“I believe that in the end the truth will conquer.” – John Wycliffe quote

“I myself prefer my New Zealand eggs for breakfast.” – Elizabeth II quote

“Ignorant people see life as either existence or non-existence, but wise men see it beyond both existence and non-existence to something that transcends them both; this is an observation of the Middle Way.” – Lucius Annaeus Seneca quote

“It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.” – e. e. cummings quote

“Some of the ideas that come from the fringe of the far right are just so implausible that it is hard to take those ideas seriously.” – John Conyers quote

“In a higher phase of communist society… only then can the narrow horizon of bourgeois right be fully left behind and society inscribe on its banners: from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.” – Karl Marx quote

“Pets are humanizing. They remind us we have an obligation and responsibility to preserve and nurture and care for all life.” – James Cromwell quote

“I certainly have been guilty of trying to sweep things under the carpet.” – Kenneth Branagh quote

“I am not part of the problem. I am a Republican.” – Dan Quayle quote

“Moral values, and a culture and a religion, maintaining these values are far better than laws and regulations.” – Swami Sivananda quote

“All of our energy should be in sacrifice and services. Suffering, at least.” – Richard Gere quote

“To be occasionally quoted is the only fame I care for.” – Alexander Smith quote

“I always liked the Van Gogh story because I was terribly involved in that.” – Vincente Minnelli quote

“It behooves every man to remember that the work of the critic is of altogether secondary importance, and that, in the end, progress is accomplished by the man who does things.” – Theodore Roosevelt quote

Suddenly, a man went inside the cab and took her handbag where
she placed her visa, passport, and all her money for the trip.

The driver, who was in cahoots with the robber, left her in the
middle of that dark street. She cursed the world for being so
mean to her, and she kept on thinking how unlucky she was to
be in that situation.

That very same night, she heard a shocking news. Tears flowed
down her face. Flight 230 has crashed! It was the plane where
she was supposed to board into. If she have not lost her
precious belongings, she could have lost something far more
important – her life!

Sometimes bad things really happen. We lost our money, failed
our exams, or get rejected by others. There are times when
nothing seems to go our way.

So what do we do about it? Are we going to be disappointed?
The answer is a resounding “No!” We must take all these
frustrations out of our chest and start all over again with
the consistent faith that we will get what we deserved.

So what if you failed the exams? Maybe you’d be more
successful and much happier in another field. You were
rejected by your boyfriend/ girlfriend? There are plenty
of others out there who are much better and who are much more
deserving of your love and affection.

Don’t waste your time and energy on things that can’t be
changed. Continuous worrying will only affect your health
on the long run, and you’d be doing much more damage than
what was previously done.

Set yourself free. Move onwards with the conviction of a
winner.

What if we turn the tables around? What if you never
ran out of good luck?

There was this man who won the lottery. He thought he was the
luckiest person in the world. He became greedy and wasted
all his money on everything he could get his hands on.

One day, he made it on the front page of the newspaper again.
But this time, it was a different story. He was killed
because of his riches.

If you attain good luck, never be too secure about it either.
Pray for protection and guidance. Life is so unpredictable.
You just won’t know what will happen next.

Live one day at a time. Sometimes we subject ourselves to
unneccesary mental and emotional torture. We ask ourselves,
“What if I don’t get this done in time?” or “What if my
family leaves me and I’ve got no one else to turn to?”

Work at the present moment. Do what must be done at present
and the future will turn out just fine. Believe me. And
believe in yourself. As Captain Planet always says: “The
power is yours!”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Michael Lee is the author of “How To Be A Red Hot Persuasion
Wizard,” an ebook designed to easily seduce others to like
you, fully improve your relationships, multiply your profits,
win negotiations, and attain absolute freedom and power.
Get a sample chapter at http://www.20daypersuasion.com

Christ gives the command in Acts 1:8 saying, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:8 exemplifies this idea as, right before Jesus Christ ascends to Heaven, He directs the disciples on a mission that would initiate right in their own community. He begins with their area of Jerusalem, and then expands the call to the outer parts of the earth.

As disciples of Jesus, we are not urged to privacy, but to be missional persons who are passionately going out and connecting with others right where they are with the message of Jesus. We have observed this throughout history: God sends Abraham on a mission to leave his place of origin and his people and go to the city that God would show him (Gen. 12:1), God sends Moses on a exploration to save an enslaved people and lead them to joy (Exodus 3:8-10), God moved Jesus on a exploration to earth to restore all things to Himself through the blood of Christ (Colossians 1:20). And now God is sending the church on a story to engage areas, cities, ethnicities, and even nations with the good news (Matt. 28:19 Mark 6:7 Luke 10:1 John 20:21 Acts 1:8). If we dont respond to this urge and continue to perceive the places of worship like a private country club ” requesting that people resolve their act, pay their fees, and visit to our sanctuary God will continue His mission without us.

