THE CREATION OF THE EARTH AND MAN, AND THE FALL OF THE SHINING ONE (Part 3)
Kenute P. Curry
2.) THE CHAOTIC EARTH
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. (Genesis 1:2).
The Spirit of God, the earth’s creative agent, enveloped, surrounded, and guarded its surface, as life to come from the dark, murky depths, of the chaos below, on the earth.
The two words “without form” and “void” express one concept – chaos. The earth had been reduced to this state and it was not the way God had first created it. Darkness is a biblical symbol of evil (Job 3:5; Psalm 143:3; Isaiah 8:22; John 3:19). The two words “the deep” suggest that this was a deep darkness of chaos, disaster, and devastation that had plunged the earth into this wicked, horrendous state.
The Hebrew scholars who wrote the Targum of Onkelos, the earliest of the Aramaic versions of the Old Testament, translated Genesis 1:2 as “and the earth was laid waste”. The original language led them to understand that something had occurred which had “laid waste” the earth, and they interpreted this as a destruction.
The early Catholic theologian Origen (186-254), in his commentary De Principiis, explains regarding Genesis 1:2 that the original earth had been “cast downwards” (Ante-Nicene Fathers, 1917, p.342).
The late Arthur Custance in his book Without Form and Void: A Study of the Meaning of Genesis 1:2states: “To me, this issue is important, and after studying the problem for some thirty years and after reading everything I could lay my hands on pro and con and after accumulating in my own library some 300 commentaries on Genesis, the earliest being dated 1670, I am persuaded that there is, on the basis of the evidence, far more reason to translate Genesis 1:2 as ‘But the earth had become a ruin and a desolation, etc.’ than there is for any of the conventional translations in our modern versions” (1970, p.7).
What caused the earth to become a waste after its original creation? We turn to scripture for the answer to this question.
The book of Ezekiel, chapter 28:12-16 states:
“Son of man, take up a lamentation for the king of Tyre, and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD:
“ You were the seal of perfection,
Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
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.
“ 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.
You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created,
Till iniquity was found in you.
“ 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.
“ You were the seal of perfection,
Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
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.
“ 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.
You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created,
Till iniquity was found in you.
“ 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.
In this passage from Ezekiel we are given an account of the fall of Lucifer or Satan as he is called today. Beginning in verse 12, Ezekiel goes beyond the king of Tyre to the source of evil, Satan himself. He is here described as a being of surpassing angelic beauty and wisdom in his original essence. Reference is made to him in verse 13, as being in Eden, the region of Adam’s home, where he deceived Adam, and his wife Eve into sinning against God. This could also refer to Eden, the paradise of God on High, where he once had lived. He was adorned with every precious stone, including the Sardius (deep or brownish-red gem), Topaz(yellow-green gem), Diamond (precious stone of value and brilliancy), Beryl (bluish-green, yellow, white, pink gem), Onyx (glasslike pale-green gem with layers of black and white, or brown and white tints), Jasper(polished red, yellow, brown, or green gem with tints of transparency), Sapphire (ornamental stone with a conundrum of blue varieties), Turquoise (flashing deep-green gem), and Emerald with Gold (glistening deep-green gem that had yellow-golden luster and color), in all of his brilliancy. “Timbrels” and “pipes” refer to his being the supreme musician in heaven. “The anointed cherub who covers” refers to Satan in his exalted privilege as an angel guarding God’s throne on high. He had continuous and unrestricted access to the glorious presence of God. He was on the Holy Mountain and had a high position of privilege guarding the holiness of the Supreme God in the middle of the blazing Shekinah glory. Verse 15 tells us that Lucifer was perfect in his ways from the day that he was created until iniquity was found in him. His heart was lifted up because of his beauty and his wisdom was corrupted because of his splendor and brilliance. Therefore, because of his violence, sin, and profanity, God cast him out of Heaven down unto the earth, throwing the once-perfect earth into a chaos of utter darkness and destruction.
Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version of the Bible, © 1979, 1980, 1982, 1990, Thomas Nelson, Inc., Publishers.
© 2006, 2011 Kenute P. Curry. All rights reserved.
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