Jehovah Witness: Are now suggesting each of the days of creation were variable - more than 7,000 years.?

Ok, first off, understand that seeing as you mentioned Watchtower,that there are Contradictions in Watchtower Literature

The watchtower says it is God's only true organization: "Only this organization functions for Jehovah's purpose and to his praise. To it alone God's Sacred Word, the Bible, is not a sealed book," (Watchtower, July 1, 1973, p. 402). It claims to speak for God, yet it has produced numerous contradictory statements. Therefore, it is not God's organization.

http://carm.org/contradictions-in-watchtower-liter...

Also Note the Bad Translations of the Jehovah's Witness Bible, the New World Translation (NWT).

Gen. 1:1-2--"In [the] beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Now the earth proved to be formless and waste and there was darkness upon the surface of [the] watery deep; and God's active force was moving to and fro over the surface of the waters." (New World Translation, emphasis added).

The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society denies that the Holy Spirit is alive--the third person of the Trinity. Therefore, they have changed the correct translation of " . . . the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters," to say " . . . and God's active force was moving to and fro over the surface of the waters."

http://carm.org/religious-movements/jehovahs-witne...

As for the Question? Well does the definition of yom in Genesis 1 have bearing on the theological beliefs expressed in the rest of the Bible? In other words, does it matter?

It does. A literal 24-hour yom is the only scenario that is consistent with the commentary on the fall of man. Romans 5:12 says that Adam and Eve's sin heralded death; there was no death before their sin. There is no way to wiggle around this without rejecting the literal interpretation of Genesis 1. Plants and animals could not have existed for multiple ages before Adam and Eve without dying.

One of the primary verses used to support the Day-Age Theory is 2 Peter 3:8 which reads, in part, "with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." The passage has nothing to do with creation, however, and is not meant to define how God experiences time, since He is timeless. Instead, it is meant to encourage us while we wait for Jesus' return.

In the end, the Day-Age Theory is an attempt to interpret Genesis 1 with an old-earth creation worldview. It is unnecessary for the mechanics of creation, indefensible with science, and inconsistent with the Bible's teaching on original sin. There are many strong, faithful believers who hold to the Day-Age Theory, but it is not supported by a literal interpretation of the Scriptures.

The optimum word in your question is NOW.

You are using that word AS IF the information you have read is brand new for 2014.

This is not the case. We have understood for decades and have put IN PRINT for decades that we cannot lock ANY creative day into any amount if time.

There are things we do not know even about the 7th day - as in how much time there was between the creation of Adam and Eve. Because they were both created on the 6th DAY, and it was AFTER their creation that the 6th day ended and the 7th began. Did Jehovah start the 7th day on the day of or the day after the creation of Eve? Or did he wait for some weeks, or months? Or even years? WE DON'T know.

So we can surmise a good guess based on Bible chronology which lists the length of lives, but there are still unknowns.

Now for the former DAYS - one through six.

There are two things noticeable about these days. They present an order to creation. And each time period has a beginning and an end - an evening and a morning.

This definition of evening and morning was to help the reader to see that for WHATEVER length of time there was, it was started at a certain point and ended at a certain point.

Jehovah uses a process - counting time - to help us understand that which is REALLY impossible to understand. I personally cannot wrap my mind around BILLIONS of years. But if it were divided up into something that I could relate to - like days - then I can GLIMPSE how Jehovah's mind works and the processes he used.

We as humans know that each day has its own activities, and we have a finite amount of time to accomplish our activities. Using HUMAN language and terms is for OUR understanding.

But we do know the Bible has MANY definitions of days - even within the first two chapters of Genesis. Look at the word DAY in those chapters. It even describes the WHOLE CREATION PROCESS as ONE DAY!! - Genesis 2:4

How would they know? This we know, is that God created heaven and earth in six days and the seventh day He rested (Genesis 1) All of the other guestamations is false and unreliable. The Word of God is enough to convince and convict the souls of mankind. If it's not in the Holy Bible, then it's false/fraudulent.

We know that we are here, now, and that's all that matters. We are suppose to be spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That is our mandate from the Lord, not figure out what God did or didn't do and when, or how long! No one can reach souls like that.

I'm not a Jehovah's Witness but I have read their March 2014 Awake! article 'The Untold Story of Creation' (see the link below). I also found this Awake! January 2014 article “Creation”: “God created the universe, including the earth, in the indefinite past—“in the beginning,” as Genesis 1:1 says. Modern science agrees that the universe had a beginning. A recent scientific model suggests it to be almost 14 billion years old.”

“The Bible also describes six “days” of creation. However, it does not say that these were 24-hour days. (Genesis 1:31) In fact, the Bible uses the word “day” to refer to various lengths of time. For example, it calls the entire period of creation “the day that Jehovah God made earth and heaven.”

The article continues: “The false ideas of creationists could lead you to dismiss the Bible altogether. On the other hand, if the Bible actually contains a credible account of creation, you stand to benefit from its storehouse of “practical wisdom.”

With regard to evolution, the article says: “Did God use evolution to create life on earth? The Bible does not specify how much variation can occur within a kind, as might result when animals within a kind interbreed and adapt to their environment. While some view such adaptations as a form of evolution, no new kind of life is produced. Modern research supports the idea that the basic categories of plants and animals have changed little over vast periods of time”.

