When Were We Created And Why?

THE CREATION OF THE EARTH AND THE HEAVENS

Many believe that the world according to the Bible is only 6,000 years old even though there is scientific evidence that it is likely more than a billion years old. Not all scientific understanding is correct of course but maybe some science can actually support what the Bible says. Some believe the earth is only 600 years old and that God created things to appear older. I bring this up just because there are wide ranging theological beliefs and at the same time, traditional beliefs that are handed down often without question. 

So how old is the earth? Let’s take a non-traditional look at some scripture.

Genesis 1:1-2 says “In the beginning God created the Heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void;”

This is followed by the description of God forming and populating the earth in six days, which in itself supports those that believe the earth is 6,000 years old. Biblical history from the time of Adam and Eve until today is approx 6,000 years, but consider this:

The Hebrew word for “was” is hayah (# H1961 in the Strong’s Concordance), which means basically to exist or to become. Maybe this means that the earth “became void” not “was void”. The King James translators did not have our modern day understandings about the probable age of the earth and of course did not consider that, when choosing which way to translate the Hebrew word hayah.

Now look at Isaiah 45:18 “For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited:” The Hebrew word “vain" used here is “tohu” (Strong’s # H8414) which is defined as to lie waste; a desolation. So this says God did not create the earth desolate or “without form, and void”. Does this not support the probability that the earth “became without form, and void”, not “was without form" or “in vain (desolate)". 

Science speaks of an Ice Age that ended approx 10 to 12 thousand years ago where the entire earth was covered with ice. This would mean the entire earth was overflowed with water, frozen water. I believe this is the more probable point at which the earth became void and without form. This “became void” then would be more than a billion years following the creation of “the Heaven and the earth”.

The traditional teaching of the 6 days of creation has us then at approx 6,000 years from the end of the Ice Age so that leaves quite a gap. 

So look at 2 Peter 3:8 “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” Additionally in Genesis 2:17 God told Adam “but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” Adam ate of it but did not die in a 24 hour day. He lived 930 years, just under a thousand years. It appears to me that a day for man is 24 hours but days in God’s time are a thousand years. Adam did die then within “the day” of a thousand years as God told him.

Conclusion: Just as with the Lord’s Day, the millennium, whenever God’s time is spoken of, a day is actually a thousand years for man. So if the six day creation was actually 6 thousand years, that would have the period from the ice age to now at approx 12,000 years. Bingo!

If this is correct, then the earth could be more than a billion years old and science and God’s Word would not be in conflict concerning this matter.

Now consider why God would create the world and then wait millions of years before creating you and me. Well, maybe he didn’t.

Isaiah 45:18 again, “he formed it to be inhabited;” more than a billion years ago? 

Now look at 2 Peter 3:5-6 “For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water perished:” The phrases “of old” and “then was” I believe emphasize an age long ago or a prior earth age, the time period prior to the ice age. This though is often taught as to be speaking of Noah’s flood but let’s look at Jeremiah 4:23-25 “I beheld the earth, and lo, it was without form and void (tohu); and the heavens, and they had no light. I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly. I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled.” Consider “no man”. If this were Noah’s flood there would be a man, at least 8 men and women on the ark.

My conclusion: God created the Heaven and the earth, and more than a billion years later it was basically destroyed and then remodeled so to speak over the span of 6,000 years (the 6 day creation). Why would this be and for what purpose. Remember, in Isaiah 45:18 he formed it to be inhabited, not void. Could we have been created angelic before flesh and placed on this earth, The Garden of God, in the presence of God and Heaven? 

Archeological diggings have found tropical plants and animal remains in places where they could not live today. Animal remains, primates, claimed by some to be our ancestors, have no credible link. There were no humans prior to this current earth age.

Was the entire globe during the first earth age tropical, Eden like? Could it be that we are currently living in the second of three earth ages that were created for us, the first being before the ice age, the second now and the third and final being the eternal Heaven and earth? I believe 2 Peter 3:5-7 is talking about these 3 earth ages.

THE CREATION OF GODS FAMILY AND THE REBELLION

Could God have created the first age to be eternal with us as his family in our spiritual bodies living in the National Park of all parks, but a rebellion occurred creating a reason for plan B which would be the second earth age? Let’s look at some of the support for this possibility.

Revelation 12: 1-2 may be speaking of the first earth age; “And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: and she being with child cried, traveling in birth, and pained to be delivered.” The woman here is the earth, which is about to birth the second earth age.

