July 12

Did God Create the Earth Chaotic and Ruined?

Created by the Elohim were the heavens and the earth. Yet the earth became a chaos and vacant, and darkness was on the surface of the submerged chaos. Yet the spirit of the Elohim is vibrating over the surface of the water. (Concordant Literal Translation - Emphasis are mine)

The phrase “without form, and void” in the traditional King James Version comes from a Hebrew phrase, “tohu va bohu”. The phrase actually indicates a ruin and an empty wilderness. Another English translation reads, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Now, the earth, had become waste and wild, and darkness, was on the face of the roaring deep,—but, the Spirit of God, was brooding on the face of the waters” (Rotherham Emphasized Bible - Emphasis are mine)

The late German theologian, Johann August Dathe, believed the passage should read, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth, but afterwards the earth became waste and desolate. Another late Bible scholar named Arthur Custance translates Genesis 1:1-2 as following: “IN A FORMER STATE GOD PERFECTED THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH. BUT THE EARTH HAD BECOME A RUIN AND A DESOLATION, AND THE DARKNESS OF JUDGMENT WAS UPON THE FACE OF IT.”

Did God, who made everything beautiful and whose work is perfect (Deut. 32:4) create the earth into a chaotic mess? According to Isaiah the answer is an emphatic “NO!”

For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the Lord; and there is none else (Isaiah 45:18)

The same Hebrew phrase, "tohu va bohu" used in Genesis 1:2 is found in the above passage. Why would God say that He did not create the earth as a “tohu wa Bohu” here in Isaiah but many claim that in Genesis 1:2 that is exactly what He did? God does not create anything chaotic or ruined. To do such is simply not consistent with His character. The earth was not created in the way that it is described in verse Genesis 1:2 but it became that way due to the fall of Lucifer (now known as “Satan”).