The Missing Gap in Genesis

[6days]

In attempts to fit eons of time into scripture, some people go with the 'gap theory". This 'theory' *requires mental gymnastics that result in a rejection of what God clearly says. The 'theory' basically is that Genesis 1 *is not God's original creation...His original creation was ruined, and this was a re-do, or a makeover.

Here are a few of the arguments for the gap theory I have seen here in TOL, and reasons why Christians should reject those arguments.

#1 False argument: God uses 2 different words in Genesis to describe creation;

'Bara' meaning CREATE *from nothing, or

'Asah' meaning to MAKE or mould from something that already exists. The word 'asah' is the more commonly used word in Genesis 1 indicating creation was really a makeover.

False because: In order to insert billions of years into Genesis, gap theorists create an artificial distinction between bara and asah. It is not difficult to notice these words are used interchangeably in scripture.*
For ex. V21 God created (bara) fish and birds.
V25 God made (asah) the animals.*

Or
V26 God is speaking of making man.
V27 God created man.

Or
Nehemiah speaks of God making the angels.
Psalms speaks of God creating the angels.*

#2 False argument: "was formless and void" (Hebrew- tohu wabohu) refers to something fallen in disrepair, or a state of chaos. The translation should read 'became formless and void'.*

False because: *Gap theorists should take a hint that they might be wrong in that no major translation of the Bible says that the earth 'became' formless.*

Also, false because 'tohu wabohu' does not mean chaos or disrepair. The phrase simply means what it says in most translations. The earth was without form and empty. There were no inhabitants on earth. The earth had not yet been formed... there was no dry *land, no mountains etc.*

#3 False argument: Pre-adamites lived in a previous creation accounting for "homonoid" fossils found in geological strata.*

False because: Gap theorists unwittingly erode, or even destroy the gospel message with *this belief. Paul tells us in 1 Cor. 15:45 that Adam was the first man. If gap theorists are correct... then Paul and the gospel message is false.*

Rom. 5, 12 and 1 Cor 15 tell us that sin entered our world because of sin. As a result of that original sin, death and suffering entered our world. Because of death caused by "first Adam", the death and resurrection of "Last Adam" became necessary to defeat "the final enemy". (See 1 Cor. 15)

#4 False argument: The heavens existed further back from when the earth was formed. Supporting verse...2 Pet 3:5 "But they deliberately forget that long ago (Ekpali) by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water."

False because: Gap theorists are forcing a definition onto the word 'ekpalai' that is inconsistent with other scripture. The word is also used in 2 Peter 2:3 and 5 other times in the NT, and it's usually associated with human activity....never once referring to a time before Genesis 1.

OTHER arguments against the gap theory.

A. *As shown above, *gap theorists need to perform mental gymnastics which leads to a very confusing Gospel. *

It's interesting that just this morning a atheist in TOL made this comment to a gap theorist..."Wow. Then the Biblical text is not a simple, clear, and meaningful message to be taken to the world at large, but instead is an obscure abstract treatise that can be appreciated only by those who are learned in the subtleties of ancient languages...."

The mental gymnastics is also easy for youth to see through. When they are taught to perform mental gymnastics with Genesis, it then becomes natural to 'interpret' the gospel with the same technique.*

B. Genesis 1:31 God calls everything "very good". *It defies logic to think God would rebuild upon millions of dead things from a previously corrupted world and call it very good. But, even more difficult is that Satan would already have been "god of this world". 2 Cor. *4:4

C. Ex. 20:11 "For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them"
Question. ..if everything was made in six days, what was made before the six days?

 

[Ktoyou]

........ 'gap theory". This 'theory' *requires mental gymnastics that result in a rejection of what God clearly says. The 'theory' basically is that Genesis 1 *is not God's original creation...His original creation was ruined, and this was a re-do, or a makeover.

May I add for dummies, if you believe God had to re-do the creation, you already show a loss of faith in Scripture.

Believe in the simple truth.

 

[RBBI]

Try this. Days 1-7 = 7000 years. Starts again, now nearly 6000 years have passed again, so now in the 13,000 year plus, allowing for some mistakes in Hebrew calendar. A day is like a thousand years.

A couple of decades or so ago, a scientist came forward saying that the carbon dating rate of decay was not constant over time, so by his calculations allowing for this, he estimated the earth was 13,000 to 14,000 years old. Of course, you never heard of him again, as it doesn't line up with the mainstream theories men take for truth.

 

[6days]

Try this. Days 1-7 = 7000 years. Starts again, now nearly 6000 years have passed again, so now in the 13,000 year plus, allowing for some mistakes in Hebrew calendar. A day is like a thousand years.

How long a day is, is a separate argument.
People who accept gap theory will sometimes believe in 6 normal days of creation but try insert billions of years and a previous creation before the 6 day creation.

 

[Interplanner]

The first problem with what 6days is saying is to drag out titles from 50 years ago which are inaccurate.

