Our geology “series” began with me kind of getting what I asked for: a basic geology text—which turned out to be the graduate level Annals of the Former World by John McPhee. Here’s the next episode, as McPhee explores the six days of creation. Take a look at the pic, from the Enchantment Resort in Sedona, as we enjoyed a Happy Hour gazing at this cliff face from the restaurant’s outside patio. Count the strata if you dare, 100 or more. Then, realize that each layer was laid down by an ocean moving in, dropping material, often sand, then receding. Different depths of material. Over 100 times. And at various points, all we saw on that cliff was below the surface of the water. Later, it was all below the surface of the land. Those subsurface strata were unseen, until erosion cut into the land. Somewhat boggles the mind, does it not?
McPhee tells of David Brower, founder of Friends of the Earth, who squeezes 4.5 billion years of earth into equivalent six creation days, ranging from the first act to our present time, with each day representing 750 million years. All Monday and until noon Tuesday, the earth got going. Then life began and developed to midafternoon Saturday. At 4 PM, the big reptiles appeared. By 9 PM the redwoods showed up and the big reptiles had departed. Humans appeared at 11:57 PM Saturday, and ¼ of a second before midnight, Jesus was born. 1/40 of a second before midnight, the Industrial Revolution appeared.
Two applications. First, Genesis’ six creation days could not be literal 24-hour days: the sun didn’t appear until day four. And the Hebrew word for day, “yom,” means a period of time. It can be 24 hours, but in the Genesis story, yom is used for just the daylight hours four times, and for the entire week of creation in 2:4. The Bible uses yom with multiple meanings, so let’s not think it requires six 24-hour days. It doesn’t.
Let’s go deeper. ¼ of a second seems late for Jesus to appear, yet Paul disagreed with a concept of time, “But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son” (Galatians 4:4, NAS95). The earth had to be completed. Humans had to develop. Roman roads were needed to reach the known world. A common language, Greek, so people could understand. Then came Jesus, ¼ of a second before midnight. Yes, God is outside of time, but these steps had to follow a sequence, one leading to another, which to us requires time.
A patient and loving God works for 4.5 billion years of our time, step by step, to get everything ready…for Jesus. Let this sink into your mind. Be boggled, as was I, at seeing what it took to reach the fullness of time.
Kick Starting the Application
Have you pondered how much time and work it took God? Does it humble you to see how such a relatively short time we have been around? Does it ennoble you to see what God has done to enable us to know Jesus?