The Gap Theory in Genesis 1:1–2: Five Questions Critics Should Be Able to Answer

One of the most hotly contested views about the opening verses of the Bible is what has been dubbed “the Gap Theory.” This is the concept that there is a long, unknown period of time between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2.

Here is the passage: 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. (Genesis 1:1-2)

Those who support the gap view believe that Genesis 1:1 describes God’s original creation, while Genesis 1:2 describes the earth after a catastrophic judgment, leaving it “without form, and void.” The six days that follow then describe God restoring and ordering the ruined earth.

Many believers dismiss this view immediately. That is certainly their right. But before rejecting it outright, there are several questions from the text itself that call for answers.

1. Why does the earth appear ruined in Genesis 1:2?

Genesis 1:1 states plainly: In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

Yet the next verse immediately presents the earth in a condition described as: without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.

That language describes emptiness, desolation and darkness. The question naturally arises: Why would a perfect God create the earth in a state of chaos and emptiness? If verse 2 simply describes the earth immediately after creation, then we must explain why the Bible presents God’s creation in such a ruined condition.

2. How do you reconcile Genesis 1:2 with Isaiah 45:18?

Isaiah 45:18 gives an important statement about God’s creation of the earth: 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, he formed it to be inhabited.

Yet Genesis 1:2 describes the earth as empty and unformed. If God “created it not in vain,” why does Genesis describe the earth as “without form, and void”? The gap view proposes a simple explanation: God created the earth perfect, but something later reduced it to that condition.

3. Why does the language suggest the earth “became” this way?

The Hebrew word translated “was” in Genesis 1:2 (And the earth was without form, and void) can also carry the sense of “became, came to pass or came about.” In essence, the earth became without form, and void.

If that meaning is possible—and many scholars acknowledge it is—then the passage itself suggests a change of condition. If the earth became chaotic, the obvious question follows: what caused the change?

4. Why is darkness present if God is described as light?

Genesis 1:2 emphasizes that darkness covered the deep. Yet Scripture repeatedly teaches that God is associated with light, not darkness. 1 John 1:5 God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

If God created the universe in harmony with His nature, why is the first picture of the earth covered in darkness rather than light? The gap interpretation suggests that darkness is the result of judgment, not the original condition of creation.

5. When did Lucifer fall?

Scripture clearly teaches that Lucifer existed and fell before Genesis 3. Passages such as Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 describe the fall of Lucifer.

But if everything in Genesis 1 occurred within a single continuous six-day creation, when did Satan fall within that time frame? Somewhere between creation and the temptation in Eden, a rebellion had already taken place. The gap view simply proposes that this rebellion occurred in the undisclosed expanse of time between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2, bringing judgment upon the earth.

These are serious questions that deserve answers. Genesis 1:2 presents a world covered in darkness, submerged in the deep and described as empty and chaotic. Isaiah says God did not create the earth that way. Scripture associates darkness with judgment. And the fall of Lucifer must occur somewhere before the temptation of Eve.

These issues are exactly why many Bible students throughout history have understood that something happened between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2.

If you or your church reject the gap interpretation, at least have an explanation for the condition of the earth in Genesis 1:2. For a more detailed look at the biblical background behind the condition of the earth in Genesis 1:2, read “This is Why the Earth is Older Than 6,000 Years” here. And for serious, curious Bible students, read “The Silence Before Genesis.”

R&J Shee