What Does The Gap Theory Believe?
While there are just as many theories of how the world evolved, there
are just as many theories of the gap, however, it is basically summed up
as follows, and they claim they have Scripture to back this up.
“Billions
of years ago, God created the heaven and earth in a state of perfection
(Genesis 1:1). He placed Satan (known as "Lucifer," an angel of God) and
other angelic beings upon the earth. It was at this time that He created
and placed dinosaurs, 'cave-men,' and other such species upon the earth.
He had declared 'Lucifer' to be ruler of this planet, but 'Lucifer'
became conceded in his power, beauty, and wisdom, and desired the Throne
of God, he then tried to ascend to Heaven (Isaiah 14), but what
forbidden and convinces one-third of the angels to join him, starting a
'war in the heavens' (Revelation 12) and Satan and his demons were cast
back to earth. It was during that time that God flooded the earth with
water (II Peter 3:5,6). The heavens were destroyed in this battle and
darkness fell upon the earth (Genesis 1:2; and Jeremiah 4:23),
introducing the ice age. All life was destroyed upon the earth
(Jeremiah 4:23-29), so God had to remake the earth and create new life.”
I have to say, this is insane
that a bunch of people, who know Christ as their Saviour even believe
this. The problem is that many “versions” the Bible are the source
behind such a theory in the first place, but many people who believe in
this also believe that the King James Bible is the only infallible Word
of God. What did people do before King James, when everything was
written in Hebrew and Greek? Theories are that, just theories, they
might have some merit for their cause, but overall you have to treat
them the same way some of the passages in the Bible seem obscure, study
all the evidence to know exactly what is going on.
Why Is It Important To Examine The Gap Theory?
This is not just a harmless theory. This is, in itself,
an attack on the Word of God! It underhandedly and directly undermines
the Gospel to its very foundations as allows for death, bloodshed,
disease, and suffering from sin before Adam's sin. It denies the Word of
God which clearly tells us that it was man's SIN that brought decay and
death to the world. Above all, it undermines God, Himself. The Bible is
not questionable when it states that all death is the result of the fall
of man, originating from Adam and Eve. The gap theory denies this,
unthinkingly declaring that animals and prehistoric man died for
millions of years before Adam even existed. This also implies that Adam
was doomed from the start to physically die, regardless if sin entered
the world or not. Now, we will break down each claim and examine each
part of their theory and show proof from the Bible that it is, in fact,
just a theory.
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Billions of years ago, God created
the heaven and earth in a state of perfection (Genesis 1:1).
All verse 1 says is “In
the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”
God did not say
it was good, another word for perfect. He did not start saying
anything was good until verse 4, stating that light was good. Even
if the heaven and earth sat there for millions of years there was no
sign of life on it because verse 2 says,
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.
The reason why
it says waters here was that everything is surrounded in water, it
still is surrounded by water, one of those gulf fixed things that
you cannot see, this is further explained. “And
God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and
let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the
firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament
from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.”
- Genesis 1:6,7.
The creation of the heavens and the earth,
and the sea and all that is in them (the rest of the creation) was
completed in six days, that means there was no time for a gap. “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.”
- Exodus 20:11.
Refuted by the Ten Commandments themselves,
in which God said, "In
six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in
them is"
- Exodus 20:11. God was telling people that the pattern He set at
creation, of six days work followed by a day of rest, and was to be
the pattern for mankind's working week. There is no room for a gap,
because this statement in Exodus covers both Genesis 1:1 and the
verses after it all in the six days!
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He placed Satan (known as
"Lucifer," an angel of God) and the other angelic beings upon the
earth.
Lucifer was in fact, an arch angel,
but God did not place him or his angels on the earth to keep it, He
told Adam do it. “And
the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to
dress it and to keep it.”
- Genesis 2:15.
The gap theory likes to toy with the idea
that human life existed before Adam and Eve, and that God can
destroy and create life as He over and over again. It puts death,
disease, and suffering before the Fall, contrary to Scripture when
God said He saw that everything was good. “And
out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and
every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he
would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature,
that was the name thereof. And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to
the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam
there was not found an help meet for him.”
