With this example I will show just HOW the Gap of time in Genesis 1 is revealed. Even the KJV Bible reveals it, but one must stay with what is written. This is not a Salvation issue. But whether or not one understands it in Genesis 1 will affect whether or not later Bible examples of it is understood. There are some places which require going back in the Hebrew, and I will show that in relation to how those same Hebrew passages were translated in other Scripture by the KJV translators.
Gen 1:1-19
1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
There's only two ways to interpret this first verse. Either it is a summary declaration of God's original creation, and the details follow after this verse (which is how most are taught to look at it); or... it is about an unknown time when God literally created a perfect creation at the beginning.
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.
There is a difference with how the KJV translators brought the Hebrew word 'tohuw' ("without form") into English. In other KJV Scripture, they chose the ideas of confusion, empty place, nothing, vain, thing of nought, vanity, waste, wilderness. Likewise with the Hebrew 'bohu' as "void". Very important to note that in ALL other uses of those Hebrew words 'tohu' and 'bohu' in the KJV Bible, it's always about something that existed which went into a state of nothingness, or waste, or vain, or thing of nought, or confusion, etc. In other words, something existing in a good state... went into a bad state. In this case, it's about the state upon the earth. But before its creation, or after its creation from verse 1? Keep going to find out.
What's this "darkness was upon the face of the deep", and "the face of the waters"?
Gen.6 through 8 speak of this idea of the 'deep' and 'waters' with the time of the flood in Noah's days. But this is only Gen.1:2 here, and there's already "waters" and a "face of the deep"? Yes.
How does that reveal we are to understand that "without form, and void" phrase? It's certainly not pointing to the idea of 'nothing' existing in that Gen.1:2 verse, is it? No, it is not about some idea of a space vacuum at all. Already, there's "waters" existing here at Gen.1:2. And those same "waters" continue to be the subject of the next verses, revealing just 'where' they were.
In Jeremiah 4:23, the earth existing "without form, and void" phrase appears again, and it's the same Hebrew words 'tohuw' and 'bohuw'. And the Jer.4 example is about a pre-existing earth going bad, into a ruined waste state as a result of God's fierce anger (Jer.4:26). In Isaiah 45:18 God specifically said He did NOT create the earth 'tohuw' (translated as "vain", but the same Hebrew word for "without form").
What could have happenned per that Jer.4 example of the earth being "without form, and void" that brought God's "fierce anger" to cause a destruction, making the earth there "without form, and void"? That's the important message we are to understand; something happenned to cause God's fierce anger in that time.
Between these Gen.1:1 and Gen.1:2 verses we're given a hint that God created the heavens and the earth perfect at verse 1. But by the time of Gen.1:2, something had happenned with His creation of Gen.1:1 to cause the earth to become "without form, and void" (tohuw va bohuw). Even the KJV Bible translation in English will show those "waters" are overspread the whole earth, with the earth existing underneath, just like the flood of Noah's days. But this is Gen.1:2, not Noah's days at all!
3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
Keep those "waters" mentioned in Gen.1:2 in mind. Here God is separating Light from darkness. It has a very deep meaning, since on His 4th day is when He places the sun and moon as lights in the heavens. But this is only His 1st day.
6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
Here's those same "waters" mentioned back at Gen.1:2. The idea of a firmament is about the sky, cloud atmosphere above the earth. How is the sky formed here? God separates those "waters" of Gen.1:2 into two separate waters. Now watch what He does with one part of those 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.
God uses a portion of those 'waters', and forms the sky atmosphere around the earth. But wait a minute. Where's His creation of the earth, for nothing has been said about literal creation of the earth soil yet, except back at Genesis 1:1. So are these waters being divided in outer space, floating in space ether of nothingness? No. So where did He leave the other... portion of waters when He formed the sky with another portion of those same waters?
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.
(KJV)
Now He acts upon the portion of waters that were left. And where are those waters still? He moves those waters around upon something, and then suddenly "dry land" appears underneath those waters!! There's the earth, hidden underneath those waters all along. But when did God actually create that dry land? Back at Genesis 1:1 when He said He created the heaven and the earth. This is not about God creating the earth while moving those waters around that were already upon the earth.
