How old is the Earth? The Universe? If you ask a scientist they will tell you the earth is just a little over 4.5 billion years old. On the other hand, if you ask a Bible Maximalist they will tell you the earth is between 6,000 and 8,000 years old. Those are very different numbers and, on the surface, there would seem to be no reconciling the vast differences. Scientist claim to have scientist evidence based on observation and laboratory analysis and they feel their numbers are accurate. Those who profess a younger earth are basing this on the writings of the Bible, holy scripture which the faithful believe is unerring. With this said, there are groups of scientists attempting to prove there is scientific proof the earth is far younger than the 4.5 billion years, but these claims are certainly not widely supported in the scientific community. So, is there a way to reconcile the correct age which allows for the scientific data, as it stands today, to be correct, yet does not ignore the scriptures? Perhaps.
In this text we will examine very little of the
scientific data regarding the age of the earth. Instead, we will look at the
scriptures in and attempt to see if they tell us more about the creation than
many see upon a casual reading. The creation of the earth, and in fact all
things, is covered in just a few short pages in the book of Genesis. With so
little scripture to work with, we must scrutinize each passage in order to
understand what the author was attempting to tell us.
Even among the faithful there is constant debate
regarding the story of creation. Some choose to ignore that portion of
scripture entirely. Others insist certain elements of the scriptures are either
inaccurate or being interpreted incorrectly. Still others insist on a literal
interpretation of the Bible and reject anything that changes the scripture or
says the scriptures are in any way inaccurate.
One of the primary areas of debate are the six days of
creation. The question has long been asked, were these six normal
twenty-four-hour days? Some so no, while others firmly believe you must take
the Bible as it is written and these are standard days as we know them.
I personally believe the days mentioned in the Bible
could be something other than the standard twenty-four-hour day, but there is
no way to reconcile just how long a day would be. Since the days could be of
any length, if you attempt to alter scripture, we are left to guess at their
length. For this reason, I suggest we leave them at twenty-four-hour days. This
may not be completely accurate, but the way the Bible is written it tends to
indicate it was six standard days, so we will accept scripture as it is
written.
This is an important distinction. We will accept
scripture as it is written. We have decided the six days of creation were
twenty-four hours each, but what does the Bible tell us about the time before
the first day?
Author’s Note;
Are the days mentioned in Genesis
standard twenty-four-hour days? This in fact may not be the case, but hear me
out. Since the sun was not created until day four, there could not have been an
evening and a morning as we traditionally know them until day four. So, was the
phrase “And there was evening, and there was morning,” referring to something
other than the sun rising and setting. Does this relate to some context or
element that has been lost over time? It would seem this is likely the case on
at least the first three days since there was no sun.
If
the phrase in question does refer to something else, then the days could be
almost any length. From a few minutes to billions of years, we simply have no
way of knowing.
There
is some who believe the light mentioned before the Sun was placed in the sky is
the light of Jesus. In the New Testament Jesus calls Himself the Light of the
World. With Jesus there, the Sun was not required. My only issue with this
train of thought is that the light of Jesus should not dim, or have an evening.
The other possibility is that these three days of creation when Jesus was the
literal Light of the World is a reference to the three days Jesus would later
spend in darkness, in the tomb. As you can see, there are many ways to read the
Holy Scriptures.
Section
I
In
the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
In the Book of Genesis each day of creation is
separated by the term “And God said”
to help distinguish the activities of one day from the next. At the end of each
day the section is ended with the term “And
there was evening, and there was morning” to let us know that day has
ended. Each period of time has a very clear starting point and ending point.
In case you are curious why the phrase begins with “And there was evening” it is because in
the Jewish culture the new day begins at Sundown. When the sun sets on Monday
evening it becomes Tuesday which will continue through the next morning until
the next evening. Evening is mentioned first because that signified the start
of a new day to the Jewish people.
These starting and ending points allow us to see
exactly what happened on each of the six days of creation. This is very helpful
in determining exactly when things took place, but it also offers us a possible
glimpse into something else.
