How Old is the earth and can we tell? Understanding Gensis chptr 1 and 2.
Gen 1:1,2 says: Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
We dont know how long the earth had been here at this point. Millions of years, thousands of years? There is no answer.
God didnt start counting the days until the 3rd vrs
...Now from verse 3 it is clear God counted a day as there was evening and morning as one day... Starting from God saying " Let there be light." Remember there was already darkness, the light is new. From that point on "and there was evening, and there was morning-the first day."
So we have from Vrs 3 through verse 31 6 litteral days to create everything around the earth, which we know is already formed. It says so in vrs 2.
Now the creation of animals and man on the 6th day.
God created the animals that walked on the earth the same day he created man.
The birds and Fish were created on the fifth day.
Vrs 26 After creating the animals God said
" Then let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea, and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."
When God speaks of man as them in this vrs; He speaks of man as a whole: aka mankind!
~Sounds simple enough right, but here is where we get into the controversy. People want to assume that here we have two stories of creation. This version and the version in chapter two, that God created more than one man and one woman. But the rest of the vrs does not support that claim. Vrs 27 says "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
The key word is in bold letters. Him is singular, he only addressed them when he speaks of the man and woman together. God created him not them. Which leads us to chapter two.
Chapter 2 of Gen is nothing more than a detailed account of Gods creation of the first man and woman. God already had it all planned out on how it was going to work, we see that in Vrs 5.
Note in chapter two God made the man Adam and put him in the garden of Eden which He had made specificaly for Adam vrs 8.
Which brings us to Vrs 18 The Lord God said, " It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him."
Which in all accounts should eliminate the doubt that other men and woman even existed. If there were other men and woman God wouldnt of been able to claim there wasnt a helper suitable for him. Adam wouldnt of been alone, and obviously wouldnt of needed help. Here we see again God addressing man as a singular person. There is no evidence of other men being created or around, not in the first Chapter or here in the second. And ofcourse is goes on to say vrs 22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.
Now Realy if there had been other woman on earth, why would'nt God just bring a woman to Adam. Certainly if God brought animals to Noah in pairs of two God could of brought one woman to Adam. The answer is simple and the scriptures are clear, When God created man on the 6th day, He created one man and one woman, and gave them charge to Gen 1:28 " Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it."
And one last thought. If God had already created more than one man and one woman why would he have to tell the man and woman to increase in number?
