Expert: LEBoyd - 5/17/2007

Question
QUESTION: Time has a begining and an end.
My question is do you think scripture supports that time  was created on the fourth day?

ANSWER: Good question, Beth.

Time is an interesting 'event'.  I use the word 'event' because it is something that happens, like any other event.  The difference is that it is always happening - at least to the physical universe.

For God, there is no time - no beginning, no end.  Therefore, we have scriptures that say, "a day is like a 1,000 years and a 1,000 years is like a day to God."  These simply say that God is not constrained by time.

When we look at Genesis 1, we read:
Gen 1:1-5
1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 And the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. 3 Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. 5 And God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.

So, day 1 had time.

Then we have:

Gen 1:14-19
14 Then God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years; 15 and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth ";and it was so. 16 And God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also. 17 And God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 and to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.

"a fourth day" means that there was time prior to this day.

You question is interesting, because it has to do with actually measuring time.  God put the heavens together for us to be able to measure time (in addition to other purposes, such as seeing His beauty and power).

Unfortunately, we're not that good at measuring time.  This is why you have the Julian Calendar and the Gregorian Calendar.  

The Julian Calendar took the standard Greek calendar of 10 months and added two new months.  These two months are July (Julius Caesar) and August (Augustus Caesar).  September, October, November and December are all Greek (Sept = 7, Oct = 8, Nov = 9 and Dec = 10).  When you are Caesar you can change the calendar, which Julius did in 45 BC.

However that calendar also had problems when compared to what God created for us to measure time.  Hence, Pope Gregory XIII, after studying the heavens, found that the calendar was way off.  In 1582 he ordered 10 days to be skipped and changed the leap year rules.  (The English [Protestants] didn't make their change until 1752 and by then they had to skip 12 days.)

Currently, around the world you will still find differences in days, months and years because of the problem with the calendar.  Today, our calendar (the Gergorian calendar) is off 26 seconds from the heavens, or 1 day every 3,300+ years.

I know this is a longer than expected answer, but one that is very interesting.

I hope I helped.
LE

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I think your answer is interesting.
It made me examine closer the first day verses the fourth day.
In both days there is a separation of light and darkness.
So, I wonder do you think the fourth day is when God created time for man i.e. the cycle of time for man ?
Since the difference in the first and fourth day is the sun and the moon are now placed in their cycle?

Answer
Beth,

Since man was not created until the 6th day, I don't think it matters much.  There is no doubt that there was light and dark, morning and eveing, one day - prior to the fourth day and therefore prior to the 6th day.  So, while there were no stars, moon and sun, the Hebrew language seems to indicate no difference between the measured time of day 1 or any other day.

LE