“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” Genesis 1:1-2.

As stated in “Without Form, and Void, Genesis 1:1” posted on 8-10-21 those who hold to the young earth theory feel that the words without form and void simply mean that the earth was in a formless state, and God the sculptor so to speak went to work to form it to be inhabited.

There is, however, another compelling theory which is called the gap theory. The gap theory position is that there is a gap between Genesis 1:1 and 2.

If this is so, then the creation record would read like this; in the beginning God created everything, including the earth.

Then something happened to ruin the earth and after a long period of time, perhaps millions of years, there is no way of knowing, God returned to rebuild the chaotic mess that the earth had become.

Verse 2 then is where we see the Spirit of God brooding over the darkness of an earth that had suffered some sort of judgment.

That this is a possibility is within the meaning of the words “without form, and void”. The Hebrew word for without form is transliterated tohuw, which means, wasteness, that which is wasted, laid waste. The word void is bohuw, something void and empty. The only other place that this phrase is used is in Jeremiah 4:23, and there it speaks of judgment.

“I beheld the earth, and indeed it was without form, and void; and the heavens, they had no light.” Jeremiah 4:23.

Notice that all three judgments are mentioned in both verses.

“…without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep.” Genesis 1:2.

The mystery then, is what happened within this gap hinted at in verse 2.

A very credible thought goes this way; Satan who once was known as Lucifer, before he fell, was put in charge of the earth sometime after it was created. In his state before he rebelled Lucifer was apparently trusted and very powerful among the angels.

The following is a lamentation for the king of Tyre, but it soon becomes obvious that the real king of Tyre being referred to here is Satan/Lucifer.

“You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering: The sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes was prepared for you on the day you were created. You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; you were on the holy mountain of God; you walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones. You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you. By the abundance of your trading you became filled with violence within, and you sinned; therefore I cast you as a profane thing out of the mountain of God; and I destroyed you, O covering cherub, from the midst of the fiery stones.” Ezekiel 28:12b-16.

If this is Satan and he had a position of importance at one time and then suddenly rebelled against God; how could this all have happened within the six days of the creation of everything including angels, him being one of them? The theory of a gap between verses 1 and 2 of Genesis becomes much more plausible under these circumstances.

“How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’ Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit.” Isaiah 14:12-15.

Scripture tells us that it was pride that caused Lucifer to fall and become Satan. In the following verse the Apostle Paul is instructing Timothy how to pick an overseer for the local churches that he was establishing.

“…one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence (for if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God?); not a novice, lest being puffed up with pride he fall into the same condemnation as the devil.” 1 Timothy 3:4-6.

A great number of angels followed Satan in his rebellion against God, as many as one third of all the angels followed him (see Revelation 12:3-5, 9). It is these angels that make up what is called, fallen angels, demons and unclean spirits, they are behind occult practices, such as séances, witchcraft, Satanism, idols and false religions.

Satan and his angels are very real, and very dangerous, the Christian must never go against them without Christ.

Satan and his armies are also responsible for goading men to commit the vilest of sins causing most of the evil in the world, including the globalist plot to bring the world under one government, paving the way for the Antichrist.

Finally, the words, “The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep.” verse 2a remind us of another judgment, the Day of the Lord, which refers to the tribulation period, and in this case the latter half of it.

“I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood. And the stars of heaven [either angels or meteors] fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place.” Revelation 6:12-14.

Does look a bit like the earth becomes without form, and the darkness soon grows as dark as night.

“Then the fifth angel poured his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues because of the pain. And they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and did not repent of their deeds.” Revelation 16:10-11.

Again there is a prophecy of darkness and by this time extreme misery, chaos and destruction. There are many other prophecies in the Old and New Testaments of this coming darkness you can find them with any Bible concordance.

The earth was judged once and ended up without form, and void and darkness; it is headed for another judgment soon, after which Jesus will return and renew this earth once again taking it back to its original pristine state for a thousand years; after which He will create an all new eternal heaven and earth.

This has been said before, but it bears repeating. When Christ returns to rule this earth for a thousand years, everything will be renewed.

It will be like the posters the new agers like to put on their walls. Porpoises cavorting in blue seas, beautiful birds flying through the air, green grass and flowers everywhere; words here cannot express the beauty and peace of this future home.

But many of the people who long to see these things never will because they think man is going to conquer death and create this Utopian existence without the help of a meddling God.

God whom they despise thinking that He only wants slavish obedience, and probably caused all their problems anyway.

It eludes them though that even if science were able to do such things, it would be hundreds of years before it was accomplished, and today’s dreamers will have been long dead.

These dreamers will never see such a thing even if they live to be a thousand years old because man is a sinful creature and his mind is capable of evil only, instead of Utopia, there will be the tribulation.

Instead of the balance of nature, there will the chaos of unending warfare

Instead of peace there will only be the strong enslaving the weak.

Do not buy into this my friends, Christ will return to set up His kingdom on earth as surely as the sun will rise tomorrow.

For those of you who are sick of the death, wars, and the continual misery and frustration of this age; I warn you it is only going to get worse in the near future.

“When He opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, ‘Come and see.’ And another horse, fiery red, went out. And it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth, and that people should kill one another; and there was given to him a great sword.” Revelation 6:3-4.

If you have never accepted Christ as your Savior, I urge you to do so now and avoid these dire future events.

“A prudent man [woman] foresees evil and hides himself, but the simple pass on and are punished.” Proverbs 22:3.

“Listen to counsel and receive instruction, that you may be wise in your latter days.” Proverbs 19:20.

“The way of life winds upward for the wise, that he may turn away from hell below.” Proverbs 15:24.

“The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.” Proverbs 18:10.

“And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son [Jesus Christ]. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.” 1 John 5:11-13.

Without Form, and Void, Genesis 1:2 taken from godisrevealed.com posted on 4-4-14, updated on 8-13-21.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version, copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission, all rights reserved.