part0006

Chapter 1

In the Beginning…
With A Gap In Between

Earth made waste and empty by judgment .

- Gen . 1:1-2 (The Scofield Bible, notes)

If we want to delve into some of the more obscure viewpoints of religious theology, we really need to take a good, hard look at a few alternate views of early Genesis. As we begin to discover these early accounts, we might begin to discover the ancient side of this parallel . So, to begin, we really do need to start at the beginning - in the beginning .

Creationists tell us the earth was up to 12,000 years old; evolutionists say billions. Which is right? Could there be another scenario, a scenario that might be something a little different… somewhere in between; a scenario that might even give us an entirely new way to look at our world?

Many of us who are religious were taught God created the world in six days; and then rested on the seventh. For centuries we have accepted this story, and other early stories in Genesis, as absolute truth. We trusted men who first translated the Bible into English, and that they made no mistakes in their translation. What if these people were not entirely correct in their interpretations? What if the original language of the Bible could, perhaps, say something different than what these early translators portrayed? What if there could be more to these early stories than we were always taught?

To start off, if we look at a few of these alternate, ancient texts, we already get a different interpretation on world creation:

In the beginning God created numerous worlds , destroying one after the other as they failed to satisfy Him. All were inhabited by man, a thousand generations of whom He cut off, leaving no record of them .

(Graves and Patai, 1964, p. 45) 1

Strange; this may sound a little more like our modern view of evolution than it does the Bible. Evolutionists often may hold that the ecosystem of our earth was destroyed, and “brought back to life,” again and again - even six or seven times. There were numerous worlds, before ours, which did not make it; case in point: the rise and fall of the dinosaurs. To clarify our stance in this book, however, the author wants to make something totally clear: this book is not trying to promote the theory of evolution, nor compromise Biblical scripture in any way. On the other extreme, we are not trying to make the Bible “fit in” with our modern, secular view of the world. What we want to do is to show that there could be another way to look at Biblical creation, as well these early stories of Genesis. If they show some similarities to the evolutionary view, then so be it.

There could be coincidences between the two, as we’ll see; but that doesn’t mean they are totally related. With all of this said and done, let’s now see that there could be something very interesting on the horizon: a totally different, but Biblically sound , view of our early days!

As many may know, the Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew; and the New Testament in Greek. As the old saying goes, “if you really want to understand the Bible, you should read it in its original Hebrew.” So, to gather the whole story of these early days of Noah , we attempted to do just that, whenever possible. Most of us know that English was not the original language of the Bible. No matter how well the Bible was translated, no matter how many variable translations we have out there, the English word cannot totally grasp the original meanings of the Hebrew. As with the English language, there could be more than one meaning to each Hebrew word in the Bible. Because of this fact, could there be different meanings - entirely different elements - to some of these stories? Could our ancient Biblical history, in fact, be different? What this may point to is a simple concept: perfect words, imperfect translations .

The learned scholars who translated King James Bible probably translated the words with the best of intentions. They probably believed most of what had always been taught ; and used their preconceived notions to affect their interpretations. It’s simple. The Creation of Genesis 1 is a perfect example of this. The attempt to keep up with tradition may have swayed them to insert one meaning of the original Hebrew over another; just to make it all sound “correct.” Once we look at the original Hebrew words in more detail, here, and discover the other ways of which these words could be used, a whole new realm of possibilities might begin to open up! If there truly could be variations in these early stories, how significant could that be? How much could this change the way we look at our religious and political views on the world, today? Quite a bit (as we’ll see). This will be a permeating theme, throughout this book.

Elements of these early stories could have been left out (or beautifully concealed) - either accidentally, or for very good reason: they might actually help us discover the Serpent’s true nature; the origin of Mystery Babylon ; among other things. The understanding of these obscured elements could also help determine just who or what is behind attempts to bring back these same thoughts and ideals (those of “the days of Noah”) back into our mainstream.

Genesis and Revelation

To begin to grasp these concepts, we need to take a good look at the books of Genesis and Revelation; arguably two of the most important books in the Bible. This first volume will concentrate more on Genesis; the second on both Genesis and Revelation. The reason we need to understand so much about Genesis is because Genesis gives us this ancient parallel of the Days of Noah - the “background” to it all, if you may. Revelation gives us the modern equivalent. If we dare challenge what most of the modern Christian population have accepted as the only story of the Bible, if we dare desire to find what really could be influencing our world “behind the scenes,” let’s continue further.

