CREATION versus RE–CREATION

Distinguishing Re-Creation from Creation. 

Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God (Elohim) created the heaven(s) and the earth.” The existence of a pre-Adam World is discovered in the description of the Creation being revealed in a uninhabitable condition in Verse 2… “And the earth was* (became) without **form (Tohu), and **void (Bohu); and darkness was upon the face of the deep.”  (See notes for the asterisks at the bottom.) 

After considering additional collaborating Scripture, scientific facts, and historical understandings, it is concluded that “In the beginning God”…did not create the Earth in the condition of that which is revealed in verse 2. There is a gap or time period, probably a very long time, between verse 1 and 2…between Creation and Re-Creation. This explains very well how man’s Creation was part of a literal 6 day, 24 hour period of Re-Creation, as Scripture declares, and is only about 6 thousand years old, as opposed to the millions of years since the Genesis 1:1 Creation.    

First, the idea of a Re-Creation and a pre-Adamic World should not be absurd or foreign to our mind, in that Scripture declares the yet future sure reality of a New Heavens and a New Earth. [Isaiah 66:22 with Revelation 21:1] Secondly, is not the discovery of a previous World beneath our feet clear evidence and strong confirmation of God’s awesome power? And it is a very clear example of God’s intended design in RE-creation, which was to leave a material trail that leads to spiritual understanding? 

 “For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead…..” [Romans 1:20] 

First it should be understood from Scripture that God’s Redemptive and Salvation plan was designed in the Re-Creation, or what we conclude is the foundation of this World. [Revelation 13:8, 17:8, Ephesians 1:4, 2 Timothy, and also Ephesians 2] And accordingly, when the earth was Re-Created, its manifest material design was determined to be in such a manner, that it would reflect or represent to man’s mind and conscience the unseen spiritual World in the knowledge of God. His eternal power and even the Godhead could be comprehended, leaving man without excuse. Even when God chose not to directly communicate or manifest Himself to man, solid evidence of the Almighty God, intending to lead unto faith, has always and continues to stare him in the face. All this leads us to recognizing this truth that God designed, in the Re-Creation , “the Restitution of all things…” which the Scriptures and the material World both harmoniously reflect to those who are spiritually discerning. 

2nd Peter 3:5-7 adds a great deal of credence to that Pre-Adamite Age.…   

“And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: But the heavens and the earth, which are now by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.” 

As to the Biblical explanation of the great disaster that occurred pre Re-Creation, we have little information and is shadowy in reflection, and so are hesitant to go too far in conjecture. But what is clear from Scripture is that there was a previous rebellion in the heavens. That is recorded in Ezekiel 28 and Isaiah 14 where we discover the who, and a great deal about the why, of the originator of sin, and of the conditions both before and after, revealing events which obviously happened before the temptation and fall of man in the Garden of Eden. 

It seems that the great Cheribum Lucifer had, in some ancient Age, walked in the Garden of God, (Heavenly) Eden, in close intimacy and with great authority Until in whom was discovered, of his own making, a state of pride, by which he led that great rebellion against the Most High. Being then defeated, he was not denied “life” but quality of “life”. That being a state not worthy of Heaven, resulting in the prophetic Word spoken in Ezekiel 28:17-18. “…I will lay thee before kings that they may behold thee….therefore I will bring forth a fire form 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…” He and his cohort angels, being fallen and removed from their original state, but yet still much superior to fallen man, continue now to rule over man until those yet future days to which those prophetic Words point. 

It is clear Lucifer had been created with great authority in the Creation of Genesis 1:1. Did that authority and his subsequent fall have an impact on that Creation, which would answer to the chaotic state which is found in Genesis 1:2? Then, having lost his anointing and high place of residency the Garden, (as did Adam later) he was relegated to the inferior state and place of the chaotic World outside that Garden, which he was responsible for (as Adam was also). And that time frame being for unknown millenniums prior to the Re-Creation; the foundation of this World; “the heavens and earth, which are now.”   

That tends to explain the Garden of Eden of Re-Creation being the chosen place of intimacy again, this time with His Creation being Man. The presence of the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil in that Garden portends the likely presence of that fallen ruler; Lucifer/satan. Then, as Scripture clearly reveals, the slanderer, deceived Eve and usurped man’s authority which had been God–given in the Re-Creation. Satan is later described in the Word as the god of this World/Age, the prince of the power of the air, which is that unseen World in the heavens associated with this World from which he now rules as master over fallen man.  

