EXACTLY HOW OLD IS THE EARTH?

EXACTLY, HOW OLD IS THE EARTH?

To start calculating how old the Earth really is, we have to open our Bible to the Book of Genesis:

Genesis 1:1-2

1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

 Verse 1 states that the Heaven and Earth had been created completely and it implies that this creation was already a finished work. There is no mention in the Bible how far back in time that this creation took place so here is where we will have to open our investigation. However, if you look carefully between verse 1 and verse 2, you might be able to see an unknown space of time that exists between the creation of the Heaven and Earth and verse 2. So, we will start at this point in our investigation since you may be asking where I see this revelation!

The first evidence that an unknown time space exists is because we see a collision of the storyline between the sentence of verse 1 to the sentence of verse 2. Why does it say that God created the Heaven and the Earth and than all of a sudden we read in verse 2 that the Earth is “without form and void” and “water” covered the entire surface of the Earth? Most Theologians might say that this was just part of the creation process, however, why did verse 1 of Genesis indicate that Heaven and the Earth were already created. If the work was not done, than Verse 1 would of said in the beginning God was creating the Earth and verse 2 would of connected with the story, however, it said created which means a completed work.

Can we reasonably agree that verse 1 said that God was completed and done with creation by the very statement “God created the Heaven and the Earth which meant “it was already done” as it is a “past tense” statement? So, why all of a sudden in Gen 1:2 does scripture state that the Earth is in a desolated form like a catastrophic or cataclysmic event had occurred? Well, something did happen and we have to look at pointers in the Bible that direct your attention to this destruction. For instance:

2 Peter 3:5

5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: 6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:

It is clear that Peter did not refer to Noah’s Flood in this scripture because he did not mention Noah nor did the world perish at that time as it was just flooded. However, Peter is referring to the Earth in Gen 1:1 and how it was standing out of the water (not covered in water) and than afterwards it was in the water just as stated in Gen 1:2. In Gen 1:2, the Earth wasn’t just flooded but it perished. This means the Earth itself was violently torn, pummeled and flooded, where total civilizations and inhabitants died and were completely removed. The Earth was violently smashed, divided and the light was removed which caused the form of the Earth to be irrevocably changed. What occurred between Gen 1:1 and Gen 1:2 was devastating and unbelievably destructive!

I hear you saying that you are not totally convinced this happened and I understand, so here is another scripture for you to paint a picture of the destruction that occurred:

Psalms 97:5

The hills melted like wax at the presence of the LORD, at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth. 

When do you think this event occurred folks as this sounds beyond destructive when the Hills of the Earth are melting like wax and you can begin to see why the Earth was without “Form” and “Void”? Things get pretty bad when the actual landscape has melted and there is no recognizable form to the Earth anymore as stated in Gen 1:2.

Ok, possibly you may still not be convinced so I will have to give you a powerful scripture to help you to comprehend that this Earth is far older than we think and a lot more has happened than first meets the eye in scripture:  

Jeremiah 4:23-26  23 I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. 24 I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly. 25 I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled. 26 I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the LORD, and by his fierce anger.

So, let me elaborate for you what Jer 4:23-26 is actually depicting. Notice in verse 23 that it immediately speaks of Gen 1:2 and than directs your attention to what existed on the Earth before Gen 1:2. Before the Earth was without form and void in Gen 1:2, we see that man existed, we see birds existed, we see fruitful places existed, we see that light already existed, we see cities existed and these cities were broken down at the presence of the Lord’s fierce anger. What caused such anger? Was it the war in Heaven and Satan trying to raise his throne above God’s throne or was it when he was thrown out of Heaven? 

Jesus said this about Satan:

Luke 10:18 

And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.

What happened when Satan fell from Heaven and where did he fall? He fell to the Earth folks and subsequently great tribulation and destruction happened and this occurred between Gen 1:1 and Gen 1:2.