The very first paragraph of the Bible reads,
In
the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless
and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was
hovering over the waters. - Genesis 1:1-2
Verse three, immediately following this statement,
begins with “And God said” which
depicts a break in time, just as it does for each day of the creation. So, we
now have an action, taken by God, prior to Day one of creation. Interestingly,
this period of time does not end with “And
there was evening, and there was morning,” as does each of the six days of
creation. So, if we take scripture as
it is written, this is a separate action before day one and there is no
indication given for how long this period of time was. How long did God wait
between creating the Heavens and the Earth before He began the remaining
elements of creation? It could have been a single moment, or it could have been
billions of years, we simply do not know. One must remember, God is eternal,
and therefore exists outside of time. In multiple places scripture tells us God
does not see or experience time as we do.
It is interesting that the description of the early
earth as depicted in the Bible somewhat matches the picture science paints of
the early days of the earth. The earth was empty and formless, no life of any
kind, but there were waters, the deep. No continents had yet emerged from the
sea, no mountain ranges, just a vast emptiness.
‘formless
and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was
hovering over the waters.’
One way to see this is to think of God as the artist.
In this period of time He is gathering His supplies, the canvas, easel, paints
and brushes. Once all of the supplies were ready He began to paint the picture
with individual strokes of His brush. He created each individual element of the
world, one day at a time.
During this period of time how did God choose to go
about the creation of the Heavens and the earth. Did He do something scientists
would later call the Big Bang? Or something else entirely? We simply do not
know. What scripture does tell us is that there was an element of the creation
process which took place before the six days recorded in Genesis. This is no
way makes the scriptures inaccurate, it simply offers another perspective on
their meaning.
This first line of scripture offers us a unique insight
into the very foundation of the Universe.
Section
II
Six
Days of Creation
With the foundation of the heavens and the earth in
place, at some point God began His work on the details of His creation. Over
the course of six days God both refined and polished His creation as well as
adding a wide assortment of life forms. These included plants, animals, and
finally humans.
Quick Re-cap of the creation time table;
Ø Day
1 – Light and Dark
Ø Day
2 – Sky
Ø Day
3 – Dry land, sea, plants and trees
Ø Day
4 – Sun, moon, and stars
Ø Day
5 – Water and sky animals
Ø Day
6 – Land animals – humans
Ø Day
7 – God Rested
Creation according to Holy Scripture;
- Day 1: God created light in the
darkness
And
God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was
good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,”
and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was
morning—the first day. - Genesis 1:3-5
- Day 2: God created the sky
And
God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from
water.” So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the
water above it. And it was so. God called the vault “sky.” And there was
evening, and there was morning—the second day. - Genesis 1:6-8
- Day 3: God created dry land,
seas, plants, and trees
And
God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry
ground appear.” And it was so. God called the dry ground “land,” and the
gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.
Then
God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on
the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.”
And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to
their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds.
And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was
morning—the third day. - Genesis 1:9-13
- Day 4: God created the sun,
moon, and stars
And
God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from
the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and
years, and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the
earth.” And it was so. God made two great lights—the greater light to govern
the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. God
set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day
and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was
good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day. - Genesis
1:14-19
- Day 5: God created water and
sky animals
And
God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above
the earth across the vault of the sky.” So God created the great creatures of
the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about
in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind.
And God saw that it was good. God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and
increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase
on the earth.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth
day. - Genesis 1:20-23
- Day 6: God created land animals
and humans
And
God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the
livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each
according to its kind.” And it was so. God made the wild animals according to
their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that
move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. Then
God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may
rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and
all the wild animals,[a] and over all the
creatures that move along the ground.” So God created mankind in his own
image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill
the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky
and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” Then God said, “I
give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree
that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the
beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that
move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every
green plant for food.” And it was so. God saw all that he had made, and it was
very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day. -
Genesis 1:24-31
Even though we are going with a traditional
twenty-four-hour day I find it strange that science tells us that life first
formed in the sea, then on the land. This is exactly what the Bible tells us
with water animals being created on Day five and land animals coming on Day
six. While science tells us it was far more than twenty-four hours between the
formation of life in the earths oceans and life forming on land, at least the
sequence matches.
