. 

With an ample supply of food, with an atmosphere to provide the oxygen they needed, with water and light, God then made the land animals and insects to live on the earth, as Genesis 1:2425 describes.  “And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.  And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.” 

One of the big problems with evolutionary theories is in the order of creation.  Without the proper food sources and conditions neither plants nor animals could survive even if they evolved.  Secondly, most of them could not reproduce unless a very similar plant or animal evolved in close proximity at the same time.  It is not like one frog could evolve in America and a second one in Africa a thousand years later.   If evolution is completely random, as is often suggested, the chances of a male and a female frog evolving in the same area at the same time are so infinitesimally small as to be statistically impossible.     

Humans were also created on the sixth day, and we will probably look at their creation in the next study.