Genesis Segment 2
In the Beginning...
Genesis is a large book
with much information in it. I’ve had to choose which parts of it to present
that I believe God wanted handled in this class. I’ve tried to minimize the
amount of science, archeology and secular history needed for added understanding
to what the scriptures say.
Many times we will not
read all the verses in studying a particular section. One of the goals of this
class is to have you want to go back and read all the verses and for that matter
the whole book. If you have questions concerning what you are reading feel free
to write or call or email and I will do the best I can to help you with them.
This is a work in
progress and like always as we learn more of God’s Word, we change accordingly.
Dissenting arguments on
probably every subject that will be addressed this weekend are out there. Work
the subject matter for yourself. Then decide. It all has to fit within the frame
work of how God’s Word interprets itself.
Genesis 1. Unless you
rightly divide and understand the first 2 chapters of Genesis, the rest of the
Bible will be a guessing game and a closed book for you.
So let’s take the
necessary time to understand these first two chapters. [White board]
Genesis means
"generation" or "creation" or “origin.” There is no such word in the
original.
The original word for this book
is one word in Hebrew, BREASHITH [7225]. "Breashith" translates
into "in the beginning". This is the title of the book. “In the Beginning.”
Then comes Elohim, God, all by
Himself on line one. Placing God first in the verse and in the Bible puts Him in
His proper position above everything. [STS 458, 2 tapes, Word’s Way chapter 1]
Genesis 1:1 God created the
heaven and the earth. Lamsa’s translation of the Bible from the Pershitta
Aramaic text reads, “God created the heavens and the earth in the very
beginning.”
Elohim, God here is a
plural word to emphasize God’s creative greatness. God as Creator.
When His title Jehovah is
used in the text, it is in relationship to what God has created.
God, as Elohim is used 35 times
from Genesis 1:1 to Genesis 2:3. 199 times in the entire book.
The Bible opens with “God
in the beginning created the heavens and the earth.” And closes in the book of
Revelation with God’s Son’s final return, “Even so come quickly Lord Jesus.”
Rev. 22:20b.
Everything in between
Genesis 1:1 and Revelation 22:20 deals with keeping God first and the
consequences man suffers if he doesn’t.
Genesis 1:1 God in the
very beginning created the heavens and the earth.
When did God do this? At
the very beginning. When was that? in the beginning! That’s all we know.
The word created in Hebrew is
barah [1254]. It is an extremely important word to understanding
the book of Genesis. It is totally misapplied by people in our world today.
“To create” is to bring
into existence that which has never been before. Inside the realm of God’s Word,
God is the only One Who can create something. To create anything is reserved for
God and God alone. He is the only one who can create.
Once something is
created, God never has to recreate it again, because it is already in existence.
All that is needed is to compound what’s already been created; rearrange the
molecules, mix them with different atoms, put what has already been created
together in different forms at different temperatures.
Take two parts hydrogen
and one part oxygen, mix together and get water, no matter when and where it’s
done.
God’s laws, the natural
as well as the spiritual, are all immutable [unchangeable, unalterable,
changeless].
When man applies the laws
that are both in the natural and in the spiritual realm, he will always come up
with the same results over and over again. They never fluctuate, they never
vary, the same results will always be there.
The Law of Conservation
of Energy states that energy disappearing in one form will reappear in another.
Energy is either stored as potential energy, or is released as kinetic energy.
Albert Einstein showed
that mass and energy can be interconverted because of the ability of energy to
be changed to mass and mass to energy.
Although energy can
change form, it can neither be created nor destroyed. The sum total of energy
remains constant in the universe.
There was one creation of
energy and one process of God setting that energy in the proper balance as
matter and energy (kinetic and potential) for the universe of the first heaven
and earth.
Our universe is at rest
as far as creation of energy is concerned.
Therefore, any energy
displayed today does not come from any new sources, but is actually a conversion
of the same energy that was brought into being by God at the original creation.
In the beginning God
created something that was never there before, the heavens and the earth, and
physically supplied it with all the energy it would ever need.
Science calls the
beginning of the universe “The Big Bang Theory.” This refers to the universe
having one initial startup, then everything expanding and exploding out from it.
Let me quote Albert
Einstein, “An exploding universe an be traced back to an explosion, a beginning.
If the universe had a beginning, it must have a beginner.”
In Genesis 1:1,
everything that's ever been needed for the entire universe, from that time in
history to now, with the exception of 2 things, soul and spirit, was created by
Elohim.
God as the Creator still
has the prerogative and ability to create, as He did in creating seed enabling
the conception of His son Jesus Christ, and the new creation seed in his
children when they confess Jesus as their Lord and believe that God raised him
from the dead.
God in the beginning at
the time of the original creation in 1:1 created and put into place the sun, the
moon, the stars; including the planet earth with some form of life on it.
The word heaven in 1:1,
shamayim, [8064] is in the plural, heavens, to emphasize that God is Lord
over all His creation including the stars, the planets and the earth,
everything.