Early parts of the Old Testament mention days and years together. Time and the Biblical Creation include major fundamental concepts known to the ancient Jewish people. The Old Testament provides our first realistic ideas about time reckoning and recording. The Lord defines the day and night in the book of Genesis. The very first calendar of one day had begun. Description of the seven-day Creative Week further defines basic operation of the calendar. The sacred seven-day week is a fundamental religious idea. Four phases of the moon marked four weekly intervals during the month. Approximate lunar phases are attached to the origins of the calendar Sabbath week. Seven-day weeks and lunar months create the lunar-side of the lunar/solar calendars.

We are discovering ancient days when timekeepers watched the sun, moon and stars. The Jewish Calendar is simple when you understand the numbers used. The Jewish Calendar is based on the sun and moon together and measures chronology in numbered years from the Creation year 1. Modern recorded dates denote this era as B.C.E. for “Before Common Era”. Christianity dates according to the birth of Christ. The same B.C.E. initials mean “Before Christian Era” or simply B.C. for “Before Christ.” Time reckoning after Christ applies the A.D. marking of Anno Domini, which stems from the Latin meaning: “After Divinity” in the year of our Lord.

Calendar systems map world chronology according to different beginnings. Some follow Jewish tradition and put the Creation date at 5,767 years ago or about 3,761 years B.C.E. Others credit Archbishop Ussher with calculating in 1,701 A.D. that Creation took place in 4,004 B.C. The Egyptian Calendar begins between 4,236 B.C.E. and 4,241 B.C.E., along with Egyptian mythology explaining the world’s creation. Starting dates depend on star observation in Egypt, since that is the only way primal society had to mark calendar years. Another plan estimates the starting Mayan Calendar date to be 3,113 B.C.E. Shared calendar characteristics enable deeper inspection of prehistoric time reckoning. Sacred texts and current science provide clues needed to reconstruct the oldest Biblical history. Important traits gathered from past calendar time streams become woven together to obtain hybrid insight. Three ancient calendar systems form the world’s oldest trunk line of calendar science. God used a lunar/solar calendar to write listed ages for the Antediluvian Patriarchs. The family of Adam heralds new discovery from the earliest time.

Ages of Adam will aid you through better understanding of the Old Testament and significant calendar information. The work at timeemits.com stresses time reckoning and recording. We return to the origins of day and night that lead up to the sacred seven-day week to explore this affinity between God above and calendar times.

Genesis 1:4

“And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.”

God was “between” the light, and the darkness in the literal Hebrew definition. This basic interlinear Bible definition establishes a slightly different thought of God being between or separating, daylight on the one hand, and darkness on the other. This meaning sets the precedence for identifying day and night.

Genesis 1:5

“And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.”

The Lord put two great lights in heaven, one to rule the day and one to rule the night. The light of the sun measured the day and the light of the moon measured time greater than a day. The greater light is, of course, the sun. Everything we call solar deals with the sun. The lesser light, or luminary, is the moon. The word lunar relates to the moon or the month. The sun and moon identify as luminaries.

This work of God, of dividing, separating or coming between daylight and darkness to measure time is the basic premise of the original Jewish calendar. Calendars, time, and the sacred seven-day week have inspired the purest of time references to the Holy Bible. We must examine formative religions and ideas about time. In chapter 5 of Genesis, a correlation exists between the “begat” genealogy following Adam and numerical ties to ancient calendars. Adam and his descendants through Noah are the Antediluvian Patriarchs. Antediluvian tells us they were before the great flood of Noah and all were Patriarchs or fore fathers of humanity. The Holy Bible provides our greatest treasure of calendar history and early theology. The Master of the Universe, He who sits upon the throne of glory and grace, stretches forth His right hand to give us time.

We become one human race when you put man and woman together. There are two literal Hebrew definitions involved here. Adam meant “the man,” in the literal Hebrew sense of the word. Adam, the word, differs from a personal pronoun name like Bob or John. Adam is the human being, the generic man or a breathing creature. Adam in this work refers to the universal, generic meaning for man. The man is a derivative form of the root word that describes reddish clay, soil or dust. Literal word searches furnish meanings that aid our calendar study. A synthesis of faiths and mythology sharpen initial views regarding civilization. People have always marked birth and death by the calendar. Calendars unite with the spiritual afterlife in memorials. Early religions recognized conceptions of the spirit and soul after death by burial and by saying “from dust unto dust.” The lifetime of Adam is given precise lunar/solar years in chapter 5 of Genesis.

Eve is the woman in literal Hebrew. She is the life-giver, mother to the living, or child-bearer. The feminine fertility issue has always been associated with lunar observation. The lunar month forever etches upon humanity the moon — mother perceptions of ancient times. Cycles of new moons were basic time reckoning ingredients for lunar/solar calendars. Where Eve represented the feminine side of human order according to lunar observation, Adam represented the masculine, solar side, according to solar positioning on the horizon. In other words, Adam’s male image also implied meaning toward the rising and setting positions of the sun through all four seasons during the year. Adam and Eve have embedded connections with primitive cosmology.

