I’m Dennis Finnan, host and speaker on the World, the Word & You! Broadcast and in a moment we’ll talk about the mysterious message of the Bristlecone Pine tree…

… Can living things verify the earth’s age?  A principle basic to any study of the past is the principle of “uniformity in the order of nature,” first proposed by James Hutton in 1785 who stated: “The present is the key to the past!” Today on the broadcast I want to look at the present in what is living and alive today on the earth that depicts for us a possible window into our past and formation of existence. To do this, we want to examine the oldest living things on the earth and see what we find. In so doing, we can determine an approximate age of the earth itself as well as all life as we know it. Will you journey with me through these ancient days of history? Good, but first let’s pause one more time and listen to this…

… Some years ago my wife and I toured the Muir Woods in California and saw first hand the magnificent Sequoia and Giant Redwood trees there. I was amazed as all are who stand below them as tiny creatures in the midst of these giant ancient trees. These massive living towers grow as high as 300 feet tall! Some of them were already growing there in California before Jesus Christ was born and walked the earth in ancient Galilee . But do you know there are other plants and trees alive today that are older than these ancient of days trees? 

In particular, I want to talk with you about the BRISTLECONE PINE TREES only found in the high desert country of the West. On dry windswept mountaintops of the Great Basin in the western United States grow the earth's oldest living inhabitants, the bristlecone pine trees (Pinus longaeva, Pinus aristata). These twisted and weather-beaten trees have clung to life through the ages of time far longer than the giant redwoods that are some 2000 years old! Yes, in the White Mountains bordering California and Nevada , these rare and rugged trees have been growing there for upwards of 5000 years! Can you believe it?

However no one knew about these ancient living fossils until the 1950’s when their great age was discovered by a scientist named Edmund Schulman who began his career in “dendrochronology,” that is the study of tree rings. Schulman and a few others discovered these ancient trees, the Bristlecone Pines; and, through examination and sampling, discovered these were much older than the giant Redwoods of California . In fact, the oldest, and still living, Bristlecone Pine tree was named in 1957 "Methuselah." It was found to be 4,723 years old and remains today the world's oldest known living tree.

Many of the bristlecone pine trees living today were seedlings when the pyramids were being constructed, mature in the time of Christ, and ancient patriarchs today. These bristlecones occur in only six western states, but of these the oldest are found at the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest in the White Mountains of California. Even more amazing is the fact that these trees live in a most hostile environment. They grow only at heights of 10,000 to 11,000 feet, in soil that is very acidic  Bristlecones don't grow very tall, 60 feet at the most, but usually much less. The girth of the largest one, known as “the Patriarch” is 36' 8", and yet this tree is relatively young at 1,500 years. The average age is about 1,000 years with a few over 4,000 years old. 

The oldest trees grow on outcrops of dolomite, an alkaline calcareous substrate of low nutrient but of higher moisture content than the surrounding sandstone. Amazingly, these wind swept and knurled trees have an outside bark of dense deadwood as thick as four feet in diameter, yet it has only a ten inch strip of living bark to support it. Invasions from bacteria, fungus or insects that prey upon most plants are unknown to the bristlecone due to their dense, highly resinous wood.  These fossil trees are alive and living and will most likely continue to live thousands of years from now if undisturbed by man and catastrophic events of nature.

What’s more, in the Lucerne Valley in Old Woman Springs California , lies a living fossil bush known as “King Clone.” This is a creosote bush that has spread out seventy-five wide and has been measured to be as old as 9000 years! The measuring instrument for this date was C14 carbon dating which in truth cannot be depended upon for accuracy, as tree rings can in the case of the Bristlecone pines. But the reason I’ve shared all these amazing things with you is to cause you to think! SO let’s do jus that. Here’s the…

#1 THOUGHT TO CONSIDER – 

Why don’t we find groves of Bristlecones Pines trees elsewhere in the world dating back to say, 10,000 – 15, 000 years old? No one knows how long these trees will live, for it appears they are far from dead and have well protected life amidst the hostile environment in which they live. They could easily live for this period of time and even longer. Yet, the oldest verifiable dating of living things on the earth is no older than roughly 5000 years! Now what’s so significant about this? Well if you study biblical history, you’ll find that somewhere about that time, 5000 years ago, all life on the surface of the planet was extinguished except that which was preserved by God in the judgment known as Noah’s Flood. Listen as I read in the Bible of the reason for the judgment of this worldwide flood,

Gen 6:5-8 (NIV)  The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. 6 The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. 7 So the LORD said, “I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air—for I am grieved that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.

We are told that God instructed Noah to build a huge floating island I call it, to save his entire family of eight human beings and a  sampling of surface life to repopulate the world after God’ judgment. Now with the entire earth destroyed and under water, for one full year, nothing could have lived except the seeds of plant life ready to sprout when moist soil, sunlight and warmth germinate it. Thus, it stands to reason why these trees of great antiquity date back only 5000 years and no further! These Bristlecone Pine trees stand as a testament to the validity of God’s Word. Once the Flood of Noah’s day receded, all living things that survived on the ark and the seeds of plant life began to grow again, and along with it, remain today actual trees that spawned following Noah’s flood! How amazing. Yet this alone is not proof of a young earth that matches the biblical record. Here’s a second thing to consider,

#2 THOUGHT TO CONSIDER – 

The evolutionist who denies and ridicules the bible’s historical record says the mankind has been on the earth for a million years. If so, why is population explosion only recently becoming a problem? Statistics today tell us that worldwide families average 3.6 children reproductively with a population growth of 2% annually. Now let’s do some calculations and do it very conservatively. Let’s reduce the growth rate from 2% annually to only a ½ % per year. This make the population growth rate to be 2 ½ children per year instead of the 3.6 we know today. Calculating backwards this would mean the present population began about 4000 years ago! Yet, evolutionists who reject God’s biblical historical record that life began again after Noah’s Flood about 5000 years ago insist human life has been populating the earth for a million years. Do you have any idea how many people would be on the earth today if man were that old? Let me give you the statistics.

