One of the theories that Young Earth Creationists use to promote their
theory that dinosaurs were created on day six of the account given in
Genesis chapter one, is that there was no death on this earth prior to
Adam’s sin. Ken Ham points to Genesis 1:31 where God proclaims that
everything he had made was “very good.” Mr. Ham contends that everything
could not be “very good” if there were dead dinosaurs already in the fossil
record under the earth. Young Earth lecturers also point to Romans 5:12 and
claim that Adam’s sin resulted in the physical death of all living
creatures. We are going to show in this session, in no uncertain terms, that
Ken Ham misunderstands what God’s Word actually says, and that death and sin
existed prior to Adam’s fall. This subject is one of the best examples of
how one’s failure to correctly interpret God’s Word can result in a total
misunderstanding of what the Bible is teaching us.
Before we look into the subject of death and sin in our world, I have two
very simple questions for you to think about.
Question number one. We know that animals are A-moral creatures and are
incapable of sinning. If an animal created by God on day six killed another
animal later that day, would that be a sin? It shouldn’t be, animals can’t
sin. Death could be possible without sin. So could death be possible on this
earth before Adam sinned?
Question number two. Eve was approached by Satan and deceived into eating
the forbidden fruit. In fact, Satan told Eve that God had lied to her. Eve
later told God that Satan had beguiled her. So the moment that Satan lied to
Eve and deceived her, was that not a sin? And does that mean that a sin was
committed on this earth before Adam and Eve partook of the forbidden fruit?
What we are going to do in this chapter is demonstrate how someone can build
a false theory based on a misunderstanding of what the Bible teaches because
they have absolutely no idea what the original Hebrew and Greek text
actually says.
The very foundation of the Young Earth Advocate’s theory that the earth is
less than 10,000 years old, is the assumption that there was no sin or death
in the world before Adam and Eve partook of the forbidden fruit. According
to Young Earth Advocates, dinosaurs could not have died prior to Adam’s
fall, because they believe Adam’s sin was the very first sin committed in
the universe. Therefore, according to Young Earthers, dinosaurs were created
along with the other animals on day six, they were taken onto the ark with
Noah, disembarked from the ark after the flood, and have since become
extinct.
Let’s examine the evidence. When I present my case to the jury, I must take
every piece of evidence available to me, whether it is solid evidence, or
questionable evidence. One piece of evidence standing alone may not convince
the jury, but when all of the evidence is placed together, like a mosaic in
a large picture, then we can step back, look at the entire picture, and make
our decision on the totality of the evidence. Remember, we have to convince
the jury beyond any reasonable doubt that our theory is correct.
I am going to propose that there was sin and death on this earth before Adam
disobeyed God and ate the forbidden fruit. I’m not alone in this belief. For
hundreds of years, brilliant Bible scholars understood that in order for
Lucifer to rebel against God, gather one third of the angels together with
him to attempt a coup against God, that sin had to take place. This occurred
long before man was even created. Where is my evidence for this theory? My
evidence is contained in the most faithful witness I can call to the stand,
the Holy Bible.
One of the foundations of the Young Earth advocate’s theory to prove that
there was no sin before Adam’s fall is Romans 5:12. But again, it is because
of a complete lack of knowledge of the original Greek meaning in this verse
that they have it wrong. Romans 5:12 says, “Wherefore, as by one man sin
entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men,
for all have sinned.” Here, the Bible tells us that because of Adam’s
disobedience, sin “entered into the world.”
I’m going to submit another another piece of evidence here. The original
Greek text in Romans 5:12 looks like this.
The Greek word (highlighted above) that was translated into the English word
“world,” (sin entered into the world) is kosmov or “kos-mos.” In this
context it means, “An apt and harmonious arrangement, the inhabitants of
earth, the human family.” This word is describing mankind. It has nothing to
do with the physical globe, the planet earth.
We find the word that is used to describe the planet earth in Romans 10:18.
This verse says “But I say, Have they not heard? Yes, verily, their sound
went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.” In
this verse, the Greek text looks like this.
In Romans 10:18, the original Greek word that was translated into the
English word “world” (the ends of the world) is oikoumenh or “oy-kou-men-ay”
This word means “Land, i.e. the globe, or the planet Earth.” This is the
physical planet that we live on. Now, if Romans 5:12 used this word when it
states “by one man sin entered into the world, ‘oy-kou-men-ay,’ instead of
“by one man sin entered into the world. ‘kos-mos,'” then I would agree that
this verse tells us that Adam’s sin was the first sin on the planet earth.
But Romans 5:12 does not use the word oy-kou-men-ay. It uses the word
kos-mos.
What Romans 5:12 tells us is that when Adam rebelled against God and partook
of the forbidden fruit, sin entered into man’s world, the human race. A
simple reading of the remainder of the verse bears out this thought. It
states “and so death passed upon all men, for all have sinned.” The original
Greek word for “men,” is anyrwpov or “anth-ro-pos,” and it is where the word
“anthropology” comes from, the study of the human race. It means “a human
being.” This verse is saying “death passed upon all human beings.” The verse
goes on to say, “for that all have sinned.” Who or what does this apply to?
