How Long Were the Days of Creation?

Some years ago in Oregon after visiting the John Day fossil beds, I overheard a conversation between two girls who could have been sisters. As they were walking to their car, the younger girl had a confused look on her face and said to the older girl, "I thought God created everything in six days. How could those bones be so old?" The older girl explained to her "The Bible does not say how long a day was when God created the world. A day back then could have been millions of years long." Her answer seemed to satisfy the younger girl.

God's creation days were not millions or billions of years old. Bible believers created this idea because twenty-four hour creation days did not agree with scientific evidence. Could God have created everything in six, twenty-four hour days? Yes! Anything is possible with God. Did God create everything in six, twenty-four hour days? Not according to scientific evidence.

I propose that a creation day was not a twenty-four hour period nor was it a large period of time in which God created something. The days of creation had nothing to do with time, and everything to do with creative Word from God. Word from God manifested into things like light, firmament, gathered waters, dry land, and lights in the firmament of heaven. These manifested words were the days of creation. For example, Day One was "light," not the time it took to create light.

Each day of creation had an evening and then a morning. Evenings and mornings were not times within days; they were manifestations of God's spoken Word. In the case of Day One, darkness was the evening, and light was the morning of the first day. As manifested Word of God, the days of creation were the source of all physical laws in the universe. Understanding that creation days were manifestations of God's spoken Word and not periods of time opens the door to understanding the Bible in a way that is not in conflict with scientific evidence.