Post 5 Genesis Chapter 1

Outline
verse 1-2 - Creation of Heaven and Earth
verse 3 - Light
verse 9 - Earth seperated from waters
verse11 -Made fruitful
verse14 -Lights in firmament sun, moon, stars
verse20 -fish and fowl
verse24 -beast and cattle
verse 26 -man in image of God
verse29 -appointment of food

verse31 And God saw every thing that he had made and behold it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

Special note: I noticed that after the days of creation God said it was good until after the sixth day when he said it was very good. It was after he had made man. My how he loved us from the start.

I will only mention here, to encourage you into further study, that some believe that there was some cataclysmic change "as the result of divine judgment" between verse 1 and 2. In their reasoning verse one represents the beginning while verse 2 describes conditions after a primitive judgment. That line of thinking suggest some form of life on earth which was judged thus leaving the earth "without form and void" which would account for primitive fossil remains. Then a new beginning is picked up in verse three.

I like this view but it injects a lot into the small space of the first two verses. CI Scofield has numerous notes on the subject in his reference Bible. I honestly don't know what God was doing along that time. I think he has written down what we need to know about events. Jeremiah 4:23-26 and Isaiah 24: 1, 4 and 5 are given as references to support this view. Jeremiah 4:23-26 is given as a reference to verse 1 of Genesis concerning the prior judgment. It does not however give me a firm thought that it supports the primitive judgment idea. It sounds also remarkably like the flood of Noah's day. Isaiah 24: 1,4 and 5, as well, do not seem specific enough to use as supprot for the interpretation of the void in verse 2 of Genesis. I encourage you to read them and surrounding verses for yourself.
Jeremiah 4: 23-26 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 firce anger. Isiah 24: 1,5 and 5: Behold the Lord maketh the earth empty and maketh it waste and turneth it upside down and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof. The earth mourneth and fadeth away, the world anguisheth and fadeth away, the haughty people of the earth do languish. The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinane, broken the everlasting covenant.
(I have included the scripture text but I encourage you to read it from your Bible. I try to be accurate but I could make a typing error)

I've often thought about this passage in Genesis. I think there may well have been something going on there. Perhaps a judgment of angelic beings or some other creature. We do not have enough information and perhaps do not need to know but it is very interesting. There is one idea I had that it might be a moment in creation when raw material was being formed into something beautiful as with the dust becoming man. A step in the orderly process of creation, if you will.

There is also a school of thought that in a prior civilization, angels took wives of humans and the resulting civilization was very corrupt and was destroyed. I know of only one verse that would suggest this idea: Genesis 6:1-2 And it came to pass when man began to multiply on the face of the earth and daughters were born unto them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair and they took them wives of all which they chose. But then this passage is about the flood and we will get to that later. We just do not know if there was a primitive civilization before Adam and Eve or if the same thing in the passage above happened in that civilization and received the same judgment as in Noah's day. There is much that is written down to study, so we will leave speculation for another day.

Jesus did say that he saw the devil fall from heaven and since he took a lot of angels with him, it must have had some effect when he landed. Luke 10:18 and Revelation 12: 7-9.
Jesus talking: Luke 10:18 And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. You should read this whole passage. There is a comparison here between such things as this and eternal life. It is like Jesus was saying that compared to your name being written in heaven the casting out of Satan is no big deal. As we study, we will see many fascinating stories and miracles but as we study them, we should keep in mind that our relationship to God is the ultimate priority.
Revelation 12:7-9 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon: and the dragon fought and his angels. And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. Note that it is 'their' and not 'there' as I have read it for years. It is one thing to be cast out but to have your place removed is very final.

When exactly was Satan cast out? I don't know. I expect it was before he tempted Eve. He apparently still has access to God to some degree since he went there to complain about Job. Job 1:6 . I got the impression the old deceiver was there uninvited from reading the passage. Job 1:6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord and Satan came also among them. Often in the best of company, Satan will show up to cause trouble. Watch out for him.

Let me tell you a story before I go to my other work and then class will be dismissed for today. It is just a story someone made up:

"The devil came to God and insisted he could make a man if God would let him. Finally, he was told to go ahead and try. 'Okay' said Satan 'I'll need some dirt.' 'Oh no. You have to make your own dirt!" was the answer he got."

I guess that sort of stumped him. Next time another chapter. It is ok to read ahead.