Genesis

[johnnyc]

How many times did God start over and replenish the earth? (Gen. 1:28).

Gen.1:2."And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep..."

It seems to me He allowed the earth to destroy at least once, (or maybe several times), after verse 1 and before we get to verse 3 of Genesis 1.

Matthew Henry Commentary on Gen. 1:2;

"...Observe the description of this chaos. There was nothing in it desirable to be seen, for it was without form and void...It was shapeless, it was useless, it was without inhabitants, without ornaments, the shadow or rough draught of things to come, and not the image of the things. The earth is almost reduced to the same condition again by the sin of man, under which creation groans....God did not create this darkness (as He is said to create the darkness of affliction, Isa.45:7), for it was only the want of light, which yet could not be said to be wanted till something was made that might be seen by it, nor needs the want of it be much complained of, when there was nothing to be seen but confusion and emptiness."

This describes to me the earth without God, or his Holy Spirit present in it. It sounds like the work of the enemy (sin).

Then God made something beautiful out of it. (Gen 50:20).

Perhaps God would have had to start over again, if He hadn't found Abraham who believed God. (Rom.4:3; Gal. 3:6; Jam. 2:23)

To answer the question referring to Matthew 19:4.

"And he answered and said unto them, Have you not read, that He which made them at the beginning made them male and female,"

I believe this verse pertains to the beginning of this present time in which we are living, when God re-created the universe.

[Guest NewPilgrim]

Although you have retracted much of your OP Anne, there still remain one or two points therein which seem unanswered, so I'll try to offer some for you.

After a little study I have come up with the following.

Hebrew - haya'

Meaning to exist, to be or to be in the state of (to be continuing as)

Every indication of its use in Gen1:2 is that the earth was in a state of void and darkness, rather than having become like that.

In order to jump to this translation of "becoming", one would have to use the word Havah, which is the root verb for the word haya'

However this root word was not used and so "become" is not an applicable translation.

The word "haya'" can be used in a particular context to inticate that something or someone will "become" something different, but it requires a contextual prefix such as the word "chalal" which means "to begin"

i.e. "chalal haya'" would in context be translated as "began to be" or "became"

again, however, this construct is not in verse 2 and so the only plausible application for the word "haya'" is "to be" or "to exist"

This same word "haya'" is used in v3 - And God said let there be (haya' - it exists) light, and there was light.

Contextually, God has only to say "it exists" and so it does, where once it didnt. Matter from nothing

In this manner then, verses 1 and 2 state that God created the heavens and the earth and the earth existed in darkness and void. One might say that God created the body of matter which is the earth from nothing and the matter he had now created was, as yet, formless and empty. The following verses then serve to explain how he then gave it form. To invent some form of previously complete earth and destroy it again between verses 1 and 2 is completely without reason, completely out of context and to be honest if it were so, surely the bible would have just started at verse 2??

I understand the notion that something happened in heaven fo lucifer to fall, but lest we forget, God is outside of time and so, quite probably, therefore were the angels. The fall of lucifer and a third of the angels would have been, to my mind at least, being cast from eternity and into the limitations of linear time with the rest of creation.

Though you yourself Anne, do not subscribe to gap theory, the idea of a reformed earth would be a candy store for those who did.

Edited January 13, 2006 by NewPilgrim

[Guest NewPilgrim]

As God is the potter and we are the clay, it is a good analogy to stick with for creation in Genesis.

When one makes a Jug, for example, when you throw the clay on the plate, its a lump of clay, it doesnt look anything like a jug, but a jug is what you are going to form it into. So for every intent and purpose, the lump of clay IS the jug, it is a formless untouched jug, but it is the jug, nonetheless. With time you give it shape, form and decoration and the jug becomes more recognisable jug. Show your friends the jug, then show them a picture of the lump of clay and you can quite rightly tell them...this is the jug, this is how it started. Its not much to look at there, but look at it now

Thats what God has done in Genesis. Difference being that you got the clay from the earth, God took the earth from nothing