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Is the Saying “CLEANLINESS Is Next to Godliness” Biblical?

You’ve probably heard the saying “cleanliness is next to godliness.” A friend of mine lived on campus at Liberty University, the Baptist college founded by Jerry Falwell, and he said the staff would cite this proverb to motivate the students to keep things tidy and clean, including their personal hygiene. Is this saying true?

Let’s start with this passage:

15But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

1 Peter 1:15-16

Peter was quoting the book of Leviticus:

44“I am the Lord your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. Do not make yourselves unclean by any creature that moves along the ground. 45I am the Lord, who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy.”

Leviticus 11:44-45

“Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them: ‘Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy.’ “

Leviticus 19:2

While the context of the first passage is in reference to the Hebrews staying away from unclean foods, the second verse was a general instruction, which corresponds to Peter’s exhortation to “be holy in all you do.”

So, we’re to be holy in everything we do, but what does ‘holy’ mean?

The Greek word for ‘holy’ is hagios (HAG-ee-os), which means “different, sacred, due to being set apart (consecrated) to the LORD.” The corresponding Hebrew word is qadosh (kaw-DOHSH).

Because God is absolutely pure, holiness refers to absolute purity, which can be observed in several passages where holiness is cited as the opposite of what is impure and indecent:

For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life.

1 Thessalonians 4:7

Such a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens.

Hebrews 7:26

Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.

2 Corinthians 7:1

Notice how we’re to purify ourselves from everything that contaminates (dirties) the body and not just the inner self. Speaking of which…

Bodily Cleanliness (Personal Hygiene)

Since we–believers–are temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16 & 6:19) and we are instructed to “be holy in all we do,” be attentive keeping your body clean, which houses the Holy Spirit. Everyone naturally gets dirty & sweaty after physical labor, like yardwork, but then you shower or bathe. What is unacceptable is to go days without bathing and thus stinking like a trash dump. (The obvious exception would be people in rare situations where they can’t bathe because they don’t have access to water, soap and so forth, which is perfectly understandable). Those who refuse to regularly bathe get used to the smell and therefore don’t think they stink, but everyone else can smell the odor, especially people in public who don’t live with them and therefore aren’t used to the stench.

If gross body odor is offensive to random people, how about the Holy Spirit who has to live in the ‘house’ of the person who reeks?

Notice how the Bible describes the noble king of Israel, which is applied to the King of Kings, the Anointed One (Messiah):

All your robes are fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia;

from palaces adorned with ivory

the music of the strings makes you glad.

Psalm 45:8

Both the earthly Hebrew king and the heavenly King of Kings had a pleasant aroma, not the foul stench of body odor! If you are a believer then you are a child of the King (John 1:12). So do likewise–regularly bathe and keep yourself smelling good. As it is said, cleanliness is next to godliness.

Keeping Your “Camp” Clean

Notice what the LORD instructed the Israelites when they were camping out in the desert wilderness before conquering the Promised Land:

For the LORD your God moves about in your camp to protect you and to deliver your enemies to you. Your camp must be holy, so that he will not see among you anything indecent and turn away from you.

Deuteronomy 23:14

God wanted the camp of the Hebrews to be kept holy so that it would not hinder His actions/movement in the camp. This would of course include keeping the area cleansed of filth of any kind.

The other day I was working out in our humble gym in the basement when I noticed that one of our cats puked on a gym towel. I took it to the sink in the dark corner to wash it and noticed how dirty the sink had gotten due to neglect. Naturally I took the time to wash the whole sink. After all, if the LORD wanted the Israelite’s camp clean, He’ll want the neglected areas of our abodes clean as well.

We shouldn’t get legalistic about this, of course. Genuine love in the home is far more important than it being perfectly clean and ordered, the latter of which can create a sterile atmosphere. Healthy homes are “lived in,” if you know what I mean.

Spiritual/Moral Cleanliness

Another piece of the puzzle is that evil spirits are referred to as unclean or impure spirits:

Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.

