Recently I received a note from a gentleman who I believe lives in my hometown area of northwest Alabama, the Shoals. This gentleman was, until recently, a Friend of a Facebook Friend, so that when he sent me a Facebook Message it was put into a separate folder by Facebook and I did not discover his post until several weeks ago. I am blessed that he is now my Facebook Friend.
In July, he sent me these very insightful and sincere questions via Message and because I initially missed his post, I want to assure him that I was not ignoring his questions:
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Thank you for your Message questions. We can break your post down to three very good questions: (1) Were Adam and Eve the first humans? ~ (2) Could the earth be more than 6000 years old? ~ and (3) Was Noah's flood local or worldwide?
(1) Were Adam and Eve the first humans?
In Genesis 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, as God was creating our heavens and earth and all life forms, including man - at each step He declared, "It is good." Then in Genesis 1:31 we read, "Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was VERY GOOD. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day." If disobedience, sin, and death had been in His original creation - would He have declared it to be VERY good? No, His creation would have contained corruption - and that corruption is sin and death - not good, and especially not VERY good.
Genesis 2:4-8, "This is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens, before any plant of the field was in the earth and before any herb of the field had grown. For the LORD God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the ground; but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground. And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. The LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed."
Just as God created the earth, stars, planets, etc., ex nihilo, out of nothing - He did basically the same with man. He took the earth and minerals He had created ex nihilo, formed them into a human body - and then breathed His holy breath into man to give him life. He created material, i.e., earth, out of nothing - and then He took a part of that created earth and created life in man out of nothing other than His own holy breath.
That is much more believable than science's teaching that a simple lifeless amoeba cell floating in a primordial swamp billions of years, suddenly poofed into life. And a second thought - where did that simple lifeless cell and the primordial swamp come from - who or what created them?
If there was life on earth - human, animal, etc. - before Adam and Eve, what happened to it? In Genesis 1 we are told that God created Adam - and from him, Eve. That, and Genesis 2:4-8, tells me there were no other life forms existing on earth until then:
If when Adam was created, there had already been humans living before he was created - they must have died or been killed. If that were true - then death existed before Adam committed the sin of disobedience.
Yet, we are told in Romans 5:12-21, "Therefore, just as through one man (Adam) sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned. . . Therefore, as through one man's (Adam) offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man's (Jesus Christ) righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience (Adam) many were made sinners, so also by one Man's (Jesus Christ) obedience many will be made righteous. . . "
That raises another important question: "Was death, physical and spiritual, part of God’s original plan?"
Yes and No!
Yes, since He is God, His plan for all His creation is perfect - complete - all things taken into consideration, nothing comes as a surprise to God. So, did He originally plan to send anyone to hell, even Lucifer? No, but in His eternal omniscience, He knew it would happen - just as He knew that man, Adam, whom He had given the gift of "free will" would fall into the sin of disobedience, bringing death (physical and spiritual) to all mankind.
Since God is timeless, knowing all things from eternity to eternity, i.e, Omniscient (all knowing) - He knows your first heart beat and He knows you eternally. There is nothing you can ever do that will surprise God, for He knows you into eternity.
No, God originally created hell as a dwelling place for Lucifer/Satan and his fallen demonic angels. We read in Matthew 25:41, "Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels."
But as we read of the Sheep and Goat Judgment found in Matthew 25:31-46, God does send those people (unbelieving survivors of the Tribulation, i.e., Goats) who continue to reject Jesus Christ - into the hell He had prepared for Satan and his demonic angels. Hell is a real place, the eternal abode for all people (Old Testament, New Testament, Tribulation, Millennium) who die while still rejecting Jesus Christ.
So, in summary of question 1: "Were Adam and Eve the first humans?" ~ According to the Bible, YES, they were the first humans.
(2) Could the earth be more than 6000 years old?
