A) INTRODUCTION.

B) TO BE HONEST.

C) EVENING AND MORNING.

D) THE SABBATH COMMANDMENT.

E) TO THE NITTY-GRITTY.

F) SECOND PETER 3:8 = A DAY IS LIKE A THOUSAND YEARS.

 

 

A) INTRODUCTION

 

 

When studying Genesis, Chapter One, Verses 5 & 8 & 13 & 19 & 23 & 31, here is what we find.  When speaking of a Biblical “day [Hebrew, “Yome”], it is used 2,301 times in the Old Testament in singular or plural forms.  What is interesting is that we don’t question the Biblical account of Jonah being in the fish for 3 days; we don’t question how many days the Hebrews marched around the city of Jericho, we don’t question how many days Christ was in the grave, etcetera, etcetera.  But when it comes to the Genesis account, with overwhelming evidence that “Yome” equals one literal 24-hour day (“Yome” coupled with a number [first day, second day] and “evening and morning,” three pieces together), we hem-and-haw because we have allowed secular humanism and evolution (the evil solution) to creep into the Bibles clarity.

 

The Biblical FACT that whenever “Yome” is coupled with either a number, as in Genesis, Chapter One, or an “evening” or “morning,” it ALWAYS, Wait, ALWAYS? Yes ALWAYS denotes a literal 24-hour “day.”

 

In uses of the Hebrew word “Yome” outside of Genesis, Chapter One, it is used 410 times in the plural and singular format.  When being attached to a number, it literally means a 24-hour day.  When attached to “evening and morning” (23 times), it means a literal 24-hour day.  And get this!  When not attached to “Yome” “evening” or “morning” means a literal portion of a literal 24-hour day.  When “night” is attached to “Yome,” (52 times), it literally means a portion of a literal 24-hour day.  But for any stupid reason you want to come up with, “Yome,” in Genesis, Chapter One, means more than 24-hours.

 

The oldest Manuscript that we have of the Hebrew Bible is the “Leningrad Codex,” (Latin: Codex Leningradensis, the “codex of Leningrad”), and is the oldest complete Manuscript of the Hebrew Bible (in Hebrew), using the “Masoretic Text” and “Tiberian Vocalization.”  It is dated at about 1008 A.D.  In it, it is confirmed that each mention of each day in Genesis, Chapter One, is clearly referring to a 24-hour period of time.

 

However, when the “Dead Sea Scrolls” were found, Genesis, Chapter One, although fragmented and dilapidated, they are dated to about B.C. 1.  And in it the Hebrew word “Yome,” as used in the “Leningrad Codex” and the “KJV” (and others), is synonymous with the Hebrew understanding of “day,” as used in Genesis, Chapter One, as being a literal 24-hour period of time.

 

Also, according to Genesis 1:14:  “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.”  Here, God specifically set up the “seasons, days, and years.”  Therefore, we can know for certain that these were literal 24-hour days in the creation narrative.

 

Here is my Genesis 1:5 note:  “the first day” = The Hebrew for “first” is “H259; echad,” literally, “one.”  This is significant, because it specifically designates and decimates all arguments to the contrary, that God’s creative “days” were longer than 24-hours.  The Hebrew “H259; echad” is always translated as “one” elsewhere in the Book of Genesis (11:6; 41:25 & 26), and throughout most of the Old Testament, except when it follows itself.  Such as Exodus 36:10 & 12, where it should/could be translated as “one and one” as opposed to “one and another,” simply because it works better that way in the English.  Thus, the passage should have been translated as “And the evening and the morning were one day.”

 

 

B) TO BE HONEST

 

 

Being openly honest, the Hebrew word for “day,” which is “Yome,” actually can mean four different things.

1) A portion of the daylight hours;

2) all of the daylight hours;

3) the entire day (darkness and light), i.e., a 24-hour period;

4) or a long but finite period of time.

Thus, the only way to truly determine what the Hebrew word “Yome” is referring to is based upon the context (discussed below).  Therefore, context, context, context.

 

It is a marvel to me that “day” in God’s Word was ALWAYS understood as one literal 24-hour “day” in the Book of Genesis, specifically, Chapter One, until people wanted to separate themselves from the keeping of what was deemed the Jewish Sabbath, even though It was NEVER made for the Jews but for mankind’s benefit (see Mark 2:27).

 

 

C) EVENING AND MORNING

 

 

How is it that there is an “evening” or “morning” without or before the “lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night,” Genesis 1:14, when they were not even in existence?  We must come to the conclusion that God marked off each creative “day” as a period of time which had a 24-hour period [explained later] from beginning to ending; and that He gave us the “lights in the firmament” so we could know this time period.  In other words, ultimately, God wanted us to be able to distinguish when His and our Sabbath would come and be observed as He Commanded.  What other reason could there be for this keeping of time, i.e., 24-hour days and seven days in a week?  See below and Psalm 104:19.