Certainly Scripture reveals the conclusion of these heavens and the earth which comes as a result of the usurping of authority by satan in the rebellion of man. They are now dedicated to complete destruction, and that not again by the temporality of Floods, but by the permanency of Fire. [2 Peter 3:7-18] It is therefore not absurd to surmise that if Lucifer was associated with those heavens and earth in the original Creation before his fall, that as a result or consequence of that fall is the woeful flooded state of Genesis 1:2. Additionally, the temporal flooded state as opposed to a fiery extermination, speaks to a veiled intention for a future complete Restorative Work that would be preceded by a “short” 7 “Day” Re-Creation (Redemptive/Restitution work), that in the Wisdom of God includes the creation, and incarnation of Man.  

That “freedom” of fallen spirits, albeit limited, after their rebellion, speaks to the sparing of, and extended willing Mercy of God, to them who might repent. That remaining freedom, afforded by the transfer of power, but also in the design of God, to be an additional opportunity for their repentance. That to which the many days of God’s forbearance before that flood of Noah’s day also speaks, not just to men but also to fallen angels.  

It is quite possible that at the same time of God’s Judgment on the ancient pre-Adamite World, and as a part of it, was a fearful visual warning of the (future, as yet unrealized) punitive eternal place and state of all the unrepentant rebellious; that making ready in the center of the Earth the eternal Lake of Fire. The reality of its existence and its primary purpose is seen in Matthew 25:41. “Then shall he say also unto them (unrepentant men) on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels…” The creation of which was/is to be a deterrent, a clear message, intended first, to all spirits of a threatened Judgment for continuing in their defiant behavior. The reference speaks to a specific time that had/was being extended to offending spirits to repent. As to this continued spiritual dynamic, that is to say the manner of their administrating governmental affairs, previously in their God/Lucifer appointed authority, and now in this their usurped authority of this World/Age, they will eventually be held accountable. To this we have some clear insight from Psalms 82, and Job 1, & 1 Kings 22:19-23 as examples of past reoccurring assemblies, which point towards 

that great and future assize of Revelation 4:2.   

First, in Daniel 10:12,13,21, and 12:1 and then (the extension and addition of that) we have secondly have Acts 15:14 with Ephesians 6 as examples of two peoples God has taken out from the jurisdiction of satan. In the first we see the appointing of Michael the Archangel to be their (Israel’s) Prince (wherein we see that spiritual dynamic being played out in Jude 9). And in the Second, we see Jesus Christ as the Prince of Princes. Michael, then in the power of Christ, not only resists the appointed powers of the heavens, but forever casts satan and his angels down from the heavens associated with this World down to earth. [Revelation 12:7-10] In these Scriptures above is disclosed satan’s kingdom; the pyramid of nefarious ruling officials of this World, and the various evil authorities and wicked controlling activities that include the continual compiling of earth–wide Intel upon its inhabitants. Information that is thereby presented unto their prince, that he has used throughout time at those God–appointed assemblies before the Almighty; and among other things presents his many cases of accusations against God’s people, day and night. 

It is in the legal “rightful” warrant that he had and has in this World/Age, since Adam’s rebellion in the Garden, that a great hostility towards the Messiah was manifest 2000 years ago. Jesus Christ, Who bodily as a man born of a woman, entered their “legal” domain and resisted their government mightily. And that on the basis of it/satan having no success in forging a place in Him. [John 14:30] 

Their growing frustration finally resulted in their ill-advised conspiracy to kill Him. This can be seen in the spiritual application side of the parable of the Husbandman. “…when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance”. [Matthew 21:38] This then, the determination of the “spirits” to kill Him, was the compete rejection of their own salvation; their finally filling up their cup of iniquity. This brought about the condemning Words, seemingly out of time, “Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.” spoken of in John 12:31. That is to say from that fateful moment of determination the doors of mercy were closed, in that “They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy.” 

