Dating Creation
Sometimes
we read those genealogies in the Bible and think of them as the boring bits.
But
when you get into it, there are some gems in there.
If
we string together the genealogies from Genesis 5 and Genesis 11, and find a
few other verses we can actually get an estimated date for Creation.
Now,
before we start, let’s admit that if we measure in years, we might be out by a
few.
If
I say event B took place 50 years after event A. And then that event C took
place 34 years after event B.
It
might be correct that event C took place 83,84 or 85
years after event A.
(depending on how I treat “leftover” months).
For
the sake of argument, let’s ignore the leftover months, and just assume that
its 84 years.
And
the Jews seem to have counted 360 days as a year, but we count 365, plus 366
every 4th year.
So
we might be out a bit there too.
But
we are trying to get an approximate date.
Like,
was it 1000 years ago? 10,000 years ago? 1,000,000 years ago?
We
think from recorded history (basic archaeology) that Solomon became king in
970BC.
That was his first year, so
the 4th year of Solomon’s reign was 967BC.
1Kings
6:1 tells us that it was 480 years from the exodus to the 4th year
of Solomon’s reign.
So
we know the exodus was about 1447BC.
Genesis 15:13 tell us that the Jews were enslaved in Egypt for 400 years. But when they first got there Joseph was in charge of everything. Exodus 12:40 tells us that they lived there 430 years. So, they must have lived there 30 years before being enslaved. And Jacob and his family must have moved to Egypt around 1877BC.
Genesis 47:28
says that
Jacob was 130 when he got there. So he was born around
2007BC.
Genesis
25:26
says Isaac was 60 when Jacob was born, so Isaac was born around 2067BC.
Genesis
21:5 and Genesis 17:5 go together to tell us Abram was born 100 years before
around 2167BC.
Then
the genealogy in Genesis 11 gets us from Abram to Shem (Noah’s son).
V26,
Terah was born around 2237BC, 70 years before Abram.
V24,
Nahor was born around 2266BC, 29 years before Terah.
V22,
Serug was born around 2296BC, 30 years before that.
V20,
Reu was born around 2328BC, 32 years before that.
V18,
Peleg was born around 2358BC, 30 years before that.
V16,
Eber was born around 2392BC, 34 years before that.
V14,
Shelah was born around 2422BC, 30 years before that.
V12,
Arphaxad, was born around 2457BC, 35 years before
that.
And
finally, v10 tells us that the flood was 2 years before Arphaxad
was born, so it was around 2459BC,
and that Shem was born 100 years before
Arphaxad around 2557BC.
Genesis
5:32 only tells us that Shem was born sometime after Noah was 500.
But
we already know when the flood was, and Genesis 7:6 tells us Noah was 600 when
the flood came.
And
Genesis 11:10 already told us that Shem was 98 when the flood came.
So,
Noah was 502 when Shem was born. So Noah was born around 3059BC.
And
now, the genealogy in Genesis 5 gets us back to Adam.
V28,29 tell us Lamech was born around
3241BC, 182 years before Noah.
V24,
Methuselah was born around 3428BC, 187 years before Lamech.
Btw:
Methuselah lived 969 years, so he died in the year of the flood. The Bible
doesn’t say if he died in the flood,
but only that he died the same year.
V21,
Enoch was born around 3493BC, 65 years before Methuselah.
V18,
Jared was born around 3655BC, 162 years before that.
V15,
Mahalalel was born around 3718BC, 65 years before
that.
V12,
Kenan was born around 3790BC, 70 years before that.
V9,
Enosh was born around 3880BC, 90 years before that.
V6,
Seth was born around 3985BC, 105 years before that.
And
finally, in v3, Adam was 130 when Seth was born.
Now,
I assume that Adam was created as an adult, but that he started counting his
age from when he was created.
So
this tells us that Adam (and the planet) were created
around 4115BC.
So,
according to the genealogies in the Bible, Earth has only been around for
a
bit over 6125 years.
The resurrection of Jesus about 2000 years ago.
David and Solomon kings of Israel about 3000 years ago.
Moses led the exodus about 3500 years ago.
Jacob and family moved to Egypt about 4000 years ago.
The flood about 4500 years ago.
Creation about 6000 years ago.