How Old is the Earth According to the Bible?

One of the arguments skeptics use to discredit the veracity and divinity of the Word of God is the Earth’s age. According to scientific investigation, the Earth’s age is billions of years – which is an established fact in the scientific community. If this is the case, how then can we reconcile science and the Bible since traditional Christianity says that the Earth is only 6,000 years old?

This argument is something that should not shake our faith. As a member of the Church, this dilemma can easily be solved by carefully examining not only the Genesis account but also the whole Bible as necessary. Join us now as we look at the biblical proofs that the Earth is not 6,000 years old and it in fact support the claim of the scientific community.

Did God Created an Imperfect Earth?

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Let us look at the Genesis account.

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep.”

Verse 1 tells us that God created the heavens and the earth IN THE BEGINNING. In the verse 2, we can find that the earth was without form and void.

At this point, let us ask the question; will God create something that is without form and void – something that is of no beauty, destroyed, and even inhabitable for human existence? Tough question to answer.

We can read in Isaiah 45:18, “For thus says the Lord, who created the heavens, who is God, who formed the earth and made it, who did not create it in vain, who formed it to be inhabited”. So God created the Earth not in vain. He formed it to be inhabited.

In addition to this, we can read in Job 38:4, 6-7 “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? . . . Who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted with joy?” In this verse, we can see that the Earth is created with beauty and not without form and void.

Time Gap between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2

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This can be a shocking truth to you but the first and second verses of Genesis 1 allow a time gap that may extend to billions of years. Let’s examine the two verses.

According to some Bible scholars, the verb “was” in verse two can be translated as became. The original Hebrew word for “was” here is Hayah. According to Strong’s Dictionary, hayah means:

“A primitive root (compare H1933); to exist, that is, be or become, come to pass (always emphatic, and not a mere copula or auxiliary): – beacon, X altogether, be (-come, accomplished, committed, like), break, cause, come (to pass), continue, do, faint, fall, + follow, happen, X have, last, pertain, quit (one-) self, require, X use.”

With this in mind, we can translate verse two as “the earth became without form and void.” It is very clear now that Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2 allows for a time gap. How long that is? We cannot tell because it was not revealed; however, we can say that it may be billions of years as what the scientific community suggests.

What Caused the Destruction of the first Creation?

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We can see that the Genesis account is the re-creation. There had been an original creation before Genesis.

Before God created mankind, we can see that God created first the angelic beings along with the first creation. The angelic beings include Satan who later convinced a third of the angels to revolt against God (Revelation 12:14). The angelic revolt caused the earth to become without form and void. This explains why God needs to re-create the Earth. This also explains the nothingness of the vast universe.

I would speculate that it is the angelic revolt that managed to destroy some of the planets in our solar system, caused craters in the face of the moon, and even caused asteroids to roam around the space.

There is really more to talk about this topic and I don’t have time as of now to discuss all of them. So please check out our additional reading and free booklet for more information.

With this simple explanation, you can now be more confident that we, Christians, do not place our lives onto blind faith. Our beliefs can be proven and no matter what fiery dart the adversary may throw to us, we will stand strong and maintain our unshakable faith!

Additional reading:

The World Before Man: The Biblical Explanation

Earth’s Age: Does the Bible Indicate a Time Interval Between the First and Second Verses of Genesis?

12 Scriptures from the Book of Proverbs about How to Choose Your Friends

Free Booklet:

Creation or Evolution – Does It Really Matter What You Believe?

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