The following is an excerpt of an article by Ken Ham taken from a magazine named "Creation Ex Nihilo" November 1985. Why Did God Take Six Days? Genesis ˙chapter 1 seems to say that God created ˙the ˙world, the ˙˙universe ˙˙and ˙˙everything ˙in ˙them ˙˙in ˙˙six ˙˙ordinary (approximately 24 ˙hour) ˙days. ˙However, ˙there is a view in our churches ˙that ˙has ˙become prevalent over the years ˙that ˙these "days" ˙could have been thousands, ˙millions or even billions ˙of years in duration. ˙Does it really matter what length these ˙days were anyway? Is it possible to determine whether or not they were ordinary ˙days ˙or in fact long periods of time? ˙The ˙word ˙for "day" in Genesis 1 is the Hebrew word 'yom'. It can either mean a day ˙(in the ordinary 24-hour sense), ˙the daylight portion of an ordinary 24-hour day (ie."daylight as distinct from the ˙night"), or ˙occasionally it is used in the sense of an indefinite period of time (eg. ˙"In the time of the Judges" ˙or "In the day of ˙the Lord"). ˙Without exception, ˙in the Hebrew Old Testament the word 'yom' ˙never means "period", (ie. ˙it is never used to refer to a definite ˙long ˙period ˙of time with specific beginning ˙and ˙end points). Furthermore, ˙it is important to note that even when the word ˙'yom' ˙˙is ˙used in the indefinite sense, ˙˙it ˙is ˙clearly indicated ˙by ˙the context that the literal meaning of ˙the ˙word 'day' is not intended. Some people often say that the word 'day' in Genesis may have been ˙used ˙symbolically ˙and ˙so we are not ˙meant ˙to ˙take ˙it literally. However, an important point that many fail to consider is ˙that a word can never be used symbolically the first time ˙it is used! ˙In fact, ˙a ˙word can only be used symbolically when it first ˙has a litteral meaning. ˙In the New Testament we are ˙told that Jesus is the 'door'. We know what this means because we know that ˙the word 'door' ˙means an entrance. ˙Because we ˙know ˙its literal ˙meaning it is able to be applied in a symbolic sence ˙to Jesus Christ. The word 'door' could not be used first in this way unless it first had the literal meaning we understand it to have. Thus, ˙the word 'day' ˙cannot be used symbolically the first time it is used in the book of Genesis. Indeed, this is why the author of Genesis has gone to great lengths to carefully define the word 'day' ˙the first time it appears. In Genesis 1:4 we read that God separated the "light from the darkness". ˙Then in Genesis 1:5 ˙we read ˙"God ˙called ˙the light day, ˙and the ˙darkness ˙he ˙called night". ˙˙In ˙other words, ˙the terms were being ˙very ˙carefully defined. ˙The first time the word 'day' ˙is used it is defined as "the ˙light" ˙˙to ˙distinguish it from ˙"the ˙darkness" ˙˙called "night". Genesis 1:5 then finishes off with, "and the evening and the morning were the first day." This is the same phrase used for each ˙of ˙the other five days and shows that there was a ˙clearly established ˙cycle of days and nights (ie. ˙periods of light ˙and periods of darkness). The ˙periods ˙of light on each of the six days were when ˙God did ˙his work, ˙and the periods of darkness were when God did ˙no creative work. A Day And The Sun But ˙how ˙could ˙there be day and night if the sun wasn't ˙in existence? ˙After all it is clear from Genesis 1 that the sun was not ˙created ˙until day 4. ˙Now Genesis 1:3 ˙tells ˙us ˙that ˙God created ˙light ˙on the first day, ˙and the ˙phrase ˙"evening ˙and morning" ˙˙shows ˙there ˙were alternating periods ˙of ˙light ˙and darkness. ˙Therefore, ˙light was in existence being directed from one ˙direction ˙upon ˙a rotating earth resulting in the ˙day ˙and night ˙cycle. ˙˙However we are not told exactly where this ˙light came ˙from. ˙˙The ˙word for "light" ˙in Genesis ˙1:3 ˙˙means ˙the substance of light was created. ˙Then on day 4 in Genesis 1:14-19 we are told of the creation of the sun which was to be the source of light from that time onwards. The sun was created to rule the day that already existed. The day stayed the same. ˙It merely had a new light source. The first three ˙days ˙of creation (before the sun) ˙were the same type ˙of days as the three days with the sun. ˙One of the possible reasons God ˙deliberately ˙left the creation of the sun until the ˙fourth day ˙is that He knew that down through the ages, ˙cultures ˙would try ˙to ˙worship the sun as the source of life. ˙Not ˙only ˙this, modern ˙day theorys tell us that the sun came before ˙the ˙earth. God is showing us He made the earth and light to start with, that He ˙can sustain it with its day and night cycle and that the ˙sun was ˙created ˙on day four as a tool of His to be ˙the ˙bearer ˙of light from that time. Probably ˙one of the major reasons people have tended not ˙to take ˙the days of Genesis as ordinary days, ˙is because they have beleived scientists have proved the earth to be billions of years old. ˙˙But this is not true for there is no ˙absolute ˙age-dating method to determine exactly how old the earth is. Besides ˙this, ˙there is a lot of evidence consistent with ˙a belief ˙in a young age for the earth, ˙perhaps only thousands ˙of years. Why Six Days? God is an infinite being. ˙This means He has infinite ˙power, infinite knowledge, ˙infinite wisdom, ˙etc. Obviously, ˙God could then make anything He wanted to in no time at all - He could have created the whole universe, ˙the earth and all it contains in ˙no time at all. ˙Perhaps the question we should be asking is why did God take as long as six days anyway? After all six days is a long time ˙for an infinite being to make anything! ˙The answer can ˙be found in Exodus 20:11. ˙Exodus 20 ˙contains the Ten Commandments. It ˙should be remembered that these comandments were ˙written ˙on stone ˙by the very "finger of God" ˙for in Exodus we read, ˙˙"And when he had made an end of speaking with him on Mount Sinai, ˙˙he gave ˙Moses ˙two ˙tablets of the Testimony, ˙˙tablets ˙of ˙stone, written ˙with ˙the finger of God" ˙(Exodus ˙31:18). ˙˙The ˙fourth commandment in verse 9 of chapter 20 tells us that we are to work for ˙six ˙days and rest for one. ˙The justification for ˙this ˙is given in verse 11, "For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the ˙earth, ˙˙the sea and all that is in them and rested ˙on ˙the seventh ˙day. ˙˙Therefore the Lord blessed the ˙Sabbath ˙day ˙and hallowed it". ˙This is a direct reference to God's creation ˙week in Genesis 1. To be consistent (and we must be), whatever is used as ˙the meaning of the word 'day' ˙in Genesis 1 must also be used here. If you are going to say the word 'day' ˙means a long period of time in Genesis, ˙then it has been already shown that the only way this can be is in the sense of the 'day' ˙being an indefinite or ˙indeterminate period of time - not a definite period of time. Thus the sense of Exodus 20:9-11 would have to be 'six indefinite periods ˙shalt thou labour and rest a seventh indefinite period'! This ˙however ˙makes no sense at all. ˙By accepting the ˙days ˙as ordinary ˙days, ˙˙we understand that God is telling ˙us ˙that ˙He worked ˙for six ordinary days and rested for one ordinary day ˙to set ˙a pattern for man - the pattern of our seven day week ˙which we still have today! ˙In other words, here in Exodus 20 ˙we learn the ˙reason why God took as long as six days to make everything - He ˙was setting a pattern for us to follow, ˙a ˙pattern we ˙still follow today. Day-Age Inconsistencies There ˙are many inconsistencies for those who accept the days in Genesis as long periods of time. For instance, ˙we are told in Genesis 1:26-28 ˙that God made the first man (Adam) ˙on the sixth day. ˙˙Adam lived through the rest of the sixth day, ˙through the seventh ˙day, ˙and then we are told in Genesis 5:5 ˙that he ˙died when he was 930 ˙years old. ˙(We are not still in the seventh day now ˙as ˙some ˙people misconstrue for Genesis 2:2 ˙tells ˙us ˙God "rested" ˙from His work of creation, ˙not that He is resting from His work of creation). ˙If each day was, for example, ˙a ˙million years, ˙then there are real problems. ˙In fact, ˙if each day ˙was only ˙a ˙thousand years long this still makes no sense of ˙Adam's age at death either!