Evidence for the Gap Theory From the Description of the Earth
Without Form
The earth is “without form” in Genesis 1:2And 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.
See All.... That means it had no definite shape. It was amorphous like the amoeba. If this is the original creation of the earth, then it was the only creation of God that was not created whole at once. Without the gap, the earth was not completed until the third day of creation (Genesis 1:9-10 [9] 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.
[10] And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.
See All...) and only then did God call it good (v.10).
This would be an incomplete creation. Yet God says that when He does something, nothing can be put to it (Ecclesiastes 3:14I 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.
See All...). Without the gap, this verse must not refer to the creation of the earth.
Without Inhabitant
The earth of Genesis 1:2And 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.
See All... is described as “void.” Void means to be empty or without inhabitant. Yet God says concerning the earth that “he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited” (Isaiah 45:18For 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.
See All...). Again, Genesis 1:2And 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.
See All... is out of character with an original creation.
Without Light
According to the order of Genesis 1:1-3 [1] In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
[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.
[3] And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
See All... when no gap is assumed, God created the earth in darkness. Even after that creation, “darkness was upon the face of the deep” (v.2). Yet, when the foundations of the earth were laid, “the morning stars sang together” (Job 38:7When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
See All...). Did they sing in the dark? This confusion is settled if there was an earth before the present earth.
A Description of Destruction
Taken together, the previous characteristics sound more like the result of some terrible catastrophe than a completed act of God’s creation. This is further verified when compared with descriptions of judgment in other passages of the word of God. Consider the following comparison of Genesis 1:2And 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.
See All... with Jeremiah 4:23I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.
See All....
- Genesis 1:2And 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.
See All... - “without form”
- “void”
- “darkness”
- Jeremiah 4:23I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.
See All... - “without form”
- “void”
- “no light”
In Jeremiah 4, the passage describes a scene of destruction (v.20) resulting from a great war (v.19) which came because of Israel’s disobedience. Can the same words be used to describe both God’s creation and God’s destruction? Can the results of such two opposite forces be identical?
A similar example is found in Nahum 2:10She is empty, and void, and waste: and the heart melteth, and the knees smite together, and much pain is in all loins, and the faces of them all gather blackness.
See All.... In this passage, war and destruction are brought on by sin and wickedness. This destruction is described by words like “empty,” “void,” “waste,” and “blackness.”
Admittedly, Jeremiah 4:23I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.
See All... and Nahum 2:10She is empty, and void, and waste: and the heart melteth, and the knees smite together, and much pain is in all loins, and the faces of them all gather blackness.
See All... are not referring to the events of Genesis 1:2And 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.
See All.... But that is not the question. How can similar, even identical, words in very similar descriptions be used to describe the results of creation in one place and destruction in two others? The natural answer is that they cannot.
The Face of the Deep
A massive amount of water surrounded the earth in Genesis 1:2And 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.
See All.... Wisdom (picturing Christ) was there to “set a compass upon the face of the depth” (Proverbs 8:27When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth:
See All...). This water could be divided so that the oceans could be filled below the first two heavens and yet it could also provide a covering for the second heaven at the edge of out space (Genesis 1:6-8 [6] And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
[7] And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
[8] And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.
See All...). These upper waters are spoken of as the “waters that be above the heavens” in Psalm 148:4Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens.
See All....
The face of the earth being covered by water would be a perfect description of Noah’s flood when the ark went “upon the face of the waters” (Genesis 7:18And the waters prevailed, and were increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters.
See All...). Genesis 1:2And 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.
See All... could then be a description of the original earth after a similar destruction. This would explain God’s promise to never destroy the earth by flood again after Noah’s flood (Genesis 9:8-17 [8] And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying,
[9] And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you;
[10] And with every living creature that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth.
[11] And I will establish my covenant with you, neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.
[12] And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations:
[13] I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.
[14] And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud:
[15] And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.
[16] And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.
[17] And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth.
See All...). If He had done so two times, we might need a promise that He would never do so again, or else every flood would be feared as another complete destruction. He will, in the future, destroy the earth by fire, but never again by flood.
No Joy
Job 38:7When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
See All... teaches that the sons of God (that is, angels) sang and shouted for joy when the foundations of the earth were laid (v.4). Where is the cause for joy in the description of the earth as found in Genesis 1:2And 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.
See All...? It is formless, empty and dark. Nor can this refer to the third day of creation when God finally said that the earth was good (Genesis 1:9-10 [9] 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.
[10] And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.
See All...) because no foundation were laid at that time. Job 38 must be referring to a time before the six-day creation.