The words “for all have sinned” does not apply to animals. They are A-moral
creatures. So when one animal kills another animal, it is not sinning. So
theoretically, before Adam sinned, one animal could kill another animal
without sin entering into the picture. So it is possible that death occurred
on this earth before Adam partook of the forbidden fruit. When Romans 5:12
says, “and so death passed upon all men, for all have sinned,” it cannot be
referring to the animal kingdom.
It doesn’t apply to plant life. Plants certainly don’t sin. This verse
applies only to mankind, the human race. By one man, Adam, sin entered into
mankind’s world. Ezekiel 18:20 tells us, “The soul that sinneth it shall
die.” That’s what happened when Adam sinned against God. His soul died and
the fellowship he had with God was cut off.
Let’s look at another piece of evidence in God’s Word. In Genesis chapter 2
and verse 17, God tells Adam that he is forbidden from eating fruit from the
tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God tells Adam that if he disobeys
and eats the fruit, that “in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt
surely die.”
Let’s look at the original Hebrew text of this verse. The original Hebrew
word that was translated into the phrase “surely die,” Is “mooth.” It means,
“to kill,” or “to have one executed.” Here, God is telling Adam that on the
day that he partakes of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil, he shall be killed. This is the same word, “mooth” that is used in
Ezekiel 18:20, “The soul that sinneth it shall die (mooth).” This is not
saying that the minute the soul sins, the body will immediately die. It mans
that the soul will immediately die.
Now if Genesis 2:17 means what the YECs say it means, it presents a problem
for the Young Earth advocates. The verse plainly says that “in the day that
thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die.” Adam did eat the fruit. Adam
didn’t physically die on that day. The logical conclusion is that God was
threatening Adam with something other than physical death if he disobeyed.
That’s the logical conclusion. But Ken Ham teaches that God really meant
that the “process” of dying would begin. In one of his lectures on this
subject, Ken Ham actually stated, “And God said in Genesis chapter two
verses sixteen and seventeen, you can eat of all the trees but you can not
eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil because if you do, you
will die, you will surely die. In fact in the Hebrew it reads ‘dying you
will die, uh dying die.’ In other words it’s going to be a process. You’ll
start to die, and you’ll eventually die.”
Folks, this is one of the most ridiculous, laughable explanations given for
Genesis 2:17. Ken Ham is either MAKING THIS EXPLANATION UP, or he has
absolutely no idea what this verse is saying. Ken Ham proclaims to his
audience that he is a Bible scholar, but this is an excellent example of how
very little he knows about the Hebrew language.
Hebrew contains a triconsonant or triliteral root system
The root, or most basic from of each Hebrew verb, is most often composed of
three consonants.
Upon this foundation of three consonants, all other aspects of the verb will
be constructed.
Hebrew is an inflected language.
The “verb forms” themselves convey information that in English would be
conveyed by additional words surrounding the verb.
One can tell by the verb alone what the number and gender of the subject
might be.
The simple or base form of the Hebrew verb is referred to a Qal.
Qal is one of the seven forms or stems that the verb may appear in. Qal is
one of those stems.
In addition to Qal, there are moods assigned to each word. In this verse we
experience the infinitive and imperfect moods.
You can see that in this verse, the words surely die is translated from the
Hebrew word mooth, used twice.
The first time it is used, it is used in the infinitive absolute tense,
which does not allow prefixes or suffixes. It is used with the verb to
emphasize the verbal idea. This is often rendered by an English adverb, such
as surely or utterly.
So the first word “die” in this sentence is used as an adverb emphasizing
the second word “die.” The second word “die” is the focal point of the
sentence. It is used in the imperfect tense, referring to an action which is
about to be accomplished, but an action which has not yet begun.
To illustrate the foolishness of Ken Ham’s interpretation of this verse, we
are going to look at another verse with the exact same literary structure.
The Ten Commandments are listed in Exodus chapter 20. Verse 13 reads, Thou
shalt not kill. This is the offense section of the law. Exodus chapter 21
contains the penalty section. Verse 12 contains the penalty for murder. It
reads, “He that smitten a man, so that he die, shall be surely put to
death.”
Here is the Hebrew text for Exodus 21:12. You can see that the exact same
literary rules are used to describe the term “surely put to death.” The word
mooth is used twice, Then first time it is used in the infinitive absolute
tense, and the second time it is used in the imperfect tense.
Are we to believe that Ken Ham’s interpretation of this verse means that the
execution of a murderer is a process, where the criminal starts to die, and
then eventually years later, finally expires? Not on your Life! This verse
demands that a murderer is put to death for their crime. Not perhaps, not
possibly, but surely.
The exact same literary rules are used here as they are in Genesis 2:17.