Ultimately then ALL have fallen under the law of sin and death, not just material humans, but also eternal spirits. That is what is clearly depicted in that future end time judgment day of Isaiah 24:21. “And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and — the kings of the earth upon the earth. And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited.” Here then, in Isaiah, is the allusion to an additional judgment place, the pit, a deep place in the midst of the earth, another unseen to human eye, that of the Lake of Fire, which stands ominously and currently unoccupied, testifying of a future final Judgment. We also have in the Book of Jude that very same and real locale in the midst/center of the earth, that deep dark place in which there is recorded in Scripture an ancient incarceration of a number of certain “spirits/angels”. And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.”  

A similar possibility is presented much later to a legion of lesser evil spirits in Luke 8:30. “And Jesus asked him, saying, What is thy name? And he said, Legion: because many devils were entered into him. And they besought him that he would not command them to go out into the deep (Abyss).” That same very real place is referenced by Paul in Romans 10:7. “ ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead)….” All these speak of the same general place described in Peter, Luke, and Jude and 4 or 5 times in the Book of Revelation as the Bottomless Pit.  

As to there being credence to a yet future Judgment Day for the “spirits” with the possibility of some fallen “spirits” granted Redemptive forgiveness, let us see what its recorded in 1 Peter 3:18,19. “…being put to death in the flesh (Jesus), but quickened by the Spirit: By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah…”  

Scripture reveals Angels are created beings, “spirits’, as man was also created beings but were created living souls; and man was created inferior to spirits/angels. [Psalms 8] It is not difficult, when all Scripture is considered, as we shall endeavor to do, to see that angels and man’s destinies are intrinsically bound together in the Plan of God for the Restoration/restitution of all things.  

* And the earth was=became   

ITALICIZED IN THE REVISED VERSION where the Revisers ill- advisedly decided that “all such words, now printed in italics, as are plainly implied in the Hebrew, and necessary in English, be printed in common type.”  One of the consequences of this decision is that the verb “to be” is not distinguished from the verb “to become”, so that the lessons conveyed by the A.V. “was” and “was” in Gen.1:2; 3 and 4; 9 and 10; 11 and 12, are lost. (appendix 7 companion bible).  

Was should be “became” here as it is translated in Genesis 2:7, 4:3, 9:15, 19:26; Exodus 32:1; Deuteronomy 27:9; 2 Samuel 7:24, etc. 

 **a more thorough explanation of the subject and meaning of the Hebrew words “Tohu and Bohu”: 

Strong’s H8414. תֹּהוּ tōhû: A masculine noun meaning formlessness, confusion. The exact meaning of this term is difficult at best since its study is limited to its relatively few Old Testament occurrences. It is used to describe primeval earth before the seven creative days (Genesis 1:2); a land reduced to primeval chaos and formlessness (Isaiah 34:11; 45:18; Jeremiah 4:23); a destroyed city (Isaiah 24:10). 

Strong’s Dictionary Definition H922. בֹּהוּ bōhû: A masculine noun indicating void or emptiness. It depicts the state of matter after God had created it but before He had fashioned it for habitation (Genesis 1:2). It, therefore, describes the state of the land or earth after God judges it (Isaiah 34:11; Jeremiah 4:23). It is used in combination with tōhû, without form, each time. 

The etymology of the two words has been lost.  Taking then these only other instances of there use  in Isaiah and Jeremiah as to determine there meaning.  

Tregelles’ edition of Gesenius’ lexicon suggests as a definition for tohu, among other things, “that which is wasted”, “destruction”, and has for the Isaiah 24:10 passage quoted above the translation “desolated city” (destroyed, laid waste, desolated, ruined).  The point is that tohu  and bohu in Genesis 1:2 represents the aftermath of a destructive event rather than some primeval, original Created formlessness or void. To be sure, in Greek and Roman mythology (and in modern scientific cosmology) this is the way the world is understood to have begun (i.e., in a chaotic unformed and unshaped mass; cf. Ovid’s Metamorphoses book I, and the “big bang theory” respectively). So the understanding of the Genesis 1:2 phrase tohu ve bhohu is indeed critical to the interpretation of Genesis (as well as of Satan’s rebellion and many other things). If one sees in this phrase chaos, one can square Genesis with mythology and science. However, if one sees that these words refer to the results of God’s judgment rather than to “beginnings” confusion, one comes to different conclusions altogether, conclusions that allow both for a perfect original creation, and for the satanic rebellion.