It’s clear to me that after studying God’s revealed word in scripture (from Genesis, Exodus, Psalms, Isaiah to Matthew, Mark, Luke, Acts, Romans, Hebrews, and Peter) that God intended to communicate that his creative works happened over 6 literal days about 6000 years ago.

But if God had wanted to communicate to the Hebrew people (and us today) that he made use of billions of year and naturalistic processes to bring forth his creation, how would scripture look?

Most all scholars agree that Moses wrote (or at least edited) most of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. In those writings exist the concept of large numbers. For example: Genesis 22:17 “I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore.” Also, in the book of numbers, during the census of the twelve tribes, “The total number of the men of Israel was 601,730.” – Leviticus 26:51. So, the argument that the primitive people of Moses’ day could not grasp large numbers can be factored out of the equation because of the facts.

So, why did God reveal to Moses extremely limited days and years in Genesis 1 and Exodus 20, when he could have easily made use of large numbers like stars and grains of sand? I can think of many ways and passages that he could have communicated evolutionary progression over billions of years like this.

Then after as many years as the number of grains of sand, God said, “Let us make man in our image.” So God took one of the animals that had arisen over these ages, which looked like a man but was not, and God breathed His spirit into this creature so that it was changed into a man. In like manner God took a female hominid and made a companion for Adam. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.” And it was so. And from this first pair, and from so many others like them, came all the people of the earth.—Genesis 1:26–28

But in those days there were terrors on the land and in the sky and in the seas, and many also fell prey to a host of terrible plagues. God gave humans and animals to each other for food. Some plants and animals killed with poisonous stings and bites, and from time to time many of the creatures that God had made died and were buried and were no more. But new ones arose to take their place. Animals and humans suffered from gout, osteoporosis, and bone cancer, and God called this “very good”.—Genesis 1:29–31

Then the Lord God took a few thousand hominids formed from ape-like ancestors through evolution and breathed in them, and they became spiritual beings.—Genesis 2:7

But if you do not believe his [Moses’] writings, it’s not a problem, because you can believe my [Jesus’] words anyway.—John 5:47

But He chose not to reveal his involvement in history like this.

For those of you that believe that the Bible clearly teaches evolution and billions of years, I have demonstrated in this post how the Bible should have looked if God had wanted to communicate his use of naturalistic processes over billions of years as his creative technique. So, from your perspective, how should the Bible look, if he had wanted to communicate that he created the universe in six twenty-four hour days about 6000 years ago?

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