Clarification of God resting on the seventh day defines a separation between successive time frames. God again divides, separates or is between the light and darkness of the moon. Repeated instances in a theme show a holy relationship is present between specific divisions of calendar times. Transition from one lunar phase ending to commencement of the next lunar phase is the most revered unit of time measurement known. God set aside the Sabbath Day as holy. God consecrated the Jewish Shabbat for all time to come. The sacred Jewish significance of the seven-day week and the number seven elsewhere support religious observance of the moon as an early calendar.

The lunar/solar calendar begins to emerge with a variety of ultimate connotations. Day unto night, between the weeks as Sabbath, new moon crescents and finally intercalary days all continue divine providence upon Earth. Time steps in the lunar/solar calendar accumulate for longer time cycles. Years and then multiple of years exhibit the same religious notions to vast proportions.

Changes in the appearance of the moon at night provide the seven-day week. Divisions of seven-days separate the four basic lunar phases noted in figure 1. Starting with a new moon crescent, the moon gradually comes into view on following nights. The first half of the moon is visible in about seven-days. The moon waxes until full moon at the end of two weeks. Lunar light reverses progression in the third week, waning to half visibility. A fourth week completes the month and visibility diminishes toward a new moon. Completion of four lunar phases comprises the month. The true lunar month measures 29.53-days. Ancient calendar makers recorded approximations according to actual observation. Whole lunar months of 29-days or 30-days were the common practice in lunar/solar calendar systems. The average lunar month of 29.5-days repeats upon sighting the new moon crescent. Light and darkness classify lunar phases in the lunar-side of lunar/solar calendars. Original interpretations of lunar time place God between the weeks on Sabbath Days.

Four Phases of the Moon Figure 1

Four Phases of the Moon

New Moon First Quarter Full Moon Fourth Quarter
Waxing Moon Waning Moon
29.5 Days Average Lunar Month

Lunar/solar calendar foundations of the Jewish calendar extend from the earliest verses of scripture. Natural, uniform motions of the heavenly spheres are the pivotal markers of time reckoning. The list of ancient characters mentioned in the Old Testament used this lunar/solar calendar system of time recording. Observation of lunar phases coupled with solar positioning graduated the lifetime ages of Adam and his descendants. Well over ten thousand years ago, proto-historical calendar makers had developed advanced sciences such as mathematics and astronomy. Intercalary days add to the lunar year of twelve-moon-months in order to complete our modern solar year of 365-days. Necessary intercalations best describe lunar/solar separation time by “coming between” lunar and solar times.

Time Equations

There are 12 finished lunar months during the current 365-day-solar-year. Since day one, that has never changed. An average lunar month is about 29.5-days long measured against a starry nighttime background. There are four quarters during one-lunar-month. From new moon, which shows no moonlight, to the first phase of the moon, or half the lighted moon, about one week has passed. Moonlight waxes to full-moon stage after two weeks. Reversing the pattern, the third week of the month wanes visibility to diminish the moon’s light back to halfway again. The fourth weekly period continues the waning retreat of moonlight until again repeating the new moon. Twelve mature lunar months multiply by 29.5-days per lunar month for 354-days to approximate the lunar year (Eqn. 1).

Time differences between lunar and solar calendar years provide lunar/solar calendar adjustments or intercalations. Subtraction yields 11 days of lunar/solar separation time between the lunar year of 12-moon-months and the 365-day-solar-year (Eqn. 2). Eleven days of difference every year were the staple for lunar/solar calendars. During 19-years, 11-days of lunar/solar separation time every year multiply this division between lunar years and solar years (Eqn. 3). Lunar/solar separation time measures 209-days of difference after 19-years have passed. Therefore, any 19-year lunar/solar calendar cycle had to incorporate these remaining 209-days of separation as intercalary days in order to catch up the lunar-side of the calendar, with the solar-side of the calendar. Intercalary systems varied between cultures to compensate calendar recording. The Mayan Calendar escalates the same intercalations to distribute 210-days over a 20-year lunar/solar calendar cycle (Eqn. 3).

Throughout this text, ‘lunar/solar’ denotes calendar terminology that pertains to lunar and solar time. Variations include ‘lunar/solar separation time’ to indicate time between lunar years and solar years. Occasionally the phrase is abbreviated ‘l/s’. Lunar-side specifically addresses time measured according to lunar or moon reckoning. Solar-side time splits address time that depends upon solar or sun reckoning. Lunar/solar calendar time is the most important approach to survey ancient calendars.