With a million year history of man there would be 25,000 generations and the present population would be represented by the number 10 with 2,100 zeros after it! Do you need perspective? Well consider this – If you filled the entire universe with tiny electrons, you could only pack in the number 10 with 130 zeros after it!

Do you understand now? Evolution is impossible, especially for man to be on the earth for millions of years. Not to mention where the bones of these 3000 billion people are? Evolutionists don’t like to talk about this one and avoid it at all costs. Yet the Bible’s record of the history of mankind fits well with what we find on earth. From the Bristlecone Pine trees tell-tale rings, to other messages from creation such as the earth’s magnetic field, to the dissolved mineral content in the oceans, and the atmospheric helium content in the atmosphere – all show and cry out the earth is not millions or billions of years old, but very young perhaps upwards of 10,000 years at the very very most!

All this is to say if we can trust the Bible’s account of man’s sinful state, and the history of life from Creation to present, then we can trust the Bible’s message that accompanies it.

Yes, Scripture declare that all life and the universe itself was created in seven literal days as we know it. God’s Word testifies,

Gen 1:1 (NIV)  “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

Exo 20:11 (NIV)  “For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them…”

God’s highest and greatest creation was not the famous and oldest living things such as the bristlecone pines and redwood trees, but man himself. Listen again as God describes this for us,

Gen 1:26-27 (NIV)  Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

You and I, as members of the single and unique human race, we are in effect the fingerprint of God Himself. We are God’s very image unlike all other creation. God formed man’s body from the dust of the earth, to function temporarily in the environment in which we live, but God formed the real you and me from His very life itself. We are as the Bible says composed of a body, a soul and a spirit. The spirit of man is the essence of God and that which lives and abides in His presence. Sadly Scripture tells us that man’s spirit created whole in Eden in Adam and Eve died when they sinned. God warned them of this, but nonetheless Adam and Eve, the first human beings and progenitors of the human race, died the very moment they disobeyed God. Listen again to the scriptural account,

Gen 2:15-17 (NIV)  The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”

When Adam and Eve’s spirit died because of sin and disobedience to God, they still lived on, but their ability to communicate with and enjoy the presence of God was dead! It was only after that that God gave them the ability to bear children. We are the children of a fallen broken and spiritually dead human race. This is why we have no desire to have God rule us, or to believe in and surrender to His will and ways. Evolution is just a conveniently devised excuse not to believe in God and His creation. All sin, evil, disobedience, lawlessness, selfishness and the like we suffer here on the earth seen in the wars, bloodshed, death and disease is the result of sin.

Yet thanks be to God, there is GOOD NEWS! The moment Adam and Eve sinned and lost their spiritual life, God set in motion the means to redeem them and all their children ever to be born.

God devised a plan to satisfy His holy justice. Paul the apostle tells us,

Rom 5:14-19 (NLT)  they all died anyway… What a contrast between Adam and Christ, who was yet to come! 15 And what a difference between our sin and God’s generous gift of forgiveness. For this one man, Adam, brought death to many through his sin. But this other man, Jesus Christ, brought forgiveness to many through God’s bountiful gift... For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but we have the free gift of being accepted by God, even though we are guilty of many sins. 17 The sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over us, but all who receive God’s wonderful, gracious gift of righteousness will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ. 18 Yes, Adam’s one sin brought condemnation upon everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness makes all people right in God’s sight and gives them life. 19 Because one person disobeyed God, many people became sinners. But because one other person obeyed God, many people will be made right in God’s sight.

This is the GOOD NEWS gospel of Christ! The fallen sinful human race condemned to die and remain separated from God would be saved through God’s plan to die Himself for or sins and restore all who believe in and receive this forgiveness through Jesus Christ.

When one believes in that and trusts alone and surrenders the rulership of their lives to Jesus Christ as their God and Savior – God restores to that person a new spirit to be able to live on for eternity with Christ and commune with Him now and forevermore. This is why Christians are able to love God, His Word and others like them. This is why believers enjoy worship, fellowship and service to God and His kingdom work. The new spirit born again in them delights to do God’s word and will.

The question is do you have this new spirit in you? You only do if you have surrendered your heart to Jesus Christ, by believing Him to be your Creator God, and Savior as Scripture reveals to us. Paul the apostle cried out,

Acts 16:31 (NIV) “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.”

Yes, the creation itself cries out that this world we live in today and all its life is about 5000 years old. Since the time of Noah and the repopulation of this world, everything in it verifies the Bible record, as were evolution’s fantasy has nothing substantial to support it. I trust today’s talk encourages your faith, or better yet begins your journey of faith as you put your faith in God’s reliable Word and His Son Jesus Christ. May His glory and grace unfold in your life and may you find the peace He brings to all who receive Him.

The Bristle Cone Pine trees are an amazing testimony to the endurance of life on the earth. From the oldest known tree named “Methuselah,” verified at 4,723 years old, to the King Clone creosote bush at a speculative age of 9000 years, the earth is very young, and of course too young for life to have evolved on the earth. No, God created us and planted us here, and all in death will one day return to the Creator of life, Jesus Christ Himself. May your heart be tender, and your eyes opened to see Jesus clearly.

·         Radio talk # 0504

·         Broadcast date: February 01, 2004

·         Speaker: Dennis L. Finnan, Commentator

·         Program: The World, the Word & You! Radio Broadcast

·         Address: P.O. Box 60033 Grand Junction , CO 81506