Creationism Series Part Three

Unlocking Adam’s True Age

How old was Adam on day one?

Creationism Part Three

Khen Lim




Image source: whatshotn.me

From biblical records, we know Adam lived for nine-hundred and thirty years. We assume that everyone’s age is always counted from a base of zero, meaning that from the moment we were born, our age begins. 

If a person dies at eighty years old, it means he had lived on Earth for all of eighty years. Mathematically, it simply means 80 minus 0 equals 0. But in Adam’s case, it might not be so simple.

Unlike Cain, Abel and Seth, Adam and Eve had no umbilical cords because they were not born as babies in a woman’s womb. They had no mother and their Father is God the Creator. All this suggests without a doubt that when Adam was born, he was very likely a young adult but what age was that, the Bible doesn’t say. 

Therefore, for the Bible to say that he lived for nine-hundred and thirty years, its relevance is muddled by the fact that we don’t know what age – often referred to as Apparent Age – he was born at. This is not 930 minus 0 equals 930. In fact it might be X minus Y equals 930. Could it then be that if Adam was twenty years of age at birth, the equation would be 950 minus 20 equals 930?

Many believe that from the Old Testament historical records and the genealogies in Genesis 5, we could trace the creation of Adam and Eve back to about 4000BC but even so, it doesn’t tell us anything about the age they were created at. 

As we’ve said earlier, Seth was born when his father was 130 years of age, which only tells us that his parents couldn’t have been in the Garden for more than 130 years. We also know that God’s commands to Adam could never be fulfilled by someone who was 10 years old let alone a little toddler. 



Adam and Eve including their sons Cain and Abel and, interestingly, a daughter in the background (Image source: wwyeshua.wordpress.com)

From the early genealogies, the Bible teaches us that Adam and Eve were young enough to conceive many children. It wasn’t just Cain, Abel and Seth but in fact, there were many other sons and daughters (Gen 5:4). 

Apparently Josephus quoted some old Jewish tradition saying that there were 33 sons and 23 daughters while early genealogies suggest no less than five since biblical records simply gives the name of the son and then adds “and begot sons and daughters.” The plural nature of the words ‘sons’ and ‘daughters’ would point to an addition of no less than two each.

To live as long as over nine-hundred years might be the norm then but compared to today, that’s more than ten times longer. If the female fecundity today is anywhere from 20 to 35, for early Genesis women, that would be 200 to 350 years (assuming we can simply extrapolate) except that in this case, Eve’s fecundity would have begun a lot earlier.

How much earlier? Far earlier than 130 years. Assuming that God created Eve the same year He Adam, Seth was born when the latter was 130 years old. So her fecundity must be way earlier and very roughly not long after they were driven out of the Garden.

Another point to take into account is the average birth rates. Modern families in advanced countries go on an average of one child for every two years but as the Forbes article (‘How Far Apart Should You Space Your Kids?’) suggests, the motives are only relevant in a contemporary sense. 

Besides at a rate of 1.88 births per woman (World Bank, 2012), the average modern family appears pegged at two children. Given the costs of maintenance, upbringing, housing and education and so on, these are economic constraints, the very things that never applied back in Adam’s days.

In the days of Creationism, Adam and Eve never had the headaches that we all have today in the modern world. They certainly didn’t have to consider ‘family planning’ as we know it. No limitations were placed on them like where to live, how to clothe them, how much baby food costs or what schools to go to. 

With God’s encouragement, Adam and Eve could ditch whatever planning and simply go for broke. What all this teaches us is that we are no closer to knowing how many children Adam and Eve actually, no closer to knowing the things that the Bible does not reveal and no closer to sometimes even making good guesses.

The third point to consider was their physical constitution. Unlike what we have to bear with today, Adam and Eve’s biological bodies were as original as they were close to perfection, meaning that they were more than capable and readily productive. Procreation wouldn’t have been a problem since God Himself endorsed it (Gen 1:28). 

What this means is that the gap between the Fall and the very first real biological birth couldn’t have been big. In other words, Cain would’ve been born almost right – meaning nine months later – after the banishment.

On top of all this, the Book of Jubilees, authored around 2BC by an anonymous writer, may lack biblical credentials but the claims it makes remain astonishing today. In the text as translated by Robert Henry Charles (2005), Adam and Eve were said to be in the Garden of Eden for seven years. It also claimed that Eve bore Cain between the ages of 64 and 70. 

In other words, of course, the Earth was equally as young, as it shares the same age number as Adam and Eve. Then apparently seven years later, Abel was born, making the mother, 71 to 77 years old.

In all the ‘begets’ that Genesis (and elsewhere) records, it isn’t difficult to note that the first child in each family was born when one or both parents were aged between 25 and 35 (the fecundity issue is certainly noticeable). 