 

Some argue that the expression, “And the evening and the morning where the [whichever] day,” does not denote a complete day, but only a 6, to 12, or even an 18-hour portion of the day.  I will not entertain the foolish idea of even up to millions of year time period from evening to morning at this point; nor will I have to.  Getting back, as such, a 24-hour period cannot be deduced.  This problem of the Hebrew word for “day” not meaning a 24-hour time period could be easily solved if Christians would (1) believe Jesus and (2) obey His Commandments (see Exo. 20:8-11).

 

The answer to number one (believe on Jesus), is spelled out by Jesus Himself.  Some question as to why Jesus just didn’t create everything immediately?  Such as, instead of speaking, “Let there be light,” Genesis 1:3, He could have spoken, “Let there be everything.”  Thus, some non-serious Bible students have the dilemma of possible time periods between each “day” of creation, such as not knowing or GOD caring about any sort of time period; it taking hundreds, thousands, or millions of years.

 

The Hebrew word for “evening” is “Ereb,” meaning: “dusk; day; even (ing, tide); night,” or better, literally the Hebrew means, “darkness.”  The Hebrew word for “morning” is “Boqer,” meaning: “dawn (as the break of day);” generally morning:  “day, early, morning, morrow,” or better literally, “daylight.”  That “evening” literally means “darkness” and “morning” literally means “daylight,” see Genesis 1:4 & 5 & 18, where thses terms are clearly defined.

 

The word “day” in Hebrew is “Yowm/Yome.”  “Yowm” is from an unused root meaning: “to be hot; a day (as in the warm hours),” whether literally (from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next), or figuratively (such as a space of time, which is ALWAYS “defined by an associated term”).  Herein lies a very important key.  “Yowm” is and should ALWAYS be understood only by the term or terms associated with it.  Therefore, to better understand the original Hebrew here, one should/could read it as such:

 

 “THE DARKNESS AND THE LIGHT WERE THE” whichever “DAY.”

 

“Yome” is used 1,541 times in the original manuscripts.  In 1,539 times it is plainly obvious by the associating words around it that it is speaking of a normal, 24-hour literal day.  In John 11:9, our Lord asked the question, “Are there not twelve hours in the day?”  Meaning He was discussing the “Boqer” portion of the day.  Or in other words, He was exampling that only the daylight hours of the day can be useful for work.  Our only other time that “day” can be clearly considered as being many days, or a longer time period than 12 hours, is in Genesis 2:4, which is a certain time period (6 days).  It would be like me stating, “In my day,” meaning long ago.  As opposed to “this day,” or “today.”

 

In addition, in the Bible when a numeral is used before the word “day,” such as in Genesis, Chapter one (410 times in the Old Testament), i.e., “first day,” “second day,” etcetera, it ALWAYS denotes a literal twenty-four-hour period -- without exception.  Without a preceding numerical expression, such as in “our day,” this could refer to an indefinite or uncertain time period covering many days or years.  However, since a numeral is placed before “Yowm,” we can be certain that when God’s Word uses a numerical value before the word “day,” it is “without exception” a twenty-four-hour time period and excludes any number of additional days or time periods.  When used with either “evening” or “morning” or both, or all three (38 times with “evening and morning” without the word “Yome;” 23 times with all three together; and 52 times with just ‘evening”) it ALWAYS equates to a 24-hour period of time Biblically.

 

The last full-proof method is, WHEN THESE THREE HEBREW WORDS ARE TOGETHER (evening, morning, & a number, i.e., such as first, second, etcetera) IN ONE PHRASE, WE CAN KNOW FOR CERTAIN THAT GOD CREATED IN A LITERAL 24-HOUR PERIOD!  One Hebrew word by itself is questionable; two is very probable; but with THREE together, there is “no question” as to it being a literal 24-hour day.

 

The proof of this Biblically is established in Hebrew understanding of witnesses.  “At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death; but at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death.”  Deuteronomy 17:6 (see also Deu. 19:15; Num. 35:30; Mat. 18:16; John 8:17; 2Co. 13:1; 1Ti. 5:19; Heb. 10:28; Rev. 11:3).  If only “one” person testifies against one, Hebrew Law could not convict the one.  But if two, then the jury could be well convinced.  But here we have three and there is NO QUESTION as to who is guilty -- it is meant as a 24-hour period of time.

 

Back to our 6-18-hour dilemma.  This problem is readily solved by understanding that God is the Creator of light (Gen. 1:3) and darkness (Isa. 45:7), and thus “evening” and “morning” simply mean that “evening” is the beginning of “darkness,” while “morning” is the beginning of “light.”  Remembering that “Yome” is and should ALWAYS be understood only by the term or terms associated with it, and that the Hebrew word for “evening” is “Ereb,” literally meaning: “darkness,” and the Hebrew word for “morning” is “Boqer,” literally meaning: “light.”  Therefore, we SHOULD read each passage of “evening and morning” instead as, “And the darkness and the [day]light were the first day.”  This therefore allows for anyone stating that this statement denotes any time period other than 24 hours is incorrect reasoning.

 

 

D) THE SABBATH COMMANDMENT

 

 

It makes no sense (nonsense; senseless) for God to Command mankind to observe a particular day in a weekly cycle that mankind cannot possibly calculate in order to do so (unless your God is vindictive or stupid).  Read Exodus 20:8-11, and then go to your pastor and ask him WHY your church only adheres to Nine of the Ten Commandments.  Then find the correct Church with the correct doctrine.  See my Bible Study, “SABBATH STILL VALID TODAY.”

 

However, when JESUS told us, “[27] The Sabbath was made for man[kind], and not man[kind] for the Sabbath: [28] Therefore the Son of Man is Lord also of the Sabbath,” in Mark 2:27-28, Jesus clearly states that the reason that He did not create everything immediately is because He created man[kind] with a need for rest every seventh day.  This ties us into how God could ask us to obey His Commandment of Sabbath observance (Exo. 16:28; 20:8-11), if He Never intended for us to observe the Sabbath Commandment in the first place; or better, even throughout eternity (Isa. 66:23).  If the Sabbath Commandment is not dealing with a period of time we can measure in order to observe It, then God is Commanding us to Keep something we cannot possibly observe.

 

 

E) TO THE NITTY-GRITTY

 

 

Any elongated time period other than 24-hours would have the plants, created on day three, dying without sunlight, which was created on day four.  Plus, without pollination of bees, hummingbirds, etcetera, created on days five or six, they would have certainly perished if the time periods where hundreds, if not thousands of years apart.  Let’s be reasonable.

 

Finally, to show that when a number or associated term is placed with “Yome,” that it ALWAYS ensures that it is talking about a literal 24-hour day, discovering this observation in the Book of Genesis only (since this will be the highest criteria to use, i.e., same Book, same definition), let’s discover:

 

4:14:  “Behold, thou hast driven me out this day. . .”  Does this mean more than one day?

7:4:  “Yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights.”  Does this mean more than one day at a time?

7:10:  “And it came to pass after seven days. . .”  Does this mean more than one day at a time?

7:11:  “In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day on the month, the same day. . .”  Does this mean more than one day?  This is very specific, isn’t it?

7:12:  “And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forth nights.”  Does this mean more than one day?

7:13:  “And the selfsame day. . .”  Does this mean more than one day?

7:17:  “And the flood was forty days upon the earth.”  Does this mean more than one day?

7:24:  “And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days.”  Does this mean more than one day?

8:3:  “. . .after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated.”  Does this mean more than one day?

8:4 & 8:6 & 8:10 & 8:12 & 8:14 & 8:22 discuss literal global flood day/days.

9:29:  “And all the days of Noah {undefined “days” so far} were nine hundred and fifty years {now the “days” are defined as literal}:  and he died.”  Does this mean more than one day?

15:18:  “In the same day the LORD. . .”  Does this mean more than one day?

17:12:  And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised. . .”  Does this mean more than one day?  If not literal with its associated terms, then you should circumcise your son after he is over 1,000 or one million years old.

17:23:  “. . .and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the selfsame day. . .”  Does this mean more than one day?

17:26:  “In the selfsame day was Abraham circumcised. . .”  Does this mean more than one day?

18:1:  “. . .in the heat of the day.”  Does this mean more than one day?

19:37 & 38:  “. . .unto this day.”  Does this mean more than one day?

21:4:  “. . .circumcised his son Isaac being eight days old. . .”  Does this mean more than eight days?

21:8:  “. . .the same day that Isaac was weaned.”  Does this mean more than one day?

21:26:  “. . .yet heard I of it, but to day.”  Does this mean more than one day?

22:4:  “Then on the third day. . .”  Does this mean more than one day?

22:14:  “. . .as it is said to this day. . .”  Does this mean more than one day?

24:12:  “. . .send me good speed this day. . .”  Does this mean more than one day?

24:42:  “And I came this day unto the well. . .”  Does this mean more than one day?

24:55:  “. . .abide with us a few days, at the least ten. . .”  Does this mean more than ten days?

25:7:  “And these are the days of the years of Abraham’s life which he lived. . .”  Does this mean more than one day?  Did Abraham live more than 175 years?

