Formless and Void

"The earth was formless and void..."  

Genesis 1:2a

As you look at this passage what do you see? For many of us, the terms "formless" and "void" stand out. What does it mean when the Bible says that the earth was without form and empty?

Some scholars believe that Moses hints at there being a huge gap of time between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2. They say this because the Hebrew word for "formless" can also mean "a place of chaos." After they make this statement, they will likely point you toward Isaiah 45:18 which says...

"For thus says the LORD, who created the heavens (He is the God who formed the earth and made it, He established it and did not create it a waste place, but formed it to be inhabited)..."

 

The Gap Theory

This theory is that God created the heavens and the earth and all of the angelic hosts. They say that, just after the creation of the world in Genesis 1:1 and right before Genesis 1:2, Satan and a third of the angles rebelled against God and were immediately cast out of Heaven and thrown to the earth where they then fashioned it into a dark chaotic mess. Thus, when God, quite some time later, then comes to restore the world and perfect it according to His original intent, His Spirit comes into a supposedly chaotic waste place in which He remakes and reshapes it into a beautiful masterpiece.

Those who believe this theory attempt to speculate that it could have been a few million years or more thus accounting for the supposedly old looking earth. Yet how much time actually occurred, they do not have an answer. To them, the first day was separated by a possible million years or so. However, they generally believe that each of the other six days are literal 24 hour days.

Is this the Word of God? No. How can I say that? Because we know from Genesis chapter one that Satan did not sin until after Day 6. I have hyperlinked "Satan" for those of you who would like to research more on when he actually fell from Heaven. We know that he did not sin until after creation was completed because God says that he is "very good" in verse 31 of chapter one at the end of Day 6.

Formless and Void

What do these terms actually mean? They mean exactly what they say. I promise you that there is no hidden meaning in them. Formless means that "the earth was without form" while void means that "the earth was empty." Just because it can mean "chaos" does not mean that it does mean "chaos."

I think that too often we, myself included, keep trying to gain some new revelation into the Word of God. We want to find new things and grow in our understanding of Scripture. Our hearts are in the right place as we seek to know God in His Word better. Unfortunately, there is a tendency to sometimes overthink things and our minds can begin to unconsciously see anything we want them to believe.

So now that we understand that these words mean what they say, what does it look like? Let's tackle the easier one first. The Earth was considered "empty" because there was absolutely no life to it. There were no sea creatures filling the waters until Day 5 so there was no life at all.

Now let's move on to the second and more controversial term of "formless." Well, as you remember from all of those years attending children's church and heading off to Sunday School, God did not bring forth land until Day 3 of creation.

Now listen closely because we are about to get into some technical details which will aid in our exegesis of the rest of the chapter and ultimately throughout the rest of Scripture. This does not mean that land didn't exist before Day 3. Yes, the Earth at this time is a big ball of water floating all by itself in a dark and lonely universe, but what does God say in verse 9?

"Let the waters...be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear."

Did you catch that? Does the term "appear" seem to grip you like it does me? Where else in the creation account does God use the term "appear?" Nowhere! He always says, "Let there be...!" To appear means "to become visible." It carries the connotation that it is already there, it just cannot be seen. The reason that "dry land" is not seen until Day 3 is because it is under water. God said, "...let the dry land appear..." because there was no "dry land." There was only "wet land."

If before this blog you were not aware that Earth actually began completely covered in water, then from now on whenever someone asks you something concerning the "Global Flood," you should ask, "Which one? Creation's or Noah's?"

You see, the Earth, on Day 1, was created with all of the essential components necessary to its form and foundation. What I am saying is that on Day 1 when God made the Earth, He did not just make a giant rain drop. He gave it a core, mantle, and a crust and covered it with water.

The Earth is referred to as being "formless" because water, in and of itself, is formless. Liquid water takes on the shape of whatever container it is placed into. The problem was that there was no container. This massive one-world ocean covered the entire planet as there was no mold (land) to provide definite shape. Thus, as the angels were viewing the Earth in its beginning stages as God laid the foundations, they themselves observed no definite form to Earth.