I remember now one of the reasons I struggled with teaching science back in the day. I often didn’t agree with some of the information. This is so typical of me. If I can’t explain, understand, or work through it, I will just abandon it. I’ve noticed the same thing with confrontation. If I foresee confrontation happening in “life,” then I’ll work my hardest to avoid it altogether.
Some material my students and I were reading recently classified the Earth’s age as 4.5 billion years old.¹ The very second it was said, I remembered the same feeling of confusion I had years ago when that statement was made. And then it happened. One of my FCA members stayed behind after class to ask me what I thought of this statement and whether I questioned it from a Godly perspective.
These were questions I wasn’t prepared for, and my answers all came out like stammering hogwash. The more I babbled, the more I realized the babbling was because I was trying to act like I had the answers when I should have just owned it and admitted I didn’t know how to answer his questions. That feeling has left me with a desire to know more, to research and find the best answer for my student and myself.
I went to the Bible. But even before I began turning the pages, I found myself pondering whether I had ever read about the age of the Earth. I’m not an expert on the Bible, nor have I read it cover to cover. I’m working on it. I also cannot recall ever hearing a pastor preach on Earth’s age either. I’ve asked other people this question. People I consider to be trustworthy and more experienced in the Word than I am. But they, too, could not provide a satisfying answer.
The next stop on my list was Billy Graham. I chased down speeches and quotes from Mr. Graham, hoping he would shed light on the matter. I figured a man of his caliber would surely have a definitive black-and-white answer somewhere in history.
Side note here: I’ve always been a big Billy Graham fan. When he died, I made my son go stand on the side of the interstate with me as his hearse passed by. Being a young teenager, he wasn’t as intrigued by this as I was. To this day, he’s never let me forget the time I dragged him to the side of the interstate and put our lives in danger just to see some black car drive by that could have or could not have had a dead man in it. Well, when you put it that way, I’m not sure this was one of my greatest ideas. LOL!
Anyway, my search for answers came up empty with Mr. Graham as well.
Somewhere along the line, one of the folks I talked with suggested I research what Ken Ham had to say. Mr. Ham is the founder and creator of The Ark and The Creation Museum in Kentucky. I read a few things that he had to say about his beliefs. He seems very inclined toward the idea that the Earth is around 6000 years old.² That just gave me more things to think about, with no clear black-and-white answer still.
What I’ve come away with so far: If God wanted me to know the exact age of Earth, I believe He would have given it to me in His word. There are so many things about God that I cannot understand nor explain. For starters, what in the world kind of power are we even talking about when we talk about someone creating the world to begin with? That in itself is non-understandable as well as non-explainable.
I wonder too, if maybe God didn’t define certain things because He wants us to discuss Him, seek Him, research Him, and to learn about Him. After all, if we’re discussing Him, aren’t we sharing Him with others? And, that’s our main job, our main commission here on Earth anyway, (Matthew 28:19-20).
So, I think I’ll revisit this conversation with my student this coming week. I want to share a story with him from Judges 1:19. It begins with a powerful statement: “The Lord was with the men of Judah. They took possession of the hill country.” That should have been their battle cry.
But then comes the “but.” “But they were unable to drive the people from the plains, because they had chariots fitted with iron.”
Don’t you just hate the “buts” of life?
The text doesn’t say the Judeans were afraid. It simply tells us the obstacle: iron chariots. Yet the verse creates tension. If the Lord was with them, why did iron chariots determine the outcome?
The story suggests that somewhere between the hill country and the plains, something shifted. The visible strength of the Canaanites — their advanced, iron-equipped chariots — may have loomed larger in Judah’s sight than the invisible power of God. The passage doesn’t explicitly mention fear. But it does show that what they saw became central.
And this isn’t the only time sight seems to overpower faith.
In Numbers 13, Moses sends some spies into Canaan. After forty days, they return. The land is fruitful — just as God said. But most of the spies focus on the size of the cities and the strength of the people. They even say: “We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes…” (Numbers 13:33)
Notice that phrase — in our own eyes. Caleb and Joshua, however, look through a different lens. In Numbers 14:9, they say, “The Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them.”
Same land. Same enemies. Same God.
Different lens.
Maybe part of our faith journey is learning which lens to use. There will be things we can see — iron chariots, fortified cities, unanswered questions. And there will be things we cannot see — God’s full plan, His timing, His power.
Perhaps we don’t always have every explanation of God or the Bible in black and white because faith was never meant to function through the lens of sight alone.
Faith requires a different lens.
Ken Ham and Bodie Hodge, The New Answers Book 1 (Green Forest, AR: Master Books, 2006).
National Geographic Society, “How Did Scientists Calculate the Age of the Earth?” National Geographic Education, accessed February 28, 2026, https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/how-did-scientists-calculate-age-earth/.