The Gap Between the Worlds

One interesting but obscured theory must arise - first off - in regards to the beginnings of biblical creationism. This theory is fairly old. Obviously, most of us have never heard of it. This is one example of a school of thought where our modern populous has been kept “in the dark.” This first theory, commonly known as the Gap Theory , is an incredible way of looking at our creation. It could really turn assumptions within the first chapter of Genesis “on its ear.”

This theory, along with the rest of the alternate views of the book, requires the reader to maintain a sense of openness, and possibility. We will discuss a number of other topics besides this Gap Theory. The relevance of angels to our world, for example, will be discussed in great detail. If we believe the Bible is the word of God, then, hopefully, we will believe in angels also; for the ancients who scribed the Bible into words surely believed in them! Ultimately, there is nothing in this book which intentionally contradicts the words of the Bible. We only offer other possible interpretations of it all. Science, as well, might not support a lot of the following information, but what elements of the supernatural/religious world would it really support ?

The Gap Theory is the first to shed light on what we have been missing, all of this time. It’s quite simple: the first verse of the Bible signifies the beginning of God’s creation. Between the first and second verses there was a gap in time. The exact expanse of time between these two verses is unknown. Other people, animals, and whatever might have existed during this time also was unknown. The original creation could have taken place “in the beginning” (Gen. 1:1), and at least one “re-creation” could have occurred since then. This trend may have continued since this time - another “re-creation;” and another; and another… all the way up to the time of the “Six-Day Creation” of Genesis. There was a “gap” in between the first creation (of everything), and our present world’s creation.

As the Bible states:

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth .

- Gen . 1:1 (KJV)

The next verse, then, says:

And the earth was without form, and void…

- Gen . 1:2 (KJV )

According to C.I. Scofield, Thomas Chalmers, and other scholars, it was just before the time most of us have heard about - the “Six-Day Creation” - that something terrible had happened. The Scofield KJV Bible, for example, gives us an explanation for what may have happened:

Earth made waste and empty by judgment .

There are clues in the Bible that also might support this theory. As we’ll see, the planet itself might even be extremely old; and there could have been at least one “destruction and re-creation” sequence before our present era - with the “Six-Day Creation” kicking it all of. Could there have been a major catastrophe occurring right before our “Six-Day Creation” of Genesis?

As we look at these first two verses of Genesis, we may need to look closer into the original Hebrew. If we accept the modern postulate of creationism, the “beginning” of our current world occurred somewhere in the area of six thousand years ago - because this was, more or less, the time Adam and Eve were said to have been placed in the Garden of Eden. With the Gap Theory, however, we cannot assume this time was also the time of the formation of planet earth. That could have been long before. 2

As we look more into the first verse of the Bible, we have a curious anomaly:

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth .

- Gen . 1:1 (KJV)

We notice the word heaven is in the singular . This verse clearly states there were one heaven, and one earth, created at this beginning. As we read further, at the end of our “Six-Day Creation,” we are provided with another statement:

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them .

- Gen . 2:1 (KJV )

These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens …

- Gen . 2:4 (KJV)

The above two verses, as already stated, describe the time just after the “Six-Day Creation” of Genesis 1. Curiously, the word heaven , now, is in the plural. Why do we now have it as plural ? Could this mean that, at the end of this “Six-Day Creation,” there were additional heavens already created? Was the “Six-Day Creation” the actual beginning of our entire creation as a planet, or just the latest in a chain of “destruction” and “re-creation” events? It seems the Bible has a lot more support towards the latter suggestion.

The word beginning , in Genesis 1:1, comes from the Hebrew word reshiyth . Reshiyth means “first in place, time, order or rank.” 3 Could this have signified a first creation, or the first harmonized world - in a cycle of them? Could there have been a second, a third; even more?

The Differences Between the Words “Earth” and “World”

Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world , even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God .

- Psa . 90:2 (KJV)

In the Bible, we have another anomaly here - seemingly. As we see in the verse above, the words earth and world look like they represent two distinct terms - two different things. Simply, we might be able to theorize that the world (such as in the above) represents a present, organized order of things (on our planet); the earth represents the physical planet itself. The world , then, would advance, beyond the simple definition of a physical planet - becoming an organized cosmos, or makeup or the planet. If we look at it this way, we could also postulate that there might have been more than one formulated and reformulated world - or organized cosmos - on the earth; perhaps several (with the “Six-Day Creation” of Genesis 1 being the latest) .