Let me open this section by declaring that we cannot adamantly say that the Creation happened in 4004 BC. That date was published in 1650 in the book “Annals Of The World” written by Archbishop James Ussher (Church of Ireland, Archbishop of Armagh, and Primate of All Ireland between 1625 and 1656. Wikipedia):
Related dates which align with Ussher's Creation date, are the End Times prophecies from the book of Daniel, published in a book titled: "The Coming Prince" by Sir Robert Anderson. He did extensive research on Biblical dates and genealogical data for the Old Testament dates:
I believe, based upon the Genesis account, that we can say with confidence that the Creation happened thousands of years ago, maybe 4000 years, maybe 6, 10, 20, 30 thousand years ago. But, not millions or billions of years ago. Genesis teaches us thousands of years - but evolutionary science, especially Darwinian Evolution based science, needs billions of years to account for their Big Bang theory of the creation of the universe - and for their version of how life evolved from non-living cells.
If the evolutionary supposition of the origin of life were true, that life evolved from a lifeless single cell amoeba floating in an primordial swam - then billions of years would be required. However, since we know from Genesis that God created the heavens, the earth, and living man in six days - we do not need those billions of years.
As a side-note, science bases their millions and billions of years time-lines of archeological finds on Carbon-14 dating. And, it is a known fact, acknowledged by science, that Carbon-14 dating is only accurate to, at most, maybe 60,000 years - and definitely not millions or billions of years. Anything beyond 60,000 years is merely educated guesswork, speculation, or myth development.
In that area, science works on the philosophy that, "If you keep repeating the same fallacy long enough and often enough" - many people will begin to believe it, thus giving validity, though false, of the truth of their supposition or theory. Fact: Genesis is true and there is no need for millions or billions of years to accomplish the creation.
"Bill, according to you, God could have created all things instantaneously. So, why did He take six days?" Good question! God is a great example provider. It is my belief that He did that to give us His example of working six days and then resting for one day, for us and for our domestic animals, to sustain us in good health.
He also did this for the earth He created - telling His people in Exodus 23:10-11, "Six years you shall sow your land and gather in its produce, but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave, the beasts of the field may eat. In like manner you shall do with your vineyard and your olive grove." His instructions to those who had land - let your land rest every seventh year to replenish itself and to provide sustenance for those who did not have a wealth of land.
Notice that God did not tell them to let their land lay fallow for millions of years. No, He told them to work the land six years - and then give it a one year rest. God is pretty smart.
The Bible opens with, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Genesis 1:1). "In the beginning" means just that - before there was a physical universe, before there was an earth or man, before there was time as we know it - there was God. Before the beginning, there was only the eternally preexisting God - no heavens, no earth, no universe - only God. One might ask, "Then where did God live if there was no universe?" Great question.
Did God exist in our universe before the Creation? Think about that for a moment. How could He live in it - if He had not yet created it?
Enzo Ferrari created that beautiful automobile, the Ferrari. Did Enzo Ferrari exist inside the Ferrari car before he made it? No, he could not exist in the car and create the car at the same time. He lived outside that car - just as God lived outside our universe as He created it. Then, where did God live?
The Bible tells us God lives in the Third Heaven (2 Corinthians 12:2). Consider this: The First Heaven is our earth atmosphere which extends up about 50 miles. Past that is a seemingly endless space, our universe, the Second Heaven. And, outside, or beyond that, exists God's throne room, the Third Heaven.
God is known to be both Transcendent and Immanent. I know, big theological words. But very meaningful words - for they explain what God did and how He is still very active in our lives. Being transcendent means that He has eternally existed outside our universe. Thus residing outside our universe, He could create it. And being immanent means that once the Transcendent God had created the heavens and the earth - He is Immanently, i.e., actively, involved in running His universe:
We are told in Matthew 10:29 that He cherishes and is involved in the care of even the birds of the air, "Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father's will."
And, we are told in Luke 12:7 that God loves us so much that He even know the hairs on our head, or for some, the hairs that used to be on our head, "But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows."
Yes, the Transcendent God who, from outside our universe, created the heavens and the earth - is also the Immanent God who is intimately involved in all aspects, large and small, of our lives.
