The Earth’s Rotation and the First Two Days
One rotation of the Earth takes 23 hours 56 minutes and 3.45 seconds. By definition, it takes 24 hours for the Sun to reach high noon on successive days. The extra time, almost four minutes, is necessary because the Earth revolves around the Sun. The Earth takes 365 days plus about a fourth of a day to make one complete revolution. In one day the Earth progresses one part in 365.25 of a revolution around the Sun. Since each day the Earth is farther along in its orbit, the Earth must make slightly more than one turn to get the Sun high overhead again.
This four-minute difference prevents people from defining a day as one rotation of the Earth. At present a day requires a bit more than one rotation of the Earth. The relationship between the Earth and Sun determines the amount required. Twenty-four hours elapse between times when the Sun shines high overhead at noon. This definition can never apply to a time before the Sun was shining.
At present the rotation of the Earth and the Earth’s revolution about the Sun separate light from darkness. This cannot be the way God accomplished the separation of light and darkness on days one and two. In the beginning the Earth was formless and empty. The words “formless and empty” cannot mean that the Earth was a sort of muddy or fuzzy ball. The word “ball” is the name of a very regular form. A ball is more or less spherical, and it contains substance or matter. Matter produces gravity, a central force that makes things round. The force gives the form. When the Earth was empty it had very little gravity to form anything.
If the Earth had no form, could it be rotating? How can one determine if a formless body is rotating? How could the Earth revolve around a Sun that wasn’t there? The movement of a formless Earth near a Sun that didn’t shine could not separate light from darkness. Even if the Earth had been rotating on the first or second day, its rotation could not have produced an alternating cycle of light and darkness.
This four-minute difference prevents people from defining a day as one rotation of the Earth. At present a day requires a bit more than one rotation of the Earth. The relationship between the Earth and Sun determines the amount required. Twenty-four hours elapse between times when the Sun shines high overhead at noon. This definition can never apply to a time before the Sun was shining.
At present the rotation of the Earth and the Earth’s revolution about the Sun separate light from darkness. This cannot be the way God accomplished the separation of light and darkness on days one and two. In the beginning the Earth was formless and empty. The words “formless and empty” cannot mean that the Earth was a sort of muddy or fuzzy ball. The word “ball” is the name of a very regular form. A ball is more or less spherical, and it contains substance or matter. Matter produces gravity, a central force that makes things round. The force gives the form. When the Earth was empty it had very little gravity to form anything.
If the Earth had no form, could it be rotating? How can one determine if a formless body is rotating? How could the Earth revolve around a Sun that wasn’t there? The movement of a formless Earth near a Sun that didn’t shine could not separate light from darkness. Even if the Earth had been rotating on the first or second day, its rotation could not have produced an alternating cycle of light and darkness.