Six 24 Hour Days?

Did God Create The World In Six 24 Hour Days?

Yes! God did indeed create the world and everything in it in six, literal days of approximately 24 hours each. Consider the following evidence:

1. The Hebrew word yom [yowm] is used and defined in Genesis 1:5- "And there was evening and there was morning, one day." The Hebrew yom is used approximately 1284 times in the Old Testament. There are a few exceptions in which it does not mean a literal, 24-hour day, but the context clearly indicates the meaning as being a period of time longer than just 24 hours. Examples in the Old Testament where yom is used in the context to mean a period longer than 24 hours are: Genesis 26:8, Genesis 4:3, Genesis 2:4, Psalm 95:8-9, and Jeremiah 46:10. In Genesis 2:4, yom has reference to the total of the six days of creation. In Psalm 95:8-9, the word yom refers to the forty years of wandering by the Jews. In Jeremiah 46:10, the prophet uses the word to refer to the time when Israel would be punished for her sins (This time of punishment was not limited to a single, 24-hour day, but a great period of captivity).

In the context of Genesis 1, however, there is no support for the word meaning a long period of time. Sound principles of biblical interpretation and exegesis require that we accept this "day" as being an ordinary day. It is a general principle of biblical interpretation that a word is to be taken in its everyday meaning unless there is compelling evidence that it must be taken in a different manner. The fact that God defined the day as a period of "evening and morning" leaves little doubt as to what these "days" actually were.

2. The use of the phrase "evening and morning" occurs over 100 times in the Old Testament with the word yom. Each time it is used in a non-prophetical passage, it refers to a 24-hour day. Dr. Henry M. Morris, in his book, Biblical Cosmology and Modern Science, makes the following statement: "The Hebrew words for ‘evening’ and ‘morning’ occur over 100 times each in the Old Testament and always in a literal sense." Should we assume a different meaning in Genesis 1? Some have affirmed that the 24-hour day did not begin until the 4th day with the appearing of the sun (Genesis 1:14). But the same "evening and morning" is used with the word "day" before Genesis !:14 as after. Why would there be three long eras of time before the appearing of the sun, and only 24-hour days after its appearing?

Insofar as the view is concerned that these could not be ordinary days because the sun had not been created, we should like to point out that we still measure time in terms of days even though the sun does not appear and is not visible. For instance, north of the Arctic Circle and south of the Antarctic Circle, the sun does not appear for periods of time up to 6 months at the poles themselves. We would not think of measuring time in terms of the appearance (or lack of appearance) of the sun in these areas. No one would contend that at the north or south pole a day is the equivalent of 6 months elsewhere! Remember: the heavenly bodies were placed in the skies to mark the days, not to make the days!

3. When the Hebrew word yom is preceded by a numeral in a non-prophetic passage, it always carries the meaning of a 24-hour day. It occurs over 100 times in the Pentateuch alone in this manner, and always the meaning of a 24-hour day is conveyed (e.g.: Genesis 8:3, Numbers 13:25, Exodus 20:11). Dr. Arthur Williams, writing in the Creation Research Annual, stated: "We have failed to find a single example of the use of the word ‘day’ in the entire Scripture where it means other than a period of 24 hours when modified by the use of the numerical adjective." Why should our understanding of the word yom in Genesis 1 be any different from the rest of the Old Testament?

4. When the plural for yom is used in the old Testament, it always has reference to (in non-prophetical passages) the 24-hour period of time. Yamim never refers to a long period of time. Dr. Henry M. Morris, in his book, Biblical Cosmology and Modern Science, says, "When the word ‘days’ appears in the plural (yamim) as it does over 700 times in the Old Testament, it always refers to literal days. Thus, in Exodus 20:11 when the Scriptures say that in ‘six days’ the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, there can be no doubt that 6 literal days are meant."

5. The Hebrew word olam means a long period of time. Why did not Moses use this clearly understood word if he wanted to convey the meaning that the creation took place over long geological periods of time? Obviously, he did not want us to understand Genesis 1 in this manner. There are other words Moses could have used as well, but he did not. He used the Hebrew word yom.