Revelation 12: 3-5 appears to be speaking of the beginning of and reason for the second earth age; “And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.” The woman here is the second earth age being born. The dragon (Satan) lied (“tail”) and caused one third of Gods children (“stars of heaven”) to follow him. This didn’t happen overnight. Remember the first earth age was more than a billion years. For this reason God created the second earth age because of that “one third”, for all of his children, billions of them, to have a choice of being born human (“and did cast them to the earth") so that they might be innocent of the prior knowledge and have a fresh choice to choose Him over Satan. God could have destroyed Satan and his followers but he did not want to lose so many of his family members that he loves. Satan now on earth in the second age stuck with his plan “to devour her child” (Christ) so that he himself could be the Messiah. The child (Christ) came in this second earth age as the Lamb but will “rule all nations with a rod of iron” (discipline and learning) at his second and final coming.

Genesis 2:1 (speaking of the conclusion of the 6 days of creation) “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.” The host would be us, the inhabitants (see H6635 in the Strong’s Concordance), all the host of the heavens and earth. More evidence that we were all created prior to our human birth and present with God before this earth age?

Genesis 1:26 “God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:”

This verse is often explained as “us” meaning the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit, but the Hebrew word here translated God is Elohiym (Strong’s #H430) which in the plural can mean God and the angles. Our flesh bodies are in the image or likeness of our spiritual angelic selves and the man Jesus, in the image of God.

Jeremiah 1:5 (God speaking) “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb.”This is usually explained as God’s knowledge of how he would create us. But, could this possibly mean how he had made us, our souls before the flesh?

Revelation 22:9 (An angel speaking) “for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets,” In other words, he was saying, I’m nothing special, I’m just like you! Are we like the angels, temporarily separated from our angel (angelic/spiritual) bodies for this earth age, having been angelic before and then becoming again after the death of our physical bodies?

Job 38: 4 “Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?” God asked Job this while discussing knowledge, and where knowledge came from. Job had allowed some friends to confuse him. Being innocent, lacking knowledge from the first earth age, God may have been giving Job some education concerning that.

Job 38:7 “when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” All of the sons of God (“morning stars") were there before “the foundations of the earth”, this earth age. The Hebrew word for foundations is yasad (H3245) which means simply to set. The Greek word for foundation is katabole (G2602 from G2598) which means a conception or to throw or cast down. The “foundations” (or reason) for this earth age appears to be due to Satan's rebellion. He will later, following the event in Job 38:7, be thrown or cast down to the earth. His rebellion was the conception, and again reason, for this earth age.

Satan’s rebellion - Ezekiel 28:12 mentions him being in “Eden, the garden of

God.” He being placed there to allow Adam and Eve (and then us) to be able to chose between good and evil. In Genesis 2:9, the Tree of Life was Christ, the tree of knowledge of good and evil was Satan. Satan was beautiful, not evil, prior to his rebellion.

Ezekiel 28:12-17 tells us how Satan was created a “model of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty; You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you. Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned. So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, O guardian cherub, from the fiery stones. Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings.”

His name was Lucifer, which means star of the morning. He allowed his beauty and wisdom, and pride to interfere with his Heavenly purpose. He was not satisfied with worshiping and serving God but instead wanted himself to be worshipped.

Satan’s following - Revelation 12:4 says “And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven,” The stars of heaven are God’s created children, us. It appears one third of us followed or were at least tempted by Satan prior to this earth age. 

Romans 9:11 says "(For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;).”

Ephesians 1:4 says “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world,” Before the reason of this earth age.

Were some of us chosen as first fruits or the elect before this earth age for being faithful to God, not following Satan during his rebellion?

John 3:5 Jesus tell us “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of

God unless they are born of water and the spirit.”Some teach this as Baptism.

Jude 1:6 “And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day."

Could these verses mean that God instructed all of his children that coming thru this age in a physical body (“born of water") thru the womb, innocent of knowledge of the past was necessary for passing judgment, but some chose to come here without being born of water (thru the womb)?

Ephesians 1:1-11 also tells us of Him knowing us before the creation and of predestination.

Romans 9:13 “As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.”

In this Jacob is of the elect because he was pleasing to God before being born of flesh and not subject to works in the flesh life. Esau was not pleasing to God because he followed Satan in the first earth age. It can be difficult for some to read, especially in the Old Testament, of God’s vengeance on some individuals and why he would hate them, or love them less (Strong”s #G3404). Could this not explain, because of their following Satan, how God would not be opposed to ending some individuals physical lives if doing so was needed to fulfill his plans. Why have, and why do, some individuals have to endure issues such as handicaps and long term pain, especially some that were, or are so, Godly in appearance to us. Maybe they are His special Angles meant to be inspiration to us. They will be rewarded. God is much more concerned with our eternal condition than that blink of an eye we have in the flesh.