Equations

1. 12-Month-Lunar-Year
29.5 day-lunar-month
x 12 lunar-months in lunar-year
= 354 day-lunar-year

2. 11-Days of Lunar/Solar Separation Time
365 day-solar-year
– 354 day-lunar-year
= 11 days of l/s separation time per l/s calendar year

3. Lunar/Solar Separation Time for 20-year-L/S-Cycle
11-days of Separation per l/s calendar year
x 19-year-l/s-calendar cycle
= 209 days of separation per 19-year-l/s-cycle
Approximates to 210 Days of Separation per 20-year l/s-cycle

The lunar/solar calendar begins to emerge with a variety of ultimate connotations. Day unto night, between the weeks as Sabbath, new moon crescents and finally intercalary days all continue divine providence upon Earth. Time steps in the lunar/solar calendar accumulate for longer time cycles. Years and then multiple of years exhibit the same religious notions to vast proportions.

Lunar/solar calendars were common throughout the ancient world. Different calendar systems employed the 19-year cycle with slight variations. Study of the Jewish Calendar provides the necessary understanding that is fundamental to lunar/solar calendar cycles. Equally important, the Jewish Calendar was the mainstay time recording plan found throughout the Old Testament.

More information regarding Jewish Calendar festival and holiday celebrations is available from the timeemits.com website. The scope of this work is primarily the treatment of l/s intercalations. Ancient and modern versions of the calendar vary slightly. A true comparison is possible only through supplementary reading in Judaism.

Are you a pastor, educator or a student of the Holy Bible? Timeemits.com seeks anointed people to review and contribute to the Ages of Adam ministry. Ancient lunar/solar calendars like the Jewish and Mayan calendars provide the background to understanding early time. Ancient calendars of the Holy Bible use differences between the moon and sun, numerical matching and a 364-day calendar year to describe X-number of days that match with X-number of years. Ages of Adam is a free read at http://www.timeemits.com.

Nelson, C. K. (2004). Moon as the Earliest Calendar. In Ages of Adam. Retrieved Feb. 26, 2006, from:
http://www.timeemits.com/AoA Articles/Moon_as_the_ Earliest_Calendar.htm

Clark Nelson is webmaster for http://www.timeemits.com and author of Ages of Adam and sequel, Holy of Holies.
Contact article@timeemits.com for more information.
© Copyright 2006 Clark Nelson and timeemits.com All Rights Reserved.

Are we so faithless that we believe man has more zeal than did God? Compare Daniel 2:44, 45; Luke 1:32, 33 and Hebrews 12:26-28.

The scene of Daniel 7:14-27 is not a modern 21st century context, but that of ancient Rome, Israel and first century Christianity. For millennial futurists like Jeffrey, Lindsay, LaHaye, Hagee, Van Impe and others, they must remanufacture first century history today to find a place for their theories.

Their writings are filled with language of a new temple, new Rome, new Israel, etc. Only one problem, history does not cooperate. Russia, Iraq, the U.S. and even national Israel refuses to cooperate prophetically thus their horns and hoofs keep changing as history repeatedly fails them.

This plague has afflicted futurists since the close of the first century. Each time we begin outside of an imminent, at hand, shortly to come to pass time frame in the first century, doom and gloom is the result.

End-time prophecy does not bypass the first century. The apostles clearly saw their generation as the terminal one of Old Testament prophecy, (1 Corinthians 10:11) –meaning, the last days of Israel’s Old Covenant, (Hebrews 1:1, 2; 8:13). That time marked the soon appearing of Christ, a time those writers saw as occurring in a very little while, (Hebrews 10:25, 37)

William Bell is a speaker and author of the book “The Re-Examaination,” a study of Christ’s return in the first century.

For more studies on Covenant Eschatology, visit: http:http://www.allthingsfulfilled.com

Introduction:  The Feast of Unleavened Bread is the 15th day of the month of Nisan, which is the day following Passover (Pesach). It is a seven-day festival to the Lord (Leviticus23:6-7). On the 15th of Nisan and for the next seven days, God forbade the people to have any leavened bread in their houses.

 Our text for this lesson is Exodus 12:14-17.

Passover. After the lamb was killed, the blood was to be put on the doorposts. The lamb was to be roasted in fire and eaten with matzah (unleavened bread) and bitter herbs. God gave a ceremony of searching and removing leaven from the house prior to the festival of Unleavened Bread in preparation for the festival. In Hebrew, this ceremony is called Bedikat HaMetz, which means “the search for leaven.” The ceremony is as follows: The preparation for searching and removing the leaven from the house actually begins before Passover. First, the wife thoroughly cleans the house to remove all leaven from it. In the Bible, leaven is most often symbolic of sin.

The spiritual application of Unleavened Bread… Spiritually, the believers in the Messiah Yeshua are the house of God (Hebrews 3:6; I Peter 2:5; I Timothy 3:15; Ephesians 2:19). Leaven (sin) is to be cleansed out of our house, which is our body (I Corinthians 3: 16-17; 6:19-20; II Corinthians 6:15-18). In cleaning the house, the wife is instructed to purposely leave ten small pieces of leaven (bread) in the house. Then the father takes the children, along with a candle, a wooden spoon, a feather, and a piece of linen cloth, and searches through the house for the ten pieces of leaven. By nightfall on the day before Passover, a final and comprehensive search is performed. At this time, the house is completely dark except for the candles. Once the father finds the leaven (bread), he sets the candle down by the leaven and lays the wooded spoon beside the leaven. Then he uses the feather to sweep the leaven onto the spoon. Without touching the leaven, he takes the feather, spoon, and leaven, wraps them in a linen cloth, and casts them out of the door of the house. The next morning (the 14th of Nisan), he goes into the synagogue and puts the linen cloth and its contents into a fire to be burned.

