Genesis/Revelation Bible Study Week 2
Gen 1:2
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.
KJV
We need to look at the words used and translated in this verse and understand what just happened. Imagine if we read the above verse in the following way.
Gen 1:2
And the earth became 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.
Here is Strong’s concordance for that word.
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):
Why would I want to change that word? Well, that same word is used in the bible elsewhere as became, or “came to pass” meaning a change occurred. Genesis 2:7, 4:8 are excellent examples.
Gen 2:7
And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul
Gen 4:8
And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.
Sanity Pause: Why is this an important point to establish?
1) It’s in scripture. [2nd Tim 3:16]
2) It makes clear other scriptures that seem confusing. (We’ll go there in a minute)
3) It will help us understand why we are here.
4) It will help us establish that the Bible is not in conflict with scientific fact and therefore not a stumbling block for those that deem science more correct than the Bible.
Have you ever read 2nd Peter 3:3-9
3 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
4 And saying, 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.
5 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:
6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:
7 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.
8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
KJV
Verse 6 tells us that the world perished. I used to think this was the flood of Noah, but deeper study into scriptures shows that this is not the case. There was a world in existence before the heavens and the earth, which are now (vs7). The flood didn’t change the heavens or the earth – other than getting it very, very wet.
The heavens and the earth, which are now “are” until the day of judgment, at which time there will be a new heaven and a new earth.
Revelation 21:1
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
KJV
Did you catch that word “first?” It actually means before, or in this case, former, might have been a more consistent translation for readability.
NT:4413
protos (pro'-tos); contracted superlative of NT:4253; foremost (in time, place, order or importance):
KJV - before, beginning, best, chief (-est), first (of all), former.
Now in case your still not convinced that there are 3 earth ages of relevance, the one prior to this, the current one, and the one to come after the 1000 year Reign of Christ, here is some more scriptures to consider.
God is discussing the utter destruction and desolation of the earth in the following passages of Jeremiah.
Jer 4:22-28
22 For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.
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.
26 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.
27 For thus hath the LORD said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end.
28 For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black: because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it.
KJV
Now, if we look at this carefully we notice a few very important points.
1) The term, “without form and void” are the same exact words as in Genesis 1:2. The words are tohuw and bohuw.
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.
OT:922 bohuw (bo'-hoo); from an unused root (meaning to be empty); a vacuity, i.e. (superficially) an undistinguishable ruin:
KJV - emptiness, void.
2) Looking at this chapter in Jeremiah shows that there was utter destruction and desolation and a void. No more mountains, no more cities, no more man, no more birds – all because of God’s fierce anger and his purpose.
3) I bet your thinking maybe this discusses the flood. Well it says above “no man, no birds and there certainly were heavens during the flood and of course light, but vs 23 above says quite plainly, “no light.”
That’s probably enough for this week. Remember, we are only using the Bible as our reference and not our own thoughts or traditional teachings. Believe it or not, this helps understand other scriptures that have been difficult or impossible to grasp.
Next week: Dinosaurs!!!