Just in case you are one of those that believe that the earth (and/or universe) is only 6 thousand years old, please let me explain the Word of God to you more perfectly, or at least why I believe different, and why many people believe in the Pre-Adamic Flood (the flood before Adam).  The following will show why I believe that God created a perfect world, but the world later became void and without form, supported by prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah. 

Gen 1:1-2

1:1 In the beginning God created the Heaven and the earth.

Briefly, “In the beginning” means the very beginning, before anything else.  Verse 2 holds several truths that are unknown to many Christians, concerning the words ‘was’ (#1961) and ‘without form’ (#8414). 

2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness (was) upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

The first ‘was’ can also mean “became” which clarifies the whole thing.  (The 2^nd ‘(was)’ is an added word that is not in the original text.)  Let’s look at the 1rst ‘was’ which is ‘hayah’, #1961 from the Strong’s:

OT:1961 hayah (haw-yaw); a primitive root [compare OT:1933]; to exist, i.e. be or become, come to pass (always emphatic, and not a mere copula or auxiliary):

(And seeing how the word is interpreted in other places in the King James:)

KJV - beacon, altogether, be (-come), accomplished, committed, like), break, cause, come (to pass), do, faint, fall, follow, happen, have, last, pertain, quit (oneself-), require, use.

There is a similar word pronounced the same way which might give further clues.

OT:1962 hayah (hah-yaw'); another form for OT:1943; ruin:

KJV - calamity.

There could have been millions of years (a gap) between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2.  (The gap theory). I come from the camp that believes that God created the world good and perfect, but for whatever reason, the earth ‘became’ ‘without form’ and void . .  Isaiah confirms that the world was originally made perfect, or (not ‘in vain’).  Please notice that ‘in vain’ and ‘without form’ are the SAME WORD, which is ‘tohuw’, OT #8414.

Isa 45:18

18 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 (without form), he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else.

The word ‘in vain’ is interpreted ‘without form’ in Genesis 1:2, as shown from the Strong’s.

OT:8414 tohuw (to'-hoo); from an unused root meaning to lie waste; a desolation (of surface), i.e. desert; figuratively, a worthless thing; adverbially, in vain:

KJV - confusion, empty place, without form, nothing, (thing of) nought, vain, vanity, waste, wilderness.

This same word ‘without form’ is found in the following verse.  I wish to suggest to you that possibly Jeremiah had a vision of the world the way it was in Genesis 1:2, in that the same wording is used, the heavens had no light, there was no man, all the birds were gone, etc., things which only were true in Genesis 1:2.  In context with the whole book of Jeremiah, the Lord was showing Jeremiah that this could happen again, but that this time the Lord would not make a full end. 

Jer 4:23-25

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

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.

Further confirmation:  The Lord told Adam & Eve in Gen 1:28 . . . Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth . . .

The word ‘replenish’ means that it was once ‘plenished’ and needed to be REplenished.  Likewise, after the flood in Noah’s time, the Lord used the same language when He told Noah, Gen 9:1 And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and ‘REplenish’ the earth.

I may add more evidence later in support of the gap theory.  Have I convinced you?  If not, it’s OK.  Let’s not be dogmatic.  Let us all accept one another.  Like Fred says, “We are all fellows in the same ship.” (Fellowship).  God bless you, hope you enjoyed this.  Karl Stein

PS. Please don’t think that I believe in evolution.  Quite the contrary, I wrote a whole book 10 years ago supporting reasons why evolution is totally False.