The
Gap Between Genesis One One and Genesis One Two
In the course
of a recent Bible study, one of my teachers (Les Feldick Ministries) was discussing
the Scripture related to the Creation. Part of his message was initiated by the
“apparent gap” between the events in Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1: 2. There have been different theories about what might have happened in that
apparent time span between God’s perfect creation of the heaven and the Earth
as noted in Verse One, and the dreadful appearance of the Earth (without mention of the “heaven”) in Verse
Two.
As Pastor
Feldick gave his thoughts, he introduced the audience to a publication titled: “We
Are Not the First”, by Andrew Tomas. That publication presented logical
arguments that seemingly contradict the Bible. [Pastor Feldick later did not attempt
to address all those “logical / scientific findings”, but rather offered other perspectives.]
Many Bible
skeptics and others have pointed to archaeological evidence that they say
proves that man and many animal species lived on the Earth long before the
Bible records seem to indicate. Their evidence suggests man was on the Earth as
long as millions of years ago, rather than the approximate 6,000 years
indicated by scholars from the Nation of Israel whose ancestors recorded the
Lord’s words as expressed in the Bible.
Therefore some, if not many skeptics have concluded that none of the words of the
Bible Scripture should be believed.
What those
skeptics and others have not done is to read the Bible in its entirety with clarity
and understanding. As with many other “controversial”
issues, the Bible itself provides many answers.
Further, what the skeptics and some others don’t accept is that our Christianity
is based on the concept of “Faith”. The
Bible defines “faith” as “the substance of things
hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews 11: 1) For
Christians, the single most important question is in what or in whom do
we place our faith.
The answer to that question is the key to Christianity
itself. Our Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ.
I raise this
point because it is important to stress that unless the Bible Scripture is
taken as a whole, critical parts of what God wants us to know about Jesus can
be easily lost. The “gap” in time between Genesis 1: 1 and Genesis 1: 2, points
to an area of potential interest to many scientists and others. However, that “gap” is not crucial to what God
wants man to understand about Jesus at this critical point in our history. Otherwise,
He would have addressed it in more detail. The focus of man’s understanding of
the Scripture should be to gain the knowledge of not only who Jesus is, but
also to have faith in what He has accomplished for us.
·
Note
From the teachings of Paul, the Apostle of the Gentiles: 16 All
scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is
profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness: 17 That the
man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. (2 Timothy
3: 16-17);
Note also the
words of the Apostle Peter to Jesus’ followers who had been scattered from the
Jerusalem Church: 9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some
men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any
should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
15 And account that the longsuffering of our
Lord is salvation;
even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him
hath written unto you; (2 Peter 3: 9, 15)
The terms “repentance”
and “salvation” mean changing men’s minds so that they do not have to suffer
the penalty of death that was passed on to all mankind due to the sin of Adam
in the Garden of Eden. (Romans
3: 22-25) That “good news / Gospel was
given to man through the Apostle Paul’s Bible Scripture found in 1 Corinthians
15: 1-, and Romans 10: 9-13.
True
Christian believers don’t require “absolute proof of the authenticity”
of the Scripture being the “Word of God”. There is enough in the history of mankind that we know has
come true, that we can accept the rest (prophecy and otherwise) by faith.
Even so, let’s
see some of what the Bible does say (with BOLD and other emphasis added):
· Our God keeps some things
secret: 29 The
secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but
those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever,
that we may do all the words of this law. (Deuteronomy 29: 29)
·
Now faith is the substance of things hoped
for, the evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews
11: 1); 17 So then faith cometh by
hearing, and hearing by the word of God. (Romans 10: 17)
Some language
of the Bible Scripture might be deemed as “somewhat ambiguous”, such as that
cited above relating to the time “gap” in the early verses of the Book of
Genesis. However, Christians and other Bible students must remember that it
would be impossible to address in detail every question that arises during
study. Further, it would present a distraction from the primary message. Always
try to identify the primary message!
Even so, not
every passage or chapter in the Bible is easily understood by many. We don’t overlook the difficult parts, but sometimes
there are other ways to approach them.
Remember the point
raised by the Ethiopian Eunuch when he had difficulty understanding part of the
Scripture related to our Lord Jesus. He
asked Philip (the messenger sent by God) “ How can I (understand), except some man should guide me?” (Acts 8: 26-39) At some point, each of us can learn and benefit from the knowledge of others.
Still
another means of obtaining clarity from the Scripture is to continue reading!
There is a saying that: “The Bible Interprets Itself”. I don’t know the identity of the first person
who made that statement, but I’ve found it to be quite true.
Keeping that
in mind, I’d like to share some additional information I generated while
preparing this post. You might find it
interesting as it relates to the earlier discussion of the “gap” between the
first two verses of the Book of Genesis.
From the Book of Job, (the oldest Book of
the Bible), the Chapters critical to this discussion are
those numbered 39, 40 and 41. In the prior chapter (38), the LORD had challenged
Job regarding his knowledge of some characteristics of animals that God
had created, including the lion and the raven. Then in Chapter 39, the LORD continued to
expose Job’s lack of such knowledge by expanding His list of animals to include
wild goats, peacocks, ostrich, horse, and grasshoppers, among others. These
were animals that were widely known to man both then and now. However, very
notable among those animals listed, the LORD added the “unicorn”, whose
existence has long been questioned by many. Then in Chapters 40 and 41 respectively, the
LORD questioned Job on his knowledge of the “behemoth” and the “leviathan”. Today man would regard these two massive
creatures as “dinosaurs” which had to have predated the creation of man
as most would interpret our Bible Scripture.
An additional reference that you might find interesting and
helpful when looking at this issue of “Time” in the Bible is: https://aish.com/the-age-of-the-universe-one-reality-viewed-from-two-different-perspectives/ . Some further
perspective could also be gained:
·
From the scripture of King
Solomon, known as the wisest man to have lived: 9 The thing
that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that
which is done is that which shall be done: and there
is no new thing under the sun. 10 Is there any thing whereof it
may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was
before us. 11 There is no remembrance of
former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to
come with those that shall come after. (Ecclesiastes 1: 9-11)
· Also from
the scripture of King Solomon,: To every
thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: 10 I have seen the travail,
which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it. 11 He hath made every thing
beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world
in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from
the beginning to the end. 4 I know that, whatsoever
God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken
from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him. 15 That which
hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth
that which is past. (Ecclesiastes 3: 1, 10-11, 14-15)
I share these Bible verses because the Scripture includes them to
be part of our overall knowledge base. When
God spoke to Job (as noted above), and when King Solomon wrote in the
Book of Ecclesiastes, there was no apparent link to the time “gap” noted in the
title of this post. Or perhaps we were to
consider them in that context as we continued to read. That is part of what makes Bible study so
interesting.
However, my major point in sharing this latter information is to stress
that there will invariably be differences in the interpretation of what is
stated in Bible Scripture…and what is not.
We must consider that God may not
answer every question that we might have, but He will tell us everything
that we need to know to be restored to Him. His priority is the redemption and
restoration to Himself of as many of humanity as who are willing to believe
Him. Our pathway to that salvation is through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
(1 Corinthians 15: 1-4; Romans 10: 9-13)
Dr. W. A. (Bill) Robinson
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