What does God say he created those six days?

The Biblical wrotes wrote to be Understood, using normal grammar, so readers would not need special teachers, and special teachers are now forbidden since scripture is complete Matt 23

Below are the most primary verses to understand regarding the question of what God says about the age of the heavens and earth. We have emphasized the key words.

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. 3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 4 And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day....
(Genesis 1:1 -5, NKJV courtesy of BibleGateway.com)

It is commonly assumed that "the beginning" and the "first day" refer to the same period. But this ignores the initial condition before God speaks and the light of the first day begins, the earth already was without form and had an ocean.

But , one may ask is meant by the term "first day" then, if not the first day of the creation process?

existed in some sense without form and that the deep or ocean clearly existed. at assumption contradicts the initial condition of verse what if . The assertion that God created the heavens and the earth within the six days rests on that assumption. When that is assumed, one can easily conclude that all of the heavens and earth, and all forms of living creatures were created in some way during that six day period.

However I have been unable to find any verses in any of the popular English versions of the Bible which clearly mean "in the beginning" and the six days refer to the same period, or that all forms of living creatures were created during the six days.

One verse commonly used to assert this is below.

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.
(taken from Exodus 20, KJV, courtesy of BlueLetterBible.org)

But one obvious problem with asserting the above means God created the heavens and the earth during those six days is that God uses the hebrew "asah" where "made" appears. In other words this is not about when God created the universe from nothing, but when it was made complete.

This can be seen using BlueLetterBible's page for Exodus 20, browse to 20:11 and click the "C" Concordance tool button to get this display exploding that verse in Hebrew, and showing "asah" where "made" appears above. By clicking the Strong's number for "asah" [06213] there, one can see more about what "asah" means and what other verses use "asah". By using BlueLetterBible.org for the other verses above one can see that "bara" means something different from "asah".

To me the apparent lack of verses to support any of the above necessary implications means any serious Bible student should question the assumption that "in the beginning" refers to the same period as the six days, and seek to understand for themselves what is the "first day" (Genesis 1:2 to 1:5) about if it may not be the first day the creation process began.

Like myself, my Pastor knows the original text of the Bible is divinely authored without flaw. That means it is more than a belief, he has had some form of personal divine confirmation of the Bible's authorship. Also he apparently believes that heaven, earth, and all living things were created during those six days.

So my challenge to him will be: using any of the most popular Bible versions (such as KJV, NKJV, NIV, NASB, or HCSB) if you can show me what verse or verses clearly mean any one of the above implications is true, I will donate fifty dollars to the church. If you cannot, then you owe the church a sermon on what that means.

Of interest in this challenge is that:

• Proper interpretation of the Bible never permits adding meaning to a verse unless that is supported by other verses of the Bible;
• Wherever there is lack of clarity the original scriptures are the best authority on what is meant - not the opinions of men; and
• This same assumption leads many who know scientific facts to disregard the possibility there is a Holy God who loves each of us incredibly much. To disregard the reality of God's Word and the eternal life it offers.

Imagine my confusion, when his response was:

• Genesis 1:1 is a summary of what follows (despite that what follows says nothing about creating any part of the heavens or the earth);
• This is Hebrew. One cannot take Hebrew literally. In other words God's written word must be interpreted by experts - despite Matthew 23.
  
• Bara = Asah. They are interchangable and mean the same thing. Despite that "the heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands... The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple... the fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever." Psa 19.