If you go with an alternate theory where the six days
of creation do not represent twenty-four-hour days, this becomes much more
significant.
At this point we have the heavens and the earth
existing for an unspecified amount of time, perhaps moments, perhaps billions
of years. We then have God adding to His creation over a six-day period which
included the introduction of humans. It is at this point the time-line for
events becomes very murky.
Following creation week, Genesis moves directly into
Chapter Three which opens with the story of the serpent (Satan/Devil) tempting
Eve with the forbidden fruit. There are several questions which should be asked
at this point. First, how long did Adam and Eve live in the Garden before being
Tempted, and secondly, did they have a family during this period? Hard
questions, but scripture does provide some very telling clues as to what took
place.
Note: Depending on the
version of the Bible you are using, there are approximately 728,000 words in
the Bible. Genesis Chapter 1 and 2 which covers the actual creation of all
things, is approximately 1400 words in length. This means that less than 0.2%
of the Bible covers the creation of the entire Universe and all life here on
earth. With it being this brief is it possible God was telling us not to spend
to much time worry about the creation and focus more on what the other 99.8
percent of the Bible covers?
Section III
Life
in the Garden
We have established that the second chapter of Genesis
is a recap of Chapter One. We see in Chapter 1 verse 27 that God created both
male and female, but we do not get the details of the creation of Eve until
Chapter 2 verse 22. This verse opens up the possibility of a period of time not
directly recorded in scripture.
Some would point out that God put Adam into the garden
and after a time he became lonely, unable to find a suitable mate. It was then
God made Eve out of Adam’s rib. It is suggested that there was a prolonged
period of time where Adam lived alone with the animals prior to the creation of
Eve. While it is recorded that God created male and female on day six, it does
not specifically say He created Eve at that time.
While this is an interesting possibility, many feel
that since the Bible tells us God created both male and female on Day six,
there can be no extended time period when Adam was alone in the garden. The
fact is, we simply do not know for certain. The creation of Eve is not
mentioned during the six days of creation. Could Adam have lived alone in the
Garden for a period of time? If so, how long was he alone, a few days, years,
thousands of years? We simply have no way of knowing the answers to these
questions, but they do present some very interesting possibilities.
The next important question is how long were Adam and
Eve in the Garden of Eden? Also, did they have children prior to the birth of
Cain? I will address the second question first. Did Adam and Eve have children
prior to Cain? The birth of Cain is recorded in Genesis Chapter four and is the
first scripture tells us of a child being born. This is after the fall of man
which is recorded in Chapter three. This is important because it offers us
valuable information on the possibility of children before Cain and Able. Did
Adam and Eve have children prior to the temptation of Eve. Could the scriptures
have simply left this information out, assuming it would be understood Adam and
Eve had obeyed God?
The first important thing to note is that immediately
upon their creation, God instructed Adam and Eve to;
“Be
fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.”
If they had not done this, it would have been
disobedience to God which would have been a sin. We know they did not sin prior
to being tempted by the serpent so we must assume they followed God’s command
to have children and fill the earth.
A second very telling piece of scripture also confirms
Eve had children before giving birth to Cain. When Adam and Eve are cast out of
the Garden for eating the apple, God lists a number of hardships they will be
forced to endure as a result of their sin. He tells Adam he will have to work
the land to get food. This is apparently in contrast to how things were in the
garden where food was apparently plentiful without the need for hard labor.
To
Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree
about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; Genesis 3:17-19 |
God also
addressed the serpent, telling him his offspring would crawl in the dust.
14
So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this,
“Cursed are you above all livestock
and all wild animals!
You will crawl on your belly
and you will eat dust
all the days of your life.
15 And I will put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your offspring[a] and hers;
he will crush your head,
and you will strike his heel.”
Genesis 3:14-15
God also had a punishment for Eve for her part in the
temptation. God tells her,
“I
will increase your trouble in pregnancy and your pain in giving birth. In spite
of this, you will still have desire for your husband, yet you will be subject
to him.”