More spiritual application… Spiritually, we are to cleanse the leaven (sin) from our houses (lives) by allowing the Holy Spirit to reveal to us, through the knowledge of Yeshua and the scriptures, the sin that is in our lives. It is only through God’s Word that we are able to identify sin in our lives as it is written in Psalm 119:105, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” So the spiritual understanding of the candle is that it represents the Word of God. The feather represents the Holy Spirit. Even though we have the Word of God, we need the Spirit of God to illuminate the entire Bible to us (I Corinthians 2:11-14).

Messianic fulfillment… The spoon represents the tree that Yeshua died upon (Deuteronomy 21:22-23). The leaven (sin) was swept on the spoon (the tree) as part of the ceremony. Likewise, our sin was swept or cast upon Yeshua (II Corinthians 5:21) when Yeshua died upon the tree. The leaven (Yeshua upon the tree) was then wrapped in linen and Yeshua was cast out of His house (His body) and went to hell, which is a place of burning (Luke 16:19-24). Yeshua fulfilled the part of the ceremony where the father took the linen cloth and its contents and casts it into the fire to be burned. Body:  The 15th of Nisan marks the beginning of a seven-day feast period when Israel was to eat bread without leaven in remembrance of their baking unleavened bread in their haste to escape Egypt. The primary theme of this feast is the purging out of leaven. Historically, there are two notable events that happened on this day. (1) The Exodus journey beginning from Egypt. In Deuteronomy 16:3. the bread is referred to as the “bread of affliction.” (2) The burial of Yeshua after His crucifixion, who is the Bread of Life (John 6:35).

 The festivals are fixed appointments (mo’ ed) of God specifying what He will perform and the exact time He will perform it. The Jews had to hurry to put Yeshua’s body in the ground because the Sabbath was drawing near. This Sabbath was a high Sabbath and the first day of Unleavened Bread (Nisan 15). This can be found in (John 19:31). This would mean that Yeshua died on the 14th of Nisan, the day of Passover. Yeshua was in the sepulcher the day following His crucifixion, which was the 15th of Nisan, the first day of Unleavened Bread.

 The feast of Unleavened Bread was so much a part of Passover that the names of Passover and Unleavened Bread were used interchangeably or almost synonymously (Luke 22:1).

 The feast was to be kept seven days (Exodus 12: 15-19). Seven is the number of perfection or completeness. The believer who keeps this feast is to keep it fully unto the Lord and set himself aside completely to Him. This speaks of sanctification in a general sense.

 The Feast of Unleavened Bread is a high Sabbath day. A high Sabbath in Hebrew is called a shabbaton. During Passover, there is an extra Sabbath besides the weekly Sabbath. These Sabbaths are called high Sabbaths. The high Sabbath of Unleavened Bread can be seen in John 19:31.

 Unleavened bread is used for consecration and separation. It is also anointed with oil. The believers in the Messiah are to be consecrated and separated to do the work God has called us to do and to live a life that is holy unto Him. If we do this, the anointing of the Holly Spirit of God will rest upon our lives.

Conclusion: Spiritually, the feast is kept in sincerity and truth. Sincerity involves purity and serving the Lord with a pure heart. It involves putting away the sin in our lives, and separating ourselves from all evil that has a corrupting influence in the life of a believer in Yeshua. Historically, Israel learned that keeping the feast meant a complete separation from Egypt’s religion, bondage, food, and slavery, as well as its worldly glory, wisdom, and splendor.

Keep the faith. Stay the course. Jesus is coming soon.

Pastor T.

I was born in a Hindu (Brahmin) family in Mumbai (Bombay), India. In March 2004 I came to Cambridge, England. Here I had a much better chance to explore Christianity. Now I have become a Christian. Yes, I have given up my old faith and religion (i.e. Hinduism) and have converted myself to Christianity, which I find much better on its moral, social, and cultural side.

I should make it clear, very honestly, that my belief in Christianity (same as in Hinduism) is partial, not complete. I do not really agree with its metaphysical theses. I believe in Superultramodern Science (SS), which is my creation, and thus in the NSTP (Non – Spatial Thinking Process) theory, which is major part of SS. The NSTP theory, in short, says that the spatial world is a form of illusion to non-spatial mind. And all the possible experiences of Lord Jesus, for example, coming down for us are actually non-spatial feelings generated by some superhuman thoughts, which also exist in the form of non-spatial feelings.

I became Christian in a chair. I admitted to the Lord that I had committed sin and prayed him to come and help me out. I felt good and now seem to have more strength in overcoming sin.

