I still don’t think dates the earth but it dates man until that time. This is because the year the son was born was stated.
Hi
Dorothy Mae
While I understand that your mind refuses to allow you to understand and believe the implications of the genealogies found in God's word, the words are there. Why do you think the earth existed long before man? I mean, for me, the whole purpose of God's creating this realm of existence was that on day one He knew that the last step of the process was to create man, and that's what all of His work of creating was for.
Do you really think that God has some big picture window before His throne and He got some great enjoyment watching all the inanimate objects in the universe to just swirl around for trillions of years. Because why? He didn't really know what He was starting when He spoke the first words to bring about this realm or our existence? Really??
God is a God of love. It's what He is. He doesn't love fixed bodies in the universe. I mean He made them and I'm sure that He's satisfied with the work He did in making them, but He doesn't 'love' them. God loves people and the whole purpose of His creating this realm in which we now live, with the opportunity that God has given all mankind to know Him, was to create a place where man could live. He surrounded it with an atmosphere that holds the oxygen that we need to breathe. He covered it with a dirt that could be plowed and seeded. From which food for that creature called man could eat and live.
Friend, why don't you want to believe the Scriptures. What 'proof' do you have that causes you to deny the plain, simple truth that God has told you about 'how' you and I got to be sitting here at some computer or device 6,000 years after the event. I'm sorry, but I believe that God has given those He loves and cares for a full and complete account of 'how' and 'when' this realm of existence began and as I have said, one day we're all going to see Him do it again.
And I'm sorry, but I'm missing the point about 'this is because the year the son was born was stated'. Friend, God is wiser than you or I will ever think to imagine to be, The only way that one can give an account that would add up the years would be through the birth ages of the fathers. I mean if I write, Seth had a son named Enosh. Then Seth lived to be 807 years old. Enosh had a son named Kenan and Enosh lived 905 years.
Now tell me. With the account as I gave, how old was the earth when Enosh died? You don't know. You don't have enough information. But God is wise!!!! He gave us exactly the information that we need to figure this out. You know, God didn't tell Daniel that the decree he was writing about would be proclaimed in 458 B.C. God didn't tell him that Jesus would be born in 5 B.C. What God did was set up a line of weeks for the Israelites to count out. That's exactly what God has done for us in the genealogical accounts. He has given us the tools and information that we need to work out these questions.
Remember that Jesus said there was a purpose also that he spoke to the people in parables. I think that one thing that people today don't understand is how dates and the passing of time was accounted for. You know today we have years numbered and we can print a calendar for the year 2050 if we like. We know right now today how the Sunday - Monday weeks for 2050 are going to be accounted, unless someone comes up with a new calendar idea. We have bills that we can schedule to be paid 6 months from now.
Early man had none of that. The sun rose and it was another day. Adam didn't realize that he was living in the year 4,044 B.C. Daniel didn't know that he was living in 500 B.C. So God couldn't write to them things like, "Well, in 434 B.C. this is going to happen". No one would have had a clue what that even means! So God had to devise some other way to allow for dating of the things that happened in the old covenant Scriptures. In this case, He did that by listing these genealogies for us.
God bless,
Ted