The Journal of Biblical Accuracy

http://www.jba.gr/

Article

• Genesis 1:1-2

Please feel free to copy and forward this article

 Genesis 1:1-2

Few topics have been the subject of so much speculation as the topic of creation. The
average Christian view is that there were seven days of creation during which God,
among other things, created the heavens and the earth. This view has caused terrible
headaches to many, since if it was so the earth would have to be no more than a few
thousand years old. To bridge this "discrepancy" various assumptions have been made.
So, there are those who support that the days of creation in Genesis 1 were much longer
than normal twenty four hour days. As we will see later, the Bible does not agree with
this theory. Others have gone even further to say that it was all done
through......evolution. However, one cannot support this view without a flat denial of the
Scripture which declares that God is the creator of everything.

Colossians 1:16-17
"For by Him [God] ALL things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth,
visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. ALL
THINGS WERE CREATED THROUGH HIM AND FOR HIM. And He is before all
things and in Him all things consist"

This article will try to shed light on some of the most mistreated passages of
Genesis, examining them without preconceived ideas.

1. Genesis 1:1

The confusion regarding the first chapter of Genesis is caused, I believe, by the
misunderstanding of the first two verses of the Bible. Responsible for a large part of this
misunderstanding is tradition, that teaches that the heavens and the earth were created on
the first day of creation. Then immediately we are faced with the following problem:
since the chronological information given in the Bible indicates that man has existed for
approximately 6,000 years and since, according to the traditional view, he was created
only five days after the earth's creation this means that the earth cannot be more than
6,000 years old. On the other hand, there are many that feel that this number comes in
stark contradiction with external evidence that suggests that the earth and generally the
universe has existed for several billion years. Moreover, it contradicts the evidence that
comes from the discovery of fossils that belong to dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals
which are believed to have lived several million years ago. However, the problem is not
a problem of the Bible. For the Bible does not say that God created the heavens and the
earth in the first day. Let's see what it says:

Genesis 1:1
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth"

This verse disproves any connection of the big-bang theory with the Bible. It was
GOD who created the heavens and the earth. When did this happen? The Bible does not
say "in the first day". What it says is "IN THE BEGINNING". The problem is created
when instead of "in the beginning" we read "in the first day". That this beginning was not
the first of the days of creation recorded in Genesis 1, is evident by reading more of what
follows:

Genesis 1:1-5
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And the earth was without form
and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering
over the face of the waters. And God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. And
God saw the light that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God
called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And the evening and the morning
were the first day.
(NKJV-KJV)

Before we say anything else, we must explain that the day of Genesis 1:5, as well
as the remaining days of creation, was a normal twenty four hour day. Indeed, it is
Biblically true that the word "day" has sometimes been used to denote a longer period of
time than a normal twenty four hour day. For example, Romans 2:5 speaks about "the day
of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgement of God" while Ephesians 6:13 about
the "evil day". As it is evident, the word "day" that occurs in these passages means much
more than a normal twenty four hour day. However, when the reference is to a day
defined by evening and morning, or when we meet the expression "day and night" what is
meant is a normal twenty four hour day. This is obvious by taking a look at some of the
corresponding occurrences in the Bible. Thus, the Bible says that the rain that caused the
flood of Noah lasted "forty days and forty nights" (Genesis 7:12) i.e. forty normal days.
When Moses went up into the mountain to receive the law he stayed there "forty days and
forty nights" i.e. forty normal days (see Exodus 24:18 for the first time that he went up
and Exodus 34:28 for the second time). Similarly, "Jonah was in the belly of the fish
three days and three nights" (Jonah 1:17) i.e. three normal days or seventy two hours.
Thus, when Jesus said "as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great
fish, so will the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth"
(Matthew 12:40) he meant what he said i.e. that he would be dead for three days and
three nights1. From all the above, it is obvious that when Genesis 1:5 says "And the
evening and the morning were the first day" the reference is to a normal twenty four hour
day that starts with the morning continues with the evening before it is succeeded by the
next morning. This invalidates the suppositions that have been put forward, according to
which the days of Genesis 1 were longer than normal days. What the Bible teaches is that
God made all His works in six2 literal twenty four hour days.
Having made this clear let's return to our topic. When were the heavens and earth
created? The text does not say in the first day but IN THE BEGINNING. Moreover, it

