A Response to Dr. Heiser's Critique of the Gap Theory

We've discussed the Gap Theory previously (and its importance to proper interpretation of a number of truths), but I'd like to post a quick response to this Michael Heiser clip wherein he rejects it. 

 Here are links to previous, related blog entries:

• What Happened to Make the Earth Without Form and Void?
• Quick Thought on the Gap Theory
• Is Tartarus a Place of Water?

In regard to the content and premise put forth by Dr. Heiser, I'd just say that not all Gap Theory adherents teach that the fossils were formed during the Gap. I personally believe the fossils were formed during Noah's flood (but I don't think it's terribly important). In any case, Dr. Heiser doesn't seem terribly familiar with the full biblical argument (and he gets the scripture reference wrong). If he is familiar with the full argument, he doesn't do it justice.

He bases the bulk of his argument on the word translated "was" in Genesis 1:2. As we will see, I believe "was" is not a proper translation of the Hebrew (nor can it be). But even with the word "was," we have the whole witness of scripture which witnesses to a Gap and great destruction between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2. The Plan of God and the implications for the ages is seen in a proper understanding of Genesis 1.

And the earth was [became, Hebrew: hâyâh] without form [tôhû], and void [bôhû]; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

The word translated "was" in Gen 1:2 is "hâyâh" which clearly means to "become"

Brown-Driver-Briggs' 

to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out
1a1a) to happen, fall out, occur, take place, come about, come to pass
1a1b) to come about, come to pass
1a2) to come into being, become

Strong's Concordance

A primitive root (compare H1933); to exist, that is, be or become, come to pass (always emphatic, and not a mere copula or auxiliary): - beacon, X altogether, be (-come, accomplished...)

Heiser references scripture, but fails to quote it. He refences the context, but does not give it. Be your own judge. He references Isaiah 34:11 for some reason, but the proper reference is Isaiah 45:18

"Thus saith Jehovah that created the heavens;
Elohim himself that formed the earth, and made it;
He hath established it,
He created it not [tôhû]." [i.e. not empty]

He likes the NKJV, so here it is there:

For thus says the Lord,
Who created the heavens,
Who is God,
Who formed the earth and made it,
Who has established it,
Who did not create it [empty or a waste],
Who formed it to be inhabited:
I am the Lord, and there is no other.

Heiser also references Jer 4:23, but only points to the darkness and seeks to justify it. His argument is that God "hides in the darkness" Yet we need to read the entire passage.

I beheld the earth, and indeed it was without form, and void;
And the heavens, they had no light.
24 I beheld the mountains, and indeed they trembled,
And all the hills moved back and forth.
25 I beheld, and indeed there was no man,
And all the birds of the heavens had fled.
26 I beheld, and indeed the fruitful land was a wilderness,
And all its cities were broken down
At the presence of the Lord,
By His fierce anger.

The land became "without form and void" because of the Lord's "fierce anger." This is not simply God dwelling in dark secrecy, this is a display of God's destruction because of sin in his anger. Thus, we have verse 3 in Genesis 1 starting with "let there be light." The heavens "had no light" as a result of God's anger. These are parallel, biblical ideas.

Darkness is very much connected to judgment.

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, darkness which may even be felt.” So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days.

-Exodus 10:21-22 

This truth has relevance to our redemption. Paul recalls this calling of light ("let there be light") out of "darkness" as a picture of own re-creation in the Lord. The Lord in Genesis 1 commanded light to shine out of darkness which parallels calling us out of "darkness" (judgment) into his glorious light. 

For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

-2 Cor 4:6

He has called Israel out of her darkness and judgment under the law into the light of his promises.

But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light...

-1 Peter 2:9

Satan (Lucifer) was in Eden before Adam. He was there in blessing and perfection. So, we must conclude that he either fell sometime before the creation of Gen 1:3 or sometime after Day 7. 

“How you are fallen from heaven,
O Lucifer, son of the morning!
How you are cut down to the ground,
You who weakened the nations!
13 For you have said in your heart:
‘I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;
I will also sit on the mount of the congregation
On the farthest sides of the north;
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,
I will be like the Most High.’
15 Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol,
To the lowest depths of the Pit.

-Isaiah 14

 

You were the seal of perfection,
Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
13 You were in Eden, the garden of God;
Every precious stone was your covering:
The sardius, topaz, and diamond,
Beryl, onyx, and jasper,
Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold.
The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes
Was prepared for you on the day you were created.

14 “You were the anointed cherub who covers;
I established you;
You were on the holy mountain of God;
You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones.
15 You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created,
Till iniquity was found in you.

-Ezekiel 28

If this is Lucifer in the Garden with Adam after Day 6, then he was doing all these things in Eden in perfection. God was done creating Day 6, so Lucifer had to have already been created. Do we want to place Lucifer, in perfection, in Eden after Day 6? If that is so, when was his fall?

And [the Lord Jesus Christ] said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.