Perhaps what might offer us better clues as to Adam being created in this age bracket is the biblical importance of the age of twenty. While Scripture does not tell us Adam’s apparent age, take note of the following:

“Now tell them this: ‘As surely as I live, declares the Lord, I will do to you the very things I heard you say. You will all drop dead in this wilderness! Because you complained against Me, every one of you who is twenty years or older and was included in the registration will die. You will not enter and occupy the Land I swore to give you. The only exceptions will be Caleb, son of Jephunneh, and Joshua, son of Nun.

“You said your children would be carried off as plunder. Well, I will bring them safely into the land and they will enjoy what you have despised.” (Num 14:28-31, NLT)

When the Israelites rebelled against God and resisted entering the Promised Land, the Lord stipulated a cut-off point as the age of responsibility and with that, those who made such a decision will pay the price at the age of twenty and older with the exception of Caleb and Joshua.

But then maybe, Adam and Eve’s apparent age at Creation may actually be older than twenty. After all, Jesus together with Joseph and David were all thirty years old when they became significant in what they did with their lives:

“One day when the crowds were being baptised, Jesus Himself was baptised. As He was praying, the heavens opened and the Holy Spirit, in bodily form, descended on Him like a dove. And a voice from heaven said, ‘You are My dearly loved Son and You bring Me great joy.’ Jesus was about thirty years old when He began His public ministry.” (Lk 3:21-23, NLT)

“He was thirty years old when he began serving in the court of Pharaoh the king of Egypt. And when Joseph left Pharaoh’s presence, he inspected the entire land of Egypt.” (Gen 41:46, NLT)

“David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years in all.” (2 Sam 5:4, NLT)

Adam and Eve driven out of the Garden by God (Image source: raykliu.wordpress.com)

Genesis 3 then reveals that Adam and Eve had intelligent discourses with God. Surely in and amongst the things they discussed was not just the naming of all the animals and having dominion over them but likely also why God had given them their names. The Bible doesn’t say so but it’s just a fair guess that they wouldn’t just talk about one matter but instead many other curious issues. 

In other words, both Adam and Eve were certainly not primitive cavemen – as some have suggested – but sufficiently intelligent to have discussions with a supreme God – their actual Father, no less – and to think things through.

It is at this point that we should distinguish between being ‘primitive’ and being ‘naïve.’ I think that Adam and Eve were naïve – being victimised by Satan reveals this – but they were not primitive, judging from the responsibilities that God had given him. 

Furthermore, having lived 930 years meant that Adam would have seen enough in all his days to have also gained wisdom and experience. Through those many centuries of life, he lived long enough to be present when Methuselah was born as he passed down the lessons of his earlier genealogies.

Looking back at the Six Days of Creation, there is enough evidence to back the notion that Adam and Eve did not sin on the sixth day. Had they done that, God wouldn’t have declared that all was ‘good.’ If He did in spite of that, He would have been seen to condone sin. 

Furthermore, they couldn’t have sinned on the seventh day because that was the day God had sanctified. So it seems that the Fall took place not long after that and if that were the case, Cain was born in the time frame after the seventh Day of Creation but well before 130 years.

And with all this conjecture, we are no closer to knowing the Adam’s apparent age when he was created. But then Deuteronomy 29:29 is always there to remind us:

“The Lord our God has secrets known to no one. We are not accountable for them but we and our children are accountable forever for all that He has revealed to us, so that we may obey all the terms of these instructions.” (NLT)

There it is, folks. God has chosen all this while to not reveal Adam and Eve’s apparent age at Creation. But then, when you do think about it, there are other things He is silent about as well. 

On the other hand, what He has shown us through His Word are the very things we are commanded to do and not to do in our lives and no matter what answers we think are so important to find out but God doesn’t reveal, may we not take our eyes off the things that matter more and focus our responsibilities on them.



Next Week: Uncovering the Earth's True Age (Final Part Four)

References

Charles, Robert Henry, translator (Sept 2010) The Book of Jubilees or the Little Genesis (Whitefish, MO: Kessinger Publishing). Available at https://www.amazon.com/Book-Jubilees-Little-Genesis/dp/1163428132

Collins, C. John (May 2011) Did Adam and Eve Really Exist? Who They Were and Why You Should Care (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway). Available at https://www.amazon.com/Did-Adam-Eve-Really-Exist/dp/1433524252

Forbes (Nov 2012) How Far Apart Should You Space Your Kids? Available at http://www.forbes.com/sites/learnvest/2012/11/08/how-far-apart-should-you-space-your-kids/#6ac930c6326d

New World Encyclopaedia under the topic title, Methuselah, available at http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Methuselah

Whiston, William, translator (Sept 1980) The Works of Josephus: Complete and Unabridged, New Updated Edition (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers). Available at https://www.amazon.com/Works-Josephus-Complete-Unabridged-Updated/dp/0913573868

World Bank Group, The (2012) Fertility Rate, Total (Births per Woman). Available at http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.TFRT.IN?