Gap Theory

I apologize for suggesting you said they were dumb, my mistake. I should not have made that assumption. I too have John Phillips commentary and I misstated that he held to the Gap. He may or may not but he does not summarily dismiss the position as some do. In fact he says, "Some believe verse 2 describes the primitive state of matter when it was first created. Others (including Franz Delitzsch, that greatest of all Hebrew scholars) believes the verse describes a later catastrophe that overtook the original creation. The word was can be transltaed 'became' - 'the land had become waste and void.' Support fo that view is seen in Isaiah 45:18 where it is stated that God did not make the earth waste and void." (Footnote to this statement says, "The chaos of the earth was possibly one of the results of Lucifer's fall (Isaiah 14:12-17; Ezekiel 28:11-19)" (Exploring Genesis, page 39). If you have his commentary read the next paragraph on page 40 (top of the page). He does not denigrate those who hold to the Gap. Maybe that should be held as the standard of debate. There are those who hold this position that are genuine Bible believers. I for one want to know what they believe, in case I may be missing something God said.

 

I have had a few discussions with those who hold the Gap Theory (I do not), and the passage I have seen most widely used to support their theory is Job 38 (there are more).

Job 38:4 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?

Gapper's strongly argue that verse 7 proves that Satan and the other angels were present when the Earth was created in Gen 1:1

Gen 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

This is a good argument, but it may be misunderstood. Notice Job 38:4-7 mentions God laying the foundations, laying the measures of, stretching a line upon it, fastening the foundations thereof, and laying the corner stone.

I believe all this took place after the first day. For on the first day the Earth was declared "without form" and "void". I believe it did not have these foundations yet, was not measured, no corner stone.

Gen 1:2 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.

I personally believe all this took place on the third day starting with Gen 1:9.

Gen 1:9 And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.
10 And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.

Now, up until this point the Earth was void and without form. To me, the term without form rules out any foundations or corner stone. A foundation and a corner stone have form. And, if it had foundations and a corner stone it would not be void.

There are other scriptures Gapper's use, I will address them later. I think this is a good place to start because it is the foundation of the Gapper's belief.

 

Just curious. Is the gap theory related in any way to dispensationalism? Is it a necessary component?

 

Apology accepted. He presents the Gap Theory as one of several theories. I have read what the Gap Theorists say time and again. When I addressed you I addressed your defense of them without being able to delineate the basis for their position. If you want to know what they believe go find out, but before defending them you need to know why they do.

 

I am not a typical dispensationalist. I do not try to divide history in to 7 or 8 dispensations. It is a bit much. But I do not know any dispensationalists who hold to the gap Theory. It is not common and no it is not a necessary component.

 

If you read Ezekiel 28 carefully, you will see Satan will be cast down in the future, not in the past as Gapper's believe.

Eze 28:13 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.
16 By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.
17 Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.
18 Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.
19 All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more.

It is clear these verses are speaking of Satan, because there were only four who were in Eden, the Lord, Adam, Eve, and the serpent (Satan).

But note in every case that Satan's punishments are spoken of as future. Many believe Satan has been cast down to Earth, but the scriptures are clear that Satan still has access to heaven.

Job 1:6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them.

I personally believe Satan has not yet been cast down as God promised in Eze 28 and shall not be until the events of Revelations 12 occur.

Rev 12:7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

So, I believe that at this very time Satan still has access to heaven and is accusing us before God.

 

'Some' early dispensationalists did hold to the gap theory (like I post ealier Scofield held to it) however it had nothing to do with dispensationism itself and therefore was not considered a component. :thumbs:

 

The Gap theory is just one of a dozen or so possible interpretations of Genesis 1 & 2.

I am always remembering that while I hold to the belief that if God wanted to do it in 6 days He could, that many theologians have disagreed and remained faithful to Christian orthodoxy. One theologian whom I supremely respect, Augustine, never had an official interpretation of Genesis. He approached it from a couple of different perspectives.

Maybe the big idea is that while the Bible isn't a science book and doesn't get into the deeper specifics of creation it does give us a complete picture that God is the sole Creator.

 

I am not sure what you mean by "possible" interpretations, but there is only one correct interpretation for this scripture or any other.

2 Pet 1:20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.

We can't just decide what scripture means. It means what God says it means. Our duty is to study and ask God for wisdom to understand the scriptures.

2 Tim 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

 

Yes.

HankD

 

OUTSTANDING point. Yes, many don't have a problem inserting a gap to make their eschatology work.......

 

Here, here now.... I am not an evolutionist.. but I do see the possibility of there being a Gap.

There are many, many different theories concerning what went on before 6000 yrs ago.

And I do know one thing... God didn't sit around twiddleing his thumbs!...

Anything we can imagine is just that... imagination. We can't prove anything, because God saw fit to not write it down.

Here is my theory... It is only a theory... and don't call me an evolutionist.. because I believe in a 7 day literal creation...It's just that the 7 days start after a gap.

