Many scientists have studied creation. It’s only rational for a person to think, “Where have I come from?” Some have come to the right conclusion; that is that we are created beings by an intelligent designer. This designer is not just intelligent, He is the omniscient God. He is the God of Israel. He is Yahweh.
After one has come to this conclusion that God created everything, the question must be asked, “How long did it take?” The Bible provides the answer to this question in the book of Genesis. There are several views on this passage. The most prominent of these views are the gap theory, and the literal day theory.
The gap theory: In between Genesis 1 verses 1 and 2 is a gap. How long is this gap? Well, no one really knows. Some say that there were a few centuries, some say millions of years. This view essentially says that in between verses 1 and 2 God had a sort of “test-run” on creation where men (with Satan’s help) rebelled against God, to the point where God had to destroy the entire planet. The Biblical support for this view is very limited.
They say that in verse 2 when the reader sees that the Holy Spirit “moved across the waters” this phrase means that the Spirit protectively hovered over the waters. They say that this was done so that the Holy Spirit could protect earth from Satan. They also argue that verse 2 is all about judgment saying that “darkness” refers to evil judgment. But both of these arguments can be proven wrong fairly easily. Hovering can be meant to be protective, but it can also be a loving action by a loving Creator. And darkness is said to be good be God(vs 3, 31), so there’s no way that it can mean judgment. There was no gap, and no men before the first man – Adam. This view does not agree with the entirety of Scripture. This view is false.
The literal day theory: The Bible says over and over again in Genesis 1 that on this “day” this was created. The Bible says that all of creation took place in one week - 6 days of creation, and 1 day of rest. People like to take the word “day” and say that this word could mean any type of time. Henry Morris in his book Science and the Bible says, “Although the Hebrew word for “day” (yom) can occasionally mean a time of indefinite length if the context requires, such a usage is rare, and the word almost always does mean a literal day (i.e., either a twenty-four-hour period or the daylight portion of that period). He then goes on to say, “The use of a numeral with day (“first day,” and so on) or the boundary terms (“evening and morning”) are usages that elsewhere in the Pentateuch invariably require the literal meaning of “day.” (pg. 38)
This view would agree with the rest of the canon of the Bible. Exodus 20:11 says, “For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.” These are literal days. This is the basis of our time system, here (in Creation) we have the first week. This is how we know which is the seventh day; which day we should separate as the Sabbath day. The time God took to create the universe is a type of illustration for us to surround our time frame around. How amazing is God? He created everything in only six literal days. What a miracle, what a Creator!! There is none like Him (Psalm 86:8)! That's (not just) my opinion. Take it or leave it. - Dean
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