Bible Time and Days of Creation (Part 1) by Dudley Ross
Spears
(Reprinted from the Gospel Anchor on-line: http://www.gospelanchor.com/)
How did the first inhabitants on this planet tell time? Did they have methods of knowing how to plan for a tomorrow, next month, later in the day, or next year? While we do not read of minutes and seconds in scripture, hours that make up days, days that make up weeks, weeks that make up months and months that make up years are abundantly mentioned in the Bible. Even the day had specific time elements such as the third or ninth hour of the day (Acts 2:15; 10:3).
The natural inference that minutes made up hours can be extracted from 2 Kings 20. Hezekiah asked Isaiah, "What will be the sign that the Lord will heal me?" Isaiah replied that, as a sign, God would make the shadow go forward or backward ten steps and gave Hezekiah the choice. Notice that Hezekiah recognized the natural movement of the shadow. "It is a simple matter for the shadow to go forward ten steps," he replied (II Kings 20:8-10). He knew the natural movement of a shadow was forward because of the relation of the earth to the sun. He opted for the shadow to go backward. This would convince him God would heal his disease. He chose the supernatural over the natural. Only the power of God is supernatural.
As they watched the gnomon on the sundial of Ahaz (verse 11), the shadow moved backward ten steps. A sundial is a simple apparatus that projects the movement of the earth around the sun. Sundials are the most ancient instruments of time measurement known to man. The sundial was then, and remains today, an accurate measurement of minutes and hours. The precision with which planets move in orbit around the sun gives the sundial its accuracy. When the shadow of the dial moved backwards, something supernatural happened. Every known law of physics regarding planetary movement was suspended and violated. The laws of gravity, magnetism, space, time, mass, energy - all were set aside until the shadow from the sun moved backward ten steps. With no evident cataclysmic results, after God demonstrated his control over nature, everything returned smoothly to normal. How do theistic scientists explain this?
If Bible students find it difficult to accept solar days of creation this incident in 2 Kings 20 must be insurmountable to them. The only way that shadow could go back ten steps is for God to move the earth back a specific amount of degrees in its normal orbit around the sun. The sun is the center of all the orbiting planets in our universe. Think of how that would have affected the entire universe! Natural science could not possibly accept this, but it was no problem for Jehovah. It was just as easy for God to reverse the rotational path of the earth as it was for him to accomplish creation in six solar days. If not, why not?
With but few exceptions Old Testament people were able to accurately know the time of the week to observe the Sabbath Day unto the Lord and keep it holy. As Moses led the wandering Jews through the desert of Sinai, he told them, "Tomorrow is a solemn rest, a holy Sabbath unto Jehovah . . ." (Exodus 16:23). Had they not know the meaning of a day, such information would be nonsense. Moses told them what would happen "tomorrow." Tomorrow is always the day following the present. When they were to "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy" (Exodus 20:8) they had an accurate way to know when the Sabbath began and ended (Mark 15:42; Matthew 28:1). The Bible even mentions a portion of a day as "the cool of the day" (Genesis 3:8). What part of the alleged several billion years of an imaginary geological day was this?
No matter in what way ancient calendars was formatted, from creation the people of God have known precisely when certain festivals and holy seasons were to be observed. They had to know the precise meaning of each division of time. For example, they had to know the sequence of days to know precisely which "evening and morning" was the Sabbath Day. Had they not had an accurate method of determining the Sabbath Day, they could not have observed other great festivals such as Pentecost. Knowledge of when to observe Pentecost required counting seven Sabbaths plus one day (Leviticus 23:2-17). They had to know the precise duration of a day. They did.
Normally what the Bible calls a day, a week, month and year are definite and specific periods of time. There are instances in the Bible where year means more than 365 days (Day is used of a limited extension of time that is considerably longer than 365 days, as in the case of the "day of his (a leper's) cleansing" (Leviticus 14:2). Other examples include: Psalm 20:1; II Corinthians 6:2; Philippians 1:6.) Jesus said, he came to proclaim "the acceptable year of the Lord" (Luke 4:18-19). This is obviously more than a solar year, including the current period of time and the last days for planet earth. However, this is a unique usage, not the normal use of the word year.
"Day" is sometimes used of a period of time longer than 24 hours. When Jesus said to the Jews, "Your father Abraham rejoice to see my day, and he saw it, and was glad" (John 8:56), the word "day" here is not limited to a solar day of 24 hours. Let it be clearly understood, however, that this is a unique, not a normal, application of the biblical term for a day.
[Editor's Note: I realize this is not the optimum place to break Bro. Spears lesson, so keep this issue on hand so you can refer back to it next week.]
Do We Really Need Another Government Program? by Dennis
Tucker
(Reprinted from The Truth Factor Web-zine, http://www.TruthFactor.com/)
Copyright 2000, Dennis Tucker, Truth Factor
According to this morning news, a recent survey found that the number one problem teenagers' face is not having enough time with their parents. Twenty one percent of teenagers listed this as a real problem in their life. The White House held a daylong session dealing with this social disaster. Look for the Clinton Administration to suggest some type of government program.
Let us look at this from a Biblical perspective. First, God gave parents the responsibility of rearing their children. Ephesians 6:4 tells fathers to bring up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. We can read of Timothy being taught the word of God by his mother and grandmother. Today many parents are AWOL. They are too busy at too many other things. God will hold us parents accountable for how we have conducted our homes. It is not the job of the state to rear our children.
Second, this survey contradicts a popular myth. That myth being, teenagers do not need or want their parents around. Teenager years are hard years. They are not children but neither are they adults. Their relationships are changing and their responsibilities are growing. Parents who have a "hands off approach" are not doing their teenagers any favors. I remember reading what one woman wrote a number of years ago. This lady's husband passed away when their children were small. She reared her sons as an only parent. They turned out to be good young adults. She was asked how she had accomplished the feat. She said that they studied the Book of Proverbs every night. When a question arose they would look to the Bible for the right answer. As adults we should have a good appreciation for the word of God. Our children will benefit from our wisdom and they seem to realize it.
Third, nothing can substitute for an involved mother and father. No amount of money can purchase a loving mother. No government program can equal a devoted father. We as parents need to get and keep our priorities straight. Too many parents are working to buy games, computers, and other toys for their children. While never giving their children what they need. On the average fathers will spend about 80 minutes a week with their children. Most fathers will spend more time than that watching a sporting event or the nightly news. How much time do you spend with your children? For those of us with children approaching the teenage years we must face the challenge. The challenge of listening, talking, and helping our children grow.
Short Exhort - Written and/or Compiled by David J. Riggs
(http://www.public.usit.net/driggs/)
"Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving..." (Col. 4:2)
Please consider this old illustration regarding prayer:
"Two preachers' wives sat mending their husbands' pants. One said to the other, 'My poor John, he is so discouraged in his church work. He said just the other day that he was considering resigning. It seems that nothing goes right for him.' The other replied, 'Why, my husband was saying just the opposite. He is so enthused, it seems like he is closer to the Lord than ever before.' A hushed silence fell as they continued to mend the trousers: ONE PATCHING THE KNEES AND THE OTHER THE SEAT."
Let us always pray and not lose heart.