1Obviously, this disproves the tradition that wants Jesus to die 3 p.m. on Good Friday and arise
early Eastern Sunday morning, since a simple counting shows that in no way you can have three
days and three nights. However, the problem is not a problem of the Word of God but a problem
of tradition. I hope that in a following issue we will have the opportunity to handle such cases
that people have decried as "contradictions" and which are contradictions of tradition only and
not of the Word of God.
2Though the NKJV reads "And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made"
(Genesis 2:2), giving the impression that there were seven days of creation, both the Septuagint
and the Samaritan Pentateuch, which are supposed to be based on more ancient manuscripts than
the ones available today, read: "on the sixth day", which is evidently correct since God didn't do
any work on the seventh day. He only rested on that day.
tells us that the earth was (however, see below) without form and void and that the Spirit
of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
The first of the six days of creation described in Genesis 1 does not start in verse
one but in verse three, and it starts with a phrase that characterises the beginning of the
remaining five days as well: "And God said......" (Genesis 1:3, 1:6, 1:9, 1:14, 1:20, 1:24)

Genesis 1:3-5
"And God said, "Let there be light:" and there was light. And God saw the light that it
was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light day and
the darkness He called night. And the evening and the morning were the first day"
(NKJV-KJV)

This day was not the first day of the existence of the heavens and of the earth for
God created them "in the beginning". When was this beginning the Bible does not say. If
the geologists say that it was billions years ago it may be so. As far as the Bible is
concerned there is no problem. What the Bible does say is that this beginning was earlier
than the day of Genesis 1:5 and probably, if the existing evidence is right, much earlier.

2. Genesis 1:2

Genesis 1:2 is another key verse in understanding what the Word of God says
regarding the very important topic of creation. Let's see:

Genesis 1:2
"And the earth was [Hebrew: hayah] without form and void; and darkness was on
the face of the deep"

The key word here is the first "was". As you can see, the second "was" is in italics
which means that it was added by the translators. The same happens with many other
passages of the Old Testament where the verb "to be" is printed in italics3. The reason
that this happens is because there is no verb "to be" in the Hebrew language. Thus the
translators had to supply it, when they thought it necessary. Now if this is so, we have to
ask why the first "was" in the above passage is printed in Roman letters? The reason is
because sometimes the translators chose to translate the verb "hayah" that is used there, as
"to be". However, the verb "hayah" does not mean "to be". What it means is "to become",
"to come to be" or "to come to pass"4. This is the translation that is given in Genesis 2:7
where we are told that "man became (hayah) a living soul", in Genesis 4:3 where we
learn that "in the process of time it came to pass (hayah) that Cain brought an offering of
the fruit of the ground to the Lord", in Genesis 6:1 "and it came to pass (hayah), when
man began to multiply...", in Genesis 7:10 "and it came to pass (hayah) after seven days,
that the waters of the flood were (hayah, came to be, became) upon the earth", in
Genesis 19:26 "but his [Lot's] wife looked back from behind him, and she became
(hayah) a pillar of salt" etc.
The NIV recognising that the verb "hayah" in Genesis 1:2 should have been
translated as "became" instead of "was", has suggested this change in the margin, thus
very correctly reading:

Genesis 1:1-2
"IN THE BEGINNING God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth BECAME
[NIV margin] formless and empty"
(NIV)

3In fact, only in the first chapter of Genesis there are 11 cases where the verb "to be" is in italics.
4See E.W. Bullinger: "The Companion Bible", Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids, Michigan,
1990, p. 3 and W. Wilson: "Old Testament Word Studies", Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids,
Michigan, 1978, p. 30. That the meaning of the verb "hayah" is "to become", "to come to pass",
or "to come to be" is also supported from the evidence of the Septuagint, the ancient Greek
translation of the Old Testament. In contrast to the Hebrew, the Greek language has a verb
equivalent to the English verb "to be", the verb “eimi”, and a verb equivalent to the English verb
"to become", the verb “ginomai”. The Septuagint almost exclusively translates the verb "hayah"
as ginomai i.e. "to become", "to come to pass". Indeed, it translates it like that 1,341 times. When
it uses the verb "eimi" ("to be"), it almost always uses it as an addition to the text and today it
would have been printed in italics.
 That the earth was not created formless and empty but it BECAME like that is also
evident from Isaiah 45:18

