Hi there Artcritic .. :heartbeat:
I would have to say yes .. most definately .. there were individuals around before Adam ... Adam was not the first human but the first Man in GODs image . The reason I say this is because scripture explains it to be so if one understands the way Jehovah expresses Himself towards His creation .
Genesis 1:2
NWT: Now the earth proved to be formless and waste and there
was darkness upon the surface of (the) watery deep.
NASB: The earth was formless and void
and darkness was over the surface of the deep.
KJ: And the earth was without form, and
void, and darkness was on the face of the deep.
NLT: The earth was empty, a formless
mass cloaked in darkness.
The expressions of Formless, waste, void and darkness :
Webster:
Waste: an uninhabited or sparsely settled
region, wilderness, barren land worthless for
cultivation....etc...
Webster:
Void : containing nothing, unoccupied with
work or business, not producing any effect, of no legal force
or effect..etc...
Formless : Jer 4:23
To get an understanding of how Jehovah
expresses himself concerning people we need to read also
Jer 4:22-28.
Formless = foolish, not taking note, unwise
sons, having no understanding, doing bad, no knowledge in
doing good.
Waste : Deut 29:23 (read all
of 23-29)
NWT: does not use the word waste but says....
so that it's whole land will not be sown, nor sprout, nor will
any vegetation spring up in it.
NASB: ....a burning waste, unsown and
unproductive and no grass grows in it.
Isa: 24:1
NWT: Look! Jehovah is emptying the
land and laying it a waste and he has twisted
the face of it and scattered its inhabitants.
NASB: Behold, the LORD lays the earth
waste, devastates it, distorts its surface and
scatters its inhabitants.
More references concerning Formless and (waste or void) ,
consider all renderings...
(Isa : 5:6 Isa : 45:19) ( Eze: 26: 20 + 35: 3) read all of 35..
Darkness in a Spiritual sense :
( Ps 82:5 ) no understanding
( Ps 88:10-12 ) land of forgetfulness
( Ps 107:10-14 ) dweling in darkness, shadow of death,
prisoners of misery and chains.
( Isa 5:20 ) darkness = evil and bitter
( Isa 8:22 ) gloom and anguish
( Isa 9:2 ) those who live in a dark land
( Isa 42:7 ) prisoners in dungeons
( Isa 45:7 ) darkness is calamity
( Jer 2:31 ) thick darkness = wilderness
( Mic 3:6-7 ) without vision and divination
Ps. 53:1-6
God has looked down from heaven upon the
sons of men to see if there is anyone who understands, who
seeks after GOD.
(Formless, waste ,void, darkness ).
Now the people proved to be foolish and unwise, having no
understanding and no knowledge in doing good, continually
doing bad and not taking note. The people and nations were in
( darkness ), they were bitter and evil and had no
understanding of God. No vision or divination, a land of
forgetfulness and deep gloom. People and nations allienated
from God. Jer 4:23 + Ecc 4:1
Jehovah speaks:
Every one of them has turned aside, together they have become
corrupt and there is no one who does good, not even one and
there is no one to comfort them.
The Genesis account deals with mankinds 6000 years of spiritual history or journey once He/Jehovah made Himself known to mankind ..in my HO.
That when light came to be on the fourth day and the stars were created .. that it's talking about the coming about of Jesus Christ ( the light of the world ) and His followers ( the stars and luminaries ) this meaning that His church ( the new heavens and earth ) was established 2000 years ago ... about 4000 years after GOD established the first heaven and earth ( The Jewish nation - the Fathers spiritual kingdom of old ).
Before Adam no one knew GOD .. no one knew Truth .. no one had Spiritual life ... Men were as beasts , brutal , barbaric including sacrificing their children to a GOD they did not know ... this is not how the creator wanted to be worshipped ... so in the beginning His spirit moved over the seas of mankind searching for someone to represent Him ... and a mist - the DEW - finally rose and watered the gound - mankind and so He took of some of the soil - people and formed someone into His Spiritual image.
It was the beginning of truth - light and the end of darkness - having no knowledge of GOD !
If you would like to read something that I put together about Genesis please follow the link below .. JMHO.
with much affection always, LC ;):heartbeat: