In The Beginning

Earl Gillespie

In The Beginning

Genesis 1:1  In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Genesis 1:2  And the earth was waste and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep: and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters

A vast amount of resources are squandered on surveys and studies whose primary focus is to determine why church attendance is down. Many assemblies are in denial as they bring more spectacular attractions in the worship services to attract a younger demographic.    There are more pastors, preachers, ministers, apostles, prophets and teachers per ratio than at any time within the course of human events, yet the world situation is not getting any better.  The question is why?  The answer is, It is the believibility  of God that suffers.  Even many of those that say they believe have a problem with their faith or believability.  Even the government that has offered up massive amounts of money to assist in the building of churches, do not believe in the word of God.  Conflicts  with the teaching of the Bible, and those that teach the Bible is being exposed. 

When I was a small child one of the first questions and conflicts that I encountered in bible study was why was there no dinosaurs in the Bible. As I grew older the question of the different races began to emerge. The question of Cain's wife was too far out to even entertain the possibility of an answer.  There were other questions that were just as important, but to maintain a sense of superiority, teacher and preachers were quick to exclaim, "There are much about the Bible, we will never understand", and once the call for an "amen" was sounded you knew it was time to shut up.

   Often in todays setting, when an attempt is made to shed new light on a subject using biblical facts,  the enlighten voice will be suppressed. When I first did my research on the subject of "the beginning", I was prepared to "wow" my bible study class with a series of questions and answers.  My first question was in, in what dispensation was the devil cast out upon the earth?  The second question, in what dispensation did dinosaurs walked the earth, set the stage for a bible study revolt.  When I began a study of Ages and Dispensations, the bible study class was cancelled. 

Bible studies  and preached messages in most instances are based upon the interpretation of one or more verses surgically removed from the context in which they were spoken.  Who is speaking, who is being spoken to and what is the subject of discussion is overlooked in search of emotional charged and exciting sound bites.  Indoctrination through iteration is the preferred concept of teaching, relying upon old concepts rather than studying to understand the Word of God. 

Failure to understand the Word of God provides the groundwork for a faulty perception of God. The God of today could be said to be different from the God of old, yet we loudly proclaim God do not change.  So, the question does God change or did humanity change?  The Bible is as a history book that details God interaction with his creation.  It reveals His plans, His hopes and His expectations.  It is a book that transcends ages and dispensation.  A study of ages and dispensations, will reveal the fact that outside of "Time" the Scriptures mention "Two Ages:" Before "Time" the "ALPHA" or "CREATIVE AGES," and after "Time" the "OMEGA," or "AGES OF THE AGES." In "Time" there are three "Ages" and eight "Dispensations." 

Paul understood this concept of bible study when he encouraged  Timothy  to, "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15).  The operative words in this verse is to study and dividing the Word of God into its proper Ages and dispensations. The "Ages" are (1.) The Antediluvian Age  (2.) The Present Age and (3.) The Age of Ages.  The "Third Age" is a "Dual Age," composed of the "Millennial Age" and the "Perfect Age."  There are eight  "Dispensations" (1.) The Edenic, (2.) The Antediluvian, (3.) The Post-Diluvian, (4.) The Patriarchal, (5.) The Legal, (6.) The ecclesiastical,(7.) The Messianic, and (8.) The Dispensation Of The "FULNESS OF TIMES."

The difference between an "Age" and a "Dispensation" is, that an "Age" stands for a period between two great physical changes in the earth's surface, while a "Dispensation" stands for a "moral" or "probationary" period in the world's history. For illustration, the "Present Age" began with "The Flood," and will end with the return of Christ to the Mount of Olives. "The Flood" caused such physical and climatic changes that the length of human life was reduced from 900 to 100 years; all this will be reversed when Christ comes back, when the whole contour of the Land of Palestine will be changed (Zec 14:4-10; Eze 47:1-12), and men shall live again for upwards of 1000 years. Isa 65:20. While the Dispensations are probationary periods, the form of "Administration" is different and progressive in each "Dispensation." For illustration, the Administration of the "Legal Dispensation" was that of "LAW," of the "Present Dispensation" is "GRACE," and of the one to follow is "RIGHTEOUSNESS."  If we take that which was apart of a previous Dispensation and make it a part of a present Dispensation we pollute the message and render it unbelievable, except to the indoctrinated followers. 