Isaiah 45:18
" thus says the Lord that created the heavens; God Himself that formed the earth and
made it; He has established it, He did not create it in vain [Hebrew: tohu], He formed it
to be inhabited"
(NKJV-KJV)

The phrase "in vain" in Isaiah 45 is the Hebrew word "tohu" that in Genesis 1:2 is
translated as "formless". Really, God didn't create the earth "tohu" (Isaiah 45:18) but it
BECAME "tohu" (Genesis 1:2). Moreover, not only the earth became "tohu" or formless
but it also became empty. Evidently, for the earth to become empty this means that it
wasn't empty. Instead, it must have been inhabited. Then, for some reason, for which we
will refer to, it became formless and empty. That's why God had again to put things in
order, which He did in the six days of creation. Today man finds fossils of dinosaurs and
dates them back to some million years ago. "Intelligent" men and critics of the Bible say
that this disproves the Bible. Unfortunately for them nothing can disprove the Bible. The
Bible tells us that in the beginning, probably some billion years ago, God created the
heavens and the earth. This earth was not empty as tradition teaches neither was it
formless. For God didn't create it like that. Instead, it BECAME formless and empty. God
does not tell us what specific animals were in that earth. He didn't consider it necessary.
But if you believe that there were dinosaurs, mammoths etc. it may be so. The Bible does
not exclude it.
To summarise: what the Bible excludes is:
i) that the earth was made "in the first day of creation". Instead, what the Bible says is
that it was created IN THE BEGINNING and thus the first day of creation was not
absolutely first but first only in relation to the remaining five days.
ii) that the earth was created formless and empty. The earth wasn't created formless and
empty. Instead, IT BECAME like that.
iii) that something remained alive from the earth of Genesis 1:1. That this cannot be so, is
evident by the very definition of "empty". Something is empty when there is nothing
there. If there was, it wouldn't be empty. If a bacteria had survived from the earth of
Genesis 1:1, it wouldn't be empty.

3. "The world that then was"

Further evidence regarding what was said above is also given in other parts of the
Scripture. Thus II Peter tells us:

II Peter 3:3-7, 13
"Knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their
own lusts, 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 creation. For this they
willingly forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing
out of water and in the water, BY WHICH [i.e. water] THE WORLD THAT THEN
WAS [or as the Greek reads: "the then world"] PERISHED, BEING FLOODED WITH
WATER. BUT THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH WHICH ARE NOW by the same
word are kept in store, reserved for fire until the day of judgement and perdition of
ungodly men...... Nevertheless we, according to His promise, LOOK FOR NEW
HEAVENS AND A NEW EARTH in which righteousness dwells.

In this passage of II Peter, we learn for a "world that then was" and which perished
being flooded with water. The reference here is not to the flood of Noah. This flood didn't
perish all the world but the world of the ungodly only (II Peter 2:5). Also, since all the
animals were preserved by Noah, God didn't have to re-do things after the flood. In
contrast, in the case of II Peter 3:6 ALL the THEN world perished. The word "but" in II
Peter 3:7 makes a contrast between "the world that then was" and the world that
succeeded it and which is the world that is now ("the world that THEN was perished,
being flooded by water, BUT the heavens and the earth which are NOW....."). Moreover,
II Peter 3:13 tells us that the world that is now will be succeeded by NEW heavens and a
NEW earth i.e. by a new world (see also Revelation 21:1).
From all the above, it is clear that the Bible speaks of three worlds. The first
world, "the world that then was", perished being flooded by water. The second world, the
world that is now, is "reserved for fire" and it waits for the day of the Lord, "in which the
heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat;
both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up" (II Peter 3:10). The third
world is still future and will succeed the world that is now.
The fact that the there are three worlds: one that then was, one that is now and one
that is to come, is also evident from II Corinthians 12:2 where Paul says:

II Corinthians 12:2
"I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago - whether in the body I do not know, or
whether out of the body I do not know, God knows - such a one was caught up TO [or as
the Greek reads: "as far as"] THE THIRD HEAVEN"

