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This is one of those places where it is glaringly obvious that, when the Bible was divided into chapters in AD 1227, some of the chapter divisions could have been done better. In the present case, the narrative that began in Genesis 1:1 continues uninterrupted through Genesis 2:3.
“Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation” (Genesis 2:1–3).
It is necessary to break the pattern of limited commentary in this matter. If the days of creation were not of uniform length; we might think we may choose to work however much time we wish between Sabbaths, if we observe the Sabbath at all. Thus, here is another reason for the importance of six-day creationism: the Fourth Commandment is otherwise weakened. Further, this is an inexcusable, destructive, and pervasive area of disobedience among Christians.
It is obvious that, if God could make a trillion trillions of stars in one day, He could have completed all of creation in one day. Doubtless God had multiple reasons for using six days, and it has been observed by many38 that one reason God worked six days and rested on the seventh was to firmly establish and sanctify the weekly Sabbath and to enjoin a usual pattern of six days of labor each week for mankind. Although the seventh day39 seems to be primarily in view, seventh day obviously is meaningless without six other days. The Fourth Commandment strongly suggests this is so in its last sentence: “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy” (Exodus 20:8–11). Although the direction of cause and effect in the Commandment is stated to be from creation to commandment, God does everything with definite purpose, so God, anticipating His Commandment, also designed His creation process accordingly. Because the Fourth Commandment was so important that God designed His creation process to support it, He also said: “If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the Lord honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly; then you shall take delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken” (Isaiah 58:13–14). In light of these clear commands from God, it must be asked: why do so many Christians live as though there were only nine (or fewer!) Commandments?
So far, the creation narrative has been very simple in its literary form, especially considering the stupendously majestic creation it relates. We saw that God created our entire universe in just six twenty-four-hour days ex nihilo, then rested on the seventh day. There are still some things God wants us to know and the continued narrative is also simple and straightforward, but there is a transition we have to make. It will be like taking two pleasant highways to a destination, but between the two highways there is a slightly tricky interchange that must be attentively navigated. We desire to be able to read Genesis 2 also with understanding. By seeing the truth for ourselves, we will not be troubled by false Framework Hypotheses.
38See Appendix E for a few examples.
39Note that God commands six days of work followed by a seventh day of rest. In honor of Christ’s resurrection, He changed the day of rest to the first day. But He did not give us a calendar; the time of the start of a week is a human convention dependent on longitude and other considerations.
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