I agree that the meaning of day in 2:4 is different than the use of the
word in 1:1-2:3. Taken in context, 2:4 is obviously used figuratively.
Just because the figurative meaning of the word is used in 2:4, that does
not mean that every other use of that word, if even in the same sentence,
must mean exactly the same thing. For instance: 'The other day, I felt as
if I was living in the day of my fathers.'
I understand that a literal translation of the Hebrew of the KJV phrase
"And the evening and the morning were the first day" would read "evening
was, morning was, day one." That seems to clearly indicate one rotation of
the planet.
Then we must also take into consideration the context of the rest of the
Bible. In Exodus 20:11 it says, "For in six days the Lord made heaven and
earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day." If
the seventh "day" represents all the time since the end of the "6th day" of
many thousands of years, then the Jews have been foolishly keeping the
Sabbath every seven literal days. And who cares if Sunday is comming. If
we are going to be consistant we must be consistant. We must never ever
work for it is the Sabbath until the coming of the Lord.
Or, we can be consistant and accept the week as 7 literal rotations of the
planet both then and now.
The professor took 2 Peter 3:8 out of context. This text stresses the
timelessness of God. The Creator can do in a day the work of a thousand
years, and a thousand years may be considered by Him as only one day. It
does not define the length of a day of Creation.
Allen