What does Paul mean by "third heaven"? According to what we have learned, it
means the NEW heaven that is still to come. It is this new heaven that John also saw by
revelation (Revelation 21) and about of which Peter speaks in II Peter 3:13. Is it therefore
right that the Word of God speaks here of a THIRD heaven? Absolutely yes: the first was
the one that THEN was, the second is the one that is NOW and the third is the one THAT
IS TO COME.
After making clear all the above, and taking into account what we learned from
Genesis 1:1-2, it is obvious that "the world that then was" is the world of Genesis 1:1.
God created the heavens and the earth in the beginning (Genesis 1:1). He didn't create the
earth formless (Isaiah 45:18). It became formless and empty (Genesis 1:2) which means
that there were living beings on that earth that died when that world, "the world that then
was", perished. The way that it perished was by being flooded with water (II Peter 3:6).
That's why there are findings that suggest the existence at some time in the past, of fishes
that are not known today in high mountains like the Alps, the Andes etc. There was sea
there sometime when "the world that then was perished being flooded with water".
Also that's why there are fossils of animals that are called prehistoric and it is
supposed that they lived many million years ago: they lived in "the world that then was".
In this world lived also the prehistoric, so called "man". This "man" as well as all the
living beings that used to be the inhabitants of that first world, perished when that world
perished.
The problem with scientists is that they ignore the dividing line between "the
world that then was" and the world that is now. Consequently, when they find fossils of
beings that lived in that world and see that they are different from the beings that live in
the present world, they try to explain the differences through such assumptions as the
theory of evolution. But the truth is that there was a world that God created, which lasted
for the period covered by Genesis 1:1. However, that world perished being flooded with
water and thus God had again to put things in order in the six days of creation. Hence, He
made the plants, the animals and finally man. Many times He chose to make things in a
similar fashion as in that world. Thus for example, the elephant took the place of the
mammoth. In other cases, He chose to make again things that were also in that first world
as turtles probably. This is not strange at all. If you had a home that you liked and which
for some reason was ruined, you may very well have chosen to make things in a similar
fashion as they used to be.
That's how clearly the Word of God explains the things. The Word of God does
not have any problem with genuine facts and true science. The problem is with false
"facts" and false "science". True science gives the facts and stops there. False science
goes forth and draws conclusions based on unreliable assumptions. Evolution belongs to
the second category, for it is based on entirely unreliable assumptions. It is thus similar
with the ancient mythologies that were dreamed up to explain the creation of the world.
Today we speak of them as mythologies but in their age they were respected as people
today respect evolution. However, evolution is nothing else than another mythology or
better "assumptiology" if there is such a word. In the future it will be listed in the
mythologies that the mind of men that deny God invented to explain what the Word of
God so clearly explains three thousand years now.
4. What caused the end of "the world that then was"?

After all the above, the question that the reader may have is what caused the earth
to become formless and empty as Genesis 1:2 says? Before we answer this question, it
will be helpful to first have a look at what happens with the world that is now. This
world, as "the world that then was", when it was created it was very good and perfect.
God creates everything perfect. Genesis 1:31 tells us:

Genesis 1:31
"Then God saw everything that He had made, and INDEED IT WAS VERY GOOD"

However, this perfect situation didn't last for ever. For Romans 8 tells us:

Romans 8:20-22
"For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who
subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage
of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the
whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now"
(NKJV-KJV)

Futility, bondage of corruption, groaning and travailing in pain are not things that
one would expect from a situation that God describes in Genesis 1:31 as very good.
Something therefore must have happened in the meantime that turned what was very
good to something that is under the "bondage of corruption". What was this? The fall of
Adam. The fall of Adam not only cost him the loss of the one third of his being5 i.e. the
spirit, but it also affected the whole creation of God. Genesis 3:17-19 describes the
beginning of this change of the creation from something that was very good to something
that was under the bondage of corruption.