In Genesis 1:1 and subsequent Scripture verses, the Hebrew word for "create" is bara' and means to create from nothing, ex nihilo. We all know from physics class that matter cannot be created nor destroyed. Matter can change form (solid, liquid, gas, etc.), but it cannot be destroyed.
Did Enzo Ferrari create the Ferrari ex nihilo, out of nothing? No, he used existing materials.
Yet, in Genesis 1:1 we are told that God created (bara') the heavens and the earth. He created them ex nihilo, out of nothing. Because He is God, He could create matter out of nothing. A subset of His Creation is all the sciences, including physics, and all the laws governing those sciences.
In Genesis 1:7 we read, "Thus God made (`asah) the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so."
So, what is the difference between "God created (bara') the heavens and the earth" - and - "God made (`asah) the firmament" ?
As we saw earlier,bara' means to create from nothing, ex nihilo. While `asah basically means to "make room." You move your furniture around to make room for a new chair. God moved the waters below (subterranean waters) from the waters above (earth's atmosphere, i.e., it was thought that a protective mist surrounded the newly created earth to protect it from harmful rays) - to make room for the firmament, our atmosphere. Science tells us that our atmosphere extends about 50 miles above earth - and then space begins.
In the past several centuries, some theologians and church leaders, in their desire to make the Bible and science stand side-by-side in authority - and to accommodate their secular science associates - have devised non-Biblical theories and suppositions in an attempt to adapt the Bible so that it agrees with secular science.
In other words, to appease their secular associates, they are willing to compromise the revelation given to us by God in His Bible. To accomplish that, these theologians and church leaders have created a theological concept called: The Gap Theory.
So, to answer your question 2: "Could the earth be more than 6000 years old?" Short answer: Give or take a few thousand years, NO.
God's plan is always perfect. He chose to create the heavens and the earth for His own purpose, in His own time. He did not need, nor according to the Bible, did He use millions or billions of years. Those are man-made constraints - and God is not bound by such limits.
(3) Was Noah's flood local or worldwide?
Let me give you a thought to consider. If you wanted to flood an area of a field with ten foot of water - and you start pumping water into that part of the field - will the water stay there until it reaches ten foot depth? Or will the water distribute over the full field so that you have only inches of water spread across the entire field? We both know the answer. Without constraining walls to hold in the water - it will flood the entire area of the field and beyond.
Now apply that to the Middle East during the flood. Scripture tells us the water was so deep it covered the mountains. What could have constrained that much water to just the Middle East?
I offer the excerpt below from an Institute for Creation Research (ICR) article - and ask you to consider the relatively recent Katrina flood - and the current Harvey flood. Then give thought to the statement in the ICR article excerpt below: "God promised never to send another flood like Noah's Flood (Genesis 9:11, 15), but there have been many local floods, even regional floods, since Noah's Flood."
In fact, I have counted over 100 times when the (Scripture) wording implies a global flood. Consider these few quotes of the many: "the face of the earth (i.e., planet)" (Genesis 6:1) ~ "end of all flesh . . .the earth is filled with violence . . .I will destroy them with the earth" (Genesis 6:13) ~ "destroy all flesh wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven, and everything that is in the earth shall die" (Genesis 6:17); etc., etc.
Furthermore, God promised never to send another flood like Noah's Flood (Genesis 9:11, 15), but there have been many local floods, even regional floods, since Noah's Flood. If Noah's Flood was only a local flood, then God lied to us. Likewise, there was no need for Noah to build an ark for his survival for he had many years' warning (Genesis 6:3).
Bill Gray Note: If the flood was to be local to only one area of the world, Noah had 100 years to leave that area and go to where there would be no flood. But, obviously Noah was both faithful to God - and Noah knew that once God brought the flood it would be worldwide and the only safe place was on the ark - just as Jesus Christ is the only "safe place" or way - for people to be saved.
Perhaps more convincing is the fact that Jesus Christ based His teaching of coming judgment on all mankind, on the fact that Noah's Flood judged all mankind (Matthew 24:36-39, Luke 17:26, 27). A local flood implies a partial judgment.
"But, Bill, how could there have been enough rain water to flood the entire earth?" That is a good question.
