Bible Study In the beginning...

[The Truth]

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth (Genesis 1:1). It is commonly known that the earth has been around for billions and billions of years, 4.543 to be precise.

In chapter 1 verse 26 on the 6th day, God decided to make man in His own image. ‘And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion…’

I underlined the word ‘them’, which implies that God clearly made more than one person because He also spoke to them ‘Be fruitful and multiply’ Genesis 1:28.

In Genesis 1:27, it tells us that God created both male and female ‘So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them’.

Is there a possibility that there have been generations of mankind, which existed on earth before the creation of Adam and Eve in Chapter 2. If so, who were these people that Genesis 1:26 and 1:27 spoke of?

If it is commonly known that mankind have been around for 6,000 years, then this figure must have been estimated from the existence of Adam and Eve.

Furthermore in Genesis 2:5, God prevented rain upon the earth because there was no man to till the ground. This verse is confusing because Genesis 1:26 – 27 stated that there were people that existed who could have tilled the ground, but had not. Why? (Even the plants and herbs grew and thrived without the need for water).

It is from there that God watered the ground with mist from the earth and then decided to form a man from dust of the ground in Genesis 2:7. We know this man as Adam whom God put into the garden of Eden ‘ to dress it and to keep it’.

Is the garden of Eden a place of Heaven/Paradise or did Adam and Eve had a full relationship with God on earth?

Why did God created Heaven and the earth? He might have created just one or the other instead of both.

Since God is all-knowing, he must have known in advance that there would be a fall of Adam and Eve due to their disobedience to God. God therefore sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground.

From the first day of God’s creation to the creation of man on the sixth day, where does the earth’s history fit in in the Genesis of the Bible? If the earth had existed for more than 4 billion years and mankind has been around for about 6 thousand years, is there a time lapse in the Genesis since God created something new for each day?

I hope someone is able to enlighten me if I am misplacing anything.

 

[Edward]

(Is there a possibility that there have been generations of mankind, which existed on earth before the creation of Adam and Eve in Chapter 2. If so, who were these people that Genesis 1:26 and 1:27 spoke of?)

I doubt it. The way it reads to me, is that Adam & Eve were the first.

(Furthermore in Genesis 2:5, God prevented rain upon the earth because there was no man to till the ground. This verse is confusing because Genesis 1:26 – 27 stated that there were people that existed who could have tilled the ground, but had not. Why? (Even the plants and herbs grew and thrived without the need for water).)

It doesn't say "because" there was no man to till the ground in my bible, nor that God had prevented rain upon the earth. Just that, for the Lord had not caused it to rain, and there was not a man to till the ground. My understanding is that, in the beginning before the flood, there was a firmament of water above the earth (the earth was surrounded by a bubble of water) and so, the relative humidity was what watered the plants. Then after the flood the firmament was gone and God had to then cause it to rain upon the earth to water the plants and so forth.

(Is the garden of Eden a place of Heaven/Paradise or did Adam and Eve had a full relationship with God on earth?)

Eden was a place on earth. Man did have a full relationship with God on earth.

(Why did God created Heaven and the earth? He might have created just one or the other instead of both.)

I have no idea about that.

(From the first day of God’s creation to the creation of man on the sixth day, where does the earth’s history fit in in the Genesis of the Bible?)

I can't answer that either.

(If the earth had existed for more than 4 billion years and mankind has been around for about 6 thousand years, is there a time lapse in the Genesis since God created something new for each day?)

IF, the earth is 4 billion years old, then I would think that there would have had to be a time lapse. I don't think anyone can answer this one for sure, right now at least.

 

[Cygnus]

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth (Genesis 1:1). It is commonly known that the earth has been around for billions and billions of years, 4.543 to be precise.

In chapter 1 verse 26 on the 6th day, God decided to make man in His own image. ‘And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion…’

I underlined the word ‘them’, which implies that God clearly made more than one person because He also spoke to them ‘Be fruitful and multiply’ Genesis 1:28.

In Genesis 1:27, it tells us that God created both male and female ‘So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them’.

Is there a possibility that there have been generations of mankind, which existed on earth before the creation of Adam and Eve in Chapter 2. If so, who were these people that Genesis 1:26 and 1:27 spoke of?

the Bible speaks of no pre-existing race of humans. None.
the Bible speaks of Adam as being the first man and Eve the mother of all.
I find that people often try to incorporate old earth theology into the Bible...and discover they got off road almost immediately.

If it is commonly known that mankind have been around for 6,000 years, then this figure must have been estimated from the existence of Adam and Eve.

If you add up the ages in the genealogy presented in the Bible 6,000 years ago is when creation would have taken place.

 

[Nathan]

Yea, I think everything goes downhill real fast when we try to say the earth is older than what God said it is. Once you discount that, then the rest of everything makes no sense.

 

[Eugene]

Is there a possibility that there have been generations of mankind, which existed on earth before the creation of Adam and Eve in Chapter 2

Gen 1:28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them (Adam & Eve), Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth . . .
Gen 9:1 And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.

Is it unreasonable to think that since God used the second reference to replenishing or filling the earth after He destroyed it with water, that the first time He used the expression Replenish had something to do with a new beginning after destruction?

I cannot find support for this I thought I once had, but there were some that believed that with Satan’s fall there came destruction such as that in Noah’s time.

 

[reba]

As for why...
Rev_4:11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

 

[Free]

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth (Genesis 1:1). It is commonly known that the earth has been around for billions and billions of years, 4.543 to be precise.

In chapter 1 verse 26 on the 6th day, God decided to make man in His own image. ‘And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion…’

I underlined the word ‘them’, which implies that God clearly made more than one person because He also spoke to them ‘Be fruitful and multiply’ Genesis 1:28.

In Genesis 1:27, it tells us that God created both male and female ‘So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them’.

Is there a possibility that there have been generations of mankind, which existed on earth before the creation of Adam and Eve in Chapter 2. If so, who were these people that Genesis 1:26 and 1:27 spoke of?

If it is commonly known that mankind have been around for 6,000 years, then this figure must have been estimated from the existence of Adam and Eve.

Furthermore in Genesis 2:5, God prevented rain upon the earth because there was no man to till the ground. This verse is confusing because Genesis 1:26 – 27 stated that there were people that existed who could have tilled the ground, but had not. Why? (Even the plants and herbs grew and thrived without the need for water).

It is from there that God watered the ground with mist from the earth and then decided to form a man from dust of the ground in Genesis 2:7. We know this man as Adam whom God put into the garden of Eden ‘ to dress it and to keep it’.

Is the garden of Eden a place of Heaven/Paradise or did Adam and Eve had a full relationship with God on earth?

Why did God created Heaven and the earth? He might have created just one or the other instead of both.

Since God is all-knowing, he must have known in advance that there would be a fall of Adam and Eve due to their disobedience to God. God therefore sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground.

From the first day of God’s creation to the creation of man on the sixth day, where does the earth’s history fit in in the Genesis of the Bible? If the earth had existed for more than 4 billion years and mankind has been around for about 6 thousand years, is there a time lapse in the Genesis since God created something new for each day?

I hope someone is able to enlighten me if I am misplacing anything.

No, the Bible mentions nothing about humans or others existing before Adam and Eve. Of course, that then brings up one of the mysteries of the Bible: where did Cain get his wife, who was he afraid of, and why did he build a city?

As to the age of the earth, there very well could be a gap between Gen. 1:1 and 1:2 of billions of years, and then creation within six consecutive days. There are several different ideas as to just what the creation accounts are saying.

 

[jasonc]

I'm a young earth creationist but the age of the earth is based on a geneology. That gives you up to day one .you can't use that to date the earth.while I highly doubt the age of 4.5 billion years ,the age of 6 to 10000 years is what creationist website teaches.that means the genealogy has some major leeway.

 

[Cygnus]

Gen 1:28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them (Adam & Eve), Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth . . .
Gen 9:1 And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.

Is it unreasonable to think that since God used the second reference to replenishing or filling the earth after He destroyed it with water, that the first time He used the expression Replenish had something to do with a new beginning after destruction?

I cannot find support for this I thought I once had, but there were some that believed that with Satan’s fall there came destruction such as that in Noah’s time.

One has to wonder....is replenish the best word to use?
Here are about 25 parallel versions where fill is used instead of replenish.
The same can be seen when we look at Gen 9:1.

From this link you can see several usages for the word.
I would be very skeptical about being dogmatic about the word meaning to repopulate the world rather than populate the world in Gen 1:18

 

[Cygnus]

No, the Bible mentions nothing about humans or others existing before Adam and Eve. Of course, that then brings up one of the mysteries of the Bible: where did Cain get his wife, who was he afraid of, and why did he build a city?

The obvious answer would be Cain married a sister or a neice..

No, the Bible mentions nothing about humans or others existing before Adam and Eve. Of course, that then brings up one of the mysteries of the Bible: where did Cain get his wife, who was he afraid of, and why did he build a city?

As to the age of the earth, there very well could be a gap between Gen. 1:1 and 1:2 of billions of years, and then creation within six consecutive days. There are several different ideas as to just what the creation accounts are saying.

People claim that..but...typically it is used in conjunction with an old earth and trying to explain the fossil record and the geological column all the while ruling out the biblical possibility of a world wide flood creating both.

 

[Cygnus]

I'm a young earth creationist but the age of the earth is based on a geneology. That gives you up to day one .you can't use that to date the earth.while I highly doubt the age of 4.5 billion years ,the age of 6 to 10000 years is what creationist website teaches.that means the genealogy has some major leeway.

The concept of the dinosaur becoming extinct was uprooted severely with the discovery of still soft tissue remains found in fossilized Dino bones. All of this soft tissue should have decayed, rotted or fossilized shortly after burial.

 

[Eugene]

One has to wonder....is replenish the best word to use?
Here are about 25 parallel versions where fill is used instead of replenish.
The same can be seen when we look at Gen 9:1.

I agree, and yet I wonder if the word isn't changed to satisfy preconceived doctrinal ideas, or even changed for the same reasons. In Christianity there is the thought of the GAP Theory doctrine of an existence prior to Adam & Eve.

