Up to now, we have answered the major objections to the gap and have shown that the gap makes more sense according to the text 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.... However, the greatest proof of the gap comes from the history and doctrine of the devil. This teaching will be covered in this section.

The Time Factor

If there was no original creation and destruction, then the devil could predate man by no more than five days. This means that the following events must have occurred between the first day of the six-day creation and the fall of Adam and Eve:

• Lucifer’s service to God as “the anointed cherub that covereth” (Ezekiel 28:11-15 [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.
  See All...).
• The fall of Lucifer because of his pride (Isaiah 14:12-15 [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.
  See All...).
• The fall of the angels who followed Satan (Matthew 25:41Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
  See All...).
• The origin of devils. NOTE: Many Bible scholars equate fallen angels with the devils (or demons, as they say). However, the Bible seems to make a clear distinction between the two.
• The preparation of everlasting fire for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
  See All...). NOTE: This fire must have been prepared after the fall of Satan created the need for it yet before the fall of man condemned him to the same place. Otherwise, it would have been created for Satan, his angels, AND man.

However, the evidence points to a short time between the creation of man and his fall.

•  From Adam’s creation to the birth of Seth was 130 years (Genesis 5:2-3 [2] Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created. [3] And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, and after his image; and called his name Seth:
  See All...).
• Between Adam’s fall and the birth of Seth, Cain and Abel were born (Genesis 4:1-2 [1] And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD. [2] And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.
  See All...), grew to manhood (in a time when this must have been a lengthy process), began their separate occupations (4:2), and sacrificed to God (4:3-4). Cain then killed his brother Abel (4:8) and went from the presence of the Lord to start his own kingdom (4:16). This assures that the stay in the Garden of Eden was a short one.
• Also, Adam and Eve were sent from the garden specifically so that they could not eat of the tree of life and life forever (Genesis 3:22And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:
  See All...). They had evidently not yet eaten of the tree. This also points to a short stay.

Certainly, all of the events of the early history of the devil could have occurred within this short time frame. However, such a scenario seems very unlikely when God’s providential working throughout history and its pace that seems so slow to us in considered.

Finally, Satan is called that “old serpent” (Revelation 12:9And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
See All...; Revelation 20:2And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
See All...). Would being five days older than Adam qualify him for this title? 

Satan’s Claim on the World

Satan is called “the prince of this world” by Christ (John 12:31Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.
See All...) and “the god of this world” by Paul (2Corinthians 4:4In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
See All...). What gives him a claim on this world and when did he get this claim?

In Luke 4:5-6 [5] And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. [6] And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.
See All..., Satan told Christ that all the kingdoms of the world had been delivered unto him (“for that is delivered unto me”). Christ did not deny his claim but rather answered that only God Himself deserved worship (Luke 4:7-8 [7] If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine. [8] And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
See All...). The devil’s claim of having the kingdoms of the world delivered unto him is allowed to stand. But when could this have been done? When Satan shows up in the Garden of Eden before the fall of man, he is already the serpent and is in opposition to God. If Satan had some previous rule over the world, when did he practice this rule?

In Isaiah 14:12-15 [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.
See All..., where Satan’s original rebellion against God is recorded, the devil desired to exalt his throne above the stars of God (v.13). In order to exalt his throne, he had to have a throne. A throne indicates a place of rule and dominion as well as a kingdom to rule over. Yet, this kingdom which was ruled by Satan before the fall was below the stars of God and below the heights of the clouds. What is left? The earth is left. Satan had a throne on the earth before he rebelled against God. This would explain how he got his claim to earth. The earth before 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... was Lucifer’s original domain. It was his original commission from God.

Satan’s Character From the Beginning

The devil was “a murderer from the beginning” (John 8:44Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
See All...) and he “sinneth from the beginning” (1 John 3:8He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
See All...). To what beginning does this refer? It must refer to the beginning of the six-day creation. Nothing else makes sense. 

However, if there is no gap and the devil was created on the first day of the six days of creation, he must have been created as a sinner and a murderer—since he was these things from the beginning. But this is impossible for two reasons.

• First, this interpretation would make God the author of sin.
• Second, the Bible clearly states that the devil was perfect from his creation and that iniquity was not found in him until a later date (see Ezekiel 28:15Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.
  See All...).

He was perfect at the time of his own creation, but was a murderer and sinner at the time of the beginning or creation as we experience it. Therefore, the devil had to fall in sin somewhere between the time of his creation and the beginning of the world as found in the first chapter of Genesis. Only the gap provides a time for this. There is no other option.

The Origin of Devils

This last argument involves some speculation and is not critical to the whole. However, consider the following:

• Devils are evil spirits that follow after Satan.
• Devils are distinguished from evil angels in that angels have bodies and the devils do not.
•  In fact, devils always seem to need to posses a body (see Luke 8:30-33 [30] And Jesus asked him, saying, What is thy name? And he said, Legion: because many devils were entered into him. [31] And they besought him that he would not command them to go out into the deep. [32] And there was there an herd of many swine feeding on the mountain: and they besought him that he would suffer them to enter into them. And he suffered them. [33] Then went the devils out of the man, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the lake, and were choked.
  See All...).

Quite possibly, devils are the disembodied spirits of those beings who originally lived on the pre-adamic earth and who, because of their rebellion against God, are condemned to wander through this present world until their final condemnation to eternal judgment. The devils who faced Jesus were concerned that He had come to torment them “before the time” (Matthew 8:29And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?
See All...). Yet, even if this is not the origin of devils, their existence and origin still must be accounted for in the context 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.... 

Conclusion

God does not deal with the original creation and destruction of the earth in great detail anywhere in scripture. Therefore, there is no need that differences on this issue should divide among true believers of the word of God. However, my studies over the years have convinced me that there was something before our present earth. Too many things were already set at the time of our creation in the six days of the first chapter of Genesis. We will never know much about this time, but I believe that we can rest assured that there was such a time.