Home        Creation of Man
Eighth Day Man
According to the Genesis creation week, man was created on the sixth day of creation. Is it possible that the man Adam was actually created on a different day? A study of Scripture gives another creation day.
 
In Genesis 1, we read the creation of water and flying creatures on the fifth creation day.
    Genesis 1 20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. 21 And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. 22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. 23 And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.
Then God creates the land creatures...
    24 AndGod said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.
And man on the sixth day of creation.
    26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morningwere the sixth day.
Later in Genesis 2, we read that God proclaims the seventh day as a Sabbath.
    Genesis 2 1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. 3 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made. 4 These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, 5 And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.6 But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.
After the Sabbath, God forms a man (Adam) and then forms the field animals and flying creatures from the ground.
    7 And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. 8 And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. 15 And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. 19 And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them untoAdam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.
After forming the man Adam and the field animals and flying creatures, God builds a woman (Eve) from man's rib.
    21 And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; 22 And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. 23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
 
Notice the differences between the two acts of creation:
 
On the fifth creation day, God creates water creatures and flying creatures from the waters (Gen. 1:20). On the sixth creation day, God creates land animals (Gen. 1:24) and then mankind both male and female, in His image (Gen. 1:26-27).
 
After the Sabbath, on the eighth day God forms the man Adam from the dust of the ground (Gen. 2:7) and then forms the field and flying creatures from the ground (Gen. 2:19) and afterwards builds a woman whom Adam names Eve (Gen. 2:21-23).
 
These creation stories show two different creations with obvious differences.
 
Whereas the sixth day man and woman were created (Hebrew bara: create) (Strong 1254) in God's image, the eighth day man Adam was formed (Hebrew yatsar: form, shape, mold for a purpose) (Strong 3335) from the dust. The eighth day animals were also formed, while the fifth and sixth day creatures were created.
 
Another difference is the fifth day flying creatures were created from the waters whereas the eighth day flying creatures were formed from the ground.
 
The order of creation is also different in each story.

God creates water and flying creatures on the fifth day and then land animals and man as male and female on the sixth. On the eighth day, God forms man, then forms field animals and flying creatures and then builds (Hebrew banah: to build) (Strong 1129) a woman.

 
Fifth and sixth creation days in order are:
water and flying creatures, land creatures, man as both male and female
 
The eighth creation day in order is:
the man Adam, field and flying creatures, woman.
 
Notice how both creation accounts show a different order.
 
 
One clue as to discovering what God's plan was for the two different creation accounts and the separate eighth day creation is that God says, after creating man on the sixth day, "there was not a man to till the ground" (Gen. 2:5). If God had previously created man on day six, then why was there no man to till the ground on day eight? Evidently sixth day man was not created for land tilling.
 
Another clue as to God's creation day plans is that while the sixth day man was placed on the earth (and it does not say where), the eighth day man Adam was placed in a direct spot on the earth, in the garden (Gen. 2:8). God tells Adam he was placed in the garden "to dress it and to keep it" (Gen. 2:15).
 
In dressing and keeping the garden ("dress" from Hebrew abad: to till) (Strong 5647) ("keep" from Hebrew shamar: to guard, lead so as to protect) (Strong 8104), Adam was to till it and keeping it, meaning he was to protect and care for it. Basically, Adam was designed to be a farmer.
 
Notice how, unlike the fifth and sixth day creation animals, the eighth day creation animals were placed in the garden in Adam's field (Gen. 2:19). These eighth day creation animals were formed for the purpose of being domesticated. They were the animals Adam would look after in his garden.
 
 
So why was Adam formed rather than simply created like sixth day man? First, Adam was formed for the purpose of glorifying the image of God. Scripture says that Adam's wife Eve was taken directly from him (from his rib) and because of it was one with him. Adam and Eve's oneness is in the image of the Triune God who are three Persons in one God. The sixth day man as male and female is designed in the image of God as well, but through Adam God shows exactly how the man and woman are one man. Through Adam the oneness of the Trinity is directly defined.
 
The second reason Adam was formed was that through Adam (the protector of the garden) would come the giving of the law. The third reason Adam was formed was that through Adam's lineage was to come the Messiah or anointed One who would dwell with man on earth (as decided by God from the foundation of the world) (Eph. 1:4, Rev. 13:8).
 
From the lineage of Adam, the rest of mankind would be blessed by the Messiah via his descendant Abraham (Gen. 12:3). And through Adam was the giving of the law via his descendant Moses (Ex. 31:18).
 
But Adam also brought sin into the garden which is why the Messiah who would come through Adam's descendant Abraham was to give his life as a ransom, to remove the sins Adam let enter the garden. (1 Tim. 2:5-6). Christ as the last Adam would rectify the damage caused by the first Adam (1 Cor. 15:5-7).
 
 
The eighth day creation of Adam exemplifies Jesus. Through Adam, God was telling the world what Christ would do. And through Adam's descendant Moses God would tell the world exactly how Adam would exemplify Christ. Christ would fulfill the holy days of the Lord given from God to Moses (found in Leviticus) ( Lev. 23) (Col. 2:16-17).
 