THE CREATIVE AGES

The Scriptures begin with the sublime declaration-- "In the beginning God `CREATED' the heaven and the earth." Ge 1:1.  As the word "heaven" is in the singular it will clarify matters to limit this creative act to our own planet, and the solar system to which it belongs, rather than to the whole of the starry spaces or the universe.  Also, I will ask you to note the period at the end of verse 1, this is indicative of a complete thought. 

 THE ORIGINAL OR PRE-ADAMITE EARTH

This creation was in the dateless past. The six days' work as described in Ge 1:3-31 was the restoration of the earth to its original condition before it was made "formless and void" and submerged in water and darkness. Peter speaks of it as the "World that then was, that being overflowed with water, perished." 2Pe 3:5-7

The manner of the creation of the "Pre-Adamite Earth" is not revealed in the Scriptures. They simply declare that "In the beginning God CREATED the heaven and the earth." And in that statement we have all the Millenniums of time that science may require for the formation of the earth as a planet.  We have all of the time needed for the great beast that God spoke to Job about, to exist.   During that dateless past, we have a battle taking place, that Jesus alluded to when he said he saw the Devil cast out upon the earth.  Now consider this, when God created man, Lucifer appeared to Eve as the old serpent, the Devil.  

 THE CHAOTIC EARTH

The "Original Earth" was doubtless a most beautiful earth, covered with vegetation and inhabited with fish, fowl and animal life, and probably with human life. How long it continued in this condition, we are not told, but an awful catastrophe befell it, it became "FORMLESS AND VOID," and submerged in water and darkness. Ge 1:2. That it was not originally so we know from Isa 45:18 (R.V.). "Thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; he is God; that formed the earth and made it; He established it. He created it NOT A WASTE, He formed it to be inhabited." What caused the earth to become a "Waste" after its original creation is not clearly revealed. It is clear from the account of the Fall of Adam and Eve that sin existed before man was created. The inference is that Satan and his angels were in charge of the Pre-Adamite Earth, that they rebelled, and by rebellion brought destruction on the Pre-Adamite Earth and its inhabitants, and for their sin was excluded from Heaven, and now occupy the "heavens," and that they are the "Principalities and Powers" over which Satan rules and of whom we are warned in Eph 6:12.

The manner in which the Pre-Adamite Earth was made "formless and void," and this refers only to the exterior surface, the habitableness of the earth, is clearly revealed by Peter, where he says-- "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." 2Pe 3:5-6.

It is clear that Peter does not refer here to Noah's Flood as some proclaim, for the world of Noah's day did not perish, and Peter goes on to add that-- "The heavens and the earth which are now (that is, have been in existence since the restoration of the earth of Ge 1:3-31), by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men" (Great White Throne Judgment, Re 20:11-15.) 2Pe 3:7.

The manner, then in which the Pre-Adamite Earth was made "formless and void" was by WATER. Violent convulsions must have wrecked the Pre-Adamite Earth and covered its surface with the waters of its oceans. Not a living creature remained alive upon it, and its atmosphere of murky darkness hid the light of the sun, moon and stars. To all intents and purposes it was a dead planet, though the seeds of its vegetable life remained entombed in its bosom ready to spring into resurrection life. The absence of the warm rays of the sun caused the earth to pass through the "Winter" of its life, and the submerging waters were congealed into ice that preserved in "COLD STORAGE" the remains of immense quadrupeds and winged creatures, (dianosors) that we might know the kind of animal life that inhabited the Pre-Adamite Earth. This was probably the Glacial Period of Geologic Times. The Prophet Jeremiah records a vision of the time:

Jeremiah 4:23-28  "I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly. I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled. I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the LORD, and by his fierce anger. For thus hath the LORD said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end. For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black: because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it."

If this was, as it appears, an account of the destruction of the Pre-Adamite Earth, then the Pre-Adamite Earth was inhabited, and its inhabitants dwelt in cities, (with Pyramids) and God's purpose in destroying the Pre-Adamite Earth was to efface all historic monuments and evidences of the sinfulness of its occupants.  

Genesis 1:3-5  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.  And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

How long a period elapsed between the creation of the earth and its becoming "formless and void" we do not know; neither do we know how long it continued in that condition, but when the time came in the purpose of God to restore the earth to its habitable state, and make it fit for the abode of man, He did it in six periods of longer or shorter duration. The Hebrew word translated "day" may mean either a day of 24 hours or a longer period of time. The probability is that the time was short because of the reference of the morning and the evening.

Next:  The Creative Works of God