HUMAN civilization is six thousand years old and we are approaching the seventh millennium. But it doesn’t mean the earth is merely six thousand years old. There is something we need to understand when we read Genesis 1:1 – In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
[There are three heavens, that is why it is in the plural – (1) the sky, (2) the outer space, and (3) and of course where God’s throne is, which Isaiah 14:13 locates as the mount of congregation on the farthest sides of the north. That side of the north is believed to be Cassiopea, looking like “W” to one side of the polar star Polaris.]
The fundamental error in the Dark Ages was the belief that earth was as old as the creation of man. Those who refused to acknowledge the standard beliefs which included the earth was flat and that the sun and stars revolved around the earth were severely persecuted. Such included Galileo. We now understand that the earth is around 4.543 billion years plus or minus about 50 million years. So where is the catch?
Simple answer – the Bible was not written chronologically. We find in Isaiah 28:13 – “But the word of the LORD was to them, “Precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little,” That they might go and fall backward, and be broken, and snared and caught.”
Genesis 1:1 is not the real beginning, and God intended it to be so. In the same way Jesus Christ spoke in parables, this is to hide the truth until it is time to reveal such to those who really desire to follow Him.
So where is the real beginning? It is found in the New Testament, John 1:1 – 5, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”
The age of the earth was calculated by scientists through the rocks. It is much younger than the known universe which is about 13.7 billion years based on the “edge” of the universe visible from the most powerful telescopes. Our solar system is about 4.571 billion years, the Milky Way Galaxy is 13.61 billion years. The earth was created by God by accretion of rock masses floating in outer space. It would have been hot in its early history. About 4 billion years ago, the atmosphere must have started to form, and likewise the ocean. But the temperature would still be hot, such that no biological life could survive. Planetary cooling proceeded.
There is no evolution of life. Life begets life. Even with the presence of all the chemical constituents and lightnings, etc., there is no way for life to come out, without God creating them. There is no known life at this formation phase of the earth. The rocks are known as Pre-Cambrian. This means Cambrian is the oldest rock stratum in earth’s history when life begins to sprout. It is erroneous to claim that during the Cambrian era, we had simpler forms of life. Organisms during this period were just as complex as any other organisms during the succeeding eras in the earth’s history.
The rock stratigraphy tells the history of the earth divided into ‘Eons” which are further divided into “Eras” which are further divided into “Periods” which are then divided into “Epochs”. Then sometime on earth’s history, God placed angels to be in-charge. The earth had different animal and plant life then. If we assume this was around the beginning of the Triassic Period some 252.2 million years ago, reptiles and angiosperms dominated the earth. Ezekiel 28:13 – 15 described Lucifer who was put in-charge of the angels and what eventually happened to him.
“You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering: the sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes was prepared for you on the day you were created. . .”
“. . . You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; you were on the holy mountain of God; You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones. You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you.”
Continuing the story in verses 16 – 17, he became arrogant and his heart was lifted up, thinking he could be greater than God. ““By the abundance of your trading you became filled with violence within, and you sinned; therefore, I cast you as a profane thing out of the mountain of God; and I destroyed you, O covering cherub, from the midst of the fiery stones. “Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor; I cast you to the ground. . .”
Lucifer attempted to take over God’s throne in heaven. Isaiah 14:15 – “For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’ Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit.”
Earlier in verse 12, we read: ““How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You, who weakened the nations!” Referring to this event, Jesus Christ recounted in Luke 10:18, “I saw Satan fell like lightning in heaven!” His name was already changed from Lucifer to Satan which means “Adversary”.
But the battle didn’t end and continued here on earth. We read in Psalms 18 that he attempted to regain his former throne in Jerusalem at that time higher than the clouds. This is the battle between spirit beings. Cannons were asteroids and planetoids. It was time for great trouble on the earth as almost all animals and vegetation perished. It could have been some 66 million years ago when animal and vegetation life was wiped out.
It was in 1989 that the Nobel Prize-winning physicist Luis Walter Alvarez and his geologist son Walter published a theory that a historic layer of iridium-rich clay in the rocks was caused by a large asteroid colliding with earth. The instantaneous devastation in the immediate vicinity and the widespread secondary effects of the impact were considered to be why the dinosaurs died out so suddenly. It wasn’t just a single asteroid. Jerusalem, so high that it was described to be above the clouds, is now low and consisting of seven hills. Even other planets like Venus, Uranus, and Pluto were thrown out of alignment. A spiritual battle took place on earth.
Psalms 18:7 -12 showed that God came as reinforcement. The scenery described was vividly frightening with a super mega typhoon, lightning in abundance, and the foundations of the earth uncovered. Ezekiel 28:17 – 19, “I cast you to the ground, I laid you before kings, that they might gaze at you. “You defiled your sanctuaries by the multitude of your iniquities, by the iniquity of your trading; therefore, I brought fire from your midst; it devoured you, and I turned you to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all who saw you. All who knew you among the peoples are astonished at you; you have become a horror, and shall be no more forever.” ’ ” We know the earth was plunged into darkness and there was a great flood. Organic matter will rot rather than convert to fossil fuel in the absence of great pressure and temperature. Besides Noah’s Flood, the angelic rebellion is the only possible explanation for the existence of fossil fuel.
The long chaos on earth resulting from angelic rebellion is the setting of Genesis 1:1 as God “recreates” the earth to make it fit for human habitation. Genesis 1:2 confirms this - The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” The original Hebrew word for “without form” is “tohu” (Strong’s 8414 – formlessness, confusion, unreality, emptiness). It is translated as “waste” in Deuteronomy 32:10 and as “futile” or “vain” in 1 Samuel 12:21. “Void” was translated from the Hebrew word “ “wabohu” (Strong’s 922 from the root word “bohu” – emptiness).
God cleared the skies to bring in sunshine and let those dust or maybe volcanic particles settle down. God also decreased the sea water to bring out the islands into view, planted totally new set of vegetations and created new animal species. God did create as we know there are a lot of questions to evolutionists as to which came out first, the chicken or the egg, the bees or the flowers, etc.
The Holocene Epoch of earth’s history where we are now is 10,000 years old. Mankind is only some 6,000 years old. May, 2024 in the Jewish calendar is 5784. The Jewish calendar placed Genesis 1 in 3761 BC. For Herman Hoeh, Genesis 1 is 4608 BC. The website “Answers in Genesis” placed creation in 4004 BC. There were other estimates –3761 BC (by Jose ben Halaf), 3952 BC (by Bede), 3949 BC (by Scaliger), 3992 BC (by Johannes Kepler), and 4000 BC (by Isaac Newton). Anthony Lyle placed Day 1 of creation year on March 22, 3963 B.C.
Man was God’s creation masterpiece. In Genesis 1:26, Moses wrote that we were created in God’s image. Only the physical creation was completed when God created man in this Genesis 1 account. The spiritual creation for man to conform not only to the physical image but also to the character and mind of God, as well as attain His spiritual state is still on-going. Those who accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior are not yet born again to spiritual state. It will happen and take place when Jesus Christ returns. Our status now is that of begotten of God. This is another subject, quite a long topic for discussion. Suffice it to end this article by quoting Jesus Christ, that unless we are born again, we cannot enter the Kingdom of God. For now, we are begotten. --Rodel B Carating
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