Matthew 10:1

The Greek word for “impure” here is akathartos (ak-ATH-ar-tos), which simply means unclean or impure. It reveals that evil spirits are filthy. This makes sense in light of the fact that the LORD is absolutely pure—holy—and so anyone consecrated unto God must likewise be purified. Thus anyone who rejects the Almighty and is cast from His presence becomes the opposite—unholy, impure. Since you can’t get further from God than the irredeemable fallen angels, they’re utterly unholy—unclean, impure, filthy.

Being filthy, there’s a stench to unclean spirits in the spirit realm. This explains why one spiritually-sensitive minister said he could always recognize someone who was walking in sexual perversion, like homosexuality, when they came up for prayer at his meetings. He said there was a foul odor in the spirit.

One of my relatives married a literal witch and she wasted no time in getting her new husband to totally separate from his family. My nephew met her when he was a child and he kept curiously asking “What’s that smell? Something stinks!” He was just a little kid at the time and said the odor smelled like vomit. No one present knew what he was talking about, so he was obviously picking something up in the spirit. Children are more sensitive to the spiritual realm and are therefore apt to pick up things that hardened adults can no longer perceive.

All this explains why the Bible instructs us:

Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.

James 1:21

While believers are born holy in their spirits when they receive spiritual regeneration (Titus 3:5), practical holiness only occurs as you learn to put off your flesh—the “old self ”—and live according to your new righteous nature—the “new self ”—with the help of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:22-24). This is what theologians refer to as the process of sanctification—purification—and part of this process includes doing what James instructed: “get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent.”

Impure spirits are naturally attracted to that which is morally impure. Just as flies are attracted to doo-doo and rats are drawn to garbage, so filthy spirits are attracted to that which is morally filthy. So get rid of all moral filth and you’ll stop attracting filthy spirits! It’s not rocket science.

This article is available in book form as chapter 10 of…

Both links allow you to “look inside” the book.

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Spirituality — How to be Spirit-Controlled Rather than Flesh-Ruled

Demonic Spirits — How to Deflect Them

How to Renew Your Mind (video)

ALTARS & ALTAR CALLS and How They’re Relevant

R-Rated MOVIES — Yes or No?

Can a Certain Style of ART Be Evil?

Is the One Who Led You to Christ Your SPIRITUAL PARENT?

This question is based on Paul’s statement to the Corinthian believers here:

14I am writing this not to shame you but to warn you as my dear children. 15Even if you had ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. 16Therefore I urge you to imitate me. 17For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.

1 Corinthians 4:14-17

Paul started the assembly in Corinth and stayed there 1.5 years to set a foundation before leaving and starting churches in other areas (Acts 18:11). It was 2-3 years later when he wrote this epistle (letter) to the believers at Corinth. Strife & division were threatening the young fellowship as it was marked by arrogance, sexual misconduct, lawsuits, abuse of spiritual gifts and misunderstanding of basic Christian teachings. So Paul was seeking to restore balance and spirituality to the carnal fellowship (1 Corinthians 4:4).

Verse 14 shows that Paul was writing the believers to warn them “as my dear children.” Since they were saved through his ministry and he set a spiritual foundation for them over the course of 18 months living there, Paul naturally viewed them as his spiritual children. In other words, he had fatherly feelings toward them because he was their foremost mentor even if they had “ten thousand” other instructors in Corinth. A few years had passed and so Paul was refreshing their memory to bolster a positive reception to his letter, which contained necessary corrective instructions. He exhorted them to “imitate” his lifestyle and service while also informing them that he was sending his protégé Timothy to the city to help straighten things out at the troubled assembly (verses 16-17).

This brings us to the question of this article: For someone to be your spiritual father or mother, do they have to be the person who led you to the Lord via the gospel of Christ? Is everyone else who instructs you in Christ just one of myriad instructors and of lesser importance with lesser authority? It depends. For instance, Paul didn’t just share the message of Christ with these people of Corinth, he also fed them the foundational truths of Christianity for a whole year and a half (Matthew 4:4 & Hebrews 6:1-2), plus maintained a long-distance relationship with them. So to qualify as someone’s spiritual father or mother, you’d have to do more than just lead them in voicing the proverbial sinner’s prayer. You’d have to walk closely with them for 1.5 years or so, teaching them the basic New Covenant truths of the Bible, as well as oversee them in the ensuing years from long-distance.

