If God created the sun and the moon on the fourth day what had been lighting the earth for three days? Genesis 1:3‭-‬5 ERV


  Then God said, “Let there be light!” And light began to shine.  He saw the light, and he knew that it was good. Then he separated the light from the darkness. God named the light “day,” and he named the darkness “night.” There was evening, and then there was morning. This was the first day.


Genesis 1:14‭-‬19 ERV


  Then God said, “Let there be lights in the sky. These lights will separate the days from the nights. They will be used for signs to show when special meetings begin and to show the days and years. They will be in the sky to shine light on the earth.” And it happened.  So God made the two large lights. He made the larger light to rule during the day and the smaller light to rule during the night. He also made the stars. God put these lights in the sky to shine on the earth. He put them in the sky to rule over the day and over the night. They separated the light from the darkness. And God saw that this was good.  There was evening, and then there was morning. This was the fourth day.


If the sun and the moon weren't created until the fourth day what was that which had been lighting the earth for three days?
From an old Earth creationist perspective, the key lies in Genesis 1:1-2, which reads in part (NASB) "1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was formless and void..." Did God create the earth formless and void? 1 Corinthians 14:33 tells us that "God is not the author of confusion", so one would assume that God did not create the earth formless and void. The Hebrew word translated as "was" in verse 2 can also be translated as "became". So it appears that at some point after "God created the heavens and the earth" the "earth became formless and void". This can be accounted for by Satan's rebellion, which had to happen sometime before he tempted Eve in the garden.