Richard Hollerman

What do we know about the people of the past? Where did they come from? Where did they go? This is the subject of unending debate and we must at least give some thought to it.

We know, from reading God’s Word, that the great Noaic flood was perhaps 2450 BC. And there may have been an “ice age” of several hundred years. The chronology of Scripture (which we surely want to follow) has the beginning at about 2400 years BC—relatively recent as the earth “clock” tells us. How are we to possibly “fit” everything into the following several hundred years? That is the conundrum—and one that we must seek to address.

This is no easy task but let’s see what we come to in the millennium after the flood (in AD 2450 AD). We might see, in the 1,000 years after the flood (about 2450 to 1450 BC—about the time of Moses) the following:

  1. People left Ararat (a mountain range in the north of Mesopotamia), an area in eastern Turkey, and journeyed to other parts of the earth.
  2. These people from the ark (there were eight of them to begin with) then spread to other locations, especially to the south, to the Middle East (as we call it), and elsewhere.
  3. The peoples of the earth must have then spread to other areas in the vicinity, to other places of the earth, and to other areas (please consult a map of the earth for this).
  4. Some of these people made their way across southern Russia, to China, to Mongolia, and other places in Asia.
  5. Of course, we must conjecture that some made their way to Northern Europe, to Northern Mesopotamia, to Africa, to the Middle East, and elsewhere.
  6. Some of these people, as they continued to expand, traveled to the far East and crossed over the “Bering” Strait into Alaska, then south into Canada, North America to the south, Mexico, Central America, South America, and also the Caribbean islands. In this way, the Western Hemisphere was populated.

  1. Meanwhile, others must have populated the Middle East and then into Africa, Europe, and elsewhere. (Keep in mind that secular and worldly scientists say that “life” began in Africa. Of course, they are wrong but we do know that civilization did arise about this time in such places as Egypt, Libya, Ethiopia, Kenya, and the like).
  2. The population must have mushroomed after Noah and his three sons increased and proliferated. From these small beginnings there may have come the thousands that we find in the world, according to secular history.
  3. The “pyramids” of Egypt must have been erected at this time. This would not have happened before the flood several hundreds of years before.
  4. We know that when the “white man” arrived in North America (by 1,000 years before Columbus, at the time of Leif Erikson of Norway) and in 1492 at the time of Christopher Columbus, there was a growing population in many tribes of Indians, numbering in the millions (according to historians). Alas, many of these people were lost to salvation and through intertribal warfare and disease. They continued to die thus we discover that the number was lower than before.

  1. By the time of the white man, the population of the wildlife, including the birds, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians must have been in the millions upon millions. The population of these non-human aspects of life must have exploded until today, after these many years, we discover that there are many species of wildlife in the New World.
  2. This explosion of life must have happened earlier in the Eastern Hemisphere. Thus, we discover that Europe, Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and even into Australia, we find that the animal and bird population must have bourgeoned. And the same would be true of the human population as well.

We only offer the above explanation, particularly for the period after the flood (2450 BC). Although we are aware that much of this is speculation and conjecture, it is reasonable, according to our calculations.

This morning, on the cell phone, we learned of a discovery of a murdered victim in the Alps, north of Italy, that archaeologists have  detected. Further, we have learned that a snake was discovered in the Peruvian jungles (but they were chased out by drug traffickers). These finds, dated before Christ by archaeologists, must be dated wrongly.

We just don’t know what the condition of the earth was before Jesus. We wonder. All we have (for sure) is the Bible. And, of course, we know that God knows best. Let us seek the chronology that is revealed by Scripture and harmonizes with Scripture. In this way, we will not go wrong.

Recommended reading by Jason Lisle:

Understanding Genesis

Keeping Faith in an Age of Reason

Why Genesis Matters