How old is the Earth? The Universe? If you ask ascientist they will tell you the earth is just a little over 4.5 billion yearsold. On the other hand, if you ask a Bible Maximalist they will tell you theearth is between 6,000 and 8,000 years old. Those are very different numbersand, on the surface, there would seem to be no reconciling the vastdifferences. Scientist claim to have scientist evidence based on observationand laboratory analysis and they feel their numbers are accurate. Those whoprofess a younger earth are basing this on the writings of the Bible, holyscripture which the faithful believe is unerring. With this said, there aregroups of scientists attempting to prove there is scientific proof the earth isfar younger than the 4.5 billion years, but these claims are certainly notwidely supported in the scientific community. So, is there a way to reconcilethe correct age which allows for the scientific data, as it stands today, to becorrect, yet does not ignore the scriptures? Perhaps.

In this text we will examine very little of thescientific data regarding the age of the earth. Instead, we will look at thescriptures in and attempt to see if they tell us more about the creation thanmany see upon a casual reading. The creation of the earth, and in fact allthings, is covered in just a few short pages in the book of Genesis. With solittle scripture to work with, we must scrutinize each passage in order tounderstand what the author was attempting to tell us.

Even among the faithful there is constant debateregarding the story of creation. Some choose to ignore that portion ofscripture entirely. Others insist certain elements of the scriptures are eitherinaccurate or being interpreted incorrectly. Still others insist on a literalinterpretation of the Bible and reject anything that changes the scripture orsays the scriptures are in any way inaccurate.

One of the primary areas of debate are the six days ofcreation. The question has long been asked, were these six normaltwenty-four-hour days? Some so no, while others firmly believe you must takethe Bible as it is written and these are standard days as we know them.

I personally believe the days mentioned in the Biblecould be something other than the standard twenty-four-hour day, but there isno way to reconcile just how long a day would be. Since the days could be ofany length, if you attempt to alter scripture, we are left to guess at theirlength. For this reason, I suggest we leave them at twenty-four-hour days. Thismay not be completely accurate, but the way the Bible is written it tends toindicate it was six standard days, so we will accept scripture as it iswritten.

This is an important distinction. We will acceptscripture as it is written. We have decided the six days of creation weretwenty-four hours each, but what does the Bible tell us about the time beforethe first day?

 

Author’s Note;

Are the days mentioned in Genesisstandard twenty-four-hour days? This in fact may not be the case, but hear meout. Since the sun was not created until day four, there could not have been anevening and a morning as we traditionally know them until day four. So, was thephrase “And there was evening, and there was morning,” referring to somethingother than the sun rising and setting. Does this relate to some context orelement that has been lost over time? It would seem this is likely the case onat least the first three days since there was no sun.

Ifthe phrase in question does refer to something else, then the days could bealmost any length. From a few minutes to billions of years, we simply have noway of knowing.

Thereis some who believe the light mentioned before the Sun was placed in the sky isthe light of Jesus. In the New Testament Jesus calls Himself the Light of theWorld. With Jesus there, the Sun was not required. My only issue with thistrain 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 theliteral Light of the World is a reference to the three days Jesus would laterspend in darkness, in the tomb. As you can see, there are many ways to read theHoly Scriptures.

 

 

SectionI

 

Inthe beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

 

In the Book of Genesis each day of creation isseparated by the term “And God said”to help distinguish the activities of one day from the next. At the end of eachday the section is ended with the term “Andthere was evening, and there was morning” to let us know that day hasended. 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 inthe Jewish culture the new day begins at Sundown. When the sun sets on Mondayevening it becomes Tuesday which will continue through the next morning untilthe next evening. Evening is mentioned first because that signified the startof a new day to the Jewish people.

These starting and ending points allow us to seeexactly what happened on each of the six days of creation. This is very helpfulin determining exactly when things took place, but it also offers us a possibleglimpse into something else.

 

The very first paragraph of the Bible reads,

 

  Inthe beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formlessand empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God washovering over the waters. - Genesis 1:1-2

 

Verse three, immediately following this statement,begins with “And God said” whichdepicts a break in time, just as it does for each day of the creation. So, wenow have an action, taken by God, prior to Day one of creation. Interestingly,this period of time does not end with “Andthere was evening, and there was morning,” as does each of the six days ofcreation. So, if we take scripture asit is written, this is a separate action before day one and there is noindication given for how long this period of time was. How long did God waitbetween creating the Heavens and the Earth before He began the remainingelements of creation? It could have been a single moment, or it could have beenbillions 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 Goddoes not see or experience time as we do.

It is interesting that the description of the earlyearth as depicted in the Bible somewhat matches the picture science paints ofthe early days of the earth. The earth was empty and formless, no life of anykind, but there were waters, the deep. No continents had yet emerged from thesea, no mountain ranges, just a vast emptiness.

