The Hebrew word for day, yom, can mean an ordinary day or an indefinite period of time. It should be made clear that the word for day in Genesis can never mean a long period in the definite sense. It can mean something longer than a day, but only in the indefinite sense (e.g., in the time of the Judges, in the day of the Lord). Exodus 20:11 tells us that God created the universe in six days and rested on one as a pattern for man. This is the reason God took as long as six days to make everything. He set the seven-day week pattern for us, which we still use today. God did not say He worked for six million years and rested for one million years, telling us to do the same. It makes even less sense to suggest he worked for six indefinite periods of time.

There are many other aspects at which we could look to show that the days must be ordinary days. For example, Adam was created on day six. He lived through day six, and day seven, and died when he was 930 years old. If each day were a million years, there are big problems here, too. It also needs to be made clear that the passage in 2 Peter 3:8, that compares a day to a thousand years is not defining the word "day" as a thousand years. In fact, taken in context, 2 Peter 3:8 has nothing to do with the days of creation, but with the fact that God is outside time.

The word "day," when first used in Genesis, cannot be symbolic. A word cannot be used symbolically the first time it is used. It can only be used symbolically when it first has a defined literal meaning. It is given this defined literal meaning in Genesis chapter 1, the first time it is used. Also, the words used for the "evening" and "morning" can only mean exactly that.

In Genesis 1:14–19, concerning the fourth day of creation, the word "day" is used five times in relation to days, nights, seasons, and years. If the word "day" here doesnt mean an ordinary day, it makes absolute nonsense of the way it is used in these passages.

13. AFTER HIS KIND

In Genesis 1, the phrase "after his kind" or "after their kind" occurs a total of ten times. This phrase is used in reference to the animals and plants as they are to reproduce on the earth. The Bible clearly teaches that God created fixed kinds of animals and plants, each to reproduce after its own kind. One kind could not change into another kind. Today we know there can be great variation within a kind, but fixed boundaries do exist. In fact, the classification system we use in naming animals and plants in groups was first formulated on the biblical teaching of fixity of kinds, basically as the result of the work of Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778).