It is not that there is a gap between 1:1 and 1:2. It is that 1:1 is a section title used in the memorization of torah in early Judaism. They are all through Moses, and they are not lines that move foward the action. The section is about God making the heavens and earth. We notice right away that the account is about local conditions on earth. The heavens are already there, but the account is about light that would be strong enough to speak of day and night before the sun. To use the matching language of 2 Pet 3, the heavens existed but the earth was (more recently) formed from exisiting materials (watery).

All that can happen when the section titles are ignored is confusion. We don't--6days doesn't--do it when reading 2:4, 5:1, I'm sure. They are not action.

Instead of being about the heavens or angels or many other topics, the text moves right to man's situation. V2 says the earth was already 'formless and void.' It does not say it became that, but if it did, it is saying that time elapsed and that happened.

It is astonishing that the very tight literalism of 6days does not permit him to quote the one other usage of 'tohu wa-bohu' from Jer 4:23, where it describes the devastation of a ruined city. No, I'm not saying there was a city prior to Gen 1:2, but that there was disapproval and ruination of what was there. 1:2 says there was the deep, and that is usually a sinister term for the oceans; the fear of the oceans being on the move goes way back in Jewish psyche.

We also see that the Spirit of God is moving over the deep; it is not in it. This is not a good thing. The OT tells us elsewhere what things are like when the Spirit of God has been removed from a person or group or place. The prophets also announce the outpouring of the Spirit, which is welcomed for all that it will accomplish.

The passages from Peter are once again used poorly. 'ekpalai' long ago is meant to contrast with 'sunestosa' to form the earth, through water. The ancient world that was 'sunestosa'd was also flooded during Noah; that term ancient is 'archaia' which is used about man's world--as far as man goes. But 'ekpalai' goes way back before that. It is about the heavens 'existing.' And it is about the time way before when evil angels were kicked out of heaven and imprisoned in blackest darkness, which we now refer to as places where gravity is so strong that light cannot escape.

The line from Exodus is an identifier about who is giving the law. it is not a complete description of creation, nor even as complete as Ps. 136. Neither of which matter because it has to do with this world anyway; it does not have to do with the old universe we live in. It is about the recent forming of this world as we know it, habitable for mankind.

Dr. Schaeffer also explains that there are things before the beginning that matter, as expressed by the NT. Jn 17:24, God and Christ before the foundation of the world. Same for 17:5. Eph 1:4. I Peter 1:20. Titus 1:2. The Bible doesn't thing of eternal before our world as static but as more of the history of God, of which our world is a small slice. Many OT Psalms of worship refer to God as being from everlasting to everlasting. God has other works. We only know of a few of them.

The material has to do with the other nations, and when these peoples would mingle in their trade and travels, Gen 1-11 was recited. Egyptians, Persians, Canaanites, Mesopotamians would notice right off that there was a familiar similarity about a watery, chaotic world before this one, but suprised to hear that the LORD (Yahweh) was Creator. But Gen 1-11 also had the Gospel in it about the Seed. Eve thought the first child was the savior. The hebrew is difficult and could go: I have given birth to a (the) man, the Lord. Or: I have given birth to a (the) man, the help from the Lord. Or: (NIV) With the help from the Lord, I have brought forth a (the) man. I'm mentioning that because they knew the Gospel was coming; of course, she was wrong about that man.

It is unfortunate that 6days does not know the reasonableness of newer scholarship and refers all over to a phony problem called the gap.

 

[Interplanner]

How long a day is, is a separate argument.
People who accept gap theory will sometimes believe in 6 normal days of creation but try insert billions of years and a previous creation before the 6 day creation.

Or 6 normal days, but as far back as Niagara and when the ice age ended from other indications. Or, since that is likely for a world flood, further back.

Nor is it a previous creation. Peter does not say that the watery world was formed by God like a practice-run or mistake. It was just there. But 'formless and void' means that it had its own (collective) will and God disapproved. Stop reading in what is not there.

The title gap theory is too old to bother with. You should get caught up.

 

[OCTOBER23]

6DAYS

Simply put..........

God is not a God of Confusion as it became after Satan Warred against God

and caused MASSIVE Asteroids the size of Texas to pummel the Earth.

After things settled , God made it habitable for mankind..

 

[patrick jane]

6DAYS

Simply put..........

God is not a God of Confusion as it became after Satan Warred against God

and caused MASSIVE Asteroids the size of Texas to pummel the Earth.

After things settled , God made it habitable for mankind..

yeah, cuz you were there -

 

[keypurr]

Our time periods start when the sun and moon were created.

How long was time before that?????????

 

[Interplanner]

yeah, cuz you were there -

Well, he wasn't there but Oct23 is a trained astronomer. There is some common sense here: any object that large and disruptive to earth (changing the worldwide climate) means that life as we know it from Genesis 1 or 6 proceeded AFTER that, not before, right?

Genesis 6 does say that the 'canopied' waters above the earth crashed. And that means worldwide climate alteration and deluge including an ice age. Evidence of these things is pretty much all over the place.

These are fundamental questions.

 

[Interplanner]

yeah, cuz you were there -

Further in support of Oct23 re confusion.
Good point. In addition to everything else, 'formless and void' is confusion. But the kind of confusion due to being judged and ruined by God. Something was able to develop on its own and God stopped it. Is it possible that earth before Gen 1 was a place Satan retreated to, to inhabit? Was it one of the blackest darkness places mentioned where other sinful angels were sent? We know that it was dark, formless, void, and the Spirit of God was not in it, and that the deep water had total run of the place.

