Why did God create in six days? Does it not have any relation to Life-affirming Design?
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I agree that it is a match. Six days, six millenia. The match is not the issue I am asking about. The match is a match.
The issue I am asking people to consider is why six days to create, plus a seventh DAY honored for ceasing to create?
In my OP I offered my answer: because God designed ecology and biology to function on cycles of seven. He therefore would be expected to create everything according to such cycles. If we humans design a six-cycle engine, we are not be expected to contradict that design.
The difference is that a life-supporting ecology is like an engine that has been designed to begin to function with the very first parts of it that are assembled. And it is a kind of 'engine' that is NOT an inanimate object, or that has a natural 'off' mode.
God did not create all of nature before turning it on. It was on from the first things He created. And the plants, for example, were created in situ. They were not made someplace else and then put into the ground after-the-fact.
The issue I am asking people to consider is why six days to create, plus a seventh DAY honored for ceasing to create?
In my OP I offered my answer: because God designed ecology and biology to function on cycles of seven. He therefore would be expected to create everything according to such cycles. If we humans design a six-cycle engine, we are not be expected to contradict that design.
The difference is that a life-supporting ecology is like an engine that has been designed to begin to function with the very first parts of it that are assembled. And it is a kind of 'engine' that is NOT an inanimate object, or that has a natural 'off' mode.
God did not create all of nature before turning it on. It was on from the first things He created. And the plants, for example, were created in situ. They were not made someplace else and then put into the ground after-the-fact.
A natural life-supporting ecology is far more involved than is a man-made engine. For one thing, the natural ecology is designed to begin to function with the very first parts of it that are assembled. Even atheistic 'cosmic evolution' ideas assume this.
A man-made engine, on the other hand, not only never has any need in itself to begin to run, it has no need in itself for a particular sequence or time-frame for being assembled.
A man-made engine, on the other hand, not only never has any need in itself to begin to run, it has no need in itself for a particular sequence or time-frame for being assembled.
Biology functioning on cycles of seven? Can you cite 3 examples? Can you find a bird that stops building its nest after 6 days? Or a bear that hibernates for 1/7th of the year? The sabbath was not made for animals, it was made for man. Insects don't need rest days, etc. Does that make sense? I'm sure God created plenty of mysteries about flora and fauna and their behavior, but it has nothing to do with the sabbath.
Mark 2:27 And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath
Mark 2:27 And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath
You make good points that count against the ecology hypothesis.
But, the particular kind of possible examples you cite does not begin to exhaust the kinds of possible examples that there are.
Given that limitation, it is plausible that there are kinds that count in favor of the hypothesis. i already mentioned one kind that, if that kind does function on a cycle of seven, would count in favor of the hypothesis:
Bear Grylls, in one of his episodes of Man Vs. Wild (In one of the first four seasons of the show), mentions that the waves on the ocean shore come in cycles of seven waves: a progressive increase in size of the waves, until the seventh wave is the largest, and then the cycle repeats.
(I have never confirmed this myself, as I have not been able to get to the ocean since then. I am hoping someone who goes there often, or who lives near it, can tell me if this is true or not.)
But, the particular kind of possible examples you cite does not begin to exhaust the kinds of possible examples that there are.
Given that limitation, it is plausible that there are kinds that count in favor of the hypothesis. i already mentioned one kind that, if that kind does function on a cycle of seven, would count in favor of the hypothesis:
Bear Grylls, in one of his episodes of Man Vs. Wild (In one of the first four seasons of the show), mentions that the waves on the ocean shore come in cycles of seven waves: a progressive increase in size of the waves, until the seventh wave is the largest, and then the cycle repeats.
(I have never confirmed this myself, as I have not been able to get to the ocean since then. I am hoping someone who goes there often, or who lives near it, can tell me if this is true or not.)
He created in 7 days, not 6.
one of those days -- an essential part of creation -- is resting.
again, look at Pascha. it is a 7 day feast. ((or 8 depending on how you count -- as is creation, because the cosmos didn't end on day 7; there is an 8th day))
it is exactly the same pattern
the same pattern as the crucifixion week
creation is a Paschal pattern.
the whole book of John is written in this pattern. 7 miracles, 8 if you count John 21
the whole book of the Revelation of Christ, too. 7 after 7 after 7 after 7 -- 8's if you can see them.
these are things that explain themselves, mutually; and it is so because it is the perfect way.
one of those days -- an essential part of creation -- is resting.
again, look at Pascha. it is a 7 day feast. ((or 8 depending on how you count -- as is creation, because the cosmos didn't end on day 7; there is an 8th day))
it is exactly the same pattern
the same pattern as the crucifixion week
creation is a Paschal pattern.
the whole book of John is written in this pattern. 7 miracles, 8 if you count John 21
the whole book of the Revelation of Christ, too. 7 after 7 after 7 after 7 -- 8's if you can see them.
these are things that explain themselves, mutually; and it is so because it is the perfect way.
