Science

The timing of creation is not the first heated debate the church has worked through on a science-related topic. For three hundred years, the church wrestled over the location of the earth within our solar system. Although emerging scientific findings indicated the sun was at the center of our solar system and the earth rotated around it (heliocentrism), many fervently argued from the Bible that such findings were wrong.

Some have questioned: Isn’t the Bible is a simple book written for the average person to understand? Should considerations such as Hebrew syntax, literary forms, and the cultural context be necessary for one to properly understand Genesis 1-2? What about the clarity of Scripture? Doesn’t a technical analysis undermine this doctrine and imply the Bible is inaccessible to the masses?

aving examined Moses’ construction of the first six days of creation, let us now turn our attention to the seventh day when God rests from His labor. One of the striking features of this day is its lack of closure. Unlike the first six days, day seven has no concluding refrain about this day drawing to an end (“and there was evening and there was morning, ______ day”). As readers, we are left wondering why Moses breaks here from his standard pattern. Why does he not depict this day drawing to a close? Has it not yet ended?

“And there was evening, and there was morning, ______ day.” As you may recall from a previous article, this is one of the four phrases Moses uses to structure Genesis 1. This particular one is how Moses concludes each creation workday (days 1-6, see Genesis 1:5, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31). Since it plays a…