The Gap Theory

[Dr. John Nay]

What is the Gap Theory?

Answer: A long period of time, perhaps billions of years in duration, supposedly fits between the first two verses of Genesis.

Not everyone agrees on the specifics of this theory, but the basic idea goes like this:

Billions of years ago God created a perfect Heaven and Earth. Satan was ruler of Earth, which was populated by a race of men without souls. Eventually, Satan, who dwelled in the Garden of Eden (Ezekiel 28:12ff.), rebelled against God (Isaiah 14:12ff.). Because of the rebellion of Satan, sin entered the universe and brought on Earth God?s judgment in the form of a global flood (water of Genesis 1:2). Next came a global ice age when light and heat from the Sun were somehow removed. The coal, petroleum, and fossils on Earth today are a result of this flood, often referred to as Lucifer?s Flood. Generally, with this view, Noah?s flood is regarded as a local flood.

Argument For: In Genesis 1:2 we read, ?Now the Earth was formless and empty, ....? (NIV) It is argued that the word ?was? can be translated ?became?, i.e. the Earth became formless and empty. It became formless and empty as a result of God?s judgment on it in the form of a global flood.

Problems with this theory:

1. Although it is true that the Hebrew word translated ?was? can be translated ?became?, but it is not in this passage.
Why isn?t it translated ?became? in this passage?

Answer: Because that would be a crummy translation!

Explanation: The Hebrew word translated ?was? is ?hayetha? and not the Hebrew word ?haphak?. ?Hayetha? denotes a state of being. I.e. Earth was formless and void; not became formless and void (change of state).

Illustration: A potter takes a clump of clay from which he is going to form a bowl. The clump of clay is formless relative to what he is going to form it into, although the clump of clay does have form, i.e. it is composed of matter (atoms), which by definition occupies space and has weight. You see, the word ?formless? means what it is used to mean. The clump of clay is formless (state of being) relative to what the potter is going to form it into. The clump of clay did not become formless (change of state) as a result of someone smashing a pot.

Further Explanation: Soooooo, the condition of Earth was that it was simply formless relative to what God was going to form it into. It did not become formless as a result of God?s judgment on it in the form of a flood.

2. This theory proposes there was death before sin.

When did sin enter the world?

Answer: When Adam sinned. (Genesis 3:6 cf. Romans 5:12)

Explanation: Adam did not sin in Genesis 1:1, but Genesis 3:6.

3. The ?proof? texts for the Gap Theory are taken out of context. These ?proof? texts are: Isaiah 14:12-17; 24:1, Jeremiah 4:23-24, Job 9:5, & Ezekiel 28:12-15.

Note: Most often the King James Version (old) is used with these Scriptures, which is very difficult to understand at best.

4. The flood of Noah was not a ?local? flood, but a global flood.

So, why try to force this view into the Bible?

Probable Answer: To find a convenient place to place the billions of years of evolution.

(This is not the place, nor is there any place in God?s Word to place the philosophy of evolution, because evolution is not true!)

Soooooo, the Gap Theory leaves a huge gap of support from God?s Word.

[Skepti Que]

How large is the context?
Doc cites the following passage:
Ezek 28:11-19
12 "Son of man, take up a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say to him, 'Thus says the Lord GOD,
"You had 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 ruby, the topaz, and the diamond;The beryl, the onyx, and the jasper;The lapis lazuli, the turquoise, and the emerald;And the gold, the workmanship of your settings and sockets,Was in you. On the day that you were created They were prepared. 14 "You were the anointed cherub who covers,And I placed you there.You were on the holy mountain of God;You walked in the midst of the stones of fire. 15 "You were blameless in your ways From the day you were created, Until unrighteousness was found in you. 16 "By the abundance of your trade You were internally filled with violence,And you sinned;Therefore I have cast you as profane From the mountain of God.And I have destroyed you, O covering cherub,From the midst of the stones of fire. 17 "Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty;You corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor. I cast you to the ground; I put you before kings,That they may see you. 18 "By the multitude of your iniquities, In the unrighteousness of your trade,You profaned your sanctuaries.Therefore I have brought fire from the midst of you; It has consumed you,And I have turned you to ashes on the earth In the eyes of all who see you. 19 "All who know you among the peoples Are appalled at you;You have become terrified,And you will be no more."' " NAS

This sounds to me like Ezekiel is speaking of the king of Tyre. Maybe the context holds a clue.

The head of the chapter is this:

Ezek 28:1-2
28:1 The word of the LORD came again to me saying, 2 "Son of man, say to the leader of Tyre, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, NAS

Right after what Doc Cites is this:

Ezek 28:20-22
20 And the word of the LORD came to me saying, 21 "Son of man, set your face toward Sidon, prophesy against her, 22 and say,'Thus says the Lord GOD, NAS

Maybe the surrounding chapters hold a clue.