 

‘formlessand empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God washovering 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, paintsand brushes. Once all of the supplies were ready He began to paint the picturewith individual strokes of His brush. He created each individual element of theworld, one day at a time.

During this period of time how did God choose to goabout the creation of the Heavens and the earth. Did He do something scientistswould later call the Big Bang? Or something else entirely? We simply do notknow. What scripture does tell us is that there was an element of the creationprocess which took place before the six days recorded in Genesis. This is noway makes the scriptures inaccurate, it simply offers another perspective ontheir meaning.

This first line of scripture offers us a unique insightinto the very foundation of the Universe.

 

 

SectionII

 

SixDays of Creation

 

With the foundation of the heavens and the earth inplace, at some point God began His work on the details of His creation. Overthe course of six days God both refined and polished His creation as well asadding a wide assortment of life forms. These included plants, animals, andfinally humans.

 

Quick Re-cap of the creation time table;

Ø  Day1 – Light and Dark

Ø  Day2 – Sky

Ø  Day3 – Dry land, sea, plants and trees

Ø  Day4 – Sun, moon, and stars

Ø  Day5 – Water and sky animals

Ø  Day6 – Land animals – humans

Ø  Day7 – God Rested

 

Creation according to Holy Scripture;

 

Day 1: God created light in the darkness

AndGod said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light wasgood, 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 wasmorning—the first day. - Genesis 1:3-5

 

Day 2: God created the sky

AndGod said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water fromwater.” So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from thewater above it. And it was so. God called the vault “sky.” And there wasevening, and there was morning—the second day. - Genesis 1:6-8

 

Day 3: God created dry land, seas, plants, and trees

AndGod said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dryground appear.” And it was so. God called the dry ground “land,” and thegathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.

ThenGod said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees onthe 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 totheir 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 wasmorning—the third day.  - Genesis 1:9-13

 

Day 4: God created the sun, moon, and stars

AndGod said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day fromthe night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days andyears, and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on theearth.” And it was so. God made two great lights—the greater light to governthe day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. Godset them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the dayand the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it wasgood. And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day. - Genesis1:14-19

 

Day 5: God created water and sky animals

AndGod said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly abovethe earth across the vault of the sky.” So God created the great creatures ofthe sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves aboutin 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 andincrease in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increaseon the earth.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifthday. - Genesis 1:20-23

 

Day 6: God created land animals and humans

  AndGod said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: thelivestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, eachaccording to its kind.” And it was so. God made the wild animals according totheir kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures thatmove along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. ThenGod said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they mayrule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock andall the wild animals,[ a ] and over all thecreatures that move along the ground.” So God created mankind in his ownimage, 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; fillthe earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the skyand over every living creature that moves on the ground.” Then God said, “Igive you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every treethat has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all thebeasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures thatmove along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give everygreen plant for food.” And it was so. God saw all that he had made, and it wasvery good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day. -Genesis 1:24-31

 

Even though we are going with a traditionaltwenty-four-hour day I find it strange that science tells us that life firstformed in the sea, then on the land. This is exactly what the Bible tells uswith water animals being created on Day five and land animals coming on Daysix. While science tells us it was far more than twenty-four hours between theformation of life in the earths oceans and life forming on land, at least thesequence matches.

If you go with an alternate theory where the six daysof creation do not represent twenty-four-hour days, this becomes much moresignificant.

 

At this point we have the heavens and the earthexisting for an unspecified amount of time, perhaps moments, perhaps billionsof years. We then have God adding to His creation over a six-day period whichincluded the introduction of humans. It is at this point the time-line forevents becomes very murky.

Following creation week, Genesis moves directly intoChapter Three which opens with the story of the serpent (Satan/Devil) temptingEve with the forbidden fruit. There are several questions which should be askedat this point. First, how long did Adam and Eve live in the Garden before beingTempted, and secondly, did they have a family during this period? Hardquestions, but scripture does provide some very telling clues as to what tookplace.

 

Note: Depending on theversion of the Bible you are using, there are approximately 728,000 words inthe Bible. Genesis Chapter 1 and 2 which covers the actual creation of allthings, 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 onearth. With it being this brief is it possible God was telling us not to spendto much time worry about the creation and focus more on what the other 99.8percent of the Bible covers?

 

 

Section III

 

Lifein the Garden

 

We have established that the second chapter of Genesisis a recap of Chapter One. We see in Chapter 1 verse 27 that God created bothmale and female, but we do not get the details of the creation of Eve untilChapter 2 verse 22. This verse opens up the possibility of a period of time notdirectly recorded in scripture.

Some would point out that God put Adam into the gardenand after a time he became lonely, unable to find a suitable mate. It was thenGod made Eve out of Adam’s rib. It is suggested that there was a prolongedperiod of time where Adam lived alone with the animals prior to the creation ofEve. While it is recorded that God created male and female on day six, it doesnot specifically say He created Eve at that time.

