Responding to Scriptural Objections to the Gap Theory

Response to the main scriptural objections to the Gap Theory.

1.) Genesis 1:31 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. The “young earth creationists” say that if the Gap Theory were true, then God is calling a fallen Satan good (they also say that it calls the fossil record of death good, but not all Gap Theorists believe that there were animals killed during Lucifer’s flood). This sounds good on the surface, but if you look at the verse in context the “everything that he had made” is the everything he just made in the 6 days. Lucifer was created prior to the 6 days just like the angels (Job 38:7, Ps. 104:4). The verse does not say that God called everting He had ever made throughout eternity good. The context is the 6 days. 

The “young earth creationist” logic would be like saying the apostle Paul never did wrong to any Jews because in Acts 25:10 he said, “to the Jews have I done no wrong, as thou very well knowest”. When in fact, Paul did wrong to many Jews. He had many Jews killed for believing on Christ (Acts 9:1). Every verse has a context and to cherry pick phrases out that sound like they support your argument is not good Bible study. 

2.) 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. The “young earth creationists” say that the Gap Theory cannot be true because everything was made in 6 days and they say that the Gap Theory teaches that God made it some time previously and then did more work during the 6 days. This is a misrepresentation of the Gap Theory. Gap Theorists believe that the heavens and earth “which are now” were made in 6 days. We believe it was created in Genesis 1:1, destroyed in Genesis 1:2, and re made in 6 days during the creation week. 

3.) Mark 10:6 But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female. “Young earth creationists” say that the Gap Theory cannot be true because Mark 10:6 says that the beginning of the creation was the 6 day creation week. However, the context of the “beginning of the creation” is the creation of male and female, not the earth. 

4.) Romans 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: “Young earth creationists” say that the Gap Theory cannot be true because it puts death before Adam’s sin when the Bible says that sin entered the world through Adam. This is obviously a misunderstanding of the verse. Because Lucifer obviously sinned before Adam because he shows up in the garden as a fallen creature casting doubt on the word of God (a sin) and lying to Eve (a sin). Eve sinned before Adam when she ate the fruit first (1 Tim. 2:14). Adam was the head of the wife and head of the human race, so it is him that is responsible for bringing sin into the world of mankind.  

5.) Revelation 21:1 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. The “young earth creationists” say that there could not have been an earth before the one we are on now because the one we are on now is called “the first earth”. This is yet again a misrepresentation, because Gap Theorists believe we are on the same physical earth, just that it was destroyed with a flood and reconstructed in Genesis 1:1-3. 

For a more thorough look at the scriptural answers to the objections to the Gap Theory, see this sermon by Pastor David O’Steen.

“The Objections”

https://www.youtube.com/live/jUi-4cynMIo?si=OPPfebLCADqA72Nl

For a very thorough work on defending the Gap Theory from the Bible, consider purchasing The Gap Fact by Perry Demopolous.

https://store.kjv1611.org/the-gap-fact/

Conclusion on Young Earth Creationism and the Gap Theory

 In conclusion, am I still a “young earth creationist”? By man’s definition, yes. I, like pretty much all Gap Theorists, believe that the earth was made in 6 days about 6,000 years ago and there is no such thing as the Big Bang Theory, Nebular Hypothesis, and molecules to man evolution. I believe Answers in Genesis, the Institute for Creation Research, and Creation Ministries International are doing a good job at showing that the Bible does not contradict science. I think that the Creation Museum and Ark Encounter are good places to visit. 

I think the “young earth creationist” gospel presentations are usually weak. They use a lot of unscriptural cliches such as “repeat this prayer”, “ask Jesus into your heart”, “confess Jesus as Lord of your life”, “turn from your sins”, etc. The gospel is believing that Christ died for your sins, was buried, and rose again the third day (Acts 16:31, Eph. 1:12, 1 Cor. 15:1-4). 

However, I believe the “young earth” science material is very good and I spend a lot of time reading their material. Since June I have read The Created Cosmos by Dr. Faulkner (Answers in Genesis), Taking Back Astronomy (Dr. Jason Lisle), Flood by Design (Michael Oard), The Deep Time Deception (Michael Oard), Thousands not Billions (Dr. Don DeYoung), Fossils: Keys to the Present (Dr. Gish, Dr. Parker, Dr. Bliss), A Question of Origins (Shelby MacFarlane), Footprints in the Ash (John Morris and Steve Austin), Fossil Forensics (Jerry Bergman) and I am currently working on Inside Noah’s Ark by Tim Chaffey. I have read many others over the years, that is just the past three months. I have also heard several of these men lecture in person on the subject. 

You can be a Gap Theorist and still be a “young earth creationist”. Some people do not realize that. I and most Gap Theorists that I know personally believe the earth is only a few thousand years old, even with a “gap” between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2 (check out Robert Breaker’s lesson on YouTube if you do not believe me). 

