The First Five Verses in Genesis Chapter One Expounded

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

We will need to first start by seeing if there are more than one beginnings when it comes to God and his creations. We need to place them either at the start of the six days of God work or they must be placed in a different time all together. An honest student of the Bible would agree that the beginning of the six days of the work of God actually begins in verse three.

Let’s look at some scriptures that may shed some light upon where this verse should be located in a time line.

Proverbs 8:22-24 The LORD possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was. When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water.

The beginning of his ways is not speaking of the beginning of the six days of Gods work but of the time when God began to exercise his life around himself. The Lord clearly reveals that this Beginning was before his works of old. The works of Old are indeed the six days of Gods work on the earth when he created man.

I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was Ever the earth was is an old fashioned way of saying before the earth was. Genesis chapter one verse one speaks of a beginning of a created heaven and Earth. But the beginning we are seeing here in Proverbs is not the beginning where God created the heaven and the earth but a beginning before the earth was formed.
Interesting to note that from everlasting is a past tense expression that means eternity.

John Chapter one has the only set of verses that separates and shows both the beginning that is spoke of in Proverbs and the beginning that is spoke of in Gen 1:1. John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God this is the beginning that is spoken of in Proverbs 8:22-24. This beginning is his way or when God began to exercise his life around himself. This would include creating a heaven in which he and his son would live. When we come to Proverbs 8 we can see that the heaven is not mentioned so by implication we can safely assume or the earth ever was and when the LORD had possessed the Lord (men in Prov 8:22) the heaven had already been created. When God began to extending himself to the area around himself, before creating the earth he and the word existed together this is the beginning of Proverbs 8 and John 1:1.

John 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. Here we have a clear indicator that the Word (Jesus Christ God the Son) was with God in the beginning of all creation.

When God began we do not know for the scriptures only assume God to exist and that assumption places us in an understanding that he existed from everlasting. This would simply mean some mysterious point of time in eternity that we can not comprehend or understand hence the words “from everlasting” (Prov 8:23). Also consider and again mark that before the earth was formed Psalm 90:2 Before the mountains were brought forth, (Gen 1:10 the dry earth) or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world,(Gen1:1) even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. God is from everlasting, and for lack of a better expression we would say from Eternity Past to Eternity Future, thou art God. And that was a time in the past before the earth ever was.

The beginning that is found in Genesis 1:1 is a time before the six day works of God. Even though there is a beginning before that which concerns the Lord but not the earth and then we have a beginning that the heaven and earth are created found in Gen 1:1 which we will have to move on to the next verse in Genesis One to get more info to see if the beginning of Gen1:1 and the start of six days of the work of God. Are the same beginning.

So far we have no clear place to locate the beginning of Genesis 1:1 so let’s look now to the next verse, verse 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.

Before I comment on imperfect creation of God . I would like to point out two other creations that came after the earth in Proverbs and these are important as they are both found in Gen1:2 and they both are mentioned as not being in place at the time the LORD had possessed the Lord (me) in proverbs 8:22. When there were no depths and when there were no fountains abounding with water we are told that the Lord was brought forth before there were depths and before there were fountains of water (waters). The beginning of Proverbs 8 is not the same beginning of Genesis 1:1 or that of John 1:1

If we look sequentially at these scriptures and put them together a picture comes forth of what took place in after the beginning of his way of Proverbs 8:22 and the beginning of Gen1:1. Of the LORD possessed our Lord before there was an earth but after there was a heaven. Our Lord was brought forth before there was a depth made in heaven and before there were fountains of water. Not only that we can see that the heaven was created first, then the earth, then the depths or deep(Gen1:2) and before there were waters (Gen1:2). If this can be trusted to be chronological then the earth was not made with waters covering it for waters were made after the creation of the earth.

In all of God’s word and creation we have no example of anything ever being made without form. Gen1:2 would be the only place God is said to create something without form. Lets compare a few verse before we move on to compare scripture meaning for without form and void.

We will need to look at some verses from Genesis Chapter Two. Three verse stand out in this chapter. First, Genesis 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. Second, 2:8 And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. We see man was formed completely whole he was not incomplete and had to be completed at a later time or through a process of evolution as science so called claims. Genesis One tells us he created them man and woman, even Eve herself was created whole and complete as well.

Third, Ge 2:19 And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought [them] unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that [was] the name thereof. And we see here God formed every beast of the field and every foul of the air they too were formed complete, whole and complete. Genesis One tells us God made them and when he did they were completed creations. So what would give anyone the idea that the earth was not completed and had to be completed?