One of the Greek words, in the New Testament, often translated as the English “world” is kosmos . The word kosmos , in Classical Greek, represents “a harmonious order, system or arrangement” - a type of established order . 4 If we connect this with the above, then our physical planet could have been created by God, a long time ago; and this organized, harmonious order to the earth we see today was fashioned at the exact same time as the “Six-Day Creation” - and only in the neighborhood of six thousand years ago. The first harmonized order of the planet could have changed a number of times - destroyed and refashioned over time.

Now Moses saith in the beginning of the Pentateuch, “In the beginning God made the heavens, and the earth existed of old ”…

- Bakhayla Mikael 5

Whatever went on during the times “of old” - before our previous world - we just don’t know. Maybe we weren’t supposed to know. We don’t know why God wasn’t satisfied with the organized worlds before us, or why they were all destroyed. One thing we can surmise - that our present world (the world of the “Six-Day Creation”) was formed from the ashes of a former world’s undistinguishable ruin; “reworked” by God, once again. 6

More Than One World?

There seems to be Scriptural evidence that describes how at least one world was created by God:

Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear .

- Heb . 11:3 (KJV)

Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds …

- Heb . 1:2 (KJV )

Even though the ancients may have known of the planets of our solar system, the above might not be referring to them, here! The Greek word for worlds , above, is aion . Interestingly, this word was not used, here, in the context of space, but of time . It does not only mean a “perpetuity of time,” but also “a period of time” or an “age”… just like the Hebrew word for beginning in Genesis 1:1. 7 In other words, the original Greek might be referring to these worlds as in being in a succession of order - one simultaneous world after another (rather than separate , distinct planets). 8

The root for the Greek word aion is aei , which can also mean “at any and every time: when according to the circumstances something is or ought to be done again .” 9 So, it further supports our thought: each time one world was destroyed, the planet was made up anew, or refashioned again; much like plot of land which was “baptized” by a good rain spell.

Interestingly:

Remember this, and shew yourselves men: bring it again to mind, O ye transgressors. Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else… Declaring the end from the beginning , and from ancient times the things that are not yet done …

- Isa . 46:9-10 (KJV)

The more we ponder the possibilities of our planet having more than one world , the more sense verses like the above seem to make.

A World Formed Without Form, And Void?

And the earth was without form , and void …

- Gen . 1:2 (KJV)

As we now see, the Hebrew word tohuw was translated into the English as “without form.” Tohuw , however, can also mean “laid waste,” “that which is wasted;” as well as a “place of chaos,” “vanity,” or “confusion.” 10 The Hebrew bohuw was translated into the English void , which can also mean a state of “waste,” or “emptiness.” 11 Put them all together, and we have another possible scenario of our beginnings; as implied by the above verse:

And the earth was laid to waste , and emptied …

- Gen . 1:2 (in retranslation)

This seems a lot different than what so many of us have assumed about the “Six-Day Creation.” Common thought on creation is that the world, at the beginning of our “Six-Day Creation,” was created in a vain, or an empty, wasted state - without form, void. Now, one question that logically might follow after this is: was the planet created to be this way, or did it become this way?

The following verse of the Bible seems to give us an answer:

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 : I am the LORD; and there is none else .

- Isa . 45:18 (KJV)

Clearly, God established a working order to the earth (i.e. a world ) at some time; and formed it not in vain . It must have reached that state later on. God did not create the earth without form and void ; but rather to be inhabited in an established, organized way! The Bible seems to make it clear that the world did not start out like evolutionist would want to make us believe - it was structured, clean, and organized cosmos. It began that way; and, for whatever reason, did not last.

The World “Was”

And the earth was without form, and void…

- Gen . 1:2 (KJV)

The English use of the word was , in this verse, also stands out as somewhat of a convincer for the Gap Theory. The English was originates in the Hebrew word hayah . 12 Looking at Strong’s Concordance and Lexicon , we clearly see that the word means “to be,” “to come to pass,” or to “come about.” Hayah , also, can mean “to happen” or to “fall out.” Again, with this in mind, we see the verse could take on a whole new meaning:

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth had fallen out; to be laid to waste , and emptied …

- Gen . 1:1-2 (in retranslation)

As we see, this could also represent a point of change - time for a destruction and recreation event to occur. Simply:

If the Hebrew verb were eue , “was” would be an accurate translation; but it is eie , the causative form of be which means become. This causative form (eie) appears more than twenty times in chapter one of Genesis alone, and everywhere denotes a change , and not mere existence .