I gave up Hinduism mainly because of its awful religious practices (e.g. Ganesha Utsava in India: please consult my article ‘The Hindu Festivals: absolutely ridiculous, barbaric, and rubbish’). Also Hinduism appears to be racist and class-conscious. I think, if compared to other religions, Christianity is more peace-loving and human. How wonderful it would be for the entire world to be Christian, as there would probably be more peace and less conflict, at least on the religious grounds!

The Last Common Denominator

Young earth creationists say that the world is 6,000 years old, therefore they would say the events in Genesis happened less than 6,000 years ago. Unlike young earth creationists, old earth creationists simply don’t know exact dates (some YECs believe Adam was created at 9:00 A.M., on October 23, 4004 B.C.!) However, old earth theory requires these events to be older, because of the scientific evidence which must match the Bible’s story. We will start with the last common denominator, and work our way back to the Garden of Eden.

There is no way to know for certain what the proper age is for any of these events, but we can make certain speculations about the age. For instance, for many years, scientists thought that the first humans in North America ventured here via a land bridge between Russia and Alaska about 13,000 years ago.

Another site, the Meadowcroft site in Pennsylvania, contains artifacts dated to 16,000 years ago. Based on this and other discoveries, many scientists now believe that North Americans also arrived via boat, prior to the Bering Straight land bridge of 13,000 years ago.2 Thus, for archaeological evidences, the earliest date we have for North America is about 16,000 years ago.

The most recent event, which would be the last common denominator for all human races, is spoken of in Genesis 11. The Tower of Babel tells the story of how God confused the language of the people, and spread them throughout the world. Thus, these early North Americans must have migrated at some point after the Tower of Babel. Therefore, the only thing we can say with any certainty is that the events of Genesis 11 happened sometime prior to 13,000 to 16,000 years ago. This is our starting point for understanding dating of events within our old earth framework, and it is only a rough estimate of the real date for the Tower of Babel. We only know for certain that the Tower of Babel could not be younger than 13,000 years ago (or could it? More on this later.)

However, this assumes that the people spread from the Tower within a few years of God confusing their language. Did they come directly from the Tower to North America…or did they gradually spread in North America’s direction. This could greatly add to the time since the Tower of Babel.

The Flood of Noah

The next event prior to that would be the Flood of Noah. We do have a good estimate for the time from Noah’s Flood to the Tower of Babel, as you will see.

According to Genesis 9:28, we know that Noah lived 350 years after the flood. Genesis 10 then goes on to list the genealogies of the descendants of Noah’s Ark. It is apparent that the genealogies of Genesis 10 are not necessarily in chronological order with Genesis 11. In other words, the Tower of Babel in Chapter 11 occurred sometime in the middle of these genealogies in Chapter 10. I say this because Genesis 11:1 says “And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.” However, we read in Genesis 10:4, 20, that the clans each had their own language. In fact, Genesis 10:25 actually refers to the events of the Tower of Babel. Right in the middle of Shem’s descendants it says “One was named Peleg, because in his time the earth was divided” (NIV). (Other versions say “the inhabitants” of earth were divided up).

Concerning these genealogies, the NIV states that in the original Hebrew, Sons could also mean descendants, successors, or nations. While not significant for the genealogies between the Flood and the Tower, we will come back to this thought later.

The most definitive passage for dating back to Noah’s Flood is Genesis 11:10-19. This gives the descendants, from Noah’s son Shem, to Peleg, who we previously learned was alive when the Tower of Babel incident occurred. Thus…

0 Shem is 98 when the flood ended
2 Shem is 100 when Arphaxad is born
37 Arphaxad is 35 when Shelah is born
67 Shelah is 30 when Eber is born
101 Eber is 34 when Pelag is Born
310 Pelag lived to be 209

Using this chart, the Flood must have happened a minimum of 101 years prior to the Tower of Babel. If the split at the Tower was caused by God near the time of Pelag’s birth, this would lend support to his father, Eber, naming him after this event. However, we can’t be certain of this. The only thing we know with any degree of certainty is that it happened during Peleg’s lifetime. Thus we have a range for the Flood of 101 to 310 years prior to the Tower of Babel.

Adding this to our minimum age of 13,000 to 16,000 years, and we come up with a range of 13,101 to 16,310 years ago for Noah’s Flood. This is assuming the migrations to North America involve post-Adamic men…more on this later.

Eve

Next we must consider mankind’s origins. The most favored theory now is the “Out of Africa” theory, which shows that a genetic “Eve” from which we are descended came from Africa about 150,000 years ago. This “genetic” evidence is based on mutation rates of mitochondrial DNA of 1 every 20,000 years. Some research suggests a ratio of 1 to 10,000, thus cutting 150,000 to 75,000 years.

Interestingly, the people from this genetic Eve are said to have migrated from Africa to the Middle East, and from there they spread out over the world. Although the African Eve is said to be 150,000 years ago, the migration to the Middle East is said to have occurred around 80,000 years ago. Thus, 80,000 years ago is the last common location for all mankind (using this model).