 

[6days]

The first problem with what 6days is saying is to drag out titles from 50 years ago which are inaccurate.

There are various names, and modifications to it. Let's just call it compromised theology when people add time to what God says.

We notice right away that the account is about local conditions on earth.

"For in six days, the Lord made the heavens and the earth... Ex 20:11

The heavens are already there, but the account is about light that would be strong enough to speak of day and night before the sun.

That's not what God tells us but that is what you tell us.*

"Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. *God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.Gen. 1:3-5

Light was created on day 1.
God created the stars on sun, moon and stars on day 4.

To use the matching language of 2 Pet 3, the heavens existed but the earth was (more recently) formed from exisiting materials (watery).

That's not what God's Word tells us, but is what you tell us.

2 Peter 3:5 "For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water,

God tells us about that in...
Genesis 1:9Then God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so. 10 And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. And God saw that it was good.

V2 says the earth was already 'formless and void.' It does not say it became that, but if it did, it is saying that time elapsed and that happened.

There you go putting the gap between verse 1 and 2.*

Genesis 1:2 starts to provide elaboration or description of the overview in verse 1 (similar pattern in Gen. 13).*

The earth was formless... it did not yet have land, mountains etc.

The earth was void / empty.... it did not yet have any inhabitants.

God tells us how over the course of six days he formed and filled the earth

It is astonishing that the very tight literalism of 6days does not permit him to quote the one other usage of 'tohu wa-bohu' from Jer 4:23, where it describes the devastation of a ruined city.

Jeremiah, the wailing prophet, does compare the devastation to "formless and void" . But again you are performing mental gymnastics. There is nothing in Genesis suggesting chaos or judgement. It simply is describing the earth before God shaped and filled it.*

Rubbish.

Ekpalai simply means long ago, and when elsewhere in scripture it refers to human activity...never some murky mysterious land before time.*

' And it is about the time way before when evil angels were kicked out of heaven...

Ex. 20:11 "For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in the,... "

Egyptians, Persians, Canaanites, Mesopotamians would notice right off that there was a familiar similarity about a watery, chaotic world before this one,

You can't accept what God tells us in His Word so why not create your own... rather than attempting to pervert scripture.*
There is nothing at all about a "chaotic" prexisting world.*

God created the earth covered in water then over the course of six days formed and filled the earth.

Eve thought the first child was the savior.... of course, she was wrong about that man.

Once again... *that is not what God's Word tells us.*

 

[6days]

Our time periods start when the sun and moon were created.

How long was time before that?????????

Gen. 1:4 "And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day."

 

[6days]

6DAYS
Simply put..........
God is not a God of Confusion as it became after Satan Warred against God
and caused MASSIVE Asteroids the size of Texas to pummel the Earth.
After things settled , God made it habitable for mankind..

Sure... like ...
'Jack and Hill went up a hill..."

 

[Caino]

May I add for dummies, if you believe God had to re-do the creation, you already show a loss of faith in Scripture.

Believe in the simple truth.

Frankly it's a claim that God made mistakes in his creation.

I have faith in God, I take the so called scripture written by men in context of the imperfect men who created them.


The "gap" is the space between finite man in understanding Infinite deity. This leads to much conflicting speculation on behalf of holy men who end up misleading generations of souls.

 

[Base12]

This 'theory' *requires mental gymnastics that result in a rejection of what God clearly says.

Luke 4:20
"And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him"

Luke 4:21
"And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears"

Oh look, Jesus is teaching us that there's a 'Gap' in the middle of a verse.

 

[Interplanner]

Frankly it's a claim that God made mistakes in his creation.

I have faith in God, I take the so called scripture written by men in context of the imperfect men who created them.


The "gap" is the space between finite man in understanding Infinite deity. This leads to much conflicting speculation on behalf of holy men who end up misleading generations of souls.

Sorry, but you all are pretty ignorant of what its saying. 'formless and void' is a sign of judgement executed. Something was being done wrong and God took action against it.

The clues we have about earth, as introduced, were formless, void, dark, deep waters, and the Spirit of God was not in it, but separate, wanting to do something.

There is only a few things that fit that could produce this: nature let go wild to itself, or what the NT calls the blackest darkness--places that were made prisons of evil angels. Please brace yourselves for the possibility that the earth was rescued from the status of being such a place of emprisonment, and thus we have rare but significant appearances of things like 'sons of God' (angels) wanted to have sexual relations with women, the Nephilim, and a few other incomplete items.

 

[Interplanner]

I have started a complete series on origins. I think there are 8 parts.

 

[keypurr]

Gen. 1:4 "And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day."

Ok, now how long was a day before God created the sun?

Was it 24 hours or ten million years?

 

[Caino]

Ok, now how long was a day before God created the sun?

Was it 24 hours or ten million years?

The Sun is billions of years old, the planets came from the sun, material disgorged by the gravitational pull of passing system.