What is a day? This might seem a slightly silly question, and hardly the kind to make a decent Bible study. You might be surprised, however, how important it can be to understand the meanings of the word "day" in the Bible. Misunderstanding about the word "day" is a surprisingly strong element in
The little word "day" actually hides a number of surprises. Let's start our lesson
When I was preparing this study, I asked
"A day means that it's morning...
and... um... it's morning...
and kids play outside a lot
and they put summer dresses on...
to put with socks...
and... the flowers grow!"
I'm not sure what you make of that, but it does appear that the child was having trouble explaining what a "day" means. We all find definitions and descriptions surprisingly difficult, whether they be of tangible things such as "apple", abstract things such as "love", or things somewhere
You'll discover another little surprise about the word "day" if you do this
Each of the above is a "day" but it may surprise you that none of the above is equal. The turning of the earth is completed 3 minutes and 56 seconds short of 24 hours. The annual orbit round the sun, means the earth spins in a year once more than the number of sunrises. Scientists recognise, and have special terms for, these different
This is only a curiosity, but it does illustrate that the word "day" can mean different
You may also be surprised at the relevance of the word and concept "day" to Christian beliefs and observances. To illustrate this,
You may be surprised to learn that serious errors on ALL those topics arise from wrong interpretations of the word "day" in the Bible. So the question, "What Is A Day?" is critical. In asking, "What is a day?" we are addressing a matter of importance to the proper understanding of several
Another possible surprise to you is the number of times the word "day" shows up in the Scriptures. The next exercise
The odds are, that in any opening of the Bible, you would find the word THREE times. And that does not include associated words like "today" or "daily". The tally of around 2500 occurrences of the word "day" or "days" in Scripture, surely shows that the idea of a "day" is important.
Enough of surprises. Now we get more serious. We turn to a particular and important use of the term "days" in the Bible. In
It is rather surprising to find the Bible referring to Methuselah's lifetime in terms of "days" when he lived over one third of a million of them! His life lasted nearly a millennium, yet this is
How these "days" looked to
Keeping in mind that the book of Genesis was written for the children of Israel, albeit for our learning as well, let's consider how the "days" of Methuselah looked
Their king David, wrote: "The days of our lives are threescore years and ten..."
We are seeing that people, for whom a hundred years was a long life, could happily think of a lifetime approaching a thousand years as "days". This does not suggest that a long period is meant in every place the word "day" or "days" appears. But it does prove that it can have that sense in some instances. That is as much as we wish to
To reinforce this in your mind, do the following exercise...
You might well have selected every one of the periods listed above. As we have shown, the Bible may use the term "days" for almost any period great or small.
The Bible sometimes uses the phrase, "the last days". Some people argue that the word "days" precludes the phrase from meaning centuries or millennia. They assert that "days" is not an appropriate word for very
Many believe "the last days" to be a short period of about forty years. This is a period before Christ's return - in AD70 according to preterists. Or it is a period in our near future according to premillennialists. Both doctrines rely heavily on the assertion that "days" cannot sensibly mean centuries or millennia. We have examined that assertion and found it false, especially since the "days of Methuselah" were almost a thousand years. There is no reason why "the last days" cannot span many centuries.
To add even more weight to this, let's think about the proper perspective from which we should consider periods of time in the Bible,
"All Scripture is God-breathed"
Notice carefully a point which Peter urges us to keep in mind. "With the Lord, one day is as a thousand years..."
We realise from this, together with the other things we have studied, that when the Lord speaks of "the last days" he has in mind a very long period, possibly several millennia. He has in mind the entire period between the first and second comings of Christ. Some refer to this period or age as
Here's one final exercise to help sum up the lesson on "What is a day?"
A. The question "What Is A Day?" is not so simple to answer. It turns up a few surprises, and we cannot take too much for granted in
B. The question, "What Is A Day?" is irrelevant to our Christian lives, and it is silly to be
C. The proper concept of the term 'days' in Scripture, leads us to believe that Christ’s second coming
D. The question, "What Is A Day?" is important because it could have a bearing on our correct understanding of
E. One use of the term "days" in the early chapters of the Bible, when viewed from the proper perspective, leads us to allow that some instances such as the phrase "the last days", refer