The Gap Part 3:
If you take away the desire to fit in with scientists opinions about the countless ages, then there is no need to invent GAP THEORY;
Now we come to the big one, the word that the Gap theorists
live and die by. That word is found in Gen.1:28 the word is "replenish" God told Adam to replenish the earth.
Genesis !: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 in the sea. and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. God told Noah the same thing in Gen. 9 . Gap theorists go to some length comparing those two passages to show that Adam was to refill an earth that had been emptied by judgement, because Noah was to refill an earth that had been emptied by judgement. That is a good argument, but it overlooks the multi-meanings of English words.
Some English words have twenty five or thirth different definitions.
Sometimes if we do not resort to a dictionary, we will not know what a word means in the given context. The dictionary can be a good friend of the student. For instance some word have opposite definitions, (e.g., the word "let" can mean to allow or to hinder, according to the context were it is spoken. "Prevent" Can mean go before or stop.
If the Gap theorists would go to the dictionary, they would find they have no valid argument, for replenish is a word with multi-definitions We shall quote directly from Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary.
Replenish vb [Me Replenisshen fr mf replenish stem of replenir to fill... more at full ] vt 1 A: to fill with persons or animals: stock b archaic : to supply fully: Perfect c: to fill with a source of inspiration or power nourish 2 a: to fill or build up again b: to make good: replace vi:to become full : fill up again. The word replenish carries the same meaning as reproduce in our mardan day English. Today the word replenishes generally defined as meaning to replace something or to refill it. But the primary -i,e., the first definition in Websters dioctionary is to fill and the secondary definition
is to fill again. The arctic definition, which would be closer to the translators of 1611, means to supply fully or to prefect. or to reproduce. .
We have come to think that re- always means to do over again. However the word is not even pronounced to emphasize re- as would be the case if it were the prefix meaning to repeat. The proper pronunciation is ri-plen'-ish. note re is pronounced "ri" with the "i" sound as in trip.Furthermore, the accent is on the second syllable, not on the first. It is similar to replete( ri-piet") , meaning filled or complete.
However the Websters first dictionary shows that even as late as 1828 the definition of the word was not to fill again, as is the second definition in the modern dictionary. Here is the 1828 definition of "replenish" v.t. [norm. replener, to fill; it. riempire; l. re and plenus, full ] 1 to fill; to stock with numbers, or abundance. 2. to finish or to complete.
The 1828 dictionary often gave examples of sentence usage
with a word's various definitions. Old Testament Word Studies by
William Wilson (1783-1873 Noah Websters era) defines the Hebrew
translation " REPLENISH" AS " TO FILL ; TO BE FILLED"IN ALL
THESE LANGUAGE AUTHORIES, WE CAN FIND NO VALID
REASON TO DEFINE THE WORD AS MEANING TO DO IT
OVER AGAIN . THUS THERE IS NO QUESTION AS WHAT IT
MEANS IN GENESIS 1: IT VERY SIMPLY MEANS TO FILL....
The arctic definition of replenish means simply to supply fully to perfection. Hence all God was telling Adam in Genesis 1:28 to do was to "Multiply and fill the earth with people. (The only result of his being fruitful would be PEOPLE.... There were no people before Adam, if there was then Adam was not the first man and Eve was not the first women. Anyway How could he refill the earth with something that was not there before. "PEOPLE"
You see now, how that when one starts to tamper with the
word of God and changes one doctrine then they have to changes
something else to match that one and soon they change the whole Bible.
It's like when one tells a lie , he has to tell another one to cover up the one he just told.
If you take away the desire of the scientists, to make the Bible fit with their theory, of countless ages before Gen.1:1 then there is no need to invent the GAP THEORY.
No!, As far as we can tell from the Bible account, Genesis 1:1 simply states a fact, and then the rest of the chapter simply tell the results of that fact. Simple and to the point, That is the way God's word is, in everything.
So with respect to good men of God, We do not believe The
GAP THEORY about creation. The Bible , the KJV 1611 simply does not teach such a theory. and yet it is so simple that a child can understand it., if it is taken just as it is and read for just what it says.You do not have to spiritualize any part of it to get it to mean what you like, you need to just take God at his word and do it. It is only when "WISE" men tamper with the word, that it becomes complicated. When that happens, people become confused, and get away from what God is trying to do in their lives. Christians should not try to fit their theology to the unproved suppositions of unchristain scientists, just to please them.
One does have to twist the word of God to believe the Gap theory. And if one will do that, then he will miss interpret other parts of the Bible. In Gen.1:2 To believe the Gap Theory you have to change the word "was" to "Became". And if you change that word then you have to change the meaning of the context of Isa. 24:1 and Jer.4:23. to make the Bible say what you want it to say.
You can change a word, and change the meaning of a verse,
you change the verse, and you change the context of the passage. you change the context and you change the doctrine, you change the doctrine and change a life style, and on it goes until you have changed the whole word of God to make your doctrine beleiveable. . And then we sit back and talk about the occults, and the homos and all the other sins that are running rampert over the land and wonder how it happened,???????
STATEMENT; We can be dogmatic, When we say the GAP
THEORY is FALSE. It can not be proven in the word of God, without twisting the scripture.
James M. Haga