I understand that the length of the seventh day, God's day of rest, is still understood by them to be 7,000 years long and that Adam was created in 4026 BCE. "Eight years from the autumn of 1967 would bring us to the autumn of 1975, fully 6,000 years into God’s seventh day, his rest day… the great sign of the ‘last days’ has been in the course of fulfilment since the beginning of the ‘time of the end’ in 1914. Some of the generation that discerned the beginning of the time of the end in 1914 will still be alive on earth to witness the end of this present wicked system of things at the battle of Armageddon.” (Watchtower 1 May 1968, pp 271-272)

Clearly, the length of the seventh "day" being 7,000 years long is critical to their expectations about the future.

P.S. Just to explain the difference between YOUNG Earth Creationists (YEC's) and OLD Earth Creationists (OEC's). Old Earth Creationism is an umbrella term used to describe biblical creationists who deny that the universe was created within the last 6,000 to 10,000 years over the course of six consecutive 24-hour days. Old Earth Creationists differ with Young Earth Creationists on the following:

1) The age of the universe. Young Earth Creationists believe that God created the universe 6,000-10,000 years ago. Old Earth Creationists place the creation event at approximately 13.7 billion years ago, thus being more in line with “mainstream” science, at least on this point.

2) The time of the creation of Adam and Eve. Young Earth Creationists place the creation of Adam no later than 10,000 years ago. Old Earth Creationists are varied on this point with estimates ranging somewhere between 30,000-70,000 thousand years ago.

According to that Awake article (see link below) that means Jehovah's Witnesses are OLD Earth Creationists because they think the universe and the Earth are billions of years old. However, they also say Adam was created less than 10,000 years ago, so that puts them in the YOUNG Earth Creationist camp! At least Jehovahs' Witnesses are Creationists, which is good.

Genesis

1:1–2:3 This description of God creating heaven and earth is understood to be:

1) recent, i.e., thousands not millions of years ago;

2) ex nihilo, i.e., out of nothing; and

3) special, i.e., in 6 consecutive 24 hour periods called “days” and further distinguished as such by this phrase, “the evening and the morning.”

Scripture does not support a creation date earlier than about 10,000 years ago.

In the beginning. While God exists eternally (Ps 90:2), this marked the beginning of the universe in time and space. In explaining Israel’s identity and purpose to her on the plains of Moab, God wanted His people to know about the origin of the world in which they found themselves.

God. Elohim is a general term for deity and a name for the True God, though used also at times for pagan gods (31:30), angels (Ps 8:5), men (Ps 82:6), and judges (Ex 21:6). Moses made no attempt to defend the existence of God, which is assumed, or explain what He was like in person and works which is treated elsewhere (cf. Is 43:10, 13). Both are to be believed by faith (cf. Heb 11:3, 6).

created. This word is used here of God’s creative activity alone, although it occasionally is used elsewhere of matter which already existed (Is 65:18). Context demands in no uncertain terms that this was a creation without preexisting material (as does other Scripture: cf. Is 40:28; 45:8, 12, 18; 48:13; Jer 10:16; Ac 17:24). the heavens and the earth. All of God’s creation is incorporated into this summary statement which includes all 6, consecutive days of creation. (MacArthur Study Bible, www.gty.org)

MIMI

Jehovah's Witnesses have always suggested that the the created "days" TOTALED {quote} "thousands of years" : one article refers to 7000 each and the others "thousands" (just two ways of saying the same thing).

EDIT My apologies. The quotes are not revising or "changing" anything; In English if you say "thousands" it can be another way of saying anything more than one thousand. The 1970 article suggests "seven thousand" while the 2014 says "thousands" or "long periods " the latter is simply not being as specific.

Hope that helps clarify where you misunderstood. You can change the language at jw.org to your native language so you understand better (see link below)

EDIT II Jehovah's Witnesses have NEVER been YEC (Young Earth Creationist) We have always held that he creation of the heavens and earth preceeded the first creative "day" and that the earth could therefore be billions of years old. This is nothing new.

You seem somewhat confused as to what we believe, I would strongly encourage you to visit our website and read articles on the subject rather than snippets that will leave you with an inaccurate impression of our present (and past) beliefs.

SUNSHINE

LEARN MORE @ http://www.jw.org/

News Flash ~ The JW's are not the first to say this. In fact many orthodox Christians believe this as well ~ myself included. In fact there may even be millions of years between Creation days.

In order to honor The Bible as well as Scientific discoveries, it only makes sense that there would be eon long gaps between the days of Creation. In fact the Creation account in Genesis tells us what we see in the fossil record ~ the introduction of higher and higher life forms, and sudden leaps forward in the evolutionary process.

Never mind the JW's. They don't come up with anything original. They redefine the things they steal from everyone else in order to make it appear that they alone are right, and everyone else is wrong.

Respectfully, there is nothing new here. The publications have always said that there is no way of knowing exactly how long each creative "day" was, because the Bible itself never does. I don't have access to that article, but I'd say that there is further clarification in the context, as always.

Have a great day and thanks for your question.

Genesis disproves Young Earth Creationism.

Time is variable depending on what they want to prove. Days can be days, weeks, months, a year, years, thousands of years. Inches have even been years. Whatever it takes to 'prove' what they are saying.