6. How could these "days" of Genesis 1 be long periods of time when the plants were created on the third day, and the sun was not created until the forth day? If these were geological ages of millions of years in duration, then how did the plants survive without the sun for millions of years of total darkness? Remember that the phrase "evening and morning" is used after each of the six creation days, including day three. That would mean that there would have to be a long period of "evening" and a long period of "morning." This, of course, would be disastrous for the plant world created on day three.

And consider another important fact concerning the botanical world. Many species of plants must have insects to help them reproduce, for these insects help cross-pollinate such plants (e.g.: the Pronuba moth and the yucca plant). How did these plants survive for millions or billions of years without their much-needed friends, the insects, which according to the Genesis account weren’t created until after day four?

7. If the 6 days of creation were long periods of time, then the 7th day would logically be the same. Since Exodus 20:11 states that God "rested" on the 7th day, and since Genesis 2:1-3 states that God "finished" His creating and rested, and since the advocates of the "day-age" theory say that we are now in the 7th day, then obviously God must still be resting. But Jesus Himself said just the opposite when He stated in John 5:17, "My Father worketh even until now." Obviously, the 7th day is not a long period of time, and therefore the other 6 could not be either.

8. The creation days were 24-hour days because of plain statements made about them in Scripture. "In six days Jehovah made heaven and earth ..." (Exodus 20:11). "For He spake, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast" (Psalm 33:9). Do these verses infer a long period of evolutionary processes? "Let them praise the name of Jehovah; for He commanded, and they were created" (Psalm 148:5).

9. God told the Jews in Exodus 20 to observe the Sabboth Day. He even told them why. God said they were to work six days and rest on the seventh because that was the pattern He had followed in creating the universe. Question: how did the Jews, in Old Testament times, interpret this passage? Did the Jews work for a long, indefinite period of time and then rest for a long, indefinite period of time? Of course they did not! They understood and practiced exactly what God had commanded. They worked 6 days and rested 1 day, because that is the pattern God had used in His creation of the world they inhabited.

10. In Genesis 1:16 we read that 2 great lights were made - one to rule the day and the lesser to rule the night. Since the days were divided into "evening and morning" we would have to assume (if the days were eons of time) that the sun came up but did not go down for millions or billions of years. Is this feasible?

11. Genesis 1:14 says that God created the lights to divide the day from the night, and that they were to be for "signs, for seasons, for days, and for years." If the days are ages, then what are the years? If a day is an age, then what is a night? In other words, the whole passage becomes ridiculous when we begin to stretch or re-interpret the word "day."

12. Genesis 2:1 reads, "And the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them." God finished His creation on the 6th day. If these were long geological periods and the means of creation was evolution, why does the Bible say that the evolutionary process ended with the 6th day period?

CONCLUSION

The evidence is overwhelmingly in favor of the "days" of Genesis 1 being literal, 24-hour days. There is absolutely no evidence to support the theory that the "days" were "ages" of evolutionary time.

DINOSAURS WITH MAN

DINOSAURS WITH MAN

Evolution teaches that dinosaurs lived millions of years before man. But science and the Bible show us that they lived at the same time. There is much evidence which indicates that man has seen and had encounters with living dinosaurs. There are also many accounts which show that dinosaurs are not quite extinct.

Ancient man often painted and carved the typical things that they saw. Amazingly, this even included the dinosaurs.

The Acambaro Figures

Thousands of clay dinosaur figures have been found buried in Acambaro, Mexico. How could ancient man have made such accurate models of dinosaurs unless they had seen them? Several of the artifacts showed certain facts about the dinosaurs that we have only recently discovered.

Out of the more than 56,000 objects found, scientists have identified dinosaurs such as the duck billed Trachodon, Gorgosaurus, horned Monoclonius, Ornitholestes, Titanosaurus, Triceratops, Stegosaurus, Diplodicus, Podokosaurus, Plesiosaur, Iguanodon, Brachiosaurus, Pteranodon, Dimetrodon, Ichtyornis, Tyrannosaurus Rex, and many more!

