CHAPTER 10
AGE OF THE UNIVERSE AND EARTH
First, let us dispense with a concern among some believers which causes them to conclude the earth is only 6000 years old based on the account from Genesis 1. That is not what the Bible says. The renovated earth is just over 6000 years old, and man has only been on the earth for that period of time, but the same earth in its original form is much older, maybe tens of thousands, or hundreds of thousands, or even millions of years old. The Bible reveals that the earth has had three time periods in its history, one period of time for the angels when the earth was originally created for them, which was an ancient period, another period of time for mankind when the earth was renovated for them, which was recent, and in between those two periods was another period of time when the earth was in a deep freeze status with no creatures allowed to use it because God had thrown the angels off the earth and shut it down after many of the angels led by Satan had revolted against God. This is why the earth must be much older than 6000 years, and the Bible supports this fact. The evidence of fossils and other remnants of the Age of the Angels on earth also shows why it must be ancient. Therefore it is not an inconsistency that man is recent but the earth is ancient. The Bible reveals the timeline which allows for both dinosaurs living a very long time ago on the earth and man being put on the same earth a relatively short time ago, about 6000 years. Genesis chapter 1 compared with other portions of the Bible make all of this understandable, and it is all consistent.
The age of the universe has long been debated. Although we can look at smooth stones in river beds and wind-eroded hills, God could have either created them in that form, or these could have been worn over millions of years. Either is possible. Were the river stones worn smooth from millions of years of water flowing over them, and bluffs and rock arches eroded by wind over millions of years, and did the glacier moraines slowly move dirt over thousands of years, or did God create that original universe with all the appearances of a multi-million year old universe in place from the first instant of creation? We do not know, but any of these are possible. Although no one can determine the exact age of the universe and earth, only the Bible reveals what has actually happened during the very long expanse of time from original creation until now, and also what is in store for the future.
As mentioned above, we know that the universe and earth have been through three stages so far, which are:
1) From original creation, during which time the angels were living on the earth in harmony with God, until the fall of some angels
2) After the fall of angels, the earth was put into a long deep freeze by extinguishing the sun, and remained so until God was ready to create humans
3) The earth was renovated (6000 years ago) and man has occupied it since that time.
In order to determine the age of the universe and earth we would need to know how long each of the three periods of time listed above lasted. The period from original creation, during which time the angels were living on the earth in harmony with God, until the angels revolted and were thrown off the earth is an unknown period of time. It would be pure conjecture to estimate how long that harmony between God and the angels lasted. The only clues are from the earth itself regarding wear of the earth, but they could be false clues since God could have created the earth with smooth stones and all the evidence of millions of years of wear. That is actually likely, since God does not create junk and allow it to look better over time from natural processes. So even the clues from earth are inconclusive. The second period of time from after the fall of angels when the earth was put into a long deep freeze by extinguishing the sun is also an unknown period of time. The Bible provides no real clues and the clues from the earth are not conclusive, although the fossils can probably be trusted to show a long period of time. But the fossils could have started while the angels were still on the earth, not after. In fact, fossils do not form very well under the conditions which would have been in place while the sun was extinguished and the earth was in a deep freeze. The temperatures would have been extremely low. Finally, the period from when the earth was renovated and man placed on it until now is well known to be about 6000 years.
So what can we conclude from this? An unknown period of time + an unknown period of time + 6000 years = an unknown period of time. Great...is that the best we can do?
We could leave it at that, but there are some things we can surmise. We can narrow the possibilities by postulating some generalities. We do know that the universe and earth are ancient. But we do not know how ancient. We can conclude that the renovation of the earth and man's time on it is recent, about 6000 years. We can speculate with caution about how long God might have been willing to wait after He shut down the earth after the fall of the angels until He renovated it for man to start the appeal trial of Satan and his fallen angels. But overall the age of the universe and earth must be left to the Reader since the Bible does not tell us enough to estimate the ages of either the universe or earth. The following will discuss how the Reader might think about how to narrow the possibilities.
We discussed in a previous chapter how there is not much difference in age between the universe and the earth, because the earth was created after the universe and angels were already in place. The earth was created for the angels to occupy, and likely not long after the universe was created. God's plan was to put the angels on the earth, not have them live in heaven. So the earth likely was created shortly after the universe was in place. Next, the Reader would need to consider how long the angels were in a state of harmony with God before the fall of Satan, then the interval between the fall of Satan and the subsequent creation of mankind, during which time the earth was in its Ice Age. God could have created man shortly after the fall of Satan and his angels, or it could have occurred a very long time later. This aspect of the Biblical view of time is not specifically revealed to us, but the issue is worthy of further discussion within reason as long as we do not engage in undue speculation.
Although there are no specific answers from the Bible regarding the length of time for the first two intervals, there are some questions we can ponder, but only as curious conjecture. The length of time from the original creation to the fall of the angels would seem like it could be a very long time. This was when the dinosaurs roamed the earth and angels lived in a societal structure on the earth, long before man existed. But regarding how long the angels lived on earth before the fall of Satan, we can see how that could have been a very, very long time period. But once the fall of angels occurred, it gets more difficult to conjecture, and remember we are conjecturing here, not stating facts revealed in the Bible because they do not exist. After the angels fell we know that there was war in space as fallen angels fought elect angels. This likely did not last for a very long time. The fallen angels were defeated, then God sentenced Satan and all fallen angels to the Lake of Fire, but Satan appealed his sentence, asking to be allowed to show God was being unfair, unjust, and unloving. That is where man came into the picture. So we would conjecture about how long God waited before starting this appeal trial phase. That would be a period when the angels had been thrown off the earth, the sun turned off, and all living earth creatures and plants died. Nothing survived except fossils. Would God have waited millions of years to begin the appeal trial? Or would He have started it rather quickly? Those questions concern the time period between angels being thrown off the earth, and the restoration of earth for mankind and the creation of man. And once man was created, and then a woman, how long were they in the Garden of Eden until their fall? The Bible shows it was less than 130 years. Once the fall of man occurred, they were quickly thrown out of the Garden of Eden, much like the angels were thrown off the earth after their fall. And then time becomes much more certain. We know from the Bible genealogies that from the fall of man until now is about 6,000 years.
