Primordial Planet Puzzles (Part 7)

A vegetarian world

“And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so” (Gen 1:29-30).

Were plants and fruits alone sufficient to have kept the first men in the excellent health necessary for long and active lives?

A well-rounded diet? Nutritionists name six kinds of nutrients: water, carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, and minerals. The first four are “macronutrients” we must have in large amounts. Much water is needed, since the body is 50-75% water. A lot of carbohydrates and fats are a must for energy; proteins for body tissues. Vitamins and minerals, the “micronutrients,” are taken in minute quantities, but are vital for growth and organ functions.

Plants and fruits have high water contents. Grains, legumes, and rootcrops are mostly carbohydrates. Oil sources, like coconut, olive, corn, soybean, sunflower, supply fats. Fruits and vegetables are rich in vitamins and minerals. But proteins are best obtained from animals as milk, eggs, meat, fish. These are complete proteins containing all the essential amino acids. Cereals, nuts, and vegetables, lacking one or more essential amino acids, are incomplete proteins. A primeval vegetarian diet would not have been well-rounded. Or was it?

Were all the nutrients that the first men and animals needed in the right amounts in the plants and fruits that have since become extinct? The herbivorous dinosaurs were the biggest creatures on earth and lasted for millions of years. The biggest and strongest land animals today are the plant-eating elephants, giraffes, rhinoceroses, buffaloes. Part of the dinosaurs’ diet 248-65 million years ago were leaves of the ginkgo tree, today a “living fossil” in China and Japan. Used for centuries as a medicine, ginkgo is reputed to help improve memory and concentration among those with Alzheimer’s disease. It calls to mind the “tree of life… the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations” (Rev 22:2).

Flesh-eating creatures

In many paleontological digs around the globe, animal bones have been found with manlike fossils. Java and Peking man sites yielded remains of bats, monkeys, rhinoceroses, elephants, wild cats. Hominids ate many herbivores like deer, goats, and oxen, but their diet included carnivorous predators and scavengers such as lions, wolves, bears.

Traders or raiders? Archeologists believe, based on mixed artifacts found, that primitive Neanderthals may have traded with the more modern Cro-Magnons. The May 16, 1996, issue of Nature reported the discovery southeast of Auxerre, France, of Neanderthal fossils with bone and ivory jewelry nearly identical to those of Cro-Magnons. The find suggested that Neanderthals probably bartered with Cro-Magnons.¹⁰⁹

Did they trade with each other or raid one another? Skeletal remains show that Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons lived in a brutal period. There were signs of violence in the form of broken bones, scars, and healed-over bone growths. In particular, there was a high incidence of neck and head injuries. The artifacts could have been spoils of war.

Man-eating men. A French-American team has unearthed evidence of cannibalism at a Neanderthal site in France. The Encarta Encyclopedia tells of hominid and animal fossils that had been butchered the same way: "faunal and hominid remains were subjected to similar treatment. In the case of Moula-Guercy, crania and limb bones of both taxa are broken… Bone fracture is presumably related to processing for marrow and brains in both Homo and Cervus.”¹¹⁰

Other Homo erectus, Neanderthal, and early Homo sapiens (Cro-Magnon) sites piece together the same grisly picture: With sharp stone tools, hominids dismembered and defleshed their kills. They used stone hammers and anvils to break open the big bones for the marrow. Many skulls had been bashed open to extract the brains. Evidence indicates some Neanderthals may have done the same to their relatives.

Signs of cannibalism are present in only a few sites, but because the total number of sites is small, it was statistically a widespread practice.

Day-Age 6-n:

• Circa 57,221 to 28,611 years ago (Duration: approximately 28,611 years)

Day-Age 6-o:

• Circa 28,611 to 13,306 years ago (Duration: approximately 14,306 years)

 

End of Day 6

“And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day” (Gen 1:31-2:1).

Day-Age 6 Summary:

• Total duration (Day-Age 6-a to 6-o): circa 468,735,694 years. (To round figures, 0.8858 remainder from the exponential regression has been added to the remaining 14,305.1142 years, for a full 14,306 years. See table at the end of this chapter.)

 

Day 7: Day of rest

“Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made” (Gen 2:1-3).

Interpretations of Day 7:

• Literal 24-Hour Days:    1 day after man was created circa 6,000 years ago
• Thousand-Year Days:    circa 6,000-5,000 years ago
• Diminishing Day-Ages:  circa 13,306 to 6,153 years ago (Duration: approximately 7,153 years)

 

Shift to 1,000-year “days”?