So why do I put YEC in quotes? Because I do not believe it is a scriptural definition since the heavens, earth, the giants, and Satan are all called “old” in the Bible (Genesis 6:4, 2 Pet. 3:5, Rev. 20:2). After all, a few thousand years is a long time! But I understand why in today’s world we must say “young earth creationist” to distinguish ourselves from the secular evolutionists who believe the universe is about 14 billions years old. 

Scriptures on the Fall of Lucifer supporting the Gap Theory

As stated in my last post, in my mind the strongest proofs of the Gap Theory are the numerous scriptures that plainly say there was a flood at beginning of the creation of earth (Gen. 1:1-2, Job 38:4-12, Ps. 104:1-16, 2 Pet. 3:4-7). The earth as we know it now was “founded” and “established” upon the “seas” and “floods” (Ps. 24:1-2). God created the heaven and the earth in Genesis 1:1 as He said. He did not create it void and empty (Isa. 45:18). It became like that from His judgement (Jer. 4:23). But the heavens and earth which are now were created in six literal 24 hour days about 6 thousand years ago (Gen. chapters 1-3). 

This is not a doctrine to accommodate evolution because evolution is unscriptural and unscientific. (Gen. 1:24-25) 

This is not to accommodate secular astronomy because the second heaven, the firmament, was not created until the six days about 6 thousand years ago (Gen. 1:16-17). 

This is not to accommodate secular geology because secular geology denies any global flood, but the Gap Theory asserts that the Bible teaches two global floods (Gen. 1:2, 7:11). 

The Gap Theory is simply a Bible doctrine based on scriptures about a pre-Adamic flood and the fall of Lucifer. 

The previous post discussed the numerous scriptures on the pre-Adamic flood. This post will discuss the fall of Satan. 

Genesis 3:

1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

2 And the woman said unto the serpent,We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:

3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. 

4 And the serpent said unto the woman,Ye shall not surely die: 

5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

This passage is relevant to the fall of Lucifer in that we know he had to have fallen prior to this event. He shows up as a subtil beguiler (2 Cor. 11:3). His wisdom had already been “corrupted” (Ezek. 28:17). 

The “young earth creationists” say that Gap Theorists are reading assumptions into Genesis 1:1-2 about the fall of Lucifer. However, Genesis 1-3 makes no mention of the fall of Lucifer yet he shows up in chapter 3 as a fallen creature. Therefore there must be a gap somewhere in the first 3 chapters where he fell. No matter where the “young earth creationists” put the fall of Lucifer it is going to be in a gap somewhere in the first three chapters because Genesis does not mention it. 

With that being said, I think that the logical place for his fall is in Genesis 1:2 since we know that there was a judgement of God there (Jer. 4:23). 

Here are the main scriptures on the fall of Lucifer. 

Isaiah 14:

12 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.

Ezekiel 28:

12 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. 

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.

Luke 10:18 And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.

Here are some important points to be made relevant to the matter at hand. 

1.) Lucifer was on earth when he sinned. If he wanted to “ascend into heaven”, “above the stars of God”, “above the heights of the clouds”, “in the sides of the north”, then obviously he was on earth and not in heaven. This is further evidenced by him being “cut down to the GROUND”. The ground is on earth. And after Lucifer sinned God said He would bring him to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold him, which will happen at the battle of Gog and Magog at the end of the Millennium (Rev. 21:7-10). It would be odd for God to tell Him He would bring him to ashes upon the EARTH if the earth had not been created yet. 

2.) “By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with VIOLENCE, and thou hast sinned” (Ezek. 28:16). It is interesting that violence is mentioned here. Why did God judge the earth with a flood in Noah’s day? “The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with VIOLENCE.” (Gen. 6:11). Satan “was a MURDER from the BEGINNING” (John 8:44). Who would Satan be murdering “from the beginning”? Remember that the “beginning” is Genesis 1:1 and he was judged by a flood in Genesis 1:2. The “violence” and “murder” had to be to those angels under his authority (he was the “anointed cherub” and had a “throne”) that would not follow him as a third of the angels did (Rev. 12:4). Angels are ministering spirits (Ps. 104), but they have physical bodies as well and can make “war” with each other (Rev. 12:7, Gen. 6:1-4). They can “die like men” (Ps. 82:6-7). This parallels how we know Satan operates when he has a throne on the earth, he murders those that will not worship him (Rev. 13:15). He did it on the earth previously in Genesis 1:1-2 and will do it again in Daniel’s 70th week. 

3.) Lucifer had a “throne” on the earth (Isa. 14:13). Clearly then he had a position of authority on the earth. This explains why he was so keen on usurping Adam’s authority and “dominion” over the earth (Gen. 1:26-28). Satan wanted his former dominion back that he had when he was in “Eden the garden of God” (Ezek. 28:15). 

With this being said, in these posts we have seen that:

1.) the earth was created in Genesis 1:1 prior to the 6 days

2) there was a pre-Adamic flood

3.) that Lucifer was on the earth before he fell from heaven

This is a pretty solid foundation for the Gap Theory.