“Hey, I’m not lying to you. Others may say different, but I am telling you the truth. That’s the way it was.” That’s our word for today – “was.”
In the creation account of Genesis 1, some people believe there is a time gap separating verse 2 from verse 1. They call it the “Gap Theory,” which says that the original creation of verse 1 (which lasted for “millions of years”) was suddenly made desolate and empty in verse 2 by the fall of Satan to the earth. In other words, when Satan fell from heaven, he contaminated the original creation and God had to repair what He had done, which (according to them) is what we have in Genesis 1. Well, that’s not exactly right. The theory does accommodate the geologic ages of millions of years, but it isn’t what the Bible is saying. In Genesis 1:2 we read, “And the earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep.” Now, over the next few days I am going to talk about what “without form and void” means, but today I want to say something about “was.”
The word “was” is the Hebrew word “hayetah,” which is the past tense of the verb “to be.” Therefore, “was” is the normal way this verb is translated.
Now, those that hold to the Gap Theory want to translate this word, “became” – “and the earth became void and empty.” This would suggest a change of state from the original, perfect creation of verse 1 to the chaotic condition they see in verse 2. But “hayetah” is not the word normally used to denote a change of state. “Hayetah” simply means “was.” In other words, when God created the heavens and the earth in verse 1, then verse 2 is the way it was when He created it.
Now you know the real meaning of the word.
Hey – The Gap Theory has a lot of other problems, too. Going to talk about that tomorrow.