Regarding the hyperbolic “ten thousand guardians in Christ” that the Corinthians had since Paul (physically) left that fellowship, we know from history that Paul was the greatest vessel used of God in the New Testament era, after Jesus Christ of course. So none of the many other teachers in Corinth, as good as some of them may have been, were even close to Paul’s level, spiritually speaking.

The idea that the person who leads you to Christ is your spiritual parent raises additional questions, not to mention some absurdities.

For instance, what about believers like me who can’t cite a human spiritual father/mother because I was saved at the age of 20 by the Holy Spirit while working alone at a fitness center after midnight? I only knew the gist of what to pray because I had collected many Christian tracts, perhaps two dozen, which I had read & reread over the years in my teens. I suppose I could research who wrote those particular tracts. Would these people be my spiritual fathers & mothers since they all had a hand in leading me to Christ by sowing the gospel in my life? Wouldn’t it be absurd to track each one down—assuming they’re still alive on Earth—and wholly submit my spiritual life to them without even knowing if they’re worthy of such submission? Which brings up…

What if the person who leads you to Christ is effective at evangelism, but is not very mature spiritually or is lacking in biblical knowledge? This person was instrumental in leading you to the LORD, but they’re certainly not the one who helped you grow in knowledge, understanding and wisdom; in other words, they didn’t help you mature spiritually.

David said he had more insight than all his teachers because of his diligence in humbly seeking the LORD and God’s Word (Psalm 119:99–100). This shows that, just because someone led you to Christ with the help of the Holy Spirit or helped your growth (or both), it doesn’t mean that you’re limited to their limitations. Nor does it mean you can’t correct them based on the rightly-divided Word of Truth in cases where they may be in error (2 Timothy 3:16-17), although there’s a way to correct such a person and a way not to, as explained here.

In my life, there were two instrumental mentors in my early years as a young believer, but I could list about ten others who have been strategic in my spiritual growth during the first 27 years of my walk with the Lord. I suppose each of these could be considered a spiritual parent to some degree with two or three more so than the others.

Related Topics:

Should Ministers Be Addressed With TITLES?

Ministerial Abuse — The Diotrephes Spirit vs. the Davidic Spirit

Ministerial Pitfalls and Abuses

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The Basics of Christianity

Who Is the CHOSEN LADY of 2 John?

In the brief epistle of 2 John, the apostle addresses his letter to the “chosen lady.” Who is this woman? Consider the key verses:

The elder,

To the chosen lady and her children, whom I love in the truth—and not I alone, but also all who know the truth

2 John 1:1 (BSB)

5And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another.

2 John 1:5

Some versions of the Bible call her the “elect lady” (KJV and ESV) while the revised NIV refers to her as “the lady chosen by God.” Whether “chosen lady,” “elect lady” or “the lady chosen by God,” who is this “dear lady”?

While some believe “chosen lady” to be a figure of speech for the local church that was to receive the letter and “her children” as members of that assembly, it’s more likely that John was writing an actual woman and her children who were well known to the apostle (whether these children were physical children or spiritual children is up for debate). I say “more likely” because that’s the way the letter reads (for instance, the final verse makes a reference to the children of her sister), plus John’s third epistle was written to an actual man, Gaius (3 John 1:1).

This female friend of the apostle is a most excellent and honorable woman who entertained traveling ministers in her home, verified by verse 10. I describe her as “most excellent and honorable” because the Greek term for “lady” is kuria (koo-REE-ah), which is the feminine form of kurios (KOO-ree-os), the Greek word for “Lord” (which is used to translate the Hebrew YHWH from the Old Testament, e.g. Romans 10:13). The fact that John mentions her children but not her husband suggests that she was a widow

It’s also possible that members of the local church met at her house à la the assembly that met at Aquila & Priscilla’s home (1 Corinthians 16:19), particularly since the epistle includes general instructions relatable to a local church. If this is so, why is John writing this woman and not the leader of this fellowship, i.e. the pastor? Or is “the chosen lady” the leader of this possible assembly? If you were an apostle over many assemblies and had instructions for a particular fellowship, would you not write the leader of that assembly or would you write the female owner of the house in which the church happened to meet?