As Adam was formed on the eighth day of creation, Christ was resurrected on the eighth day Sunday which fulfilled the day of firstfruits. Before fulfilling this day, Christ would become the passover lamb of  Leviticus who would remove the sins Adam let enter the world (Rom. 5:12-14).
 
God the Son as Jesus born on the first of Tishri (beginning of the Jewish New Year) fulfilled the day of trumpets of Leviticus 23. Because of this, it is likely that Adam was formed on the first day of Tishri thus beginning the calendar of man after creation.
 
 
As Adam exemplifies the Messiah, so also Eve exemplifies the Church. For as Eve was the bride of Adam so also is the church the bride of the Messiah (Eph. 5:25).
 
If Adam was created on the eighth day, the day the Messiah was resurrected, then Eve was created forty nine days after Adam or fifty days counting the day of Adam's creation. Why" Because fifty days after Christ's resurrection the church began on the day known as as Pentecost. The Pentecost fulfilled the harvest day of  Leviticus 23.
 
It is possible that during this time, between the Jewish month Tishri 1 and the time Eve was designed that God created the domestic creatures who were then named by Adam.
 
 
Note also that as the church was taken from Christ at His rest during death, the woman was created from Adam at his rest during sleep. And as Eve came from Adam during this sleep, so also the church came from Christ after His death.When Adam awoke, His bride Eve was given to Him. When Christ was resurrected, His bride the church was given to Him (Gen. 2:20-24, Matt. 27:50, Matt. 28).
 
 
Now, if Adam was created on the day following the first Sabbath after creation, then who was the man that was created on the sixth day? (Gen. 1:26-27). It would only make sense that this would have been the creation of every race male and female.
 
 
It has been believed that the two creation accounts were one in the same despite discrepancies of both stories. This belief uses the words of Jesus' apostle Peter as proof of this claim.
    1 Peter 3:20 20 Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.
In this verse, Peter was referring to those of the lineage of Adam who were "eight souls." These souls were Noah and his three sons and their wives. Does it say that these souls were of adamic lineage? Yes, because Noah and his family were of the lineage of Adam and therefore adamic lineage.
 
Because God found only Noah righteous, he and his family were "saved by water." Notice it does not say the eight were saved "from the water" instead. These eight souls were of the adamic lineage whose lineage was still pure and untainted from the pre-flood corruption.
 
Referencing this verse with other Scripture near it and with other texts will help to understand it better. (All Scripture should be referenced this way. Pulling out a verse by itself without further study may not give the meaning God intended for it to have.) (2 Timothy 3:16)
 
In Genesis is the account of the flood and of man's corruption and Noah's righteousness.

Genesis 6 9 These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God. 10 And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.

("perfect" from Hebrew tamiym: without blemish) (Strong 8549) ("generations" from Hebrew dore: generation) (Strong 1755)

Noah's lineage or "generations" ("these are the generations of Noah") (v.9) was not corrupted by sin as was the rest of mankind on earth at the time of Noah, which means Noah's lineage was still perfect ("without blemish").

What does it mean when it says Noah's lineage had not been corrupted? It means his lineage was still pure and untainted from sin. How is it the lineage of the rest of mankind became tainted? They had intermingled with the fallen Sons of God (fallen angels) who intermarried with mankind "they took them wives of all which they chose" (Gen. 6:1-2).

The fallen angels sought to taint the lineage of mankind so that the promised Messiah could not be born through mankind (Gen. 3:15). None of the generations from Adam to Noah had intermarried with the fallen angels. So, Noah's lineage was still pure. Noah's lineage as found perfect by God was saved from the old world that had been corrupted. His lineage was saved by the waters of the flood and brought in to the new world which existed after the flood.

The world that existed before the flood was so tainted that Noah's lineage risked eventual contamination.

Genesis 6 12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.

Genesis 7 1 And the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.

Noah and his family, having been saved by the waters, was an archetype of baptism where the old self is washed away and the new person in Christ now exists. It is not about the putting away of the filth but instead about having a good conscience toward God by the resurrection of Christ. Peter explains the metaphor in the verse that follows.

1 Peter 2 21 The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

God saved the adamic lineage from corruption by delivering the eight souls from the previously tainted world.

 
But God also told Noah to bring into the Ark "every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark" (Gen. 6:19). ("thing" from Hebrew chay: creatures, everything that lives) (Strong 2416) ("flesh" from Hebrew basar: body, person, flesh) (Strong 1320). This "flesh" included man and animals. God saved one of every kind of creation both man and animal from the flood so that no life would be totally destroyed.
 
After the flood, sixth and eighth day man continued to exist.
 
All sixth and eighth day man since the beginning of creation who sought after God's righteousness through the future Messiah will continue to exist with God through God's plan of salvation as also will those of every race, creed, and color who accept Jesus as their Messiah since His appearance.  The second Adam Jesus is a blessing to all sixth and eighth day man (Gen. 12:3; Col. 1:20).
 
 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Works Cited

Strong, James. Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. Hendrickson Publishers, Incorporated, 2009.