I. Genesis 1:2
A. Introduction
1) Illustration of Belief vs. Truth using an incomplete puzzle
How many have ever tried to put a puzzle together without having the picture on the box lid to go by? Imagine that our knowledge is represented by an incomplete 10,000 piece puzzle and we don’t have the box lid. The pieces that are present represent truth…the pieces that are absent represent beliefs. Some of us have more pieces than others, some of us are missing the same pieces (as others) but imagine a different looking piece.
We all have an incomplete picture of truth; the pieces that are missing we tend to imagine what those pieces look like, we anticipate what we think should be there. If its just one piece missing in a section of the puzzle where we have several pieces present it’s easier to postulate what the missing piece should look like and one could come relatively close to the “truth”. We can see the shape of the piece, we can see what all the other pieces around the missing piece look like, we are just missing the details. However, if there are several pieces missing in an area of the puzzle, our imagination can be significantly different from the actual pieces.
If you have ever put a puzzle together without a picture to go by sometimes the picture we have developed in our “mind’s eye” is much different than the actual finished product. Sometimes we have the actual puzzle piece in the right spot, but it doesn’t look right or it doesn’t fit what we imagined so we take it back out and go on imagining. As we grow in our relationship with Christ and His Holy Spirit continues to provide us with those puzzle pieces my hope is to replace my misconceptions with that new piece of truth rather than hold onto what my carnal mind imagines of believes in error.
A. It’s Ruin vv. 1:2a
1. Destruction of the 1st earth age – “And the earth was without form and void ; and darkness was on the face of the deep...”
a. Was = היה hayah, Strong’s #1961 – be or become, come to pass
b. Without form = תהו tohuw, Strong’s #8414 – to lie waste; a desolation
c. Void = בהו bohuw, Strong’s #922 – to be empty, an undistinguishable ruin
d. Darkness = חשך choshek, Strong’s #2822 – misery, destruction, death, ignorance, sorrow, wickedness, dark, night, obscurity
2. Jeremiah 4:23-26 – “I beheld the earth, and, lo it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly. I beheld and lo there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled. I beheld and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the Lord, and by His fierce anger.”
a. A Hebrew Figure of Speech called Anaphora or Like Sentence beginning, the repetition of the same word at the beginning of successive sentences. This adds weight and emphasis to statements and arguments
b. At what other time in scripture was the earth “without form and void”? Only Genesis 1:2
c. Had “no light” similar to Genesis 1:2, “darkness was on the face of the deep”
d. What are the cities God is referring to as being broken down? The word עיר `iyr can mean a place guarded by waking or watch in the widest sense or a mere encampment
e. Without form = תהו tohuw, Strong’s #8414 – to lie waste; a desolation
f. Void = בהו bohuw, Strong’s #922 – to be empty, an undistinguishable ruin
3. Isaiah 45:18 – “ 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, He formed it to be inhabited: I am the Lord; and there is none else.”
a. Expressions communicate to us the fact that “The Creator” ought to be able to tell us better than ignorant man (who wasn’t even there) how He created.
b. He created – did not come about of its own devices
c. Vain = תהו tohuw, Strong’s #8414 – to lie waste; a desolation
d. Earth was not created tohuw; therefore it must have became tohuw, which confirms Genesis 1:2
e. Same word as Genesis 1:2 “without form”
f. Not told how, when, why or how long it lasted
4. Either there was a first “age” that was destroyed and left the earth without form and void or the word is inconsistent, we know the word cannot be inconsistent.
5. If indeed there was a first “age” what led to its end or destruction?
6. “The Foundation of the World” ~E.W. Bullinger Appendix 146 of the Companion Bible SEE TIMELINE ADDITIONAL NOTED
7. So what happened that caused the earth to become a wasteland? There is no concrete scripture on timing, but we do know that Satan (whose name Lucifer means morning star or light bearer) was once the most prominent of the angels and fell from grace.
8. Sun Tzu ~ “Know thyself, know thy enemy. A thousand battles, a thousand victories.”
- Should probably fix this for old Sun Tzu as follows: “Know thyself, know thy enemy, know thy savior. A thousand battles, a final victory.”
a. Ezekiel 28:12-19 - Lets see if we can try to determine what went on between Gen. 1:1 and 1:2
12. “Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, ‘Thus saith the Lord God; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.
i. Here we transition from the prince of Tyrus, who is a physical man, to the king of Tyrus, who is the spiritual power behind the man.
ii. Thou sealest up the sum = Thou art the finished pattern
13. Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.
i. Another clue to show that God is not speaking to the natural but the supernatural in that this king was present in Eden
ii. Tabrets = drums
iii. Created – not begotten of man or born of woman
14. Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God
i. Covering cherub – covering what? Perhaps Eden
ii. God established it
iii. Where is the Mountain of God Bashan , references to Mt. Sinai Mt. Sinai Mt. Catherine Mt. Sinai
iv. At the base of Mt. Catherine
v. A mosque built within the monestary
vi. Codex Sinaiticus found here
15. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.
i. Iniquity – no longer perfect
16. By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God
i. God informs Satan of his ultimate demise
ii. Notice the future tens “I WILL CAST”, “I WILL DESTROY” indicates it has not yet been done
17. Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.
i. He had full wisdom, but it became corrupted
18. Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.
19. All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more.’”
g. Isaiah 14:12-17
12. “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
i. So we are going back to when satan fell
13. For thou hast said in thine heart, ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
i. Here we are given the reason for his fall, or the
ii. Aligns with Ezekiel 28:15 when iniquity was found
14. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High.’
15. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.
i. Prophetic, corresponds to Ezekiel 28:16
16. They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, ‘Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake thy kingdoms;
17. That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners?’”
B. The Heavens and Earth Which are Now vv. 1:2b-31
Have you ever watched a presidential address where the president comes out and gives an hour long speech. His speech is in plain English, but afterward the commentators come on and say “…well, what the president was saying was such and such and so and so…” like we are all foreigners who don’t understand English. They also say things like “well the president was sending a message to such and such leader of such and such country” Really?
See I’m not privy to the public secret messages and their meaning so this might be useful. To be honest the president probably goes back to Air Force 1 and watches these commentators, scratches his head and says “…What? That’s not what I meant.”
So over the course of thousands of years we have commentators telling us what God says and also what God meant and what messages was He sending. Does God agree?
How do we know if what we are told is true, How do we know if our traditions and understanding of scripture is correct? According to II Timothy 2:15 we should “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” It appears from this verse is that God is saying “Okay, you believe this? Show me where I said it…” Now I could be wrong, but that’s what it looks like. With that, lets tackle our next section beginning with Genesis 1:2b…
1. “… And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.”
A) Here as well as verse 9 leads the reader to believe that the earth was completely covered in water
B) 2 Peter 3:4-7 KJV “And saying (the scoffers from v. 3), Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as [they were] from the beginning of the creation. For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world (κόσμος kosmos) that then was, being overflowed with water, perished (ἀπόλλυμι apollymi , gamatria = 666): But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.”
C) 2 Peter 3:4-7 Moffatt “Asking, ‘Where is His promised advent? Since the day our fathers fell asleep, things remain exactly as they were from the beginning of creation. They willfully ignore the fact that heavens existed long ago, and an earth which God’s Word formed of water and by water. By water the then-existing world was deluged and destroyed, but the present heavens and earth are treasured up by the same word for fire, reserved for the day when the impious are doomed and destroyed.”
1) Not a reference to Noah’s flood, but the events of Genesis 1:2 as seen in II Peter 3:4 “from the beginning of creation”
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