-Luke 10:18 

This could be prophetic (Rev 12:9) or it could be a reference to the casting out of Satan to earth after Genesis 1:1. I only include it for your consideration. All of the "very good" creation (including all in Eden) came out of the darkness of Genesis 1:2. If what was created in Genesis 1:1 includes the darkness, can we say it was "good?" This in not a conclusive argument, just part of the whole. When we interpret scripture, we must consider the implications of our concluisons.

Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day. Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.

-Genesis 1:31; 2:1-2

 

We then must look at Peter's testimony.

For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. -KJV


`Where is the promise of his presence? for since the fathers did fall asleep, all things so remain from the beginning of the creation;' -YLT

This cannot be Noah's flood since the context is all things continuing "from the beginning of the creation." So, we have "the heavens" which "were of old" and the "earth" "perished" [Thayer's, Strong's Mounce's: to destroy) in water. The flood of Noah was obviously after the creation. This "destruction" of the earth  was before the current creation, thus things NOW continue as they have from that beginning.

The first heavens and earth were not created void [empty] as we have seen (Is 45:18). The earth became without form and void, in darkness, in God's fierce anger when Lucifer was judged (Is 45:18; Jer 4:23), etc.

That first earth was destroyed 2 Peter 3:6

The following possibility is included for your consideration, it is speculation on my part... I'm not fully convinced of this, but... I believe we live in the second earth and second heavens and there will come a day when we have the "new heavens and the new earth" which will be the third heavens and the third earth (as such).

You don't have to hold to the Gap Truth, it's not necessary for either "Life through his name" (John 20:3-31) or for fellowship, but Heiser is a bit sloppy here, in my opinion. I think there is much truth to be understood when we recognize the Gap. And having time between verses in not unbiblical.

The Gap of Time in Isaiah

Dr. Heiser contends (or at least implies) there is no biblical basis for large gaps in verses. Let's see how the Lord Jesus Christ "rightly divided" a verse into two timeframes separated by thousands of years:

So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. 17 And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:

18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”

Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. 21 And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Do you see it? Isaiah was being fulfilled in their hearing with the Lord in his earthly ministry... but was all of Isaiah 61 being fulfilled? No. What is the other half of that final verse in Isaiah?

and the day of vengeance of our God

That coming day was not yet here when the Lord read Isaiah in the synagogue, so he stopped reading mid-verse. It is part of a future judgment and the restoration of Israel in the land. This verse is split by thousands of years. The passage continues and clearly speaks of future events.

And they shall build the old wastes,
they shall raise up the former desolations,
and they shall repair the waste cities,
the desolations of many generations.

5 And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks,
and the sons of the alien [foreigner] shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers.
6 But ye shall be named the Priests of the Lord:
men shall call you the Ministers of our God:
ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles,
and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves.
[Etc...]

Thus, another GAP of 2000 years or so in seen in Isaiah 61, as taught by the Lord in Luke 4 (despite the Hebrew in Isaiah). There are other examples of gaps of time in statements in scripture. Dr. Heiser's presumptuous arguments do not stand up to scrutiny, in my humble opinion. 

And when we fail to see the Gap (and the related "overthrow" and "overflow" of the earth, we will not rightly divide or understand when the scriptures speak of "the foundation of the ages [world]." And if we fail to see the overthrow and overflow, we will not understand the current calling from "before the foundation of ages" against the callings "since the foundation of the ages." 

• Different Hopes, Different Callings, Different Commands
• Scriptural Mysteries
• An Overview of the Plan of God
• Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth

Quick Thought on The Gap Theory

I was reading a synopsis of a recent book critiquing the Gap Theory. It, in part, reads:

"Taking on all arguments for both Gap Theory and the Day-Age Theory, Fields outlines the clear facts and proofs for Young Earth Creationism."

I think the foundation of the error seems to be the necessity of holding to a "Young Earth." We can certainly hold to a literal 6-day creation and also hold that the earth is impossibly old. The ideas are independent. I hold to both. I hold that the earth was created in perfection, sin entered, it was cast into chaos for an indeterminate amount of time, then God started his 6-day re-creation.

For thus says the Lord, who created the heavens (he is God!), who formed the earth and made it (he established it; he did not create it a chaos, he formed it to be inhabited!): “I am the Lord, and there is no other. -Isaiah 45:18 (RSV

God created an earth which was not in chaos. In Gen 1:2, that earth "became without form [chaotic] and void." What we have from the rest of the Creation account is a re-creation. We have covered that in part HERE, so I'll leave it there.  I certainly believe in a literal 6-day creation, but I also hold that the earth is indeterminately old. How old, I don't know. Scripture is silent.

When I cover the Gap in my Bible group, I try to give all sides and the reasoning behind the different teachings. But what I haven't heard (and I probably should give this author the benefit of the doubt since I've only read the synopsis) is a complete review of the "First Earth" understanding of Gen 1:1.