There were two large sources of water upon the earth, then and now. We know from the current Harvey storms that great floods of water can be released upon earth from the heavens. And, science has proven that there are massive amounts of subterranean water (subsurface water, underground water) located in rocks in the upper portion of the earth's crust in a liquid, solid, or gaseous state.
Does anyone doubt that God could open the floodgates of heaven, pouring down massive amounts of rain? The people of Texas most certainly know that - and, NO, I am not, in any way, suggesting that God has brought this current catastrophe upon the good people of Texas. I am only using Katrina and Harvey to show the power that God could have unleashed upon the sinful world in Noah's day.
And, with massive amounts of water beneath the surface of the earth - would not great geological upheavals, i.e., worldwide earthquakes, break open the subterranean water reservoirs - adding to the rain induced flooding already underway?
Finally, keep in mind that water, from above or below, does not stand in a massive column - but instead distributes widely, i.e., worldwide.
So, in final summary of these three very important questions which affect our Christian witness:
To my new Facebook Friend who posed these questions, thank you very much. Responding to posts of this nature is rather like being in a good interactive conversational Bible study - where one person may be leading - but we ALL are learning. Thank you for this opportunity to learn more from God's Word.
God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,
Bill
In July, he sent me these very insightful and sincere questions via Message and because I initially missed his post, I want to assure him that I was not ignoring his questions:
Bill, were there humans on earth before Adam and Eve? There are a lot of sites that tell us some Indians lived back around 20,000 to 50,000 BC. And that the flood of Noah's time was not all of the world, just the Middle East. Thank you, B.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Thank you for your Message questions. We can break your post down to three very good questions: (1) Were Adam and Eve the first humans? ~ (2) Could the earth be more than 6000 years old? ~ and (3) Was Noah's flood local or worldwide?
(1) Were Adam and Eve the first humans?
In Genesis 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, as God was creating our heavens and earth and all life forms, including man - at each step He declared, "It is good." Then in Genesis 1:31 we read, "Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was VERY GOOD. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day." If disobedience, sin, and death had been in His original creation - would He have declared it to be VERY good? No, His creation would have contained corruption - and that corruption is sin and death - not good, and especially not VERY good.
Genesis 2:4-8, "This is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens, before any plant of the field was in the earth and before any herb of the field had grown. For the LORD God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the ground; but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground. And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. The LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed."
Just as God created the earth, stars, planets, etc., ex nihilo, out of nothing - He did basically the same with man. He took the earth and minerals He had created ex nihilo, formed them into a human body - and then breathed His holy breath into man to give him life. He created material, i.e., earth, out of nothing - and then He took a part of that created earth and created life in man out of nothing other than His own holy breath.
That is much more believable than science's teaching that a simple lifeless amoeba cell floating in a primordial swamp billions of years, suddenly poofed into life. And a second thought - where did that simple lifeless cell and the primordial swamp come from - who or what created them?
If there was life on earth - human, animal, etc. - before Adam and Eve, what happened to it? In Genesis 1 we are told that God created Adam - and from him, Eve. That, and Genesis 2:4-8, tells me there were no other life forms existing on earth until then:
On day five of the Creation, God created the sea creatures and birds of the air - "And God saw that it was good" (Genesis 1:20-23).
On day six He created land animals and man - and declared His Creation to be very good (Genesis 1:24-31).
If when Adam was created, there had already been humans living before he was created - they must have died or been killed. If that were true - then death existed before Adam committed the sin of disobedience.
Yet, we are told in Romans 5:12-21, "Therefore, just as through one man (Adam) sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned. . . Therefore, as through one man's (Adam) offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man's (Jesus Christ) righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience (Adam) many were made sinners, so also by one Man's (Jesus Christ) obedience many will be made righteous. . . "
That raises another important question: "Was death, physical and spiritual, part of God’s original plan?"
Yes and No!
Yes, since He is God, His plan for all His creation is perfect - complete - all things taken into consideration, nothing comes as a surprise to God. So, did He originally plan to send anyone to hell, even Lucifer? No, but in His eternal omniscience, He knew it would happen - just as He knew that man, Adam, whom He had given the gift of "free will" would fall into the sin of disobedience, bringing death (physical and spiritual) to all mankind.