OK here it goes..
In the beginning God created Heaven and Earth...

I believe, or theorize.. belief is too strong a word here, because I would never disassociate with someone over it... or die trying to prove it.. but I theorize that the Earth could have been the home for the Angels before he recreated it.

The angels fell.. some did... Satan caused a rebellion.. God wiped the earth clean to start over with humans.

Again, this is just my theory.. I will not fight for it.. I will not proclaim it as gospel.. It is just me thinking.. and wondering what God did before he created Humans...

I won't even be back on BB for over a week because my MIL is having surgery for breast cancer, and I won't have the chance.. so...

Argue away... LOL :laugh: :wavey:

 

There is a big difference. In Genesis we are given the creation account day by day. And the scriptures clearly say God created the heavens and the earth in six days.

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.

But the seventy weeks of Daniel are not presented like this. They are seperated into 7 weeks, then, 62 weeks, then 1 week.

Dan 9:24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.
25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

The scriptures themselves clearly show the 70 weeks of Daniel divided into three seperate divisions of 7 weeks, 62 weeks, and 1 week.

You cannot use Daniel 9 to argue there was a gap in the 6 day creation account of Genesis.

 

Arthur W. Pink on Genisis 1:1 & 2

Seeing it is God, that said, Light shall shine out of darkness, who shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 2 Cor 4:6

For those of you who enjoy types and similes from scripture, I highly recommend 'Gleanings In Genesis', by Arthur W. Pink, not only on the 'gap theory', but for many other fascinating, edifying types to be found in Genesis. Pink is a master of analogy from scripture.

Since reading Pink on it, I've come to agreement on his view, and that is that there was indeed a gap between 1:1 and 1:2 (and it's definitely not from a Darwinian standpoint) . This 'gap' fits nicely into the implied analogy of 2 Cor 4:6, as will be seen (The New is in the Old concealed, the Old is in the New revealed).

Some excerpts from Chapter One, 'Creation and Restoration', 'Gleanings In Genesis', by Arthur Pink:

http://www.pbministries.org/books/pink/Gleanings_Genesis/genesis_01.htm

 

How nice. Such flowery language used. Then he tells us we should change the scriptures, that Gen 1:2 should say "became" instead of "was". Reminds me of someone else in Genesis chapter 3 who changed the word of God.

Gappers believe the entire world was destroyed, killing everything (except Satan and the angels it was supposed to kill). But this disagrees with the words of Jesus himself.

Mark 13:19 For in those days shall be affliction, such as was not from the beginning of the creation which God created unto this time, neither shall be. 20 And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved: but for the elect's sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days.

Jesus here is speaking of the tribulation to come. It shall be the most terrible affliction the world has ever suffered from the beginning of the creation (Gen 1:1) unto this time (the present) neither shall be (the future). But notice some people will be saved.

If the Gappers are correct, then when the world was destroyed between Gen 1:1 and 1:2 it was worse than Noah's flood where 8 people survived, and it was worse than the tribulation to come where some will survive. Because Gappers claim no one survived.

Big problem here. The scriptures teach that sin and death came into the world by Adam.

Rom 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
13 (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.
14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.

Gappers teach there was sin and death in the world before Adam. The scriptures teach Adam introduced sin and death into the world.

 

Winman, you don't know anything about Pink, do you. If you did, you would not be railing against him.

Are you really a Baptist?

 

I don't know many Gap Theory proponents but of the ones I do know none of them believe this.

It is interesting how much demonization is occuring over this issue. Maybe we should begin with the foundational things: where does the Gap Theory (or any other theory) hold the God isn't the Creator ex nihilo?

 

Baloney. We know the last week of Daniel has not taken place.

Dan 8:13 Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot?

Dan 8:19 And he said, Behold, I will make thee know what shall be in the last end of the indignation: for at the time appointed the end shall be.

Matt 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand: )
16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:
17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:
18 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.
19 And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!
20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:
21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

We know there were 7 weeks, and 69 weeks until Messiah was cut off (Jesus crucified). The last remaining week is future.

Jesus here confirms that the 7 year tribulation is the last week (when ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by the prophet Daniel) in Matt 24:15.

You need to study your Bible and quit listening to men who say we should change the word of God.

 

Oh, I disagree with that completely. There are a variety of interpretations for different Scriptures. Basic hermeneutical principles teach this, Scripture itself demonstrates this.

Yeah, you're twisting the Peterine passage. First, not all Scripture is prophetic. Second, notice how the follow up verse speaks about the leading of the Holy Spirit. As we undertand and/or speak of Scripture it must be done so in a life conditioned by the Holy Spirit.

As for the openning of Genesis, I've stated my belief. (I noticed you snipped and sniped my post.) There are a number of acceptable interpretations of that passage as it relates to accepted Christian teaching that has been handed down by the Church since the day of Pentecost.