In Isaiah 17 and Ezekiel 28 we are told that God placed the archangel Lucifer on an earthly throne. He was to rule over the earth by administering God’s government. The Lord had assigned a number of angels to assist him. But Lucifer sinned, along with one third of the angels assigned to him (Rev. 12:4). The rebellion of the angels covered the entire earth and resulted in the destruction of the earth’s entire surface. Before we continue with the story, let us return to earth’s actual beginning.

In Genesis 1:1 we find a statement that implies a perfect creation on God’s part. As the Scriptures tell us, God is the God of perfection, beauty, light, peace and life. Satan is the author of darkness, imperfection, violence and death.

Verse one tells of God’s creation of a perfect universe. But verse 2 depicts the earth as opposite of the way God created it: “And the earth was without form and void.” The words “without form and void” are translated from the Hebrew words “tohu” and “bohu,” meaning “waste” and “empty.” The word “was” is better translated “became.” The same word is used in this context in Genesis 19:26 where Lot’s wife looked back at the display of God’s wrath and was/became a pillar of salt. Isaiah (45:18) speaks to the earth’s perfect original condition: “For thus says 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 (tohu), He formed it to be inhabited.'” From the above we learn that God created the earth to be beautiful and “very good.” But in Genesis 1:2 it is described as wasteland, empty and covered with water. How did the beautifully created earth become a wasteland covered with water?

Genesis 1:2 describes a reconstituted earth brought back to its original condition. For the remainder of chapter one the author is describing, not the creation of the earth, but rather the re-creation of its face. King David wrote about this in Psalms 104:30: “You sent forth Your Spirit … and You renewed the face of the earth.” THE “CREATION CHAPTER” OF THE BIBLE ACTUALLY DESCRIBES THE RE-CREATION OF THE EARTH. In fact, between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2 could have covered thousands, or even millions of years during which time the perfectly created earth became tohu and bohu. God is not the Author of confusion (1 Cor. 14:33). He does not create tohu and bohu. Let us continue from Genesis 1:2 where we learned that the earth had become an empty wasteland, “And darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon 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'” (vss 2-4). God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all” (1 Jn. 1:5). Neither does He create in darkness, but only in light. The remaining verses of Genesis 1 tell of God’s renewing of the earth  with vegetation, fish, fowl, animal life, and finally, man. To be continued. L.J.