Bible Questions Answered: Creation Gap Theory

Bible Questions Answered:
If God, and his creation is so great, why does Genesis say, his creation was without any form and void, hardly a place conducive to life!
Brandon/ Briston, Great Britain UK

Bible Answers:
We must never take one verse out of context and make a principle out of it. This is what is commonly referred to as improper exegesis.
Well, having said that, what does “The Word,” say regarding such a matter.

You are very right, in assuming one thing, whether it be His church or His creation, God is not the Creator of havoc.

I Corinthians 14:33,40 KJV
33 For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.
40 Let all things be done decently and in order.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 KJV
“He hath made every thing beautiful in His time: ...”

Isaiah 45:18 KJV
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.

Isaiah 45:18 NLT
For the Lord is God,and He created the heavens and earth and put everything in place. He made the world to be lived in, not to be a place of empty chaos.
“I am the Lord,” He says,“ and there is no other.


Well, if this be the case, and it is, how do we explain the Genesis 1:2, ruin?

Genesis 1: 1,2 KJV
[1] In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. (God's original creation-but some kind of cataclysmic event took place between vs. 1 & 2.)
[2] And the earth was (This Hebrew word -was- Hayetha, is many times translated-”became.”) 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.

Form: Hebrew: Tohuw: A desolation, desert, a worthless thing, in vain, confusion, empty place, without form, nothing, vain, vanity, waste, wilderness.

Void: Hebrew: Bohuw: To be empty, an indistinguishable ruin, emptiness, void.

Darkness: Hebrew: Choshek: The dark, misery, destruction, death, sorrow, night, obscurity.

Deep: Hebrew: Thown: An abyss, A surging mass of water, the sea or subterranean waters.

(Abingdon Strong)

Not a very nice place to be.
But why this desolation?
For that answer we must turn to the Word of God.

Hints of an answer are found throughout scripture, hints of a judgment that had taken place, before the creation of Adam and Eve.

II Peter 3:5,6 KJV
[5] 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:
[6] Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:

Job 9:5-7 (The anger of God.)
[4] He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength: who hath hardened himself against Him, and hath prospered?
[5] Which removeth the mountains, and they know not: which overturneth them in His anger.
[6] Which shaketh the earth out of her place, and the pillars thereof tremble.
[7] Which commandeth the sun, and it riseth not; and sealeth up the stars.

Isaiah 14:15-17 KJV (Concerning Lucifer)
[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?

Isaiah 24:1 KJV (Pole Shift?)
Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.

Psalm 104:29,30 KJV
[29] Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled: thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust.
[30] Thou sendest forth Thy Spirit, they are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth.

Jeremiah 4:23-27 KJV
[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.

That some great catastrophe took place between Genesis 1:1, and verse 2 seems more than evident.
What it was, we are not told.
Beginning with verse two, we have God's recreation, replenishing of the earth.

Genesis 1:2 "...And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters."

God's Judgment:
Jeremiah 18:1-10 KJV
[1] The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
[2] Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words.
[3] Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.
[4] And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.
[5] Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
[6] O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in Mine hand, O house of Israel.
[7] At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it;
[8] If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.
[9] And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it;
[10] If it do evil in My sight, that it obey not My voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.