Other False Doctrines

^{Shalom All,}
^{I decided to investigate what
is known as the Gap theory and although not finished, below is my findings thus far.}
^{There’s
a doctrine that is referred to as The Gap Theory which teaches that there was another Earth age before the one we lived in
now. They believe there is a gap between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2 where it
says,}
¹In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. ²And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.

The reason they say this is because of the word “was” which they say should be “became” without form and void. i.e. the earth originally had form and was not void and something must have happened to make it become without form and void. On the surface this sounds reasonable so let's examine the Scriptures and the Hebrew word and see why the translators thought this should be the way we should understand the word hâyâh that is translated it “was”.

The Hebrew definition of the word is Strong's 1961

H1961
äÈéÈä
hâyâh
haw-yaw'
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, committed, like), break, cause, come (to pass), continue, do, faint, fall, + follow, happen, X have, last, pertain, quit (one-) self, require, X use.

We see from the above that the word means be or become instead of became i.e. the earth become void. The question is did it become void when it was created or did it become void after something happened and it had to be re-created?
In Isaiah 45:18 it teaches He created the earth not to become void but to be inhabited, so why do people try to say it became void, contrary to scripture?

Isaiah 45:18 says,

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:

The above Hebrew word for “vain” is the same as void and the above Hebrew word “in” is the same word for “become” hâyâh Strong's 1961

The verse teaches that he created the earth not to become void but to be inhabited but people who teach the gap theory overlook this Hebrew word “in” hâyâh that comes before the word vain. The very structure of the sentence tells us that He created the earth to be inhabited.

When YHWH created Adam and Eve, they become naked, same as the earth become dark and void, In Genesis 2:25 it says,

²⁵And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

The word “were” in the above is the same Hebrew word as become in Gen 1, Strong's 1961 hâyâh it is the same word in Genesis one where it says the earth was without form and void. I believe the earth did become dark and void when it was created when YHWH said BE and it Was.

Now did Adam and Eve become naked when they were created or did they have close on and then become naked? The question is did the earth become without form and void when it was created the same as Adam and Eve become naked when they were created? The prophet Isaiah seems to think so because he teaches YHWH did not create the earth to become void but to be inhabited not created to become void.

There are many places this word is used and it does not imply something was the opposite but I will give one or two more. In Genesis 1:21 it says,

²¹And GodH430 createdH1254 greatH1419 whalesH8577, and everyH3605 livingH2416 creatureH5315 that movethH7430, whichH834 the watersH4325 broughtH8317 forthH8317 abundantlyH8317, after their kindH4327, and everyH3605 wingedH3671 fowlH5775 after his kindH4327: and GodH430 sawH7200 that it was goodH2896.

Here is the same word again, “was” good, now I ask did YHWH see that it become good when he created it or was it bad or something opposite from good and then became good?

The same Hebrew word is used again in Ex-3:14 where YHWH said to Moses, “I AM that I AM”, is YHWH saying that He has became what He has became as if He was something else before he became what He is now????

Of course not, He is the same yesterday, today, and forever, He is from everlasting. He was what He was when He spoke to Moses and He is what He is today, THE ETERNAL.

When Moses is telling the people to remember the seventh day, a 24-hour period, and says, “for in six days YHWH made the heavens and the earth, and rested the seventh day,” was he saying to do people that one of the six 24-hour days was one million years long and the other days 24-hour?

Of course not, the people understood that they were 24-hour days.

Another foundational Scripture used by the gap theory Proponents is the word “replenish” as if it was plenished in the beginning and something happened in a first Earth age and earth had to be replenished so let's look up this word. Strong's 4390 it says.

H4390
îÈìÈà îÈìÅà
mâlê’ mâlâ’
maw-lay', maw-law'
A primitive root, to “fill” or (intransitively) be full of, in a wide application (literally and figuratively):—accomplish, confirm, + consecrate, be at an end, be expired, be fenced, fill, fulfil, (be, become, X draw, give in, go) fully (-ly, -ly set, tale), [over-] flow, fulness, furnish, gather (selves, together), presume, replenish, satisfy, set, space, take a [hand-] full, + have wholly.

The primary meaning of the word was to fill the earth compare the following.

