When were angels created?

The Bible says in Exodus 20:11 that God made everything in those six days, heaven and earth and everything in them. The angels had to be made during the first six days, although the Bible doesn't state when. Several references seem to say that the angels rejoiced when the earth's foundations were laid, they must have been created early in the week. See Job 38:4-7. This passage may be referring to the angels watching the original creation or it may be they were watching the establishing of the earth's new continental levels after the flood. I don't know for sure.

Was there Death Before Adam Sinned?

The Bible teaches that death entered the world because of man's sin.
"Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin: and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:" Romans 5:12 "Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses," Romans 5:14 "For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead." I Corinthians 15:21-22 "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive."

Some Christians are committed to the idea that the earth is billions of years old. The biggest obstacle to this is the fact that there would be death before sin. These teachers often say that there was death before sin since Adam would have eaten (and killed) plants. This assumes, of course, that plants are alive in the Biblical sense. While there are hundreds of verses dealing with man dying the following scriptures will show that plants do not die in the same sense that a man or animal dies. Just as a computer is a complex machine able to run for hours at the touch of a button, a plant is a complex self-replicating food source but it is not alive. A computer can "die" and so can a car engine but they don't die in the sense people do. Plants have no breath or blood. Notice the distinction between plants and living things in these verses.
And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. 12And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good. 13And the evening and the morning were the third day.
Genesis 1:11-13

And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.
Genesis 1:20-23

And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so
Genesis 1:24
Notice that plants are made on day 3 and living things on days five and six.
And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. 30And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.
Genesis 1:29-30
Notice that the green herbs were given to the living animals for food.
But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
Genesis 3:3
God said the people would die not the tree or the fruit.
Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. 4And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: 5But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect.
Genesis 4:3-5
Cain's offering did not contain blood or life and was rejected by God. This is where we get the expression, you can't get blood out of a turnip. As beautiful as Cain's offering may have been and as hard as he may have worked to provide it, it was not accepted since there was no death.
And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die.
Genesis 6:17

And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female. Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive. And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them.
Genesis 6:19-21
Here we see a clear distinction between the living things and the food that is eaten.
They, and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort. And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life.
Genesis 7:14-15

All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land,
Genesis 7:22

And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth. 2And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered. 3Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things. 4But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.
Genesis 9:1-4
Now man is allowed to eat meat even as the plants. Here again we see a distinction between the living things and the plants.
And whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, that eateth any manner of blood; I will even set my face against that soul that eateth blood, and will cut him off from among his people. 11For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. 12Therefore I said unto the children of Israel, No soul of you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger that sojourneth among you eat blood. 13And whatsoever man there be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, which hunteth and catcheth any beast or fowl that may be eaten; he shall even pour out the blood thereof, and cover it with dust. 14For it is the life of all flesh; the blood of it is for the life thereof: therefore I said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh: for the life of all flesh is the blood thereof: whosoever eateth it shall be cut off. 15And every soul that eateth that which died of itself, or that which was torn with beasts,...shall bear his iniquity.
Lev. 17:13-16
Plants do not have blood and fruit and nuts fall from the tree and we eat them. If they were alive while on the tree and dead when they fall off this would be forbidden. Plants are said to "wither", "fade" and "fall away" but this is not death as man or animals experience.
I will surely consume them, saith the LORD: there shall be no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree, and the leaf shall fade;
Jer. 8:13

And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
Psalm 1:3

For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.
Psalm 37:2

My heart is smitten, and withered like grass; so that I forget to eat my bread.
Psalm 102:4

My days are like a shadow that declineth; and I am withered like grass.
Psalm 102:11

Let them be as the grass upon the housetops, which withereth afore it groweth up:
Psalm 129:6

For ye shall be as an oak whose leaf fadeth, and as a garden that hath no water.
Isaiah 1:30

For the waters of Nimrim shall be desolate: for the hay is withered away, the grass faileth, there is no green thing.
Isaiah 15:6

And the brooks of defence shall be emptied and dried up: the reeds and flags shall wither.
Isaiah 19:6

The paper reeds by the brooks, by the mouth of the brooks, and every thing sown by the brooks, shall wither, be driven away, and be no more.
Isaiah 19:7

The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass.
Isaiah 40:7

Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown: yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth: and he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble.
Isaiah 40:24

But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
Isaiah 64:6

I will surely consume them, saith the LORD: there shall be no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree, and the leaf shall fade; and the things that I have given them shall pass away from them.
Jeremiah 8:13

How long shall the land mourn, and the herbs of every field wither, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein? the beasts are consumed, and the birds; because they said, He shall not see our last end.
Jeremiah 12:4

Say thou, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Shall it prosper? shall he not pull up the roots thereof, and cut off the fruit thereof, that it wither? it shall wither in all the leaves of her spring, even without great power or many people to pluck it up by the roots thereof. Yea, behold, being planted, shall it prosper? shall it not utterly wither, when the east wind toucheth it? it shall wither in the furrows where it grew.
Ezekiel 17:9-10

Yea, behold, being planted, shall it prosper? shall it not utterly wither, when the east wind toucheth it? it shall wither in the furrows where it grew.
Ezekiel 17:10

For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:
1 Peter 1:24

A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
Ecclesiastes 3:2
People are born and die but plants are plucked up.
The only verse I have found that teaches that plants die: Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground; Job 14:8
This is Job speaking in this chapter not God and Job is talking about when men die in this passage. Be very cautious about taking doctrine from the book of Job. The Bible is the inspired Word of God. While it is true that Job (or one of his four friends) said the things recorded in Job, what they said may not be true. The Bible accurately records even the lies of Satan. This one verse from Job is not evidence that plants die in the Bible sense.
Summary:
The Bible is very clear that God made everything in six days. Exodus 20:11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. Exodus 31:17 It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.

Those who wish the earth to be older than the 6,000 years the Bible allows for are often trying to justify their position with compromises like the gap theory, the day age theory or progressive creationism. Each of these unscriptural positions calls for death before sin so nearly always they bring up the question about plants dying. We have seen this is not the case. Death before sin would nullify the need for the death of Christ and accuse God of creating a world with suffering and calling it good.

God's Word is accurate as it is written. There was no death before Adam sinned. There has been plenty of death since he sinned but Jesus came to redeem us from the curse of sin and give us eternal life. If you have not received His free gift of eternal life (Romans 6:23) why not ask for His forgiveness right now? Contact our office at: leftbehind@sc.rr.com if you would like more information on salvation, creation or evolution.

DOES GOD EXPECT MAN TO BE ABLE TO TELL TIME?

