The Watchtower Society teaches that each "day" of the Creation week consisted of a period of 7,000 years. If we can prove that this is true from a study of true science, and from the Bible itself, then we must accept this idea. But to accept this understanding of the days of the Creation week without support from either the obvious facts of true science and the undeniable truths of the Biblical teaching, we would be foolish indeed. So let us examine the Scriptures, again using the NWT along with the evidence of simple scientific thought and reasoning, to understand the truth on this matter.
1. We need to understand the creative power of God. What happens as soon as God speaks His word?
Psalm 33:6, 9; Genesis 1:3, 6, 9, 11, 14, 20; and 1:6, 7, 9, 11, 15, etc.
Answer:
a. "By the _____________ of Jehovah the heavens themselves were made, and by the _________________ of His mouth all their army....For he himself _______________________, and it came to be; He himself _______________________, and it proceeded to stand so." Psalm 33:6, 9
b. "And God proceeded to _________: 'Let light come to be.' ____________ there came to be ____________." etc. Genesis 1:3 and the similar verses (above) in each act of creation.
The Bible says that as soon as God said 'Let there be light," THEN, right at that moment, light came into existence. It couldn't wait. His word must be obeyed! God's word is so powerful, that as soon as he says it, it happens, right THEN! That is a power no human being has in himself. That is only God's power. When Jesus spoke God's word, as soon as he spoke it, it came to be! His word was with "great authority," the Bible says in relating the story found in Luke 4:31-37. Even the winds and the waves obeyed his voice of his words (Matthew 8:23-27). Christ is the Word of God (John 1-3, 14), the One who did the actual creating of everything. So when Christ spoke at Creation, it happened, THEN, right then, just as He spoke it!
c. "And God went on to say: 'Let an expanse come to be in between the waters and let a dividing occur between the waters and the waters. _______________ God proceeded to make the expanse and to make a division between the waters that should be beneath the expanse and the waters that should be above the expanse. And it ___________________ to be so." Genesis 1:7
The NWT has been translated in the first chapters of Genesis to give the impression that each day of Creation was a long period of time. Thus Genesis 1:3 is translated "And God proceeded to say: 'Let light come to be.' Then there came to be light." Most translations translate this verse: "And God said, 'Let there be light: and there was light.'"
How do we know that God can create instantly as soon as He speaks His word? The creative power of God was demonstrated at the resurrection of Lazarus: "And when he had spoken [prayed to the Father], he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go. Then many of the Jews which came to Mary, and had seen the things which Jesus did, believed on him." John 11:43-45. (KJV) Of course, reading it in the NWT, it says the very same thing. But note the verse did not say, "proceeded to come forth." No, it did not even take 7,000 years for Lazarus to come forth out of the grave! It didn't even take 1/2 an hour. He rose up and came out as soon as Christ's voice called him by name and raised him to life! That is the creative power of God, to make his body new and to cause it to come to life immediately! Just as quick God spoke and it was so at creation.
We need to also put faith in Jesus as the Resurrection and the Life, because it is His word that does what it says it will do at the very time specified. If Jesus had said, Let Lazarus come forth only at the resurrection of the just at the end of the world 2000 years later, then it would have happened at the resurrection of the just 2,000 years later and no sooner. God's word does what it says it will do! Jesus spoke the word, and it happened exactly as that word said, no sooner, and no later. Isn't that so wonderful! A sinner could receive forgiveness instantly at His word! A leper could trust Jesus to cleanse him then and there just at the word of Jesus! That is why the sick and the sinful flocked to Him. Wonderful Creator and Saviour is Jesus our Lord! No wonder all heaven and earth will glorify Him to the glory of God the Father! Philippians 2:5-10, please read, it is so inspiring!
Are you sin-sick, are you weary, do you need God's word to bring forgiveness and healing and life to your soul? Ask him to speak the word only, and it will be so, to forgive you of your sins, and give you power to obey His word that leads to eternal life!
Now let us examine the scientific evidence of the days of creation as only being a 24 hour period each.
2. Of what did each day consist?
Genesis 1:4, 5.
"After that God saw that the ___________ was good, and God brought about a division between the _____________ and the ___________________. And God began calling the ____________ ________, but the __________________ he called ________________. And there came to be ______________________ and there came to be ____________________, a first day."
The day actually began at sunset and ended the following sunset. For each of the six days in which God was doing a creative work, we are told at the conclusion of the events, that "the evening and the morning were the ...day." This is used for emphasis, to emphasize the fact that these days were not long periods of time.