5See The Journal of Biblical Accuracy, Vol.1, Iss.5, 6

Genesis 3:17-19
"Then to Adam He [God] said, "because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and
have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, you shall not eat of it:
CURSED is the ground for your sake; in TOIL you shall eat of it all the days of your life.
Both THORNS and THISTLES it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of
the field. In the SWEAT of your face you shall eat bread till you RETURN TO THE
GROUND, for out of it you were taken; For dust you are, and to dust you shall return"

Furthermore, though God made Adam boss of the world that is now (Genesis
1:26), by his fall he passed on all his rights to the devil who is the one that is now called
the ruler, the boss, of this world6 (John 12:31, 14:30, 16:11). That's why all the creation
groans and travails in pain and waits for deliverance. What caused this situation? THE
FALL of Adam.
Similarly, as the fall of Adam disrupted the world that is now, so another fall that
preceded that of Adam disrupted, much more that time, the world of Genesis 1:1, i.e. "the
world that then was". The effects of that fall were so devastating that the world couldn't
even wait for deliverance. Instead, it needed to be succeeded by a new world, the world
that is now, where again everything was initially perfect. The fall that we are speaking
about, and which is the only event that the Bible describes as an event that could have
such devastating effects, is the fall of Lucifer who used to be one of the archangels of
God, commanding a third of the total number of angels.
Regarding the fall of Lucifer the Bible describes it in three places: in Isaiah 14, in
Ezekiel 28 and in Revelation 12. Let's start from Isaiah 14:

Isaiah 14:12
"How are you fallen from heaven, O Lucifer son of the morning! How you are cut down
to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: "I will
ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the
mount of the congregation, on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the
heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High"

6See The Journal of Biblical Accuracy, Vol.1, Iss.7

Ezekiel 28 also refers to the same events and tells us:

Ezekiel 28:15-17
"You [Lucifer] were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, TILL iniquity
was found in you. By the abundance of your trading you became filled with violence
within and you sinned; Therefore I cast you as a profane thing out of the mountain of
God; And I destroyed you, O covering cherub, from the midst of the fiery stones. Your
heart was lifted up because of your beauty; You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of
your splendour, I cast you to the ground"

According to Isaiah 14, Lucifer wanted to usurp the throne of God. This was the
iniquity that was found in him. However, his expectations weren't realised. The book of
Revelation describes the war that followed his attempt, in a historical review given in
chapter 12:

Revelation 12:3
"And another sign appeared in heaven: behold a great, fiery red dragon having seven
heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. His tail drew a third [that was the
proportion of the angels committed to the Lucifer, called dragon here] of the stars of
heaven and threw them to the earth......And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his
angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not
prevail, nor was a place for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was cast out,
that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast
to the earth [Greek: g e ], and his angels were cast out with him."

The word "earth" here is the Greek word "γη" (g e ) that in our context means the
earth as opposed to the heaven i.e the earth as a planet. It is exactly this word that the
Septuagint uses in the other two references of Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 and which the
NKJV unfortunately renders as simply "ground". The Hebrew word that is used there, is
the word "erets" that means "the earth in the largest sense, both the habitable and the
inhabitable parts7" or in our context, the earth as opposed to the heaven. The NIV corrects
this mistake by translating the word "erets" in Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 as "earth" and
thus reading:

Isaiah 14:12
"How are you fallen from heaven O Lucifer son of the morning! You have been cast
down to the earth"
(NKJV-NIV)

Ezekiel 28:17
"Your heart became proud on account of your beauty and you corrupted your wisdom
because of your splendour; So I threw you to the earth"
(NIV)

All the passages agree that after his defeat the devil and his angels were cast out of
heaven to the earth. This earth is the earth "that then was" i.e. the earth of Genesis 1:1,
since in the earth that is now and as early as Genesis 3:1, the devil is already an enemy. I
do not know if it was as a result of this casting that the earth of Genesis 1:1 became
formless and empty or if it happened during the fight. The Bible does not say. What I do
know is that the fall of the Lucifer is the only event that could have such devastating
effects on the creation of Genesis 1:1.
However, though the adversary caused the overthrow of "the world that then was"
and, through Adam, the bondage of the world that now is there is one more world, the
world that is to come.

Revelation 21:1
"And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first [not absolutely first, but first in
relation to the new i.e. former] heaven and the first earth were passed away"

7See W. Wilson: "Old Testament Word Studies", Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids, Michigan,
1978, p. 140. The Hebrew word that means "ground" is the word "adamah",
a derivative of which is the name "Adam".
(NKJV-KJV)
II Peter 3:13
"Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in
which righteousness dwells"

In this earth:
Revelation 21:4
"there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for
the former things [the bondage and the corruption of the world that is now] have passed
away

In this third world the devil will continue to exist, but I bet that no-one would be
envious of his position:

Revelation 20:10
"The devil....was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false
prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever"

Amen!!

Tassos Kioulachoglou