Old or Young Earth—pick a side
The debate has raged for a while now. Is the Earth old or young? Who do we believe about this: the Bible and religion, or textbooks written by secular scientists with an anti-Bible and anti-religion agenda? And the ages are not even close. One says the world is 5.4 billion years old and the other says it is almost 6,000 years old.
That is a gap that cannot be bridged. The scientists claim empirical evidence for themselves and ignorant myths for their opponents. The ones being assailed by this onslaught have been trying to show that their position is just as scientific as the other one. The truth is that the empirical evidence is there for all to use. And both sides use it. It is the same evidence with two conflicting backstories regarding it.
This means that we must go beyond just the evidence for an overarching explanation that makes sense when the totality of the evidence is sifted through and weighed. Unfortunately for the secular side, they have nothing to go on to reconstruct their backstory. This has given them many challenges that are actually insurmountable for their story to logically cover, and then it fails.
But this study is not about that. If you want to know all about that debate and a new backstory that has come into view, read my book The Broken Planet Model. It will show you a backstory that actually makes sense and fits with ALL of the evidence we have for cosmology (the study of the beginning).
Why Anno Mundi — And Why Not BC
This study uses Anno Mundi (AM—year of earth) exclusively. BC is not used anywhere in this document. That is not an oversight — it is a conviction.
The BC/AD system was constructed by Dionysius Exiguus in 525 AD, ostensibly to anchor history to the birth of Christ. In practice it created something far more useful to those who wish to remove God from the historical record: an open-ended timeline with no floor. With it, geology can place a rock layer at 300 million BC. Archaeology can date a city to 12,000 BC. Evolutionary biology can push the origin of life to 3.5 billion BC. The system accommodates whatever the current consensus requires — and that consensus has never been friendly to Scripture. In fact, it was created to contradict it.
AM does not permit this. It is a closed system, anchored at Creation and built forward on a foundation of recorded genealogies and historical narrative of the Bible. Every year is accountable to the text. You cannot insert a million years into Genesis 5 — the arithmetic and grammar will not allow it. That is precisely why secular academia rejects AM chronology, and precisely why this study uses it.
The BC/BCE system has been further corrupted by the competing timelines imposed upon it by geology, archaeology, Egyptology, and ancient Near Eastern history — disciplines that frequently contradict each other and Scripture simultaneously. The result is a system that projects false precision while resting on circular reasoning and anti-biblical assumptions built in from the start.
The crowning irony: with BC/AD we cannot determine when Jesus Christ was born. The secular calendar admits a 6–10 year uncertainty around the birth of its own reference point. With AM, this chronology places the birth of Christ at 3969 AM — derived partly from Daniel 9:25, anchored in a decree to rebuild Jerusalem (there were two), and consistent with the full genealogical chain back to Adam. The system built to honor Christ cannot locate Him. The system built on God’s Word can.
Standing policy: This author does not use BC under any circumstances. Where AD approximations appear in this document, they are offered only as orientation points for the reader and are explicitly acknowledged as dependent on a flawed and man-made reference system.
Introduction
Using just the Bible, the age of the earth can be determined with much precision — not as an absolute number, but as a very close approximation. This document presents that chronology in simple logic, derived directly from Scripture and one other Hebrew source.
All dates are expressed in Anno Mundi (AM) — year of the world, measured from Creation. The Masoretic Text (MT) is the primary source throughout. Where the one extrabiblical source is used, it is clearly labeled.
The method is plain-meaning hermeneutics: exegesis over eisegesis, Scripture interpreting Scripture, the clear verses governing the difficult ones, taking the Bible as it comes. Numbers in the genealogies are taken at face value. No gaps are assumed or inserted.
Key interpretive decision: The 430-year period of Galatians 3:17 is understood to begin at Abraham’s call and entry into Egypt (Genesis 12:4), not at Jacob’s entry into Egypt. This is the position of the apostle Paul, the Septuagint (LXX) reading of Exodus 12:40, and the majority of biblical chronologists. See Section 8 for more.