But before we move on to the meaning of without form and void let’s look at another verse of a perfect creation.

Ezekiel 28:15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.

Here we have a scripture that describes a person who was perfect from the very day he was created. This again shows God does not create incomplete creations. I will have you notice that though this person was created perfect there was found in him an iniquity some sort of imperfection that God says in the following verses of Ezekiel that he will destroy him because of that imperfection. This person is now known as Satan.

So why do some insist that the earth was not completed in Gen1:1 when there is absolutely no Biblical proof that God ever at anytime created anything incomplete and finished creating it later? Because they cannot see that God could indeed create the earth whole and completely perfect, and then have it be found later in the everlasting without form and void because of some imperfection that polluted it before Gen1:3 where God begins his 6 days of work.

So they rely upon their own logic that it must be that Gen1:2 is a description of an unfinished creation or an incomplete or imperfect creation and that without Biblical proof. They would rather have God do something he has never done before or after Genesis 1:2 than admit that something may of happened in the everlasting before Gen1:3. Lets’s look at some Biblical proof that the Earth may of indeed been through some kind major change between Gen1:1 and Gen 1:2. Hence what some call a Gap. It is a Gap of immediate information but we will speak more on that later.

Jeremiah 4:23 I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.

This is the only other time in scripture where the term without form and void are used. Seeing we are looking to establish what this term means we will need to compare scripture with scripture following the example of the Holy Ghost in 1 Cor 2:13. In the context of Jeremiah 4 we find that God shows the prophet the whole earth (which in context is the land of Israel) without form and void. Because Israel had left him and followed after other Gods so God destroys the land of Israel. The whole idea here of without form and void is that of destruction, desolation and making the land without inhabitants.

With the previous proofs of God not ever creating something imperfect and with the understanding that God can create something perfect that later is found imperfect and in need of God's destruction we can conclude that the earth was created perfect and in everlasting something that God has chosen to leave out of the Genesis scripture narrative (bits and pieces can be found throughout scriptures; here a little, and there a little: ) a desolation of the earth in everlasting. It has to do with a throne and Lucifer trying to exalt himself and that throne.

Before moving on to consider if God can do such things let’s first look at Darkness. Though the Earth was located in the deep, for I believe God created the depth of heaven after he created the earth as found in Proverbs 8:22-24, to put the earth out in the deep. Then darkness was upon the face of the deep not the face of the earth. The earth was covered in darkness as a circumstance of the face of the deep being in darkness. The face of the deep was a place closest to God for he had created the depths of heaven. It is upon this depth that darkness is found. In Proverbs eight no darkness is mentioned. For in God there is no darkness at all, and if we look to the perfect earth of Revelation 22 we see that the darkness is removed.

Could it be God has separated Genesis One verses 1 and 2? Could it be found in scripture that God indeed does separate and keep some information from his creation?

One thing needs to be established in all the previous verse Darkness has yet to mentioned. Though God in Psalms is said to have created darkness we know he does for reasons of protecting fallen man from his destroying glory. But did God create Darkness that was found upon the deep?

Gen 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.

The Light is Jesus Christ, the one of whom was being exalted in Proverbs 8:22. Here God divides the darkness that came upon the earth into two distinct cycles one of Darkness and Light. Here the division is of approximate equal value called the evening and the day, a little less than twelve hours each. This is the first 24 hour period and the first day. From that point forward we have been on a 24/7 cycle and it shall remain such until there is a new heaven and new earth as found in Revelation 21.

The darkness and the flood found here in Genesis 2 was the result of God’s wrath upon the rebellious Lucifer in exalting his supposed throne above all that was God. He does this again in the great tribulation and again will not succeed. This darkness was the first ever to be seen in heaven and it was brought about by one of God’s creations, the Cherub that covereth. So in this sense God admits to being the one who created darkness.

In conclusion. The beginning of Genesis 1:1 was sometime from everlasting, how long we cannot tell. It could have been a day or a thousand years but no more than that. God created a perfect earth upon which one of his creations decided that the throne of his would be the center of Heaven. Little did Lucifer know that one day, upon this current earth, and after upon the new earth in a new heaven the throne of Jesus would reign over all of heaven into everlasting. That God does not created something incomplete.

a reply to: ChesterJohn

Just dropping off Mike Heisers talk on the subject should someone want to see how the Doctor talks about the subject Oh and to mark the thread and follow along .....peace

a reply to: the2ofusr1

First, I have a DTh since 1994. So a Doctor has talked.

