TIME did not exist at the Beginning?

[Michael V. Frazier]

One person wrote the following comment in a discussion of the Creation Week:

In my opinion we will never be able to determine the length of time for the first 3 days......Time did not
exist as we know it until the 4th day ( 24hr. periods).

GENESIS 1:14-19............The sun, moon, and stars were created on the 4th day in v.14 God tells us
why .......let them be for signs,seasons,days and years.

I disagree.

In the beginning [Time] God created the heaven [Space] and the earth [Matter]" (Gen. 1:1).

On the first day of creation, God obviously created matter. References to "the earth" and "the waters" illustrate this. In order to accommodate matter, space and time must also exist. Einstein clearly showed that space and time are interdependent. One cannot exist without the other. Therefore, on the first day of creation, time, space, and matter (and energy) all came into being at the will of God.

The expression "in the beginning" dictates a necessary element of Time to exist. For something to have a beginning at all requires the concept of Time to be present. The creation of the sun and moon on Day 4 was for humanity's measurement of the Time that God had already established. We measure our year by the length of time it takes for the Earth to orbit the sun. Our months are measured by the length of time it takes for the Moon to orbit the earth. And each day is measured by the time required for the Earth to rotate once on its axis. Yet, none of these are required to define the principle of Time that God created "in the beginning."

The whole concept of the phrase "and the evening and the morning were the first day . . . second day . . . third day . . . fourth day . . ." requires a consistent usage of the expression in each passage. Thus by Day 4 when God creates the sun, the expression "day" (Hebrew yom) had already been established—approx. 24 hours. This also indicates that the Earth was already rotating on its axis by the end of Day 1 when God created Light, for evenings and mornings were consistently occurring since Day 1.

Finally, God declared "in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day" (Ex. 20:11). (In fact, He wrote it Himself. See Deut. 9:10). While the earth, moon, and sun give us our day, month, and year, only God's Word gives us our week. If the days of Genesis 1 were not ordinary days, then how long is your week going to be?

[Donnie Gillum]

Very well stated, Brother. One thought that stands out to me (and inferred in your comments) is, "In the beginning...". We might ask, "In the beginning of what?" Of course, most would reply, "In the beginning of Creation." But it could also be stated, "In the beginning of TIME."

Concerning a long week, I've heard that each day was 1000 years, or 10,000 years or even 50,000 years! Whew! That sure makes for a loooong work week. No wonder I so tire by the time Friday gets here! LOL!

Bro. Dave, I think along with you on what you stated. If the Word is doubted at the beginning (seems like the serpent did something like this), how do we know when it is accurate?

Your statement, "He could have done it all in a second had He so chosen." is correct. When dealing with "how much TIME did it take God to do this or that, we can look and see that God created Adam as an adult - not a baby! Same goes for trees, sun moon and stars etc. This is not hard for me to believe.

[David Huston]

It seems to me that the reason the literal meaning of yom as a 24-hour day in Genesis 1 is so defamed and ridiculed is because people want to bring the entire Word of God into question right from its beginning. If we can't take the first chapter at face value, then how can we really believe the rest? And this attitude has infected the apostolic church. I have heard so many so-called Bible-believing people act as though any idiot can see that the days were not literally days. I guess I'm just too simple-minded. To me, God can do whatever He wants to in a day. Why, He could have done it all in a second had He so chosen. Thank you, Bro. Frazier, for standing firm for the plain and obvious meaning of a day in Genesis 1.