A Recent Creation
The Bible presents the history of this planet as a great controversy between Jesus and Satan that has been going on for a few thousand years. Throughout history, God has been aware of the sufferings of the inhabitants of earth and has desired to bring pain, suffering, and death to an end as soon as possible. The end will come when sin has reached its climax, this is why the time of the end is described as ‘..great tribulation, such as never before nor will ever be’ (Matt. 24:21)
A RECENT CREATION
One of the most hotly debated topics of modem times is the question of how life came to exist on earth. There are two basic choices:
- through slow, naturalistic processes of evolution of hundreds of millions of years, or
- through a recent, fiat Creation…a few thousand years ago.
The contrast is stark and is a question of time—how long has life been on this planet? Both claim that the entire universe was made from nothing. Only one can be true, either our entire universe and all that is in it is purely random or it is by design through God.
For the Creationist, there is a narrative that was told by God himself how all things came to be which is evident by examining the world/universe in which we live, the intricacies of life in plants/animals/humans, and emotions of the human race such as that of love and kindness.
The conclusions of modem evolutionary science have made the defense of a recent Creation less and less popular even among conservative Christian denominations. The arguments presented here are based on the acceptance of God’s Word.
How long?
Do we know how long it has been since Creation week? Do these passages in Genesis 1:1-2, 2 Peter 2:2-5, Genesis 5, Genesis 11 suggest that the world is about six thousand years old?
It must be recognized that there is no single verse in the Bible that tells us precisely in what year or how long-ago Creation week took place. Nevertheless, there is a considerable amount of chronological data in the Bible that, when looked at collectively, points to a recent Creation. For this reason, the idea that the first week of Creation occurred only a few thousand years ago has been the general understanding of both Jewish and Christian believers throughout history. This understanding was almost universally accepted among believers until the nineteenth century, when findings of modem geology began to challenge that conclusion.
Christians do not have to be at a loss on this issue. Collectively looking at scripture and the evidence found in the earth and heavens. Under the menu title Affirming Truths 1, are pages titled: ‘Creation, Literal or Not? and its subpage titled “Dinosaur Truth”…’ which offer much more information on this topic.
Over the centuries, many students of the Bible have been fascinated by the chronological data in the Bible and have attempted to use that information to reconstruct a chronology of the world. However, the chronological material in the Bible is not always easy to understand, and scholars have not been able to agree on a single biblical chronology. Thus, it is not surprising that by 1738, Des Vignolles of the Royal Society of Berlin, could claim that he knew of at least 200 biblical chronologies, with the dates for Creation ranging from 3500 to 7000 B.C. The most familiar of these chronologies was that of the Archbishop James Ussher (1581-1656), of Armagh, Northern Ireland, whose time scheme was widespread because it was selected for use in the margins of the King James version of the Bible in A.D. 679. According to Ussher’s time scheme, Creation took place in the year 4004 B.C. Ussher’s date was later refined by Dr. John Lightfoot, of Oxford, who argued (unfortunately without solid biblical support) that Adam was created at 9:00 a.m. on October 23, 4004 B.C.!
There are other evidences besides Ussher for a short chronology. The 200-plus different biblical chronologies noted by Des Vignolles tell us two things. First, it tells us that biblical data can be understood as relatively recent, and secondly, all of these chronologies point to a recent Creation. Thus, in spite of some uncertainties, there is no reason for suggesting that the Bible teaches that Creation occurred millions of years ago, or over a period of many millions of years.
Gaps in time?
Can anything be found concerning gaps in the biblical genealogies? Ezra 7:1-5, 1 Chronicales 6:3-15
Some have suggested that the amount of time that has elapsed since Creation week might be extended if there were generational “gaps” in the genealogies of Genesis 5 and 11. It is true that often in both the modem and ancient Near Eastern genealogies, the father-son relationship is not always meant to be taken as direct – the so-named “father” may actually be a grandfather, great-grandfather, etc. There appear to be such cases of compressed genealogies in portions of the Bible written later. For example, if the genealogy of Ezra 7:1-5 is compared with the one given in 1 Chronicles 6:3-15, it appears that six generations are omitted in Ezra. Apparently, in this passage, noting the line of descent was more important than providing the complete record of the genealogy (see SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 1, p. 186).
Genealogies were produced by ancient peoples for a variety of reasons. Many ancient Near Eastern genealogies that have been discovered were produced by the sociopolitical elite of large state or government bureaucracies. The genealogies produced were, not surprisingly, usually concerned with the succession of office holders—especially kings, and also on occasion, priests (who functioned politically as well as religiously) and scribes. The purpose of these genealogies was to give status to individuals and to justify their holding of an office or certain land.
