Hi
,
Some time ago, a friend asked me about the "Gap Theory". This theory was an attempt to mix a literal, 6-day creation week (the inescapable teachings of Genesis) with the concept that the universe is very old - on the order of millions or billions of years. A huge amount of time is inserted between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2. Thus, a "gap". Initially, he had no trouble with the teachings that God made the earth and
everything on it in the 6 days, but he had a rough time imagining that the planets and space would be included in that creation week. He thought it was more reasonable to believe that the universe is very old, and that maybe the earth is, too, and God destroyed it and started over in verse 2. This, he reasoned, would be the beginning of the "creation week" of Genesis 1. Thus, he could comfortably accommodate both ideas.
However, consider this for a moment... There are many references in the Scriptures to the 3 realms of God's creation. Those realms are the heavens, the earth, and the seas. Many prayers in the Bible refer to these 3 specific areas of God's creation. However, in Exodus 20:11, God specifically says in the first part of the verse, "For in six days the Lord made the heaven and earth, and the sea, and all that in them
is..."
This would include everything in space as well as the dry land and the seas. All the planets, galaxies, stars, ...everything...He made in 6 days. Even though there are other issues that believers in this theory hold to, this one issue removes one of the main tenets of the theory.
