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The Gap Theory --- True or False John 5:39, "Search the scriptures; for ... they ... testify of me." --- Jesus |
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"... the joy of the LORD is your strength." (Neh. 8:10)
(The Restitution Theory, The Ruin-Construction Theory,
The Pre-Creation and Chaos Theory, etc.)
Genesis 1:1-2, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 2 And the earth was 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."
Introduction:
A. Many Christians focus More Energy On Attacking Each Other than on reaching un-believers.
B. Facts we need to understand:
1. Theology is the study of God’s Word, the Bible ---
Science is the study of God’s created universe.
2. Science is man’s attempt to interpret the Facts of Nature.
Theology is man’s attempt to interpret the Words of The Bible.
3. Both are Creations of Man --- Both are made from Opinions --- Both are Prone To Error.
C. The Bible ----- The Universe:
1. Both are Creations of God --- Both are made of Solid Facts --- Both are Without Errors.
2. God created the universe and He is also responsible for the Words of the Bible.
3. There is No Contradiction between The Words of The Bible and the Facts of Nature.
D. Any Conflict Between Science And Theology Must Be Attributable To Human Misinterpretation.
E. We must consider Each Part of the revealed text in Relation To Every Other Part.
1. The Scriptures must present themselves as A Unified Whole, non-contradictory and cohesive throughout.
2. Where conflicts occur, we must Question Our Interpretation or understanding of the subject in question --- Not The Scriptures.
I. The Gap Theory Explained
A. God created the heaven and the earth Perfect in Gen. 1:1.
B. Between Gen. 1:1 and Gen. 1:2, Satan Rebelled Against God and was defeated.
1. He was cast down to the earth as lightening with great destructive force.
2. It was at this time that the earth was destroyed.
C. This judgment was so complete as to even cause the Loss of Light upon the earth; which implies that the entire solar system, if not the universe, was destroyed.
D. In Gen. 1:2 God is Re-creating or Reconstructing the earth from a chaotic state, not creating it as an original or initial creative effort.
E. There is a great Gap of Time Between Gen. 1:1 and Gen. 1:2 which can account for millions or even billions of years.
F. Therefore, there is No Discrepancy between Science and the Bible.
G. This is known as the "Gap Theory" and has been taught:
1. In The Scofield Reference Bible,
2. The Dake’s Annotated Bible,
3. D. F. Payne states, "The ‘gap’ theory itself, as a matter of exegesis, antedated the scientific challenge.
4. In 1814, Thomas Chalmers, a leading Scottish theologian, taught the gap theory --- Charles Darwin’s book, "Origin of the Species," was not published until 1859, 45 years later.
5. Arthur Custance, in his book "Without Form and Void", shows that this interpretation has its roots in early Jewish tradition and through out the history of the church.
6. It is safe to say that the gap theory was not developed in an effort to solve apparent problems between the Bible and Science. It is not of recent origin and can easily be traced back to beyond the 19th century.
II. Pro --- Evidence FOR The Gap Theory:
A. Six Hebrew Words:
1. Hebrew "BARA" --- "Create" --- To call forth out of nothing.
a. "Bara" is only used five times and of these occurrences three are in V. 27 and refer to the creation of man.
b. It is also used in V. 21 in reference to the creation of the great sea monsters.
2. Hebrew "ASAH" --- "Make" --- "Form" --- A re-fashioning or making from pre-existing material.
3. Hebrew "HAYAH" --- "Was" --- "Became".
a. In the 4900 times "hayah" occurs in the O.T., most of the time it is translated as "was".
b. However, 769 times it is translated "became, came, came to pass, become or come to pass" throughout the O.T.
4. Hebrew "TOHU" --- "Without Form" --- "VA" And --- "BOHU" --- "Void".
May also be translated "waste and empty".
5. Hebrew "---" --- "Replenish" --- "Refill" --- "Fill"
Although "---" can mean either fill or refill, it is the same word used by God when He commanded Noah to refill or replenish the earth in Gen. 9:1.
6. Hebrew "Yom" --- day ---
B. God is a Perfect God and cannot create an Imperfect Thing ("tohu") without form and void.
1. Isaiah 48:3, "I have declared the former things from the beginning; and they went forth out of my mouth, and I shewed them; I did them suddenly, and they came to pass."
2. Genesis 1:1-2, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 2 And the earth was without form, and void ("tohu"); and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters."
3. 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 ("tohu"), he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else."
4. Job 38:4-7, "Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. 5 Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it? 6 Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof; 7 When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?"