Genesis 6:6 says “And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.” This is talking of our flesh lives and the pains and sorrows that come with it. He grieves at our suffering and the judgments that he has to exercise, but testing of all things and elimination of all that offends is necessary for the eternal Heaven and earth. God has not asked us to endure anything in this physical life that he himself would not endure. He experienced a lot of tribulation and suffering and a horrible death at the crucification to demonstrate this to us. He lived it.

All of Gods children are instructed to pass thru this earth age born of woman in the womb, (water to be innocent, Romans 9:11) to choose between good and evil and receive the gift of eternal life. Some it appears, the elect for sure, are already justified by their faithfulness to God before this age. Some (Jude 1:6) did not wait to be born in the flesh and came to the earth of their own accord. They did not follow God’s instructions and have sealed their fate, at judgment, to be cast into hell, the lake of fire.

Many others, some rebellious and perhaps some not so faithful, still have that choice to make. The elect earned their white garments (work rewards) in the first earth age, all the others will earn their garments in this earth age, some perhaps during the Lords Day.

I would surmise that God places souls into this earth age at whatever time and place he chooses (see Acts 17:26), perhaps according to our previous standing with him and to suit his plans; i.e. good and bad spread out accordingly thru time, many at specific times to serve His purposes with certain roles. 

Study the parable of the fig tree and consider what it means. Revelation 2:9 “I know thy works and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.” God saw to it that good and bad figs we’re set out in Jerusalem in 1948. This began the last generation, the end times.

Revelation 19:7 says “Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.”

Notice that this verse seems to indicate a bride and a wife. Christ already has a wife and is taking on a bride. Could the wife be those that overcame in the first earth age, the elect, and the bride be those that overcome before the end, or before the beginning of the third earth age and Heaven?

My conclusion: God created his family, spiritual like He, and a physical place, the universe. Lucifer, an archangel (Satan), rebelled and had quite a following. His desire is to be our god, instead of Jesus, and to have us worship him. God could have destroyed Satan then but would have had to destroy a great portion of his family also at that time. We are told in Numbers 14 and in Peter 3 that God is “longsuffering” and “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” All but Satan and some of his angels (those that left their first estate) have the opportunity to repent before judgment day. Satan is the only soul that has already had his judgment announced.

I have heard it taught many times that there are no second chances so if one dies without being saved, they are going to Hell. I would think that many have passed without having had a first opportunity, that is why Christ visited the “spirits in Prison, 1 Peter 3:18-20 and why there will be a thousand years of teaching, the Lord's Day, which may be the first chance many will have to know the truth.

Revelation 4:11 tells us that he ”created all things for his pleasure” He is not concerned with how much time it takes, but rather our salvation and eternal condition. Lucifer “that serpent of old called the Devil and Satan”, Revelation 12:9, will fight till the end. At the end he and all that do not reciprocate Gods love, and all things that are not pleasing to Him, will be cast into the lake of fire.

SO WHY WAS THERE A GARDEN OF EDEN

It is generally taught that Eve was tempted by a serpent (snake) and ate a forbidden fruit such as an apple and shared this fruit with Adam, and that this caused sin to enter the world. Is this what really happened? Let’s take a closer look.

Remember, symbolism is used throughout the Bible and trees are often used symbolically to describe individuals.

In Genesis 2 beginning with verse 16, God is telling Adam “Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat (partake?): But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”

In chapter 3 the serpent is described and we are told of how it convinced Eve to take of the fruit and she gave also to her husband. We are then told of how they became afraid (ashamed), covered their nakedness with fig leaves and hid from God. In verse 13 Eve admitted to taking of the fruit and told God that “The serpent beguiled me,” In verse 22, God explains that the man must now “take also of the tree of life,” This would be repentance following the sin.

The word beguiled means to deceive or seduce (H5377). 2 Corinthians 11:3 says “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty,” The Greek word translated here as beguiled is exapatao (G1818) which means to seduce wholly.

In many of the scriptures trees are used symbolically to describe people and entities. Ezekiel 31:8 describes Satan as a tree in the garden of God (the serpent, "tree of knowledge of good and evil"). Christ is our “Tree of Life”. Among other places this is also documented in Revelation 2:7.

 Revelation 12:9 describes Lucifer as “that serpent of old called the Devil and Satan” one of many names or roles that he possesses.

My conclusion: After the fall, the rebellion of Satan, God set his garden, Eden, onto the earth following the six day creation. Two souls from his family were placed in the physical bodies of Adam and Eve to be innocent of the past where they could choose who to worship. Satan was there (the serpent) along with Christ (the Tree of Life). So they had an innocent choice to choose between "The Tree of Life" and "the tree of knowledge of good and evil". Satan’s judgment had not yet been declared so perhaps all of Gods children still had that choice to make. Satan did not repent and sealed his fate at that time, and it was then necessary for God to remove access to us, while in the flesh, from his garden and fully proceed with plan B, the rest of this earth age.