Our conclusion is that this “chosen lady” was at least a respected believer known by John who opened her home to intenerate ministers.

It’s also possible that an assembly met at her house and the believers thereof are the “children” John speaks of. It’s even possible that she was the leader of this fellowship. While these are possibilities, there’s not enough info to draw absolute conclusions. Still, why would the great apostle write some insignificant female homeowner concerning key issues involving the local Church? If that’s all the “chosen lady” was, why would this letter end up a part of the God-breathed Scriptures (2 Timothy 3:16)?

Related Topics:

Women of the Bible / Women in Ministry

WOMEN — Were They Considered Just Property in Bible Times?

Church Is NOT a Building!

Church of Christ — What Is It?

What Is the PRAYER OF JABEZ?

Let’s read the prayer of Jabez from the two most popular versions of the Bible:

9Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez, c saying, “I gave birth to him in pain.” 10Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.” And God granted his request.

1 Chronicles 4:9-10 (NIV)

9And Jabez was more honourable than his brethren: and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, Because I bare him with sorrow. 10And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me! And God granted him that which he requested.

1 Chronicles 4:9-10 (KJV)

This is all we know about Jabez in the Bible. Because his mother bore him in pain & sorrow, she gave him a name that came from the Hebrew word for ‘pain.’ Yet Jabez chose not to lead an unjustifiably cursed life and so turned to the LORD. As such, Jabez is cited as “more honorable than his brothers” in Holy Scripture. This shows that, whatever raw deal has been handed you in life, you can turn it around to the positive with God’s assistance (Romans 8:28 & 2 Peter 3:18). After all, isn’t the LORD “Fountain of Life” who pours abundant life into the lives of those who humbly seek & honor the Creator of All? See Psalm 36:9 and John 10:10.

Jabez’ prayer had four general points:

  1. He sought God’s blessing on his life.
  2. He sought for God to enlarge his “territory” and therefore his influence.
  3. He sought God’s hand of support, help and favor.
  4. He sought God to keep him from harm or evil and the corresponding pain & grief; in other words, he wanted protection from the life-altering pain of unnecessary tragedies.

These four requests are the general ones that any noble soul desires in life (in contrast to the ignoble soul obsessed with carnal things, like Mammon, fame and foolish sexual gratification).

Because Jabez diligently pursued the LORD in faith, God granted his requests (Hebrews 11:6). This passage does not exist by accident. It’s there to show us that — no matter how cursed our lives might be — we have the option to turn to the Almighty for succor and blessing, for God is no respecter of persons (Romans 2:11). The LORD can turn any ship around, so to speak, no matter how bad it is.

Recently, I took a 40-day fast from a couple things and prayed the prayer of Jabez every day corresponding to the specifics of my life. Since it’s a general prayer — a skeleton prayer — you can of course tweak it to apply to your situation.

For a good commentary on the topic, I recommend Bruce Wilkinson’s (short) book.

This article is available in book form as chapter 13 of…

Both links allow you to “look inside” the book.

Related Topics:

Prayer — The Basics

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How Often Should You Say “IN THE NAME OF JESUS” in Prayer?

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DID JESUS FORGIVE His Murderers on the Cross?

Christ didn’t forgive anyone when He was on the cross. Read the text:

When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. 34Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”

Luke 23:33-34

Yeshua prayed to the Father for Him to forgive His murderers, which means He was praying for His persecutors to come to penitence because this is the only way God forgives sin (Acts 20:21). God doesn’t forgive the arrogant unrepentant; He only forgives the humbly penitent (Proverbs 28:13; 1 John 1:8-9). It’s an axiom.