I firmly believe God can do anything, but why would God
tell Eve he was going to increase the pains of childbirth if she had never
given birth? How can you increase something that has yet to happen? This is
scripture telling us that Adam and Eve had followed God’s command to be
fruitful and Eve had in fact given birth to children prior to the birth of
Cain.
The Bible mentions Cain and Able specifically because
they had a very important role in the biblical story. Later in Genesis chapter
5 the scripture barely mentions other children of Adam and Eve.
“After
Seth was born, Adam lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters.”
In this brief sentence we learn Adam and Eve had other
children after Seth, but scripture does not tell us how many, and certainly
does not list their names. It would seem only specific people were singled out
to be mentioned by name. It seems very clear to me that scripture is telling us
Adam and Eve obeyed God and had children. Apparently during this time Eve did
not experience the pains of labor that she and others would experience after
the fall. How many children were born and how they inter-married and had
children of their own is not mentioned in the Bible. The number of children and
eventual offspring Adam and Eve would have would depend entirely on how long
they were in the Garden of Eden. Of course, there are other elements involved.
How often did Eve get pregnant? Did she have multiple births such as twins, or
triplets?
Note:
Some take note and are upset at the mention of siblings marring and having
children. In our society this is taboo, but in the times of Adam and Eve it
would have been a necessity. If you start with only one man and one woman, and
develop into a world with billions of people, at some point in the beginning
siblings had to marry and have children. As things progressed there would be
more distant relations created, such as cousins, second cousins and so on.
The Bible tells us that Adam lived 930 years, and then
he died.
Adam
lived for nine hundred and thirty years, and then he died. _ Genesis 5:5
The question which remains is, when did the clock begin
on the 930 years? Some say it began at Adam’s creation. I believe it began when
he and Eve, along with all their children, were kicked out of the Garden of
Eden.
There is a debate among Christians and Bible Scholars
if Adam and Eve were immortal before the temptation. There was no sin, and we
are told sickness and death were the result of sin, so they should have been
immortal. Others say they were not immortal, but they had access to the Tree of
Life which gave them immortality as long as they ate from it. It was this tree
which God specifically blocked people from approaching after they were expelled
from the garden.
After
he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim
and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of
life. - Genesis 3:24
No longer having access to the Tree of Life, Adam
became completely mortal and died 930 years later. This may seem an odd way to
record Adam’s lifespan, but I believe it is consistent with scripture. In order
to prove this, we would need another figure in the Bible who stepped out of eternity,
or immortality, and became fully mortal. The only other person who qualifies, is
Jesus.
For the sake of this discussion let us ask what on the
surface appears to be a very simple question. How old was Jesus when He was
crucified? If you Google it, you will find the most common answer is somewhere
between the age of 30 and 40 with most saying He was either 33 or 34 years old.
Of course, Google is not Holy Scripture, so what does the Bible tell us?
It Luke 3:23 we are told that Jesus was approximately
thirty years of age when he began his ministry.
“Jesus
was about 30 years old when he began his ministry,” Luke 2:23
Now, there is some debate among Bible scholars as to if
Jesus’ ministry lasted three years or four years. This accounts for the answers
on Google of 33 or 34 years of age. Most Bible scholars believe Paul (Saul) was
converted between 33 and 36 A.D. so Jesus had to die before that time. Taking
everything into account, it would appear Jesus was in His early thirties when
he was crucified.
So, if the Bible tells us that Jesus was about thirty
years old when He began His ministry, does that mean Jesus did not exists
before His birth? That is contrary to everything I have ever been taught. Most
Christians believe Jesus was present at the creation and it is Jesus God was
referring to when He said let Us make them in Our image.
To my
understanding, almost no one believes Jesus did not exist prior to His birth in
Bethlehem. After all, He said He must return to the father. If Jesus had not
existed before His human birth, how could He have ever been with God in heaven?
It seems very obvious, at least to me, that when they
say Jesus was about 30 years old, they are speaking only of his mortal
existence. Since there is no calendar in eternity, there is no way or reason to
include the time Jesus spent as an immortal being. In many ways, this situation
mirrors the position Adam and Eve were in when they were expelled from the
Garden. The time spent as immortal beings was not included in his lifespan
because he did not age. It had no bearing at all, until he was banned from the
Tree of Life. At that point, the clock began for Adam.