Since I was a few minutes early to work and hadn't yet begun doing a daily quiet time, I asked God to reveal the truth of what my Pastor was claiming. Then I put my hand blindly in my older NIV Bible. It was on Isaiah 36:5

[Assyrian captain Sennacherib = Deceiver, Assyrian King = ways of Man,
Hezekiah & followers = faithful, Isaiah = Word of God]

On whom are you depending...? 6 Look now, you are depending on Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff, which pierces a man's hand and wounds him if he leans on it! ...7 And if you say to me, "We are depending on the LORD our God"-isn't he the one whose high places and altars Hezekiah removed, saying to Judah and Jerusalem, "You must worship before this altar"?
[Deceiver challenges the faithful, refers to misunderstanding which causes confusion]

"10 Furthermore, have I come to attack and destroy this land without the LORD ? The LORD himself told me to march against this country and destroy it.' "
[Deceiver claims to hear from God that he should destroy what is God's]

11 Then Eliakim, Shebna and Joah said to the field commander, "Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, since we understand it. Don't speak to us in Hebrew in the hearing of the people on the wall."
[faithful don't want confusion and misunderstanding to lead others astray, don't want deception to spread. an interesting point that the use of Hebrew is by the deceiver who uses it for evil]

12 But the commander replied, "Was it only to your master and you that my master sent me to say these things, and not to the men sitting on the wall—who, like you, will have to eat their own filth and drink their own urine?"
[deceiver uses accurate Hebrew to spread fear and misunderstanding]

13 Then the commander stood and called out in Hebrew, "Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria! 14 This is what the king says: Do not let Hezekiah deceive you. He cannot deliver you! 15 Do not let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the LORD when he says, 'The LORD will surely deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.'
[Deceiver lies about the truth of God, casts doubt upon relationship with God]

16 "Do not listen to Hezekiah. This is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me and come out to me. Then every one of you will eat from his own vine and fig tree and drink water from his own cistern, 17 until I come and take you to a land like your own—a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards.
[Deceiver tempts faithful to trust in Man]

18 "Do not let Hezekiah mislead you when he says, 'The LORD will deliver us.' Has the god of any nation ever delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria? 19 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Have they rescued Samaria from my hand? 20 Who of all the gods of these countries has been able to save his land from me? How then can the LORD deliver Jerusalem from my hand?"
[Deceiver says don't trust God's word, compares foolish trust in men to trust in the living God]

21 But the people remained silent and said nothing in reply, because the king had commanded, "Do not answer him."
[faithful remain obedient to the Word of God]

Isaiah 37
1 When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and went into the temple of the LORD. 2 He sent Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary, and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. 3 They told him, "This is what Hezekiah says: This day is a day of distress and rebuke and disgrace, as when children come to the point of birth and there is no strength to deliver them. 4 It may be that the LORD your God will hear the words of the field commander, whom his master, the king of Assyria, has sent to ridicule the living God, and that he will rebuke him for the words the LORD your God has heard. Therefore pray for the remnant that still survives."
[faithful seek God's help, know that they need Him desperately, know the deceiver ridicules God, pray God rebukes the deceiver]

5 When King Hezekiah's officials came to Isaiah, 6 Isaiah said to them, "Tell your master, 'This is what the LORD says: Do not be afraid of what you have heard—those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. 7 Listen! I am going to put a spirit in him so that when he hears a certain report, he will return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword.' "
[God says do not fear the deceiver, the blasphemer, nor the ways of Man. His deception will soon be ended]

8 When the field commander heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish, he withdrew and found the king fighting against Libnah.

9 Now Sennacherib received a report that Tirhakah, the Cushite king of Egypt , was marching out to fight against him. When he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah with this word: 10 "Say to Hezekiah king of Judah: Do not let the god you depend on deceive you when he says, 'Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.' 11 Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries, destroying them completely. And will you be delivered? 12 Did the gods of the nations that were destroyed by my forefathers deliver them—the gods of Gozan, Haran, Rezeph and the people of Eden who were in Tel Assar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, or of Hena or Ivvah?"
[Deceiver has foolish trust in the ways of Man and calls for more of it, even when God's work is manifest, compares living God to all false gods]