1. The Pre-Flood Patriarchs — Genesis 5
Genesis 5 provides a complete chronology from Adam to Noah. Each patriarch’s birth year is cumulative from the previous entry, calculated from the stated age at which he fathered the next in the line. Death year = Born + Age. Every number cross-checks against every other.
| PATRIARCH | BORN (AM) | DIED (AM) | AGE | REFERENCE |
| Adam | 0 | 930 | 930 | Gen 5:5 |
| Seth | 130 | 1042 | 912 | Gen 5:8 |
| Enosh | 235 | 1140 | 905 | Gen 5:11 |
| Kenan | 325 | 1235 | 910 | Gen 5:14 |
| Mahalalel | 395 | 1290 | 895 | Gen 5:17 |
| Jared | 460 | 1422 | 962 | Gen 5:20 |
| Enoch | 622 | 987* | 365* | Gen 5:23–24 |
| Methuselah | 687 | 1656 | 969 | Gen 5:27 |
| Lamech | 874 | 1651 | 777 | Gen 5:31 |
| Noah | 1056 | 2006 | 950 | Gen 9:29 |
* Enoch did not die — “God took him” (Genesis 5:24). His 365 years ends at translation, not death. Red indicates a unique event.
Note that Methuselah’s death year is 1656 AM — the same year as the Flood. This is not an error. It is a well-known biblical data point: Methuselah died in the year the Flood came.
2. Noah’s Flood
The Flood lasted one year — from the seventeenth day of the second month of Noah’s 600th year to the first day of the first month of his 601st year, with the earth fully dry by the first day of the third month.
When Noah was 600 years old, on the seventeenth day of the second month, all the underground waters erupted from the earth, and the rain fell in mighty torrents from the sky. GENESIS 7:11
Noah was now 601 years old. On the first day of the new year the floodwaters had almost dried up… Two more months went by, and at last the earth was dry. GENESIS 8:13–14
You must read The Broken Planet Model or This Broken Planet to understand what Noah’s “Flood” really was. It was much more than you ever thought possible. Follow a link for free access to a book’s content.
| EVENT | AM YEAR | REFERENCE |
| Flood begins — 2nd month, 17th day | 1656 | Gen 7:11 |
| Flood ends — 3rd month, 1st day | 1657 | Gen 8:14 |
| Duration | 1 year | Gen 7–8 |
3. Post-Flood Patriarchs — Genesis 11 through Joseph
The post-Flood genealogy runs from Noah’s sons through Abraham, then Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. Note the steep decline in lifespans after the Flood — a consistent pattern across all post-Flood patriarchs without exception.
| PATRIARCH | BORN (AM) | DIED (AM) | AGE | REFERENCE |
| Noah | 1056 | 2006 | 950 | Gen 9:29 |
| Japheth | 1556 | ? | ? | Gen 5:32 |
| Shem | 1559 | 2159 | 600 | Gen 11:10–11 |
| Ham | 1561 | ? | ? | Gen 5:32 |
| FLOOD | 1656 | 1657 | 1 yr | Gen 7–8 |
| Arphaxad | 1659 | 2097 | 438 | Gen 11:12–13 |
| Shelah | 1694 | 2127 | 433 | Gen 11:14–15 |
| Eber | 1724 | 2188 | 464 | Gen 11:16–17 |
| Peleg | 1758 | 1997 | 239 | Gen 11:18–19 |
| Reu | 1788 | 2027 | 239 | Gen 11:20–21 |
| Serug | 1820 | 2050 | 230 | Gen 11:22–23 |
| Nahor | 1850 | 1998 | 148 | Gen 11:24–25 |
| Terah | 1879 | 2084 | 205 | Gen 11:32 |
| Abram / Abraham | 2009 | 2184 | 175 | Gen 25:7 |
| Isaac | 2109 | 2289 | 180 | Gen 35:28 |
| Jacob | 2169 | 2316 | 147 | Gen 47:28 |
| Joseph | 2260 | 2370 | 110 | Gen 50:26 |
Japheth and Ham: Genesis does not record their ages at death. Their birth years are approximate, derived from Genesis 5:32 and 10. This gap does not affect the main chronological chain, which runs through Shem → Arphaxad.
