Some Questions for the Theistic Evolutionist #3

For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him

Colossians 1:16

One would be hard pressed to find a theistic evolutionist (TE) who did not believe in the Ten Commandments. Yet, though the original copy would be found in the first manuscript written by Moses after God Almighty had inscribed the Decalogue on two tablets of stone, few TEs recognize, or at least admit that they recognize, the fact that God reiterates the truth of His six day creation right in the midst of establishing those ten, eternally significant, laws. The question is this; “If you believe in the truth of all Ten Commandments, how can you doubt a six day creation?”

The 4^th commandment reads as follows:  "Remember the Sabbath day (yom) by keeping it holy. Six days (yoms) you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day (yom) is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates.  For in six days (yoms) the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day (yom). Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” (Exodus 20:8-11; “yom” inserts mine)

Here the context clearly determines the interpretation. No one would contend about the length of the Sabbath day; it is 24 hours long. The Jews knew very well how long they were to abstain from any sort of work. Likewise, the length of the six day work week is not in question; 144 hrs divided up in 6 solar days. Having established the pattern (context) in which He uses the Hebrew word yom, which can mean either a 24 hour day or an indefinite period of time, it is patently obvious that God (Yahweh) was sending a message that He meant the former, not the latter, when saying how long He took to create the universe (I.e. “the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them”)

Using the TE interpretation the text would have to read: "Remember the 24 hour Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six 24 hour days you shall labor and do all your work,  but the seventh 24 hour day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates.  For in six INDEFINITE PERIODS OF TIME the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh 24 hour day Therefore the LORD blessed the 24 hour Sabbath day and made it holy.”

Syntax is used by English composition professors to grade essays. On that score the TE might well deserve a D minus for the above reinterpretation of Exodus 20:8-11.