Recently, I completed a study on the topic, The Great Compromise- How Theologians Mixed Evolution with The Bible. I gave a presentation on this topic to a Christian group. One of the members of the audience mentioned that there is no evidence for the Genesis Creation Narrative being 24hr. The person suggested that I had added my assumptions to the text by stating that we don’t know if the time we have now is the same as back in the old days and that civilizations have used different measures of time. Plus, some of the early Church fathers view the issue as symbolic and not literal.
Within this article on the issue of 24hrs, I will present five reasons to believe that in Genesis chapter 1, a day is equal to 24 hrs.
1) If not 24hr then what is it then?
When we wake up and check our chocks today, we accept the premise that based on observational science, a day is equal to 24hours, based on the rotation of the Earth around the sun. In my book, “The Great Compromise- How Theologians Mixed Evolution with The Bible. I mentioned the issue of how the day was measured without the sun. In Chapter 1 verses 1-3, the sun does not exist as yet therefore God created light on Day 1. Since the day is calculated from the earth rotating around the sun the question is how could the time between Genesis 1;1-3 be the same as when the sun was created. I stated that “before the sun was there, God created light which if He wanted to provide the same environmental conditions as …the ordinary 24hr system that we all know now then the temporary light source should provide the same light.” (31). This means that the rotation of the earth around the temporary light is the same as the rotation around the sun.
By looking deeper the burden of proof is on the person who does agree with 24hrs being a day to prove that it is so.
2) History shows 24hrs being used in Biblical times.
“The rising and setting of these stars was a way to tell time during the night. Thus, sunset to sunrise was marked by 18 stars; three of these stars were assigned to each twilight period, so darkness was divided by the remaining 12. During the New Kingdom (16th-11th centuries B.C.), the system was simplified to 24 stars, giving 12 hours to [the] night and an equal number to daylight.” Robert Coolman, -Live Science: Keeping Time: Time Zones, Trains And The 24-Hour Day. Notice although the Egyptians would have discovered this fact it is indicated by God himself in Genesis 1:14, “And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years.” Since we can mark the times using the stars and moon then it is safe to say that it was always 24hrs in a day.
3) Universal conventions never change
“Looking back in cosmic time to find out how the laws of physics may have changed is not new.” (The Swinburne University of Technology). God has set things that cannot be altered and one of them is how gravity affects the Earth. If this has not changed along with other universal conventions such as the unit of time so then we don’t expect a change otherwise, how we use measurements will have to evolve also.
4) 8 Watches in Scripture
“And in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.” Matthews 14:25. In the Holy Scriptures of the Bible, a watch night is 3 hours if you do a deep study on Psalms 90:3-4, “For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night.”
Since a watch of the night is three hours then the standard of 24hr must be true even to get an hour, minutes and even seconds. Therefore, it cannot get any more literal than this and this concept was established a long time ago.
5)Beyond 24hrs leads to absurdity
If 1hr is 60 minutes, and 24hrs is a day, if the convention changes even by a slight per cent or number then the conventions have to change to be consistent. The laws set on the universe are implicitly eternal as long as the universe exists. To explain better, for example, the law of gravity must remain the same for the universe to function. However, if the universe ceases to exist the law of gravity is no longer needed. Taking Genesis symbolically even for the word day to be a period would mean changing the calendar, changing the law of the time, gravity, among other variables to facilitate the new convention. To entertain this idea would mean changing every variable that allows the universe to exist. There are too many issues at stake without going into the details to show that this has not been set by chance but by God who always sets laws that cannot be altered.