Genesis 1:2-5

Bible study with Dr. Chuck Missler

DAY ONE (Genesis 1:2-5) – The Holy Spirit begins to move

The details of these early chapters of Genesis—the Creation and the Flood—pervade the entire Bible and are clearly confirmed in the New Testament and by Jesus Christ personally. God does not deceive or lie: We must not put these issues in a closet; they are fundamental to the entire Biblical plan of redemption.

The “Gap” Theory
The Gap Theory was proposed due to the following discoveries within the Bible. It was originally suggested by Thomas Chalmers in 1814. The theory was supported by G. H. Pember, D. G. Barnhouse, G. Campbell Morgan, A. Custance, et al. It is highly speculative and controversial – I stress that this is a THEORY. It has not been proven, and until we meet God, we most likely will never be able to prove it. We discuss it because it is scholarship!

1. The text itself suggests the earth BECAME without form and void
No matter which English translation of the Bible we use, we find Genesis 1:2 to be some form of the following translation:

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

The Hebrew word, hayah, means “had become” (pluperfect form). The word order in the Biblical text (normally conjunction, verb, subject, object) is reordered to suggest the pluperfect form: “had become.” (Just as Lot’s wife “became” a pillar of salt in Gen 19:26.)

The Hebrew word, tohu, means “without form,” confused, vain.

Both Isaiah and Jeremiah spoke of a world without form. (Examples below.) Jeremiah’s account spoke of it from the perspective of judgment.

Isaiah 45:18
For thus says the LORD, Who created the heavens, Who is God, Who formed the earth and made it, Who has established it, Who did not create it in vain, Who formed it to be inhabited.

Jeremiah 4:23
I beheld the earth, and indeed it was without form, and void, And the heavens, they had no light. I beheld the mountains, and indeed they trembled, And all the hills moved back and forth. I beheld, and indeed there was no man, And all the birds of the heavens had fled. I beheld, and indeed the fruitful land was a wilderness, And all its cities were broken down, At the presence of the LORD, By His fierce anger.

The Hebrew word, bohu, means “void,” empty, waste (Isa 34:11; Isa 45:18; Jer 4:23-26). In the Septuagint (LXX), this word translated as the adversative “but” (as in 2:17; 17:21; Zeph 1:13; Ps 44:17).

When we take the above into consideration, an alternative English translation of the original Hebrew text of Genesis 1:2 becomes the following:

Genesis 1:2
But the earth became without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.

2. The earth became without form and void because Satan fell
Angels, including Satan, were created in Genesis 1:1. And we know that by Genesis 3, Satan had already fallen. Somewhere between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 3, Satan fell – Could Satan have fallen between Genesis 1:1-1:2?


The angels were already present when “the foundations of the earth” were laid
Job 38:4-7
Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if thou hast understanding. Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? Or who hath stretched the line upon it? Whereupon are the foundations there of fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof; When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

The Hebrew phrase, Bar HaElohim, means “Sons of God,” which describes angels in the Old Testament.

There are different ranks of angels: “Principalities,” “Powers,” etc. “Cherubim” were the leaders of other angels, “Super Angels,” so to speak.

The angels were already present when “the foundations of the earth” were laid! Further, the text said, “all” the sons of God shouted for jog – ALL. That is, not one angel, including Satan, had fallen yet!

Satan: His Origin, Agenda, and Destiny (Cf. Revelation 12)

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.

Before his fall, Satan was perfect, both in beauty and in intelligence. In fact, he was so superior, he was put in charge of all other angels. God was number one, and he was number two.

Ezekiel 28:13-15
Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God… the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. 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. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.

Ezek 28:2-11 was written to the “Prince of Tyre”; Ezek 28:12-19, to “King of Tyre”—the power behind the throne. Who was this power? Satan.

A couple of things to note about Satan:
1. Satan was in Eden
2. Satan was CREATED --Jesus, God the Son, created all beings. Simply put, there is no way Satan could ever be considered as Jesus' brother.
3. He was created in perfection. However, he fell. Why?

Ezekiel 28:17
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.

Satan fell through pride. He took the gifts God had given him and propelled himself to the throne of God.

Ezekiel 28:18-19
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. 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.

Ultimately, however, Satan will be judged for his sins (Revelation 20).

Isaiah 14:12-14
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! 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: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.

These are the notorious “I will…” statements that dwelt in Satan’s heart. Pride caused the downfall of Satan.

Isaiah 14:17
That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners?

