Hi Mike,

I have been coming across this advertisement about the age of the Earth on youtube, which I strongly disagree with.  I believe that the Earth is only about six thousand years old, and I see no evidence to believe otherwise. I just want to be certain my beliefs are of one mind with the Bible. Perhaps you might do a timely study to expose any error in understanding concerning the age of the Earth.

YbitC, B____

Hi B____,

Thank you for your question about what is called ‘The Gap Theory of Creation’.

This man in the link you gave me quotes:

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 [Hebrew: tohu], he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else.

Then he quotes:

Gen 1:2  And the earth was without form Hebrew, [tohu], and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

Then he concludes that since Isaiah says it was not created in tohu, and Genesis 1:2 states that “the earth was… tohu”, therefore the earth had been created perfect, and something happened between verses 1 and 2 of Genesis 1, which caused the earth to ‘become’ tohu. He speculates that the period between verse 1 and 2 could be millions or billions of years. He points out that the Hebrew word ‘haya‘, translated as ‘was’ should have been translated as ‘became’ and should read ‘… the earth became tohu‘.

What this man will not allow is that the creation account begins with God creating a ball of mud in tohu: water and earth mixed together, out of which, in a mere six days, He separated the earth from the water and created dry land and all that is upon the dry land and in the waters and in the air. He created the ball of mud and step by step created dry land, plants, fish, birds and animals, all within a period of six “evenings and mornings” as we are told six times in Genesis one and again confirmed in:

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.

However, the entire six-day creation all began with a ball of mud, in tohu. It was in tohu because the creation was not yet completed. In its completed form, Isaiah 18 tells us: “…He created it not in vain [Hebrew: tohu], he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else.”

The earth and the trees, the fish and all the animals in the sea, the birds and even Adam, were all created with the appearance of age and not as helpless babies. Why would not the earth itself be created with an appearance of age also? The trees were created with rings already in them. The birds were created with mature wings capable of flying, and Adam was created with an outward appearance of age. So there is no need for a lengthy gap between verses 1 and 2 of Genesis one.

There is an FAQ written over a decade ago dealing with this question. You can read it at this link:

Is There A Gap Between Gen 1:1 and 2?

There is nothing, not even the use of the word ‘haya’, to lead one to this man’s conclusion that since we are told the earth was not created in ‘tohu‘ that therefore ‘tohu‘ could not possibly have been part of the creation process. That is absurd.

Now just look at where we next see this word ‘haya‘:

Gen 2:25  And they were^{H1961 ‘haya’} both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

Did Adam and Eve start off clothed only to “become naked”, as this man wants to make Genesis 1:2 read? That is a preposterous question. Adam and Eve were both created naked and in a sinful state. They did not become that way after millions or billions of years. It all took place in a very short period of time, and indeed “He created it not in ‘tohu‘, even though the creation process began with a ‘tohu‘ mass of mud. The creation simply was not yet complete, and God is simply revealing for our benefit that He is even now in the process of completing His creation as a new spiritual man, which began in a state of ‘tohu‘.

This ‘Gap Theory’ was the doctrine of the World Wide Church of God out of which Sandi and I were delivered back in 1973, so I am very familiar with it.

Read that link to the FAQ which was written over a decade ago, and if you still have questions, then feel free to get back to me.

YbitC, Mike