Treebeard vs. the Elves-who is older?

[flyingtable83]

I don't mean to be persnickety, but...

it seems as though the elves were first created, although ents were "alive" in ME before them. This part of the Silm is rather like a faded bible story that is fuzzy for a purpose. Also, in LoTR Treebeard is quoted as saying that their were "hollow dales in this land where the Darkness has never been lifted, and the trees are older than I am. If he is eldest, then there are his trees to watch over, which were obviously there before anything else on ME that was living.

Then there is Tom. After reading through various threads on him, as well as a couple of essays, I have solidified my idea for what he is. Even though there is logical and literary doubt and evidence given to every hypothesis, I believe that Tom is merely an earthly recreation of Illuvatar. It is reiterated over and over again in the beginning of the Silmarrilion that Illuvatar had a vision that was not fully revealed to anyone. I believe he came to earth as Tom from the very beginning of time and when the time was near he gave Frodo a slight nudge toward fame. I truly believe it was Illuvatar intervening in ME, but as I said, there are logical and literary flaws in all Bombadil theories.