Question:
I’m studying creationism vs. evolutionism and I’ve heard many pros and cons on the gap theory. One way I heard it expressed was a length of time between the first and second verse in Genesis 1 in which the earth became “waste and void” and the other version was, of course, the one that stuff evolved during that time and was somehow destroyed in a great flood or something. The first theory sounds plausible, especially since I’ve heard that the two words ‘creation’ in those first and second verses are two different words; the one in the first verse meaning to create and the one in the second verse meaning to re-create. Does anyone have any insights on this topic they could share, or any verses?
Answer:
Genesis 1:1: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth,” clearly shows that evolution is a mere theory (or idea), and also that this idea is not true!
God did not “create” the heavens and the earth in six days. He spoke and brought worlds into existence: “He spake, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast” (Psalm 33:9). But He remade, or “made” the earth in six twenty-four hour days. “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” (Exodus 20:11).
The Scriptures tell us that God not only “created” things, but that He also “made” things.The summary of Genesis chapter 1 is given in Genesis 2:3: “And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made.” Since the Hebrew words for “created” (“bara“), and “made” (“asah“) are different words, they distinguish different acts of God. The Hebrew word that is translated “made” means: “working to put together from something already created.”
The distinction between these words is made in other verses regarding the creation and the making of the earth. Isaiah 45:18 says: “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.”
Some Bible scholars believe that one of the reasons the Lord gave the Old Testament mostly in the Hebrew language was to show this important distinction between “created” and “made.”
Isaiah 45:18 tells us, that in the original creation of Genesis 1:1, God “created” the earth “not in vain” but “formed it to be inhabited.” Therefore, the first part of Genesis 1:2: “And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep” must not be speaking of the original creation, but of the condition the earth was in when the Spirit of God “moved upon the face of the waters,” and started to “make” the earth in six days (Genesis 1:2-31).
The term “gap theory” came from those who oppose the belief that there was a difference in the earth (and therefore of time) between verses 1 and 2 of Genesis chapter 1. There are several reasons why we do not believe that the “gap” (or difference between Genesis 1:1 and 2) is a mere “theory.” Along with the difference the Scriptures make between what God “created” and what He “made,” is the Hebrew conjunction “and,” that God put at the beginning of verse 2. This word “and” shows, in itself, that God is telling us that these verses are separated, that there is a difference between verse 2 and verse 1, and that there is an interval of time between the two verses. We are not told how much time there was between these verses, but we are told that there was some time between them and there could have been as much time as man’s mind can conceive.
We trust these few thoughts on this basic and important subject will turn you to search the Scriptures more and more. For we know nothing about this subject except what God has seen fit to tell us in His Holy Scriptures.This subject is also covered in the book titled: “In the Beginning” by William Kelly, and the excellent and useful article titled: “Digging Up Bones” by Tracey L. Bumpus.