Since God is timeless, knowing all things from eternity to eternity, i.e, Omniscient (all knowing) - He knows your first heart beat and He knows you eternally. There is nothing you can ever do that will surprise God, for He knows you into eternity.
No, God originally created hell as a dwelling place for Lucifer/Satan and his fallen demonic angels. We read in Matthew 25:41, "Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels."
But as we read of the Sheep and Goat Judgment found in Matthew 25:31-46, God does send those people (unbelieving survivors of the Tribulation, i.e., Goats) who continue to reject Jesus Christ - into the hell He had prepared for Satan and his demonic angels. Hell is a real place, the eternal abode for all people (Old Testament, New Testament, Tribulation, Millennium) who die while still rejecting Jesus Christ.
So, in summary of question 1: "Were Adam and Eve the first humans?" ~ According to the Bible, YES, they were the first humans.
(2) Could the earth be more than 6000 years old?
Let me open this section by declaring that we cannot adamantly say that the Creation happened in 4004 BC. That date was published in 1650 in the book “Annals Of The World” written by Archbishop James Ussher (Church of Ireland, Archbishop of Armagh, and Primate of All Ireland between 1625 and 1656. Wikipedia):
The Creation date of 4004 BC was set by James Ussher (1581-1656), Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, in his book “Annals Of The World.” One of his principle claims to fame was that he calculated the date of creation to be 4004 BC by tracing the lineages in the King James Bible.
In the seventeenth century, Irish Archbishop James Ussher, after extensive research, put the date of the Creation in the year 4004 BC. Time calculations based upon genealogies found in Genesis 5 and 10 were used to establish the date of the creation. Yet, there are problems with dating using this method. These genealogies in Scripture are not complete. There are gaps in them. ("Secularists And Old-Earth Creation Christians" - https://www.facebook.com/bill.gray.5/posts/10155178182974097)
Related dates which align with Ussher's Creation date, are the End Times prophecies from the book of Daniel, published in a book titled: "The Coming Prince" by Sir Robert Anderson. He did extensive research on Biblical dates and genealogical data for the Old Testament dates:
Sir Robert Anderson was the Assistant Commissioner of the London Metropolitan Police, from 1888 to 1901. He was also an intelligence officer, theologian, and writer - known for his Christian books on prophecy. Anderson's best known works include "The Coming Prince" (1894) and "The Silence of God" (1897). He helped establish the fact that 69 of Daniel's 70 weeks have now transpired, and the tribulation will be the 70th week. His book "The Coming Prince," has become a foundational resource for all dispensationalists. (Wikipedia)
I believe, based upon the Genesis account, that we can say with confidence that the Creation happened thousands of years ago, maybe 4000 years, maybe 6, 10, 20, 30 thousand years ago. But, not millions or billions of years ago. Genesis teaches us thousands of years - but evolutionary science, especially Darwinian Evolution based science, needs billions of years to account for their Big Bang theory of the creation of the universe - and for their version of how life evolved from non-living cells.
If the evolutionary supposition of the origin of life were true, that life evolved from a lifeless single cell amoeba floating in an primordial swam - then billions of years would be required. However, since we know from Genesis that God created the heavens, the earth, and living man in six days - we do not need those billions of years.
As a side-note, science bases their millions and billions of years time-lines of archeological finds on Carbon-14 dating. And, it is a known fact, acknowledged by science, that Carbon-14 dating is only accurate to, at most, maybe 60,000 years - and definitely not millions or billions of years. Anything beyond 60,000 years is merely educated guesswork, speculation, or myth development.
In that area, science works on the philosophy that, "If you keep repeating the same fallacy long enough and often enough" - many people will begin to believe it, thus giving validity, though false, of the truth of their supposition or theory. Fact: Genesis is true and there is no need for millions or billions of years to accomplish the creation.