I bring all of this up so you realize that the Earth is so old that man does not have the technology to exactly date it, however, science tends to put a date of the Earth being over 400 million years old. Whatever, the age, there is a vast history of the Earth that is by far unknown and the unknown time space between Gen 1:1 and Gen 1:2 accounts for dinosaurs, other creations of man species (ie: cavemen, etc.), ice ages, wars, the fall of Satan and more floods than just the flood during Noah’s time which is even backed up by science and archeology.  

Sunday School has always taught us that the creation of the Earth started in Gen 1:3-31 which simply is not correct as it describes the “re-creation” of the Earth after the destruction of Gen 1:2. Also, we were taught that Adam was the “first creation of Man” which is incorrect because we see that man was already made before Adam in Gen 1:26-28. While we are on the subject, do you notice what Gen 1:28 says?

Genesis 1:28

And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

Notice I underlined replenish in this scripture and here is what replenish is defined as in the Webster’s Dictionary:

* fill (something) up again: or restore (a stock or supply) to a former level or condition

If the Earth’s beginning was in Gen 1:3-31 than how is it that God is instructing man to “Replenish” the Earth? If this was the beginning of the Earth and the Heaven than why tell man to restore to a former level or to fill up the Earth again unless the Earth had already been inhabited and existed before. You see, the Earth was inhabited and it existed before Gen 1:2, otherwise God would not of said “replenish”.

Let’s talk about Adam for a moment and look at this scripture:

Genesis 2:7

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 soul.

Since Adam was not the first man created, than who or what was he? Adam was not the first creation of man, however, he was the first manifested, created Son of God because he was created differently than the other creation of men in Gen 1:27 and before Gen 1:2.  Adam was created and given the “Breath of Life” by God himself and also given a “Living Soul” which we don’t see happening with the previous creation of man. This means Adam was a different creation of man that did not exist before and Adam was not like other men and this is exciting to know that we are descendants of Adam through Jesus Christ. He was of such a high stature before God that Adam was spoken about by the Apostle Paul in connection to Jesus Christ:

1 Corinthians 15:45

And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.

If we go back to discussing Gen 1:3-31 which is the “re-creation” of the Earth than let me bring something else to your attention. Each day of the (6) days of creation is usually thought of as a 24 hour period, however, let us look what the Bible says about time explained in scripture:

2 Peter 3:8

But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.  

What if time as we know it in the “re-creation” was not (6) days but actually 6,000 years because each day is a thousand years as 2 Peter 3:8 gives the formula for interpreting time in creation. So, we now have to add this time to the age of the Earth and than we also have to look at the time of Adam in the Garden of Eden as this was an unknown amount of time. Adam could have spent thousands, tens of thousands or millions of years in the Garden because Adam was not of a flesh as we know it today but he had a higher level of fleshly body. If you don’t know this than let me help educate you. When Adam sinned and fell, notice he was forced out of the Garden of Eden and he was changed physically because now he was put under time of the “Natural Time of Man” and under a curse which he was not under while still in the Garden. By the way, this curse is removed from us when we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour!

If you don’t believe me than again use the formula of time from 2 Peter 3:8 and do some math with this scripture:

Genesis 3:8

And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.

Why even mention the “Cool of the Day”? Because it depicted a time frame or a time span. Did this mean that when God visited Adam in the “Cool of the Day”, that God visited him for a thousand years at a time and if so, how many “Cool of the Day” visitations did Adam have from God? Do you see the length of time that Adam could of been in the Garden?  

If we calculate the time before Gen 1:2, the (6) days (6,000 years) of the “re-creation” of the Earth, the time (1,000 years) that God rested on the seventh day, the unknown length of time that Adam was in the Garden of Eden, the time from Adam’s fall until our present day, we are looking at a very long, unknown time period.  I hope this helps you in your studies of the Word of God because this is the foundation and framework of our history as Christians which gives you the understanding of your future through Jesus Christ and a ready answer to those without Christ.