THE GAP THEORY

Yes, the Bible does easily support or allow the earth to be many millions of years old, if it really is that old.

Genesis 1:1-2: “In the beginning God created (bara 1254) the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was (hayah 1961) without form, and void (tohuw 8414) ………” — New King James Version, items in parentheses added to NKJV translation

Genesis 1:1-2: “In the beginning God created basically out of nothing (bara 1254) the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth became (hayah 1961) waste, confused, and worthless (tohuw 8414) ………..” — A more understandable, more logical translation (not an official translation)

The second translation is certainly a more logical one than most other translations, including the NKJV. Although physical evidence indicates the Earth is far younger than evolutionists claim, especially the outer surface, an age limit of about 6,000 years for the Earth cannot be unquestionably proven Biblically because of the gap theory. The oldest remains of any biological life form are less than 12,000 years old based on substantial physical evidence, the first chapter of Genesis and Exodus 20:11 and 31:17 in the Bible. The radiometric dating methods that the evolutionists cling to are notoriously unreliable. Concerning the age of the Earth and heavenly phenomenon, though, many Hebrew scholars believe that “was” in Genesis 1:2 “The earth was without form, and void……..” is an incorrect English translation in most Bibles. The original Hebrew word for “was” is “hayah,” number 1961 in Strong’s concordance, which can be translated “came to pass” or “became.” Here are some examples: In Genesis 19:26 the same hayah 1961 word appears and is translated “became” as Lot’s wife “became” (hayah 1961) a pillar of salt. Genesis 3:22: “Then the Lord God said, ‘Behold, the man has “become” (hayah 1961) like one of Us, to know good and evil.” Genesis 2:7: “……..God……..breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man “became” (hayah 1961) a living soul.” Genesis 47:20: “……..the Egyptians sold every man his field……..so the land “became” (hayah 1961) Pharaoh’s.” In Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” the original Hebrew word for “created” is “bara,” number 1254 in Strong’s concordance, which means to create from previously nonexistent material with an emphasis on the initiation of an object, not the manipulation of it after its original creation. Bara 1254 has a relatively narrow definition. The Hebrew word for “made” in the Exodus verses which state that the Earth and its life forms were made in 6 days, however, has a very different meaning. The Hebrew word is “asah,” number 6213, and its definition is much broader in scope and often emphasizes refining or fashioning objects or material already created. Some of the many meanings of asah 6213 include “to create, make, arrange, appoint, fashion, fulfill, furnish, finish, work,” and so on.

“Lie waste, confusion, and worthless” are not words normally used to describe a new planet created within just the last few hours or days.

Yet those are some of the definitions of the original Hebrew word “tohuw,” number 8414, often poorly translated into the English “without form” in Genesis 1:2. Tohuw 8414 has a very negative connotation which is inconsistent with Job 38:7 which mentions that angels sang and shouted for joy when the Earth was created, unless the Earth was severely damaged later by something such as a titanic battle between God and Satan. Also, in Isaiah 45:18 the Lord said that “………He created it (the Earth) not in vain………” The original Hebrew word for “in vain,” another sloppy translation, is tohuw 8414, the same tohuw 8414 appearing in Genesis 1:2. That important verse is worth repeating. God DID NOT originally create the Earth in a state of confusion, waste, and worthlessness. The way bara, asah, hayah, and tohuw is used in Genesis, Exodus, and Isaiah indicates that an original creation occurred in the distant past, then a secondary creation or “renewal” of the first creation occurred later more recently, in which the Earth would have an unknown age limit.