While this is an interesting possibility, many feelthat 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. Thefact is, we simply do not know for certain. The creation of Eve is notmentioned during the six days of creation. Could Adam have lived alone in theGarden 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 thesequestions, but they do present some very interesting possibilities.

 

The next important question is how long were Adam andEve in the Garden of Eden? Also, did they have children prior to the birth ofCain? I will address the second question first. Did Adam and Eve have childrenprior to Cain? The birth of Cain is recorded in Genesis Chapter four and is thefirst scripture tells us of a child being born. This is after the fall of manwhich is recorded in Chapter three. This is important because it offers usvaluable information on the possibility of children before Cain and Able. DidAdam and Eve have children prior to the temptation of Eve. Could the scriptureshave simply left this information out, assuming it would be understood Adam andEve had obeyed God?

The first important thing to note is that immediatelyupon their creation, God instructed Adam and Eve to;

 

“Befruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.”

 

If they had not done this, it would have beendisobedience to God which would have been a sin. We know they did not sin priorto being tempted by the serpent so we must assume they followed God’s commandto have children and fill the earth.

A second very telling piece of scripture also confirmsEve had children before giving birth to Cain. When Adam and Eve are cast out ofthe Garden for eating the apple, God lists a number of hardships they will beforced to endure as a result of their sin. He tells Adam he will have to workthe land to get food. This is apparently in contrast to how things were in thegarden 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;
     through painful toil you will eat food from it
     all the days of your life.
18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
     and you will eat the plants of the field.
19 By the sweat of your brow
     you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
     since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
     and to dust you will return.”

Genesis 3:17-19

 

 

 God alsoaddressed the serpent, telling him his offspring would crawl in the dust.

14So 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 thetemptation. God tells her,

 

“Iwill increase your trouble in pregnancy and your pain in giving birth. In spiteof this, you will still have desire for your husband, yet you will be subjectto him.”

 

I firmly believe God can do anything, but why would Godtell Eve he was going to increase the pains of childbirth if she had nevergiven birth? How can you increase something that has yet to happen? This isscripture telling us that Adam and Eve had followed God’s command to befruitful and Eve had in fact given birth to children prior to the birth ofCain.

The Bible mentions Cain and Able specifically becausethey had a very important role in the biblical story. Later in Genesis chapter5 the scripture barely mentions other children of Adam and Eve.

 

“AfterSeth was born, Adam lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters.”

 

In this brief sentence we learn Adam and Eve had otherchildren after Seth, but scripture does not tell us how many, and certainlydoes not list their names. It would seem only specific people were singled outto be mentioned by name. It seems very clear to me that scripture is telling usAdam and Eve obeyed God and had children. Apparently during this time Eve didnot experience the pains of labor that she and others would experience afterthe fall. How many children were born and how they inter-married and hadchildren of their own is not mentioned in the Bible. The number of children andeventual offspring Adam and Eve would have would depend entirely on how longthey 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, ortriplets?

 

Note:Some take note and are upset at the mention of siblings marring and havingchildren. In our society this is taboo, but in the times of Adam and Eve itwould have been a necessity. If you start with only one man and one woman, anddevelop into a world with billions of people, at some point in the beginningsiblings had to marry and have children. As things progressed there would bemore distant relations created, such as cousins, second cousins and so on.

 

The Bible tells us that Adam lived 930 years, and thenhe died.

 

Adamlived for nine hundred and thirty years, and then he died.  _ Genesis 5:5

 

The question which remains is, when did the clock beginon the 930 years? Some say it began at Adam’s creation. I believe it began whenhe and Eve, along with all their children, were kicked out of the Garden ofEden.

There is a debate among Christians and Bible Scholarsif Adam and Eve were immortal before the temptation. There was no sin, and weare told sickness and death were the result of sin, so they should have beenimmortal. Others say they were not immortal, but they had access to the Tree ofLife which gave them immortality as long as they ate from it. It was this treewhich God specifically blocked people from approaching after they were expelledfrom the garden.

 

Afterhe drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubimand a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree oflife. - Genesis 3:24

 

No longer having access to the Tree of Life, Adambecame completely mortal and died 930 years later. This may seem an odd way torecord Adam’s lifespan, but I believe it is consistent with scripture. In orderto 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, isJesus.

For the sake of this discussion let us ask what on thesurface appears to be a very simple question. How old was Jesus when He wascrucified? If you Google it, you will find the most common answer is somewherebetween 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 approximatelythirty years of age when he began his ministry.