Ica Stones

Just about every known kind of dinosaur is carved on 50,000 Nazca stones in Peru. Rediscovered in the 1960's, there are thousands of burial stones from Ica, Peru which clearly show pictures of men living with dinosaurs.

It is recorded in historical documents that, in 1562, Spain had received several black stones with etchings of "monsters" on them from present day Ica, Peru. The black "varnish" on each of the rocks results from bacteria that adhere to the rock over thousands of years. This shows that the stones are ancient and not fakes.

Several Ica Stones can be found on display at http://www.dinosauradventureland.com./ Also check out Dennis Swift’s book, "Secrets of the Ica Stones and Nazca Lines" for more info!

China’s Year of the ...

1500 years ago, during the North Zhou Dynasty in China, they picked 12 animals to represent a period of twelve years. These animals were the horse, ram, rooster, dog, pig, rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake and monkey.

Why would they pick eleven modern animals but put in another animal (a dragon) that according to evolution, they would not have seen?

The Ishtar Gate

In 1887, archaeologist Robert Koldeway rediscovered the Ishtar Gate at Babylon. The animals on it appear in alternating rows with lions, fierce bulls, and curious long-necked dragons. The lions and bulls would have been present at that time in the Middle East. But, on what creature did the ancient Babylonians model the dragon? Could they have seen these dragons themselves?

Other examples

Coins have been found which display dinosaurs as from Austria, Vienna (1308-1330 AD) and a Germany, Mansfeldt coin (1593 AD) showing St. George slaying a dragon. Also dinosaur petroglyphs by the Anasazi Indians (AD 400-1300) have been found in Blanding, Utah. Figures of dinosaurs have also been found on artifacts such as an ancient cloth belt from Peru. In Jan. 2006, Dr. Dennis Swift found the relief of a dinosaur at a temple built in the jungles of Cambodia in 1150 AD by the Khmere.

Ancient Stories

There are many stories around the world from many cultures about dragons. For example, Marco Polo lived in China for 17 years around 1271 AD. He reported that the emperor raised dragons to pull his chariots in parades. In 1611 AD, the emperor appointed the post of a "Royal Dragon Feeder". Books even tell of Chinese families raising dragons to use their blood for medicines and they highly prized their eggs.

Dinosaurs Still Alive?

There are many accounts around the world that indicate that dinosaurs are not quite extinct.

In 1907 Lt-Colonel Percy Fawcett of the British Army was sent to mark the boundaries between Brazil and Peru. He was an officer in the Royal Engineers and was well known as a meticulous recorder of facts. In the Beni Swamps, he saw an animal he believed to be a Diplodocus.

The Likouala swamp in the Congo is about the same size as the entire state of Florida! Most of it is unexplored jungle and swamp. The Pygmy of Congo, Africa, claim to have killed one of these (Sauropod) creatures.

Forty-two year veteran missionary, Eugene Thomas (retired) had two pygmies in his church in the Congo, Africa that claimed to have killed a Mokele-Mbembe (a sauropod) in 1959.

The Loch Ness Monster

The Loch Ness body of water is 24 miles long by 1-1.5 miles wide, surrounded by steep hills. It was mostly isolated until 1933, when a road was cut into the mountainside. Operation Deepscan in 1987 showed that the lake topography has many ridges, deep trenches, and possible underwater caves where a creature could still evade detection.

"There were 52 separate sightings in 1933 alone by individuals or groups who were willing to go on record as having seen something big and unidentifiable in the loch." (In Search of Myths and Monsters by Alan Landsburg, p.52)

Most sightings report a creature with plesiosaur features.

Alexander Cambell claims to have seen "Nessie" (a supposed Plesiosaur) 18 times in 47 years as water bailiff (game warden) for Loch Ness. (Time-Life Mysterious Creatures)

See much more at websites below.