In the Greek “heaven,”
when used in the singular, sets heaven in contrast with earth.
In Matthew 6:9 the
singular “heaven” is used. “After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father
which art in heaven,” who resides in heaven, rather than a god who lives as a
statue, an idol on Earth or in the form of a person.
Heavens in Genesis 1:1 is
also used in the plural form to point out the vastness of this expanse. The
heavens are so extensive that even though man has reached the moon, he has not
begun to explore the heavens which God created in the beginning.
In the 34 verses
following Genesis 1:1, there are 102 separate acts of God and all of them begin
with the word "and". It’s the FOS polysyndeton. Poly - many Syndeton
- ands, many ands.
Every act of God begins
with an "and" which ties God the Creator with His acts.
Verse one probably should
be a chapter by itself because millions of years could have elapsed
between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2.
No one knows the length
of time between the events recorded in verse 1 and verse 2. We do know that
something catastrophic happened in the heavens and on the earth before we get to
verse 2.
In the beginning when God
created the heavens and the earth all the creation was in perfect condition. But
an astounding change occurred by the time of the record in Genesis 1:2.
BREAK
Genesis 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.
The word “was” should be
translated became. It is the Hebrew word haw-yah [1961]. It is translated
was or become or became or come to pass. The context tells us how it should be
translated.
Verse 2 should read, “And the earth became without form, and void.” Tohu va bohu.
God didn't create it this
way, without form or void. It became without form and void. Something caused it
to become this way.
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.
“Not in vain” is tohu va
bohu. E.W. Bullinger translates it “confusion and emptiness.” God created
the heavens and the earth not in vain, not in confusion and emptiness. He
formed it to be inhabited.
Jeremiah 4:23 I beheld the earth, and, lo, [it was] without form, and void; [tohu va bohu] and the heavens, and they had no light.
God did not create the heavens
and the earth without form and void, tohu va bohu, the condition in which
it was found in Genesis 1:2. The whole creation was originally perfect.
Isaiah tells us more
about how the earth became without form and void. During the beginning, but
sometime before Genesis 1:2, God created angels, spirit beings, whom He put
under three ruling heads, archangels: Gabriel, Michael, and Lucifer.
Celestial strife ensued
when Lucifer, God’s second in command, and a third of the angels tried to usurp
the throne of God. Consequently these spirit beings were dispelled from heaven
and became known as the fallen angels, the enemies of God.
Revelation 12:7 And there was
war in heaven…
There was war in heaven.
When you fight a war, does it consist of just one battle? No. There may be one
decisive battle in a war, but wars usually last some time. This war may have
lasted millions of years. We do not know how long, but it left the first heaven
and earth in ruin.
12:7 And there was war
in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon
fought and his angels,
8 And prevailed not;
neither was their place found any more in heaven.
9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
4 And his tail drew the
third part of the stars (spirits, shining) of heaven, and did cast them to the
earth...
Lucifer, abused God’s
laws in attempting to overthrow God’s kingdom. Since God is all powerful and
cannot be overthrown, Lucifer succeeded only in disrupting the first heaven and
earth and in causing his own downfall.
Ezekiel 28 speaks of
Lucifer who was at one time the angel of light.
Ezekiel 28:15 Thou [Lucifer] wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.
Unlike Adam and Eve
later, there was no one to manipulate or influence or tempt Lucifer. Sin
originated in him.
Lucifer, and all the
angels, like Adam, underwent a period of probation and testing. They were
created as free moral agents. They were created intelligent, rational, and
spiritual, with the power of free moral choice. They were, by God’s divine
intention, given the power of self-determination with respect to their obedience
to God.
Since evil had not
entered into the world as a reality it only existed as a potential in a universe
where God had created spirit beings to whom he had given the potential power to
say no to Him and rebel against His will.
Before sin entered the
universe, there was but one form of transgression possible, the choice between
obeying or disobeying God’s revealed will and commands. This was the only choice
open to Lucifer initially, as it was later in the case of Adam.
Irrational beasts do not
have this power of choice, nor the right of self-determination, but neither can
they, for that matter, worship God and by their own volition serve, honor, and
obey Him.
Free response based on
love, not forced obedience, would alone satisfy and glorify God, the Father of
all creatures, in exactly the same way a parent is honored and pleased by the
loving, wilful response and obedience of a child.
The initial choice was
God’s. Irrational beasts or sub-human automations without the ability of moral
choice would present no threat to sanctity of the universe, but God wished to
bring into existence beings who could freely worship, honor, and glorify Him.
To do this, as God
certainly knew beforehand, would require giving them the right of
self-determination and the potential power of disobeying Him and His will. A
creature who could not willfully say no to God, could not, for exactly the same
reason, willfully say yes.
Lucifer’s rebellion in
heaven during the timeframe between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2 was of such a
cataclysmic nature that a perfectly created earth became without form and void.