I think among many Christians the Age of the Earth could not be more of a non-issue. For others there is a huge division of those who passionately defend an Old Earth vs. those who support a young earth. On face value, it would seem not that relevant. But I firmly believe upon further examination of the Scriptures there are not options open to us who are commanded to "contend for the faith once and for all delivered to the saints". I also believe that if the age of the earth question were rephrased to ask "Does God expect man to be able to tell time?" and we can Biblically support the answer to this question, there then would remain no longer any doubt about man?s response to the question and question would no longer be open to private interpretation. I further maintain, that if the Bible is absolutely clear on this subject, it does not matter what science says. And my defense below does not depend on science, though it does answer some of the questions that science raises.
I think that one of the biggest arguments used by both Evolutionist and old earth Biblical Creationists which causes confusion in Christians and buckles the knees of even many young earth Biblical Creationists is the distance of the stars question. If the stars are so far away, then how could the earth be young? This is a very good question. Even many young earth Creationists, including astronomers, physicists, and geologists have varying and intriguing models to defend a young earth. But these models are, in great part, very dependent on science alone. And I believe that the Bible does not contradict science (when, in fact, the science is truth), or if it does, as in the case of miracles, then we are informed in the passage. But science explains only the physical and natural world and it often fails miserably at that.
But there are some very important Scriptures which are left out in these formulas for explaining the age of the earth. Both Old Earth and Young Earth scientific models are flawed in this respect. They leave out the invisible. Hugh Ross?s Universe--an old earth advocate, is solely governed by Physical laws. But the Bible has both physical (visible) and invisible laws and governing principalities. It is not even a matter of natural vs. supernatural, as even the natural world and universe is governed by the invisible. Here are the Scriptures that must be addressed:
Romans 1:20, "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse?
This Scripture is amazing in two respects. First it has man seeing and understanding from the beginning of Creation. So there is no billions or even millions of years that the earth was here before man appears. He is here from the beginning. But this passage is significant in a second respect that "invisible" qualities are used to govern the Universe, but they are qualities that continued PAST Creation week to this day.
Col 1:16, "For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and INVISIBLE, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together."
Once again the main principle of the Universe here is NOT visible. Christ the Invisible God holds everything together not Newton or Einstein's Laws or anyone else who ever lived.
Hebrews 11:3, "By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen (the physical universe of earth, sun, moon, and stars) is NOT MADE OUT OF WHAT WAS VISIBLE." It was made of what is INVISIBLE.
Here is where the natural laws and that which is visible as the only explanation of what has been observed completely collapse. Men such as Hugh Ross and Big Bang supports have almost everything made come from visible materials and debris left over in this imaginary explosion. Both Old Earth and even Young Earth Scientists even as Christians often give us E=MC2 Theory of Relativity. But in this theory along with the Big Bang Theory where is the invisible spoken of in the above Scriptures? The answer is NOWHERE. I don't know what percentage if any is attributable to the physical laws vs. the invisible laws. It might be 40%, it might be 99.9% invisible. It might be even be 100% invisible and the natural laws are only pale distorted images like Paul describes ("we see through a glass dimly"). Plus what is seen in the physical laws today has been subject to the curse from the Fall of Adam and the Second Law of Thermodynamics. And if as the Scripture reveal the "heavens wear out like a garment", what we see today may not even be recognizable. Though I should point out, if man is still without excuse according to Romans 1:21, according to what is still seen visibly, these distortions would have to have limits. For we are still without excuse even with these distortions. If Christ alone is holding the electron together from flying apart at the seams, no physical law known or unknown to man is going to hold it together. And if God says in the beginning "Let there be light" no physical law is going to bind him from bringing starlight to the earth instantly, because it is Christ himself using his invisible attributes and laws that we do not know who is bringing that light instantly to the earth. Those stars do not exist because they obey some natural law, but because God spoke them into existence instantly, named them by name and said (through the Apostle Paul) they differ from one another in glory.
So this brings the next set of Scriptures which defend that God not only moved things great distances in the twinkling of an eye during Creation week, but he itemizes how he did it throughout Biblical history (this Present Age) and will do as he prophesied in the Age to Come.

Below I would like to add a list where he performs works over great distances being covered instantly from Heaven to earth, earth to Heaven, and different places on earth as fast as if not even bound by the speed of light:

• Satan's Fall like lightning from Heaven

• Satan travels to and from the earth seeking whom he may devour at least at the speed of light and according to the Book of Job was able to approach God's throne in a dialog with God)

• Elijah's Chariot (He went to heaven and even came back from the 3rd Heaven at Mount Transfiguration, just like Paul did and we will do at the Rapture). To do this, they all have to go even farther than the ends of the first and Second Heavens)

• Enoch' Translation

• Elijah's sacrifice consumed into Heaven

• Sending dreams from Heaven to Joseph and Daniel

• Theopanies of Christ (such as appearing to Abraham, Shadrack, Meshack and Abednego in the fiery furnace)

• Sending Manna and quail from Heaven

• Paul visiting Third Heaven and returning to earth

• Jesus descending into the lower parts of the earth

• Jesus Resurrection

• Jesus instant appearance in the upper room

• Jesus going back to Heaven and returning before Ascension

• Philip being instantly transported in the spirit to another geographic location

• Christ's Return to the Mount of Olives (If it takes as long as the speed of light for Jesus to get to Heaven and back, we can't expect to see his return for millions of years, plus we would see him returning, but the Bible says no man knows the day or the hour (we would be able to chart his return from the Heavens...it would be hard to miss Him if he is brighter than the sun). And Paul and Elijah could not have returned to the earth again. We would still be waiting for their first return.)

• Angels ascending and descending from Jacob's ladder

• Star of Bethlehem (a normal star could not go west to east, then cut south for several miles. Now here is a case where God brought the whole star from the ends of Heaven...not just its light.)
  "Suddenly a heavenly host appear at the birth of Jesus....then disappear"