Later biblical genealogies especially after the rise of the monarchy—also at times had this purpose. The Israelite exiles returning to their homeland were undoubtedly concerned on occasion as to how they could reclaim ancestral lands, and genealogies might be important in assisting them in this purpose. Genealogies would also be important for determining the legitimacy of those who claimed to have rights to certain offices, especially Levitical offices. This may be part of the reason why the books of Ezra and Nehemiah recorded genealogies of the returning exiles (see: Ezra 7, Nehemiah 7). Disputations over genealogies to establish one’s rights or status in society is probably what was behind Paul’s caution not to waste time arguing about genealogies (1 Timothy 1:4, Titus 3:9); it was not a concern over chronology. By contrast, the genealogies of Genesis 1-11 have a different function, which clearly reflects the concerns of a pre-monarchal, tribally structured society (the people for whom Moses was originally writing). The genealogies, thus, are uniformly concerned with ancestral lines that involve relationships that are only those of kinship; not of office and land-holding where compressed genealogies were sufficient.
The Different Purposes for Ancient Genealogies
After reading the following explanation, do you think there are gaps in the genealogies of Genesis 5 and 11?
There are several reasons for believing that the genealogies of Genesis 5 and 11 were not deliberately compressed as others sometimes were. First, these early biblical genealogies cannot be simplistically compared with other ancient Near Eastern genealogies, or even those that appear later in the Bible. None of the ancient Near Eastern examples have a precise parallel with the way the genealogies of Genesis 1-11 are written (see Richard Hess, Biblica, vol. 70, pp. 241-245).
Specifically, the genealogies in Genesis 5 and 11, are unique in that they are expressed in what is called a “chrono-genealogical” formula. That is, when person X lived so many years, he begot person Y; after he begot Y, he lived so many more years; altogether he lived Z years. (See Origins, vol. 7, no. 1, 1980, pp. 23-37; vol. 7, no. 2, 1980, pp. 53-70.) As T. C. Hartman observes, the length of years lived and the age at which the next figure named was begotten “is never recorded in the Ancient Near Eastern king lists. This is in contrast to the biblical genealogies for whom the only purposes in using numbers seems to be that of recording the life span of each name bearer and the age at which he begot the next name bearer. …”—”Some Thoughts on the Sumerian King List…,” Journal of Biblical Literature, vol. 91, pp. 25-32. Not only is this formula unique to the Bible, it is constructed so tightly as to make it impossible to disrupt by the insertion of a generational gap.
This tightness is reinforced by the Hebrew verb used in these passages “begot” (wayyoled-et); it is the verb most commonly used in the Bible to express the actual physical fathering of an offspring (Judges 11:1; 1 Chronicles 8:9, 14:3; 2 Chronicles 11:21,13:21, 24:3). When combined with the unique genealogical formula, it is virtually impossible to insert generational gaps into these particular genealogies. The combination of the unique time formula with this verb form suggests that the author of Genesis 1-11 was interested in both time and the accuracy of this genealogy.
| When you consider all the seemingly uninteresting genealogies in the Bible, why do you think God wanted them there? “In light of what we have just studied about genealogies, how might an understanding of the way they function in the Bible strengthen one’s belief in a young earth, a literal 6-day creation with a 7-day weekly cycle? |
God has never been without faithful witnesses on the earth. The pre-flood (antediluvians) may not have had written records that we know of, but we generationally close to Adam and Eve having much less degeneration, mutation. And, for hundreds of years there were seven generations living on the earth during the same time, providing the opportunity of sharing information together and profiting one another by the knowledge and experience of all.
For example, Enoch could have easily listened to Adam telling of his experience in the Garden with the serpent, the decision to disobey God, the fall-out that occurred, and the direct words of God regarding the promised ‘seed’ that will provide salvation. The idea that Enoch could have met Adam is possible only if one assumes that the genealogies of Genesis 5 and 11 are to be taken in a straight-forward manner as they read—with no gaps. If this is the case, then Adam and Enoch would have overlapped by 308.
Enoch’s translation serves as a warning to us who are living in the final days of Earth’s history. “Enoch’s translation to heaven just before the Flood is paralleled by the translation of the living righteous from the earth and the destruction of the wicked at the Second Coming. Methuselah, the son of Enoch, listened to the preaching of his grandson Noah, who faithfully warned the inhabitants of the old world that a flood of waters was coming. Methuselah, his sons, and grandsons lived in the time of the building of the ark. They, with some others, received instruction from Noah and assisted him in building the ark.” (See Spiritual Gifts, Vol. 3, pp. 59, 60.)
Summary:
While we cannot be dogmatic on the precise year when Creation took place, all the available biblical information points toward a recent creation of life on this planet, on a few thousand years ago. The evidences found in the fossil record, the cosmos, etc. does not support millions of years. From a Christian perspective, the Bible is clear that sin came into our world through Adam; and it is because of sin that pain, suffering, and death followed…IN THAT ORDER. Scripture does not support the idea that this occurred in reverse. God’s love will not allow pain, suffering, and death to continue much longer. He intends to redeem the earth and its inhabitants soon, restoring the earth, heavens, and humanity to our original rightful place.