Gen-1:21-22

²¹And GodH430^H430 createdH1254^H1254 greatH1419^H1419 whalesH8577^H8577, and everyH3605^H3605 livingH2416^H2416 creatureH5315^H5315 that movethH7430^H7430, whichH834^H834 the watersH4325^H4325 broughtH8317^H8317 forthH8317^H8317 abundantlyH8317^H8317, after their kindH4327^H4327, and everyH3605^H3605 wingedH3671^H3671 fowlH5775^H5775 after his kindH4327^H4327: and GodH430^H430 sawH7200^H7200 that it was goodH2896^H2896.
²²And GodH430^H430 blessedH1288^H1288 them, sayingH559^H559, Be fruitfulH6509^H6509, and multiplyH7235^H7235, and “fill”H4390^H4390 the watersH4325^H4325 in the seasH3220^H3220, and let fowlH5775^H5775 multiplyH7235^H7235 in the earthH776^H776.
NOTICE the word fill here is the same Hebrew word for replenish in Gen-1:27-28, did the waters have to be replenished when they were created also or should the word be understood as fill the waters?

²⁷So GodH430^H430 createdH1254^H1254 manH120^H120 in his own imageH6754^H6754, in the imageH6754^H6754 of GodH430^H430 createdH1254^H1254 he him; maleH2145^H2145 and femaleH5347^H5347 createdH1254^H1254 he them.
²⁸And GodH430^H430 blessedH1288^H1288 them, and GodH430^H430 saidH559^H559 unto them, Be fruitfulH6509^H6509, and multiplyH7235^H7235, and “replenish”H4390^H4390 the earthH776^H776, and subdueH3533^H3533 it:

Man was commanded to multiply fill the earth same as the fishes were to fill or replenish the waters.

Fill in 1:22 is 4390 same Hebrew word as replenish in1:28 and it is not talking about redoing something as some suggest.

I am running out of time because service is in a few minutes but please examine the evidence so far and if we do away with their main foundational Scriptures and show the true meaning and understanding we might not have to go any further to show there is no evidence to teach this doctrine.

Let’s ask Moses if day one was included in the six days count before the Sabbath.

Exodus 20:11 says “for in six days YHWH made “heaven” and earth, “the sea”, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day:”

Notice “heaven” is included in the six days therefore the darkness/night that came before the light/day is counted/included by Moses because the Spirit moved on the face of the water AFTER heaven and earth was created in darkness, therefore heaven is counted in the six days that Moses spoke of, therefore the darkness that was on the face of the deep was counted in the six day time period and this proves the 24-hour day begins at evening.

There could be no Gap if the creation of heaven and earth is included in the 6 days spoken of by Moses.

Yes the darkness/night is part of the six days that Moses was speaking of when he said, “for in six days YHWH made heaven and earth” and the darkness/night came before the light/day. i.e. from the first of six days until the end of six days is a period of 144 hours, . 6 times 24 hours this equals 144 hours which includes the creation.

Exodus 20:11 says “for in six days YHWH made “heaven” and earth, “the sea”, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day:”

Notice Moses included “heaven” in the six days, therefore the darkness/night that came before the light/day is counted by Moses because the Spirit moved on the face of the water AFTER heaven and earth was created when everything was still in darkness, therefore heaven is counted as one of the six days that Moses spoke of, therefore the darkness that he called night which was on the face of the deep was counted in the six day time period and this proves that there is no room for a Gap.

There's no way that Moses was not counting the creation because he mentioned the heavens was made along with the earth etc. in the six days span of time and that leaves no room for the Gap theory.

We should ask ourselves, is Moses saying that heaven and earth, the seas, and everything was made in six days period or is he saying everything was make in six days PLUS ??? i.e. one of those days was thousands of years and the others were 24hr days.

Moses said in Exodus 20:11 “for in six days YHWH made “heaven” and earth, “the sea”, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day:”

If the prophet Moses was the author of Genesis and he understood that the 6 days included the creation of heaven, then this should put the Gap theory to rest once and for all but I seriously doubt it and with faith like that how could I to be wrong?
There are many web-sites that really put this doctrine to rest such as the one at http://www.christiananswers.net/q-aig/aig-c003.html

Brother Arnold

3rd mo. Pent Impoiable TWO Wheat Haversts Ancient Pentecost Notes on Pentecost Other False Doctrines