5. Genesis 1:1-2 evidently describes Not The Ancient Creation, celebrated by the angels, but the much later Refashioning of A Judgment-Ridden Earth in preparation for a new order of creation --- man.
a. The situation of V. 2 is Not Good, Nor Is It Ever Called Good.
b. That state of darkness, confusion, and lifelessness is Contrary To The Nature of God in whom there is no darkness.
c. Only when sin came, darkness resulted --- darkness, therefore, represents sin, which is contrary to God’s glory and holiness. (1 John 1:6)
d. This makes God The Creator of Disorder And Darkness, a situation not tolerated in the perfect cosmos and is never said to have been called into existence by the Word of God.
C. Evidently, something happened that cause the earth to go through a catastrophic change.
Jeremiah 4:23-26, "I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. 24 I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly. 25 I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled. 26 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."
Isaiah 24:1, "Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof."
D. There was a Great Battle Between God And The Devil and his angels --- the following Scriptures certainly go Beyond The Kings of Tyre And Babylon.
1. God sometimes by-passes the individual and Talks Directly To The Demon possessing him.
Matthew 8:28-32, "And when he was come to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way. 29 And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time? 30 And there was a good way off from them an herd of many swine feeding. 31 So the devils besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine. 32 And he said unto them, Go. And when they were come out, they went into the herd of swine: and, behold, the whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters."
2. Isaiah 14:12-17, "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! 13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. 15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. 16 They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms; 17 That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners "
3. Ezekiel 28:12-15, "Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. 13 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. 14 Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. 15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee."
4. Luke 10:18, "And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven."
5. Not only was Satan cast down to the earth, but also all the angels that had followed him in his rebellion against God --- (1/3 of all angels).
E. If the "Gap Theory" is Not True --- When did the fall of Lucifer take place?
(Good Question! --- Matter of Fact, A Very Good Question!)
III. Con --- Evidence AGAINST The Gap Theory:
A. By placing fossil records before Adam, the gap theory places Death Before The Fall.
1. What about the disease, decay and death which produced the fossils?
2. Did God mean what He said in:
Romans 5:12, "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin;"
1 Corinthians 15:21, "... by man came death, ..."
3. To insist that anything died prior to the judgment passed upon Adam is to be in contradiction with these passages in Rom. 5:12 and 1 Cor. 15:21.
4. It is difficult to conceive of a disastrous judgment upon the earth and all its inhabitants because of the action of one angel whose home was not the earth in the first place.
5. The only place that a pre-Adamic race of man-like beings has ever existed is in the minds of those who dreamed up this theory.
B. The catastrophe event that destroyed the pre-Adamic world would have also Destroyed Any Fossil Record, thus eliminating one of the main reason for the theory in the first place.
1. Such a complete catastrophe destruction would have completely devastated and disintegrated the sedimentary strata and fossils --- the Geologic Columns.
2. In other words, the very geologic phenomena that the "gap theory" purports to support would be completely destroyed if the "gap theory" were true.
C. What about --- Isa. 14 & Ezek. 28
1. The subject of this judgmental passage in Isa. 14 is the kingdom of Babylon (13:1).
2. In Ezekiel, Chapter 19 – 39, we have a series of prophecies against various nations and city-states, namely: Israel, Jerusalem, Samaria, Babylon, Ammon, Tyre, Egypt, Seir, Gog, Magog and other individuals and places.
3. However, keep in mind that God Does Go Beyond The Individual and speak to, as well as judge, the Power Behind The Individual.
(Remember --- Matthew 8:28-32 --- Page 4)
D. Noah’s Flood is thus given an Insignificant role in accounting for geological evidence, in favor of a catastrophe event of which the Bible tells us nothing.
1. Many Biblical writers and Christ Himself (Matt. 24:37-39, Luke 17:26-27) referred to Noah’s flood.
2. There is not one clear Biblical reference to any other ancient worldwide destruction.
3. Nor is there any Biblical reference to any long period of time before, during, or after the creation week. (Exo. 20:11)
E. What about the "Darkness" and it Representing Sin?
1. God named the darkness in Gen. 1 without the least indication that there was something undesirable about its existence --- darkness was for man’s good.
a. There is nothing in the text that would indicate that physical darkness has any evil connotation whatsoever.
b. Psalm 104:20, "Thou makest darkness, and it is night:" --- V. 24, "O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches."
2. To disassociate "darkness" from God because "darkness" came to symbolize evil and sin is to Confuse The Symbol With The Thing Symbolized.
This is like saying Yeast Is Evil because it represents spiritual evil.
