The Second Verse is More Important! Establishing the Earth, the (Celestial) Sea and the Ancient Near Eastern mindset.

Transcription

1 The Second Verse is More Important! Establishing the Earth, the (Celestial) Sea and the Ancient Near Eastern mindset. Why? It focuses the attention of the Reader on God's Intentions for the Earth. Verse 1 is "heavens and the earth", but verse 2 is only "the earth" through the rest of the chapter and the rest of Scripture. Introduction: 1 Genesis 1:1-3 Read slowly and look at the words Earth is the Epicenter of God's attention in Genesis 1: Heaven is not our Home The future of God s people is not a life up there in heaven, neither walking on streets of gold nor playing harps while sitting on the clouds, smokin' 50-cent cigars (How long would you have wanted to play that harp anyway?). Life with God and his Son on a new earth is the order of some future day (2 Peter 3:9 and 13 and is elsewhere portrayed in Scripture (Revelation 21:1; Isaiah 65:17ff; 66:22). This is a truth set forth by the prophets from generations past, almost from the beginning of time. So, why has Christianity been so focused on the sweet by and by? From even before the time that there was a Paradise lost (this is huge, BTW), God has had in His mind a return to the perfection that existed in Eden (and in the heavenlies). Because of acts of disobedience in the heavens and on the earth there has been a problem in both getting back to the garden and having God personally present and in complete control of His creation again (Hint: He's not at this time; there's a "god of this age" (2 Corinthians 4:4) messin' up the works). The logical person cannot look around on the planet today and say that his or her God is "in control" of what it going on. Suffering and death alone should clue us in, but it s deeper than that. Ultimately free will allows aberrant and ungodly behaviors to occur and this has been the case since God created beings other than Himself. In the future, however, there will be a change in the inward man and God and mankind will live in harmony once again (cf. - Jeremiah 31, Revelation 21: 1-3, etc.).

2 To understand this Christians must look at all Scripture related to the subject of the beginning of creation, the heavens and the earth and the Garden of Eden, not just that information found in the book of Genesis. They must ferret out the available information, line it all up and digest it. Scriptures from Job and the Psalms, from Isaiah and Jeremiah, Romans and 2 Peter and more, as well as the wealth of teaching in the Genesis record itself must be given the light of day. Fascinating discoveries await the careful reader regarding the nature of God, all His created beings and this ancient universe in which we live. 6 (The Harps of Heaven/ Accordions of Hell) from the "lost" book of Hezekiah 7 Beginning of Times/ End Times (Get This right and the Middle works) Genesis 1:1-3 1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 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. The latest Hebrew linguistic and philological research points this way: Verse 1 is a "temporal aperture" (means it sets the chronological table for verses 2 and 3); verse 3 then is the "first event" in God's fixing of the tohu vabohu condition of verse 2 (aka - "catastrophe"; cf. - 2 Peter 3:6 (cosmos "was destroyed" and Romans 8:20-22 (creation was "subject to frustration"/ soon "to be freed from the bondage of corruption"/ "groans and suffers the pains of childbirth"; Paul understands the birthing metaphor for the "new heavens and earth" - cf. Job 38 below) 1 When God began to create heaven and earth 2 and (when) the earth had become tohu wabohu, and (when) darkness [is] over the surface of the deep, and (when) God's Spirit [is] sweeping over the face of the water -- 3 (Then) God said...

3 8 Dr. Andersen (explain him a little... colleague of my mentor Dr. Edward F. Campbell Jr.) 9 More linguistic evidence ( with me on February 2013) 10 and 11 (In honor of the Final Four "Nothing but Net" (with us it's "Nothing but Text" ) to hell with OEC/ YEC distinctions Read What s Written Basically this means that something happened after the Beginning of beginnings so that the "earth" (in verse 2) is found in a pretty bad way...hmmmm...that means that the earth is already in existence by the "time" verse 2 rolls around. We don't need "six days " to create it (ex nihilo - Latin for "out of nothing"), we need the six days to FIX IT for man. Theology has tried to (and will continue to try to) "explain away" Genesis 1:2. 1. There is not indication of a primordial sea in this verse (alternatively: this doesn't follow the ANE concept of a primordial BATTLE (Babylonian (Akkadian) Enûma Elish with Tiamat), Egyptian (the lifeless waters of chaos, called Nu), Ugaritic (Baal/ Anat Cycle) Let's make sure Bob isn't CRAZY: Where else do we see this mess? 1. Peter and Paul both knew about the wreck that was "the earth" and spoke about it.

