Page 34 - Advanced Genesis - Creationism - Student Textbook

Genesis 1:2 the best translation of the word is “without form”. Likewise the word bohu best translates
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to “void”.

So the essential meaning is, “In the beginning God created the heaven and earth [or space and matter],
and the matter as it was created was at first unformed and uninhabited”.

3. Darkness was upon the face of the deep – In Isaiah 45:7 God himself says, “I form the light and create
darkness…”. The fact that everything was dark doesn’t run contrary to God’s essence rather it points to
the fact that God had not energized the new system that He was bringing into existence. There is not an
implication of evil just darkness, not spiritual darkness just a physical darkness. Also, the word translated
face is the Hebrew word panim which typically means “presence”. It probably means that wherever the
deep was there was also darkness. The word for deep is tehom and is later used to refer to the oceans.
However, initially the earth and the deep had no shape. The connotation is that of a watery matrix
containing all the basic elements suspended throughout the darkness of space.

There is an important reference to the formless condition of this watery suspension in Proverbs 8:24, 27,
“When there was no depths (tehom), I was brought forth…when he set a compass upon the face of the
depth (tehom).” This is a summary of the Second Person of the Godhead on each of the first 3 days of
creation. The Hebrew word for compass is the word chug which also occurs in Isaiah 40:42 and Job
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22:14. It is a striking reference to the spherical shape of the earth and the oceans. The physical
universe had come into existence, but everything was still and dark – no form, no motion, no light.

4. Upon the face of the waters – The term is a synonym for the face of the deep. Face again means
presence. All though the universe had been called into existence it needed the energizing of the Holy
Spirit and the activating power of the Word of God.

5. The Spirit of God moved – The Hebrew word for spirit is ruach which also means “breath or wind”.
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The context requires that the meaning here is that the breath of God is moving upon or throughout the
presence of the waters. The word “moved” (rachaph) occurs only 3 times in the Old Testament and the
other two are translated “shake” (Jer. 23:9) and “fluttereth” (Deut. 32:11). The connotation is the
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same as a hen does over her chicks. A more accurate modern scientific term would be “to vibrate”. All
forms of energy except nuclear exist as waves or vibrations. It is interesting to note that that seems to
be what was going on in that the Spirit of God was energizing the entire system of the new universe.
The universe was created out of nothing (bara) by the second person of the trinity and is now being
energized by the third person of the trinity.

The Six Days of Creation (Genesis 1:3-2:3)

Verses 1 and 2 introduce the creation of the basic elements of the physical
universe. This constitutes the first 2 events of the first day of creation. To
discuss the remaining events of the 6 days we must first determine whether
these days are 6 literal days or whether these days are symbolic days
representing long periods of time.

16 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tohu_wa-bohu
17 https://jel.jewish-languages.org/words/1701
18 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruah#:~:text=R%C3%BBa%C4%A7%20or%20ruach%2C%20a%20Hebrew%20word
%20meaning%20'breath%2C%20spirit'
19 https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?t=kjv&strongs=h7363
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