4. Abraham’s Birth Year — The 130-Year Interpretation
Genesis 11:26 states that after Terah had lived 70 years, he became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. The order of listing follows importance, not birth order — the same pattern used for Noah’s sons (2nd son listed 1st, down to the youngest, then the eldest is mentioned last). The majority chronological interpretation establishes Abraham’s birth year as follows:
| REFERENCE | DATA POINT | DERIVATION |
| Genesis 11:32 | Terah died at 205 | Terah’s recorded lifespan |
| Genesis 12:4 | Abram left Haran at 75 | Abram’s age at departure |
| Acts 7:4 | Abram left after Terah died | Stephen confirms the sequence |
| Calculation | 205 − 75 = 130 | Terah was 130 at Abram’s birth |
| Terah born 1879 AM | 1879 + 130 = 2009 AM | Abraham’s birth year |
| Genesis 11:26 | Haran listed last | Haran was the eldest — listed last by the same convention as Noah’s sons (Shem listed first by importance, not birth order) |
This interpretation is used by Bishop Ussher and the majority of biblical chronologists. It places Abram’s birth at 2009 AM, which makes Shem (died 2159 AM) still alive when Abraham was born — a notable biblical overlap.
5. Deriving Joseph’s Birth Year
Joseph’s birth year is not stated directly in Scripture. It is derived from the intersection of two data points: Jacob’s stated age when he entered Egypt, and Joseph’s calculated age at that same moment. This is the most commonly dropped calculation in biblical chronology — and the most consequential when dropped.
| REFERENCE | DATA POINT | DERIVATION |
| Genesis 41:46 | Joseph = 30 at Pharaoh’s service | Stated directly |
| Genesis 41:29–30 | + 7 years of plenty | Seven years of abundance followed |
| Genesis 45:6 | + 2 years of famine | Jacob arrived 2 years into famine |
| Total | Joseph = 39 at Jacob’s arrival | 30 + 7 + 2 = 39 |
| Genesis 47:9 | Jacob = 130 at Egypt entry | Jacob tells Pharaoh directly |
| Genesis 25:26 | Isaac = 60 at Jacob’s birth | Critical — frequently omitted |
| Derivation | Jacob born: 2109 + 60 = 2169 AM | Isaac born 2109, plus 60 years |
| Derivation | Jacob enters Egypt: 2169 + 130 = 2299 AM | Jacob’s age at entry |
| Derivation | Joseph born: 2299 − 39 = 2260 AM | Joseph’s age at Jacob’s arrival |
| Genesis 50:26 | Joseph died at 110 | 2260 + 110 = 2370 AM |
CRITICAL NOTE: The 60-year gap between Isaac and Jacob (Genesis 25:26) is the most commonly dropped number in Biblical chronology. Dropping it produces a 60-year error that cascades through every downstream date — Joseph, the Exodus, Moses, Solomon’s Temple, and the Daniel 9 calculation. All downstream dates in this study reflect the corrected chain.
6. The 430-Year Question — Israel in Egypt
Exodus 12:40 is the hinge verse for the entire post-patriarchal chronology. Its interpretation determines the Exodus date and every downstream calculation.
The people of Israel had lived in Egypt for 430 years. In fact, it was on the last day of the 430th year that all the Lord’s forces left the land. EXODUS 12:40–41 (MT)
This is what I am trying to say: The agreement God made with Abraham could not be canceled 430 years later when God gave the law to Moses. God would be breaking his promise. GALATIANS 3:17
POSITION A — PLAIN MT READING
430 years entirely in Egypt. Israel enters 2299 AM → Exodus 2729 AM.
Problem: Exodus 2729 + 480 = Temple begun 3209 AM. Breaks 1 Kings 6:1 consistency with all known historical anchors. Multiple structural beams fail simultaneously.
POSITION B — ADOPTED HERE
430 years from Abraham’s call to the Law. Paul’s Galatians 3:17 interprets the covenant as beginning at Abraham’s departure. LXX reads Exodus 12:40 as “in Egypt and Canaan.”
Result: 2084 + 430 = 2514 AM base Exodus date, adjusted to 2519 AM after correcting Jacob’s birth year. Consistent with 1 Kings 6:1 → Temple 2999 AM. One interpretive decision. Paul makes it for us.
The 215-year breakdown: Abraham’s call to Jacob entering Egypt = 215 years (25 years Abraham to Isaac + 60 years Isaac to Jacob + 130 years Jacob to Egypt entry). Egypt to Exodus = 215 years. Total = 430 years. Position B collapses only one structural beam — the scope of “Israel” in Exodus 12:40 — which Paul’s apostolic interpretation answers directly. Position A collapses the entire downstream timeline. And since Paul has the authority of Christ, as His apostle, I go with him. Besides, it works this way and does not the other way.
