Lee100 said:
I have heard of this gap theory but I don’t know what it is.
Genesis 1:1-2 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was (became) without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.
That is NOT day one. He didn't say when the beginning was but science lets us know that it could have been millions or billions of years ago. Most modern Bibles footnote that the word "
was" is properly translated as "
became." The world
became without form...but it wasn't created that way.
Isaiah 45:18 For thus saith the LORD That created the heavens; God Himself That formed the earth and made it; He hath established it, He created it not in vain, He formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else.
The phrase "
in vain" is the Hebrew word "
tohu" that in Genesis 1:2 is translated as "
formless." God created it to be inhabited but it
became formless and empty.
Why? Are there other places where this is written?
11 Peter 3:5-7 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: But the heavens and the earth which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
This is NOT about the flood of Noah. Peter discusses that flood in [11 Peter 2:4-5]. Here the earth and heavens PERISHED in "
the world that then was" but we live in "
the heavens and earth which are now." The world that "
then was" became "
tohu."
Jeremiah 4:23 I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was (became) without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly. I beheld, and, lo, there was NO MAN, and all the birds of the heavens were fled. I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the LORD, and by His fierce anger.
This too is NOT about the flood of Noah. Here there was "
no man" and no birds. Noah and his family were human and we see specific mention of a raven and a dove. That verse is telling us about the first age....
the age in which Satan rebelled.
Satan rebelled....God destroyed that age and then we have the second part of verse 2....
Genesis 1:2 And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
1:3-5 And 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. And God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day (day one).
This present age began.
One last thought on this topic....From the Book of Jasher, which is NOT scripture but is quoted twice in the Old Testament [Joshua 10:13 & 11 Samuel 1:18], therefore, we can give some credence to it.
Jasher was the son of Caleb, a contemporary of Moses and when speaking of the creation he said....
1:4-5 And the abyss fled before the face of the light, and divided between the light and the darkness. So that
the face of nature was formed a second time."