This following article at got questions?org addresses the question
https://www.gotquestions.org/pre-Adamic-race.html

Gap Theory
What happened between the time God created the earth to be inhabited in Isa 45:18, and Gen 1:2 where we see the earth without form?
Gen 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
Gen 1:2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.
Isa 45:18 For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else.

Thanks for the reply.

 

[Cygnus]

I agree, and yet I wonder if the word isn't changed to satisfy preconceived doctrinal ideas, or even changed for the same reasons. In Christianity there is the thought of the GAP Theory doctrine of an existence prior to Adam & Eve.

This following article at got questions?org addresses the question
https://www.gotquestions.org/pre-Adamic-race.html

Gap Theory
What happened between the time God created the earth to be inhabited in Isa 45:18, and Gen 1:2 where we see the earth without form?
Gen 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
Gen 1:2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.
Isa 45:18 For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else.

Thanks for the reply.

Got questions has a lot of well thought out answers

 

[jasonc]

The concept of the dinosaur becoming extinct was uprooted severely with the discovery of still soft tissue remains found in fossilized Dino bones. All of this soft tissue should have decayed, rotted or fossilized shortly after burial.

Creationist say 50000 years at the most if I recall.it depends on how they are buried and what in.we have found human dna that was pre Columbian in origin in bogs here.

 

[reba]

The gap? the term is relative ..
Wide is the gap between ones front teeth
How wide is the gap between first and second place.
How wide the gap of the grand canyon
Was there a gap
The Scriptures were not written in chapter and verse..

 

[Chopper]

One has to wonder....is replenish the best word to use?
Here are about 25 parallel versions where fill is used instead of replenish.
The same can be seen when we look at Gen 9:1.

From this link you can see several usages for the word.
I would be very skeptical about being dogmatic about the word meaning to repopulate the world rather than populate the world in Gen 1:18

Very good Friend Cygnus. That word "re-plenish" does imply a second act of populating.

 

[Chopper]

The obvious answer would be Cain married a sister or a neice..


People claim that..but...typically it is used in conjunction with an old earth and trying to explain the fossil record and the geological column all the while ruling out the biblical possibility of a world wide flood creating both.

Again Cygnus, you have given a great explanation to the fossil records of false dating theories. The universal flood of Noah's day was the result of huge dating errors. Remember, there was tremendous water pressure on the ocean floor during a flood that covered the highest mountain. That water pressure would fossilize anything there.

 

[Cygnus]

Very good Friend Cygnus. That word "re-plenish" does imply a second act of populating.

Another thought on that...does replenish in King James mean the same thing then as it does today?
For instance we read....Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
Cleave can mean separate.....like what a meat cleaver does

 

[Chopper]

First of all, the replenish in Noah's day was legitimate. God had wiped all humanity off the face of the earth and needed to be repopulated.

As for the KJV word for replenish for today, here's Strong's definition....

H4390
מָלֵא
male or
מָלָא
mala (569d); a prim. root; to be full, to fill: — accomplished (1), aloud (1), armed (1), become full (1), been completed (1), come (1), complete (3), completed (9), completion (1), confirm (1), consecrate *(3), consecrated *(4), covered (1), dedicate (1), drenched (1), drew (1), ended (1), endowed (1), expired (1), fill (38), filled (78), filling (5), fills (1), finished (1), fulfill (6), fulfilled (10), full (37), fullness (1), fully (8), gave in full (1), given fully (1), gratified (1), live (1), massed (1), messengers (1), mount *(1), mounted (1), ordain *(4), ordained *(4), ordination *(1), overflowing *(1), overflows *(1), passed (1), presume *(1), refresh (1), required (2), satisfied (1), satisfy (2), set (1), settings (2), space (1).

I would say yes. What do you think?

 

[Cygnus]

First of all, the replenish in Noah's day was legitimate. God had wiped all humanity off the face of the earth and needed to be repopulated.

As for the KJV word for replenish for today, here's Strong's definition....

H4390
מָלֵא
male or
מָלָא
mala (569d); a prim. root; to be full, to fill: — accomplished (1), aloud (1), armed (1), become full (1), been completed (1), come (1), complete (3), completed (9), completion (1), confirm (1), consecrate *(3), consecrated *(4), covered (1), dedicate (1), drenched (1), drew (1), ended (1), endowed (1), expired (1), fill (38), filled (78), filling (5), fills (1), finished (1), fulfill (6), fulfilled (10), full (37), fullness (1), fully (8), gave in full (1), given fully (1), gratified (1), live (1), massed (1), messengers (1), mount *(1), mounted (1), ordain *(4), ordained *(4), ordination *(1), overflowing *(1), overflows *(1), passed (1), presume *(1), refresh (1), required (2), satisfied (1), satisfy (2), set (1), settings (2), space (1).

I would say yes. What do you think?

The context of the text presented a previous population prior to Noah. Not so in the opening verses of Genesis.

I believe Ezekiel 28:13 speaks of Lucifer in an unfallen state.....
13You were in Eden, the garden of God;
...which would indicate Satan hadn't rebelled until after the garden was planted. Which causes many concerns for the gap theory and what caused the first destruction and the need to repopulate earth.