In Abraham 4:13, the corresponding passage reads, "And it came to pass that they numbered the days; from the evening until the morning they called night; and it came to pass, from the morning until the evening they called day; and it was the third time."
Here it is explicitly stated that the Gods numbered the days; evidently, they counted the days that had passed during the third creative period, and it was the third time that the numbering had been done. Again, the third creative period is left indefinite, as to time limits.
Gen. 1:19, reads, "And the evening and the morning were the fourth day."
Correspondingly, in Abraham 4:19, is found, "And it came to pass that it was from evening until morning that it was night; and it came to pass that it was from morning until evening that it was day; and it was the fourth time."
This quotation from Abraham, standing alone, would be somewhat ambiguous, for it might indicate that it was the fourth time that the periods between evening and morning, and morning and evening were called night and day. In the light of previous passages, however, the meaning of the passage becomes clear. Certainly there is nothing in the verse to confine the fourth creative period within certain time limits.
The fifth day in Genesis closes as does the fourth; and the fifth time in Abraham closes as does the fourth. The remarks made concerning the fourth creative period apply to the fifth.
Concerning the sixth creative period, Gen. 1:31, says, "And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day."
Of the same period Abraham says, "And the Gods said: We will do everything that we have said, and organize them; and behold, they shall be very obedient. And it came to pass that it was from morning until evening that they called night; and it came to pass that it was from evening until morning that they called day; and they numbered the sixth time."
As in the previous periods, the sixth ended by the Gods numbering the days of the creative period; the sixth period, like those preceding, being indeterminate as to time.
Repeated reading and study of the Abrahamic account, as revealed through Joseph Smith, make it certain beyond doubt that the intent is to convey the idea that the creative periods included much time, and that, at the end of each period, the measure of night and day, was applied to the period, in order that its length might be determined. Whether or not the different creative periods represented days to the mighty beings concerned in the creation, we do not know, and it matters little to the argument of this article.[A]