A day by any other name would still be 24 hours long. But sometimes Christians who believe the truth about God creating the world, as described in Genesis 1:1-2:25, still fall into the trap of believing a very dangerous lie. Because some so-called "experts" claim the earth is millions or billions of years old and that people "evolved," even some Christians think it might be true, despite the fact that God's Word clearly tells us it is not. It's really not too bright to take some person's word for it when God's Word says otherwise. After all, just who was there when the world came into existence–the "experts" or God!?

Still, some need convincing that God really did create the heavens and the earth and everything in them, including humans, in six days–that's six 24-hour periods of time or 144 hours or 8,640 minutes. One way the devil, the father of lies (John 8:44), adds confusion is with the lie that the word "day" found in Genesis 1:5, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31 and Genesis 2:2-3 must not be a literal day as we know it–it must mean an extremely long period of time such as thousands of years. This is known as the "day-age" theory. So, how can we be sure that God created it all in six 24-hour days?

"Day" is defined in the scriptures. One need look no further than the same verse as the word "day" which is in question. In Genesis 1:5 it clearly says, "And there was evening, and there was morning--the first day." Likewise, this same definition is repeated for the second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth days of creation. So "day" is defined as a period of time consisting of evening and morning.

The same word is used elsewhere in the scriptures. The word which is translated into English as "day" in the creation account is from the Hebrew word "yôm." This same word is also translated as the English word "day" in Genesis 7:13 which tells us that Noah and his family entered the ark on a particular day. Isn't it amazing that we don't hear anyone arguing that it took Noah thousands of years to enter the ark on that particular "day"? Of course not. It's common sense–just like the "day" mentioned in the account of creation in Genesis. There are many other places in Genesis, not to mention the entire Old Testament, in which the same Hebrew word "yôm," translated "day" clearly means a 24-hour period of time. Just a few are Genesis 8:4 (the day when the ark containing the flood survivors came to rest on the mountains), Genesis 17:23, 26 (the day when Abraham, Ishmael, and the other males were circumcised), Genesis 31:22 (the day Laban was told that Jacob had fled), Genesis 39:11-12 (the day when Potiphar's wife tried to seduce Joseph), Genesis 40:20 (the day which was Pharaoh's birthday), and Genesis 42:18 (the day when Joseph said, "Do this and you will live, for I fear God." Could anyone reasonably argue that the same word "yôm" or "day" means a long period of time something like thousands or millions of years? Could it take that long for the ark to rest on the mountains, for the men in Abraham's household to be circumcised, for Laban to be told that Jacob had fled, for a woman to attempt to seduce a man, or for Joseph to speak a sentence? Do you know of anyone's birthday which lasts for thousands or millions of years? Obviously not. The same is true of the same word in the account of creation found in Genesis.

Jesus made it clear. Last, but certainly not least, Jesus Himself made it abundantly clear that the "day-age" theory and the theory of evolution (both asserting that it was thousands or millions of years until humans were on the earth) are nothing but lies. Jesus clearly said, "But at the beginning of creation God 'made them male and female.'" (Mark 10:6 NIV) Did you catch that? He said "at the beginning," not "after a few million years." Jesus said "at the beginning" and that's exactly what He meant. It's not difficult to understand at all.

In summary. The scriptures make it clear that the heavens and the earth and everything in them, including humans, were created within a period of six 24-hour days. Anything else is a lie. Don't believe it. If you do, you are opening all of the rest of God's Word up to needless doubt. That's what the devil uses to deceive, and that's what makes believing a lie about creation so dangerous. Remember, a day of creation is the same as a day now–-evening and morning. A day, or yôm, by any other name is still 24 hours long.