This brings up an apparent problem. According to the Bible, Eve came from the Garden of Eden, which was located in the Middle East. How could our genetic common ancestor have come from Africa?

It is based on mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). mtDNA is passed down from mother to offspring. Unlike other DNA, mtDNA is passed down without change, without merging with the male mtDNA. It is subject to random mutations, thus over time, minor differences can be shown.

If I have a specific mutation, and someone else also has it, it confirms that sometime in the past we had a common maternal ancestor. This ancestor could be a few generations, or a hundred generations ago.

Using mtDNA extrapolations, and assuming a mutation rate of 1 per 20,000 years, and by examining mtDNA evidence of fossil hominids, they arrive at the conclusion that there was a genetic Eve from Africa 150,000 years ago. This may be true, but it doesn’t affect our conclusions…more on that later.

Now, on to the next piece of the puzzle. We must consider when migration from the Middle East occurred. Archeological and DNA evidence suggests human migration to Europe about 50,000 years ago, and migration to Australia no later than 40,000 years ago. With the first migration from the Middle East around 50,000 years ago, where does this leave us? We now have a range of 50,000 to 16,000 years ago for the last common location for our ancestors…the Tower of Babel. This is assuming that we are all descended from these migration peoples. However, this may or may not be the case.

Will the Real Eve Please Stand Up!

How could there be a genetic Eve in Africa 150,000 years ago, and a Biblical Eve in the Middle East? At some point, Adam and Eve (the Biblical ones) were created. Before Adam and Eve, other non-soulish hominids were created by God. We share similarities in mtDNA with these pre-Adamic hominids. For instance Neanderthal mtDNA differs from ours by 7 percent…enough to show similarities (93 percent), but far enough apart to prove that they did not contribute to our current gene pool. The hominids that existed 50,000 to 150,000 years ago also shared a significant portion of their mtDNA with us.

It gives the appearance of God using each successive pre-Adamic hominid to refine the model. Is this saying God could not create us perfectly in the first place? No, it merely is a record of what God did. We cannot infer anything from this about God’s power and abilities…after all, can you create a hominid? No, you can’t…you are not God!

Why He did it that way, we don’t know. We only know that at some point, He created a hominid in His image (with an eternal spirit), and ended the creative process. Therefore, these early hominids from mtDNA evidence, that are said to be our ancestors, may not be at all! They may have spread all over the world, and then when God created Adam and Eve, some 20-30,000 years ago (?), these others went extinct. We share most of our mtDNA with them because they were our “template.”

My Proposal for Adam and Eve’s Date of Creation

One thing is clear…we now have one hominid species, created in the image of God. Where in the past can we point to a place in time, when the last non-modern hominid went extinct? This would be a good basis for the maximum dating of the Biblical Eve. This would be the Neanderthal, which went extinct around 29,000 years ago.

Although not conclusive, it may be safe to assume that when God made Adam and Eve, his final creation, there were no previous hominids present. This would put the Garden of Eden no later than 29,000 years ago, and would allow plenty of time for the migration to the Americas after the Tower of Babel, which occurred a minimum of 16,000 years ago. With this conclusion, prior dated hominids do not create a problem for us…they were merely non-soulish hominids, not in God’s image.

To tie up loose ends…remember our Tower of Babel date, which had to be at least 13,000 years ago…not so. I give 29,000 years as the oldest date for Eden, but it could have been younger. These 13,000 year old migrators could have died when Adam and Eve were created. Thus, they could have been pre-Adamic, non-eternal hominids. So, we really have a range of 29,000 years, all the way down to 6,000 years, if you like.

Hebrew Scholars

Dates for the Garden, as given by some of the best Hebrew scholars, place it between 30,000 and 10,000 years ago, with some scholars placing it as young as 6,000, or as old as 60,000 years ago. This is within the range of 29,000 years ago or later which I propose as the oldest possible date for the Garden.

Conclusion

The bottom line is that we don’t know the exact dates for early Biblical events. All we can do is make an educated guess. Since the last non-modern hominid died out 29,000 years ago, it is safe to assume that Biblical history starts sometime within the last 29,000 years. Does it matter when it started? Praise the Lord that it does not. Our salvation does not depend upon the timing of God’s creation. Thus, you are free to debate these matters and come to your own conclusions. I hope that this article provides you with some food for thought to get you started.

This is a condensed article. For a list of references, access the original page on the Answers In Creation website.

This article comes from the Answers In Creation website (http://www.answersincreation.org). The source article is located at http://www.answersincreation.org/biblicaldating.htm.

Greg Neyman is the founder of the website ministry Answers In Creation. The original location of this article is here.

This passage is often quoted as proof that Jesus never
meant for us to take him literally. To be honest, we’ve never
plucked out an eye or cut off a hand ourselves, and we know
of no saint who ever did. We have heard of a few mental
patients who did, however!