• Every prayer that every saint has ever prayed

• The Rapture

• Arrival of New Jerusalem
  Note that the above examples of the Bible recording that God moved things great distances in the twinkling of an eye are not confined to God's initial creation but how he continued to do these things throughout Biblical history and promises to do at the end of the Present Age and will do in the Age to Come. It is amazing to me that the same Christian will passionately defend an old earth in that it took the starlight billions of light years to get here, while at the same time defend the Rapture where in a twinkling of an eye we will instantly arrive at the Third Heaven with Jesus which is even further than any star in the known and unknown Second Heaven. Isn't this is a classic case of straining at a gnat but willingly swallowing a camel?
  Now this brings me to the most famous Scripture used by Christians who defend an old earth and the ultimate question does God intend for man to know what a day is and does he expect him to be able to keep time.
  Here is the Scripture:
  II Peter 3:8, "But beloved (talking to Christians), be not ignorant (sounds a lot like God wants us to know), that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years is as one day."
  The first thing that one should see here is that WHO is Peter talking about when he says what a day is? The Lord, of course. Secondly that it does not say a day "is" a thousand years. But even if you try to insert this length of day into the Genesis account of Creation for old earth (Day Age) proponents such as Hugh Ross (or Christians who are Evolutionists, for that matter), it doesn't help them. If a thousand years equals a day, then Creation Week is only Six Thousand Years. Even six thousand years is a drop in the bucket to old earth "Big Bang" proponents, which demand billions of years. You could only add the six thousand years from Adam to today plus the six thousand years of Creation week and you only get 12-13 thousand years...hardly enough. But let us examine this Scripture even more. It is certainly clear that this passage is saying that time, whether days or years is created by God. But God is not bound by time, particularly if he knows the future. But the question remains is man bound by time? Does the age of the earth or duration of a day or year make any different to man in God's eyes? Well let us try to substitute the word "man" for the word "Lord" in this Scripture, for that is what you would have to do in order to make any case for the old earth model.
  II Peter 3:8, "But beloved (talking to Christians), be not ignorant (sounds a lot like God wants us to know), that one day is with man as a thousand years, and a thousand years is as one day." This becomes absurd.
  Now allow me to show you what man, who can now make a day mean anything he wants...any length of time, can do with certain Scriptures and commands.
  The Sabbath Day.* Jesus said that the Sabbath was meant for man. Actually, he made the other six days for man also. The only difference is that he worked on those six and rested on the seventh day. If this Sabbath day could be an indeterminate length, how could man (Adam) know its beginning or end in order to rest? How would Adam ever know when the first day of the next week began? Doesn't the length of the 7th day (Sabbath) determine the length of the other days (1-6)? How would Adam know when the first day would begin again to repeat the cycle? If the Sabbath Day is made for man and he does not know its length, then how would he know when the Sabbath Year begins in order to leave the ground fallow when the Law of Moses was given? So critical was this in God's mind, that in disobeying the Sabbath Year for 70 Sabbaths, God collected them anyway (to restore the land), by sending the Israelites into captivity for 490 years (70 times 7). (Good thing for the Israelites that a day was not a million years or they would be in captivity for 490 million years.) How could God be so cruel? Unless he had reason to expect that they were responsible for knowing when a year was up and when six years had expired to leave the ground fallow for the seventh year? Or in other words be able to tell time. Furthermore, how could they know when 49 years was up to celebrate the 50th year (Year of the Jubilee) to set debtors free? God created the sun and moon to govern the seasons (each season is 3 months) and years Genesis 1:14 and reconfirmed in Genesis 8:21-23 "As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.? Day and night...that's 24 hours for days and that is four seasons!! (Some have argued that there were no seasons with the earth tilted until the Flood. But here we clearly see Seasons in the beginning from Genesis on.) So his people could not miss when a year was up!
  Hugh Ross in his Old earth Theology tries to maintain that the days in Genesis were not literal 24 hour days, yet God defines a day ("yom") in this very first Chapter of Genesis 1:14-19. So a day is day even here. And if a day is not a day, then what is a year? What is a season if it is not three months? How could Noah record such a precise journal of how many days it rained, how many days the earth was deluged during the Flood if he had no idea what a day was in terms of duration? If Noah recorded it God wants us to know it. Joshua was given precise instructions in terms of days to march around the city of Jericho, etc., by God which he had to obey before God would destroy the city. Now, if a day could mean anything and Joshua could not tell time, it would make obedience impossible. Finally, when Jesus cursed the fig tree upon his entry triumphant entry into Jerusalem, Jesus condemned them because "they did NOT know this very day of his visitation." I take this to mean not just day in general, but literal day, because the Prophet Daniel prophesied the exact number of years and days from the Decree to rebuild Jerusalem. Once, again if a day can mean virtually any length of time, God was again quite cruel to then blind all of Israel for their failure to recognize Him and the day of his visitation. In other words he held them accountable for knowing the length of a day and the numbers of days to his visitation.
  So clearly, the Sabbath Day was sundown to sundown (after the 4th day of creation), or 24 hrs prior to the sun's creation. If one of the seven days is 24 hours, then all of the seven are 24 hours. If they weren't, the cycle of a week would be totally destroyed. The cycle of a year would be destroyed. The cycle of seven year sabbath would be destroyed. The Jubilee cycle would be destroyed. Noah was on the ark for 300 million years. How was Noah then so able to even keep track of every day, month, and year and record them so precisely? Miriam was put outside the camp for leprosy for 7 million years? Jonah is in the whale (the great fish) for 3 million years? Christ is in the grave for 3 million years and would still be there today, according to this logic. Jesus Christ prophesied of himself that he would be in the grave three days. He gives us this in Scripture and we are not supposed to count?
  So God tells the Israelites as one of the Ten Commandments to "Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy"....requiring them to keep it but then not clue them in what a day is and how long it is? How would they know how to keep this day "holy" as compared to the other six days if they weren't expected to be able to tell time to set this time aside? If the Seventh Day, as Hugh Ross maintains is perpetual with no break, how could you even have ANY days that were NOT holy from Day Six in Creation until today and beyond?
  Now there is one Scripture that I have never heard used to defend that a day really is a day and that the earth is really young. And that is Zechariah 14:6-7:
  "On that day there will be no light, no cold or frost. It will be a UNIQUE DAY, without daytime or nighttime-a day known only to the Lord. When evening comes, there will be light."
  This is one of the most powerful Scriptures in the entire Bible which actually defines not only what a day is but what all days must do. All must mean all. Note that we have to be talking about a real 24 hour day, because it describes what takes place when sunset arrives which is the beginning of an evening. Now when evening comes it is always dark always has been. But here we have an evening come when it is light. This is not only not normal for what happens in the evening. This passage says that it never happened. And this passage is talking about the Lord's return so it encompasses ALL time where when evening comes it would be dark, EXCEPT on this UNIQUE Day. The only way this could be unique is if there were NO other days ever that when evening came it would be light. So this would have to include the first six days of Creation Week (and the Seventh for that matter too). Otherwise, we would have at least six more unique days when evening came it would be light. But even Genesis itself records that the evening part of the day was dark. (Joshua extended a day for 12 hours, but when evening came it was still dark, so this is not an exception to the rule of Zechariah's Scripture). This is astounding, because it leaves NO days throughout history from the beginning of Creation that were not days as we know them. This puts a absolute lock on young earth creation, based on Scripture, therefore, refuting old earth theology and cosmology.
  Hugh Ross and many old earth proponents argue that it would be deceptive of God to give us the impression of apparent age of the star based on the speed of light. But God has created much more complex things in very short period and in most cases in the twinkling of an eye or no longer than one day. The resulting creation having apparent age. How old will our glorified bodies look? However long they look does not really matter because any age they appear still means they were only a twinkling of an eye old.
  
  Examples of God creating things instantly or in a matter of months:

• Plants, Animals, Adam and Eve created fully formed the same day, All Life, Speech, Global Flood, Enoch's translation, Brazen Serpent (healing reverses decay rate),

• Clothes and sandals of Israelites in the Wilderness NOT wearing out for 40 years, (total suspension of decay rate),

• Joshua's Battle where sun stops for 12 hours, (suspends time and decay rate for entire solar system),

• Elijah's chariot into Heaven.

• All of the Miracles including healings and deliverance of demons:

• Red Sea parting,

• other Egyptian plagues,

• water to wine (accelerates decay rate), casting out demons, woman's 12 years of bleeding stopped and her menstrual cycle restored

• Raising the dead (reverses decay rate)

• The Transfiguration

• The Resurrection (demolishes decay rate)

• Philip being Transported in the spirit

• New Creation (being born again)

• Glorification (at the Rapture) (demolishes decay rate)

