Genesis 1:1-2

Genesis is a book all about beginnings. The title “Genesis” is taken from Jerome’s Latin Vulgate, which itself was based upon the Septuagint. The title was possibly derived from Genesis 2:4 where the word used is, γενέσεως, and refers to the ‘records’ of the creation of the heavens and the earth. The basic meaning of the word is to be ‘begotten’ which has the idea of beginnings. The Hebrew title, בראשית, comes from the first word in the Hebrew text of Genesis 1:1. The word’s primary meaning is “beginning”. It comes from a root that means ‘head’ and refers to the start of something. Thus, Genesis 1:1 refers to the start of the heavens and the earth.

The fact that Genesis 1:1 states the beginning of the heavens and the earth is clear if the sentence is taken at face value. That is, if we read verse 1 literally it reads as follows: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” Obviously, that is exactly the way the NASB renders it. However, some consider this verse as the summary of what follows in chapters 1 and 2. I used to think that way as well, until I began studying further. If the verse is taken at face value and is considered alongside of verse 2, which considers the earth as “formless and void”, then it becomes apparent that these two verses are not speaking of a summary statement of creation since at the end of creation the earth was not ‘formless and void’ but rather, ‘formed and filled’. The dry land has appeared and there is a menagerie of animals as well as Adam and Eve. So, it needs to be concluded that these two verses refer to the initial instant of creation, at the beginning of day one (see Harris, R. Laird, Robert Laird Harris, Gleason Leonard Archer and Bruce K. Waltke. Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament Chicago: Moody Press, c1980, p.826).

This was a spectacular beginning! These verses indicate that at the beginning, the heavens and the earth were created from no preexisting material (Hebrews 11:3). They were placed there wholly as a result of God’s word. God, in demonstration of His power, wisdom and intelligence, created the backdrop of space (heavens) and a terrestrial ball covered in miles of water (earth). Further, we have to assume that since this is the beginning of everything, that is all that we understand as humans was begun at that point, then even time itself was created as well. The commencement of time was initiated “in the beginning” at the same instant of the creation of the heavens and the earth. This is our God! What does this imply? It implies that time is the servant of God. It is in His hand and He controls the progress of it. Time is not a created thing that, like a wind-up clock, was begun and then left to itself. It is sustained just as the earth and all its vegetation is sustained by God (Psalm 104:14).

The heavens were not filled with stars at this time. Since darkness blanketed the earth there must not have been any light source at all. God did not need light in order to see what He was doing (Psalm 139:12) and there was no man who needed light in order to walk around on the earth. Therefore, the heavens as it is described here must be the black matter that we see when we look up into the nighttime sky. This is as a blanket that covers the infinite universe and itself is the backdrop for the stars, moons and our own sun. Job describes it as stretching out the material of space across the universe (Job 26:7). The wording actually refers to the way in which a metal-worker would unroll sheet metal in order to work with it (this gives further meaning to Isaiah’s reference to the heavens being “rolled up” as a scroll-Isaiah 34:4). Therefore, the heavens were unrolled and stretched by the word of God in an instant!

Further, the earth was created at that same instant. This earth was created as a ball which was covered in water. Under the water was soil, as Adam was made from the soil (Genesis 2:7). But the whole earth was covered in miles of water. This is clear in that the darkness was over the surface of the deep (Jonah 2:3) and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. The waters, then, were considered “the deep” and completely blanketed the earth. There was another time, subsequent to creation, when this earth was covered completely in water. When God was sorry for making man because of the rebellion that exuded from him, He judged mankind for their sin and the result was a worldwide flood that returned the earth to this same condition (Genesis 7).

The earth was formless and void as well. That is, the earth had no soil that was poking out of the water in any kind of fashion as God did not separate the water from the soil until the third day (Genesis 1:9-10). At this time, there was no recognizable form to the earth, except its obvious overall spherical shape. Also, it was “void”. This indicates that it was empty. There were no animals, man nor any vegetation, as the rest of the creation account will indicate. Further, the earth was not some kind of ‘blob’ simply amorphously hanging in space and then was pulled together by polarizing electrons. This would lessen the magnificence of this creative act and it does not square with the wording of the chapter at all. The clear description of the earth was that of a sphere that is placed in the empty space and was hanging on nothing, as Job says (26:7).

The first day of creation began with the initiating of God’s work by the installing the blanket of the heavens and the placing the earth in its midst so as to continue toward His specific creation, mankind. First, however, all things needed to be set for man to live. When the foundation of the Bible says, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” that is exactly what it means. Give God glory and believe it.