Creation/Re-Creation

Fred R. Coulter—October 17, 2008

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• How old is the earth?
• Did God create it?

or

• Did it evolve?

Well the Bible says that God created it! There are also some people who believe—and they profess to be Christians—and say, much to their own ignorance, that everything God created is only a little over 6,000-years-old. Now if that is true, let us ask some questions.

• Does God live forever?
• Is He eternal? Yes!

If the heavens and the earth, the sum totality of it all, was created only 6,000 years ago

• What on earth was God doing for all the rest of eternity until 6,000 years ago?
• Why did He wait so long to create the earth?

There are some things we read in the Bible that we read, and we assume when we read it that we're reading correctly. However, sometimes it can be as simple as putting some Scriptures together to understand some of these things.

One of the arguments that is made is this: We know how fast light travels, 186,000 miles per second, and we know how the earth orbits around the sun, we have the means to measure distance through astrophysics and trigonometry.

To find the two furthest points away, you shoot an astral physical trigonometry line to the North Star in the middle of summer, then six months later when you get around to the other half of the orbit of the earth, you shoot another line to the North Star and you can get a triangle where you can measure the angles and can measure the distance.

They know how far away the North Star is, and then they calculate the light years, and they know that it has nothing to do with 6,000 years, but it is many millions of years old. Now, beyond some of these things where they are so far out that it is hard to get a good angle for trigonometric assessment of the distance, they may not have things as correct. But they do know that the universe is vast and it is old!

Well it should be, because God is eternal!

Let's come to the earth, and first of all ask which was created first: the heavens? or the earth? or Were they created at the same time? Gen. 1:1 is the beginning. It is always good to begin at the beginning.

Genesis 1:1: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."

When you read it that way, you believe or you get the impression from reading it that they were created at the same time. As a matter of fact, there several creation museums in various parts of the United States sponsored by Protestants, and they claim that the earth and the universe are only a little over 6,000 years old. That's because they read Gen. 1:1 like I just read it.

Let's read a little differently: "In the beginning God created the heavens…. And the earth."

We will see God created the heavens first, and the angels next, and then He created the earth. Then came the rebellion of Satan and the angels that followed him. How do we know that the heavens and the angels were created first?

Job 38:1: "Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said."

Sometimes God will take you up on what you want. As we have read about how they wanted to have a king over them, God said all right given it to them, they want it. So, be careful what you ask for, it may not be what God knows you really need. But if you really, really lust after it, and really, really want it, God will let you have it, but you're going to pay a penalty for it!

So, Job said, 'I wish there was an umpire between me and God and I wish I could talk to God, because I'll let him know a thing or two about how righteous I am.' So, God answered and said, 'Here I am Job!'

Verse 2: "Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?" That's what happens to a lot of people who assume different things concerning Scripture. Not only the creation of the heaven and the earth, but also many doctrines in the Bible.

Verse 3: "Now gird up your loins like a man; for I will demand of you, and you shall answer Me. Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare it if you have understanding! Who has determined its measurements if you know? Or who has stretched the line upon it? On what are the foundations fastened to? Or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?" (vs 3-7).

Morning stars are a type of angels, as well as the sons of God. So what does this tell us?

• the heavens were created first, before the laying of the foundation of the earth
• the angels were created before the earth, because they sang for joy when the foundations of the earth were laid

How many millions of years ago was that? We don't know! This means that this was some time before the rebellion of Lucifer. So, let's look at the rebellion:

Revelation 12:3: "And another sign was seen in heaven: and behold, a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns on his heads." Seven and ten is always Satan's system, the counterfeit of God's system.

Verse 4: "And his tail swept away a third of the stars of heaven…"—being the angels. A third of the angels went with Lucifer in his rebellion, which was after the foundation of the earth was laid, because all of the morning stars and the sons of God rejoiced when they saw the foundations being laid!

• Why were they laid?
• For whom was it when God made it originally?

"…and cast them to the earth…." (v 4). What does this tell us? The earth was completed before the rebellion of Lucifer and the angels! It had to be, otherwise they couldn't be cast to the earth.

Luke 10:17: "Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, 'Lord, even the demons are subject to us through Your name.' And He said to them, 'I was watching when Satan fell from heaven like lightning'" (vs 17-18).

Now let's stop here and take this verse and see what it tells us. What you all need to do in your Bible study is we need to think with the Scriptures. Do not come to the Scriptures with a half-cocked idea, and try and make the idea fit the Scriptures. We take the Scriptures and put them together 'line upon line, precept upon precept,' and think with the Scriptures, with what we know, in order to come to a determination of the things we don't understand or don't quite know, yet. What does this tell us?