Genesis 1:4, 5 tell how God created light, and divided it into darkness and light. This light no doubt shone from Himself and as the earth turned on its axis in the 24 hour period, it was thus divided into night and day, the period of the evening and the morning.
The Bible does not say, "evenings and mornings," it was just one evening, or night, and the one morning or the period of light. It is interesting that "Night" is the name of the dark part of the day and that "Day" is the name of the light part of the "day." Therefore a "day" is a period composed of one Night and one Day, and anything happening on any part of the Night or Day is counted as happening on the "one" day.
Simple human scientific observation agrees, that yes, indeed each day of the week consists of one period of darkness and one period of light, and is of approximately 24 hours duration, from sunset to sunset.
3. What did God have to create almost immediately after He created the vegetation on the third day?
Genesis 1:14, 15.
"And God went on to say: 'Let ___________________ come to be in the expanse of the heavens to make a division between the day and the night; and they must serve as ____________________ and for seasons and for days and years. And they must serve as luminaries in the expanse of the heavens to __________________ upon the earth.' And it came to be so." Genesis 1:14, 15.
It is scientifically impossible for most vegetation on the earth to survive without any sunlight for very long. The sunlight is necessary for changing certain substances in the plant into food matter for the cells to thrive and grow. God had to immediately, in the 24 hour period following the third day, put that moonlight and sunlight in the sky to help control the growth of vegetation upon the earth. If He had waited one month or 7,000 long years, that meant vegetation would have perished! God is not only a powerful Creator with His word, He is full of wisdom also, and His deep wisdom and understanding are unsearchable, yet it is so simple that even a child can understand the beauty of it by observation.
Scientifically, then, it was necessary for sunlight to help plants to grow and thrive. Moonlight has other effects on the rise and fall of the tide, and possibly has effects on the cycle of the plant kingdom, also.
4. What would be necessary for an apple tree filled with sweet-smelling blossoms, to produce that even sweeter fruit of the apple? Though the trees were created fully mature with fruit and seed already developed, what was to guarantee that they would continue to produce fruit and seeds?
Genesis 1:25
"And God proceeded to make the wild beast of the earth according to its kind and the domestic animal according to its kind and every _______________ ___________________ of the ______________________ according to its kind. And God got to see that [it was] good." Genesis 1:25
The creeping things, "the moving animals of the ground," were created on the sixth day. If each day of creation were 7,000 years in duration, then vegetation created on the third day would have had to wait 21,000 years at the most before there were any insects such as bees, moths, butterflies, etc.... Science has proved that insect life is absolutely essential for the life of plants, and therefore of mankind and animals, also. Again, God is great in wisdom and power! He could speak and it happened as He said! He put into operation our world, with order and exactness, and it all brings glory to His holy name!
5. But didn't the Bible say, that God caused the plants to grow out of the ground, wouldn't that take a long period of time?
Genesis 1:11, 12, 20, 21, 27, 28.
"And God went on to say: 'Let the earth cause grass to ____________ ______________, vegetation bearing ___________, fruit trees yielding _______________ according to their kinds, _______ _______________ of which is in it, upon the earth.' And it came to be so. And the earth began to put forth grass, vegetation bearing seed according to its kind and trees yielding fruit, the seed of which is in it according to its kind. Then God saw that [it was] good." Genesis 1:11, 12, etc.
Adam and Eve were created fully mature human beings. They were not created babies to then grow up. Great whales were also spoken into existence. Genesis 1:20, 21. Grass yielding seed, fruit trees yielding fruit were created. If Adam and Eve had been created babies, who would nurse them? Who would cuddle them and teach them to talk? No one! God created animal, man, and vegetation fully mature , and then told them to reproduce and fill the earth! The hen was created first, not the egg! Again we have to exclaim, How wonderful is our God!
6. Does the Bible refer to the Creation week as a literal six days of the week?
Exodus 20:8-11
"Remembering the sabbath day to hold it sacred, you are to render service and you must do all your work six days. But the seventh day is a sabbath to Jehovah your God. You must not do any work, you nor your son nor your daughter, your slave man nor your slave girl nor your domestic animal nor your alien resident who is inside your gates. For in _________ _____________ Jehovah made the heavens and the earth, the sea and everything that is in them, and he proceeded to rest on the ________________ ____________. That is why Jehovah blessed the sabbath day and proceeded to make it sacred." Exodus 20:8-11
Since the time of antiquity, the Jews have acknowledged that the world was created in six literal days of 24 hours length each. Those who do not wish to acknowledge that Jehovah is God, persist in attributing long periods of time as necessary to bring life, and this is normally labelled "evolutionary theory," and to the gradual perfecting of creation to what we know it today. But looking at the Bible testimony as it reads, our world was created "very good" in God's estimation at the very beginning, and has gradually been weakening to where it is now, so much so that science itself is fearful of those things coming upon the world!
