The Bible and the age of the Earth.
Does the Bible say anything about how old the Earth is?
It certainly would have been nice if there was a verse
in the Bible that said something to the effect of,
"When Jesus was born the Earth was exactly 4134 years old."
Well, obviously there's not a statement like that in the Bible.
The Bible doesn't give us an answer in one specific place,
but many times the Bible does give you an answer.
And, in order to find that, you need to take several
different verses and put them together, almost like a puzzle.
So let's take a look at one piece of this puzzle at a time.
In one sense, the Bible does tell us exactly how old the Earth is.
You see, in Mark 10:6 Jesus said this:
"From the beginning of creation, God made them male and female."
So how long has humankind been on this Earth?
Jesus clearly stated that it was from the beginning of Creation.
In Genesis 1:26 and following the Bible explains to us
that God created Adam and Eve on the sixth day of Creation.
And so we have man on the Earth from the beginning of Creation.
But what does it matter if mankind was formed on day six?
We see in Exodus 20:11 the Bible says that,
"For in six days the Lord made the heaven, the Earth, the sea and all that is in them,
and He rested on the seventh day."
Quite simply, that piece of information combined with the information
from Genesis 1 and Mark 10:6 tells us that the Earth is exactly...
Drum roll... Wait for it....
Five days older than humanity.
But that doesn't really get us where we want to go, does it?
We need to know some more information.
So in order to determine a better figure for the age of the Earth,
then we simply just have to determine how long man has been here.
That's not as hard as it sounds.
In fact, speaking in rough figures, from us to the time of Jesus--
how long has it been?
Approximately 2000 years.
Secular history gives us that piece of information.
Since it is several years past 2000 A.D.--
that A.D. standing for Anno Domini: In the year of Our Lord.
So from us to Jesus: About 2000 years.
But then when we look at the other genealogies in the Bible,
we need to go from Jesus to Abraham.
So how many years is it from Jesus to Abraham?
Do you know secular history also volunteers this figure?
Turns out to be right at about 2000 years.
So from us to Jesus 2000 years. From Jesus to Abraham...
Abraham lived in about 2000 B.C.-- 2000 years before Christ.
So from us to Jesus: 2000 years. From Jesus to Abraham: 2000 years.
So we just have one final piece of the puzzle,
and that final piece is the number of years from Abraham to Adam.
Now we know from Genesis 1:1-5 that the Earth was created on day one.
We know from Paul's statement in 1 Corinthians 15:45 that Adam was the first man,
and we know from Genesis 1 that Adam was created on the sixth day of the Creation Week.
If we could determine the number of years between Adam and Abraham,
that would place us within five days of the beginning of the Earth.
So all that we would need to do to calculate that approximate age would be to go to Genesis 5
and look at the names of the fathers and then see the ages
that those fathers were when they gave birth to their children.
For instance you go to Genesis 5,
and it says Adam was 130 years old and he gave birth to his son, Seth.
And you can follow those fathers and sons down the timeline,
and there are about 20 to 22 generations there.
And you can add the 130 years and then the 90 years
and then the 35 years, etcetera.
And that gives you approximately 2000 years between Abraham and Adam.
You see, when you look at those 2000 years from Abraham to Adam,
you can't get that from secular history, but you can get that from looking at
the genealogies that are found there in Genesis 5.
The reason you can't get it from secular history is because of Noah's flood.
Noah's flood most likely would have destroyed all records of human history and genealogy
that weren't preserved on the ark or weren't preserved in a divine fashion through inspiration.
When we go to Luke 3, we find a list of 55 generations from Jesus to Abraham,
and those 55 generations give us about 2000 years.
In that same chapter, Luke documents that there were 20 generations between Abraham and Adam.
Well, so how is it that 55 generations would give us 2000 years
but then only 20 generations would give us 2000 years?
The simple answer to that is that those 20 generations
are of men who lived to be excessively old in our standards--
Methuselah being 969 and Adam living over 930 years.
You see, when we look at these time periods along with these genealogies between Abraham and Adam,
it's very simple to calculate the approximate number of years between them,
and it turns out to be right at about 2000 years:
From present to Jesus: 2000 years.
From Jesus to Abraham: 55 generations but about 2000 years.
And from Abraham to Adam: 20 generations, but still about 2000 years.
The Bible teaches after all the pieces have been put together
that the Earth is only about 6000 years old or so.
And this idea certainly contradicts the false notion
that the Earth is millions or billions of years old
and that somehow the Earth had been around for billions of years before humans arrived.
It is, after all, a relatively young Earth.