Secular Side Note: The Big Lie is a propaganda technique (used effectively by many politicians). The expression was coined by Adolf Hitler, when he dictated his 1925 book "Mein Kampf" about the use of a lie so "colossal" that no one would believe that someone "could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously." (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_lie)
Then Joseph Goebbels, Adolf Hitler's Propaganda Minister in Nazi Germany, took that concept and ran with it. According to Goebbels: “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.” (Joseph Goebbels: On the "Big Lie" - http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/joseph-goebbels-on-the-quot-big-lie-quot)
"Bill, according to you, God could have created all things instantaneously. So, why did He take six days?" Good question! God is a great example provider. It is my belief that He did that to give us His example of working six days and then resting for one day, for us and for our domestic animals, to sustain us in good health.
He also did this for the earth He created - telling His people in Exodus 23:10-11, "Six years you shall sow your land and gather in its produce, but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave, the beasts of the field may eat. In like manner you shall do with your vineyard and your olive grove." His instructions to those who had land - let your land rest every seventh year to replenish itself and to provide sustenance for those who did not have a wealth of land.
Shmita: The sabbath year (shmita, Hebrew, literally "release") also called the sabbatical year, literally "seventh") is the seventh year of the seven-year agricultural cycle mandated by the Torah for the Land of Israel, and still observed in contemporary Judaism - (Wikipedia).
Six years you shall sow your land: The principle of the Sabbath applied to more than the workweek. There were also Sabbath years, where the land was to rest and lie fallow one year out of seven - (Commentary on Exodus 23, Pastor David Guzik).
Notice that God did not tell them to let their land lay fallow for millions of years. No, He told them to work the land six years - and then give it a one year rest. God is pretty smart.
The Bible opens with, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Genesis 1:1). "In the beginning" means just that - before there was a physical universe, before there was an earth or man, before there was time as we know it - there was God. Before the beginning, there was only the eternally preexisting God - no heavens, no earth, no universe - only God. One might ask, "Then where did God live if there was no universe?" Great question.
Did God exist in our universe before the Creation? Think about that for a moment. How could He live in it - if He had not yet created it?
Enzo Ferrari created that beautiful automobile, the Ferrari. Did Enzo Ferrari exist inside the Ferrari car before he made it? No, he could not exist in the car and create the car at the same time. He lived outside that car - just as God lived outside our universe as He created it. Then, where did God live?
The Bible tells us God lives in the Third Heaven (2 Corinthians 12:2). Consider this: The First Heaven is our earth atmosphere which extends up about 50 miles. Past that is a seemingly endless space, our universe, the Second Heaven. And, outside, or beyond that, exists God's throne room, the Third Heaven.
God is known to be both Transcendent and Immanent. I know, big theological words. But very meaningful words - for they explain what God did and how He is still very active in our lives. Being transcendent means that He has eternally existed outside our universe. Thus residing outside our universe, He could create it. And being immanent means that once the Transcendent God had created the heavens and the earth - He is Immanently, i.e., actively, involved in running His universe:
We are told in Matthew 10:29 that He cherishes and is involved in the care of even the birds of the air, "Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father's will."
And, we are told in Luke 12:7 that God loves us so much that He even know the hairs on our head, or for some, the hairs that used to be on our head, "But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows."
Yes, the Transcendent God who, from outside our universe, created the heavens and the earth - is also the Immanent God who is intimately involved in all aspects, large and small, of our lives.
In Genesis 1:1 and subsequent Scripture verses, the Hebrew word for "create" is bara' and means to create from nothing, ex nihilo. We all know from physics class that matter cannot be created nor destroyed. Matter can change form (solid, liquid, gas, etc.), but it cannot be destroyed.
Did Enzo Ferrari create the Ferrari ex nihilo, out of nothing? No, he used existing materials.
Yet, in Genesis 1:1 we are told that God created (bara') the heavens and the earth. He created them ex nihilo, out of nothing. Because He is God, He could create matter out of nothing. A subset of His Creation is all the sciences, including physics, and all the laws governing those sciences.
