Old Vs. Young

If I asked you, “How old is the earth?” your answer would reveal to me your worldview.

You may think this discussion belongs in a classroom or a debate hall, or that I am anti-science, but you’re wrong on both counts. This is not a question of science, it is a question of religion, a question of worldviews. In order for the age of the earth to be a science question then the idea of millions of years of evolutionary process would have to have begun with scientists but that is not the case!

Let me give you a brief historical/cultural context of “WHEN” the book of Genesis was written: It was written by Moses - under inspiration to ensure all the facts are accurate - during the Exodus period. It is important that we distinguish between “WHEN” it was written and “WHAT” it was written about - the creation of the world, man’s part in it, man’s sin, God’s judgment and the call of Abraham, leading to the foundation of Israel.

Coming out of Egypt, a polytheistic society, entering into Canaan, a land of many polytheistic societies, we can begin to understand why Moses, through the Spirit of God, chose his words carefully - “In the beginning God (and God alone) created (single hadly) the heavens and the earth.” This was more than a statement of faith, it was a declaration of war against these nations and their gods. “Watch out! God is on the move.”

This answers the questions “who” - Moses, “what” a declaration of war “when” during the Exodus, and leaves only one - “WHY”?

Why is Genesis important? Because it was needed to refute the evolutionary/polytheistic influence of the nations and to promote the supremacy of the One True God.

I said all this as a reminder that Satan HATES GOD - he has no new lies. The biggest lie being told today is that God isn’t real, the Bible is untrustworthy, you are all that matters, you are all there is, you are the only authority you will answer to. Nowhere is the lie shouted louder than in the theory of evolution, and to the shame of Christianity, there have been two major compromises in the church to “explain” how millions of years can be “read into the Bible.”

My friend, we are not to read anything “into” the Bible, but we are to lift the truth “out from” the Bible. Today I want to discuss these two theories and explain why we can simply trust what the Bible says to be true. Notice first...

The Gap Theory 1:1-2

Genesis 1:1–2 KJV 1900

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.

The “Gap Theory” is an ancient Jewish interpretation of Genesis that suggests God, in the very beginning, created everything but something happened which made God’s creation “without form and void” and caused “darkness” to be “upon the face of the waters.” This theory suggests that God had created a race of humans that predate Adam, and that Satan caused them to rebel against God and that in His judgment on Satan, when he was cast from heaven God had to send a pre-Noahic flood to destroy these almost-humans. This theory was not taken seriously until a little thing happened in 1829…

Darwin published his book “Origin of the Species” and now Christians are scrambling! He had began suggesting that the earth was several hundered thousands of years old, instead of the widley accepted 6-10000, he suggested that we were not created but that we evolved into what we are from a distant relative. Couple this with the discovery of dinosaur fossils and now Christians have a problem. How do we combat all this evidence, all this proof?

Unfortunately, rather than trusting the Bible, many compromised. They dusted off the nearly universally rejected Gap Theory and said - “Here is a ‘biblical explanation’ for Darwin’s old earth theory.” The idea is that between verses 1-2 there is a gap of an unknown period of time, and that, they suggest, is where the long age of the earth comes into play. My friends, if you believe in this theory, you do not have a true biblical worldview. Here is why:

This theory implies God made a mistake.

God is perfect, omniscient, and omnipotent - He is incapable of mistakes.

How then could He create a world that had to be completely wiped out?

This theory calls into question a lot about God.

If God is omniscient, why didn’t He see this coming,

If God had to destroy the world ans begin again, then it implies He is not perfect.

If this theory is true, why didn’t God do the same thing in Genesis 6-8?

There He sent a flood to destroy humanity, but Noah, becasue of his faith, was spared and thus the human race.

Noah wasn’t perfect, neither were the people that followed the flood, neither are we for that matter, so why didn’t God just give up?

Becasue there is no gap. Here’s another this theory isn’t biblical...

This theory is the result of poor interpretation.

The word “void” means - empty

“Without form” simply means shapeless

This was not the result of some prehistoric catastrophe...

Verses 1-5 all deal with just ONE day in the week of creation.

Notice the sentence structure:

Verse 1 - In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

Verse 2 - “And...”

Verse 3 - “And...”

Verse 4 - “And...”

Verse 5 - “And...”

These verses are a continuation of the creation process.

The earth was “shapeless and empty” because God was only in the beginning stages of creation.