Our main point will be that the issue of how long man has been on earth, and the age of the universe, and the timing of the creation of angels, and on and on all fit within the narrative of Genesis chapter 1 and the entire Bible. All is in agreement. We are not concerned that there are dinosaur fossils on earth but man has only been around for 6000 years. These issues are reconciled in the Bible. The earth is ancient, but man is recent. Man and dinosaurs did not coexist on the earth at the same time. This is what Genesis 1 reveals to us, since it summarizes everything from the original creation of time and the universe through the point where man was created and placed on the renovated earth in a renovated universe. The first chapter of Genesis is often misunderstood, but we will unravel the issues here.
Although the details of Genesis 1:1 will be examined in a future chapter, we can set the stage here. Genesis 1:1 describes the start of time and the creation of the original universe in a single verse. This was the initial creation of time and the original universe and the creation of the angels who occupied it. And this was long, long before the six days of restoration of the earth in preparation for man's occupancy which is described starting just one verse later in Genesis 1:2. This is an important point to understand, that between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2 there was a very, very long period of time. Genesis 1:1 was the creation of the original universe for angels and says “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”, and Genesis 1:2 goes on to say “The earth [became] without form and void.” meaning it was shut down after the sin of the angels, when the angels were evicted and earth entered an Ice Age. Eventually the earth was re-opened for man, and that is Genesis 1:3 and on, which does not describe the original creation of the universe but the restoration of the original universe and earth for mans' occupancy. And it is Genesis 1:3–31 which describes the restoration of earth and the universe which occurred only 6000 years ago. That is a summary, and we will cover the details where they better fit into the narrative.
Therefore the actual age of the original earth and universe could be either millions of years or it could be hundreds of thousands of years or tens of thousands of years. We know as a starting point that man has been on earth about 6000 years, and that Adam and the woman were sinless in the Garden of Eden for less than 130 years before their fall through sin. After the two humans left the Garden of Eden the genealogy of Genesis chapter 5 picks up and defines the timeline of man from there.
We know that God could have created the universe either with a weathered look or not, but it was likely a combination of the two. For example, river rocks were likely created smooth and roundish, since they had a purpose in being so. Similarly, what appears to be wind eroded rock formations, deep gorges, and so on were likely created that way. The angels could have co-existed with God in a sinless state for a very long time while the earth continued to weather and fossilize over time, or the fall of the angels could have occurred within a much shorter time frame after the universe was created. But remember, while the angels were on earth it was a perfect environment, not one which would have eroded and wind-blown everything. It was a gentle and placid environment. But after the fall of the angels they were removed from the earth, and then God either waited for a very long time before creating man, or man could have been created relatively soon afterward. Even fossils could have been created in place, but that is not likely. None of this is important regarding the plan of God for man’s lives on the earth, but we are exploring the Biblical view of time, and although it is interesting to us, none of it creates questions about the age of the universe and the longevity of mankind. That is the primary issue related to the age of the earth and timeline of angelic history prior to man, since not everything is revealed to us, although we are curious creatures and simply ask questions. Sometimes we will just not know we want to know. But we can know all we need to know, since enough is revealed to us. The key is to understand that everything fits into what the Bible reveals regarding the universe, angels, man, dinosaurs, the age of the earth, and so on. The key is that any and all of this is consistent with what the Bible says, and that there are no inconsistencies among the dinosaurs, fossils, glaciers, angels, man, and the timeline revealed in the Bible. Man is recent, but angels, the earth and the universe are ancient, although it is possible all could be relatively more recent than we assume. Any of these options fit into what the Bible reveals.
Believers who attempt to argue that the earth is only 6000 years old, including dinosaur fossils and everything else, should know that their view is misguided. That view of an earth originally created less than 10,000 years ago does not line up with what the Bible reveals. It also pushes unbelievers away from the gospel as they think believers must be living in an unreality. The universe and earth are ancient, but the renovated earth for man is recent, only about 6000 years.
So the earth has experienced three periods of time which complicates the issue of determining the age of the earth. The original creation was for the angels, then no creatures were allowed to use it for a period of time, and then man was placed on the earth after an extensive renovation. The Age of the Angels on the earth could have been a very long time or a shorter time, maybe millions of years or only thousands of years. Then the period in between often called the Ice Age could have been a very long time or a rather short time, maybe a hundred thousand years or only a thousand years. And now we are living in the third period of earth where we know the timeline very well, and it is about 6000 years. Therefore, as we have noted we have an unknown period of time + an unknown period of time + 6000 years. So there is no way to actually know the age of the earth. There is no dating process capable of assessing that age. The smooth stones and wind erosion provide no clues since they could have been created that way from God, or they could have worn smooth and eroded. No one knows for certain.
The following is the genealogy showing the timeline of the early time of man, which reveals how we know man has been on the earth only 6000 years, which also tells us how long ago the earth was renovated for man's use as described in Genesis 1:3-31: