WhiteLioness

Genesis 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.

God says to replenish the earth. How can you replenish something that has not been lost? Does this mean that there was an earth here before Adam and Eve? I wonder what happened and what was here before Adam and Eve or any of the animals?

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Romans 10:9-13 -- 9That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. 12For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. 13For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Acts 4:12 -- Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

John 3:17 -- For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

John 14:6 -- Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Whoever makes fun of these Scriptures is not going to have the last laugh, I can guarantee you that! This a very serious matter of utmost gravity and sincerity. Your life hangs in the balance. Believe on the name of the Lord and be saved. Read what Romans 10 says above and do that proceedure. Become one of HIS saints.

NearertoGod

Nothing existed before the creation of Adam and Eve, the animals, and the Earth.

Whe God meant "replenish" He could have met

Fill and populate (replenish can also mean: to make full or complete again, as by supply what is lacking, used up, etc.)

Instead of replenish as in fixing or making something new.



My take on it

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NATURE should be treasured, not destroyed!
It's God's beautiful gift...treat it with respect and it'll respect you.

Hey everyone!
See BIG BROWN at Santa Anita Racetrack in Arcadia, California on Saturday, October 25th, 2008 in the BREEDER'S CUP CLASSIC!
Let's hope he does a good job!
Team Big Brown
(wish I had a picture...)

Jax

I agree, I think it is just that in the English translating of the Word, we often dont have exactly the right word to substitute, so another less accurate word is used.
I believe that the rest of scripture supports there being nothing before creation, others may disagree.

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For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, so that 'WHOSOEVER' believes, shall not perish, but have everlasting life.

Purposeful_Life

I am not so sure - another concept of there may have been more is Cain's reluctance to leave the area in case 'they' attacked him. God put a mark on Cain to avoid that ... but who were they?

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Nigel

God has designed a purpose/vision/dream for us all - have you found yours?

Learn to D.R.E.A.M.

Boanerges

There are many different views on this ranging from interesting to downright strange. The bible does not tell us everything but it does tell us what we need to know.

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“Neither skill nor knowledge is needed to go to God, all that is necessary is a heart dedicated entirely and solely to Him out of love for Him above all others.”
Brother Lawrence

GrannyG

There are theories as to what God did prior to creating the Earth as we know it and populating it with man and beasts. We do not need to know the full mind of God or what He has done prior to His creation of today's Earth and His plan of redeemption of man. He is Sovereign He alone is in control. Yes, curious mankind would like to have all the answers, yet God does not give them all to us. He gives us what we need to know and what He wants us to know.

Churchmen of old contemplated how many angels would fit on the tip of a pin. Is there any revelance to that? Is there any need to know? No. Let us comtemplate on that which He has revealed to us in His holy word.

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da_man

I honestly feel that if there was a "pre-earth" there would have been more mention in scripture other than the word replenish.
As for Cain worrying about "they" attacking him. We know that that Adam and Eve had more kids than Cain Able and Seth. How would you feel going to a group of people that you hadn't seen for years, and then they find out that you're a murderer. I would be a little scared myself I think.

NearertoGod

I think da_man gave a good answer to Purposeful_Life's question.

I was reading about photographic book by Yan Arthus-Bertrand that I purchased, and on one page he commented:

"The Bible rarely talks about horses, but the Qu'ran is full of mentionings of horses...."

This is a good example of how the Bible is about the Word of God. There are a few tiny scriptures in the Bible that one would look over that describe the powerful nature of a horse, as one snorts and paws the ground ready for battle. The Qu'ran, however, was written in a land where horses were a prized possession, and where the breeding of Egyptian Arabian horses went on. So naturally, you will see mentionings of horses in the Qu'ran, but the Bible not so much. I wouldn't say that these people didn't care for horses, or any animal for that matter, but the Bible is God-breathed word, not a pretty quote book about some culture's favorite animal.

So, you will not find much detail on what Cain meant when he said "they". Like da_man said, naturally it is Adam and Eve had more than just Cain and Abel.

__________________
NATURE should be treasured, not destroyed!
It's God's beautiful gift...treat it with respect and it'll respect you.

Hey everyone!
See BIG BROWN at Santa Anita Racetrack in Arcadia, California on Saturday, October 25th, 2008 in the BREEDER'S CUP CLASSIC!
Let's hope he does a good job!
Team Big Brown
(wish I had a picture...)

Whirlwind

Where's Pastor Gary today? There's a lot of good questions being brought up.

I'm often intrigued by teachings of the "Old Earth Age" and the evidence of it.

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Chapter-by-Chapter, verse-by-verse.
Jesus is the Living Word.

Boanerges

The following are my personal opinions which I have tried carefully to base of scripture. I do not claim to be 100% correct nor do I disrespect anyone else's ideas.
The ideas of a pre Adamic race are generally believed to have started with Roman Emperor Julian the Apostate around 363 AD although some credit this theory to a Mr. Isaac La Peyrère 1655.

As far as replenish it is generally considered a mistranslation. I compared (not counting any King James) 24 translations and 19 disagreed with that translation and only 5 concurred.
When you take in account the King James translations I compared 5 used replenish but the Modern King James and King James 2000 did not so there is disagreement on this translation but the majority of bible translators disagree with replenish by about 4 to 1 over replenish which is more commonly translated "fill".


The New Testament scripture declares that Adam was indeed the first man:

1Co 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
TheG3588 firstG4413 manG444 AdamG76
first-
G4413
πρῶτος
prōtos
pro'-tos
Contracted superlative of G4253; foremost (in time, place, order or importance): - before, beginning, best, chief (-est), first (of all), former.

man-
G444
ἄνθρωπος
anthrōpos
anth'-ro-pos
From G435 and ὤψ ōps (the countenance; from G3700); manfaced, that is, a human being: - certain, man.

Adam-
G76
Ἀδάμ
Adam
ad-am'
Of Hebrew origin [H121]; Adam, the first man; typically (of Jesus) man (as his representative): - Adam.


Gen 2:5 And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.
Gen 2:6 But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.
Gen 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
Gen 2:8 And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.
There was not a man to cultivate before Adam.

Neither was there any compatible mate for Adam:
Gen 2:18 And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.
Gen 2:19 And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.
Gen 2:20 And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.

Eve was so named because she was the mother of all living.
Gen 3:20 And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.
It seems that Adam was 130 years old at the time of Cain's fearful departure. Adam and Eve had plenty of time to raise a multi generational family so it would not really be hard to find a suitable spouse.

Cain lived some 900 plus years so he had plenty of time to establish a community.

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“Neither skill nor knowledge is needed to go to God, all that is necessary is a heart dedicated entirely and solely to Him out of love for Him above all others.”
Brother Lawrence