Actually, it is not easy to understand the whole of the Bible when you just read it through in order beginning with Genesis chapter 1. In Genesis chapter 1 verse 2, it says, “The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep,” but in verse 1 it says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” In verse 1, it says that God created the heavens and the earth, but then verse 2 explains about the earth. God revealed this scene to the man by the name of Moses, who wrote it all down. As he wrote about what he had seen, he said the earth was without form and void.
Then, interestingly, after talking about the earth in verse 2, the chapter goes on to say the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. What does this mean? The Bible tells us that Jesus walked on the water. Is this related to that incident?
God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings. Acts 17:24-26
Here the apostle Paul was addressing the people of Athens. He explained about God who made the world and everything in it, and said this God gives to all life, breath, and all things. He also said God has made from one blood—one seed—every nation of men. This is the explanation of a person who is well familiar with the content of Genesis chapter 1.
Then, Paul gave his aim in saying this.
So that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us. Acts 17:27
God provided everything for man in the hope that perhaps people would search for Him through these things. Then it says, “though He is not far from each one of us.”
As you read through the entire Bible, you will see there is a very close connection between the earth and man. God made man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. Yet in Genesis chapter 1 verse 2 it says that the earth was without form and void, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. This appears to present us with a precise image of a phenomenon that arises in our hearts.
Yet, when we look at another verse in the Bible, there is something else for us to discover; it talks about water and indicates that the earth was mixed up with some kind of water.
For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water. 2 Peter 3:5
Here it says, “the earth standing out of water and in the water.” This is saying the earth came out of some kind of surrounding of water very much like a child emerges from the amniotic fluid in the womb of the mother. What does this mean? What kind of water would this be? What was this original water like from which the earth emerged?
In Psalm 104, it says, “The Lord wraps himself in light as with a garment; he stretches out the heavens like a tent and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their water” (verses 2-3 NIV). It says God lays the beams of his upper chambers on their water. That is to say, God dwells above the waters. Also, in Psalm 29, it says, “The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders; the Lord is over many waters” (verse 3). The Lord is over many waters. Then in the book of Revelation when it talks about Jesus after He rose from the dead, it says His voice is as the sound of many waters (see 1:15, 14:2). In Ezekiel chapter 1, there is also reference to the voice of many waters when it talks about the place where God dwells and where His throne of glory is (see verse 24).
Let’s turn to Job chapter 26.
He covers the face of His throne, and spreads His cloud over it. verse 9
This is talking about the throne of God, and it says He covers the face of His throne, and spreads His cloud over it. This is not talking about the kind of clouds we can see from the earth, it is referring to the true clouds that are above.
He drew a circular horizon on the face of the waters, at the boundary of light and darkness. Job 26:10
Second Peter describes how the earth came out of water and was in water, and here in Job it says God drew a circular horizon on the face of the waters. He drew that circular horizon as far as the boundary of light and darkness. Why did He set this boundary?
The original world that God created is referred to as Eden. Ezekiel chapter 28 talks about “Eden, the garden of God,” and “the holy mountain of God” (see verses 13, 14). This is not the garden of Eden in which Adam lived. In the original heavens and earth that God created in the beginning, there were many waters. The Bible says, “the voice of the Lord is over the waters,” and, “the Lord is over many waters.” It was from that environment that the earth broke away. It broke away from that place up on high, and an empty space came into being between the two. The heaven above and the heaven below were divided.
Why did this happen? In Isaiah chapter 14 and Ezekiel chapter 28, we read that there was a very glorious angel by the name of Lucifer, or Morning Star, who saw the throne of God in the very beautiful garden of God. The book of Job tells us that place is somewhere far from the earth in the northern skies (see 26:7). When Lucifer looked at the throne of God, the desire arose in him to be like God. It is not that he wanted to take God’s place; he wanted to share God’s place. He wanted to be seated together with God. He knew he could not achieve a position higher than God.
At the same time as this desire arose in the heart of Lucifer—that is, Satan—a great change came about in the heaven God had created. Just as a child comes from its mother’s womb, the earth and all the many stars and planets in the universe broke away from that world above. In the process, the third heaven, which is above, and the heaven below became separated, and a huge empty space came into being between them.
In which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience. Ephesians 2:2
All the authority that had been given to Adam was snatched away by the devil. In this verse, it says, “the prince of the power of the air,” but we should not think of “the air” merely as referring to the air around us that we breathe. If you were to board a spaceship and travel into outer space, do you think you would not commit any sins? Even up there, sins would undoubtedly arise in your heart. The devil is the prince of the power of the air. As this world—the earth—broke away from the world of God, the empty space formed between the two, and this empty space is full of the spirits of evil that oppose God.
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Ephesians 6:12
Here it says, “spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” In the book of Job, we read how Satan appeared before God. God asked him where he had been, and Satan said, “I have been going to and fro on the earth.” Then God asked him, “Have you considered My servant Job?” It was at this poin
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