What if the coming "new earth" is like that "first earth?" No sea (Rev 21:1), pristine, into which Satan's sin was introduced and, by that sin, chaos? We are of Adam. Adam was formed from the dust of the current earth. We are born "in Adam," and God's revelation for this earth is our primary concern.

With that said and understood, part of that revelation is the rebellion of Lucifer and the chaotic and void earth that resulted. It is useful to understand this. The earth was his dominion. He lost that dominion until Adam and Eve gave it back to him. He is "the god of this age" (2 Cor 4:4).

When I first heard of the Gap Theory, it was dismissed as an excuse to accept evolution as part of creation. Well, I reject evolution as nonsense. The Gap has nothing to do with evolution. Believing the earth may be incalculably old does not accommodate evolution nor does it necessarily contradict a 6-day creation.

A proper understanding purports that the 6-day creation is essentially a re-creation. We do not need a "Young Earth" to reject evolution or any other witness of Genesis or scripture in general.

What Happened To Make the Earth Without Form and Void?

When I was converted, I came into Christianity with 25 years of religion under my belt. The first thing I had to do was undo 25 years of training and indoctrination. This is where I first understood the need to "study to show [myself] approved unto God" (2 Tim 2:15). In that process, I was suddenly exposed to many different systems and theories.

One such theory is the so-called "Gap Theory." Initially, I dismissed it as simply an attempt to compromise with the theory of evolution. But then I heard J. Vernon McGee teaching on the subject and I noticed other fairly sound sources teaching it.

As we saw in my most recent post, the Bible is not about eternity, it is about the ages. We have also seen many times how God chooses to hide some things in Himself and how he has revealed other things over time. Gen 1:1 is not about the birth, life, suffering, death, and resurrection of the Lord. Those truths are unfolded over time. The disciples themselves didn't quite understand the ministry of the Lord until they had their understanding opened after his resurrection.

And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day... -Luke 24:44-46

We need not understand all that happened between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2, but we can infer from the commentary of scripture (the best interpreter of scripture).

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. -Gen 1:1-2

 Unfortunately, here in NKJV (as in a number of translations) we have the word "was" used when "became" is the better translation. That is, "the earth BECAME without form [to-hu] and void." This is not only a more accurate rendering of the Hebrew, it fits the witness of Scripture.

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 [to-hu], he formed it to be inhabited: I am the Lord; and there is none else. - Isaiah 45:18

It was formed to be inhabited, but it was not ready for Adam until God brought some order out if the chaos. Where did this chaos start? If the earth was not created "without form" how did it become without form? The answer seems to lie with Lucifer's prideful rebellion.

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. 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. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. -Ezek 28:13-15

When we first meet Satan (the "Shining one") in Genesis 3, he is not "perfect" in his ways, although created that way. Iniquity was found in him, and that is what is brought chaos to the earth created for him (initially).  Let's look at the New Jerusalem which comes down to the New Earth. The original earth lists 10 precious stones, the New Jerusalem lists 12.

The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all kinds of precious stones: the first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, the fifth sardonyx, the sixth sardius, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. The twelve gates were twelve pearls: each individual gate was of one pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass. -Rev 21:19-21

We can see that there was a perfect earth (where in the universe, we do not know) which was the domain of Lucifer.  His iniquity sent it into chaos. Out of that chaos (for how long, we do not know), God created the ages in which our father, Adam, was placed.

And there was no more sea. -Rev 21:2

The New Earth may reflect the original earth down to which the New Jerusalem comes.  It has no sea. Water was used by the Lord to destroy wicked man in Noah's day, but could the original, perfect earth have been without water as well until Satan's rebellion?

We look to Peter's testimony as we examine this possibility.

For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. -2 Peter 3:4-7

We are tempted to see this as the Noahic flood which Peter references in his first epistle. But upon closer inspection we see the contrast, "but the heavens and the earth which are now." We know the coming new earth will be part of the "third heaven" (2 Cor 12:2). We have the earth that was then (Lucifer's domain), the present earth, and the third earth to come (the New earth).



The earth had a water baptism, it will one day have a baptism by fire. This chart by Clarence Larking gives us an overview of the history and future of the earth (I don't hold to the traditional Rapture, but that and other traditional datings do no harm to the point).

Note what we see in our passage from 2 Peter 3:

But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

We see the destructive power of both fire and water in the Lord's dealing with the child with the mute spirit in Mark 9:

So He asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him? And he said, “From childhood. And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”

Two of the most destructive (if not the most destructive) forces on earth are fire and water.

Regardless of how we see Peter's reference, we know something cataclysmic happened to thrown the earth from tranquility and perfection into formless chaos. How long that period lasted and how it affected the entire universe, we only see some of the results. The earth could very well have been the center of the universe until Lucifer's rebellion. There is much we do not know about the ages before the ages of Adam. We dare not speculate too much, but it does bring balance to scripture (Genesis and Revelation) and it does answer some questions about evil and Adam's fate in the garden.