Hezekiah's Prayer

14 Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD. 15 And Hezekiah prayed to the LORD : 16 "O LORD Almighty, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 17 Give ear, O LORD, and hear; open your eyes, O LORD, and see; listen to all the words Sennacherib has sent to insult the living God.
[Faithful calls on God who is Almighty, "maker of heaven and earth". See the insult to God in this deceiver]

18 "It is true, O LORD, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste all these peoples and their lands. 19 They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands. 20 Now, O LORD our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O LORD, are God. "
[Faithful calls on God to reveal that He alone is the living God, that the Deceiver lies about who God truly is]

Sennacherib's Fall

[God promises to rebuke the Deceiver, make the ways of men folly, show He is Almighty, reward the faithful

21 Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Because you have prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria, 22 this is the word the LORD has spoken against him:
"The Virgin Daughter of Zion
despises and mocks you.
The Daughter of Jerusalem
tosses her head as you flee.

23 Who is it you have insulted and blasphemed?
Against whom have you raised your voice
and lifted your eyes in pride?
Against the Holy One of Israel!

24 By your messengers
you have heaped insults on the Lord.
And you have said,
'With my many chariots
I have ascended the heights of the mountains,
the utmost heights of Lebanon.
I have cut down its tallest cedars,
the choicest of its pines.
I have reached its remotest heights,
the finest of its forests.

25 I have dug wells in foreign lands
and drunk the water there.
With the soles of my feet
I have dried up all the streams of Egypt.'

26 "Have you not heard?
Long ago I ordained it.
In days of old I planned it;
now I have brought it to pass,
that you have turned fortified cities
into piles of stone.
[God points out to Deceiver that He ordained what the Ways of Men had done up to then]

27 Their people, drained of power,
are dismayed and put to shame.
They are like plants in the field,
like tender green shoots,
like grass sprouting on the roof,
scorched before it grows up.

28 "But I know where you stay
and when you come and go
and how you rage against me.

29 Because you rage against me
and because your insolence has reached my ears,
I will put my hook in your nose
and my bit in your mouth,
and I will make you return
by the way you came.
[Deceiver's insolence has reached God's ears]

30 "This will be the sign for you, O Hezekiah:
"This year you will eat what grows by itself,
and the second year what springs from that.
But in the third year sow and reap,
plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

31 Once more a remnant of the house of Judah
will take root below and bear fruit above.

32 For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant,
and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors.
The zeal of the LORD Almighty
will accomplish this.

33 "Therefore this is what the LORD says concerning the king of Assyria:
"He will not enter this city
or shoot an arrow here.
He will not come before it with shield
or build a siege ramp against it.

34 By the way that he came he will return;
he will not enter this city,"
declares the LORD.

35 "I will defend this city and save it,
for my sake and for the sake of David my servant!"

36 Then the angel of the LORD went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies! 37 So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there.
[what an answer to insolence and deception about the Living God!]

Bara
Gen 1:1 heavens and earth
1:21 sea creatures & birds
1:27 mankind
2:3 all that he created and made
2:4 when they were created in the day the Lord made the earth and the heavens
5:1 generations of Adam in the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made He him
5:2 male and female created He them and called their name Adam in the day when they were created
6:7 And the Lord said I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth
Exo 34:10 I will do marvels such as have not been created (done) in all the earth
Num 16:30 But if the Lord Create (make) a new thing and the earth open her mouth and swallow them up...
Deu 4:32 since the day God created man upon the earth
Jos 17:15 if thou be a great people then get up to the country and clear a place (create) for thyself in the land of the Perizzites
Jos 17:18 the mountain shall be thine for it is a wood and thou shalt clear a place (create) for thou shalt drive out the Canaanites
1SA 2:29 wherefore kick ye at my sacrifice which I have commanded ; and honourest thy sons to make yourselves fat (create)
psa 51:10 Create in me a clean heart oh God
psa 89:10 the north and the south thou hast created them
psa 89:47 Remember how short my time is: wherefore has thou made (created) all men in vain?
Psa 102:18 the generation to come and the people which shall be created shall praise the Lord
Psa104:30 Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created; and thou renewst the face of the earth
Psa 148:5 Let them praise the name of the Lord for He commanded and they were created
Ecc12:1 Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not
Isa 4:5 The Lord will Create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies a cloud and a smoke by day
Isa 40:26 Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things
Isa 40:28 Hast thou not known? that the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth
Isa 41:20 that they may see, and know, that the hand of the Lord hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it
Isa 42:5 thus saith God the Lord, that he created the heavens
Isa 43:1 thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob
Isa 43:7 Every one that is called by name for I have created him for my glory
Isa 43:15 I am the Lord your Holy One, the Creator of Israel
Isa 45:7 I form the light and create the darkness, I make peace, and create evil, I the Lord do these things
Isa 45:8 Drop down ye heavens from above... I the Lord have created it.
Isa 45:12 I have made the earth and created man upon it
Isa 45:18 thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, He created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited
Isa 54:16 Behold I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work, and I have crated the waster to destroy.
Isa 57:19 I create the fruit of the lips; Peace, peace to him that is far off
Isa 65:17 For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth
Isa 65:18 But be ye glad and rejoice forever in that which I create, for behold I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy
Jer 31:22 How long wilt thou go about o thou backsliding daughter? For the Lord hath created a new thing in the earth
Eze 21:19 thou son of man appoint thee two ways that the sword of the king of Babylon may come: both twain shall come forth out of one land; and choose (create) thou a place, choose (create) it at the head of the way to the city.
Eze 21:30 Shall I cause it to return into his sheath? Iwill judge thee in the place where thou wast created
Eze 23:47 the company shall stone them with stones and dispatch (create) them with their swords
Eze 28:13 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of the God ... the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created
Eze 28:15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee
Amo 4:13 He that formeth the mountains, and createth the wind, and declareth unto man his thought
Mal 2:10 have we not all one father? Hath not one God created us?

When did God create heaven and earth?

Herein we are using the New King James Version of the Bible, which is much the same as any popular English translation about these verses. Only the NASB differs in some details we will discuss later. The links are to BibleGateway.com, which has many modern translations in English and other languages.

To understand the way God speaks about the creation process, focus on every statement about the earth because it is the created thing about which we have the most detail. It was created in the beginning, then given light, land, plants, creatures, and mankind, then pronounced made complete only after mankind was created.

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

The heavens spoken of here includes the sun, moon, and stars. The heavens are mentioned first, which may indicate they were created before the earth. The word which is translated as "created" is the Hebrew BARA, which is often taken to mean a divine creation of something out of nothing.

1:2 The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

This is earth's condition as seen the surface: dark and only a watery surface. God has not yet caused light at the surface of the earth but since the Hebrew day begins at evening this may be God's description of the beginning of the first day. God says nothing about BARA creating the earth or light, but that earth exists in the dark. This means verse 1:1's "the beginning" may have preceeded the first day by some unspecified period of time.

1:3-5 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 4 And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.

God lets light appear as seen from the surface of the earth. Since the BARA act of divine creation is not mentioned until the fifth and sixth days, the term "first day" should not be misread to mean the first day of the creation process, but only the obvious meaning of the first 24-hour day apparent at the earth's surface. Sometimes the word "day" means the normal 12-hour period of daylight and human activity, or a 24 hour complete cycle, or several consecutive days of certain activity. In the case of Genesis 1:5 "day" is used first to mean the 12-hour daylight, then later to mean a 24 hour day/night cycle as seen on the surface of the earth. It also defines "day" as a term for use in this narrative and later narratives.

1:6-8 Then God said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.” 7 Thus 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. 8 And God called the firmament Heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day.

The term Heaven of verse 1:8 is the Hebrew word for "sky". So here God made the sky apparently to divide very thick clouds from the ocean below. Notice again God did not BARA anything, and it is possilble there were days unmentioned between the first day and this one, since God's Word does not tell us everything men want to know - only what God wants us to know.

Many serious scholars of God's Word believe the six days should be understood as consecutive, and there is no obvious scripture indicating they were not. That days were apparent at the surface does not necessarily mean the sun was visible through those clouds, and but even if the sun were not visible it could provide energy to plants later.

1:9 - 13 Then God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so. 10 Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. And God saw that it was good.
11 Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth”; and it was so. 12 And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 13 So the evening and the morning were the third day.

Here God lets dry land appear and lets the earth bring forth plant life. He does not claim to BARA create plant life from nothing in any verse. Since He is the source of all life we should assume He made plant life originate in some sense gradually, perhaps partly prior to the third day, or fulfilled after the third day. We should always assume events God describes are normal as we experience them unless God specifies they were unusual. The earth bringing forth grass, herbs, and trees may have started or been fulfilled on the third day, but the normal growing seasons for a tree should be assumed. This is one valid reason to interpret that although the second and third days are normal 24 hour days, there may be more than one normal growing season between the second and third days that God does not consider worth mentioning.

1:14 - 19 Then God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years; 15 and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so. 16 Then 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. 17 God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 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. 19 So the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

God lets lights appear in the sky as a means of marking time and to give light on the earth, which completes God's purposes for the heavens. He made the sun, moon, and stars. He does not claim to BARA create the sun, moon, or stars from nothing in this period. He does claim to make them apparent at the surface as men would see them. God does not tell us here when He created them orginally. Notice the sun, moon, and stars are mentioned in the order they would become obvious if the thick cloud layer above the sky (of verse 1:7) was lessening in a normal manner under God's direction.

Genesis 2:1 - 5. 1 Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. 2 And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.
4 This is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens, 5 before any plant of the field was in the earth and before any herb of the field had grown.

Again God summarizes Genesis chapter one as being about when the heavens and the earth were finished, ending with the sixth day. There is nothing in these verses to indicate if "the beginning" coincided with the "first day" or preceeded it by some unspecified time. Verse 2:3 is sometimes misread to mean that created and made mean the same process, which ignores common logic. If I claim to have designed and built a car that does not mean that designing and building are the same process, but could be considered distinct stages of the same process. God says "He rested from all His work which God had created and made', which clearly says God means something different by "created" than He means by "made". Verse 2:4 uses the word "day" to mean the entire period when God made the earth and heavens..

Notice verse 2:5 says plants and herbs of the field were not apparent by the seventh day, although some trees and other plants existed by then according to verses 1:11 - 13. This is the oldest observation that some dominant life forms change over time - what most people mean by the term "evolution". Because God never claims to BARA create any type of plant, it is possible that God in some way made plants of the field from preceeding plants, or that they were created earlier and only later became apparent when conditions favored their being made complete.

Exodus 20:8-11 “ Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. 11 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.

Verse 11 above is a favorite of those who advocate a six-day creation story. But God does not here claim here that He BARA divinely created anything from nothing during that period. He says that He "made" them complete, which is the Hebrew ASAH.

The phrase "in six days" is critical to the six-day creation story, but the "in" is italicized in many Bibles and Strong's Hebrew Concordance because "in" is assumed by the translators but not part of the original Hebrew scripture. The word "in" changes the entire meaning of this sentence. Those who want the six-day creation story emphasize "for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth...", which would mean the making was all done during six days, and the whole passage would mean we are to keep the sabbath because God made everything during six days.

Without that assumed "in", the sentence reads "For six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth...". Therefore the actual meaning of the original scripture seems instead to mean that He made everything as He did to emphasize six days and how important keeping the sabbath is. The meaning of the passage then becomes, keep the sabbath because God considers it so important that He made everything for six days. This second meaning without the assumed "in" is consistant with Christ's teaching that man was not made for the sake of the sabbath, but the sabbath for man's sake. (Mark 2:27) .