• New Heaven and Earth (demolishes decay rate)
  So because these were all done instantaneously or very rapidly, God is deceiving us because of the apparent age they often portray? There is NO deception if God told us what he did!
  As to whether or not God expects us to tell time from the beginning, he gives us the genealogy of Christ four times in the Bible. If God did not give these and expect us to be able to tell time, there would be no way of determining your inheritance, something so critical to the all of the tribes and clans of Israel. How would you properly identify the Messiah without keeping track, in time, of his lineage?
  I would now like to address a few points in on this subject of "time", though I have also addressed it above. Christians who have trouble with a global flood cannot then accept the clear account in Genesis that God flooded the whole world with water when he created it, before he brought dry land out of the water?
  If one postulates that you assume God works through the Laws of Nature that he created. I agree that he often does that. But we still don't know all of the laws of nature he created. Secondly, based on what I presented about the "invisible" laws, we have no idea what impact or limitation God himself has imposed on the natural laws. But once again, based on all of the Biblical examples above, he preempts them at will. We know for certain God breaks the natural laws we can observe. That is how we know it is a miracle. But what about his laws we can NOT observe? There is a whole lot going on in the unseen world that we have no idea what is going on.
  Again if one postulates that we have to assume that God works by his own created natural laws unless there is some compelling reason for it be otherwise. I hope my arguments from Scripture about "Invisible" are compelling.
  Many people (including Christians) will say something like: "When someone asks me the age of the universe, I simply shrug and say "it depends". I think it is actually the most correct answer."
  Comment: If I could humbly disagree. Reason, God tells us, then tell us what to do during this age (once again my above arguments). If one is forced to use the words "it depends", then my answer would be it depends on if you are man or the Lord. And it depends on where you are (on earth, or in heaven). If I were God, I would then ask back similarly to his dialogue with Job. "Where are you?' Answer: "On the earth or in heaven". God's second question: "Who are you, the Lord or Man?" Answer: "Man."
  
  So does God want us to keep time? Absolutely and unequivocally YES! And if he does he expects us to know the age of the earth (at least upper limits).
  Regarding canopy. I should underscore that it definitely rained and that it did not rain until there was a canopy created by the fountains of the deep filling up the sky. And God certainly could have created rain without dust. But we know there would be dust if "all" of the volcanoes blew into the Sky. Mt. St. Helens should put that to rest. The water condensing on the dust gives it the gravity to fall to the ground. This still keeps it as a judgment Remember, that there was enough water to cover the earth in Genesis Chapter I AFTER God has placed the waters above the sky (space). And even if you support the canopy, even the most generous limits of a canopy by young earth Christian geologist models adds only several feet more water to the surface...which is virtually nothing. I know that the canopy creates a good model for the barrier needed. But that is also assuming that we know with absolute certainty that there even was a need for a pre-Flood barrier to do what? Produced long lifespans? I have seen various charts of the drop off in longevity since Adam. But the fact is you can't find a convenient place to put the Flood. The downward slopes, though somewhat jagged, are quite uniform right up through Moses when it really tapers off. I continually hear about this 120 years lifespan after the Flood. But you can't find one person in the Bible who lived to be exactly 120 years.. the closest you get is Joseph who lived 110 years. But Joseph lived almost 700 years after the Flood. The only true Biblical support for a deterioration of lifespans is really the effects of the original curse and Fall of Adam. Scripture "I will no longer tarry with man and his days shall be 120 years is prophecy of the number of years until the Flood. (Though I certain personally think that the Flood had some impact on longevity). Then there is another problem with this supposed rosy quasi-Paradise pre-Flood. That is Genesis 5:29 which Lamech, in referring to Noah states:
  "He will comfort us in the labor and painful toil of our hands caused by the ground the Lord has cursed."
  It does not sound to me like there was much of a paradise on earth going on here up to the Flood. In fact, it is implied that the ground would be better after the Flood. Perhaps the effects of the Flood. We certain would agree with Lamech today for those of us who drive cars and heat our homes with the fuel that would only be available to us if there were a global deluge which buried all of the vegetation deep underground to create oil, gas, and coal. Who knows...you may have even put a little "Harry"...a Flood victim into your last tank of gas.
  In conclusion, I find inconceivable that God would give us such a precise blueprint of time in mornings, days, evenings, seasons, years, Sabbaths, genealogies, and a host of prophecies contain days, weeks and years, with specific, even cataclysmic dire consequences (curses for disobedience) tied to these various time frames, and likewise blessings to those who were obedient, then conclude that God did not intend for man to tell or keep time, right back to the beginning of the earth and the universe. So I do not think we can answer the question "How old is the earth" with "It depends". Jesus himself on the Road to Emmaus thought it was important enough to tell these disciples everything about who he was from the beginning of Creation. I can not imagine that he would do this if he did not think it was important to have them have a reference point in time of who He is. God gave the whole future history of Israel in the Prophets and the whole future history of the World to his prophets. Jesus saves some of his greatest warning about being deceived in the end times, as does the Apostles Paul, Peter, and John. This would be unimaginable if time and the fullness of time did not have to be reckoned by mankind. How could we ever discern the fullness of time if we could not keep time and be expected to keep time so that it does not come upon us unaware. Paul said to the Thessalonians concerning the return of Christ that "of the times and seasons you have no need for me to tell you". He did not say this because they did not need to know, but because had already told them. The Antichrist is referred to as one who will try to "change the times and the laws" Daniel 7:25. How could we identify him if we do not know what time or laws are so that we could recognized when he changed them.? So it was important that they knew. We are also called to gather together that much more often as we see the day of our redemption draw near. How could we know to do that if we have no reliable mechanism of time in order to obey that command? How old the earth is directly connected with how old the earth will be when he returns. We will not know the day or the hour, but we will know when it is even at the door because we remained vigilant and forewarned and prepared for this very time. When he comes is dependent on when he came and when he descended from Adam.
  Regarding physical or natural laws (visible vs. invisible), I think there is also an important distinction between man's laws, which are visible vs. God's law of the natural order given by Divine Revelation. Example both gravity and entropy are physical and observable laws. But gravity is a law based on man's observation. Entropy, on the other hand is a physical law too, but it was given by God's revelation in the Scriptures such as the "heavens wear out like a garment" and physical death. This does not mean that an observable law of man is not true, as it is pretty hard to argue against gravity. Also both gravity and entropy were not always here but were introduced and are temporary. Death was not originally natural, but introduced because of the Fall. And death won't be here in the New Heavens and Earth, or for that matter, neither will the Second Law of Thermodynamics. Death will be the last enemy thrown into the Lake of Fire. Our glorified bodies will certainly not be bound by gravity. Newton and Einstein's equations are man made, so are not the final authority. We always talk about the known universe having to obey the three laws of thermodynamics and that they must follow uniformitarian principles. But we must be very careful here because the 2nd Law (entropy) is also a God given law. But it is temporary. Furthermore, if life must come from life, there could never be a beginning in the natural, according to the Law of Biogenesis, because you would have to go backwards to infinity since you could never get life without parents that had life. But from a Biblical view life never began without God breathing it into what he had formed....it would NEVER live. But God was not life in the natural sense (biogenetically), as he is INVISIBLE...that is until he came as the Messiah (excluding Old Testament Theophanies). Though once life was here, I certainly would agree with this law.
  In conclusion, I think the best statement that can be made whether God expects man to be able to tell time is in Jesus Christ's own words:
  "When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red. And in the morning, It will be foul weather today: for the sky is red and lowring. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?" (Matthew 16:2-3) 
  

(This is by Dr. Kent Hovind)
When did Satan fall from heaven?
I believe the Genesis account is to be taken literally just as it was written. It teaches the world was created in six, twenty-four hour days about 6000 years ago; there was no gap. There was no period of time before the original creation. There was actually no time. God made time as well as matter and space. I do not think that Satan fell from heaven until about one hundred years after the creation. He could not have fallen before the creation because he was spoken about in the book of Ezekiel as being good while in the garden. Look at
Ezekiel 28:13-15, "Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee."
He was Lucifer, a good angel, or cherub, and he was in the Garden. The Garden of Eden wasn't made until day six, so that shoots the Gap Theory full of holes right there. Not only that, but Jesus said in Matthew 19:4 that the creation of Adam and Eve was the beginning. Read what it says:
"And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female."
Romans 5:12 says that there was no death until Adam sinned,
"Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned."
Those who say that Satan fell from heaven and wiped out the pre-adamic civilization are placing death before sin. They have just eliminated the need for Christ to die on the cross. There was no death until sin came into the world. Exodus 20:11 states,
"For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth and all that in them is..."
This is found in the middle of the ten commandments.

