Adam When?

    There are serious discussions taking place on many levels of Christian thinking. These discussions include the timetable of the creation of man and the world, together with the problem of the scope and nature of the Noachian flood. These are very important discussions because our conclusions can affect the Christian’s relationship to the Bible, and therefore, to God Himself.

    All are curious about man’s early beginnings. Throughout the ages man has searched for knowledge concerning his genesis, perhaps feeling that knowledge of his past will help him to understand the present and supply guidelines concerning the future. The Christian in particular is interested in the lineage of man because the Bible, his guidebook for life, has much to say about it and because it is clearly related to the revelation of God’s Son, Jesus Christ.

    The Christian allows the Bible to do more than inform him. The Christian lets God’s Word shape his thinking in all areas of his life. The Christian carefully looks at each piece of news from the world round about him and compares it with the revealed truth of the Scriptures so that he may determine the validity of the news. He also wants to be sure that the conclusions of others do not detract from his faith in the trustworthiness of God’s Word.

    While the Bible begins with the dawn of time and history, I wonder why it does not give, more clearly, a complete chronology so that we might know the exact age of the human race. Chapters 5 and 11 of Genesis point to a possible chronology. Is there Biblical evidence that might give us a clue to the proper understanding of these two chapters? If the age of man can be conclusively established, can this help us to understand the present condition in which man now finds himself? Will a knowledge of Adam’s date in history provide a better meshing of the evidence of science with the Biblical facts of the origin of the earth and man, the fall of man, the Tower of Babel, the flood and the Exodus? If we can establish the age of man, will we receive a new appreciation of the marvelous accuracy and authority of the Bible?

    These are some of the questions I will attempt to answer with only one desire, and that is to find truth as it is revealed in God’s Word. This

book is an attempt to press on towards a better understanding of the earliest history of man and the world. In so doing we shall discover that the numbers in the Bible concerned with man’s earliest history are exceedingly accurate and understandable. I trust that we shall also receive new insights into the wonderful help the Bible offers to those who seek to interpret archaeological evidence concerned with man’s early beginnings.

    At the start of this search for truth it is important that we recognize that we are hampered by our limitations in trying to find the whole truth. First, we are not perfect creatures. We have the imperfections of a mind and body sadly damaged by the results of sin. Our comprehension today is faulty in every area in contrast to the perfect understanding we shall have one day. For now we see through a glass darkly, but then we shall see our Savior face to face. The Bible promises us that the Holy Spirit will lead us into all truth; but we are not always open to His leading. Our own ideas will not always give way to the truth offered by the Holy Spirit. Also, there are certain aspects of God’s Word that are purposely veiled to the reader in God’s scheme of revelation. The extent of the veiling, or unveiling, depends on the activity of the Holy Spirit as He opens our eyes to see God’s meaning.

    The outstanding example of such “veiling” is the revelation of the Savior. The plan of salvation remains unrevealed to the non-Christian, who rejects Christ. The Apostle Paul wrote in II Corinthians 4:3, “But if our gospel he his, it is hid to them that are lost.” This veiling is further emphasized by Christ’s words in Matthew 13:13-15:

Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

    To the natural man, the Bible is a mixture of tradition, mythology, fallacies, and contradictions. Only when God gives him faith to believe does man see the condescending love of God and the abundant provision He has made for sinful man to be reconciled to Him.

    To the Christian, too, certain aspects of God’s Word are veiled. A good illustration of this veiling is the inclusion of the Gentiles in the body of Christ. The Gentiles were always meant to be fellow-heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the Gospel. The New Testament declares in Ephesians 3:3-6:

How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wore afore in few words, Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel.

    There is abundant reference in the Old Testament to the inclusion of the Gentiles in the body of Christ. One has only to read these passages in the book of the prophet Isaiah.

Isaiah 42:6: I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles. Isaiah 49:6: And he said, It is a light ting that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest by my salvation unto the end of the earth. Isaiah 55:5: Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, and nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee because of the LORD thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for he hath glorified thee.

    Yet in spite of the large number of references to this truth in the Old Testament and the glimmerings offered by the conversion of such Gentiles as Rahab and Ruth, and God’s concern for the Gentile city Ninevah, the Holy Spirit did not make this truth clear until the days of the apostles. The Bible says in Jeremiah 23:20:

The anger of the LORD shall not return, until he have executed, and till he have performed the thoughts of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it perfectly.

    Thus, it seems that God not only veils His truth, but He also has a specific timetable to reveal His truth. With this in mind, we can now re-examine the record of the ages to find truth for the modern age.