Topic(s):  Old testament

Todd Clippard

I do not believe anything happened in between these verses. Some try to teach that some great length of time transpired in between the two, including an "original creation" which was destroyed before the creation account with which most of us are familiar.

However, there is absolutely no biblical evidence for such a claim. In fact, if untold millions or billions of years are somehow lost in between them, then the Bible phrase "in the beginning" is meaningless.

Consider how one could possibly find million or billions of years between these two verses, and correlate them with the phrase "in the beginning" in the following verses:
Matthew 19:4-8 – God made them male and female from the beginning.
Matthew 24:21
John 1:1-3 – In the beginning all things were created.
John 8:44 – the devil was a liar from the beginning.
Ephesians 3:9
Hebrews 1:10 – God laid the foundation of the earth at the beginning.
2 Peter 3:4 – some said all things continue as they have from the beginning. And the only thing they were accused of being ignorant of was the global flood of Noah.
1 John 3:8 – the devil sinned from the beginning
(cf Isaiah 41:4; 45:3-7; 64:4)

Additionally, the genealogy of man in Luke 3:23-38 will not allow for such an interpretation of Genesis 1:1-2.

All of Genesis 1 is to be understood as covering a week, consisting of literal, 24-hour days.