For now, during the Church Age, the Creator is patiently extending mercy to the unsaved in the hope that they’ll be moved to repentance & reconciliation. Those who refuse will be judged and discarded in the lake of fire where they’ll suffer the “second death,” which means they won’t be forgiven by the LORD (Revelation 20:11-15).

So what Christ was doing on the cross was precisely what He instructed believers to do when we are mistreated for His name: Pray for our persecutors (Luke 6:28). Stephen did the same when he was martyred (Acts 7:60).

This article was edited from chapter 12 of…

Both links allow you to “look inside” the book.

Related Topics:

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How Does the Holy Spirit CONVICT People?

Here’s what Christ said about the Holy Ghost convicting people who are separate from God:

But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8 When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 about sin, because people do not believe in me; 10 about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 11 and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.

John 16:7-11

The Spirit of God convicts those lost in the world in three ways:

This should help you in your intercession for those who are lost & dying in this world.

Of course the Holy Spirit also convicts believers of sin, which is part of the process of sanctification and keeps one in fellowship with the LORD along with God’s grace/favor flowing into his or her life (1 John 1:7-9).

This article was edited from chapter 6 of…

Both links allow you to “look inside” the book.

Related Topics:

What Is the HOLY SPIRIT’S ROLE in Human Redemption?

Is the Holy Spirit God or a Divine Force?

What Are the “Seven Spirits of God” From Revelation?

What Is the UNPARDONABLE SIN (Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit)?

The Basics of Christianity

What Are POSITIONAL TRUTHS?

Many truths in the Bible are practical in nature. You hear or read what the Word of God says and you do it, like “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” (Ephesians 5:25). These are practical truths. Yet there are revelational and positional truths as well. A revelational truth isn’t practical, but it reveals something important; and so changing your beliefs accordingly will benefit you, such as the nature of eternal life.

Meanwhile a positional truth is a truth that reveals your position in Christ and therefore how God sees you because of this position. For instance, Colossians 1:22 declares that we are “holy in His sight, without blemish and free from accusation.” This is how God sees you because this is who you are in Christ.

A good example from the Old Testament is Gideon, who viewed himself as the weakest and least, but God saw him as a “mighty warrior” (Judges 6:12-16). He had to change his thinking in order to fulfill his calling.

Here are ten positional truths to chew on and renew your mind:

  1. You are holy (Colossians 1:21-22).
  2. You are a child of God (John 1:12-13).
  3. You are a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17).
  4. You are the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21).
  5. You are dead to sin (Romans 6:11, 6:14, 6:18).
  6. You are more than a conqueror (Romans 8:37).
  7. You are a temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).
  8. You are rich (2 Corinthians 8:9).
  9. You are healed (1 Peter 2:24).
  10. You are a royal priest of the Most High God (1 Peter 2:9).

Why is this important? Because the book of wisdom points out: “Be careful what you think for your thoughts run your life” (Proverbs 4:23 NCV). In other words, if you think you’re an unholy slave to sin who can’t do anything right, that is what you will be.

Thankfully, these positional truths will set you free of any such disempowering thoughts (John 8:31-32).

For important details, here’s a video that covers the topic at length:

This article was edited from chapter 5 of…

Both links allow you to “look inside” the book.

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Is the Use of ‘Man’ for Humanity SEXIST?

The term ‘man’ in the Bible refers to both male and female, unless the context tells otherwise, as observed here:

Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

27So God created mankind in his own image,

       in the image of God he created them;

       male and female he created them.

Genesis 1:26-27

The Hebrew word translated “mankind” is the same word for “man” in Genesis 2:7. This is clearer in the New King James Version:

26Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

Genesis 1:26-27

As you can see in verse 27, ‘man’ in this generic sense refers to both male and female.

That said, I regularly use ‘human’ for man, and ‘humankind’ (or ‘humanity’) for mankind, so that there’s no misunderstanding and no one’s needlessly offended.

This article was edited from chapter 5 of…

Both links allow you to “look inside” the book.

Related Topics:

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HOW OLD IS THE EARTH According to the Bible?

