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The creation week through the patriarchs will be covered in this third presentation of the timeline.
Before adding a year to the creation narrative it must be established, by a biblical account, that thirteen cycles of nineteen years each was factually God’s method of tracking time. What was the bible event that shows the Metonic cycle to be the structure that God used to mark time? It was the worldwide flood, and the record of the length of time it lasted.
It is through Noah’s time log of the flood year that God has preserved His system of measuring time. It is through its compiler Moses that Noah’s time log has been preserved and it is God’s way of showing how time is recorded throughout the bible. This time log begins in the seventh chapter of Genesis, verse 4, and sets the weekly time frame of the seven days of creation. Genesis 7, verse 4 says, “For after seven more days I will cause it to rain on the earth forty days and forty nights……;” Seven is an important number that wends its way through the entire Bible.
Next to the day and the hour it is the smallest element of time that God uses, and has been followed by man throughout his history; proving its importance by the fact that it is still in use today. Not only is it in use today, but is factually a replication of the seven days of creation in an unbroken line of weeks to the present time, which is proven by this work, thus making this seventh day the commemoration of man’s beginning and also of his world. That seventh day is now called Saturday.
It is important to recognize that there are the two creating Gods; The Father and His Son, Christ. John 1:1-3. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.” Christ was the Word, the one responsible for recording the bible.
God records the passage of time from the creation of Adam to the beginning of the flood year in Genesis 5:1-32. Note that in Gen. 5:3 God uses the same words, “likeness” and “image “when Adam was created. Verse 3 of Genesis 5 tells us “And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and begot a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth.” Seth, the offspring of Adam, looked like him and had a character similar to Adam’s, not God’s character. Gen. 5:5. “So all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years; and he died.”
For modern man this length of life appears to be nothing more than a fairy tale, but for the geneticist it is something that is easily possible. Isn’t this what man has been working on; a way extend life without end? It is known that the aging process is the result of the loss of part of the genetic code within each cell. If this loss could be stopped man would be able to live indefinitely, retaining all of his youthful characteristics. Rather than confining Genesis 5 to a fairy tale status, true science once again proves the validity of this bible account.
The answer to why our present lives are so much shorter today is revealed in Genesis 6:3. “And the Lord said, ‘My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be 120 years.’”
Why did God make this change? The answer is given in Genesis 6:5-6. “The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry (pained) that He made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.” God reduced the lifespan of man so that the rule of the despotic leaders would be shortened by an early death. It is Satan’s way to have man be constantly striving with other men to reach the top, which brings all the pain and suffering to this world. Satan’s system is the gaining of the top position by any means; to lie, to steal or to kill is the way Satan has led man to think and act. By employing these violent methods man is able to maintain ruler ship over others. By God cutting short man’s lifespan He put a restraint on the depths of depravity that man can sink to. Thus far man has had more than 6,000 years to perfect his government using these methods, but none has ever lasted or brought peace and harmony to this world. It is this constant striving to reach the top by any means, lying, stealing, murder, and even setting up false religions which guarantees the failure of every government that man has devised.
Not all bible chronologists reject Genesis 5; those using it simply add up the years and come to what they think would be the year of Noah’s Flood – 1656 AM. Note: AM means years after the creation of man, or the number of cycles of the earth circling the sun.
This calculation can only be true if these men were all born on the same day of the same month as Adam was born. Adam was brought to life on the sixth day of the first month as the bible records. Now let’s suppose Seth was born in the sixth month when Adam was still one hundred and thirty years old, meaning that Seth’s first child, Enosh must have been born sometime after the sixth month for Seth to be one hundred and five years of age at Enosh’s birth.
It would be correct to conclude the same for the nine patriarchs who followed Adam. From the timeline given in Genesis 5 it can only be surmised that the minimum number of years from the creation to the flood would be 1656. This is not stated as fact in the bible, leaving one to either confirm the date by other scriptures or explain what the actual date of the flood was. Prov. 25:2 tells us “It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings to search out a matter.”
This is further defined by Paul in II Timothy 2:15. “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." To “rightly divide” means to open up that which is hidden.
The only correct conclusion to be arrived at from reading Genesis 5 is that there could not have been less than 1656 years from creation to the flood. As demonstrated by the example given of Seth and his son, one can only add time to the 1656 years. The scriptures of Genesis 5 requires each of the patriarchs to be of a certain age at the birth of their sons, meaning that it is the birthdate of the son that controls the number of years to the flood. The bible does not reveal these birthdates; therefore there must be another factor that will give the year of the flood.
Not only does Genesis reveal the lengths of the lives of the patriarch’s but points to one as being special to God. Genesis 5:23-24. “So the days of Enoch were 365 years. And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.” Enoch was not the only one who walked with God. This is proved in Genesis 6 verse 9. “…Noah walked with God.”
God pointed out these two men as special. What made them special? You can find the answer in the article THE PHYSICAL PRESENCE OF GOD which can be found on this web site. It was through the calling of Noah and his family that God made a new start for mankind on the earth.
The next video, #4 will detail the flood of Noah.