No one really knows what this verse is referring to. There are many conjectures about the possibility of the world as a wilderness separate from the world that we currently live in. Scholars supporting this view thus propose that when Satan fell, the world became so dark and void that it supported no life. Satan was a created being – He certainly had no ability to create life. And thus, it is hypothesized that the world remained in this “wilderness” state until God, coming in on Genesis 1:2, breathed life into this world through the Holy Spirit.


THE MYSTERIES OF LIGHT

Genesis 1:3
And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

Light existed PRIOR to separation of light from darkness (Genesis 1:4)!

Light was held within the primeval mass. “Darkness” is not simply the absence of light (Isa 45:7).

Paradoxical Nature of Light
Is light composed of waves or particles? Is the velocity of light, c, a constant?

The Central Paradox
Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727) viewed light as a stream of particles: “corpuscular theory.” Christiaan Huygens (1629-1695) developed the wave theory of light: refraction and reflection of light.

Wave Discoveries
Thomas Young (1773-1829) conducted a two-slit experiment demonstrating wavelike interference of light. [Young is noted also for his work on the theories of capillary action and elasticity. He assisted in deciphering the Egyptian hieroglyphics inscribed on the Rosetta Stone. Among his important writings are works on medicine, Egyptology, and physics.]

Ausgustin Fresnel’s (1788-1827) experiments were more complete but still concluded wavelike actions (Newton was knighted in 1705; died in 1727. It was still too early to dethrone him, an idol of the scientific community).

19th Century Reversal
Leon Foucault (1819-1868) established that the speed of light was less in water than in air; no surprise for wave theory, but makes no sense in corpuscular theory of light (light as particles). James Clark Maxwell (1839-1879) discovered (among many things) that light is an electromagnetic wave. Heinrich Hertz (1857-1894) established electromagnetic transmission/reception; he clarified and expanded the electromagnetic theory of light that had been put forth by the British physicist James Clerk Maxwell in 1873. Hertz proved that electricity can be transmitted in electromagnetic waves, which travel at the speed of light and which possess many other properties of light.

20th Century Reversal
In 1900, Max Planck’s desperate misapplication of Boltzmann’s equations worked (revealing non-continuity). Albert Einstein publishes on Planck in 1904, which leads to a revival of the corpuscular theory of light. Energy is not continuous: It is found only in discrete quanta, which opens the door to the paradoxical world of “Quantum Physics.”

The Wave/Particle Duality
In 1906 J. J. Thomson won the Nobel Prize for proving electrons were particles. In 1937 his son was awarded the Nobel Prize for proving electrons were waves! The wave/particle duality is the central paradox in quantum physics. There is now compelling evidence that quanta only manifest as particles when we are looking at them!

The velocity of light is NOT a constant!
By the 17th century, Johannes Kepler, Rene Descartes, et al., believed light was instantaneous (“c” was infinite). In 1677, Olaf Roemer measured the elapsed time between eclipses of Jupiter with its moons, yielding a finite speed of light. In 1729, James Bradley confirmed Roemer’s work. Over the next 300 years, the velocity of light was measured 164 times by 16 different methods.

The Setterfield-Norman Analysis found that with time, the measurement of the velocity of light slowed (the error range narrowed due to improved technology):

• 1677, Roemer, Io eclipse:
– 307,600 +/- 5400 km/sec

• 1875, Harvard, (same method):
– 299,921 +/- 13 km/sec

• 1983, National Bureau of Standards, laser:
– 299,792.4586 +/- 0.00003 km/sec

Based on the compilation of data from the numerous measurements of the velocity of light through history (including the 3 examples given above), a regression curve of the variability of the velocity of light could be drawn. Alan Montgomery did just that and derived the Alan Montgomery’s Cosecant 2 Regression.

Alan Montgomery, a Canadian mathematician, analyzed the data statistically and concluded that the decay of the c follows a cosecant-squared curve with better than a 99% correlation coefficient. Confirmatory trends appear in 475 measurements of 11 other atomic quantities by 25 methods in dynamical time. This is a shocking result! Most, if not all, theories in regards to quantum physics depend on the “fact” that the velocity of light is a constant! (This includes our concept of time and how young this earth really is!) These analyses now show that the velocity of light is not a constant – it is slowing down with time. This begs questions such as, was light 10-30% faster in the time of Christ? 2X faster in the days of Solomon? 4X faster in the days of Abraham? 10 million times as fast prior to 3,000 B.C.? Further, if the velocity of light is NOT a constant, what of the theories used to define time as we know it?

