Why I reject the Gap Theory

Here are some reasons why I believe that the "Gap Theory" is not true. 

1.) Standard Gap Theorist jargon says that Genesis 1:1 is the creation of "the original Earth" and that god "re-created" the Earth after destroying it with a flood in Genesis 1:2-3. However, the Bible plainly states that we are on the "first Earth" right now, we are not on a second re-created Earth (Rev. 21:1). 

2.) Standard Gap Theory jargon says that God created Heaven and the Earth in "the dateless past in eternity". However, the Bible says that God did not create the Earth in eternity past, He created it "in the beginning" (Gen. 1:1). There is no "beginning" to eternity past.

3.) The Bible says that God made Heaven and Earth "in six days" (Exod 20:11, 31:17). Therefore this rules out the possibility that God had originally created the Earth by some Evolutionary method of origin. [Clarence Larkin said that God created the "original" Heaven and Earth by the Nebular Hypothesis.]

4.) Gap Theorists say that Lucifer had fallen before the creation week. However, the Bible says that he was created in a "day" and that he was in Eden when he fell (Ezek. 28:13-15). There were no days before the creation week and the Garden of Eden was not created until day 6 (Gen. 1:3-5, 1:24-31, 2:7-8). 

5.) Gap Theorists say that the fossil 'record' was formed in a supposed "Lucifer's flood" between Genesis 1:1-2. However, the fossil record has fossilized thorns in it. However, the Bible says that thorns did not grow until after the fall of man (Gen. 3:18). 

6.) The Gap Theory is not plainly stated in one passage of scripture, it is something that some people infer from a string of passages scattered throughout the Bible. Which is not a bad thing necessarily, God does not reveal every detail all in one passage, but a lot of the proof texts used by Gap Theorists are out of context. For example, the fall of Satan with a third of the angels is in the context of Daniel's 70th Week, not eternity past as the Gap Theorists teach. See the context of Isaiah 14:12 and Revelation 12:1-9. 

7.) Most Gap Theorists, with few exceptions, believe in the Gap Theory in order to accommodate evolutionary theories. This was the reason Clarence Larkin, C.I. Scofield, G.A. Pember, and A.W. Pink taught the Gap Theory. However, the Gap Theory does not impress secular scientists at all. The Gap Theory does not solve the scientific issues surrounding star light from billions of light years away, supposed ape/human genome similarities, supposed vestigial organs, etc. Also, secular scientists deny a global flood of Noah's day, so proposing a "Lucifer's flood" will not accommodate secular ideas either. A secular scientist would tell you that the "Gap Theory" model is more unscientific than the young Earth model. 

8.) Gap Theorist proof texts for a supposed "Lucifer's flood" are always in the context of Noah's flood. Such as 2 Peter 3:5-7, which says "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." Peter is clearly referring back to what he said in chapter 2 verse 5, "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;". There isn't any reason to suggest that 2 Peter 3:5-7 is referring to "Lucifer's flood" rather than Noah's flood. The text implies the exact opposite. 

• The Gap Theorists have this section of the passage referring to their supposed Lucifer's flood: "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 passage goes on to say "But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto FIRE". How could this be said if the Earth still had to go through another flood, in the days of Noah? It wouldn't really be "reserved unto fire" if it had to go through another destruction of water first. 

9.) Gap Theorists use Job 38:1-7 to say that angels existed before the creation week. However, that is just an interpretation, it is not what the text says. I believe that the "foundations of the Earth" were created on Day 3, "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. And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good."(Gen 1:9-10). On the first two days of creation there was only an orb of water, God had not made the dry land appear yet. The earth was created upon water, which broke forth during the Flood (Gen. 1:2, 1:9-10, Ps. 24:1-2, Job 38:16, 38:8-11, Gen. 7:11, 8:2, Job 9:5-6, 12:15, 14:11, 14:18-19, 22:15-16, 26:5-12, 2 Pet. 3:5-6, etc.). Therefore the angels were created on Day 1 or Day 2. But even if it could be proven that Lucifer and the angels existed before the Creation Week, that still has nothing to do with the Earth or its age. 

