GAP THEORY
Subtitled: A funny thing happened on the way to Adam and Eve’s.

What is the Gap Theory? It is a space of time before Adam and Eve. It is a time between the original creation, a time not known to man, and the time in which the earth was replenished to meet the dispensational needs of Adam and Eve and all their progeny.

When people are wondering, “Where did we come from,” we almost always come back to Adam and Eve. The Bible says a lot, before we even hear of them. We have to jump ahead, oddly enough, to go back before Adam and Eve. We are actually dealing with two beginnings. Before the beginning of anything, the Bible says that Jesus was the first of God’s creation. Proverbs 8:22-31; Micah 5:2; John 1:10; 8:58, and 17:24; Colossians 1:15; Hebrews 1:5-6, and Revelation 3:14; are the most pointed. See: When Did Jesus Come Into Existence?

I find myself wondering; Where did Satan come from and when? I wondered if the Angels were around the throne of God, and serving Him before the creation of Jesus? Heaven, (God’s domain) is not the same as the “heavens” that were “created in the beginning.” God was, wherever He was, for however long it was, when He created the pre-incarnate Jesus, and then it was Jesus that co-created the heaven and the earth at some later time. As mentioned in, “When Did Jesus Come Into Existence?” God is a spirit and the pre-incarnate Christ had a body. If that body could have “just been there,” (with God from eternity past) then it is possible that the inert ingredients, which make up the planets and stars, could also have, “just been there,” without benefit of creation. This is a whole other subject.

Jumping ahead again, with the Bible saying that Jesus was the co-creator in mind, we now come to Genesis 1:1. In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. This is an obvious fact. This is also where the “gap” in Gap Theory, comes in. The gap is between Gen. 1:1 and 1:2. Scofield’s Reference Bible notes say, “The first creative act refers to the dateless past, and gives scope for all geologic ages.”

As a truck driver, I saw much of this nation’s geology. It seemed to me that the earth had to be much older than six thousand years. One place in West Virginia had three-thirty inch layers of coal, separated by ten-or-so feet of rock. If that wasn’t enough, back when it was all flat, then the mountains were pushed up; probably when God called for the dry land to appear and subsequent geologic episodes. If those layers of coal represented previous forests, that alone would require many more than six thousand years to complete. Noah’s flood could not possibly account for that much sedimentary rock laced with three distinct layers of coal, not to mention the amount of time it would take for the mountains to be pushed up that high.

Another of Scofield’s references has an interesting note that ties Gen. 1:2 to Jer. 4:23, Isa. 24:1 and Isa. 45:18. Notice the language in Jer. 4:23, “I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.” These portions of scripture are a window to the past. This scripture looks beyond the judgment of Judah and the destruction that came to her, much like Ezk. 28:1-19 and Isa. 14:9-14, which certainly go beyond the kings of Tyre and Babylon. For instance, in Ezk. 28:13, there is no way that the king of Tyre was ever in the Garden of Eden. It speaks directly to Satan. See the scriptures (Ezk. and Isa.) below.

Genesis 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.

Jeremiah 4:23-28

23. I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. 24. I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly. 25. I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled. 26. 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. 27. For thus hath the LORD said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end. 28. 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 word, “was” in verse 23 can also be translated, “became.”

Isaiah 24:1  Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.

Isaiah 45:18  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.

In reference to, “In the beginning,” the RSV, NAS, NIV, Amp and NKJV all say, God created the heavens and the earth. The KJV and the TEV say “heaven” and “universe,” respectively. The KJV and TEV are more correct. I think the KJV is the most correct in that the universe includes all of outer space and the planets, stars, etc. I believe the earth’s heaven was created first and then the earth. The “heavens” (as quoted in the other versions) cannot be true, in that, God already lived in the third heaven, when He (they) created the “stage,” (if you will), that this drama, called life, will be played out on. I think our sky and outer space are to be presumed as one in connection to the matter of the earth and its heaven.

The following scriptures look beyond the king of Tyre, to Satan. They may seem out of place, but bear with me.

Ezekiel 28:11-19

11. Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 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. 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.

These scriptures were aimed at the king of Tyre but you will see it goes beyond to Satan.

Isaiah 14:9-17

9. Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations. 10. All they shall speak and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we? Art thou become like unto us? 11. Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee. 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. 16. They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms; 17. That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners?

Please read all the scriptures ahead and behind of what I have quoted here. I am just highlighting the main references to hopefully wet your appetite for a deeper search. I had a Scofield Reference Bible and didn’t even realize there was a Gap Theory until I was visiting my parents in California, and happened to turn on a TV program where Howard C. Estep, of World Prophetic Ministry, was preaching about the subject.

What was Satan’s relation to God and the first earth? Is it possible that Satan was, in fact, on the previous earth and caused God to destroy that first creation or was Satan allowed to act, much like when God turned Job over to Satan? Could Satan have been wooing the people of the first earth to follow him, just like he is on this earth and as Absalom was doing against his father, King David, in 2 Sam. 15? Was Jesus sent to the re-created earth much like in the parable in Matt 21:38? 38. “But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance.” Revelation 12:1-17, also tells a similar story. Vss.3-6, tell in short. Was Satan jealous of Jesus’ and God’s relationship, much like that of Ishmael and Isaac?

Satan could be like the prodigal son that came (along) back with an attitude - his way or the highway. It all seems to fit. Pride is first on God’s hate list and pride would cause someone to not be humble and want to run the show.

Other rivals were, Cain and Abel, Esau and Jacob, Goliath and David. We have Satan - on this earth - tempting Jesus in three instances. God gave Satan a certain amount of power over the earth on this side of Adam and Eve, and I can only assume that he had it on the other side as well.

As Ishmael came before Isaac, did Satan come before Jesus? Rev. 3:14 says Jesus was the first of God’s creation, but does that pertain to the earthy realm? Jesus was creator of the heaven and the earth, but what about the third heaven (God’s domain) and all that pertains to it? This is just a question. I personally think Jesus truly was the first of God’s creation bar none.

Hebrews 1:4-6

4. Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. 5. For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son? 6. And again, when he bringeth in the first begotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.

Obviously Satan and some of the others didn’t like this plan.

2 Peter 2:4-6

4. 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; 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; 6. And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;

Jude 1:6 And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.

1 Corinthians 6:3 Know ye not that we shall judge angels? How much more things that pertain to this life?

God told Adam and Eve to replenish the earth (Gen. 1:28). It is the same Hebrew word as is in Gen. 9:1, when God told Noah and his sons to replenish the earth after the flood.

Could Atlantis have been a city from the first world?

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