After the seven-“day” Creation “week,” the flow of time appears to have shifted inexplicably to a dual mode for all, as laid down in 2 Peter 3:8 (“one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day”; cf. Ps 90:4): literal 24-hour days from man’s standpoint, and prophetic 1,000-year “days” from God’s viewpoint.

Thus, both Young and Old Earth Creationists now reckon days as 24-hour periods, but at the same time are subject to God’s 1,000-year “days” in the prophetic countdown.

Countdown to completion.

 In the Diminishing Day-Ages timeline, some 7,153 years were still remaining in 4004 B.C. at the creation of modern man’s ancestor, Adam, before the full 15 billion years could be completed.

Homo sapiens sapiens. The subspecies Homo sapiens sapiens, whose first specimen was Adam, includes all people living today. The braincase of modern man ranges from about 1,000 to 2,000 cu cm (60 to 120 cu in), averaging around 1,350 cu cm (80 cu in),¹¹¹ slightly smaller than those of Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons, but proportional to a less massive muscular build.

The World Book reports that, after scientifically comparing DNA samples of modern men with those of Neanderthals and other extinct hominids, many scientists conclude that the results indicate all people today form a separate species distinct from prehistoric humans.¹¹² (The scientists, however, fell short of saying how the first man came about.)

Homo sapiens sapiens timeline.

·         Circa 6,000-5,000 years ago. God created Adam some 6,000 years ago (4004 B.C.) The wheel was invented around 5,500 years ago (3500 B.C.) in  Sumer, Mesopotamia,¹¹³ where an early writing system in the form of pictographs also appeared at about the same time; followed 5,300 years ago by Egyptian hieroglyphics (3300-3200 B.C.).¹¹⁴

·         Circa 5,000-4,000 years ago. The Bronze Age began some 5,000 years ago (3000 B.C.) in Greece and China.¹¹⁵ Noah was born around the same time (2948 B.C.). The Flood took place in 2348 B.C.

·         Circa 4,000-3,000 years ago. Abraham was born about 4,000 years ago (1996 B.C.) The Iron Age began sometime around 1500-1000 B.C., with the use of iron for tools and weapons.¹¹⁶

·         Circa 3,000-2,000 years ago. David lived and died about 3,000 years ago (1015 B.C.), followed by his son Solomon (975 B.C.). Rome was founded in 753 B.C., made a republic in 509 B.C., and became an empire in 27 B.C.¹¹⁷

·         Circa 2,000-1,000 years ago. Christ was born about 2,000 years ago (5 B.C.). The eastern Roman Empire fell in 476 A.D.; the Dark Ages (early Middle Ages) began, ending in the 900s; the Medieval Period (late Middle Ages) lasted until the 1400s.

·         Circa 1,000 years ago-present. Christians launched Crusades from 1096 to 1396 to regain the Holy Land from the Muslims. The Renaissance, an era of learning and cultural revival, lasted from about 1450 to 1600. In the Age of Enlightenment, from the 1600s to the late 1700s, philosophers held reason as the best tool for finding truth. The modern age began in the 1700s.

·         Next 1,000 years. The Millennium, the prophesied 1,000-year era of peace (mankind’s great Sabbath of rest), during which Christ will reign on earth as King of Kings (Rev 20:1-7).

 

Diminishing Day-Ages Chronology

(7-“Day” Creation “Week” until 3000 A.D. = 15 Billion Years)