Currently, there are multiple studies that have also shown that the velocity of light is slowing down:
• M.E.J. Gheury de Bray, French astronomical journal, 1927, based on measurements over 75 years;
• T.C. Van Flandern, U.S. Naval Observatory, 1981: atomic clocks slowing relative to orbital clocks;
• V.S. Troitskii, Radio-physical Research Institute in Gorky, 1987 (independent of Setterfield);
• J. Magueijo and A. Albrecht, Physical Review, 1999.

Atomic vs. Orbital Time
Another way to look at the velocity of light is by comparing atomic and orbital time.

Until 1967, orbital time defines 1 sec as 1/31,556,925.9747 of one earth orbit around the sun. After 1967, atomic time defines 1 sec as 9,192,631,770 oscillations of the cesium-133 atom.

If we suppose the atomic clocks are “correct,” then we would conclude that the orbital speeds of Mercury, Venus, and Mars are increasing. If a planet’s orbital speed is truly increasing, it would violate the law of conservation of energy, suggesting the gravitational constant should change. However, no such variations have ever been detected. In fact, all our past measurements support that the gravitational constant is a true constant. This leads to only one conclusion: the atomic vibrations and the speed of light are decreasing.

As mentioned above, this is an astonishing discovery, because if atomic frequencies are decreasing, then the five properties of the atom, such as Planck’s constant, would also be changing – which shatters the reality of time as we know it today. Statistical studies support both the magnitude and direction of this change. (Alan Montgomery and Lambert Dolphin, “Is the Velocity of Light Constant in Time?” Galilean Electrodynamics, Vol 4, No. 5, 1993.)


DARKNESS WAS CREATED BY GOD

Isaiah 45:7
I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.


HOLOGRAPHY: AN ANALOGY OF THE BIBLE

Holography was first developed in the 18th century, when Frenchman Jean B. J. Fourier developed transform mathematics for complex waves.

In 1947, Dennis Gabor (who later won a Nobel Prize for his efforts) used holography as he was trying to improve the electron microscope.

Modern holographic images are derived from the work of Emmet Leath at the University of Michigan.

Holographic Properties (Fourier Transform)
• Requires proper illumination (Useless in natural light)
• Information spread over entire bandwidth (No loss from drop outs; resilient to specific interference; anticipates hostile jamming)

Isaiah 28:13
But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little…

Parallels between communications engineering and the Bible
• The Bible has properties very much like a hologram (Fourier Transform Properties; transcendent of parallax)
• The Bible holds "spread-spectrum design," which includes exploitation of entire bandwidth, making it immune to hostile jamming).


EREV TO BOKER: Night to Day or Chaos to Order?

Genesis 1:5
And the evening and the morning were Day One.

The Hebrew word, Yom, is used 1181 times in the Bible to mean a literal 24 hour "Day."

Exodus 20:8-11
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant... nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

The Hebrew word, Erev, means “obscuration, mixture,” increasing entropy. Since our ability to discern forms, sapes, and identities decreases as darkness approaches, the word came to mean, "twilight" (Prov 7:9; Jer 6:4). 

The Hebrew word, Boker, means “becoming discernable, distinguishable, visible”; perception of order; relief of obscurity, decreasing entropy. Since our ability to discern forms, shapes, and identities increases as light approaches, the word came to mean “dawn” (Gen 19:27; Kgs 19:9).

While I do not dispute that the "Day" in the text points to a literal 24 hour day (in fact, I would suggest the Holy Spirit has made it clear that it is), a deeper understanding of "Erev to Boker" could very well be "chaos to order"! 

On the 7th day, when Creation was complete, the text no longer stressed “erev” or “boker,” because there was no more chaos! Creation was finished, and God saw that it was good!

Lastly, there seems to be a close coupling between the spiritual and physical world prior to the fall: Heb 11:3; Rom 8:19-23; Ps 102:25-27; Prov 16:33; Eph 1:11; Heb 1:2-3; Col 1:16,17. Onkelos Translation of Gen 1:31: “…it was a unified order.”

Study Questions
1. What is the “Big Bang”?
2. How can “space” be “stretched,” “rolled,” or “torn”?
3. What two concepts in mathematics are totally elusive as far as our physical universe is concerned?
4. Why do some believe that there may have been a “gap” between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2?
5. What do we know about the origin of Satan? How do we know?
6. When were the angels created? When did Satan fall?
7. How many angels fell with Satan in his rebellion? How do we know?
8. What makes the nature of light paradoxical?
9. What are the reasons light is viewed as a stream of particles? What are the reasons that light behaves as a wave phenomena?
10. What are the implications if, indeed, the velocity of light has been decreasing through the ages?
11. How do changes in the velocity of light impact our world views?
12. Are there exceptions to the entropy laws?