From Part 3 of Dr. Kent Hovind’s Creation Science Seminar on Dinosaurs & the Bible and from the posters Dinosaurs with Man and Dinosaurs with Man II by Creation Science Evangelism, 29 Cummings Road, Pensacola, FL 32503 1-877-479-3466 www.drdino.com

For more information on this subject read the following articles:
answersingenesis.org/articles/1999/11/05/dinosaurs-and -the-bible for "Dinosaurs and the Bible" (6 pages)
apologeticspress.org/articles/3647 "What Happened to the Dinosaurs?" (6 pages)
apologeticspress.org/articles/15 "Walking Amidst the Dinosaurs" (15 pages)

Evidence for Recent Dinosaurs

Evidence for Recent Dinosaurs

According to the Bible, man and dinosaur lived on Earth at the same time. According to evolution, dinosaurs died out 65 million years ago and apelike creatures turned human "only" one to four million years ago. Yet virtually every culture on Earth has stories about creatures which sound exactly like dinosaurs. Why? These range from cave drawings in the Grand Canyon to carvings found on Central American stone artifacts. Eye witness accounts in Italy, Ireland, India, China, and Arabia to Australian Aborigine paintings indicate that dinosaurs have been seen by humans around the world. As the following NIV translation from the book of Job shows, dinosaurs were clearly known by mankind at the time of Job:

Look at the behemoth, which I made along with you and feeds on grass like an ox. What strength he has in his loins, what power in the muscles of his belly! His tail sways like a great cedar; the sinews of his thighs are close-knit. His bones are tubes of bronze ... Under the lotus plants he lies ... When the river rages, he is not alarmed; he is secure, though the Jordan should surge against his mouth. (Job 40:15-23)

No known animal except the dinosaur had a huge "cedar-like" tail. If man had never seen those reptiles, why do ancient peoples all over the world have similar stories of enormous reptile-like creatures roaming and flying on the earth?1

Throughout history there have been records of man’s encounters with dinosaur-like creatures. From Africa to Europe to the Orient these encounters have been captured in historical accounts, stories, legends, and drawings.

The fossil record also provides much evidence to support the biblical claim that dinosaurs lived at the same time as mankind. Dinosaur remains have been found that are still not completely fossilized. Large dinosaur bones have been found in Colorado with traces of unfossilized blood and DNA fragments. [Neither of these fragile organic molecules could exist after millions of years. Yet it is quite reasonable to expect to find such fragments to remain since their burial during Noah’s flood - less than 5,000 years ago.]3 If dinosaur bones were 65 million years old, they would be completely fossilized. These unfossilized bones, with traces of blood and DNA fragments, indicate that dinosaurs died much more recently than the commonly repeated 65 million years ago.

[There have been many reports, too, of dinosaur bones which have been dated quite young. Carbon-14 (14C) analysis of dinosaur bones, reveals that they can contain measurable amounts of 14C. This is absolutely impossible if the bones are over 60 million years old, but makes perfect sense from a biblical perspective. The 14C concentration for organisms alive before Noah’s flood would have been greatly reduced compared to modern levels, but 14C should still be present in small amounts. This is exactly what we find and does not indicate a great age but a recent burial by a worldwide flood.

Partially fossilized samples from four dinosaur bones were "dated" at a university in Ohio at under 20,000 years. These bones were not identified as dinosaur bones because the labs would not take time to test bones which their evolutionary presumptions tell them could not contain any 14C. Yet the same level of 14C found in the bones of a more "recent" creature would be assumed to be correct. Recent dates on dinosaur bones should be no surprise to Christians. In Genesis 1:21 God says He created "great whales" (KJV). Elsewhere this Hebrew word, tannin, is translated "dragon". Job 40 and 41 describes powerful creatures which could only be dinosaurs.]3

By looking objectively at the biblical account, the fossil record, and historical data, one cannot help but reach the conclusion that man and dinosaurs have indeed coexisted. It is only by ignoring much of the evidence and uncritically accepting evolutionary beliefs that the opposite conclusion can be reached.1&2

This article is a compilation of two entries (Jan. 8 & Nov. 25) on the subject of "Evidence From The Fossil Record" and one entry (Apr. 15) on the subject of "Evidence From History" taken from the book, A Closer Look At The Evidence, by Richard & Tina Kleiss.4 Although this amazing book contains evidence, researched from over 70 expert sources, for the existence of a Creator, for the reliability of the Holy Bible, and for the trustworthiness of Christianity, the information in this article was condensed from the books, The Great Dinosaur Mystery and the Bible, & Noah to Abraham: The Turbulent Years, & from the Creation Ex Nihilo Magazine.