You'll have to ask Him. Everything God does and says is out of His love and wisdom. God will answer our questions if we really want to know, and if it is in our interest to know. For example, I asked God several times why He did not simply kill Adam and Eve and start again. Then I received this answer:
In a way, God has killed Adam and started again. The cross of Christ terminates the whole of the human race. The resurrection of Christ is the beginning of a new race of people, Christians. Lord Jesus is called "The Last Adam". Why? Because Lord Jesus did everything that Adam failed to do. Lord Jesus is the One in whom God is well pleased.
As a side note, it is as if Christians are once more placed in the Garden of Eden, spiritually, of course. There are two trees there also, the knowledge of good and evil and the tree of Life. Christians have a choice. They can live by intellect, emotion, the ways of the world and by self will. Or, they can choose to live from the "Tree of life".
Because we still have the imprint of our old ways on our soul, most Christians are a mixture. In some things, we depend on Jesus, who is our life. In others, we are self reliant. We often take some time to realise that everything is better when Christ empowers us. He does not make mistakes, has never failed, does not forget and has strength and energy that is beyond the natural.
I've learned this in the mundane things of life such as gardening. I needed to finish a task before daylight went. I had no energy, so I asked the Lord to help me. I got a fresh burst of energy and got the job done. I've learned these things the hard way, of course.
In a way, God has killed Adam and started again. The cross of Christ terminates the whole of the human race. The resurrection of Christ is the beginning of a new race of people, Christians. Lord Jesus is called "The Last Adam". Why? Because Lord Jesus did everything that Adam failed to do. Lord Jesus is the One in whom God is well pleased.
As a side note, it is as if Christians are once more placed in the Garden of Eden, spiritually, of course. There are two trees there also, the knowledge of good and evil and the tree of Life. Christians have a choice. They can live by intellect, emotion, the ways of the world and by self will. Or, they can choose to live from the "Tree of life".
Because we still have the imprint of our old ways on our soul, most Christians are a mixture. In some things, we depend on Jesus, who is our life. In others, we are self reliant. We often take some time to realise that everything is better when Christ empowers us. He does not make mistakes, has never failed, does not forget and has strength and energy that is beyond the natural.
I've learned this in the mundane things of life such as gardening. I needed to finish a task before daylight went. I had no energy, so I asked the Lord to help me. I got a fresh burst of energy and got the job done. I've learned these things the hard way, of course.
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today in America and in Israel, the word "day" commonly means a 24-hour period. But the book of Genesis wasn't written today; it was written thousands of years ago, and it was written in ancient Hebrew. In that language, yôm = "day" could mean any of 3 different things:
a 24-hour period, from sunset to sunset (or from midnight to midnight), or
the hours of daylight per 24-hour period, approximately 12 hours (varying from one latitude and season to another), or
a period of time other than a 24-period or the hours of daylight, often unspecified.
Here are examples in the Old Testament of the last case above, where "day" (yôm) is not referring to a 24-hour day at all but, rather, to longer periods of time:
These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. (Genesis 2:4)
In that day the Branch of the Lord will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the pride and glory of the survivors in Israel. (Isaiah 4:2)
For the Lord has a day of vengeance, a year of retribution, to uphold Zion's cause. (Isaiah 34:8)
After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence. (Hosea 6:2)
Woe to you who long for the day of the Lord! Why do you long for the day of the Lord? That day will be darkness, not light. (Amos 5:18)
In none of these cases does "day" (yôm) refer to a 24-hour day. Moreover, the seventh "day", mentioned in Genesis 2:2,3, is not a 24-hour day because we still are in it. God is continuing to rest, during this Sabbath, from His task of creating anything out of nothing. Thus, "day" does not have to mean a 24-hour period when speaking of each creation day in Genesis 1.
a 24-hour period, from sunset to sunset (or from midnight to midnight), or
the hours of daylight per 24-hour period, approximately 12 hours (varying from one latitude and season to another), or
a period of time other than a 24-period or the hours of daylight, often unspecified.
Here are examples in the Old Testament of the last case above, where "day" (yôm) is not referring to a 24-hour day at all but, rather, to longer periods of time:
These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. (Genesis 2:4)
In that day the Branch of the Lord will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the pride and glory of the survivors in Israel. (Isaiah 4:2)
For the Lord has a day of vengeance, a year of retribution, to uphold Zion's cause. (Isaiah 34:8)
After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence. (Hosea 6:2)
Woe to you who long for the day of the Lord! Why do you long for the day of the Lord? That day will be darkness, not light. (Amos 5:18)
In none of these cases does "day" (yôm) refer to a 24-hour day. Moreover, the seventh "day", mentioned in Genesis 2:2,3, is not a 24-hour day because we still are in it. God is continuing to rest, during this Sabbath, from His task of creating anything out of nothing. Thus, "day" does not have to mean a 24-hour period when speaking of each creation day in Genesis 1.