Look at what comes after:
Ezek 29:1-2
29:1 In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth of the month, the word of the LORD came to me saying, 2 "Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and prophesy against him and against all Egypt. NAS

Ezek 31:1-2
31:1 And it came about in the eleventh year, in the third month, on the first of the month, that the word of the LORD came to me saying, 2 "Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt, and to his multitude,
'Whom are you like in your greatness? NAS

Ezek 32:1-2
32:1 And it came about in the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, on the first of the month, that the word of the LORD came to me saying, 2 "Son of man, take up a lamentation over Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say to him,
'You compared yourself to a young lion of the nations,
Yet you are like the monster in the seas;
And you burst forth in your rivers,
And muddied the waters with your feet,
And fouled their rivers.'" NAS

Maybe what comes before is a clue:

Ezek 25:1-3
25:1 And the word of the LORD came to me saying, 2 "Son of man, set your face toward the sons of Ammon, and prophesy against them, 3 and say to the sons of Ammon,' Hear the word of the Lord GOD! NAS

Ezek 25:8
8'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Because Moab and Seir say, 'Behold, the house of Judah is like all the nations,' NAS

Ezek 25:12-13
12'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Because Edom has acted against the house of Judah by taking vengeance, and has incurred grievous guilt, and avenged themselves upon them," 13 therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, "I will also stretch out My hand against Edom NAS

Ezek 25:15-16
'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Because the Philistines have acted in revenge and have taken vengeance with scorn of soul to destroy with everlasting enmity," 16 therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I will stretch out My hand against the Philistines, NAS

Ezek 26:1-3
:1 Now it came about in the eleventh year, on the first of the month, that the word of the LORD came to me saying, 2 "Son of man, because Tyre has said concerning Jerusalem, 'Aha, the gateway of the peoples is broken; it has opened to me. I shall be filled, now that she is laid waste,' 3 therefore, thus says the Lord GOD,' Behold, I am against you, O Tyre, NAS

Ezek 27:1-4
Moreover, the word of the LORD came to me saying, 2 "And you, son of man, take up a lamentation over Tyre; 3 and say to Tyre, who dwells at the entrance to the sea, merchant of the peoples to many coastlands,' Thus says the Lord GOD,
"O Tyre, you have said, 'I am perfect in beauty.'
4 "Your borders are in the heart of the seas;
Your builders have perfected your beauty. NAS

Doc may be right about the Gap Theory. It is the use of scripture out of context as he mentions which distresses me. The context clears up many misunderstandings and applications of scripture. Look at the surrounding context of the other passages Doc cites and you see a similar misuse. In fact I could have continued in a similar way with the others but I figure most readers have stopped before now anyway.


I think a straight forward reading of scripture as Doc advocates in the understanding of Genesis applies here as well. God and Ezekiel are condemning the nations around Judah for their sins of pride and disobedience. It is as if none are exempt, including the remnants of Israel and Judah. It seems as though reading Satan into Ezekiel 28:12ff is saying more than the scriptures suggest.
Hyperbole and metaphor are good poetic tools to describe the opulence of Tyre and her kings and princes. They had the best of the best and what did it do for them? It became their downfall and their destruction.

Matt 11:21-22
21 "Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles had occurred in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22 "Nevertheless I say to you, it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment, than for you. NAS

[Dr. John Nay]

Skepti Que, nice to have you back. As you know things have been rather quiet on the forums. I haven't encouraged any activity as I've been traveling and am still on the road until August 9th. Thank you for your comprehensive reply relative to the King of Tyre.

As you know the text cited, Ezekiel 28:11-19, is one of the ?proof? texts for those that endorse the Gap Theory. I personally do not believe in this theory for many reasons, one of which is that I believe Ezekiel 28:11-19 is clearly referring to the King of Tyre and nothing more.

[julian]

Dear Dr John, I'm curious about your rejection of Ezekiel 28:11-19 as referring to Satan. First, the first part of Ezekiel refers to the "prince' of Tyre who is clearly referred to as a man. So who is this prince if we also have a king of the same city? Second, in Daniel 10:13 Jesus tells Daniel that he has been opposed by the 'prince of the kingdom of Persia'. A footnote in my bible refers to the Hebrew which apparently uses 'kings of Persia'. Jesus is then assisted by Michael, one of the 'chief princes'. Michael is presumably the archangel described in Revelation and his title 'chief of princes' appears to be an angelic title. As Jesus is not yet incarnate he is presumably fighting a heavenly opponent just as Revelation describes a war in heaven with 'the dragon and his angels'. The terms kings and princes can therefore be applied to angels and spiritual powers.