So maybe Jesus did not mean for it to be taken literally…
and if he did not mean for us to take that literally, then
maybe he didn’t mean for us to take anything else he said
literally either.

No way! We cannot accept that line of reasoning. If Jesus is
really the Son of God, then trying to make him conform to our
finite wisdom is blasphemy.

Let’s start with the mental patients. If you or I cut a hand off,
wouldn’t we be committed to a mental hospital too? So what
if the hand choppers aren’t all crazy?

And is it really true that people who are widely recognised
as being sane have never cut off a hand or plucked out an
eye? Check the medical records of any hospital and you’ll
find that amputations and organ removals are
commonplace. Life threatening conditions like gangrene or
cancer often lead people to take such extreme steps.

A railway worker in outback Australia was bitten on the hand
by a deadly brown snake. He had no hope of getting to a
hospital before the poison killed him. So he grabbed an axe
and chopped off his own hand. He was not locked up. In
fact, he was commended for his courage. Obviously he
showed good sense too. The loss of a hand was of lower
priority than life itself.

Try this experiment. Get a very sharp pocket knife and put it
in your pocket or purse for one day, with the understanding
that you will cut your hand off (or maybe just put a big gash
in it) before you will let it lead you into sin. Just do it for one
day. And see if you don’t think very seriously about everything
that you do that day.

With a knife in your pocket, you begin to confront the
seriousness of sin. It is so easy to make spiritually fatal
decisions without thinking about their consequences.
Physical threats are usually visible and immediate, so we
tend to act more quickly to avoid them. A chopped off hand
(or even the threat of it) might be just what we need to get
things back into correct perspective.

The whole context of Christ’s command was to show us
that, if physical life is worth such drastic action, then spiritual
life is worth even more. Most of us would lack the courage to
do what that railway worker did to save his physical life. But
we should be much more motivated if we thought that our
failure to act would mean eternal death. And in either case
we should be able to recognise the good sense of such an
action even if we lack the courage to do so ourselves.

Muslims practise such ‘atrocities’ as cutting off the hands of
thieves; and Jews teach “an eye for an eye”. America
actually executes dozens of people each year in the name of
morality. All Jesus asks is that we show this same kind of
discipline on our selves. Is that so bizarre?

And now for the loophole you’ve all been hoping for.
(Though, to be honest, if you don’t go through the stage of
being willing to cut off your hand or pluck out your eye, you
may not qualify for the loophole.)

Obviously it is not your hand or your eyes that actually cause
you to sin. Cutting a thief’s hand off does not stop the greed
that caused the theft in the first place.

What we need to think more seriously about is a ‘heart’
transplant! Jesus said “Where your treasure is, there will
your heart be.” (Matthew 6:21) And he says to forsake our
treasure if we want to be his disciple. (Luke 14:33) Paul
says the love of money is the root of all evil. (I Timothy 6:10)
So this is what we must cut out.

As extreme as amputation may be, most people would
rather lose an arm or leg than give up their wealth and their
source of income. But Jesus says to pick up that axe and
hack away at the real causes of sin in your life. We think he
is quite literal about forsaking the root of all evil.

Smash your pride. Pluck out your emotionalism. Cut off your
visible means of support. So that you can begin (right now!)
to live by faith in the eternal kingdom of heaven.

(See also the article “The Root of All Evil”.)

Dave McKay, and his wife Cherry, are co-founders of the
Jesus Christian communities, in Australia, England, Kenya,
and the U.S. The community is dedicated to at least
trying to literally obey the various teachings of Jesus.
Visit their website at http://www.jesuschristians.com or email
Dave at : fold@idl.net.au

Ben-Ariel was raised in Risingsun and Holland and is a high school graduate of Springfield High School.

The book, he says, addresses a lot of “hot issues” such as the construction of the Temple on the Temple Mount in Israel, the Sabbath versus Sunday, Passover versus Easter, the German-led empire, and other biblical issues.

Released in January by Publish America in Maryland, this is Ben-Ariel’s first book.

“Many people believe Europe will be the next superpower,” Ben-Ariel said. “Most Americans are ignorant of what’s going on over there.” He decided to “wake them up and give them food for thought.”

“I want to make them start asking questions. It (the book) deals with things that effect the whole world.”

Through his own research in Europe, the book looks at the history of the Holy Roman Empire and how Germany once dominated it, he said. He reports on true Christianity and the “plain truth of the Bible.”

He said it is prophesied in the Bible that the justification of God is going to let Europe conquer us. “American, British and Jewish people will suffer defeat at the hand of Europe. They will conquer us because of God’s will to let them because of our sins of immorality.”

“The fate of our nation hangs in the balance. This could tip it. I want to alert of the coming Holocaust. The former Holocaust will look like child’s play compared to what’s coming.”

Ben-Ariel said he has received mixed reactions from his book. “I have had good, bad and ugly reactions,” he said. “It was an expected reaction.”

Reprinted with Permission

Sentinel-Tribune Bowling Green, Ohio

Friday, February 25, 2005