(Johnson, 2004, p. 205) 13

The translators of the 1611 King James Version probably thought the world was created in six days; as so many of faith do today! They probably inserted the English words they thought were right; to make everything fit in with what most around them have always perceived. As we look into these other possible meanings of the original Hebrew, however, we begin to discover how the words of the Bible could take on a whole new meaning.

The “Foundation of This World”

As we’ve already postulated, the established world before our own might have been destroyed, for whatever reason; which left God to do something entirely different the next time. At that moment, He began to set up the foundation for a new world. The word foundation can also be of some significance, in regards to this Gap Theory.

To begin, the English word foundation , in the New Testament, comes from the Greek katabole . Interestingly enough, the word katabole actually originates from the word kataballo - a compound word made up of ballo (“to cause, to throw”) and kata (down”). 14 As we now see, in the original Greek - the root of the word for foundation - also may signify something that was “caused” to be, or “thrown,” down. Could this foundation , then, represent the period when an established cosmos was “thrown down,” “cast down,” “descended,” or “fell” - only to be set back up again in another way? 15 The foundation of a planetary world , here, seems to represent the turning point of a whole new era:

For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world .

- Heb . 4:3 (KJV)

The above states the works of God were already in place , or were already finished , by the time of our world’s foundation. What does this mean? Could it be that each foundation was the representation of a time when a former world was thrown down , and a whole new organized cosmos (or world) was about to take its place?

And forgettest the LORD thy maker, that hath stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth… I am the LORD they God… I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth…

- Isa . 51:13-16 (KJV)

Note the plural use of the word foundation , here - as one era of work being completed, with another (among a number) arising out of the ashes. This could easily signify that the happened more than once.

Throughout these examples, we may begin to understand how the Gap Theory could gather momentum. Yet, there is one powerful verse of the Bible which seems to provide evidence towards its disproval:

Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world , and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned .

- Rom . 5:12 (KJV)

This verse, according to many, is thought to be “proof-positive” that there was no previous world before Adam. There was one man who brought sin into our world, according to this verse; so how could there be anything before Adam… right? It’s totally understandable to conclude this, but we have to remember the context of how the word world was used, here. We know how it could mean something different than the physical planet. The original Greek word for world - kosmos - seems to put things right back into perspective, here. Adam brought sin into our present “organized order of things,” and not the whole time frame of the planet. Simple! There might have been sin before our current world; and this verse doesn’t deny that there could have been more than one organized cosmos, or world - it only affirms that Adam was the person who brought sin into this world! 16

So, if Adam was only the one who brought sin into our world, then could there have been a similar situation on our planet, before this destruction? Could there have been human beings on the earth before this flood, bringing it to a point where God felt He had to pass judgment? Did this particular world go through its own version of our up-and-coming “end times?”

The concept of pre-Adam civilizations was well accepted by early sages. Also in support of the notion of lost civilizations, we read in Psalms (105:8) the words: “He hath remembered his covenant for ever, the world which he commanded to a thousand generations ”… The Talmud reveals that this verse indicates that God’s Law, the Torah, was given to Moses and all the Hebrews at Mount Sinai after the elapse of 1,000 human generations . Since Moses was of the 26 th generation following the first progenitor the human race, this indicates some 974 generations before Adam .

(Killian, p. 29-30) 17

We recall, from the beginning of this chapter, one author summarized this all as the following:

(Graves and Patai, 1964, p. 45) 1 8

“Being Overflowed With Water”

The following verse also seems to state something so intriguing, in support of our Gap Theory:

Whereby the world that then was , being overflowed with water, perished…

- II Pet . 3:6 (KJV)

Interestingly, as we know, the original Greek word for world is kosmos . 19 What “world that then was” are we talking about here? Could these verses be referring to a flood, such as the flood of Noah… or a flood before our present world ? Could this flood of water represent what happened before the world that was our own ? Interestingly, our current world, according to the Bible, has been called this present evil world (Gal. 1:14). Maybe, before this present, organized world, there was another world - with its own story, and its own destruction via a flood. Obviously, we see in the beginning of our Six-Day Creation:

…and darkness was upon the face of the deep . And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters .

- Gen . 1:2 (KJV)

Seems that had to have been some kind of water catastrophe, here - a catastrophe which, perhaps, inundated a great deal of the planet’s former world . This was why the Spirit of God would be hovering over the face of so much water , here - it may have been the remnants of the previous world’s destruction.

If there could have been a number of these destroyed-and-recreated worlds to our planet, could the earth, indeed, be much older than young Creationists may have thought? Science theorizes the planet is up to a few billions of years old. Could this lead to the possibility of science and the Bible having at least some common ground, here, as far as the planet’s age ?

Pre-Adamic Flood Vs. Noachic Flood

What about all of that water on the earth, in early Genesis? Did that help destroy man’s existence before the world of our own?

Psa. 90:

2 Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever though hadst formed the earth and the world , even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God .

3 Thou turnest man to destruction; and sayest, Return, ye children of men…

4 Thou carriest them away as with a flood …

Could some of the biblical references to a flood not be just the flood of Noah, but a flood that destroyed the entire world before Adam?

We recall, from Genesis 1:2, that a blanket of water covered the earth, just before the time of Adam’s formation:

And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters .

- Gen . 1:2 (KJV)

Since God had to “let the dry land appear” (Gen. 1:9), in our “Six-Day Creation,” then it’s easy to assume the surface of the earth was covered with water in vast quantities.

We also see, from the previously-mentioned II Peter 3:6:

Whereby the world that then was , being overflowed with water , perished…

- II Pet . 3:6 (KJV)

Obviously, a lot of people have speculated (and still do) that this was regarding Noah’s flood. Yet, the Bible might be mentioning, what could be, another flood - a flood with a lot of the same destructive attributes.

How so? Let’s look at some possible reasons :

2 Sam. 22:

2 And he said, The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer;

3 …thou savest me from violence .

5 When the waves of death compassed me, the floods of ungodly men made me afraid;

8 Then the earth shook and trembled ; the foundations of heaven moved and shook , because he was wroth .

10 He bowed the heavens also, and came down; and darkness was under his feet .

12 And he made darkness pavilions round about him, dark waters , and thick clouds of the skies .

15 And he sent out arrows, and scattered them; and discomfited them .

16 And the channels of the sea appeared, the foundations of the world were discovered , at the rebuking of the LORD .

In the flood mentioned above, the earth “shook and trembled;” arrows came and scattered the inhabitants; water and darkness were the result. The Bible does not mention any of this during Noah’s flood. In almost a mirror image of the above verses, we have:

Psa. 18:

1 I will love thee, O LORD, my strength .

4 The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid .

7 Then the earth shook and trembled ; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken , because he was wroth .

9 He bowed the heavens also, and came down: and darkness was under his feet .

11 He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies .

12 At the brightness that was before him his thick clouds passed, hail stones and coals of fire .

13 The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hail stones and coals of fire .

14 Yea, he sent out his arrows , and scattered them; and he shot out lightnings , and discomfited them .

15 Then the channels of waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered at thy rebuke, O LORD .

Again, we have the hailstones , lightning and coals of fire launched upon the earth. We have great earthquakes , and mountains shaking . Although all of this could have occurred during the flood of Noah, nothing was mentioned in the Biblical account as the same. Interestingly, the word “foundations ” was used in both of these. Could this be actually describing a turning point - a flood which occurred before the foundation of our own world? In both of these above verses, they end with the mention of a new foundation discovered - a new world after the destruction, seemingly! There was no new world after Noah’s flood. As well, Noah’s world wasn’t completely destroyed; there was no new foundation to be had.

In the next set of verses, “foundations” was used again:

Psa. 104:

4 Who maketh his angels, spirits; his ministers a flaming fire:

5 Who laid the foundations of the earth, that is should not be removed forever .

6 Thou coveredst it with the deep as with a garment: that waters stood above the mountains .

7 At thy rebuke they (the angels) fled; at the voice of thy thunder they hasted away .

8 They go up by the mountains; they go down by the valleys unto the place which thou hast founded for them .

9 Thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over ; that they t urn not again to cover the earth .

Whoever may have lived during this time did not survive this disaster; whenever it occurred. The following verses, similar to the above, seem to go a little further:

I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form , and void ; and the heavens, and they had no light .