Adam did “surely die” on the day he ate the fruit. It was spiritual death of
mankind, who at that point was separated from God. It does not refer to
physical death or Adam would have physically died on that day.
And Romans 5:12 is not referring to physical death when it says, “as by one
man sin entered into the world “cosmos”, and death by sin.” It is referring
to the spiritual death of mankind.
We’ve determined here that God told Adam that if he partook of the forbidden
fruit, he would die on that day. Period. And not just possibly or probably,
but surely. The only other variable here is the time mentioned. To be sure
we have the correct time frame involved in this promise, let’s look at the
original meaning of the word “day,” in the phrase “in the day that thou
eatest thereof.”
The word “day” in Genesis 2:17 comes from the Hebrew word Mwy or “yome,”
which means literally, “a twenty four hour period.” One day. Yome is the
same Hebrew word used in Genesis 1:5, where God is describing the six day
creation, “And the evening and the morning were the first day (yome).” So we
can be quite certain that the word “day” in Genesis 2:17 means a 24 hour
period.
There is no other way to interpret Genesis 2:17. God is not referring to
physical death when he says to Adam, “in the day that thou eatest thereof,
thou shalt surely die.” God is speaking of the spiritual death of the human
race.
Let’s fast forward to chapter 3 and verse 1. Adam as been given a help meet
in the form of Eve. Eve is also well aware of the restriction place on the
fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good an evil. She is approached by
the serpent, who we know is Satan. His first order of business is to ask Eve
a rhetorical question, “Yea, hath God said: Ye shall not eat of any tree of
the garden?” Eve answers the serpent and says, “Of the fruit of the trees of
the garden we may eat; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of
the garden, God hath said: Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch
it, lest ye die.”
Here is another piece of evidence in this case. This piece of evidence is
Genesis chapter 3 and verse 4. The serpent then states to Eve, “Ye shall not
surely die.” Somebody is lying here! God told Adam that in the day that he
ate the fruit of this tree, he would surely die. Now here is Satan, telling
Eve the complete opposite. Who can we trust folks? We know the answer to
that question. God never lies. So in this case, Satan is lying. We have a
sin being committed here. When questioned by God in Genesis chapter 3 and
verse 13, Eve tells God, “The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.” In the
original Hebrew, the word for “beguiled” is avn or “naw-shaw,” and it simply
means “deceived.”
Now according to the Young Earth Advocates, there was absolutely no sin in
the universe before Adam’s disobedience to God. But Satan deceived Eve
before she or Adam partook of the forbidden fruit. And to be sure that what
Satan did was a sin, we read in 2nd Corinthians 11:3, “But I fear, lest by
any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty…” The original
Greek word for “subtilty,” is panourgia or pan-oorg-ee-ah. It means
trickery, in a bad sense, or cunning or craftiness. The devil used trickery
and deceit to convince Eve to partake of the fruit. And if Satan was already
lying and trying to separate man from God, then Satan had already fallen
from God’s grace, and that occurred before Satan deceived Eve.
So for the sake of argument, let’s say that sin is the cause of death. Let’s
look again at Romans 5:12, but this time, we’ll leave out the very important
word “men,” in “death passed upon all men.” It would read “Wherefore, as by
one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed
upon all, for all have sinned.”
Animals can’t sin. Why do animals die if Romans 5:12 tells us that death
passed upon all who have sinned? We would have to conclude that someone
else’s sin caused the death of animals. We have also concluded that Satan
sinned on this earth prior to Adam’s fall. Therefore, as a result of Satan’s
sin, animals were doomed to death, before Adam partook of the fruit.
We all know that as a result of sin, we all die. I’m not saying that sin has
nothing to do with the aging process or the deterioration of the universe.
What I am showing here is that according to God’s Word, Adam’s sin had
absolutely nothing to do with the death of animals. If it did, then the YECs
would be correct in their assumption that dinosaurs could not have died
prior to Adam’s fall. But the Bible does not support that idea.
So in my closing arguments to the jury, I would say this…
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury. We have presented evidence from our most
reliable witness, the Word of God, that the following facts are present in
the Bible. One. At least one sin was committed on this earth before Adam
partook of the forbidden fruit. So sin was present in the universe before
Adam’s fall.
Two. Animals cannot sin, even if they kill each other. So death is possible
without sin. But even if sin is necessary to facilitate the death of any
living creature, Satan’s sin when he rebelled against God certainly fit the
criteria to cause death and suffering in the universe. And that occurred
long before Adam sinned.
Three. God was not referring to physical death when he told Adam that in the
24 hour period he partook of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and
evil, he would surely die. We know that if God was referring to physical
death, Adam would have been physically deceased by the next day. God was
referring to the spiritual life of the human race. He was referring to the
ever-existing souls of mankind. What God was telling Adam was “The soul that
sinneth, it shall die.” This verse does not apply to animals.
Based on these three pieces of evidence, I think it is easy for you to
render the decision that death and sin were present in our universe prior to
Adam’s fall.