1. The Great Dinosaur Mystery and the Bible, Paul S. Taylor, David C. Cook Pub. Company, Elgin, IL, 1989. p. 36-49.

2. Creation Ex Nihilo Magazine, editor, Answers in Genesis Ltd., Qld, Australia, answersingenesis.org. Sept. 1997, p. 42-43.

3. Noah to Abraham: The Turbulent Years, Erich A. Von Fange, Ph. D., Living Word Services, 1994. p. 36.

4. A Closer Look At The Evidence, Richard L. & Christina (Tina) E. Kleiss, Search for the Truth Pub., Midland, MI.

How Much Time?

HOW MUCH TIME?

To determine what happened in ancient times and how long ago things originated, we have to form theories then evaluate the evidence to see if it supports the theories. We can not prove scientifically any theories about ancient times since we can not observe the past happening and can not accurately run experiments without making many assumptions of the past. In the following paragraphs we will study theories then scientific evidences and see which theories they support.

There are two basic theories of our origins and ancient past: the theory of evolution and the theory of creation. The theory of evolution basically states that the origins of all natural things can be explained by natural processes which have occurred over billions of years. Evolutionists believe in "uniformitarianism" - the idea that conditions of nature in the past have always been similar to today's conditions. Therefore since present day rock layer formation is assumed to be about one layer per year, the deep rock layers seen around the world must have taken millions of years to form. This would also indicate that the deepest layers are the oldest by millions of years. Evolutionists believe that "simpler" organisms lived several millon years ago and slowly evolved into more "complex" organisms which live today. Although only fossils of "simpler" organisms should be found in deep layers, many fossils of present day creatures have been found scattered throughout deep and shallower layers of rock. Based on this "simpler" to "complex" organism origins theory, evolutionists have developed a "Geologic Time Scale" to presumably show when organisms first originated on earth (See Fig. 7). Although they can not explain how it could have truely happened, evolutionists believe that first life was a single-cell which somehow spontaneously generated from non-living matter into a living organism. They assume that all organisms are descendants of such a common single-celled ancestor (See Fig. 5). Mutations supposedly caused increases in genetic information in "simpler" organisms to produce plants, insects and animals over millions of years. Eventually man supposedly evolved from ape-like creatures.

The theory of creation states that the origins of all natural things are supranatural. An intelligent creator designed and created all natural things supposedly within six days a few thousand years ago. All natural things including man were to have been created defect-free but began to slowly deteriorate shortly after their creation. Creationists believe that the deep rock layers, sedimentary rock formations and most fossils found all over the world can be explained by the occurance of a year-long, world-wide, entire land-covering, cataclysmic flood. This flood which supposedly covered all land around the world at the same time, would have thoroughly saturated hills and mountains causing massive underwater landslides all over earth. Over several months these landslides, along with massive volcanic ash produced by volcanoes all over the world, supposedly created the deep sedimentary rock layers. This sediment would have quickly trapped and deeply buried a tremendous number of organisms and set up the perfect conditions for fossilization. Creationists believe that this creator made each "kind" of organism to be fully developed and mature (young mature, not old). Each organism would have had the ability, through genetic mutation over time, to develop different species within its own basic kind. Each created kind would have been capable of adapting to different environments by the sorting out of the original created genetic information in each kind through natural selection. Creationists believe that no organisms have evolved from any one basic kind into any other basic kind.

Now, what does the evidence tell us and what should we see with each theory if they are to be true? As demonstrated by the Grand Canyon and many roadside mountain cutaways, rock formations around the world show level, multi-layered, striated, sedimentary rock layers with no signs of erosion or plant and animal activity. Figure 1 shows how erosion would cause unconformity or disconformity of rock layers if much time elapsed between sedimentation events. Both of these examples would indicate a fairly long time lapse between two periods of quick sedimentation events as floods and / or volcanoes. Paraconformity demonstrates a very short time lapse between two periods of quick sedimentation events. If each layer were to represent about one year, as evolutionists believe, then why don't we see occasional erosion areas through several layers or even signs of roots or animal holes or burrows through the layers (See Fig. 3). For that matter bugs and worms and roots alone should destroy any and all deviding lines so that no lines or layers should even exist in most places.