Too often we think the only thing God created on the first day was light…we couldn’t be more wrong! On that day He created:

Time “in the beginning...”

Space “heaven”

Matter “earth”

The matter lacked:

form and energy

This is why the Spirit moved upon the face of the deep, pulling everything together into place for what the rest of the week would hold.

Then God created light - to tell time, to make a distinction between day and night.

When you understand this verse properly you see there is no room for millions of years because there is no gap. Lastly, and most importantly...

This theory places death and suffering before the entrance of sin into the world.

The Bible teaches clearly that death, sickness, and suffering is the result of sin.

Sin, which did not enter the human race until Genesis 3.

How then can there be fossil records that indicate sickness, death, and disease before the sin entered the earth.

Remember, the reason so many subscribed to the gap theory historically is because they could not justify the so-called evidence presented by Darwin.

I thank God for the faithful who stood by and declared that the Bible is true and trustworthy, but shame on those who gave into the pressure of the world around them. Listen, just trust the Bible. One more theory that needs to be discussed...

The Day-Age Theory 1:3-2:3

The obvious objections to the gap theory aside, it still was not enough to silence the questions regarding the age of the earth. Many were still confused about how science could indicate the world to be (then) several thousands of years old (today millions of years old), and yet the Bible says the world was created in just six days.

But wait, who says the days had to be literal 24-hour days? What was it Peter said in 2 Peter 3:8

2 Peter 3:8 KJV 1900

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 Peter was telling us something? What if he was saying that those days in Genesis did no refer to a 24-hour period of time but a period of a thousand, two, or even ten thousand years? This thought gave birth to the “Day-age theory.” Here is what is wrong, notice the:

Bad Theology - this verse questions God’s omnipotence, His power.

Could not God, who can do anything, and with Whom nothing is impossible, create the world in just 6 24-hour days?

Not according to this theory!

Keep in mind, the root problem is not just that men began to question God’s strength, but rather they questioned God’s Word!

He said He created the world in six days, that should be enough.

Why would they put more faith in what man said, than in what God said?

Yet that is what we do when we allow some skeptic to cause us to entertain doubt in our minds.

This theory, like the gap theory also rests upon...

Bad Interpretation -

they misinterpret Peter’s linguistic style in this verse

Peter doesn’t say, “One day is with the Lord a thousand years, and a thousand years is on day.”

He says that “One day is ‘AS’ a thousand years, and a thousand years ‘AS’ one day.”

Peter’s language and intent are clearly to be interpreted figuratively.

If you came into our home and we had the AC cooler than your likein, you may say, “It’s cold enough to hang meat in here.”

That doesn’t mean you’ll find a side of beef hanging from my ceiling, but that its uncomfortably cold to you.

Peter was implying that God, unlike us, is not bound by time. He is eternal so that one thousand years to us would be like only a single day to Him. We must interpret Scripture clearly. This is not the only bad interpretation...

They misinterpret the Hebrew word translated as “day”

Genesis 1, employs the Hebrew word “Yom” for day.

Yom is commonly translated “day” in our English Bible

While it can be used to describe an indefinite time, such as “in the time of the judges” it is never used to indicate “a period” of time, such as would be necessary to insert millions of years into the Creation narrative.

In every usage of the word “yom,” if it is connected with a number, such as in Genesis 1, “and the evening and the morning were the FIRST day,” it ALWAYS means 24-hour day

It is funny to me, that when God gave the law to Moses, no one questions the command “Six days shalt thou labor, but on the seventh day thou shalt rest” to mean we are to work for 6 million years and then rest for a million.

The only time anyone questions the literaly interpretation of the word “yom” is in the creation account in Genesis.

I wonder why this is?

Satan knows if he can get you to doubt the validity, the authority of the Word of God, if can get you to question its accuracy, then he can instill within you a secular worldview.

Conclusion:

If you get nothing else from today’s message, then get this: You can trust the Word of God.

Let’s bow our heads....

I wonder is there someone here today that is struggling with trusting the Bible. You are conflicted, you know what God’s Word says, but you are confused by what the world says. Friend, this message is for you. God sent you here today so that you can get some help, so that you can know that you can trust His Word. I want to pray for you. Would you raise your hand now, “Pastor, I’m strugging with trusting the Bible, will you pray for me?”

Maybe today you have realized the reason you’re struggling is that you do not know Jesus as your Savior, if you’re not sure of that would you raise your hand now so that I could pray with you?