Day-Ages	Scriptures	Beginning, circa years ago	Science/History	Occurrence, circa years ago
Day 1	Light	15,000,000,000	Big Bang	13,700,000,000
			Milky Way	8,000,000,000
Day 2	Firmament	7,500,000,000	Sun, Earth, Moon	4,600,000,000
Day 3	Seas, dry land, vegetation	3,750,000,000	Oceans; bacteria/ cells w/out nuclei	3,500,000,000
Day 4	Heavenly lights	1,875,000,000	Atmosphere thinned
			Cells with nuclei	1,800,000,000
Day 5	Sea creatures,	937,500,000	Animal life forms	700,000,000
	flying creatures		Cambrian Explosion	544,000,000
			Chordates, fish	490,000,000
Day 6-a		468,750,000	85% extinction	438,000,000
	Land animals		Amphibians	417,000,000
			82% extinction	367,000,000
	Creeping		Insects	350,000,000
	things		Reptiles	323,000,000
	Beasts, cattle		Mammals	248,000,000
			96% extinction	245,000,000
6-b		234,375,000	76% extinction	208,000,000
			Archaeopteryx	150,000,000
6-c		117,187,500	76% extinction	65,000,000
			Primates (lemurs,	“
6-d		58,593,750	monkeys,
6-e		29,296,875	apes)
6-f		14,648,437	Ramapithecus	14,000,000
6-g		7,324,218	Sahelanthropus	7,000,000
			Orrorin tugenensis	6,000,000
			Ardipithecus	4,400,000
			Australopithecus	4,000,000
6-h		3,662,109	Kenyanthropus	3,500,000
			Homo habilis	2,800,000
			Homo rudolfensis	1,900,000
6-i		1,831,054	Homo erectus	1,500,000
6-j		915,527	H. heidelbergensis	600,000
6-k	Man	457,763	H. Neanderthalensis	300,000
6-l		228,882	Homo sapiens	200,000
6-m	“	114,441
6-n		57,221
6-o		28,611
Day 7	Day of rest	14,306
Day 8	Adam	6,000	Wheel, writing	5,500
Day 9	Noah, Flood	5,000	Bronze Age	5,000
Day 10	Abraham	4,000	Iron Age	3,500
Day 11	David, Solomon	3,000	Rome	2,750
Day 12	Christ	2,000	Dark/Middle Ages	1,600
Day 13	(Crusades)	1,000	Modern Age	250
Day 14	Millennium/rest	(near future)

 

____________________

^109.Nature, May 16, 1996
^110.“1999: Archaeologists Find Evidence that Neandertals Practiced Cannibalism,” Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia Deluxe 2004
^111.Human Evolution, Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia Deluxe 2004
^112.Prehistoric people, World Book 2005 (Deluxe)
^113.Wheel, Encyclopaedia Britannica 2009 Student and Home Edition
^114.Writing, Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia Deluxe 2004
^115.Bronze Age, Encyclopaedia Britannica 2009 Student and Home Edition
^116.Iron Age, World Book 2005 (Deluxe)
^117.Ancient Rome, World Book 2005 (Deluxe)

(Excerpted from Chapter 4, Primordial Planet Puzzles, THE DEEP THINGS OF GOD: A Primer on the Secrets of Heaven and Earth by M.M. Tauson, Amazon.com)

 

Primordial Planet Puzzles (Part 6)

The image of God

“And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth” (Gen 1:26).

Science and Scripture are again in complete agreement: human beings were the last form of living creatures to appear on earth.

 

A “plural” God?

Oddly, God spoke in the first person plural: “let us… in our image… after our likeness…” Apart from the verse above, God’s reference to Himself in the plural is seen in a few other Biblical verses: Genesis 3:22 (“And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us…”); Genesis 11:7 (“Come, let us go down and confuse their language…”); Isaiah 6:8 (“Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?”).

Some scholars say God referred to Himself in the plural, because the Godhead is said to have three Persons – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Others suggest the way He spoke was “communicative (including the attendant angels),”⁹⁴ that is, God was speaking for both Himself and the angels in His presence. In Genesis 3:22, the phrase “one of us” in both Hebrew and the literal English translation clearly means one among many. We can only conclude that by “us” God means Himself plus others who were with Him.  

God and “gods.” In the Scriptures, the word “God” is usually translated from the Hebrew elohim (“gods”), the plural form of El and its variants Elah, Eloah, Eloha. Scholars “interpret the –im ending as an expression of majesty (pluralis majestatis) or excellence (pluralis excellentiae), expressing high dignity or greatness…”⁹⁵ Others disagree. “Theologians who dispute this cite the hypothesis that plurals of majesty came about in more modern times. Richard Toporoski, a classical scholar, asserts that plurals of majesty first appeared in the reign of Diocletian (284-305 CE)… The use of the plural as a form of respectful address is quite foreign to Hebrew.”⁹⁶

In Psalm 82, the angels are called “gods” (elohim): “God (Elohim) standeth in the congregation of the mighty (el); he judgeth among the gods (elohim)… I have said, Ye are gods (elohim); and all of you are children of the most High” (Ps 82:1,6).

In Psalm 149:2, the English word “Maker” was actually “Makers” in the Hebrew original, as indicated by the plural verb. It thus should read: “Let Israel rejoice in their Makers; Let the children of Zion be joyful in their King.” Similarly, in Ecclesiastes 12:1, “Creator” was “Creators” in the original: “Remember now thy Creators in the days of thy youth…” The pluralization of words in Hebrew requires correct spellings that differ markedly from the singular, so the plurals could not have been mere scribal “slips of the pen.” The plurals had been deliberately written.