Lucifer as the angel of
light had access to the immutable laws of the universe and has the ability to
manipulate them to perform his will.
II Peter 3:5 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 [kosmos, the ordered universe] that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:
This is not referring to
the flood of Noah. The word perished refers to the "destruction" as recorded in
Genesis 1:2, the first heaven and earth.
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.
This is referring to the
destruction of the 2nd heaven and earth, the one we are on now.
12 Looking for and
hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire
shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
13 Nevertheless we,
according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth
righteousness. [In the future, a third heaven and earth.]
Here we see three heavens
and 3 earths mentioned. This 3rd heaven and earth wherein dwelleth only
righteousness is a future reality but it is something certainly worth looking
forward toward.
Revelation 21:1 And I saw
a new heaven and a new earth: for the first, [former] heaven and the first
[former] earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
“No more sea” is a Hebraism referring to
“no more wavering, confusion, trouble or unrighteousness.”
Isaiah 66:22 For as the new heavens and
the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so
shall your seed and your name remain.
Isaiah 65:17 For, behold,
I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered,
nor come into mind.
No memory of it, for in
the 3rd heaven and earth dwells only righteousness. During the second heaven and
earth, now, during our time today, the only righteousness is the spirit from God
in our lives and the manifestation of that spirit.
The Bible designates
three periods of time in referring to heaven and earth. The first one is Genesis
1:1; the second one follows Genesis 1:2 until the time of the “last judgment,”
which occasion ushers in the third heaven and earth.
The heavens and the earth
which are now, the second heaven and earth, begin with Genesis 1:3 and their
formation is completed when Genesis 2:1 says, “Thus the heavens and the earth
were finished...”
It will receive its
sentence of doom, when it becomes cursed, thorned and thistled following the
fall of mankind in Genesis 3.
Finally there will be a
third heaven and earth wherein dwelleth righteousness, Eden, the garden of God,
paradise again. Sometime still to come, the third heaven and earth, the one men
like Abraham looked forward to and stood because he knew God was able to perform
what he had promised.
Before we go back to
Genesis 1:3 and continue with what God had to do to make the earth inhabitable
let’s take a quick look at the fall of Lucifer, God’s right hand angel, second
in command.
God has suffered two
major losses. The first when His second spirit in command rebelled against Him.
Secondly, the fall of His first perfect man, Adam.
God originally made three
ruling archangels, Michael, Gabriel, and Lucifer, who was the angel of light, of
beauty.
Ezekiel 31:8 The cedars
in the garden of God could not hide him: the fir trees were not like his boughs,
and the chesnut trees were not like his branches; nor any tree in the garden of
God was like unto him in his beauty.
9 I have made him fair by the multitude of his branches: so that all the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, envied him.
Ezekiel 28:12
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.
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.
14 Thou art the anointed
cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy
mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of
fire. [Moffat – flashing thunderstones, thunderbolts]
15 Thou wast perfect in
thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.
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: and I
will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.
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.
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.
Isaiah 14:12 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!
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:
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.
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 kingdoms;
[Read Moffat’s
translation]
The fight between God,
His angels and His children against the Devil, His evil spirits, and his
children continues today.
Ephesians 6:12 For we wrestle
not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against
the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high
places.
Satan’s chief desire and
design is to destroy humans and thereby bring sorrow to the heart of the Father
God.
The love of power
corrupted Lucifer. When cast out of heaven, he lost none of his ability or
brilliance, none of his wisdom. He simply became corrupted. He is
the great king of the devil hosts of hell. He is the mighty enemy of God. He is
an enemy of angels and of men.
He heads up all the evil
of all the ages. His whole nature is malignant and cruel. He has political
dominion over the kingdoms of the earth, and as the prince of this world he is
the political head of the nations.
Today he is the god of
this world as II Corinthians 4:4 tells us. And as a god, he demands man's
worship, reverence and obedience.
But there is a time coming that he will pay dearly for all the misery he has caused.
This is what occurred
between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2. This is what made the earth without form and void.
When Lucifer rebelled in heaven, the whole creation was violently put into
upheaval.
Starting with verse 2 God
has to go into operation in the universe to refashion it, to reform it, to
remake it, so that it would be habitable for one of the greatest things God was
going to do: the forming, the making and the creating of man.
So what happened to the
life forms that were on planet earth before the attempted overthrow of God? They
were destroyed. Continents ripped apart, mountains ranges heaved into being. The
perfectly created earth was extinguished.
Put prehistoric animals,
fossils, dinosaurs, all here. Even fossilized animals that look similar to
animals that are on the earth today were destroyed during the cataclysmic
occurrences between Genesis 1:1 and 2.
Why couldn’t God have put
certain animals in the original creation and again on the earth when he restored
and remade it? The only difference would be that the original animal in the
first creation had a life that was not soul life. It was some other form of
life, because we are going to read of the creation of soul life in verse 21.