4 12 2 Peter 3: Romans 8: My Personal Theory for why the earth got messed up: The "Jerks of God"...maybe He rethought this and had to get rid of them??? Maybe this is why Genesis 1:2 occurred...just sayin'...ok, it was a joke. 15 Parallel?? verse from Job 38: Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. 5 Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it? 6 Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof; 7 When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? 8 Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it [the "sea"] brake forth, as if it had issued out of the womb (see Romans 8:22 above; the birthing metaphor)? 9 When I made the cloud the garment thereof [of the "sea"], and thick darkness a swaddlingband for it [the "sea"], 10 And brake up for it [the "sea"] my decreed place, and set bars and doors, 11 And said, Hitherto shalt thou (Mr. Sea -personification...pay attention!) come, but no further: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed? How do we know it's parallel? 1. Foundations of the Earth (a marker for the Beginning) a. Found Here: Psalm 102: 25; 104:5; Prov. 8:29; Isaiah 51: 13 (past), 16 (future); also the "stretching forth of the heavens" 2. Sons of God - God's Helpers at the Beginning (Genesis 1:26) and later (Isaiah 6:8) Shut up the "sea" with it's "proud waves" -Water, Water everywhere...hmmm where have we seen water before..the Beginning! 4. Thick darkness" - Hmmm, seems to me there was darkness...hmmm...at the Beginning!

5 16 So now we synchronize Science and the Bible; Right? No, we "READ WHAT IS WRITTEN" ( to whom it was written, What did it mean to them, Then, what does it meant to us 17 The Big Bang: Is this were Science fits in? No, Science is not the concern of the prophet that wrote Genesis 1 nor Job 38 (both Moses, IMHO). 18 And (by extension of the Big Bang Poof (or is that "Puff"?) we have. a dragon right? What really happened? There was a Dragon: 19 The Biblical dragon stirred up the Celestial Sea...what sea? Let's see...

6 Psalm 74: Leviathan and the "King of old" (YLT - sea "monster") paralleled with "dragons in the water" Psalm 89: Rahab; There's those rascally "sons of the mighty (God - Elim)" again (cf.- Job 38:7) Job 26: Rahab and by his "breath" (spirit) the heavens were cleared (compare this language with Genesis 1:2). Isaiah 51:9,10 - Remembering Rahab and the crossing of the Red Sea (historicizing the Primordial Battle); huge deal...the prophets of a later time acknowledging the Battle existed. Isaiah 27:1 - Leviathan and The End Times! (cf - Revelation 12-20; "Exit" the Dragon) Then there's the Sea ("the deep"/ "the waters"); it s the oceans of the world, right? No, it's a celestial sea that for the Ancient prophets who wrote the Word surrounded them (above and below) 20 Show the Ancient's concept of the celestial Sea (water all around) 21 Map of the World (6 th Century BC); the Biblical model. 22 Our modern conception of the Universe (Ancients didn't know of a "Universe"; they knew of the Firmament "stretched" above them; heaven and earth on "pillars"; water above the "heaven" and below the earth). 23 The Let there Be Light verses: Genesis 1:3-5 (Day 1) - Gets rid of Darkness (Good!). It wasn't the creation of "some form of light"; it was the sun shining through the "thick darkness", the clouds (Job 38) surrounding the "sea". This "darkness" is exactly that of Genesis 1:2, OMG, the Scriptures fit!

7 24 The Firmament IS "heaven" (#2, BTW) (Dome, not Sphere): Genesis 1:6-8 (Day 2) - Confines the Sea (Good????) no, not so good, but necessary. 25 The Dome Concept - It becomes all about The Biosphere from verses By that we mean Man's Abode, not the abode of the sons of God. Now initially man and God's sons were on the same plane (Garden of Eden/ Mountain of God), but there were acts of disobedience that made man's ability to commune with God and His sons unavailable. 26 How many Heavens are there? 27 The "Acts of God'': What are they...the "and God said" stuff. Verses 3-5 (day 1); good Verses 6-8 (day 2); Hmmm...Not so good, but very necessary! Verses 9-10 (day 3), (day 3 too); good Verses (day 4); good Verses (day 5); good Verses (day 6), (day 6) too; very good The earth was, is and will be the epicenter of God s attention. There is a dragon (not a pleasant purple kind) in a celestial sea, who is confined until a time of God s choosing, but whose henchmen have a choke-hold on this planet (read: god of this age 2 Corinthians 4:4). Revelation 12 tells the

8 history of who is where and when, but the essence is revealed in other places: 28 The dragon will be no more. Isaiah 27:1 In that day (what day? The Day of the Lord), the LORD will punish with his sword, his fierce, great and powerful sword, Leviathan the gliding serpent, Leviathan the coiling serpent; he will slay the monster (Heb - dragon) that is in the sea. - Remember: Jesus does not come back blowin kisses 29 Revelation 20: 1-10 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, 3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season. 4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. 7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,

9 8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog, and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. 9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. 10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.