Was There a LUCIFERIAN FLOOD Before the Noahic One?
There are some Christians who believe that the creation account of Genesis 1-2 refers, more specifically, to the restoration of physical creation after a great cataclysm between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2. These folks believe there is a great gap of time between these first two verses of Scripture — perhaps billions of years — and so they are known as gap theorists. They argue that there was a global flood long before the Noahic one (Genesis 6:9-8:22), which they say took place between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2. They dub this the Luciferian flood (or “Lucifer’s flood”). Let’s consider the few passages they use to support this supposed flood:
Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.”
Gap theorists argue that the references to “the deep” and “the waters” are evidence of a flood while young Earth advocates say that these are simply references to the primordial waters—the planet’s water-covered surface before the dry land emerged, as observed here:
9And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. 10God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.
Genesis 1:9-10
Here’s another passage gap theorists use to support the so-called Luciferian flood:
5But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water. 6By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed.
2 Peter 3:5-6
They cite this as a reference to the Luciferian flood because Peter doesn’t specify that it’s the flood of Noah’s day. Yet this is negated by the fact that a mere 23 verses earlier Peter referenced the flood of Noah’s day:
if He did not spare the ancient world when He brought the flood on its ungodly people, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, among the eight;
If Peter was referring to an altogether different global flood 23 verses later he would have indicated so, but he doesn’t. Why? Evidently because he was referring to the same flood, not a wholly different one.
The “Pre-Adamic Race”
Those who advocate the doctrine of the Luciferian flood also support the idea of a pre-Adamic race, which is a dubious doctrine seeing as how the Bible states that “sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin” (Romans 5:12). This, of course, suggests that, before Adam, there was no death because it was through his sin that death entered the world. So, how exactly did this so-called pre-Adamic race die out if death hadn’t yet entered the world?
Furthermore, Christ made a reference to “the beginning of creation” and placed it at the time of God’s creation of the first male and female, Adam & Eve:
“But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.’”
The Lord was paraphrasing Genesis 1:27 and referred to this time period as “at the beginning of creation.” If there was a gap of billions of years between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2, He obviously wouldn’t phrase it like this since “the beginning of creation” would’ve taken place billions of years earlier. In other words, the beginning of creation occurred around the time Adam & Eve were created, roughly 6000 years ago.
Gap theorists, however, argue that Christ was talking about the beginning of the creation of human beings as male and female (Genesis 1:26-28), not the original creation of Genesis 1:1.
The “pre-Adamic race” supposedly perished in this “Luciferian flood,” which occurred between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2. Gap theorists won’t go as far as to call this race human beings, however, presumably to suggest that they were what evolutionary academics call Neanderthals; or perhaps even the “missing link.” Cha-ka is another possibility. They’re very ambiguous on this point. Why? Because the Bible plainly cites Adam as the “first man” (1 Corinthians 15:45 & 15:47), thus they won’t refer to this mysterious pre-Adamic race as human beings.
Let’s give gap theorists credit for their creativity.
If any of this intrigues you and spurs questions, you can read important details in this article.
Related Topics:
How Old Is the EARTH According to the Bible?
Does the Bible Say the Earth is Flat or Spherical?
The Five Earths of the Bible (and the Eight Ages)
Dinosaurs — Where Do They Fit?
Leviathan and Behemoth — What Were They? (Dinosaurs)
Hermeneutics — Proper Bible Interpretation
Why is this World so Messed Up?
(Pseudo) Science Is the “New God” and Dubious Scientists Are the “New Gods”
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