Many mainstream creation scientists mistakenly teach that Lucifer or Satan and all the original angels were created about the same time the earth was created, about 6,000 years ago according to them. Isaiah 14:12-14, Ezekiel 28:12-15, Luke 10:18, and 2 Peter 2:4, however, refer to a major event apparently involving the Earth that almost certainly preceded the 6 days of creation or re-creation. One of many reasons why this event, the heavenly rebellion and subsequent eviction of the powerful Satan and millions of his demons, could not reasonably have occurred during or anytime after the forbidden fruit incident in the Garden of Eden is because Satan, initially named “Lucifer,” or the angel of light and previously righteous, simply DID NOT HAVE ENOUGH TIME to establish such a good reputation and favorable relationship with God if Satan was created so very recently on the first day of the 6 day creation week. Surely, however, deceiving Eve was enough to cause the immediate heavenly rejection of Satan if he had not already been kicked out. Mainstream creation scientists incorrectly teach that Satan’s fall occurred sometime after the six day creation week, which does not seem reasonable or likely. The timing of Satan’s fall helps reinforce the validity of the gap theory. Concerning Ezekiel 28:13?s reference to Satan’s presence in the “Garden of Eden” before his fall, one of the original Hebrew words for “Garden of Eden” is different from those in Genesis, which means that these were two very pleasant but different places that could have existed in different time periods. The verses in Isaiah 14:12,13,14: “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, …….. 13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, …….. 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds ……..” mentioning ascending above the heights of the clouds and later being cut down to the ground strongly imply an existing Earth, which has clouds and ground, before Satan’s deceptive talk with Eve. Satan bragged, before, repeat, before his fall from heaven that he would ascend into heaven “above the heights of the clouds.” The Devil was logically referring to the clouds of an Earth that existed well before the 6 day re-creation week. The words “fall from” in Luke 10:18: “……..I beheld Satan as lightening fall from heaven” also implies something to fall down to such as the Earth. If all of the angels, including Satan, were created only 5 days before Adam was created, as most creationists teach, who do not consider any recently created life forms variation of the gap theory valid (yet), those that rebelled before or during Satan’s deceptive conversation with Eve did not even have enough time to become really familiar with their environment, fellow angels, or even God before rebelling within maybe 1 to 10 weeks of their very own creation, which also does not make any sense. The Bible is silent about the exact timing of the disastrous talk between Eve and the Devil, but it seems logical that it occurred within days, weeks, or at the most a few months after the initial 6 days of re-creation, not years. It also seems that the cataclysmic event of Satan’s fall during or shortly after the joyful re-creation week, if it really did occur during that time span, would have been mentioned in the book of Genesis. If the Earth and the angels were actually created on the first day of the 6 day creation week, it seems only reasonable that a much greater amount of time, at least many years, decades, or hundreds, or even thousands of years instead of only approximately days, weeks or a few months from the date of his very own initial creation, would have been needed by Satan to convince and organize so many of them, one third of at least 156 million originally righteous angels (Revelation 5:11), to rebel against their benevolent Creator.

Also, consider the illogical reasoning of mainstream creationists in their belief that the sun was created on what initially appears to be the fourth day according to Genesis 1:14-19. Genesis 1:3-5: “And God said, ‘Let there be light,” indicates an already existing source of light bright enough to establish day/night cycles on the Earth on the very FIRST day of the 6 days of re-creation. Apparently, the all out war between Satan and God was so intense that a massive amount of debris of all kinds, including dust perhaps, still surrounded the Earth either in the atmosphere immediately above it or possibly even on an interplanetary scale. The Lord had to remove the debris or somehow re-arrange it to let sunlight shine on the Earth. In Genesis 1:16 the original Greek word for “made” is “asah,” which does not necessarily mean that the sun was created from nothing on the fourth day. Most of the definitions of asah refer to a refinement of, refashioning of, or simply an appointing of the sun. The sun could simply have been repositioned at a more optimal location. Genesis 1:17: “And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,” supports the idea of some kind of repositioning of an already created sun. In addition, Genesis 1:11-19 makes little sense if sunlight dependent plants were created in the dark on the third day, an entire day before the sun was supposedly created on the fourth day. Why would the Lord create beautiful plants in the dark, plants that need sunlight from the sun for growth? Genesis 1:11-12 also indicates that a significant amount of plant growth may have occurred on the first day plants were created when the sun was still supposedly nonexistent, a process that normally requires sunlight. It is far more reasonable to believe that the angels, and the Earth, were created long before the 6 day week of re-creation.

For additional reading please visit http://lifehopeandtruth.com/god/is-there-a-god/the-gap-theory/.