The Bible does not say what the age of the Earth is and so people draw conclusions based on various data. It’s a non-essential issue and believers can hold to one position or another without it affecting their relationship with God or their Christian service. The more important an issue is, the more directly and fully the Bible addresses it. For instance, our moral responsibilities and the means to eternal salvation are clearly addressed at length, but less critical topics are not, such as the age of the Earth. When it comes to God’s Word “The main things are the plain things.”

That said, let’s consider the young Earth view, commonly held by Evangelicals, as well as the old Earth perspective and, more specifically, the gap theory, which isn’t as widely accepted.

Young Earth advocates maintain that the Earth is only about 6000 years old, a figure they get from adding up the life spans of biblical figures from the time of Adam. How do we reconcile this with the evidence of geologists, who say the Earth is about 4.5 billion years old (and the Universe 13.8 billion years old)? Supporters of young Earth creationism argue that, if God creates something in a mature state, like a human being, it would have the appearance of age and thus it is with the Earth.

How old was Adam one minute after God created him? One minute, but how old did Adam look? About 25-30 years old, certainly not like a newborn baby. The same principle can be applied to plants, trees, mammals, birds, fish, mountains, Earth, planets, stars and the Universe.

If doctors studied Adam’s body—his skeletal development, the size of his organs, his mental capacity, etc.—they’d conclude that he was an adult male of about 25-30 years of age. God’s creation of Adam in a mature state (in which his growth was perhaps accelerated to a brief period) is included in the creation account of Genesis 1-2 wherein God’s creation of the Heavens and Earth is also chronicled. If the LORD created Adam in a mature state—with the obvious appearance of age—is it not possible, even likely, that God did the same with the Earth & Universe?

Notice how the LORD refers to the creation of the Heavens and Earth:

“ ‘The Israelites are to observe the Sabbath, celebrating it for the generations to come as a lasting covenant. 17 It will be a sign between me and the Israelites forever, for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.’ ”

Exodus 31:16-17

We know from authentic science that the Earth & Universe appear to be ancient—billions of years old—but we see here that the LORD created them in six days as a testimony to the Israelites. The physical creation is incredibly old, but God evidently condensed the aging process of each phase of creation into six days. Since the LORD was addressing Moses & the Israelites in the above passage, and they understood the “six days” to be six literal days, it stands to reason that God meant six literal days.

Think about it like this: If you had a huge project that would take 50 years to accomplish, yet you had the power to condense the time into 5 minutes, would you do it? Of course you would. How much more so if your purpose for doing this was to illustrate a point to people? It’s the same principle with God’s creation of the Earth & Universe.

Consider those science videos where a plant is filmed over the course of a year or so and then this growth is condensed to seconds for viewers. If filmmakers can do this via cinematic wizardry, would the Almighty have a problem doing something similar with the initial creation of people, animals, plants, trees, mountains, canyons, planets, stars and galaxies? There’s even a blatant example in Scripture of God supernaturally condensing the growth-time of something in Jonah 4:6. So why wouldn’t the LORD do the same thing when creating the Earth & Universe?

Where do dinosaurs fit in this young Earth scenario? In the post-flood years, they largely died out due to changing climate, lack of food or disease. Much as threatening animals like lions, tigers, bears, crocogators and pachyderms have been killed or driven out of populated areas by humans, so the last vestige of land-dwelling dinosaurs were slain or driven out. This would explain the “slay the dragon” myth in so many cultures, as well as the ancient art testifying to humans and dinosaurs coexisting.

To see the proverbial big picture, the young Earth perspective is depicted in this interesting diagram.

 

As for the old Earth perspective, the top view is the gap theory, which speculates that there were billions of years between the first verse of Genesis 1 and the second verse. As such, Genesis 1:2 describes the Earth after some great cataclysm, which made the Earth “formless and empty”:

In the beginning God created the heavens [the Universe] and the earth. 2 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.