The Conservation of Mass-Energy - is a scientific law called the Law of Conservation of Mass discovered by Antoine Lavoisier in 1785. Basically it states: matter is neither created nor destroyed. (https://www.boundless.com/chemistry/textbooks/boundless-chemistry-textbook/atoms-molecules-and-ions-2/history-of-atomic-structure-32/the-law-of-conservation-of-mass-194-3698/)
In Genesis 1:7 we read, "Thus God made (`asah) the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so."
So, what is the difference between "God created (bara') the heavens and the earth" - and - "God made (`asah) the firmament" ?
As we saw earlier,bara' means to create from nothing, ex nihilo. While `asah basically means to "make room." You move your furniture around to make room for a new chair. God moved the waters below (subterranean waters) from the waters above (earth's atmosphere, i.e., it was thought that a protective mist surrounded the newly created earth to protect it from harmful rays) - to make room for the firmament, our atmosphere. Science tells us that our atmosphere extends about 50 miles above earth - and then space begins.
In the past several centuries, some theologians and church leaders, in their desire to make the Bible and science stand side-by-side in authority - and to accommodate their secular science associates - have devised non-Biblical theories and suppositions in an attempt to adapt the Bible so that it agrees with secular science.
In other words, to appease their secular associates, they are willing to compromise the revelation given to us by God in His Bible. To accomplish that, these theologians and church leaders have created a theological concept called: The Gap Theory.
History of the Gap Theory: Before getting into the Scriptural aspect of this discussion, one needs to first understand the background and history of the gap theory. Thomas Chalmers (1780-1847), a notable Scottish theologian and first moderator of the Free Church of Scotland, is credited with being the first proponent of the gap theory. His proposal of the theory was first recorded in 1814 in one of his lectures at Edinburgh University. Until 1814, no theologian had put forth the idea of a gap between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2. Chalmer’s teaching to a great extent reflected what was happening in the late 1700s and early 1800s.
What is the Gap Theory? The gap theory comes wrapped in many different shapes and forms. There are as many variations of this theory as there are theologians to support it. Simply stated, the gap theory is the idea that a long period of time existed between God’s initial creation in Genesis 1:1 when "God created the heaven and the earth" - and Genesis 1:2 when the earth was "without form and void."
Most gap theorists believe that prior to Genesis 1:2 the "first" earth was inhabited by angelic creatures, such as Lucifer, as well as the mysterious dinosaurs. A pre-Adam race of men is also thought to have populated the earth at this time. Many gap theorists teach that the world existed in this manner for millions of years, if not billions.
The gap’s end is believed to have occurred when God, finding iniquity in Satan’s heart, was compelled to destroy the earth with a flood and make it "without form, and void" (Genesis 1:2). God then proceeded to "re-create" the earth in six literal days as described in Genesis 1:3-31. The gap theory, also known as the "ruin-restoration" theory,. . . . ("The Gap Theory" by Kent Hovind - http://www.beaconmbc.com/articles/thegaptheory.htm)
So, to answer your question 2: "Could the earth be more than 6000 years old?" Short answer: Give or take a few thousand years, NO.
God's plan is always perfect. He chose to create the heavens and the earth for His own purpose, in His own time. He did not need, nor according to the Bible, did He use millions or billions of years. Those are man-made constraints - and God is not bound by such limits.
(3) Was Noah's flood local or worldwide?
Let me give you a thought to consider. If you wanted to flood an area of a field with ten foot of water - and you start pumping water into that part of the field - will the water stay there until it reaches ten foot depth? Or will the water distribute over the full field so that you have only inches of water spread across the entire field? We both know the answer. Without constraining walls to hold in the water - it will flood the entire area of the field and beyond.
Now apply that to the Middle East during the flood. Scripture tells us the water was so deep it covered the mountains. What could have constrained that much water to just the Middle East?
Genesis 7:17-20, "Now the flood was on the earth forty days. The waters increased and lifted up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. The waters prevailed and greatly increased on the earth, and the ark moved about on the surface of the waters. And the waters prevailed exceedingly on the earth, and all the high hills under the whole heaven were covered. The waters prevailed fifteen cubits upward, and the mountains were covered."