7. Key Events Timeline — Adam to Canaan
0 AM—Creation / Adam Genesis 1–2. The AM clock begins.
1056 AM—Noah Born Genesis 5:29. Anchor point between pre- and post-Flood chronologies.
1656 AM—The Flood Begins Genesis 7:11. 2nd month, 17th day of Noah’s 600th year. Methuselah dies this year.
1657 AM—The Flood Ends Genesis 8:14. Earth dry. Arphaxad born two years later (Gen 11:10).
2009 AM—Abraham Born Derived from Terah’s age (Gen 11:32) and Abraham’s departure age (Gen 12:4) via Acts 7:4.
2084 AM—Abraham’s Call — 430-Year Clock BeginsAbraham departs Haran at age 75 (Gen 12:4). Galatians 3:17 clock starts here.
2109 AM—Isaac Born Abraham was 100 (Gen 21:5). 2009 + 100 = 2109.
2169 AM—Jacob Born Isaac was 60 (Gen 25:26). 2109 + 60 = 2169. The critical calculation.
2260 AM—Joseph Born Derived: Jacob entered Egypt at 130; Joseph was 39 at that point. 2299 − 39 = 2260.
2277 AM—Joseph Sold into Egypt Joseph was 17 (Gen 37:2). 2260 + 17 = 2277.
2290 AM—Joseph Serves Pharaoh Joseph was 30 (Gen 41:46). 2260 + 30 = 2290.
2299 AM—Israel Enters Egypt Jacob was 130 (Gen 47:9). Joseph was 39. 220 years in Egypt begins.
2439 AM—Moses Born Moses was 80 at the Exodus (Ex 7:7). 2519 − 80 = 2439.
2519 AM—The Exodus 430 years after Abraham’s call (Gal 3:17). Moses receives the Law at Sinai. Again, I do NOT attach this year to any BC date because BC is untraceable fantasy.
2559 AM—Israel Enters Canaan 40 years in the wilderness (Num 14:33). 2519 + 40 = 2559.
8. The Jewish Temples
Solomon’s Temple — First Temple
It was in midspring, in the month of Ziv, during the fourth year of Solomon’s reign, that he began to construct the Temple of the Lord. This was 480 years after the people of Israel were rescued from their slavery in the land of Egypt. 1 KINGS 6:1
The foundation of the Lord’s Temple was laid in mid-spring… The entire building was completed in every detail by mid-autumn, during the eleventh year of his reign. So it took seven years to build the Temple. 1 KINGS 6:37–38
| EVENT | AM YEAR | DERIVATION |
| Temple construction begins | 2999 | Exodus 2519 + 480 years (1 Kings 6:1) |
| Temple completed | 3006 | 2999 + 7 years (1 Kings 6:38) |
| Temple duration | 410 years | Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Yoma 9a (extrabiblical — clearly labeled) |
| First Temple destroyed | 3416 | 3006 + 410 = 3416 (2 Kings 25:8–9) |
| 70-year desolation | 3416–3486 | Jeremiah 25:11; 29:10 |
| Decree to rebuild Jerusalem | 3486 | Ezra 1:1–2; Daniel 9:25 clock begins |
Extrabiblical source — clearly labeled: The 410-year Temple duration comes from Tractate Yoma 9a of the Babylonian Talmud. This is the only non-Scriptural source used in this study. It is acknowledged as such throughout.
9. Daniel 9:25 — The Birth of Messiah
Seven sets of seven plus sixty-two sets of seven will pass from the time the command is given to rebuild Jerusalem until a ruler — the Anointed One — comes. (7 + 62 = 69 weeks of years = 483 years) DANIEL 9:25
| CALCULATION | AM YEAR | NOTE |
| Decree to rebuild Jerusalem | 3486 | Established above |
| + 483 years (69 weeks × 7) | +483 | Daniel 9:25 |
| Jesus’ Birth | 3969 AM | Daniel 9:25 calculation |
| Present day (2026 AD) | ~5995 AM | Secular calendar approximation only |
| 6,000 AM threshold | ~2036 AD | If Jesus born ~6 years before 1 AD |
The AM-to-AD bridge depends on secular-historical synchronization and is unreliable from the very beginning. The secular calendar was constructed in 525 AD and contains a known error — Herod the Great died in what the system calls 4 BC, placing Jesus’ birth before the reference year. If Jesus was born approximately 6 years before 1 AD, 6,000 AM = 2036 AD. Two independent calculation paths converge on this figure. More on this in the conclusion.
