Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
The question, How old is the earth?, is a fascinating study. And how long will it be until Jesus keeps His promise, "I will come again" (John 14:3)?
What the Bible says is squarely against the theory of macro-evolution: by adding up the life-spans of the antediluvian patriarchs (from Adam to Noah), and the subsequent Bible history so there is a total picture from Creation to the first coming of Christ, the sum comes to 4000 years--plus or minus a little according to interpretations of minor details by various scholars. This has been the view of most Bible students for several hundred years. Adding the years since Anno Domini, the birth of Christ, the Savior of the world, the total is about 2000, in fact, a bit more, making roughly a grand total of 6000 years since the Bible story of Creation.
Yes, scientists laugh; but there are the stark realities--either you believe the Bible or you believe the theory of evolution. There are competent scientists in all the fields of natural science who do believe the Bible record of God's creation in a literal six days and its subsequent history; add to this the fact that Jesus believed it as well as His apostles; then add the fact that millions of kind-hearted, unselfish, loving people believe the Bible and cherish "the blessed hope" of Jesus' second coming just like the Bible says. Add all this together and you have plenty of evidence on which to base a reasonable faith. The alternative: a despairing worldview.
One highly respected Christian writer, Ellen G. White, has written 40 or more times that the second coming of Christ will come within this period of 6000 years, implying that the "millennium" of Revelation 20 will be a "sabbath" of "rest" for a weary and worn-out planet before the joyous re-creation of a "new heaven and a new earth" of Revelation 21, 22. But the 6000 years are already up! Are we living in the biblical "millennium" now, or will we be when the next New Year rolls around?
Obviously, no. The best answer to such questions is: (1) God's word predicts a trial of faith known as a "tarrying time" (Hab. 2:3; Matt. 25:5 (King James Version); Heb. 10:37). Be patient! (2) Remember that whenever Jesus comes and "the door [for saving more people] is shut," you and I will wish we had done more to give people the Good News (Matt. 25:10). (3) Be thankful you have one more day in which to prepare, and to share with somebody somewhere a morsel of the Bread of Life. May this tidbit be a blessing to someone!
--Robert J. Wieland
From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: August 3, 1999.
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