25:31:  “. . .Sell me this day thy birthright.”  Does this mean more than one day?

25:33:  “. . .Swear to me this day. . .”  Does this mean more than one day?

26:33:  “. . .unto this day.”  Does this mean more than one day?

27:2:  “. . .I know not the day of my death.”  Open to discussion but, Does this mean more than one day?

 

There are literally hundreds more in the Bible.  How plain does it have to be?  God made it so easy for the average person to understand without having a degree in some sort of [false] science.  Plus, the Fourth Commandment is SO CLEAR that one has to think God to be so stupid as to ask mankind to keep holy a Seventh Day, meaning more time than one literal 24-hour period, for say, one million years, and then man can go back to work for 6 million years as an example.

 

According to an authority greater than I -- but not Jesus, since He is not good enough for you if you are still reading this -- and that is the “Journal of Theological Society,” page 45:  “It would appear as if the text [speaking of Genesis 1:5] is very carefully crafted so an alert reader cannot read it as ‘the first day.’  Instead, by omission, the article it must be read as ‘one day,’ thereby defining a day as something akin to a twenty-four hour solar period with light and darkness and transitions between day and night, even though there is no sun until the fourth day.  This would explain the lack of definite articles on the second through fifth days.”

 

Lastly, Why would a nation of Jewish people still be keeping and misunderstanding the Word of God by observing the Biblical Sabbath to this, our very day, if it were not meant by God that it is/was a 24-hour period of time?  Would not God have stepped in and showed them at some point in their history that they had gotten His instruction wrong (Exo. 20:8-11)?  By contrast, when a Hebrew went out to look of manna on the Sabbath Day, God says, “How long refuse ye to keep My Commandments and My Laws?”  Exodus 16:28.  For those of you who don’t know that 16 comes before 20, this is pre-Sinai, the giving of the Law in writing.

 

“See, for that the LORD hath given you the Sabbath, therefore He giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days; abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.”  Exodus 16:29.

 

“So the people rested on the seventh day.”  Exodus 16:30 and many other such examples (see Exo 5:5, where “rest” should have been translated as “Sabbath”).

 

 

F) SECOND PETER 3:8 = A DAY IS LIKE A THOUSAND YEARS

 

 

Most people who argue this verse only state the first part of it.  Let’s read the entire passage:  “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.”

 

Two things stand out.  First, our Lord is talking about His perception, not ours.  Second, the last part of the verse states, “and a thousand years as one day.”  That would cancel out one quoting only the first part of the verse.

 

The TRUTH is, that this saying of Peter’s is NOT Peter’s at all.  It comes from Psalm 90:4:  “For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.”  I hope this makes it abundantly clear now.

 

Notice that this verse does not say that one day “is” a thousand years.  It simply says that, with the Lord, one day “is. . . as” a thousand years, and a thousand years is “as” one day.  Our Lord can and does live in (in the Person of Jesus Christ) and operates on the premises of our time period (keeping in mind that I am not limiting our Lord to our time limitations, as He is or can be outside of them, but that this verse is not discussing time travel, but the remembrances of our Lord to His promises).

 

The context makes it clear that Peter is not here setting up a prophetic timetable for computing time periods.  Verse 7deals with the fact that God is patiently awaiting the Day of Judgment, and verse 9 states that He is, “long-suffering to us-ward.”  It is important to observe that Peter makes this statement in relation to the promises of our Lord’s Second Coming.  Then in verse 8, Peter emphasizes that even though a thousand years may pass by, the Lord does not forget what He has promised.  It is only like a day to Him since He made that promise to mankind.  In fact, in the next few verses Peter affirms, “[9] The Lord is not slack concerning His promise as some men count slackness. . . [10] but the Day of the Lord will come.”  Second Peter 3:9-10.

 

Wherefore, let our testimony be the same as David’s: “For a day in Thy courts is better than a thousand.  I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.”  Psalm 84:10.  This verse should not be taken out of context any more than the verse that states that God owns “the cattle upon a thousand hills.”  Psalm 50:10.  This statement would not make us than presuppose that our Lord does not then own the cattle that are on other hills than these 1,000!  By contrast, the verse is obviously insinuating that God owns everything.  And in this verses case, that would include all of the aspects of time.

 

What the text is really implying is that God’s time table is not limited like ours is.  His perspective is far superior to ours; just like His owning all of the cattle is far more superior than a human being who may own 1,000 cows.  That we will be keeping the Lord’s Seventh-Day Sabbath in Heaven [Isa. 66:23] is a clear indication to me that God will not mess with our time table.  Anyone who is old you may have heard them express, “it seems like it was just yesterday.” Of course, not meaning “yesterday,” but some time way back in their life.