10. Summary Table — Adam to Present
| MILESTONE | AM YEAR | AD APPROX. | SCRIPTURE |
| Creation / Adam | 0 | — | Gen 1–2 |
| Noah’s Flood begins | 1656 | — | Gen 7:11 |
| Abraham’s Call | 2084 | — | Gen 12:4; Gal 3:17 |
| Israel enters Egypt | 2299 | — | Gen 47:9 |
| The Exodus | 2519 | — | Ex 12:40; Gal 3:17 |
| Israel enters Canaan | 2559 | — | Num 14:33 |
| Solomon’s Temple begun | 2999 | — | 1 Kings 6:1 |
| Temple destroyed | 3416 | — | 2 Kings 25; Talmud |
| Decree to rebuild | 3486 | — | Ezra 1; Dan 9:25 |
| Jesus’ Birth | 3969 | ~6–4 BC | Dan 9:25 |
| Present Day | 5995 | 2026 AD | Approximation |
| 6000 AM Threshold | 6000 | ~2031-2036 AD | Two converging paths |
11. Conclusion
This chronology demonstrates that the age of the earth, calculated from the plain text of Scripture using the Masoretic genealogies, converges on approximately 6,000 years at the present day. The 6000 AM threshold corresponds to approximately 2031-2036 AD. Unfortunately, since the current Common Era (CE) or Anno Domini (AD) system is unreliable at its base (we can’t even say when Jesus was born using it—which it is based on), we have to put up an estimate. Were it not for Apophis due to passover a week after Passover in ’29 and again in ’36, and all of its details that make it a very compelling candidate for the “Mountain[s] all aflame” of Revelation 8:8 & 10, then 2036 would not even be the year considered—2031 AD would be considered to meet up with 6000 AM. But the inbound meteor has a very good chance of playing a big part in God’s wrath. See my post on “Is Apophis The Wrath Of God?”.
This study does not predict the date of the Lord’s return. Scripture is explicit: “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father” (Matthew 24:36). No chronological study changes that—although the actual statement is very precise and has been abused to the point of having nearly no meaning. The return of Christ is in the Father’s hands alone. This statement is taken literally and in its context — Jesus, speaking during His earthly ministry, had voluntarily set aside the exercise of divine omniscience. He was not being evasive. He was being precise. The DAY or HOUR are what He said no one would know. He did not mean this as a general statement of complete ignorance (as many today use it).
The Millennium is the seventh day — the great Sabbath rest. Rest from sin, from death, What this study does observe is that the number 6 carries significant structural weight in Scripture. The creation week establishes the pattern: six days of work followed by one day of rest. Peter writes that with the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like 6,000 under the curse, followed by the 1,000-year reign of Christ — the Millennium.
Rest from the curse, and from the unrelenting interference of the adversary, who will be bound for that entire period (Revelation 20:2–3). Whatever else that era holds, it is at minimum a thousand years without Satan. That alone is a rest worth anticipating.
The convergence of two independent calculation paths on 2036 as the 6,000 AM marker is noted. It is not claimed as prophetic. It is observed as suggestive. The Father sets the day and the hour. This study simply reads the record He left.
A Note on Science and Faith
For readers who find the claims of secular science — billions of years (deep time), evolution of species, a universe without a Creator — to be a genuine obstacle to accepting a 6,000-year chronology, the obstacle is not as solid as it might appear. The author’s book The Broken Planet Model presents a falsifiable, scientifically coherent framework that accounts for the physical evidence without surrendering the Biblical timeline. The model proposes that a meteorite impact at Iceland approximately 4,300 years ago breached the mantle, triggering the catastrophic events that produced Noah’s Flood, restructured the continents, and shifted Earth’s orbital period from 360 to 365.25 days. It makes specific, testable predictions.
True science — observation, hypothesis, falsifiability — is not the enemy of Scripture. It is one of the tools God gave us to read His handiwork. There is no contradiction between the Word of God and His Earth when both are handled honestly and correctly.
Except for one, all AM dates from Adam on are derived from Scripture using plain-meaning hermeneutics and the Masoretic Text. The only extrabiblical source used is the Babylonian Talmud (Tractate Yoma 9a) for the 410-year duration of Solomon’s Temple, clearly labeled throughout. The AM-to-AD bridge depends on secular historical synchronization and carries inherent uncertainty — acknowledged wherever it appears.
It’s a small world and a young world.
Be blessed,
Gary