Genesis 1:1-2

The mystery of this passage is the obvious contrast between verses 1 and 2: The first verse says that God created the Universe and the Earth, but then verse 2 states that the Earth was formless, empty and dark. Since when does God create something that’s “formless and empty”?

Gap theorists argue that Isaiah 45:18 lends support: “He is God who formed the earth and made it, He established it and did not create it to be a waste place, but formed it to be inhabited” (NASB). The words “waste place” are one word in the Hebrew, tohu (TOH-hu), and this is the same word translated as “formless” in Genesis 1:2. This word means “formless,” “desolation,” “waste place,” “chaos” and “emptiness.” The hermeneutical principle that “Scripture interprets Scripture” applies: Isaiah 45:18 plainly states that God did not create the Earth to be tohu—formless, empty, chaotic, desolate, a waste place—yet Genesis 1:2 shows that the Earth was tohu sometime after the LORD created it.

Lending further support to this theory, they say, is the statement in Genesis 1:2: “Now the earth was formless and empty.” If you look at the footnote in the New International Version of the Bible it shows that the word ‘was’ could possibly be translated as “became” because the Hebrew verb hayah (haw-yaw) is often translated as such. As a matter of fact, it’s translated as “became” 59 times and “become” 164 times in the New International Version. However, it’s translated as “was” 305 times.

Further evidence can be observed in Hebrews 11:3, which states: “By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.” The word ‘formed’ in the Greek is katartizó (kat-ar-TID-zoh), which means “to complete,” “to perfect,” “make complete,” “mend,” “restore” and “bring into its proper condition (whether for the first time, or after a lapse).” While this doesn’t negate the young Earth theory, it’s friendly toward the gap theory.

Supporters of the gap theory argue that Jeremiah 4:23-26 lends additional support for their position as it gives us a picture of cataclysmic global judgment whereupon no living thing survives, which they say only fits the pre-Adamic context between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2. The prophet says in verse 23: “I looked at the earth and it was formless and empty; and at the heavens and their light was gone.” This is the exact same description as Genesis 1:2. ‘Formless’ is the same Hebrew word tohu and ‘empty’ (or ‘void’ in some translations) is the same Hebrew word bohu (BOH-hu). These Hebrew words appear together in Scripture only these two times and, in the case of Jeremiah 4:23, it’s clearly an occasion of global-spanning judgment.

Verse 25 goes on to say that the prophet couldn’t see any people on the planet, at least from the perspective of his vision, nor could he see any birds. We know there will be people and animals on the Earth after the Tribulation judgments noted in the book of Revelation because, after all, Christ will judge the living nations upon His return, which is The Sheep and Goat Judgment, aka The Judgment of Living Nations (Matthew 25:31-46). As such, adherents of the gap theory argue that Jeremiah 4:23-26 more likely refers to the Earth after a pre-Adamic cataclysm or judgment that took place between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2.

This cataclysm would explain the extinction of the dinosaurs, they argue.

Gap theorists also maintain that God’s command to the survivors of the Noahic flood to “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth” (Genesis 9:1) meant to replenish the Earth, which is how the Hebrew word for ‘fill,’ male (maw-LAY), is translated in the KJV. This is the same word used in the similar command to Adam in Genesis 1:28, which suggests that it could also mean replenish in that context, particularly since it’s the same command from God given to two different sets of people.

Check out the responses from youth Earth advocates to these gap theory arguments; then consider the rebuttals by gap theorists. If you’re interested, this article does just that (it’s basically the long version of this article). In any case, it’s healthy to consider opposing views and the support for each before drawing an informed conclusion or, at least, a hypothesis.

 

While I lean toward the young Earth position, I confess agnosticism on the topic. I wasn’t present when the LORD created the Universe and neither were you. The best we can do is make an educated guess based on biblical and scientific data, keeping in mind that, however old the Earth is, it has no bearing on one’s spiritual growth and service. Also keep in mind that this is decidedly a side issue. As it is said:

In essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, in all things charity.

This article was edited from chapter 13 of…

Both links allow you to “look inside” the book.

Related Topics:

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”

What Are THE BASICS of Christianity?

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