If this is correct, and it is consistent with other
scripture, then Adam and Eve lived for a period of time prior to the Serpent
tempting Eve. How long this was is unknown. How long do you think you might
live in paradise, with all of your needs being met, with no sickness, no
hardships, no death? There was nothing you needed, you did not have to work for
your meals, and moreover, you were in the presence of the Almighty.
“And
they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool
[afternoon breeze] of the day, so the man and his wife hid and kept themselves
hidden…” Genesis 3:8-10
How long do you think you could live in paradise before
the devil could tempt you to give it all up? To turn against God and lose
everything? A few days, a few years, a few centuries, perhaps thousands of
years? The number is unknown, but it seems likely it would have taken a
considerable time for them to become so bored with Paradise and living in the
presence of God that they would risk throwing it all away on the promise of the
serpent.
I believe there was clearly a period of time before the
temptation that Adam and Eve, along with their children flourished in the
Garden. This seems to be proven by multiple passages of scripture.
If there were no other children before Cain and Abel,
and no period of time before the temptation, then who was Cain afraid would
kill him when he was told to leave after he murdered his brother? At the time,
if there had been no other children, there was only Adam and Eve. If there were
only the three of them, why did God put a mark on Cain so no one would kill
him, who did he fear?
‘Today
you are driving me from the land and I will be hidden from your presence; I
will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.”
But
the Lord said to him, “Not so; if anyone kills Cain, he will suffer vengeance
seven time over.” Then the Lord put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him
would kill him.” Genesis 4:14-15
Who was going to find him? It seems obvious there were
other people in the world. This was because Adam and Eve had followed the
command of God and had been fruitful and filled the earth.
There is another scripture that has long troubled many
Bible readers. If Cain and Able were indeed the first children born, where did
Cain’s wife come from?
“So
Cain went out from the Lord’s presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of
Eden.
Cain
lay with his wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch.” Genesis 4: 16-17
If Adam and Eve did live in the Garden for an extended
period prior to the temptation, then the problem of where did Cain’s wife come
from is easily resolved. Without this extra period of time her existence
presents a number of problems. Some have even suggested God created other
humans, another tribe, not mentioned in the Bible. These claims are made to
help resolve issues such as who wanted to kill Cain? And where did Cain’s wife
come from? It also allows people to completely bypass the problem of siblings
marrying and having children. While this makes things more convenient, there is
absolutely no scripture to coincide with this train of thought.
Section IV
Living
in time.
Now the serpent was more crafty than any
of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God
really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
The
woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but
God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the
garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”
“You will not certainly
die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it
your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
From the point
when Eve ate from the fruit, and Adam followed, the days of men were numbered.
At this point all men were mortal and their days limited. Adam lived another
930 years after the temptation. Tradition tells that Eve passed away first but
the last mention of Eve in the Bible is at the birth of Seth. Jewish tradition
holds that both Adam and Eve are buried in the Cave of the Patriarchs, also
known as the Cave of Machpelah, which is located in Hebron Israel.
In the first five
chapters of Genesis mankind enjoyed very long lifetimes. A prime example is the
afore mentioned lifespan of Adam at 930 years. In chapter six however, God
makes a change. In Chapter 6 Verse 3 God seems to limit the lifespan of mankind
to 120 years.
"My Spirit will
not contend with humans forever, for they are mortal; their days will be a
hundred and twenty years." -
Genesis 6:3
Some interpret this scripture completely differently. A
good many people believe God was not limiting the age of man, but was warning
that He was growing tired of the wickedness of man and in 120 years he would
dispense His justice in the way of a worldwide flood. This interpretation has
some merit, but consider this. After this point in the Bible we do not read of
anyone having a lifespan such as those mentioned in the first five chapters. Is
this just a coincidence?
|
Big Bang Theory |
In
the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. |
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Evolution of the Species |
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Six Days of Creation |
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Existence of Man |
Life in the Garden |
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The Fall |
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Life in Time |
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