God made the whole universe in six, literal twenty-four hour days, including time, including the angels, and everything that is. What day He made the angels is not known since the Genesis story is mainly telling events on the earth. The angels were probably made on the first day, before God laid the foundations of the earth (see Job 38:4-7). Genesis 1:31 tells us everything was very good at the end of the creation week, so Satan had not fallen yet. Satan did not fall until after the creation, maybe even one hundred or so years later. All that we know is Adam was one hundred thirty when Seth was born. That is the first date given in Scripture. Before Seth, they had Cain and Abel, but dates are not given. Before he had Cain and Abel, they were removed from the garden. Therefore, it would have been somewhere around a hundred years during which time Satan may have become jealous of the fellowship that Adam and Eve enjoyed with God. Satan may have observed their relationship for one hundred years, and said, "Hey, I want them to worship me! I want to rule humanity. I want to walk with them in the garden. I will ascend unto the high heavens. I will take over the seat of the Most High. I will, I will, I will." (See Isaiah 14)

My theory is, and I cannot prove it, but I am pretty convinced that Satan did not fall until one hundred years after the creation. The fall could not have been in the original creation because he was still the light bearer in the Garden of Eden.

What is up with Unicorns?
The Bible's Mysterious "Unicorn"
By Jonathan Sampson

Recently Creation Science Evangelism has received an email from a young lady who believes the Bible, but is having some problems with a creature it makes reference to. The Unicorn is the creature she had mentioned and is also the creature that we will address in this article. Prior to starting I would like to make known a few things that we need to take into consideration when reading the Word of God. We must let the Bible speak for itself; we cannot cast our ideas onto scripture. Many people make this mistake when interpreting scripture; they allow their presuppositions and axioms to govern the way they read the Word. One may go into reading the Bible with the idea that the earth is 4billion years old. This will cause them to misinterpret Genesis and have a skewed idea on scripture. Thus, such an action is a dangerous one to commit. Having that said let us now look at this amazing creature that the Bible befriends.

Unicorns
Recall what I said in the opening of this article, that one should never impose his or her ideas onto scripture simply because they may get a skewed idea of what the Word of God really says. Now, sit back and stop reading for a second! I want you to close your eyes and think of what you imagine when you hear the word "Unicorn". You have most likely done what I have done, pictured a winged horse with a vertical horn growing out of its forehead. This is because the media and society have relentlessly beaten this image into our heads. You and I need to pry this image from our imagination and take another look at scripture without the assistance of flying horses; now we can look at this a little closer.
Lets start at the beginning with the word and its origin. I have looked up this word in my 1828 dictionary to see an older definition for the word. As the English Bible was translated in 1611, the 1828 definition should be more closely related to the 1611 than the modern definition. Here is what we can see in an 1828 dictionary:
UNICORN, n. [L. unicornis; unus, one, and cornu, horn.]
· An animal with one horn; the monoceros. This name is often applied to the rhinoceros.
· The sea unicorn is a fish of the whale kind, called narwal, remarkable for a horn growing out at his nose.
· A fowl.
This definition opens us up to another possibility such as the rhinoceros. Many will automatically think that rhinoceroses have 2 horns, as this is true there are few single-horned remaining. Although these few remaining are on the verge of extinction they are still alive and well in parts of the world today. One specimen in particular called the Greater Indian Rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis) lives in small regions near Pakistan east to Myanmar (Burma). These beautiful creatures have one single horn with thick, amour-like skin-folds. Males may reach 13ft in length and weigh up to 5,000lbs. Keep in mind these are post-flood rhinos also. We have reason to believe that pre-flood creatures were much larger due to greater atmospheric conditions and also what we have learned from fossils of earlier creatures. Lets now take a look at some scripture that mentions this fascinating creature.
Numbers 23:22
God brought them out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn.
Numbers 24:8
God brought him forth out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn: he shall eat up the nations his enemies, and shall break their bones, and pierce them through with his arrows.
Job 39:9
Will the unicorn be willing to serve thee, or abide by thy crib?
Job 39:10
Canst thou bind the unicorn with his band in the furrow? Or will he harrow the valleys after thee?
Psalm 22:21
Save me from the lion's mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns.
Isaiah 34:7
And the unicorns shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls; and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness.

Through viewing these passages, I feel it is clearly shown that the authors are wishing to depict a creature of incredible strength. We can see that the "strength of an unicorn" is used in description of Gods power. Also in Job, when God was questioning Job, we can see that the creature is again mentioned, near the area of two other interesting creatures of amazing strength, which we will discuss later. From what we have looked at here, it is very possible that the "unicorn" mentioned in scripture is a rhinoceros.
Another possibility is that the creature mentioned is some form of extinct ox. Many feel that it may be the Urus, which is often described as "A very large, powerful, and savage extinct bovine animal." Lets look at a modern definition such as "http://www.dictionary.com" has to offer:
Urus
\U"rus\, n. [L.; of Teutonic origin. See Aurochs.] (Zo["o]l.) A very large, powerful, and savage extinct bovine animal (Bos urus or primigenius) anciently abundant in Europe. It appears to have still existed in the time of Julius C[ae]sar. It had very large horns, and was hardly capable of domestication. Called also, ur, ure, and tur.
(Emphasis not in original)

n : large recently extinct long-horned European wild ox; considered one of the ancestors of domestic cattle [syn: aurochs, Bos primigenius]
This creature is thought to be the extinct ancestor of modern cattle. This creature would also be a good definition; although it has two horns, which would still be accepted. We can recall in the definition of unicorn in the former part of this article that the name is often given to the rhinoceros, which predominantly carries two horns or more. So we may not be restricted to a single protrusion. Another possibility is that this particular creature was a horned dinosaur. Dinosaurs have always existed with man therefore this is indeed a possibility. Whatever this beast was; we know that the Word of God clearly states that it is a magnificent creation, and incredibly powerful. This just doesn't sound to me like a horned horse.

Where Did Cain Find His Wife?
The following is the paraphrased essence of one of the critical junctures in American history. The scene is the 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial and defense attorney Clarence Darrow had goaded prosecuting attorney Williams Jennings Bryan to take the stand in defense of the Bible.

"Mr. Bryan, the defense has one final question, 'Where did Cain find a wife?'"
"I don't know." 