Let's go to the 'one God' theorists. They say Jesus didn't exist. One man said, well it existed forever as 'a thought' in the mind of God: 'the thinker and the thought.' Have you ever heard of that? Does the thought in your mind have any life? No, it's captive to your brain! So, 'the thinker and the thought' theory is no good.

Others say that Jesus didn't exist until He was begotten in the womb of the virgin Mary. When did Satan fall? After Jesus was born? After Adam and Eve were already created, was he not Satan? So, right here this destroys that theory, because Jesus couldn't have seen Satan fall from heaven, and draw a third of the angels with him, because He had not yet existed until nearly 3,600 years later.

The key is that when you get stuck on some doctrine that you think is so important, and you're going to try to prove it again and you're going to twist and turn, and all the lies come up with it. I read all of their books. I've read Anthony Buzzard's books, and he's got a brain that has been 'buzzed with a buzzer' and can't think straight! I read the other books and they are no more than Jewish rehashed arguments against Christ.

Verse 18: "And He said to them, 'I was watching when Satan fell from heaven like lightning.'" What do we have that we have already learned:

• God created the heavens
• He created the angels
• Lucifer rebelled and took a third of the angels with him

Jesus verifies it by saying He saw Satan fall as lightning from heaven; Satan fell to the earth.

Jude 6: "And the angels… [these are the ones who fell] …who did not keep their own original domain…"

What was their original domain? The earth! The angels—morning stars and the sons of God—sang for joy because they saw God creating the earth and they were to inhabit it! So, when He originally laid down the foundations of the earth, it was long before 6,000 years ago.

"…but deserted their habitation..." (v 6). How did they desert their habitation? By going with Satan to rebel against God! When Lucifer said that he's going to heaven and take over God's throne, they went with him. They weren't happy with the earth, they wanted God's throne.

"…He is holding in eternal bonds under darkness unto the judgment of the Great Day" (v 6).

Now let's read a little more and see what happened to them when they sinned and rebelled. We find in the Scripture so far:

• God created the heavens
• then He created the angels
• then He created the earth for them
• they rejoiced with the foundation of the earth
• then the angels rebelled by leaving their domain on the earth to try and take over God's throne

Because they didn't want to serve human beings made of the dust of the earth, who in the fullness of God's plan would supersede the angels in authority and closeness to God. That's why they got jealous and rebelled. And that's why Lucifer in all of his glory got lifted up in vanity, and said, 'God, why are You going to make them as You, but not us?' (Ezek. 38).

2-Peter 2:4: "For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but, having cast them into Tartarus…"—a place of restraint or imprisonment. What do we find in Rev. 9:2-3[transcriber's correction]? An angel came and opened the abyss! Out of it came demons that looked like grasshoppers. So, they are chained to the earth in the abyss.

What about the great River Euphrates? There were four angels put there for a day, a month, an hour and a year. They will be loosed out of that to dry up the Euphrates.

"…but, having cast them into Tartarus, delivered them intochains of darkness to be kept for the judgment" (v 4).

There we have the rebellion. Let's look at the rebellion back here in Isa. 14. What we are actually dealing with is that the earth can be many millions and millions and hundreds of millions of years old, but men on the earth are not much more than 6,000-years-old.

Isaiah 14:12: "How you are fallen from the heavens, O shining star…"

I'll just make a comment here. The King James says Lucifer, that is a transliteration from the Latin Vulgate meaning shining star even though it's capitalized in the King James.

"…son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations!" (v 12).

• Were angels also organized into nations? I don't know!
• Did Satan weaken a third of the angels to follow him in rebellion? Yes!

so it could apply to that

• Has he weakened the nations on the earth to follow him instead of God? Yes!
• Can both of those apply in this prophecy? Yes, because both are true!

Verse 13: "For you have said in your heart, 'I will ascend into the heavens…'" If your habitation is on the earth, if you're going to go to God's throne, where are you going to go? Into the heavens!

"…I will exalt my throne above the stars of God… [that is the other angels who didn't rebel] … I will also sit upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds..." (vs 13-14).
I'm not Lucifer and I'm not rebelling, but I'm going to get on a plane this afternoon and I'm going to go above the clouds. So, before I go home, I'm going into heaven along with many others are on the plane. Plus, how many other airplanes are in the air around the world at the same time.

"…I will be like the Most High" (v 14).

So, there you have what happened. When they rebelled and there was war in heaven, which we saw in Rev. 12, what happened to the earth?

What we've covered here is all of what is contained in Gen. 1:1 and part of v 2.