- Genesis 2:19,20.
Besides the fact that the gap theory that
puts Satan’s fall just before the supposed Lucifer’s flood that
destroyed all prehistoric life, it has another problem, it assumes
the death and suffering recorded in the fossil records found must
have been God’s fault. Since it happened before Satan’s fall, Satan
and sin cannot be blamed for it.
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It was at this time that He created
and placed dinosaurs, 'prehistoric man' and other such species upon
the earth as well.
God did create beasts such as lions, tigers, bears, cattle, and yes
dinosaurs too as well as man on the sixth day of creation, not well
before anything else.
“And
God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his
kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his
kind: and it was so. And God made the beast of the earth after his
kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth
upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And God
said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them
have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the
air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every
creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in
his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female
created he them.”
- Genesis 1:24-27.
The gap theory is inconsistent with
God creating everything in six days, including the heaven and earth
as the bible states. “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.”
- Exodus 6:11.
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He had declared 'Lucifer' to be
ruler of the earth, but became conceded in his power, beauty, and
wisdom, he desired the Throne of God and tried to ascend to Heaven
(Isaiah 14).
Again, God never declared Lucifer to be a ruler over man, He never
wanted anyone to be a ruler over them except for Him, but He allowed
them to have one centuries later. “And
ye have this day rejected your God, who himself saved you out of all
your adversities and your tribulations; and ye have said unto him,
Nay, but set a king over us. Now therefore present yourselves before
the LORD by your tribes, and by your thousands.”
- I Samuel 10:19.
These are the verses in Isaiah they are
referring to, “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! 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: I will ascend
above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.”
- Isaiah 14:12-14.
There are two things wrong with their
theory, one, it says Lucifer fell, meaning he was already in heaven
before he fell.
“And
he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.”
- Luke 10:18. And two, this is metaphorical, meaning an implied
comparison between two things that are unrelated, but share common
characteristics. In other words, Satan was cast out of heaven
because he wanted to be God, but he already did something that
caused him to be cast out in the first place. If anything, it tells
of a prophecy that has not come yet, which is Armageddon.
“And
I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the
dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of
the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working
miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the
whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God
Almighty. Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth,
and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his
shame. And he gathered them together into a place called in the
Hebrew tongue Armageddon.”
- Revelation 16:13-16.
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Satan convinces one-third of the
angels to join him, starting a war in the heavens (Revelation 12).
Then he and his demons were cast back to earth.
There was a battle in heaven, and
Satan did take angels with him, but there is no evidence from the
Bible that is was one-third of them, and this was before sin entered
the world. These are the verses they are referring to, “And
there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the
dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not;
neither was their place found any more in heaven. 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.”
- Revelation 12:7-9.
The "real Star Wars," they
call it, claims that craters are in their various celestial bodies
due to the angels hurdling one another into the planets and moons.
Yet, the Bible proves that the heavens (sun, moon, stars, etc.) were
not yet created prior to day four of the creation account of
Genesis. “And
God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to
divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for
seasons, and for days, and years: And let them be for lights in the
firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.
And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day,
and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.”
- Genesis 1:14-16.
Therefore, the war could not
have occurred as they claim, plus, the very idea that we can see
"evidence" of the war contends with the gap theory argument that
things were reconstructed for if this is the case, then in light of
Nehemiah 9:6 and Job 9:9, 38:31,32 which speak of God making the
heaven of heavens and the hosts of heaven, there should be no
evidence of such a war. “Canst
thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of
Orion? Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or canst thou
guide Arcturus with his sons?”
- Job 38:31,32.
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It was during that time that God
flooded the earth with water (II Peter 3:5,6).
There was only flood that
destroyed the earth, and that was during Noah’s time. Many who
believe in the gap theory also hold to a belief that the
earth was made dark and void after the war in the heavens by Satan
flooding it all. Here is the Scripture they are referring to, “For
this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the
heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in
the water: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with
water, perished: But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by
the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day
of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.”
- II Peter 3:5-7.
Peter was clearly referring to the flood of
Noah's day here, in fact, he had just addressed the Flood in the
previous chapter, and for reference also the fallen angels. “For
if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to
hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved
unto judgment; And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the
eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood
upon the world of the ungodly;”
- II Peter 2:4,5.