I offer the excerpt below from an Institute for Creation Research (ICR) article - and ask you to consider the relatively recent Katrina flood - and the current Harvey flood. Then give thought to the statement in the ICR article excerpt below: "God promised never to send another flood like Noah's Flood (Genesis 9:11, 15), but there have been many local floods, even regional floods, since Noah's Flood."
Did Noah's Flood Cover the Whole Earth?
Acts & Facts magazine,
Institute for Creation Research,
by John D. Morris, Ph.D.
http://www.icr.org/articles/view/1063/307
In fact, I have counted over 100 times when the (Scripture) wording implies a global flood. Consider these few quotes of the many: "the face of the earth (i.e., planet)" (Genesis 6:1) ~ "end of all flesh . . .the earth is filled with violence . . .I will destroy them with the earth" (Genesis 6:13) ~ "destroy all flesh wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven, and everything that is in the earth shall die" (Genesis 6:17); etc., etc.
Furthermore, God promised never to send another flood like Noah's Flood (Genesis 9:11, 15), but there have been many local floods, even regional floods, since Noah's Flood. If Noah's Flood was only a local flood, then God lied to us. Likewise, there was no need for Noah to build an ark for his survival for he had many years' warning (Genesis 6:3).
Bill Gray Note: If the flood was to be local to only one area of the world, Noah had 100 years to leave that area and go to where there would be no flood. But, obviously Noah was both faithful to God - and Noah knew that once God brought the flood it would be worldwide and the only safe place was on the ark - just as Jesus Christ is the only "safe place" or way - for people to be saved.
Perhaps more convincing is the fact that Jesus Christ based His teaching of coming judgment on all mankind, on the fact that Noah's Flood judged all mankind (Matthew 24:36-39, Luke 17:26, 27). A local flood implies a partial judgment.
"But, Bill, how could there have been enough rain water to flood the entire earth?" That is a good question.
Genesis 7:10-12, "And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth. In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights."
There were two large sources of water upon the earth, then and now. We know from the current Harvey storms that great floods of water can be released upon earth from the heavens. And, science has proven that there are massive amounts of subterranean water (subsurface water, underground water) located in rocks in the upper portion of the earth's crust in a liquid, solid, or gaseous state.
Earth May Have Massive Subterranean Water Reservoir,
Bigger Than All Our Oceans
Danielle Wiener-Bronner, Mar 12, 2014,
The Atlantic Magazine
https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/03/massive-subterannean-reservoir/359108/
There could be a large body of water buried deep beneath the Earth's surface containing as much water as in every ocean combined, according to new scientific research. . . . according to research leader Graham Pearson, he and his team discovered a rare mineral that suggests a reservoir may exist 250-375 miles beneath the Earth's surface, below the crust.
Does anyone doubt that God could open the floodgates of heaven, pouring down massive amounts of rain? The people of Texas most certainly know that - and, NO, I am not, in any way, suggesting that God has brought this current catastrophe upon the good people of Texas. I am only using Katrina and Harvey to show the power that God could have unleashed upon the sinful world in Noah's day.
And, with massive amounts of water beneath the surface of the earth - would not great geological upheavals, i.e., worldwide earthquakes, break open the subterranean water reservoirs - adding to the rain induced flooding already underway?
Finally, keep in mind that water, from above or below, does not stand in a massive column - but instead distributes widely, i.e., worldwide.
So, in final summary of these three very important questions which affect our Christian witness:
Question 1: "Were Adam and Eve the first humans?" ~ According to the Bible, YES, they were the first humans.
Question 2: "Could the earth be more than 6000 years old?" Short answer: Give or take a few thousand years, NO.
Question 3: "Was Noah's flood local or worldwide?" Common sense and science show us it had to have been a worldwide flood of massive proportions.
To my new Facebook Friend who posed these questions, thank you very much. Responding to posts of this nature is rather like being in a good interactive conversational Bible study - where one person may be leading - but we ALL are learning. Thank you for this opportunity to learn more from God's Word.
God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,
Bill
No comments:
Post a Comment