Yes, it was. Scripture says so irrespective of what science says. Modern Science tries to look back through a telescope into eternity past and they try to tell us that the universe is billions of years old. They have no starting point and no reference to measure accurately. Most of their methods are based on assumptions and predictions. They predict this by using various dating methods which by their own admission is not accurate and has changed. This quote is from the American Institute of Biological Sciences: "The first radiometric dates, generated about 1920, showed that the Earth was hundreds of millions, or billions, of years old. Since then, geologists have made many tens of thousands of radiometric age determinations, and they have refined the earlier estimates." So by their own admissions, an error of billions of years in a space of 94 years is not too bad and quite accurate (smile).
However, Genesis gives us a clear picture of creation. The Bible does not tell us exactly the date of the Beginning (Genesis), but it clearly start with a 24-hour day and 7 day week. That is the pattern established right from the beginning until today. All the ages of people right from the beginning is addressed in the Bible as real days. The date of the earth can possibly be between 6000-10000 years, because of some gaps here and there in some of the genealogies and because not all people's ages follow each other exactly, but there is no indication in the Bible of an earth of millions or billions of years.
To accommodate scientific speculations some modern theologians has created the "Day Age Hypothesis" which means the days in Genesis 1 is not literal and can be 1000's of years because the Bible says a 1000 years is for God as one day. Although there is a verse like that in the Bible, it has nothing to do with the fact that a literal day may span over 1000's or millions. The Bible use this term to indicate that God is outside of time and secondly, to indicate an infinitely long time. For us, 1000 years are like an eternity. This term then indicates how far beyond us is God and that time is not an issue for him. Furthermore, on what basis can this thousand-year-term be applied to Genesis 1 when the Bible describes the days in Genesis 1 as spanning a normal day from morning to evening. One cannot willy-nilly apply this term whenever the word day is used.
How then do we know when Scripture means a 24 hour day? Scripture explains itself through context and cross-referencing. Right through the Old Testament, the word "yom" (Hebrew for a day) is used for a literal day unless it is otherwise defined by the context within which it is used. For example, "the day of judgement" refers to a time period in the future without any specific timeframe. But when I say to you, "there was evening and there was morning, the first day," how else do you want to understand that but as a normal day. It is a clearly marked off as a 24-hour day and does not refer to an undefined time period in the future. The words "evening" and "morning" is the language used for a 24-hour day. The word "yom," when used with numeric adjectives such as one, two, three, etc., always means a literal 24-hour day in non-prophetic biblical literature. Snoke (an old earth propagandist) actually conceded: “It is true that we can find no other passage in Scripture in which days are numbered and have a generic sense” (Snoke, David (2006), A Biblical Case for an Old Earth, p. 145). But he then explains that Genesis one might be the only instance in all of Scripture in which this is the case. Really? On what basis can he say this is the only exception? Does sound Biblical exegesis not apply to all Scripture?
When God finished His creation in six days it says He rested on the seventh day. The same rest day was instituted to man as a day to commemorate God's creation and to physically rest from six days of labour. God did not create the seventh-day for Him to rest because He does not need to rest, but for humanity to rest and worship Him. Later we know that the seventh day was instituted as the Sabbath day. If these days was not literal days, when was a 24-hour day created and when did God introduce the seven-day week cycle as we know it today. Therefore, looking at Genesis, we can see that the seven-day cycle as we know it today was created right from the beginning. The language the Bible uses in Genesis 1 describes a 24-hour, seven-day week as we know it today.
If scientists come to different conclusions, we as Christians must follow Scripture irrespective of what they say. By calling ourselves a Christian we mean that God is the Creator of the universe and that we submit and obey His Word above all. We stand under the Word and not equal or above the Word. The same apply to science.
For more information you may read the following articles:
1. The How, Why, and When of Creation.
2. The Fallacy of the "Framework Hypothesis."
3. Blog Series: Creation vs. Evolution
4. Popular Compromises of Creation - The Day-Age Theory
5. Syncretism and the Age of the Earth
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