#3 in Proverbs / Age of the Earth

Age of the Earth

Prov 3:5 says, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding.”

Did Abraham have a son named Isaac?

Did David really kill Goliath?

What about the miracles of Christ? Did He really die and rise again? Do you agonize over whether those things actually happened?

I’m guessing not.

So let me ask you another question: how old is the earth?

That may seem like a non-issue, so let me ask it a different way: If the Bible told us how old the earth is, and that age contradicted what historians/scientists say, would you be ok with that?

2 Tim 3:16, “All Scripture is breathed out [inspired by] God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.”

Prov 3:5, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding.”

First, I want to establish why this is potentially important.

If we can ignore parts of God’s Word, we make ourselves judge of what counts.

If God’s Word speaks to the age of the earth, then it matters and we should listen.

So how can we establish the age of the earth from Scripture?

In the book of Genesis, God includes some genealogies in chapters 5 and 10. Should we take those genealogies seriously? According to 2 Tim 3:16, we should.

What do the genealogies tell us? I’m going to use this chart.

From Adam to Noah = 1,056 years.

From Noah (who was 502 years old, Gen 5:32) to Abraham = 892 years (+650 = 1,542).

1056 + 892 (1,542) = 1,948 (2,598) years from Adam (the Creation) to Abraham.

From Abraham to Jesus was 2,000 years (1,996 to be exact).

From Jesus to this moment is 2022 (+/- 5 years).

1,948 (Adam to Abe) + 2,000 (Abe to Jesus) + 2022 (Jesus to now) = 5,970 (+700 years a possibility, 6,670)

So how old is the earth? When did Creation happen? According to the Scripture the number is about 6,000 years, possibly as high as 6,700.

Does this matter? I’d like to share one reason it matters.

Luke’s Gospel gives us the fullest accounting of the birth of Jesus Christ. Chapter 1 records the birth of John the Baptist, Jesus’ cousin, and the announcement to Mary. Chapter 2 records Christ’s birth, the glorious appearing of the angels, and the arrival of the shepherds.

Chapter 3 records the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, starting with His baptism by John.

Tucked away right after Christ’s baptism, beginning in Luke 3:23, is one of those rare New Testament genealogies. But this is a genealogy of Christ. We see some familiar names in this list: Zerubbabel, David, Jesse, Boaz, Judah, Jacob, Isaac, Abraham.

But Luke’s list keeps going. In his list we see the same names that show up Genesis 10 and Genesis 5. Peleg, Shem, Noah, Methuselah, Enoch...they’re all here. The way Luke ends the genealogy is rather shocking: “the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.”

So why does any of this matter? It matters because if the genealogies in Genesis 5 and Genesis 10 are fictional, then so is Jesus’.

Where do you draw the line?

Do you treat the Bible like a buffet?

It’s all or nothing. You do not get to decide what is true. You only get to decide if you agree with God or not.

I say, “Let’s agree with all God has said!”

Will some people think you’re stupid. Absolutely. Will some call you a “fundamentalist?” Bring it on.

“Trust in the LORD” -- and everything He has said -- “with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding.”