3. The fact that a physical reality is used to represent something spiritual does not mean that every time this physical reality is mentioned, it must be representing that spiritual entity.
F. What about Isa. 45:18?
1. The Purpose of God in creation is seen in the context of Isa. 45:18.
2. Gen. 1:2 does not focus on the "heavens" but on the "earth".
3. "Tohu Va Bohu" is restricted to the earth’s unlivable and empty condition before the six days of creation.
4. This verse does not speak of a condition, but of an intention or purpose. God created the earth to be inhabited, not to be left in an un-inhabited condition.
5. Isa. 45:18 deal with the "Purpose" of Creation --- Not the "Condition" of Creation.
G. What about the Hebrew words --- "BARA" (Create) --- "ASAH" (Make)?
1. The distinction made, in support of the gap theory, is artificial and strained to say the least.
2. The twenty-six verses listed below all use the word "asah" (make) not "bara" (create) to escribe the same actions of God that are declared in Genesis 1:1, where "bara" is used:
(Gen. 1:31; 2:2-4; Exo. 20:11; 2 Kings 19:15; 2 Chron. 2:12; Neh. 9:6; Psa. 33:6; 96:5; 115:15; 121:2; 124:8; 134:3; 136:5; 146:6; Prov. 8:26; Eccl. 3:11; Isa. 37:16; 44:24; 45:12, 18; Jer. 10:12; 27:5; 32:17; 51:15)
3. Clearly the two words are Synonymous when used to describe God’s creative acts --- Either Word Can, And Is Used To Describe God’s Creative Acts.
4. Both, "Bara" (create) and "Asah" (make) are used with the same intent and meaning when animals and man are formed.
(Compare Genesis 1:21 with 1:25 and then 1:26 with 1:27)
H. The Bible clearly tells us that All The Creation was included Within The Six Days.
1. The "Gap Theory" would separate the "creation of heaven and earth" from the rest of the week by some indefinite time period.
a. In the "Gap Theory" the "heaven and earth" creation cannot be considered to be a part of the re-creation week.
b. However, "the heavens and the earth" (V. 2) is a compound phrase that must be studied as a unity.
2. If we are to take the Word of God Literally, we must conclude that Day One Began With enesis 1:1.
3. Exodus 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." --- 31:17, "It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed."
4. Genesis 1:31-2:1, "And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day." --- 2:1, "Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them."
No wonder we read about such praise as:
Nehemiah 9:6, "Thou, even thou, art LORD alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth thee."
5. Some people teach that God Always performs miracles Completely, Perfectly, and Instantly without any steps of progress to them --- but this is Not True.
a. Why did God not create the universe perfect with one command? --- Why was there a progression?
b. Ans. --- I do not know, He has His own reasons for what He does, However, I do know that He used the same method in some of His healing of people during his personal ministry on this earth.
Mark 8:23-25, "And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw ought. 24 And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking. 25 After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly."
IV. The Truth --- As I See It:
A. First, for the sake of honesty, the Gap Theory was Not dreamed up merely to meet the scientific challenge, as some have claimed.
B. "Bara" – "Asah" --- either word can and is used to describe God’s creative acts.
C. "Hayah" --- may be correctly translated either "Was" or "Became".
D. Isa.45:18 --- This verse does not speak of a condition, but of an intention or purpose. God created the earth to be inhabited, not to be left in an un-inhabited condition.
E. Isa. 14 --- Eze. 28 --- speaks of judgment upon different human kingdoms, but also looks beyond human kingdoms to the evil power (devil) behind them.
F. Battle Between God & The Devil --- we are not told when this took (or will take) place. It is open for speculation.
G. Even though the "Gap Theory" may be true, everything attributed to the "Gap Theory" can be explained more easily by the World Wide Flood during the days of Noah.
H. God is not simply the architect, but the Absolute Master of The Universe.
1. Only by God’s absolute power could He have produced the creation of the heavens and the earth and all that in them is.
2. God is the Creator who existed before any of His creation and who brought forth from nothing and maintains all that exists.
I. The Only Biblical Event that might rightly be called a Re-Creation begins with the experience of the New Birth and is consummated in the realization of the New Heavens and the New Earth.
2 Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."
Romans 8:22-23, "For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. 23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body."
1 Corinthians 15:35-49, "But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come? 36 Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die: 37 And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain: 38 But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body. 39 All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds. 40 There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. 41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory. 42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: 43 It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: 44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. 45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. 46 Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. 47 The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. 48 As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. 49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly."
Revelation 21:1-2, "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. 2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband."
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