- Jer . 4:23

Wow, this is surprising. Even though this verse sounds like it should be in Genesis Chapter 1, it is in the Book of Jeremiah. It is similar to the situation of Genesis 1:2-3: “And the earth was without form, and void;” as well as God saying “let there be light.” Could this verse of Jeremiah be describing this same time - the time before Adam? As we read further, we see, in the same chapter of Jeremiah:

Jer. 4:

24 I beheld the mountains , and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly .

25 I beheld, and, lo, there was no man , and all the birds of the heavens were fled .

26 I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the LORD, and by his fierce anger .

27 For thus hath the LORD said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end .

28 For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black ; because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it .

Jeremiah 4:25, again, makes it known that there was no man in the world, around this time. This could not be Noah’s flood - we know there were survivors, there! Again, we also see that the mountains moved and trembled about - again, not mentioned in Noah’s flood. The word “trembled,” interestingly enough, comes from the Hebrew word raash , which means to undulate . Assumedly, there was a great shock, or earthquake, which undulated this former world before Adam. These shocks caused the mountains to rise and fall, and move from side to side; in smooth, wave-like motions. 20 The Hebrew word translated into English, above, as “moved lightly” is qalal , which means “to be light in the sense of weight.” So, we see that the mountains must have moved around like waves in the ocean; the hills tossed about like featherweights. There seems to have been major cataclysmic change in this flood, a change which shook the earth to its core! In Noah’s flood, however, there were no earthquakes or shaking of mountains; nothing like this.

The above verses also makes it known that “there was no light;” as well as says “the heavens above became black.” This could easily be construed as more of a permanent result, rather than as a temporary, storm-darkened sky (as in what most-probably happened in Noah’s flood).

There are another set of verses which say almost the same as the above:

Job 9:

4 He… is mighty in strength…

5 Which removeth the mountains , and they know not: which overturneth them in his anger .

6 Which shaketh the earth out of her place , and the pillars thereof tremble .

7 Which commandeth the sun , and it riseth not ; and sealeth up the stars .

Interesting, though: we see, here, that the Lord shook the earth “out of her place.” Again, major change happened at this time. What really happened here, in these examples… and when ?

According to another ancient source, we have another anomaly: after the flood of Noah, God assures Noah that, “…therefore I will not again destroy together all living as I have done .” 21 Interesting: maybe He did bring a flood upon the earth more than once. The ancient historian, Philo , also interprets this same promise to Noah in much of the same way, but with a little more:

…therefore I (God) will not now proceed to smite all living flesh as I have done at other times …

- Works of Philo Judaeus Questions and Answers on Genesis 2(54) 22

Could these other times be the times before our “Six-Day Creation?” Why don’t we already know more about these ancient times, then?

No Memory of Former Things?

From the former verses, we may be able to assume that, in the flood before Adam (the so-called “pre-Adamic” flood), the former world was entirely cut off, and all human life ended. 23 This was an abrupt halt to everything; there was no direct genetic link of any ancient human beings to our modern day. 24 We have an interesting example of information which might support this: a 12,000 year-old strand of human hair, reportedly, was discovered in Woodburn, Oregon, in 2001: “DNA analysis of hair follicles found at the site have so far failed to find a match with any known human racial type living on earth today,” says William Orr, the professor who analyzed it. “The geneticists found the hair didn’t match any Asian hair DNA. It didn’t match African, European. It didn’t match anything.” 25 Interesting: this hair’s DNA had no match with any modern-day human. Why? Could the reason be that those who existed before the Adamic flood were all wiped out? As we recall, in Jeremiah:

I beheld, and, lo, there was no man …

- Jer . 4:25 (KJV )

As we’ll soon discover, this could be a reason why there weren’t a lot of written accounts regarding the time before our own world’s foundation. This could also be the reason why we, as human beings, do not have some sort of “collective memory” of anything before the Adamic flood. We don’t have a lot except, possibly, these divinely inspired words of the Bible. 26

The Bible also says that:

There is no remembrance of former things…

- Eccl . 1:11 (KJV)

Maybe this information is something God feels we really don’t need to know too much about. Although we may not know a lot about the Pre-Adamic flood, that doesn’t mean it never happened.

Willingly Ignorant?

As we begin of our journey through the earliest parts of Genesis, we seem to have some scriptural evidence of a world before our “Six-Day Creation.” If this is the case, then why do so many people - Christian and not so - scoff at this possibility? Why have so many scoffed at the Gap Theory? Why do so many learned people of the past, and in this day and age, automatically seem to debunk these thoughts - as well as others this book will put in front of you? The answer is simply:

…for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables .

- II Tim . 4:3-4 (KJV)

…This people honoreth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men … ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition .

- Mark 7:6-9 (KJV )

The following verses also seem to affirm that in the last days (our modern times, maybe?) there will be people who scoff at the very idea of most any thoughts - other than their own. Please notice the last verse in the following block, especially:

II Pet. 3:

3 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts ,

4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation .

5 For this they willingly are ignorant of , that by the word of God the heavens were of old , and the earth standing out of the water and in the water …

II Peter, here, states that people will become “willingly ignorant of” the word of God. The Greek word for willingly , here, simply means “to choose.” People will either choose to believe what they always were taught (i.e. tradition) or choose to be ignorant of things that could actually be truth. How true, today.

They willingly hold to their traditions as valid. They do not want to accept change; nor open their ears to any other theories which might abound. Sound like today? Sounds like a good reason why so many of us have not heard of the Gap Theory? How often are scientists willing to accept anything other than their own pet theories (such as evolution)? Anything else is shouted down. Even beyond the scientific community, how often do people want to hear anything that’s not “politically correct,” or different than commonly held traditions of society and culture? Today, the Bible has even been demoted to a collection of false stories, or myths. And, the above verses clearly state that people will be willingly ignorant of so much that out there, even the possibility that “the heavens were of old” and the earth was once “in the water.” Well; what might this mean, then? The next verses of this chapter seem to clear up any confusion:

II Pet. 3:

6 Whereby the world that then was , being overflowed with water, perished :

7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now , by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men .

Wow! This explains so much. It seems to mention a world that was once in and out of the water. Then, this same world was overflowed with water; and perished. Finally, there is a heaven and earth (i.e. a world) which are here now .

Why Don’t More People Question Tradition?

There are a number of fossils which tell us there could be a lot more to our history than only 6,000 years. Science claims the world is much older than this - maybe it is. That doesn’t necessarily mean Bible is false, however. A lot of the upcoming stories and theories on early stories of Genesis might sound as unbelievable as the Gap Theory - at first. But, that’s why this book was written: to give us a chance to see the other side of things we were trying to be steered away from - the other side to culture, politics, and religion. This is all important; and deserves an audience, too. Maybe the Bible isn’t as full of unscientific myths as many portray it to be. Maybe there was something to all of the above verses, and the Gap Theory, itself - knowledge that some “powers that be” feel is knowledge we shouldn’t know, or doesn’t support their agenda(s).

It’s time to try to make sense of the “politically incorrect,” and see these words for what they really may be saying!

Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth .

- Psa . 104:30 (KJV)

Maybe there is a lot more truths to the Bible than we were previously taught, or had ever thought.

More Biblical Re-interpretations

Also, we should realize that our focus of life, today, doesn’t really have to depend on knowing all of the information before this time of Adam and Eve. We no longer live in that world. Do we really need to comprehend all of what happened before our present world? What we really need to do is to concentrate on the world that is now - with this Gap Theory knowledge in the back of our minds.

Since the Bible is the book of the generations of Adam (Genesis 5:1), it is a book that is concerned more with the world that existed since his formation. Any hints of a world before our own were probably divinely inserted - to help us question secular tradition and manipulation.

As we begin to take our next steps in understanding more of these hidden tidbits of obscured knowledge, we’ll take a deeper look at the stories of early Genesis. From these, we will probably be able to “fill in the gaps” of so much that the Bible has left out; and help us get as close to the entire story of our past as we can. Why do we want to do this? They say that understanding the past is a key to our future. The reason we try to decipher what happened, so long ago, and why, is because it just might be the first step in helping find the truth of who or what we are, where we come from, and just what direction we might be heading, as a whole.

As well, we do this research to help us expose just who might willingly be trying to conceal all of this information; and why. Genesis and Revelation are indeed the books of the Bible which seem to have been the most misinterpreted, and also most misunderstood. The reason why is simple: these books help expose those responsible for wanting to keep us “in the dark,” as a civilization. The Serpent’s system does not want exposure: much like an animal who runs and hides after being found hiding under a rock - a rock which has just been turned over.

So, as we continue onward, let’s discover more alternate views of the “Six-Day Creation” - up to the Garden of Eden, and beyond.