Dear Brothers & Sisters in Christ,

Recently, Pastor Ron Phillips (Abba’ House) preached a sermon over two broadcasts about ancient times.  In this sermon, Pastor Ron made it known that he believes in the idea of a gap theory between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2.  Pastor Ron, I believe the same thing, and wanted to add my thoughts.  We should remember that God said, “Let there be light”, and He also separated the light from the darkness.  He called the light Day and the  darkness, He called night.  And the evening and the morning were the first day.  But, it’s verse 16, on the fourth day before He creates the sun, moon and stars, so when God said “let there be light”, the sun had nothing to do with it.  I believe God could have created everything in 6 days of 24 hours each, but I believe He created everything on His own timetable of what an evening & morning were.  To God, one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years is as a day.  Later on the fifth day, God made aquatic life and fowls, and then told them to be fruitful, multiply and “fill” the waters in the seas, and the fowl to multiply in the earth.  Notice that He used the word “fill”, not “replenish”.  And the evening and the morning was the fifth day.  Then, on the sixth day He created animals, creeping things, and beasts of the earth, each after its own kind.  Then he made Man and Woman in His own image, and gave them dominion over all of it.  

Now, God destroyed the world with a flood, in Genesis 9:1, and God says to Noah and his family to be fruitful, multiply and replenish the earth.  What was God saying to them?  What did God tell them to do.

Webster’s Dictionary:

Fruitful: yielding or producing fruit; conductive to an abundant yield; abundantly productive.

Multiply:  to increase in number esp. greatly or in multiples; to become greater in number.

Replenish:  to fill with persons or animals; to fill with inspiration or power; TO FILL OR BUILD UP AGAIN; PUT BACK.

Let’s focus on the word replenish.  I’m 65 and never in my lifetime have I ever heard the word replenish, where the meaning meant “to fill.”  I've never heard any human being use the word to mean “to fill”.  For example, If a married couple moved into their new home, and they needed dishes, something they didn’t have, it wouldn’t make sense to me for the wife to tell the husband that they needed to replenish the cabinet with dishes.  It would make sense to me, if she told him they needed to fill the cabinet with dishes.  I’ve only heard the word replenish used to mean, “to refill,” or “fill up again.”  Not “put,” but “put back.”   I believe God was saying to Noah and his family; He had destroyed everything on earth, except what was in the ark, and He wanted them to go forth, be productive, have kids and multiply, and “refill” the earth with people and animals that He had just destroyed.  Not “fill” the earth with people and animals, but “refill” the earth with them.  Notice in verse 22 God tells the fish and things in the sea, “to fill” the earth, not replenish it, and the fowls to multiply, not replenish.  I don’t know what you may think of this, but it’s very important when you’re talking about a gap theory.  Because in Genesis 1:28, God tells Adam and Eve to go forth, be fruitful, multiply, replenish the earth and subdue it.


Webster’s Dictionary

Subdue – to conquer and bring into subjection; to bring under control esp. by exertion of the will.

God was telling Adam and Eve to conquer the animals, fowls, creeping things and fish in the seas, and possibly something else, and bring it into subjection.  The question is:  WHAT WAS GOD TELLING ADAM TO “REPLENISH”?

WOTW