The Seven Primordial Epochs

by John Smith

Okay I must admit there are some articles that are more fun to write than others. This is one of those articles. Over twenty five years ago many of the teachers who exposed my family to the truth of our physical inheritance in Abraham also exposed us to many other “unconventional truths”. One of those ideas was the concept that the seven days of creation in Genesis 1 actually referred to seven epochs lasting hundreds of thousands of years or more, instead of twenty four hour periods.

As the years progressed I have been exposed to the “Creation Science” thoughts held by many insisted on a “young Earth” less than 7,000 years old. It has always been striking to me that while the proponents of these theories are always quick to insist they don’t believe in evolution, their theories related to the “young Earth” hypothesis and the corollary of a global flood in the days of Noah, actually believe in an evolutionary process taking place in only six thousand years. 

Proponents of this belief system reject the idea that creatures slowly evolved through a process of natural selection over the course of millions of years, and instead insist that all races of man, and the different species of animals, insects, and birds evolved from the sampling of creatures on Noah’s Ark which sailed less than 4000 years ago. The idea that every race of man and most of the animals on earth could have “evolved” into the diversity we see today is even more preposterous than the notion that they evolved over the course of millions of years.

Furthermore, it is always striking to me that “Creation Scientists” in particular will embrace “evidence” as a matter of faith. Noticeably absent from their thought process is the normal and healthy process of skepticism and critical analysis. On the contrary anyone who questions the latest “proof” is labeled a “anti-Christ” or even worse an “evolutionist”.

It was refreshing to come across the work of Dr. Hugh Ross, who himself professes a belief in our Savior, and a critical understanding of scientific evidence pertaining to the geologic fossil record of the ancient happenings on our beautiful planet. While he rejects the idea of biological evolution, he points out that the fossil record clearly portrays the process outlined in Genesis. He has done a great deal of research and makes excellent presentations showing that science and scripture can be in complete harmony even without the fanciful ideas expressed by those claiming to be “Creation Scientists”. While I would heartily embrace, and deeply appreciate the work of Dr. Ross I also recognize that he is also a man, and that his work also likely contains errors often linked to his misunderstanding of scripture and Yahweh’s plan for us.

Before I present the research I have discovered through my own investigation, please let me make one thing crystal clear. Under no circumstances do I embrace, support, advocate or mean to elude to the idea of biological evolution or “speciation”. There is no rational scientific evidence to suggest that any species has ever morphed into another species. There might be similarities in the anatomies of some lizards and some rodents, but that does not suggest that one evolved from the other. Rather, that they were created to endure similar circumstances or environments.

Instead of a biological mutation from one species into another I believe in a series of specific creations and catastrophes that altered the population of our planet, as the environment and topography changed. One group would be entirely wiped out and replaced with a new creation by Yahweh of another sometimes similar species more suited to the new environment or circumstances.

I do not believe that dinosaurs “evolved” into birds. Rather I believe they were each created for a distinct and specific purpose, but had significant biological similarities. Yahweh created specific animals to fill their place in the ecosystems of each successive age of his creative process preparing earth to be inhabited by his children. Animals, birds, reptiles, gastropods and fish did not evolve, but the environment did.

One of the most important aspects of this knowledge is the understanding is the recognition of the methods Yahweh uses to create. Yahweh uses natural forces that often appear to be catastrophic to produce outcomes that we would perceive as being supernatural. The ancient history of our planet is evidence that at times his actions can be perplexing, but at all times are working according to a perfect plan to produce an outcome motivated by perfect divine agape love. Just as Yahweh brought a host of natural elements together to fashion the earth into a host for life, so to he uses apparently destructive processes into our personal lives to develop His Spiritual life within us.

Both his spiritual and physical laws are in perfect harmony, working together to make us into His image and likeness. Even the most radical of Evolutionists would admit that the time periods they suggest are at best educated guesses, based on the assumption of constants in elements of change. Catastrophes and radical circumstances could drastically alter the time frame, but the laws of physics (just as divine and the ten commandments) won’t support the “Young Earth” idea. So it is reasonable to take the “millions” and “billions” of years of evolution with a “grain of salt”, but the fact that we are talking about a creative process lasting MUCH longer than 6000 years cannot be avoided.

What about Neanderthals humans?

Neanderthals were very early (archaic) humans who lived in Europe and Western Asia from about 400,000 years ago until they became extinct about 40,000 years ago, or intermarried with Adamites and became a more settled people. 

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Svante Pääbo won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2022 for his discoveries concerning the genome of the Neanderthal, of extinct hominids and human evolution.

 

Neanderthal humans were most likely created in the Genesis chapter one creation because God created male and female. There were thousands, perhaps millions, of years between Genesis 1 and Genesis 2. 

 

In Genesis chapter two when Adam was formed and became a living being. Adam was alone, he had no female companion until Eve was created for him. Also, Adam was a "tiller" of the soil, not nomadic like the people outside the Garden of Eden.  There were other people on the earth long before Adam, perhaps millions of years. We know Cain married a woman from the land of Nod (the word Nod means wandering, like in hunter-gatherers). ~ Genesis 4:16 

 

To understand the epochs of time creation process, we must first understand the original language of the Bible.

Let's start with the word "was" in verse 2 of Genesis 1:1-2. "In the beginning God created (begin to create again) the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters."

The word was is in italics meaning the translators added that word because they were confused about the Hebrew meaning - "had become". Notice the earth was already in existence, but had become "without form and void." Why was the earth without form and void?

Because...

The Bible always answers its own questions. There was a war in heaven. Read Revelation 12:7-9. This was a catastrophic event and explains why fossils are millions of years old. There was an earth age before Genesis 1. The Bible and geology are in agreement when we "rightly divide the word of truth." 

~ 2 Timothy 2:15

 

The purpose of this post is to get people to think about what they believe and why they believe it, not debate who's right or wrong. To learn the revealed truth of God we must know and understand the true meaning of the words God inspired to be written. Use Strong's Concordance to check the original word before it was translated. Do your own research, make up your own mind, rely on the Holy Spirit to guide you.