"Could you repeat your answer Mr. Bryan? The entire nation is listening via radio broadcast and this is a pretty basic and simple question. Let me rephrase it. If, as the Bible claims, Adam and Eve were the first man and women, and no other people existed, who did their son Cain find to marry?"
"I don't know."
The following is the paraphrased essence of one of the critical junctures in American history. The scene is the 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial and defense attorney Clarence Darrow had goaded prosecuting attorney Williams Jennings Bryan to take the stand in defense of the Bible.
Darrow made Bryan appear foolish because he did not know scripture well enough to defend the most basic of questions:
This trial marked a turning point in American education because for the first time the Bible was openly ridiculed. Bryan's inability to answer simple and logical questions was one factor allowing the American educational establishment to accept evolution hook, line, and sinker while rejecting the historical creation account of the Bible.
Even today most Christians do not know the answer to questions as basic as "Where did Cain find a wife?" The problem with not having reasonable answers to basic questions is that it brings all of Christianity into question. Why should people believe in a God whom they cannot see, if believers in that God cannot answers life's simplest questions about the past and our origin?
The reason that the answer to this question is not immediately apparent is that we have all been trained to think like evolutionists. Evolution was founded on a principle of modern geology called uniformitarianism. This is the belief that small changes over vast periods of time caused the massive geologic (and later Darwin added biological) changes we see around us. In essence, we are trained to believe that everything has always pretty much operated as we see it today. However, this is not what the Bible teaches.
The Bible teaches that mankind was created perfect, without flaws. It was only after man's disobedience that imperfection entered God's creation. Thus mankind, as originally created, would not have had the myriad of genetic mistakes now present on our DNA. In opposition to what evolution teaches, mutations or mistakes on our DNA, do not lead to better and improved humans. These mistakes cause hundreds of debilitating illnesses and birth defects. The reason all of us are not born with enormous numbers of medical problems is because our genes are a combination of the characteristics of both our parents. It is only when both parents have the same mistake in their genes that their children manifest the resulting genetic problem.
Furthermore, these genetic mistakes accumulate and increase with time. In other words, the information on our DNA gets more garbled - it never increases in clarity. Since mistakes are accumulating on our DNA, it is logical to assume that as we go back in time there would be less mistakes. The reason brothers and sisters cannot marry today is because they are likely to have similar DNA errors leading to children with birth defects. However, there were no moral laws against children intermarrying until after the time of Moses (approximately 4000 years ago). Before that time it was quite common. The Bible states that Adam and Eve had MANY sons and daughters. Cain merely married his sister.
this obvious answer is because we have been trained to believe things have always been the way they are today. The current world becomes far more understandable as we view it through a Biblical perspective, which acknowledges that the past, has at times, been very different than the present. This Article is from Bruce Malone's book "Search for the Truth."