THIS is about the idea of a FLOOD over the whole earth. God removes part of those flood waters up above the earth to form a sky around it, leaving the rest of the waters still upon the whole earth, then He moves those waters around until the earth underneath appears, again.
THIS is what Apostle Peter was talking about in 2 Pet.3 concerning Paul's Epistles, with some things in Paul's Epistles that are hard to understand, Scripture that many 'wrest' with. In Romans 8 Apostle Paul is covering this very subject when he showed how God had put His "creation" (ktisis) of this present world into a state of bondage, into vanity, meaning imperfectness. Paul also stated that the "whole creation" groans and travails in pain together with us, seeking release from it's state of bondage it has been in. He is hinting at the future state of glory when God will make His creation anew with a new heavens and a new earth, bringing back the original perfect state of His creation before Satan's rebellion.
How is it that fellow-believers on Christ can accept a future perfect condition of the new heavens and a new earth in God's future Eternity, but not grasp that's how God's original formation of His creation was, prior to Satan's rebellion, a time when even Satan was perfect in his ways with following God? (Ezek.28)
THIS is why the woolly mammoth was found buried frozen in ice in the Arctic areas, still with vegetation in its mouth, undigested in its stomach, showing it died of a flood; flood waters that then turned to ice. It was caught grazing in a fertile green field, at the Arctic north!! This is also why fossils of tropic vegetation and tropic animal life have been found at the earth's poles. There have been TWO world wide floods upon this earth, not one. The first flood was at Genesis 1:2 brought on most likely by Satan's original rebellion against God. There is NO WAY to determine how much time passed between the Genesis 1:1 and 1:2 verses. And that's where the idea of a 'gap' of time comes from.
THIS is the idea of what Peter was talking about in 2 Peter 3, where he said some remain "willingly ignorant" of it. Many are simply not willing to accept the idea that God has brought literal destructions upon this earth in times past. Nor do many want to admit He is going to do it once more in our future, the last time by His consuming fire, for God is a consuming fire, as written. If you don't understand this, you will be missing a greater gift of understanding how God's future Eternity of the a new heavens and a new earth is going to manifest, a perfect creation with no time, no death, no sickness, no wickedness, and no more seas upon the earth. You will miss how God's Paradise is going to 'return' to this earth where His Eden was once before, prior to Satan's rebellion against Him. This is why we are shown God's River of the waters of Life and His tree of Life existing in both Genesis 2, and in Revelation 22.
Gen 1:1-19
1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
There's only two ways to interpret this first verse. Either it is a summary declaration of God's original creation, and the details follow after this verse (which is how most are taught to look at it); or... it is about an unknown time when God literally created a perfect creation at the beginning.
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.
There is a difference with how the KJV translators brought the Hebrew word 'tohuw' ("without form") into English. In other KJV Scripture, they chose the ideas of confusion, empty place, nothing, vain, thing of nought, vanity, waste, wilderness. Likewise with the Hebrew 'bohu' as "void". Very important to note that in ALL other uses of those Hebrew words 'tohu' and 'bohu' in the KJV Bible, it's always about something that existed which went into a state of nothingness, or waste, or vain, or thing of nought, or confusion, etc. In other words, something existing in a good state... went into a bad state. In this case, it's about the state upon the earth. But before its creation, or after its creation from verse 1? Keep going to find out.
What's this "darkness was upon the face of the deep", and "the face of the waters"?
Gen.6 through 8 speak of this idea of the 'deep' and 'waters' with the time of the flood in Noah's days. But this is only Gen.1:2 here, and there's already "waters" and a "face of the deep"? Yes.
How does that reveal we are to understand that "without form, and void" phrase? It's certainly not pointing to the idea of 'nothing' existing in that Gen.1:2 verse, is it? No, it is not about some idea of a space vacuum at all. Already, there's "waters" existing here at Gen.1:2. And those same "waters" continue to be the subject of the next verses, revealing just 'where' they were.
In Jeremiah 4:23, the earth existing "without form, and void" phrase appears again, and it's the same Hebrew words 'tohuw' and 'bohuw'. And the Jer.4 example is about a pre-existing earth going bad, into a ruined waste state as a result of God's fierce anger (Jer.4:26). In Isaiah 45:18 God specifically said He did NOT create the earth 'tohuw' (translated as "vain", but the same Hebrew word for "without form").
