Greg asks: I have been in a conversation with a gentlemen at work for a while. He told me that there were humans walking the earth before God created Adam and Eve. I grew up in a penecostal church and attend one now, and I have never heard such a thing. Is this true and what scriptures can I use for proof on this matter.Thank you for your time and God Bless..

My understanding is that God created "Adam" which in Hebrew refers to "man". Out of Adam, God made "Eve". I do not think there were human beings (as in "homo sapiens") prior to God's creation account in Genesis. However, there is Biblical evidence to allow that the earth may be billions of years old and that prehistoric creatures may have existed, some of which may be considered "cave men" or other kinds of human like creatures. The Bible does not mention many details of earth's history, but we should not assume that such a history did not exist. I'll try to give you some examples.

Some scholars state that the word, "was" in verse two can be translated, "became" in Hebrew. In fact, throughout the Old Testament, the word "was" and "became" are often the same Hebrew word. Reread verse two: "And the earth BECAME 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." This translation indicates that what God had created was altered somehow. Many scholars place a long period of time, even billions of years, between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2. This does NOT advance the erroneous theory of evolution, stating that man evolved from a common ancestor as an ape. That theory clearly opposes and contradicts the Bible.

If you consider that the earth became without form and void, you can ask legitimately, "Did God create such a condition?" Some translations even use the word, "waste" in place of void. Did God create a condition of waste on the earth? According to human logic, we may say that God is the architect and Creator and that when verse one says, that He created the heavens and the earth, it was like just putting out the canvas for His upcoming masterpiece, the earth and mankind. Therefore, before the masterpiece began, it was an empty slate waiter for the Master's hand to create. However, we should realize that the Bible was not written according to human logic, but according to divine logic. Genesis is not a chronological history book, but a book about the divine life and how God interacts with His creation according to His divine plan.

Isaiah 14:12-17 "Art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! [how] art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! 13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. 15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. 16 They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, [and] consider thee, [saying, Is] this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms; 17 [That] made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; [that] opened not the house of his prisoners? "

Ezekiel 28:12 "12 Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. 13 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone [was] thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. 14 Thou [art] the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee [so]: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. 15 Thou [wast] perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. 16 By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. 17 Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee. 18 Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee. 19 All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never [shalt] thou [be] any more. "

Surely Satan was around before the garden of Eden. What was he doing? The Genesis account only shows Satan as an existing being, it does not show how he was created by God. Only Ezekiel 28:13 tells us that Satan was created as Lucifer and that he fell from that status due to his pride and his desire to be God Himself. It is a possibility that this took place after Genesis 1:1 and that Genesis 1:2 followed Lucifer's fall from God's presence. It could be that Satan went on to do his best to destroy what God had created especially to damage and stop God's economy and purpose for the universe.

There is biblical evidence that Satan damaged God's created earth. Consider Matthew 4 where Satan tempted the Lord and acted as if he were the world's ruler: vs. 8-9 "8 Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to Him, All these will I give You if You will fall down and worship me. "

Other verses also indicate that Satan has a dominion and authority over the earth ... Ephesians 2:2 "2 In which you once walked according to the age of this world, according to the ruler of the authority of the air, of the spirit which is now operating in the sons of disobedience" And ... Ephesians 3:10 "10 In order that now to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenlies the multifarious wisdom of God might be made known through the church, "

There are miriads of verses in the entire Bible that indicate Satan's destructive, evil, hateful nature, Satan's soul purpose is to destroy whatever God has set out to do and whatever God holds precious. In the book of Job, Satan is allowed to enter God's presence and accuse Job. God has a conversation with Satan and then allows him to gradually destroy everything Job possessed except his breath and outer shell. In the book of Revelation, Satan is pictured as the Ancient Serpent, the dragon. Even this title, "ancient" indicates that Satan has been around much longer than mankind and therefore, also indicates that the universe has been around a long time.

Isn't this the very story of the gospel? God came to save sinners. How did they become sinners? Through Satan's intervention. God allowed the serpent to bruise His heel so He could crush the "serpent's" head (Genesis 3:15). But God wins in the end. God defeated Satan on the cross and produced salvation for all mankind. The New Testament age is the age in which God slowly, yet surely, accomplishes His full salvation for the entire universe. The old creation was created by God, but did not possess God's very life and nature. The new creation, all regenerated believers in Jesus Christ, do possess God's life and nature. Therefore, we are His children. What a wonderful creation. Much better than the old creation.