These Scriptures tie in with
what is said by Jesus in Matthew 24:37-39: "But
as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man
be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating
and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that
Noah entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came and
took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be."
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The heavens were destroyed in this
battle and darkness fell upon the earth (Genesis 1:2; and Jeremiah
4:23), introducing the ice age. Here
is the verse to, I added a couple more because I wanted to show that
God speaking of they were referring Him looking upon the earth as He
created it first. “I
beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the
heavens, and they had no light. I beheld the mountains, and, lo,
they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly. I beheld, and, lo,
there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled”
- Jeremiah 4:23-25.
There is no evidence whatsoever
that the earth was full of ice prior to God creating everything. The
Ice Age was a result of the catastrophic flood during Noah’s time.
God placed the judgment in the first place because sin engulfed the
earth. The reason the Ice Age is not directly discussed in the Bible
is probably because the Scandinavian ice sheet and mountain ice caps
were farther north than the region where the Bible was written. Only
an increase in the snow coverage of Mt. Hermon and possibly more
frequent snowfalls on the high areas of the Middle East would have
been evident to those living in Palestine.
The Ice Age is
readily explained by the climatic consequences of the Genesis Flood,
which was a short age of about 700 years, and there was only one Ice
Age. We do not need to believe that there was it was a hundred
thousand years for one ice age, or the few million years for
multiple ice ages, as claimed by uniformitarian scientists.
Even their claim of ancient ice ages in the hard rocks can be
accounted for by gigantic submarine landslides during the Flood. The
post-Flood rapid Ice Age accounts for a number of major mysteries
that occurred during the Ice Age, such as the Lake Missoula flood
and the life and death of the woolly mammoths in Alaska, Siberia,
and elsewhere.
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All life was destroyed upon the
earth (Jeremiah 4:23-29), so God had to remake the earth and create
new life.”
Again, they are referring to these verses “I
beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the
heavens, and they had no light. I beheld the mountains, and, lo,
they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly. I beheld, and, lo,
there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled. 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. For thus hath the LORD said, The whole land shall
be desolate; yet will I not make a full end. For this shall the
earth mourn, and the heavens above be black: because I have spoken
it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn
back from it. The whole city shall flee for the noise of the
horsemen and bowmen; they shall go into thickets, and climb up upon
the rocks: every city shall be forsaken, and not a man dwell
therein.”
- Jeremiah 4:23-29.
This is not all referring to God
creating everything after the earth was destroyed, this is God
speaking of the judgment of Israel. God is very personal, we are
made in His image, so, He feels as we do, but His thoughts are not
even close to our own. There has never been any signs that all the
earth was destroyed apart from the flood. Most important of
all, the gap theory denies the very foundations of Scripture, the
concept of sin and our need for a savior. The Bible says there was
no sin or death until Adam and Eve. To believe there was death
before Adam’s sin destroys the basis of the Christian message. The
Bible states that man’s rebellious actions led to death and the
corruption of the universe, but the gap theory undermines all of
this, as well as the need for the Saviour.
Conclusion
The gap theory imagines billions
of years of suffering and death, which they see by the fossil record and
rock layers in the earth's crust, which are supposed to identify the
geological ages. The Bible explains all that and more with the Flood.
The gap theory proposes that at the end of the geological ages Satan
sinned, was cast down to earth, and there was a great cataclysm. So the
geological ages with countless deaths recorded in them would have
occurred before either Satan or humans sinned, which is the opposite of
what the Bible says.
In cursing man with physical
death, God also provided a way to redeem man through the person of His
Son Jesus Christ, who suffered the curse of death on the Cross for us.
He tasted death for everyone so all who believe in Him do not have to “But
we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the
suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace
of God should taste death for every man.”
- Hebrews 2:9.
Jesus took the penalty that
should rightly have been ours at the hands of the Righteous Judge, and
bore it in His own body on the Cross. Jesus Christ tasted death for all
mankind, and He defeated death when He rose from the grave three days
later. Men can be free from eternal death in hell if they believe in
Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour.
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