God's Time

Genesis records the story of the creation of the world, animals, plants, and people. It records the fact that God did all this work n 6 days. Here is where things get interesting. Some people claim that this is speaking of 6 24-hour days, as we know them. This seems logical when you consider that 2 Timothy 3:16-17, which reads, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” Now just considering this text, two things stand out. The first is that the term “all Scripture” includes the first chapter of Genesis. Secondly, the days being other than literal 24 hour days would mean that we don’t understand what the time period was, and that doesn't sound “profitable for every good work.” Also, having it be other than a 24 hour day would mean that God is deceptive. Hebrews 6:18 clears this up when it says that God does not lie, in fact it says that is impossible for God to lie. It goes against His character.

Opponents of the 24 hour day use 2 Peter 3:8 to show that the word “day” in Genesis may not mean a literal 24 hour day It reads, “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.” The argument against this states that this verse is speaking of God being timeless. Additionally if this means that a day is not a day in Genesis, then a day must not be a day in the rest of Scripture.

My conclusion is that a the “days” in Genesis must be referring to a literal 24 hour day. However I also don’t see this as a salvation issue. In other words, however you interpret this, it has no impact on your eternal place in heaven or hell..