Is There A Gap Between Genesis 1:1 and 2

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Hi S____,
Thank you for your question. You ask:

Isa 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.

Genesis says:

Gen 1:2 And the earth was [ Hebrew – hayah- 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.

These two verses are the backbone of a doctrine which is referred to as ‘the gap theory.’ The gap theory contends that since we are told in Isa. 45:18 that God did not create the earth in tohu (Hebrew – tohu- Strong’s #8414) and since Gen 1: 2 states that the earth “was without form (tohu- Strong’s # 8414) and void” that therefore there must surely be a gap between verses 1 and 2 of Gen 1. Verse two we are told should really read “And the earth became without form and void.”
In taking this approach to Gen 1 verses 1-2 we can now allow for a whole eon between those two verses. And what took place in that eon? Well, what we are told took place at that time is that God had the earth populated with dinosaurs who were ruled over by spirits or angels. When these angels heard that God was going to create man and that man would eventually replace the angels as God’s rulers of this earth, these angels, led by Satan, rebelled against God and in the process of putting down Satan’s rebellion, God destroyed the entire earth and was forced to recreate the earth so as to accommodate mankind who could never have lived side by side with dinosaurs anyway. Besides, we are told, God knew that man would one day need oil and it was through this rebellion that oil was created beneath the earth being composed of the end process of decaying dinosaurs and plant life.
This all seems to answer so many questions and allows us Christians to agree with the agnostics, atheists and skeptics that the earth is much older that 6,000 years. Who knows how many thousands of years are between verses one and two of Gen 1? As one advocate of this theory wrote, ‘the older they discover the earth to be, the more it adds to God’s glory.’
But there is just one thing wrong with this ‘theory’. That ‘one thing’ is that it is unscriptural, and it is not true. This, on the other hand, is true and you can take it to the bank:

Exo 20:11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

So “the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them” was made in six days, and anyone who says otherwise is simply lacking in faith that God’s Word can be trusted.
Why then does Isa 45:18 say “He created it not in tohu, He formed it to be inhabited?” The answer is that God was not finished with the story of creation in verses 1 and 2. He was just beginning the story and is telling us that he started out by creating darkness before He ‘called light out of darkness:’

2Co 4:6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Now to prove to you that this is how Gen 1:2 is to be understood, read Gen 2:25:

Gen 2:25 And they were [ Strong’s #1961- Hebrew- hayah] both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

How long after their creation did Adam and Eve ‘become’ naked? I am not saying that ‘become’ is not a proper translation. What I am pointing out is that in both Hebrew and Greek, many statements are made in what is known as the aorist tense. The aorist tense is what we in English would call the ‘present progressive.’ So when God was making the earth, the earth ‘came to be without form and void’ in the process of its creation. This is just a detail of the creation process that lets us know that God does not start out His creation with perfect light. God actually “creates darkness,” and then He “calls light out of darkness. This Truth is foreign to the very foundation of “historical orthodox Christianity” which asserts that man was made perfect and became bad; that Satan was made perfect and became bad. Both of these tragedies are, according to ‘historical orthodox Christianity,’ the result of another false doctrine which is also at the very foundation of ‘historical orthodox Christianity,’ the false, unscriptural doctrine of ‘free moral agency.’
Here are the scriptures:

Isa 45:7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

Man may blame ‘all these things’ on his ‘free will’, but God makes no such excuses. He tells us who it is who creates “even the wicked” men and why:

Pro 16:4 The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.

There is that phrase again, “all things.” And in both cases who is claiming responsibility for “all things?” Why it is the great cause of “all things.” It is God. He even tells us plainly that our fate is not dependent upon our will:

Rom 9:15 For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
Rom 9:16 So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.
Rom 9:17 For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.
Rom 9:18 Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth .

The point in all of this is that God did not need a rebellion between verses one and two of Genesis one to obtain an adversary. Satan was created as an adversary, and Adam was created as a “marred”, ruined and destroyed vessel of clay. And all of this was so while Adam was still “in the Potters hand”. Read it again:

Pro 16:4 The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.

And we are told that this is exactly what God had done:

Isa 54:16 Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster [ Strong’s # 7843- Hebrew- shachath] to destroy.

If God creates things to do what they do, then Satan was created “to steal, to kill and to destroy.”
So, if Adam and Eve took a whole aion to become naked, then there is indeed a gap between Gen 1:1 and Gen 1:2. But if Adam and Eve were created naked, then Isa 45:18 needs to be understood in the same way that Gen 1:2 must be understood. What we are being told is that in the process of creating man in His image, God first had to create a marred vessel of clay for the purpose of destroying that first vessel and replacing it with a “new man.” This new man is not made of ‘the dust of the earth.”
This new man is made of spirit. So too, was this dust of the earth made in the darkness out of which God said “let there be light.” These are but mere details of God’s ways which He reveals to those to whom He gives “eyes to see.”
I hope this is of some help to you as you seek to know God and Jesus Christ.
Mike

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