The reference in Ezekiel 11-19 clearly refers to a person present in Eden. We are told he was 'cast as a profane thing from the mountain of God, and the guardian cherub drove you out from the midst of the stones of fire'. Was any prince or king of Tyre ever present in Eden or driven out by a guardian cherub? This is the same as the language used in Genesis 3:24 where a guardian angel drives out Adam and Eve.

[Dr. John Nay]

Julian,

Please do not misunderstand, the following is not in boast: I graduated Summa Cum Laude from Trinity Theological Seminary, spoke at my commencement, and am a Fellow with Trinity, but do not hold to any form of pre-millennialism. I do not wish to ?beg the questions?, but to qualify my terse replies. My personal eschatological view is diametrically opposed to pre-millennialism. I mention this, in part, because of your referral to Daniel 10:13 and Revelation 12. Soooooooo, my responses will be short. (Perhaps in the future when I have more time available I will start a forum on end times.)

I believe that the prince of Tyre in Ezekiel 28:1 and the king of Tyre in verse 12 are the same, and that this king was possibly Ittobaal. The LORD is drawing a parallel between Adam?s fall and the King of Tyre?s fall, i.e. like Adam you were in the Garden. This parallel is done using figurative (poetic form) language, drawing a word picture and (I believe) not to be taken literally.

Ezekiel 28:13 - ?every precious stone adorned you: ruby, topaz and emerald, ... ? As we know, Adam was naked (Gen. 2:25) and when he was clothed, initially, it was with fig leaves (3:7).

Ezekiel 28:14 - ?You were anointed as a guardian cherub,....? Gen. 3:24 - ?After he [LORD] drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword....? The LORD drove Adam from the Garden and a plurality of angels were stationed.

Ezekiel 28:14 - ?... You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones.? The Genesis account does not mention the ?mount of God?, nor fiery stones.

Ezekiel 28:16 - ?Through your widespread trade you were ....? Tyre was the New York harbor of the region during this time and dealt in extensive trade.

Ezekiel 28:17 - ?...I made a spectacle of you before kings.? 28:7 - ?I am going to bring foreigners against you, the most ruthless of nations;....? Initially the Babylonians and later the Greeks under Alexander the Great completely destroyed the city.

I think the strongest support for the ?prince of Tyre? and the
king of Tyre being the same man is from simply reading 28:1-12, keeping in mind three passage questions:

1. Who is speaking in the passage.
2. To whom is he speaking.
3. What did it mean to whom it was said at the time it was said.

During my graduate work I had opportunity to study under, what I believe to be, very intelligent, God-loving and God-fearing men. Prior to graduate work I studied under very intelligent, God-loving and God-fearing men. I found myself addressing the question: How can these men have view from the same Bible so diametrical to each other? My personal conclusion? The hermeneutics (principles of interpretation) they accepted as credible by these men were different. Please allow me to illustrate this point.

In Matthew 24:6 one reads, ?You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.? (NIV) I found that both groups agreed that the ?You? of this verse is referring to the ?disciples? (v. 3) and that the ?end? still to come is the fall of Jerusalem that occurred in AD 70 under the leadership of Titus (Roman General). One group says that this verse is dually prophetic and the other says that it is not. I choose to err on, what I believe, is the conservative side, i.e. it is not dually prophetic. The ?principle? of interpretation accepted on the dually prophetic side is that a passage is dually prophetic if we see similar circumstances occurring today. My personal challenge with this ?principle? is that the only limitation I see to it is one?s imagination. Therefore, if I err, I choose to err on what I believe is the conservative. side.

Sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo, personally, I believe that Ezekiel 28 is prophetic of the King of Tyre and the city only and was fulfilled by the Babylonians and Greeks. The same is true for the passage in Isaiah 14, i.e. the passage is referring to the King of Babylon (and Nation) and no more. My personal view of the book of Revelation places me toward the end of the Book and I believe that the seventieth week of Daniel is in the past.

[Skepti Que]

I heard a TV sermon on this passage and the topic ot the KOT a couple of weeks ago. It's not my usual habit but the Tv was on while I was getting ready for church. The preacher stated that the KOT was a real person but that then Ezekiel looked right beyond him in space and time to the power behind the throne, (Satan). I missed his full application. I don't remember who the preacher was but perhaps a web search would turn up a transcript, or a way to buy the tape. I think that the context supports the KOT being a real person. The passage in question is in the midst of condemnations of all the peoples around Judah. I also think if you studied Ezekiel and the other prophets carefully you would find that Judah was guilty of all of the sins for whick Ez. condemns her neighbors.
SQ

[Dr. John Nay]

I have a challenge with ?... looked right beyond him in space and time to the power behind the throne, (Satan). I think of an old saying, ?Wonderful things in the Bible I see, things put there by you and by me.? I realize this may sound a little judgemental, but I don?t know where one would stop with this approach to Scripture.