 

“Jesuswas about 30 years old when he began his ministry,” Luke 2:23

 

Now, there is some debate among Bible scholars as to ifJesus’ ministry lasted three years or four years. This accounts for the answerson Google of 33 or 34 years of age. Most Bible scholars believe Paul (Saul) wasconverted between 33 and 36 A.D. so Jesus had to die before that time. Takingeverything into account, it would appear Jesus was in His early thirties whenhe was crucified.

So, if the Bible tells us that Jesus was about thirtyyears old when He began His ministry, does that mean Jesus did not existsbefore His birth? That is contrary to everything I have ever been taught. MostChristians believe Jesus was present at the creation and it is Jesus God wasreferring to when He said let Us make them in Our image.

 To myunderstanding, almost no one believes Jesus did not exist prior to His birth inBethlehem. After all, He said He must return to the father. If Jesus had notexisted before His human birth, how could He have ever been with God in heaven?

It seems very obvious, at least to me, that when theysay Jesus was about 30 years old, they are speaking only of his mortalexistence. Since there is no calendar in eternity, there is no way or reason toinclude the time Jesus spent as an immortal being. In many ways, this situationmirrors the position Adam and Eve were in when they were expelled from theGarden. The time spent as immortal beings was not included in his lifespanbecause he did not age. It had no bearing at all, until he was banned from theTree of Life. At that point, the clock began for Adam.

If this is correct, and it is consistent with otherscripture, then Adam and Eve lived for a period of time prior to the Serpenttempting Eve. How long this was is unknown. How long do you think you mightlive in paradise, with all of your needs being met, with no sickness, nohardships, no death? There was nothing you needed, you did not have to work foryour meals, and moreover, you were in the presence of the Almighty.

 

“Andthey 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 themselveshidden…”  Genesis 3:8-10

 

How long do you think you could live in paradise beforethe devil could tempt you to give it all up? To turn against God and loseeverything? A few days, a few years, a few centuries, perhaps thousands ofyears? The number is unknown, but it seems likely it would have taken aconsiderable time for them to become so bored with Paradise and living in thepresence of God that they would risk throwing it all away on the promise of theserpent.

I believe there was clearly a period of time before thetemptation that Adam and Eve, along with their children flourished in theGarden. 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 wouldkill 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 wereonly the three of them, why did God put a mark on Cain so no one would killhim, who did he fear?

 

‘Todayyou are driving me from the land and I will be hidden from your presence; Iwill be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.”

Butthe Lord said to him, “Not so; if anyone kills Cain, he will suffer vengeanceseven time over.” Then the Lord put a mark on Cain so that no one who found himwould kill him.”  Genesis 4:14-15

 

Who was going to find him? It seems obvious there wereother people in the world. This was because Adam and Eve had followed thecommand of God and had been fruitful and filled the earth.

There is another scripture that has long troubled manyBible readers. If Cain and Able were indeed the first children born, where didCain’s wife come from?

 

“SoCain went out from the Lord’s presence and lived in the land of Nod, east ofEden.

Cainlay 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 extendedperiod prior to the temptation, then the problem of where did Cain’s wife comefrom is easily resolved. Without this extra period of time her existencepresents a number of problems. Some have even suggested God created otherhumans, another tribe, not mentioned in the Bible. These claims are made tohelp resolve issues such as who wanted to kill Cain? And where did Cain’s wifecome from? It also allows people to completely bypass the problem of siblingsmarrying and having children. While this makes things more convenient, there isabsolutely no scripture to coincide with this train of thought.

 

Section IV

 

Livingin time.

 

Now the serpent was more crafty than anyof the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did Godreally say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

Thewoman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, butGod did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of thegarden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”

“You will not certainlydie,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from ityour eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

 

From the pointwhen 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 another930 years after the temptation. Tradition tells that Eve passed away first butthe last mention of Eve in the Bible is at the birth of Seth. Jewish traditionholds that both Adam and Eve are buried in the Cave of the Patriarchs, alsoknown as the Cave of Machpelah, which is located in Hebron Israel.

In the first fivechapters of Genesis mankind enjoyed very long lifetimes. A prime example is theafore mentioned lifespan of Adam at 930 years. In chapter six however, Godmakes a change. In Chapter 6 Verse 3 God seems to limit the lifespan of mankindto 120 years.

 

"My Spirit willnot contend with humans forever, for they are mortal; their days will be ahundred and twenty years."    -Genesis 6:3

 

Some interpret this scripture completely differently. Agood many people believe God was not limiting the age of man, but was warningthat He was growing tired of the wickedness of man and in 120 years he woulddispense His justice in the way of a worldwide flood. This interpretation hassome merit, but consider this. After this point in the Bible we do not read ofanyone having a lifespan such as those mentioned in the first five chapters. Isthis just a coincidence?

 

 

Big Bang Theory

 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Evolution of the Species

Six Days of Creation

Existence of Man

Life in the Garden

The Fall

Life in Time

 

H