Genesis 1:2: "And the earth was without form and void…"—Hebrew: 'tohu' and 'bohu'

That's always the result of war, because God originally created it in a beautiful form for the angels, for the one who became Satan. They rebelled! The earth was without form and they probably had the animals. That's why when you look at the geographic strata of the earth, you find two great truths:

• there are two floods
• all of the dinosaurs are in one uniform strata around the world, called the Morrison Formation (strata) by the man whose discovery they named that strata after

Now those were probably the creatures that were on the earth with Lucifer, or with the one who became Satan. I suspect, since he is the same, that just like he is doing today, they had genetically modified dinosaurs.

Do you suppose they could do that? Yes! In their rebellion against God, it wasn't just going to heaven, it was whatever they were doing on the earth under Satan's instigation. It says in Ezek. 28 that he had sanctuaries. What kind of churches that they have for the angels? (speculation)

So there was the war; Genesis 1:2: "And the earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." This is the first flood!

Let's talk a little bit about fossils here for just a minute. If the earth is millions of years old, if you bury bones in the earth you're putting it into earth that is very old. Let's correct a couple of myths here:

Oil does not come from dinosaurs: never has. Oil is created under the earth by the heat and the intense pressure of the core of the earth. Oil is replenished in the wells over a period of time, as proven by many oil wells that seemingly ran dry, but became full again. It's made from what we see in the Rocky Mountains called oil shale.

• How do they get oil out of the shale? They heat it!
• What happens under the earth, under the pressure getting close to the core of the earth? Heat! Oil is produced!

One great truth: You never, never, never find oil where dinosaur bones are buried! You watch any presentation on the history channel or national geographic where they are digging up dinosaur bones, there's no evidence of any oil nearby.

If oil came from dinosaurs, the dinosaur bones would be found in the oil. The only place they find animal bones in the oil is the La Brea tar pits in California and other places in the world where there are tar pits where animals went in there and drowned and died and fell down into the oil that was oozing out of the earth.

Now let's talk about the age of bones for just a minute, which is also very important to understand. When bones are buried in the soil—let's just take the dinosaur bones—they are buried in very old soil.

What happens to bones after they have been in the earth for thousands and thousands of years and do not disintegrate? There is a transfer of the elements from the rocks, generally limestone and sandstone, which then replaces the calcium in the bones that are buried there! What does this do to the apparent age of the bones? It makes them appear to be much older!

So if you run an accurate test and your measurement is accurate, and you get a reading of dinosaur bones that is many millions of years old, it may or may not be true. But the earth had to be here before the bones were buried, otherwise the bones would not be buried in the earth if the earth came after the bones!

They can measure these bones and say that they're millions and millions of years-old, but they really don't know how old they are. The earth that they measure may be as old as they claim. You can't trust the measurements, some may be accurate some may not be accurate. But this we know: God had to re-create the surface of the earth for mankind. The second flood is the Flood of Noah.

This helps answer the mystery and the conundrum as to how old the earth is. The answer is probably many millions of years old, but how old it really is we don't know. One thing we know: human life in God's image did not appear on the earth until a little over 6,000 years ago. Then you have other things after God re-created the surface of the earth. What did He do? He told Adam and Eve to replenish the earth! Well, if you replenished, that means that there had to be something here at one time before. Isn't that what He told Noah and his sons after the Flood? Multiply and replenish the earth! What happened during the Flood? All humans except Noah's family and all animals, except the fish and the animals that were on the ark, died in the Flood.

That helps answer some of the questions about the about the creation, and I've been meaning to do something like this for some time. But it shows the sequence.

• God created the heavens over a long period of time
• then He created the angels
• then He created the earth
• then they rebelled
• then there was a flood (the first flood)
• then God cast them down into prison and chains of darkness
• then to create mankind, God redid the surface of the earth and made it habitable for human beings

Will we see, as spirit beings, the re-creation of the new heavens and the new earth that God is preparing for us? Yes! We will also see:

• we will see prepared for us a New Jerusalem coming down from heaven
• we will see God the Father and Jesus Christ in person

There will be no temple there, because God desires to dwell with His people, rather than isolated in a temple.

All Scriptures from The Holy Bible in Its Original Order, A Faithful Version

Scriptural References:

• Genesis 1:1
• Job 38:1-7
• Revelation 12:3-4
• Luke 10:17-18
• Jude 6
• 2 Peter 2:4
• Isaiah 14:12
• Genesis 1:2

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Ezekiel 38
• Revelation 9:2-3

FRC: po/bo
Transcribed: 1/15/18