7. What did God make that can only divide a literal 24 hour day, and nothing else?
Genesis 1:14-19.
Answer: Again read Genesis 1:14-19 that we are emphasizing, why? so that we can understand that only the sun can divide a 12 hour night from a 12 hour day. There is nothing which God could have made to divide a day that is 3,500 years long, from a night that is 3,500 years long! So we know the "day" was not 7,000 years long! The sun, moon and stars are given to help us know signs, and the seasons, for days and for years and no more! The sun did not shine on one side of the earth steady for 3,500 years, burning up the lush vegetation which God created, while leaving the other side in darkness for 3,500 years, making it so cold that nothing could grow!
8. If God had made the days of Creation weeks periods of 7,000 years each, would He not have stated it?
Psalm 33:9
Answer: He would have stated it, but there is not a text in the Bible to say that each day of Creation was 7,000 years long. That is only an unproven theory, and like the evolutionary theory to which it is closely related, it cuts across the plain Bible truth: "For He spake, and it was done; He commanded and it stood fast." Psalm 33:9 (KJV)
9. Did God "rest" on the Sabbath day, or is He still resting on a sabbath day of 7,000 years?
Genesis 2:1-3; Exodus 31:17; Hebrews 4:4
Answer:
"Thus the heavens and the earth and all their army came to their ______________________. And by the seventh day God came to the ______________________ of his work that he had made, and he proceeded to ______________ on the seventh day from all his work that he had made...." The next verse in the NWT, tends to give a definite impression or fact that God is still resting on this sabbath: "And God proceeded to bless the seventh day and make it sacred, because on it he has been resting from all his work that God has created for the purpose of making." Genesis 2:1-3
Is God therefore still resting as this one verse is translated thus? It is noteworthy that every reliable translation says "God rested" and not "God proceeded to rest" or "has been resting" as translated in Genesis 2:2, 3 in the NWT. It is interesting to note also that the Jehovah's Witness Bible has not been consistently translated on this point: "Between me and the sons of Israel it is a sign to time indefinite, because in six days Jehovah made the heavens and the earth and on the seventh day he ______________ and proceeded to refresh himself.'" Exodus 31:17
However, it is even more definite in this next verse that God has finished resting from his works, and He did that rest already on the Sabbath day: "For in one place he has said of the seventh day as follows: 'And God _______________ on the seventh day from all his works." Hebrews 4:4.
It also follows that if it is inconceiveable for each day of the Creation week to be 7,000 years long, it is equally inconceiveable for the seventh-day Sabbath to be a period of 7,000 years long. It would do well to note that there is no other translation, even those considered reliable such as the American Standard Version which has been printed and distributed by the Watchtower Society, which agrees with the Watchtower translation. It is obvious that the New World Bible is a biased translation on this teaching.
10. Now what about all the events listed on the sixth day of Creation--certainly they could not have happened all in one 24-hour period?
Answer: There is no problem with all these events taking place in a 24 hour period. The animals could all have been spoken into existence early on the morning of the Sixth Day. Adam could have been created by mid-morning. Then the animals could have walked to Adam to be named by him in a few hours (less than the time it takes to walk around the average zoo). By mid-afternoon Adam's request for a mate could have been dealt with, and Eve created long before the evening of the beginning of the seventh-day Sabbath which was made for them. Mark 2:27, 28. The Sabbath, on which God then rested, and blessed with His own presence, and then sanctified or made holy, was set aside for the holy use of Adam and Eve and future generations as a blessing to them each week, after six literal days of toiling in the Garden or at their daily secular business as is the case now.
11. Whenever the word "day" in the Bible has a numeral in front of it, what does that always mean?
Genesis 1:5, 8, etc.
Answer: Whenever a day has a numeral in front of it in the Bible, such as "first" day, or "fortieth" day, it never means any period other than a twenty-four hour day. In a concordance there are scores of references to "day" but there is never any exception to this rule.
Therefore, each day of Creation in the account of Genesis 1, plainly states it was the "first" day, the "second" day, "third" day etc....Besides this, as already mentioned, each day was also stated to be the evening and the morning. God, in leaving us an account of His work of Creation could hardly have taken more care to ensure that there would never be any mistake about the fact that each day of Creation was a period of just twenty-four hours!