God showed Himself to Abraham as three angels. “And the LORD appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day; And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground” (Gen 18:1-2).

In view of the above, did God have angels acting for Him during the Creation? The Angel of the LORD? Moreover, do the terms “image” and “likeness” imply that the Angel of the LORD and the angels have a physical form after which they fashioned man?

Physical resemblance?

The terms “image” and “likeness” may have two implications: First, they could signify that man, or at least a part of him, has been made a spirit like God and the angels. Second, they could mean that man has been patterned after the physical configurations of the Creator (the Angel of the LORD) and the angels, literally.

The terms are used at least once in the Bible in the physical sense: “And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth” (Gen 5:3). The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible explains: “Man’s resemblance to God is analogous to Seth’s resemblance to his father Adam. This makes it certain that physical resemblance must not be excluded.”⁹⁷

The form of angels. If God and the angels were spirits, why did God create the physical universe? Of what use would it be to them? God also planted a garden in Eden, but it was not for Adam, whom He made only to be its gardener (Gen 2:5,8,15). Did God create the material world for His own and the angels’ enjoyment? That is what we are told in Revelation 4:11 – “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.” That being the case, the Spirit of God, and those of His angels, needed physical bodies to experience and enjoy the delights of the material universe. Indeed, we read about “the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day” (Gen 3:8).

The Scriptures hint angels can change their physical forms. In Psalm 68:17 (“The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels [shin’an]…”), the Hebrew word used for angels is shin’an, the root meaning of which is “to change or alter.” This strongly suggests angels can change or alter their forms at will. 

As we know, God and the angels descended to earth from time to time in physical form. Of all organic structures, the human figure appears to be the most suitable and most efficient design for the terrestrial setting. James, Christ’s own brother, reiterates that the human form has been patterned after that of God: “Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God” (James 3:9).

One kind, several forms. If man was created in the “image” and “likeness” of God, how can the appearance of various manlike creatures before Adam be explained?

The Torah account tends to skip over some details to simplify the narrative, as we have seen earlier. On Day 6 amphibians, reptiles and insects are lumped together under just one term: “creeping things” (Gen 1:24-25). It is the same in Leviticus 11:13-23, where true birds, the bat, and flying insects are all bunched in just one word, “fowl.”

Similarly, it looks like Genesis 1:26 has grouped together in one word – “man” – all the different species of subhumans and hominids, different versions and “likenesses” of the same type which eventually culminated in Adam, the crowning glory of God’s creation.

 

Day-Age 6-k:

• Circa 457,763 to 228,882 years ago (Duration: approximately 228,882 years)

 

Homo Neanderthalensis, 300 kya. In 1856 workmen found fossil bones in a limestone cave in the Neander valley (thal), near Dusseldorf, Germany. Anatomist Prof. Schaafhausen declared the bones were human.⁹⁸ The remains were named Neanderthal man.

Over 60 more similar fragments have since been unearthed in other parts of Europe, as well as Asia and Africa. Undoubtedly human, the “Neandertals were larger and more muscular than modern humans and are believed to have lived in Europe and western Asia from 300,000 years ago to as recently as 30,000 years ago.”⁹⁹ The bones indicate a powerful body, though of short stature -- males averaged 1.7 m (5’ 5”) tall and 84 kg (185 lb), females 1.5 m (5’) tall and 80 kg (176 lb).¹⁰⁰ The cranial capacity was about 1,500 cu cm (90 cu in), around 10-15% larger than that of modern men! (The larger brain is thought to be in correlation to the greater muscle mass of the Neanderthals.)

At first scientists thought Neanderthals had a crouching and apelike posture. They later realized some of the bones bore signs of arthritis and rickets. They concluded that Neanderthals actually walked upright, not stooped on bent knees. Recent dental and x-ray studies suggest they matured at a slower rate, but lived longer than people today.

Neanderthals used fire, made stone tools and leather, played music (indicated by a wooden flute), cared for the injured and elderly (bones show survival to old age after suffering wounds, fractures, diseases, even blindness).¹⁰¹ They seemed to have worshipped bears and buried their dead, covering them with flowers.

In 1997, researchers announced they had extracted a small amount of DNA from a Neanderthal fossil. They “compared the Neandertal DNA sequence to sequences in the same region of DNA for 994 modern human lineages, which included Australians, Pacific Islanders, Africans, Asians, Native Americans, and Europeans. The Neandertal DNA sequence differed from all the modern human DNA by either 27 or 28 base pairs. In comparison, modern human sequences in this region of DNA differ from each other on average by 8 base pairs.”¹⁰² The DNA evidence, the World Book says, supports the belief that the Neanderthals were a separate species and not ancestors of modern humans.¹⁰³

 

Day-Age 6-l:

• Circa 228,882 to 114,441 years ago (Duration: approximately 114,441 years)

Day-Age 6-m:

• Circa 114,441 to 57,221 years ago (Duration: approximately 57,221 years.)

 

Homo sapiens, 200-100 kya. In 1868, fossilized human bones were discovered in the Cro-Magnon cave in southwestern France. Anthropologists have classified the evidently more advanced species, which appeared between 200,000 and 100,000 years ago,¹⁰⁴ as Homo sapiens – Latin for “wise human being.”

Also called “Cro-Magnon man,” more than 100 specimens have since been found. A population appears to have lived in Europe from about 40,000 to 10,000 years ago. Cro-Magnon bones closely resemble those of modern men. They indicate a powerfully muscled body of about 166-171 cm (5” 5” to 5’ 7”) tall. They were distinguished from Neanderthals by a high forehead with a slight browridge, a short wide face, and a prominent chin (the first specimen with a well-defined chin). The H. sapiens brain volume was about 1,600 cc (100 cu in), bigger than that of modern men.¹⁰⁵

Finely shaped artifacts reveal the Cro-Magnons had mastered the techniques of making useful objects from stone, bone, shell, and clay, such as tools, trinkets, lamps, needles. They wore fitted clothes, jewelry, and other ornaments.¹⁰⁶ Most notably, they produced beautiful paintings of animals in the caves of southwestern France and northern Spain.

Like Neanderthals, Cro-Magnons buried their dead. This suggests they believed in an other world of spirits. After all, the Creator had spoken to them: “And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth” (Gen 1:28). 

No relation. Remains of Cro-Magnons and the older Neanderthals overlap in the fossil record, showing the two species lived alongside each other for a long period of time – no less than 70,000 years. This precludes any notion that Cro-Magnons evolved from Neanderthals.

Neither did modern man. Neanderthals had an ear canal (labyrinth, three hollow rings involved in balance) that was distinctly different in size and location from that of people today. The Word Book notes: “Because the features of the Neandertal's labyrinth do not exist in modern humans, the scientists believe that the muscular hominid belongs to a separate species, or at least is not an ancestor of modern humans.”¹⁰⁷

Researchers have extracted DNA samples from a 40,000-year-old human skeleton (from the Cro-Magnon era) found at Lake Mungo in Australia. The DNA differs from that of living people.¹⁰⁸ The findings reinforce the belief that the earlier species were not ancestors of modern humans. (Of course we know Adam had none, do we not?)

____________________

⁹⁴Names of God, Kabbalah, Wikipedia, Internet
⁹⁵Ibid.
⁹⁶Ibid.
⁹⁷The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, p. 683
⁹⁸David Menton, “Did Humans Really Evolve from Apelike Creatures?”, The New Answers Book 2, 2008, p. 91
⁹⁹Mitochondria, “Neandertals Were Not Close Relations, Say DNA Test,” Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia Deluxe 2004
¹⁰⁰Human Evolution, Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia Deluxe 2004
¹⁰¹David Menton, “Did Humans Really Evolve from Apelike Creatures?”, The New Answers Book 2, 2008, p. 92
¹⁰²Homo Neanderthalensis, “Neandertals Were Not Close Relations, DNA Testing Finds,” Encyclopaedia Britannica 2009 Student and Home Edition
¹⁰³Prehistoric people, World Book 2005 (Deluxe)
¹⁰⁴Human being, World Book 2005 (Deluxe)
¹⁰⁵Cro-Magnon, Encyclopaedia Britannica 2009 Student and Home Edition
¹⁰⁶Cro-Magnon, Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia Deluxe 2004
¹⁰⁷Neanderthals, World Book 2005 (Deluxe)
¹⁰⁸Prehistoric People, loc. cit.

 

(Excerpted from Chapter 4, Primordial Planet Puzzles, THE DEEP THINGS OF GOD: A Primer on the Secrets of Heaven and Earth by M.M. Tauson, Amazon.com)