The Age Before The Flood. What Does The Bible Say?
The bible has much to say about our future, but how much does it have to say concerning our past? There are various theory’s about man’s beginning. One such theory is called the Gap theory. The Gap theory states that there was a pre-adamic race of men on the earth before Adam and eve. They state that there was a Gap, or pause between verse 1 and 2 of Genesis chapter 1. Although this theory Is interesting, it fails for multiple reasons. One reason it fails, is because sin has entered into the earth according to the scriptures because of the fall of Adam, not because of some previous race. However, I do believe that there was a race before Adam and Eve, although not human in origin. I do believe that it is possible that there was an Angelic Race that lived on the planets, including earth before Adam and Eve were created. This can be just a statement made without any biblical proof as many have done in the past. However, we here at Teo endeavor to let the scriptures be our foundation, and every other extraneous document must support what the bible says. Therefore, the bible is first, everything else second.
Now, let’s start with Genesis chapter 1 verses 1 to 2.
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. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
According to these verses, God created the heavens and the earth, and it had no form, and it was void, that is, it had no life, or structure. However, there was water. Thus, God must have created the water, or seas at the time the earth and heavens were created. These verses alone prove nothing, but if we go to Jeremiah chapter 4 verses 23 to 27, we have a little more clarification.
Jer 4:23 I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.
Jer 4:24 I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly.
Jer 4:25 I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled.
Jer 4:26 I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the LORD, and by his fierce anger.
Jer 4:27 For thus hath the LORD said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end.
In verse 23, we see the same description of the earth as we do in Genesis chapter 1 verses 1 to 2. The earth is without form and void. This has to be describing the same creation event. The following verses give us more information as we continue; if we skip to verse 25, it states that, “lo, there were no man. The word “man” here in the Hebrew, is the word 'âdâm aw-dawm'
From H119; ruddy, that is, a human being (an individual or the species, mankind, etc.): - X another, + hypocrite, + common sort, X low, man (mean, of low degree), person.
Thus, there were no descendents of Adam and Eve at this time, which lines up with the Genesis 1 creation event. We also see in this verse, that the birds had fled. However, in Genesis, the birds were not created until the fourth day Genesis 1:19-20. Either this is not the same event as Genesis 1, or the scriptures are in error, or there was a previous creation and the earth was just rejuvenated.
In verse 26 we see that the fruitful places were a wilderness, and all of the cities were broken down at the presence of the Lord by His fierce anger. Thus, we see that God had destroyed the cities that existed. Now, if there weren’t any men on the earth according to verse 25, who built the cities?
Now verse 27 states that the whole land shall be desolate, but that He would not make a full end of the land. The word for land here, is the Hebrew word eh'-rets, which could mean earth. Thus, God would destroy the whole earth, but not completely.
In verse 28 we see that God makes the skies black because of His anger. This matches perfectly with what we saw in verse 23, and Genesis chapter 1.
Jer 4:28 For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black: because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it.
Verse 29 states that no man shall dwelled in the city because of the war going on, and because of God’s proclamation
Jer 4:29 The whole city shall flee for the noise of the horsemen and bowmen; they shall go into thickets, and climb up upon the rocks: every city shall be forsaken, and not a man dwell therein.
Interestingly enough, the word man used here is not the word for Adam as in verse 25, but the Hebrew word eesh, meaning:
H376
אישׁ
'îysh
eesh
Contracted for H582 (or perhaps rather from an unused root meaning to be extant); a man as an individual or a male person; often used as an adjunct to a more definite term (and in such cases frequently not expressed in translation.) : - also, another, any (man), a certain, + champion, consent, each, every (one), fellow, [foot-, husband-] man, (good-, great, mighty) man, he, high (degree), him (that is), husband, man [-kind], + none, one, people, person, + steward, what (man) soever, whoso (-ever), worthy. Compare H802.
Why would the Lord use a different word for man here? Maybe He was trying to tell us something. Remember, God said it is the duty of a King to seek out a matter.
From these verses, we cannot state unequivocally that these people were Angelic, but we can see, if we take the scriptures literally, that someone was here before Adam. I just believe that it was an Angelic race, but let’s go on. In Jeremiah chapter 4 verses 30-31, the scriptures seem to shift towards the end time situation here on earth. However, I will prove this at a later time, because we are trying to show the existence of some life form on earth before Adam and Eve.
In Genesis 1:28, the word states:
Gen 1:28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
Many anti-Gap proponents state that the word mâlê' mâlâ' means to fill up the earth, and not refill. This is true. An accurate translation of male is fill. However, according to Dr. Henry Morris, an anti-gap proponent, he states:
Admittedly, "replenish" is a permissible translation of the Hebrew, mâlê. Both "fill" and "refill" are legitimate translations since the translators had a choice to make in translating God's mandate as given to Adam.
So, the use of replenish is not inaccurate. The question comes to whether or not it should be used in this context. If the translators of the KJV were looking at the Jeremiah 4 passage, then replenish could be an accurate interpretation.
One of the major attacks against the Gap Theory, is the Romans 5:12
Rom 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
They state that sin entered the world because of Adam, and not a pre-adamic race. However, if one considers Jeremiah 4, and the fact that God destroyed the previous world, and recreated it, then sin entered the recreated world because of Adam, not because of the previous race of people (Or angelic creations). Because the old world was destroyed, and had no affect on the new creation.
One thing that has concerned me, is Satan and the Serpent (Nachash). Satan was the first to sin, and he entered the world to tempt Adam and Eve. Why wasn’t the creation cursed then? The only reason I see, is because the creation was under the authority of Adam, and not Satan, and therefore there was no effect on the earth because of Satan’s transgression. It is the same as when the woman was deceived. There was no affect on the world until Adam sinned. Thus, no previous transgression would have affected the current earth anyway, and definitely it would not have affected the earth because a new earth was created, or more accurately put restored.
The Earth Became
Another support for the gap theory is Genesis 1:2, where the word states:
Gen 1:2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
The Word “was” is the Hebrew word hâyâh
haw-yaw'
A primitive root (compare H1933); to exist, that is, be or become, come to pass (always emphatic, and not a mere copula or auxiliary): - beacon, X altogether, be (-come, accomplished, committed, like), break, cause, come (to pass), continue, do, faint, fall, + follow, happen, X have, last, pertain, quit (one-) self, require, X use.
It appears to me that “to become”, or “became” is a more accurate translation of the text.
Many people dislike the idea that the bible may teach a pre-adamic race, because they believe that it supports evolution. However, I do not believe that the existence of a possible pre-adamic race promotes evolution at all. It just shows that God had another plan in mind.
The Host Of Heaven
In Deuteronomy chapter 32 verse 8, we see that God divided the nations according to the number of the children of Israel.
Deu 32:8 When the most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel.
However, this appears to be a translation error, because according to the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the Septuagint, the Lord divided the nations
according to the angels, or the bene elohim. Israel was not even a nation at this time, so the idea that the nations were divided according to the children of Israel makes no sense. To further prove that the scriptures teach that the Lord divided the nations according to the bene elohim, or angels, we can read in Deueronomy chapter 4 verse 19 that the Lord divided the nations according to the hosts of Heaven.
Deu 4:19 And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the LORD thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven.
See the following scriptures for proof that the host of heaven represent angels:
(Deu 4:19),(Deu 17:3),(1Ki 22:19) ,(2Ki 17:16),(2Ki 21:3) ,(2Ki 21:5),
(2Ki 23:4) ,(2Ki 23:5) ,(2Ch 18:18),(2Ch 28:9),(2Ch 33:3),(2Ch 33:5) ,
(Neh 9:6) ,(Isa 34:4),(Jer 8:2),(Jer 19:13),(Jer 33:22),(Dan 8:10) ,(Zep 1:5)
(Act 7:42)
God divided all of the nations up, and gave them all to the fallen angels. All except for Israel, which the Lord kept for Himself Deuteronomy 32:9.
This is why all of the pagan nations worship different Gods. If you ever saw the series StarGate, there is some truth in that.
Please see Dr Michael S Heiser’s study on the Divine Council.
http://www.thedivinecouncil.com/Introduction%20to%20the%20Divine%20Council%20MTIT.pdf