If dirt, sand, rock, ash, and debri were churned up under a massive flood, as creationists believe, as it all settled it would lay down many layers of sediment in a very short time. The layers should be level and deep enough to avoid erosion and plant and animal activity. In 1980 the relatively small Mt. Saint Helens volcanic eruption created 600 feet of layered sedimentation in only a few months. Just imagine what thousands of volcanoes could have caused during a world-wide, year-long flood supposedly about 4500 years ago.

Throughout the world we see many fossilized animals and plants, even trees, traversing several hundred to several thousand layers of sedimentary rock (See Fig. 2). If it took about one year for each layer to form, any dead organisms should have decayed long before they had a chance to be buried and fossilize. The fossilization process requires that the organism be buried quickly and deep enough to prevent decay. Therefore slow sedimentation, as taught by evolutionists, would allow organisms to decay and would not allow fossilization. Creationists believe that sedimentation of several feet of debri within a very short time during the year-long, world-wide flood would have buried billions of organisms completely and deeply within hours to days. Many fossils we find today, even of organisms which decay quickly as jelly-fish, are found to be very detailed without any signs of decay. The presence of a fossil only tells us where it died, not when it lived as the "Geologic Time Scale" tries to indicate. This is why we often find fossils of so called "complex" organisms deeper than so called "simpler" ones.

The 1980 Mt. Saint Helens blast left several thousand trees floating in Spirit Lake. Over time their rubbing against each other caused the loss of much of their bark. Eventually the waterlogged trees and lost bark sank to the floor of the lake. One by one these trees sank, heavier root-end down, and stuck vertically into the mud, bark, ash and debri on the bottom. Over more time, continued volcanic ash, loose bark and debri quickly accumulated about 300 feet thick on the lake bottom and eventually completely buried the trees (See Fig. 2). This could easily explain such formations as the Petrified Forest in Arizona and the numerous polystriate trees in coal beds around the world.

Whenever two or more fossils are found positioned above each other but sharing any layers of rock, it is obvious that they had to be buried at virtually the same time to have fossilized without decay. So if several fossils are found in a vertical column of striated sedimentary rock and each fossil shares layers above and below with other fossils, this indicates that the entire vertical column of rock was formed quickly instead of over many years (See Fig. 4).

If all organisms mutated and slowly evolved from one basic organism kind into another basic organism kind, we should have many in-between transitional organisms 1/4, 1/3, 1/2, 2/3, 3/4 in-between the two kinds. We should find reptiles with forearms which are part leg and part wing and fish with part fin and part leg as evolutionists believe must have happened. It would have taken thousands of years to complete the transformation from one kind to another. If "natural selection" weeds out the weak, mutated organisms which can not fend for themselves near as well as their non-mutated ancestors, how could such defective, transitional organisms have survived to pass on their new genetic information. To date there have been no such true transitional organisms identified as a definite inbetween organism. What we find in the fossil record and living today is numerous organism "kinds" which only have the ability to reproduce after their own "kind" and have the genetic ability, through mutations, to adapt into different species of their own "kind". For example: although we have many kinds of dogs, they are all dogs and can only reproduce with other dog kinds - none are nor have ever shown any evidence of being only part dog kind and part other organism. Figure 6 shows the contrast between the evolutionary "tree" - for which evidence is lacking to support it - and the creationist "orchard" - which overwhelmingly fits the evidence.

So, the evidence we see in nature strongly supports what we would expect to see according to the theory of creation, but strongly contradict the theories of evolution. What we actually see is: millions of fossilized dead things, buried deeply in sedimentary rock layers which appear to have been laid down by a cataclysmic water event all over the world. This is exactly what a world-wide flood would have caused. So how much time do you think it really took to form most of our present day fossils and their rock layers?