This man does not believe in a preserved word of God for English speaking people in this current generation. I do.

He has to go to the Hebrew and I don't.

I have a preserved word of God in English that has all the verses in it. While the bible this man is using and the others he quotes do not have all the verses in them. And going to the Hebrew allows this man to play god and change the words of God at his liking. We must be very careful in doing such a thing. This church BTW is a Hyper-dispensational church.

Either God kept his promise to preserve his words unto all generations or he didn't. If we believe he didn't then we must go back to Hebrew and Greek and you end up with the 350 plus Bibles we have. The Septuagint, the MSS and the other documents he quotes are just copies of copies of copies of the originals and thereby cannot be verified as correct because we have no originals to compare them too.

A preserved word of God by God is much more trustworthy than copies of copies and opinions of men.

It was very boring to even listen to this guy.

a reply to: ChesterJohn

I have a preserved word of God in English that has all the verses in it.

And which English bible would that be?

a reply to: ChesterJohn

For other reasons then thinking God gave only the English His word and protected it ,other translations can do the job God wanted done ...."In 1604, King James I of England authorized that a new translation of the Bible into English be started. It was finished in 1611, just 85 years after the first translation of the New Testament into English appeared (Tyndale, 1526). The Authorized Version, or King James Version, quickly became the standard for English-speaking Protestants. Its flowing language and prose rhythm has had a profound influence on the literature of the past 400 years. The King James Version present on the Bible Gateway matches the 1987 printing. The KJV is public domain in the United States." www.biblegateway.com...

I wonder what the poor French or Germans are to do ....

a reply to: Klassified

I answered that for you in previous threads so let's not go there today. I was sharing an exposition here and I used only the preserved English.

Just in case you forgot, the Bible I use has all the verses in it, no other version does. It can define any word or phrase by the context. And it has a supernatural built in cross reference in it that is only revealed if you are familiar with it (which means you have had to read it more than just a few times cover to cover.

I am saddened to see no one has anything to say about the OP.

Oh well guess my work was in vain.

a reply to: ChesterJohn

Isn't it cool how there's just enough information in scripture that it can be twisted and molded to say practically anything you want it to.

a reply to: TechniXcality

Isn't it cool that like the Holy Ghost we can compare scriptures to see the truth.

Unfortunately some do take things out of context and make false teachings or anything they want it to say. Things like a Christian needs to tithe, be baptized, to keep the Sabbath.

Those thing that are revealed belong to us.

originally posted by: ChesterJohn
a reply to: Klassified

I answered that for you in previous threads so let's not go there today. I was sharing an exposition here and I used only the preserved English.

Just in case you forgot, the Bible I use has all the verses in it, no other version does. It can define any word or phrase by the context. And it has a supernatural built in cross reference in it that is only revealed if you are familiar with it (which means you have had to read it more than just a few times cover to cover.

At least you're consistent.

a reply to: TechniXcality

oh BTW are you saying you disagree with the OP? If so where and why?

I would be interested to know it.

It couldn't be any worse than those who argue over Hebrew words whether BARA means make or create. Or Yam means days or eras.

a reply to: Klassified
That I am as I stand on the solid rock of Christ

originally posted by: ChesterJohn
Oh well guess my work was in vain.

Yes ,you are correct.

originally posted by: TechniXcality
a reply to: ChesterJohn

Isn't it cool how there's just enough information in scripture that it can be twisted and molded to say practically anything you want it to.

That's the difference between eisegesis and exegesis. And why it's the correct hemenutical approach to always use exegesis. If you're interpreting with an eisegesis methodology you can try and shoehorn whatever you want into the text. Heck, I can quote 3 verses right now if you followed them in order it would lead to alcoholism.

a reply to: ChesterJohn

That God does not created something incomplete.

except adam and eves knowledge of good and evil. turned out to be kind of a big deal. whoops.

a reply to: TzarChasm

Complete isn't full knowledge though. Complete means whole, perfect. Adam still could learn things he wasn't aware of.

I am saddened to see no one has anything to say about the OP.

Oh well guess my work was in vain.

a reply to: ChesterJohn

Not so, a lot of work went into this. Thank you!

originally posted by: Klassified
a reply to: ChesterJohn

I have a preserved word of God in English that has all the verses in it.

And which English bible would that be?

KJV has all the verses in it, most modern versions that are from the Westcott and Hort Greek have many things expurgated. Especially they are missing Mark chapter 12.

a reply to: LuFri

yes there was a lot of study put into this. Thanks for the appreciation.