AGE OF THE EARTH:
The general theory of evolution is based on several faulty assumptions. (Note: It is important to understand by this statement that we are not disputing simple variations that some call "microevolution," whose micro-changes are often observed but never lead to a fundamentally different kind of plant or animal.) The following assumptions of evolutionary theory are easy to prove false:
The universe is billions of years old.
Life spontaneously arose from nonliving minerals.
Mutations create or improve a kind.
Natural selection has creative power.
In this section we will deal with the first of these assumptions. The others will be dealt with elsewhere. If, in fact, it could be demonstrated that the universe is not billions of years old, all other arguments about evolution become meaningless and unnecessary.
In children’s fairy tales, we are told: frog + magic spell (usually a kiss) = prince
In modern "science" textbooks we are told: frog + time = prince
The same basic fairy tale (evolution) is being promoted in textbooks today, but the new magic potion cited is time. When the theory of evolution is discussed, time is the panacea for all the thousands of problems that arise.
In nearly all discussions and debates about evolution that I have held at universities and colleges, I ask the evolutionists how certain things could have evolved by chance. Their answer is nearly always "Given enough time..." Time is the evolutionists’ god. Time is able to accomplish anything the evolutionists can propose. Time can easily turn a frog into a prince. Time can create matter from nothing and life from matter. According to evolutionists, time can create order from chaos.
But let’s remove time from the above equation. There would be the following three results:
Evolution becomes obviously impossible.
Evolutionists will scream like a baby whose pacifier has been pulled out because they know that if time is removed, their religion (evolution is religion, not science) is silly.
Creation becomes the only reasonable alternative explanation for the existence of this complex universe.
Let’s imagine we are exploring an old gold mine, and we find a Casio Databank watch half buried in the mud on the floor of the mine. Suppose also that the correct time and date are displayed on the watch and it is still running smoothly. Then imagine that I tell you the watch has been there for over one thousand years.
"That’s impossible!" you say. "That watch could not have been there for a thousand years, and I can prove it!"
"How can you prove I’m wrong?" I say.
"Well, for one thing, this mine was just dug 150 years ago," you say.
"Okay," I admit, "you’re right about the thousand years being too much, but the watch has been here for 150 years at least!"
"No!" you say. "Casio didn’t make the Databank watch until twelve years ago."
"All right," I say. "The watch was dropped here twelve years ago then."
"Impossible!" you say. "The batteries only last five years on that watch, and it’s still running. That proves it has been here less than five years."
While we still can’t prove exactly when the watch was left there, you have logically limited the date to five years at the most. You have effectively proven that my initial statement about the watch being 1000 years old is wrong. The larger numbers prove nothing in this debate. Even if I were to radiometric-date the mud or the plastic in the watch to try to prove that it is thousands of years old, my data would be meaningless. The same logic can be applied to finding the age of the earth. If several factors limit the age of the earth to a few thousand years, the earth cannot be older than a few thousand years! Even if a few indicators seem to show a greater age for the earth, it takes only ONE fact to prove the earth is young.
The Bible teaches that: God created the universe approximately 6000 years ago, ex nihilo (out of nothing) in six literal, twenty-four hour days. Then, approximately 4400 years ago, the earth was destroyed by a worldwide Flood. This devastating, year-long Flood was responsible for the sediment layers being deposited (the water was going and returning, Gen. 8:3-5). As the mountains rose and the ocean basins sank after the Flood (Psalm 104:5-8, Gen. 8:1), the waters rushed off the rising mountains into the new ocean basins. This rapid-erosion through still-soft, unprotected sediments formed the topography we still see today, in places like the Grand Canyon. The uniformitarian assumption—that today’s slow erosion rates that take place through solid rock are the same as has always been—is faulty logic, and ignores catastrophes like the Flood. (2 Pet. 3:3-8 says that the scoffers are "willingly ignorant" of the Flood.)
Listed below are some of the factors from various branches of science that limit the age of the universe (including earth) to within the last few thousand years. Though it cannot be scientifically proven exactly when the universe was created, its age can be shown to not be billions of years old. Each of the following evidences of a young earth is described in great detail in the books referenced below. Source number and page number are given for the following statements (at the bottom of this page):
Evidence from space:
The shrinking sun limits the earth-sun relationship to less than "billions of years." The sun is losing both mass and diameter. Changing the mass would upset the fine gravitational balance that keeps the earth at just the right distance for life to survive. (1, p. 169; 2, p. 30; 4, pp. 56-63; 5, p. 26; 6, p. 43;)
The 0.5 inch layer of cosmic dust on the moon indicates the moon has not been accumulating dust for billions of years. (2, p. 26; 3, p. 22; 4, p. 15; 6, p. 35; 7; 9, p. 25) *Insufficient evidence to be positive (almost all estimates before the lunar landing anticipated great quantities of dust.)
"I get a picture therefore, of the first spaceship, picking out a nice, level place for landing purposes, coming in slowly downward tail-first, and sinking majestically out of sight." -- Isaac Asimov, Science Digest, January, 1959, p 36
Lyttleton felt that the X-rays and UV light striking exposed moon rocks "could, during the age of the moon be sufficient to form a layer over it several miles deep." -- Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society of London, vol. 115, pp. 585-604
The existence of short-period comets indicates the universe is less than billions of years old. (2, p. 31; 3, p. 27; 4, p. 35; 6, p. 37; 7)
Fossil meteorites are very rare in layers other than the top layers of the earth. This indicates that the layers were not exposed for millions of years as is currently being taught in school textbooks. (4, p. 26)
The moon is receding a few inches each year. Billions of years ago the moon would have been so close that the tides would have been much higher, eroding away the continents. (3, p. 25; 6, p. 43; 7)
The moon contains considerable quantities of U-236 and Th-230, both short-lived isotopes that would have been long gone if the moon were billions of years old. (8, p. 177; see also 4, p. 51, for information on rock "flow")
The existence of great quantities of space dust, which by the Pointing-Robertson effect would have been vacuumed out of our solar system in a few thousand years, indicates the solar system is young. (3, p. 29; 6, p.44)
At the rate many star clusters are expanding, they could not have been traveling for billions of years. (3, p. 29; 4, pp. 30 and 59; 6, p. 44)
Saturn’s rings are still unstable, indicating they are not billions of years old. (4, p. 45)
Jupiter and Saturn are cooling off rather rapidly. They are losing heat twice as fast as they gain it from the sun. They cannot be billions of years old. (5, p. 26; 4, p. 43; Jupiter’s moon, Io, is losing matter to Jupiter. It cannot be billions of years old. (4, p. 3)
Among other factors to consider is that all the ancient astronomers from 2000 years ago recorded that Sirius was a red star—today it is a white dwarf star. Since today’s textbooks in astronomy state that one hundred thousand years are required for a star to "evolve" from a red giant to a white dwarf, obviously this view needs to be restudied.
Evidence from earth
The decaying magnetic field limits earth’s age to less than billions. (1, p. 157; 2, p. 27; 3, p. 20; 5, p. 23; 6, p. 42; 9, p. 25; 10, p. 38)
The volume of lava on earth divided by its rate of efflux gives a number of only a few million years, not billions. I believe that during the Flood, while "the fountains of the deep were broken up," most of the earth’s lava was deposited rapidly. (1, p. 156)
Dividing the amount of various minerals in the ocean by their influx rate indicates only a few thousand years of accumulation. (1, p. 153; 5, p. 24; 6, p. 42)
The amount of Helium 4 in the atmosphere, divided by the formation rate on earth, gives only 175,000 years. (God may have created the earth with some helium which would reduce the age more.) (1, p. 151; 6, p. 42; 9, p. 25)
The erosion rate of the continents is such that they would erode to sea level in less than 14,000,000 years, destroying all old fossils. (2, p. 31; 6, p 38; American Science Vol 56 p 356-374)
Topsoil formation rates indicate only a few thousand years of formation. (6, p. 38)
Niagara Falls’ erosion rate (four to five feet per year) indicates an age of less than 10,000 years. Don’t forget Noah’s Flood could have eroded half of the seven-mile-long Niagara River gorge in a few hours as the flood waters raced through the soft sediments.) (6, p. 39; 7)
The rock encasing oil deposits could not withstand the pressure for more than a few thousand years. (2, p. 32; 3, p. 24; 5, p. 24; 6, p. 37; 7)
The size of the Mississippi River delta, divided by the rate mud is being deposited, gives an age of less than 30,000 years. (The Flood in Noah’s day could have washed out 80% of the mud there in a few hours or days, so 4400 years is a reasonable age for the delta.) (3, p. 23; 6, p. 38; 7)
The slowing spin of the earth limits its age to less than the "billions of years" called for by the theory of evolution. (3, p. 25; 7)
A relatively small amount of sediment is now on the ocean floor, indicating only a few thousand years of accumulation. This embarrassing fact is one of the reasons why the continental drift theory is vehemently defended by those who worship evolution. (1, p. 155; 6, p. 28; 7)
The largest stalactites and flowstone formations in the world could have easily formed in about 4400 years. (5, p. 27; 6, p. 39; 7)
The Sahara desert is expanding. It easily could have been formed in a few thousand years. See any earth science textbook.
The oceans are getting saltier. If they were billions of years old, they would be much saltier than they are now. (7; 9, p. 26; 10, p. 37)
Ice cores at the south pole and Greenland have a maximum depth of 10-14,000 feet. The aircraft that crash-landed in Greenland in 1942 and excavated in 1990 were under 263 feet of ice after only 48 years. This indicates all of the ice could have accumulated in 4400 years. (7)
Evidence from Biology
The current population of earth (5.5 billion souls) could easily be generated from eight people (survivors of the Flood) in less than 4000 years. (1, p. 167; 3, p. 27; 6, p. 41; 7)
The oldest living coral reef is less than 4200 years old. (6, p. 39; 7)
The oldest living tree in the world is about 4300 years old. (6, p. 40; 7)
Another factor to consider: The genetic load in man is increasing. Geneticists have cataloged nearly 1300 genetic disorders in the human race. It is certainly reasonable to believe that the human race was created perfect from the hand of the Creator but has been going downhill as a result of our disobedience to the laws established by the Creator and the increased radiation from the sun. The Bible teaches that we live in a sin-cursed world as a result of Adam’s sin.
Evidence from History
The oldest known historical records are less than 6000 years old. (1, p. 160)
Many ancient cultures have stories of an original creation in the recent past and a worldwide Flood. Nearly 300 of these Flood legends are now known.
Biblical dates add up to about 6000 years.
The following Bible verses tell when "the beginning" was:
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. (Gen. 1:1)
Moses because of the hardness of your hearts permitted you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so. (Mt. 19:8)
But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female. (Mk. 10:6)
In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. (Jn. 1:1)
That which was from the beginning, which we have seen with our eyes and our hands have handled, of the Word of life. (1 Jn. 1:1)
He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. (1 Jn. 3:8)
For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time. (Mt. 24:21)
Ye are of your father the devil.... He was a murderer from the beginning. (Jn. 8:44)
That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation; from the blood of Abel. (Lk. 11:50, 51)
And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth. (Heb. 1:10)
For in six days the Lord made heaven and the earth, the sea, and all that in them is. (Ex. 20:11)
Since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. (2 Pet. 3:4)
The works were finished from the foundation of the world. For God did rest the seventh day from all his works. (Heb. 4:3, 4)
For in those days shall be affliction, such as was not from the beginning of the creation which God created to this time. (Mk. 13:19)
Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? Have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth? (Is. 40:21)
Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I the Lord am he. (Is. 41:4)
Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female? (Mt. 19:4)
For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made. (Ro. 1:20)
Those who believe the earth is billions of years old will typically try to discredit one or two of these evidences and then mistakenly think that they have successfully proven the entire list wrong. This is not logical, of course. Each evidence stands independently: it only takes one to prove the earth is young. The burden of proof is on the evolutionists if they expect all taxpayers to fund the teaching of their religion in the school system. Many who believe in evolution are great at "straining at a gnat, and swallowing a camel" (Mt. 23:24).
Evolutionists love to assume uniformitarian processes. Many of the preceding evidences follow the same logic evolutionists use all the time in dealing with carbon dating, strata formation, genetic drift, etc.
It is interesting to read the ramblings of nay-sayers like Scott, Matson, Babinski, etc. as they try to answer theses evidences for a young universe. See how many times they use words like: we believe, perhaps, could have, there is some reason to believe, etc. Evolutionists may need billions of years to make people believe a rock can turn into a rocket scientist, but that time just isn’t available

How did animals travel from all over to get to the ark?