10.) Most Gap Theorist proof texts are about Satan, not the Earth or a flood. Even if it could be proven that Lucifer fell before the creation week, what would that have to do with the Earth? Proving that Lucifer fell before the creation week has absolutely nothing to do with the age of the Earth (or any destruction/reconstruction). Even if it could be proven that Lucifer fell before the creation week, how could that prove that he was a king over an "original" Earth with a race of angels on it (as the Gap Theorists teach)?

11.) Most Gap Theorists over emphasize the Gap and even go so far as to say that the inspiration and accuracy of the Bible depends on it. David Walker in his book The Bible Believer's Guide to Dispensationalism, says that if the Gap Theory is not true, then the scientific accuracy of the Bible is doubtful. He says that the integrity of scripture pivots heavily upon the Gap Theory and therefore the importance of the Gap "cannot be overvalued" according to him. David Walker plainly states that he is trying to "reconcile" the Bible with "true geologic science" (referring to Darwinian naturalism and Big Bang). He looks down on "young Earth" believers for rejecting Darwinian "science" falsely so called that contradicts the Bible.

• "The importance and significance of whether or not there was a "gap" between Gen. 1:1,2 cannot be overvalued. In fact, Biblical veracity reconciled with true geologic science pivots heavily upon the validity or error of such a "gap". With the "Gap" the historical objectives and goals of Satan and God are clearly played in accordance with the book of Revelation. And the scientific integrity of scripture is retained. Without the gap "creation evangelists turn Noah's flood into the answer for any "old earth" scientific evidence. To the anti-gapers, all geologists, physicists, and other scientists (evolutionists or not) are wrong if they espouse the view of an old earth." (The Bible Believer's Guide to Dispensationalism pg. 220-221)  

If David Walker likes the Gap Theory then fine, but to say that its "importance and significance" "cannot be overvalued" is plain silly! If that is true, then the doctrine of the Gap Theory is more important than  the doctrine of the blood atonement, since it "cannot be overvalued". David Walker really doesn't sound like much of a "Bible believer".


12.) Gap Theorists define "replenish" as "re-fill" in Genesis 1:28, which contradicts the contextual usage of the King James Bible. 

• Genesis 1:27-28 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

Gap Theorists staunchly believe that the word "replenish" in Genesis 1:28 means to "refill". But the word replenish in the transitive case means TO FILL. Webster's 1828 dictionary...

"REPLEN'ISH, verb transitive [Latin re and plenus, full.]

1. To fill; to stock with numbers or abundance. The magazines are replenished with corn. The springs are replenished with water. Multiply and replenish the earth. Genesis 1:28."

That is what the original meaning of the word was in English from the 13th-17th centuries. In 1611 the word replenish only meant to "fill", not refill as it does today (just like the word "gay" has changed meaning). Robert Cawdrey's Alphabetical Table of 1604 (and others) lists "to fill" as the only definition of "replenish". 

But more importantly than man's dictionaries, the word of God itself is its own dictionary and we can see the meaning of the word "replenish" by looking at its usage in the Bible itself.

Isaiah 2:
[6] Therefore thou hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob, because they be replenished from the east, and are soothsayers like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers.
[7] Their land also is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end of their treasures; their land is also full of horses, neither is there any end of their chariots:
[8] Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made:  [replenished is defined as "full"]

Jeremiah 31:25 For I have satiated the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul.  [satiate means to fill]

Adam was the FIRST man, he and Eve were not refilling the Earth when they had children because there were no men on the Earth before their time...

1 Corinthians 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
 
The Gap Theorists cannot use Genesis 1:28 to back their theory, it won't work. 

13.) Gap Theorists often describe the Earth in Genesis 1:2 as "chaotic" and "ruined", but the Bible does not say that. It says "without form and void". This does not mean the Earth was destroyed, it means that God had not created anything on it to give it form and He had not created any creatures yet so it was "void" (empty). "Darkness" was upon the face of the deep because God had not created light yet. 

14.) Gap Theorists quote Isaiah 45:18 in order to teach that the was not originally created without form, but that is not what the verse says. It says that God "created it not in vain" but "formed it to be inhabited". This is in reference to God's PURPOSE for the Earth. He did not create it without purpose (in vain), He formed it to be inhabited (on days 1-4 when He created day/night, land/ocean, sun/moon, etc).  

--Eli "Hoss" Caldwell