What could have happenned per that Jer.4 example of the earth being "without form, and void" that brought God's "fierce anger" to cause a destruction, making the earth there "without form, and void"? That's the important message we are to understand; something happenned to cause God's fierce anger in that time.
Between these Gen.1:1 and Gen.1:2 verses we're given a hint that God created the heavens and the earth perfect at verse 1. But by the time of Gen.1:2, something had happenned with His creation of Gen.1:1 to cause the earth to become "without form, and void" (tohuw va bohuw). Even the KJV Bible translation in English will show those "waters" are overspread the whole earth, with the earth existing underneath, just like the flood of Noah's days. But this is Gen.1:2, not Noah's days at all!
3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
Keep those "waters" mentioned in Gen.1:2 in mind. Here God is separating Light from darkness. It has a very deep meaning, since on His 4th day is when He places the sun and moon as lights in the heavens. But this is only His 1st day.
6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
Here's those same "waters" mentioned back at Gen.1:2. The idea of a firmament is about the sky, cloud atmosphere above the earth. How is the sky formed here? God separates those "waters" of Gen.1:2 into two separate waters. Now watch what He does with one part of those 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.
God uses a portion of those 'waters', and forms the sky atmosphere around the earth. But wait a minute. Where's His creation of the earth, for nothing has been said about literal creation of the earth soil yet, except back at Genesis 1:1. So are these waters being divided in outer space, floating in space ether of nothingness? No. So where did He leave the other... portion of waters when He formed the sky with another portion of those same waters?
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.
(KJV)
Now He acts upon the portion of waters that were left. And where are those waters still? He moves those waters around upon something, and then suddenly "dry land" appears underneath those waters!! There's the earth, hidden underneath those waters all along. But when did God actually create that dry land? Back at Genesis 1:1 when He said He created the heaven and the earth. This is not about God creating the earth while moving those waters around that were already upon the earth.
THIS is about the idea of a FLOOD over the whole earth. God removes part of those flood waters up above the earth to form a sky around it, leaving the rest of the waters still upon the whole earth, then He moves those waters around until the earth underneath appears, again.
THIS is what Apostle Peter was talking about in 2 Pet.3 concerning Paul's Epistles, with some things in Paul's Epistles that are hard to understand, Scripture that many 'wrest' with. In Romans 8 Apostle Paul is covering this very subject when he showed how God had put His "creation" (ktisis) of this present world into a state of bondage, into vanity, meaning imperfectness. Paul also stated that the "whole creation" groans and travails in pain together with us, seeking release from it's state of bondage it has been in. He is hinting at the future state of glory when God will make His creation anew with a new heavens and a new earth, bringing back the original perfect state of His creation before Satan's rebellion.
How is it that fellow-believers on Christ can accept a future perfect condition of the new heavens and a new earth in God's future Eternity, but not grasp that's how God's original formation of His creation was, prior to Satan's rebellion, a time when even Satan was perfect in his ways with following God? (Ezek.28)
THIS is why the woolly mammoth was found buried frozen in ice in the Arctic areas, still with vegetation in its mouth, undigested in its stomach, showing it died of a flood; flood waters that then turned to ice. It was caught grazing in a fertile green field, at the Arctic north!! This is also why fossils of tropic vegetation and tropic animal life have been found at the earth's poles. There have been TWO world wide floods upon this earth, not one. The first flood was at Genesis 1:2 brought on most likely by Satan's original rebellion against God. There is NO WAY to determine how much time passed between the Genesis 1:1 and 1:2 verses. And that's where the idea of a 'gap' of time comes from.
THIS is the idea of what Peter was talking about in 2 Peter 3, where he said some remain "willingly ignorant" of it. Many are simply not willing to accept the idea that God has brought literal destructions upon this earth in times past. Nor do many want to admit He is going to do it once more in our future, the last time by His consuming fire, for God is a consuming fire, as written. If you don't understand this, you will be missing a greater gift of understanding how God's future Eternity of the a new heavens and a new earth is going to manifest, a perfect creation with no time, no death, no sickness, no wickedness, and no more seas upon the earth. You will miss how God's Paradise is going to 'return' to this earth where His Eden was once before, prior to Satan's rebellion against Him. This is why we are shown God's River of the waters of Life and His tree of Life existing in both Genesis 2, and in Revelation 22.