This question assumes that the world before the flood was like the world is today with animals specialized for certain areas. Today the world is 70% water and the oceans separate the continents. Also, some animals only live in a few selected locations. The Bible teaches that before the flood the water was gathered into one place (Genesis 1:9). There was probably one ocean and much more landmass. Also, if the climate was more temperate animals could live in all types of places which means Noah did not have to go gather animals from all over the world. In fact, the Bible says that the animals came to Noah (Genesis 6:20).

What Happened to the Dinosaurs?
By John Whitmore
Although the monstrous creature was obviously a vegetarian, its size was overwhelming. Its hips could withstand the enormous force of each pounding step and its midsection was a mass of muscle. Its gigantic tail extended far behind him, not unlike a giant cedar tree swaying behind his body. Its bones were like steel girders with ribs like iron bars to support his enormous weight. This is the greatest creature to roam the swamps and rivers of the earth.
Is this a scene from the blockbuster movie, Jurassic Park? It could be, but it isn't. This description, which perfectly fits an Apatosaurus, is a paraphrased description taken from one of the oldest books of the Bible, Job 40: 15-24. If dinosaurs have been extinct for 65 million years, how could a writer of the Bible have accurately described the appearance, food, and habitat of this creature? The vast majority of books on dinosaurs are written from an evolutionary perspective which assumes that the dinosaurs died out 65 million years ago. The leading model for the demise of the dinosaur involves a large asteroid hitting the earth. Yet the most obvious alternative explanation is almost always ignored. Almost all fossils are the remains of creatures buried by sediment filled water which has subsequently turned to rock. If this is due to a flood of worldwide extent, as the water rose to cover all land surfaces, animals would have been drowned, sank, and buried by massive amounts of rapidly accumulating sediment. It is not at all surprising to find a general lack of burial mixing between these very different kinds of animals due to local groupings.

Genesis 7:2 states that Noah saved two of every representative "kind" of land animal on the ark. Noah would have taken young specimens, not huge, older creatures. Dinosaurs would have emerged from the ark to inhabit an entirely different world. Instead of a warm, mild climate worldwide, they would have found a harsh climate which soon settled into an ice age. If climatic hardships did not cause the dinosaur's extinction, man's tendency to destroy probably did. In the early 1900's on the Doheny expedition into the Grand Canyon, Indian cave drawings were found which closely resembled a duck-billed dinosaur. Legends from ancient China to ancient England have recorded descriptions of dinosaur-like creatures. The Kuku Yalanji aboriginal people have paintings which look exactly like plesiosaurs. These and other intriguing evidences seem to indicate that perhaps that age of the dinosaurs ended more recently than is commonly taught.
Christians do not need to feel foolish about standing on Scripture in their understanding of the world around us. There is ample evidence to support the Biblical record.
Evolution serves as the foundational basis for the religions of humanism and atheism. These world views are popular because man, instead of God, decides on rules and moral standards. Creation serves as the foundational basis for Christianity which acknowledges that all things were created by God, that we live in a fallen universe, and that it will be restored to perfection in the future. There is a danger of becoming so indoctrinated by evolutionary thinking that we become closed to the creation alternative. As concerned parents, we need to be careful what our children are taught by making sure they are hearing all of the facts. By teaching them the evidence for creation and the fallacies of evolutionary explanations, they will be directed toward God instead of away from Him.
John Whitmore is a MS geologist and professor of geology at Cedarville College in Cedarville, Ohio.

Is there a temporary Heaven and a future Heaven?

What we usually think of when we hear the word Heaven is the present Heaven, or intermediate Heaven. If we're Christians, that's where we go when we die. It's the place where we'll live until our bodily resurrection. Our Christian loved ones who've died are now in the present, intermediate Heaven. But that's not the place where we'll live forever. Our eternal home, where God will come down to dwell among his people, is called the New Earth (Revelation 21:1-3).

In God's eternal plan, we'll reign over a resurrected universe, centered on a resurrected Earth, with a resurrected Jerusalem as its capital city. Carefully read Revelation 21-22 and many other passages, and you'll discover that on the New Earth we'll eat, drink, worship, learn, travel, etc. The references to "nations" on the New Earth suggests that civilizations will be resurrected, including human cultures with distinctive ethnic traits (Revelation 21:24, 26). In the middle of the city will be the tree of life, just as physical as it was in Eden, and we will eat a wide variety of fruits (Revelation 22:1-2). A great river will flow through the city. Both nature and human culture will be resurrected.

God chose not only to make physical humans to live on a physical Earth, but he chose to become a man on that same Earth. He did this to redeem mankind and the earth, and to enjoy forever the company of human beings in a world made for them—a world called the New Earth (Isaiah 65:17; 66:22). That world is what we are to be looking forward to (2 Peter 3:13).

We have never known an Earth without sin, suffering, and death—yet we yearn for it. God tells us that the world we—and all creation—long for, a world delivered from the Curse, will one day be ours to live in, not just for a thousand years but forever (Romans 8:19-23).

Will we be reunited with our loved ones in Heaven?

The greatest joy of Heaven will be uniting with Christ. The next greatest joy will be reuniting with our loves ones who have died. The certainty of the ultimate reunion is so sweet that it makes the parting bearable.

Scripture gives no indication of a "memory wipe" causing us not to recognize family and friends. In fact, if we wouldn't know our loved ones, the "comfort" of an afterlife reunion (taught in I Thessalonians 4:14-18) would be no comfort at all. Theologian J.C. Ryle said of this passage, "There would be no point in these words of consolation if they did not imply the mutual recognition of saints. The hope with which he cheers wearied Christians is the hope of meeting their beloved friends again…In the moment that we who are saved shall meet our several friends in heaven, we shall at once know them, and they will at once know us."1

The greatest adventure, one that will never end, will be inhabiting and exploring together, to Christ's glory, the New Earth and new universe.

Won't Heaven be boring?

If you picture the eternal Heaven as a disembodied state, you have reason to fear boredom—because God didn't make us for such a world. But when you understand the meaning of our bodily resurrection and the new universe, all thought of boredom will disappear.

The New Earth will be the place where the impulses to go home and to go beyond will both be fully satisfied. It'll be the one place where we're constantly discovering—where everything is always fresh, and possession of a thing is as good as the pursuit of it. Yet it's the place where we'll be fully at home—where everything is as it ought to be and where we fine, undiminished, that mysterious something we never found in this life.

We will no longer be homesick for Eden. We will experience at last all that God intends for us. Because the joys of Heaven will overflow from the multifaceted wonders of God, Heaven will be endlessly fascinating, just as God is infinitely fascinating.

Copied from the Karate For Christ International Weekly Newsletter, written by Dr. Daryl Covington.