byThank God for giving us the second edition of our Journey Through the Book of Genesis article today. In today’s edition, I’ll be talking about how the Earth became formless and void in Genesis 1:2. You’ve probably read that scripture several times and struggled to understand it. You may ask: how is it that God created the heavens and the Earth in Genesis 1:1, and all of a sudden, in Genesis 1:2 (NKJV), the Bible says,
“The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.”
What kind of transition is that? Before I delve deeper into this, I want you to know that the distance between scripture and the next, especially in the Old Testament, is often longer than you imagine. Some of the stories captured in the scriptures happened for more than fifty years. So, don’t always read scripture and conclude that everything follows along.
The rebellion of Lucifer
God makes no mistakes. Secondly, He is a God of order (see 1 Corinthians 14:40). So, if the Earth became formless and void in Genesis 1:2, then it means something bad, which doesn’t proceed from Him, happened. That thing is the rebellion of Lucifer in heaven, which led God to cast Him on the Earth. That is what led to the chaos on the Earth in Genesis 1:2, but let me prove it to you from scripture.
In Ezekiel 28:12-19 (NKJV), the Bible says,
[12] “You were the seal of perfection,
Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
[13] You were in Eden, the garden of God;
Every precious stone was your covering:
The sardius, topaz, and diamond,
Beryl, onyx, and jasper,
Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold.
The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes
Was prepared for you on the day you were created.
[14] “You were the anointed cherub who covers;
I established you;
You were on the holy mountain of God;
You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones.
[15] You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created,
Till iniquity was found in you.
[16] “By the abundance of your trading
You became filled with violence within,
And you sinned;
Therefore I cast you as a profane thing
Out of the mountain of God;
And I destroyed you, O covering cherub,
From the midst of the fiery stones.
[17] “Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty;
You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor;
I cast you to the ground,
I laid you before kings,
That they might gaze at you.
[18] “You defiled your sanctuaries
By the multitude of your iniquities,
By the iniquity of your trading;
Therefore I brought fire from your midst;
It devoured you,
And I turned you to ashes upon the earth
In the sight of all who saw you.
[19] All who knew you among the peoples are astonished at you;
You have become a horror,
And shall be no more forever.” ’ ”
Everything in the above scriptures was speaking of Lucifer. He was in Eden (the Garden – the holy presence of God). But over time, he thought he was equal to God because of how loaded he was in splendour. Then, God cast him out from heaven, with all the angels that joined to rebel against God (see Revelation 12:9). Those angels are now the demons. Remember, all these things happened before God created man (some Bible scholars call this The Preadamite Dispensation). Since the devil and the angels that got cast to the Earth were plenty, they were filled with darkness, and their presence on the first Earth God created caused the formlessness.
Stay humble before God.
What can we learn from all these happenings in the Bible? It is very necessary to stay humble before God. When you let arrogance have you, you’ll crave unimaginable things, which can cost you your God-given position. God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble (see 1 Peter 5:5). Always remember this!
