BIBLE: Online Home Study Courses BUSINESS & COMMUNITY VALUES: Value Added CHRISTIAN BOOKS: Catalogue CHRISTIAN EDUCATION: Class Education DOCTRINE: Westminster Heritage Centre NEW BOOK: Cosmic War Survival NEWS: NEWS - NEWS - NEWS ONLINE MAGAZINE: Ultimate Truth ORIGINS: Creation Lab RTC Reformed Theological College Curriculum RESEARCH: Online Encyclopedia WORSHIP: Psalms
The creation of the cosmos commences with the majestic statement:
In the beginning 'Elohim created the heaven(s) and the earth.12
This statement focuses our attention upon origins ('In the beginning'), the one who acts ('Elohim) what he does (creates) and the result of his action ('the heaven and the earth'). Let us consider these in turn.
It will be shown later that Moses' account is not dependent upon the Babylonian creation account and we should not feel under any pressure to translate the above verse as a temporal clause, awaiting completion in verse three, to make it conform to the opening of Enuma elish. The latter does not introduce an independent statement until its ninth line. Making the verse read 'When God began to create13 the heaven and the earth the earth was without form and void' suggests that the earth was already present in some form and that matter has always been. Such a translation, though regarded by some as grammatically possible, neutralises the whole significance of the opening statement. The record is concerned with an accurate account of the origin of the universe. It goes right back to 'the beginning'. The original Hebrew word is derived from the common Hebrew word for 'head' which is used literally for the top part of the body, the head14 and figuratively for a chief or household head who occupies the first and pre-eminent place.15 This derived word is used for that which is first in order, as in firstfruits16, or that which is first in time: the beginning or commencement of a thing, such as the beginning of a kingdom.17 Before a beginning no such thing formerly existed.18 The beginning is also the first step in a course of events19 and the principal thing.20 In the description of the origin of the cosmos it is then the absolute beginning before which there was no such thing as a heaven and earth. The description is thus of the beginning of the universe. It commenced when this action took place and before this it had no existence at all. The Cosmos is thus not eternal but originated when 'Elohim acted in this way.
The word 'Elohim is plural in form but when referring to the true God it takes the singular verb. The plural cannot therefore be legitimately viewed as suggesting polytheism. It may be regarded as an intensive plural indicative of greatness, majesty and fulness of power. The derivation of 'Elohim may be from a root meaning "to fear" pointing to the fact that this one is so great that we can only approach him with awe. Geerhardus Vos construes it in this way.
Elohim is probably derived from a root 'alah', no longer found in the Hebrew, but believed to exist in Arabic. It means 'to fear, to be perplexed, and so to seek refuge.' From that, there is but one step to the notion 'dread', and this would be objectified in the sense of 'the One to be dreaded,' or 'the One to whom one comes in fear or dread'.21
Berkhof allows the possibility that the derivation is the same as that of 'El in which case the sense would be that of 'being first', of 'being lord' or 'being strong and mighty'.22 'Elohim is thus the most high, resplendent in glory, of omnipotent strength and to be approached with reverential awe. The atheist would say that he finds no reason to believe in such a Divine Being. What he could not reasonably deny, however, is that, accepting that there is such a Being; the record of creation ex nihilo by Divine fiat is perfectly reasonable and credible. We may not say that there is anything in the account itself that is incredible on the supposition of such an almighty creator. The rejection of the record is purely and simply on the basis of a prior denial that such a being exists.
The bara' constant remains the only alternative to the eternity of matter and this is what we find affirmed in Moses' statement: 'In the beginning 'Elohim created the heaven and the earth.' Professor Young explains that the close association of the first two words is such that
the explanation of the word 'create' is found in the word 'beginning', and the explanation of the word 'beginning' is found in the word 'create'.23
He comments further:
This is a beginning that is characterized by creation, and this is a creation that is characterized by the beginning.24
The beginning is thus the absolute beginning of all things apart from the God who created and the creation is that work of God whereby he made all things without any pre-existent materials, commonly known as creatio ex nihilo meaning "creation out of nothing". The characteristics of the scriptural usage of the Hebrew word bara' ('to create') are as follows:25 (a) God is always the subject. (b) It refers to the production of something completely new which had no previous existence: the heaven(s) and the earth, the sea creatures, and man. (c) It is not used when a pre-existing material is referred to, such as when the record states that 'the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground …'26 (d) It has no parallel in human achievements because man always begins with materials at his disposal and consequently, in the sense of bara', never creates. (e) The nature of the action represented is incomprehensible to us. We never act in such a way and cannot understand the action described as creatio ex nihilo. Scientific investigation of such creation is thus precluded even if it were still taking place, which we are assured, it is not.27
Moses describes the cosmos in its primeval condition as 'the heaven(s) and the earth'. In this expression 'heaven' is used for everything other than the earth. The conjunction 'and' then singles out the earth. The statement affirms that God created all things including the earth and in particular the earth. The Hebrew manner of referring to the creation as 'the heaven and the earth' prohibits us from confining the cosmos to the universe of scientific investigation as though this was everything. There is a heaven and earth. This heaven is complex. Paul speaks of being 'caught up to the third heaven' which he identifies as Paradise.28
For there are three heavens ... the aerial; the place of birds, clouds and meteors. ... The starry; the region of the sun, the moon, and stars ... The highest or third heaven ... the dwelling of the blessed angels.29
The cosmos thus includes the spirit world beyond the starry heavens and man who is both body and spirit is continuously influenced by this spirit world and this is of crucial importance in understanding the cosmic war. From the beginning the universe consisted of a 'twofold whole'.30 The original condition of the earth can be described as unfinished.
And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.31
It is not necessary to describe this as an original chaos in the sense of chaotic. The emphasis is not upon disorder so much as upon being as yet uncompleted. The threefold condition is balanced by the Spirit's purposeful presence. The earth was desolate and waste. It was formless, lifeless and barren. It was dark. A vast ocean called the deep or abyss covered it. These are physical descriptions and imply neither conflict nor evil, past or present. These are real waters and darkness not a description of some mythical conflict. We are presented with a picture of a mass of waters of great depth shrouded in darkness without any stable distinguishable form and void of inhabitants. Though the waters heave and surge the idea of chaotic struggle is precluded by the powerful and purposeful presence of the Spirit 'hovering' as a bird fluttering over its nest. It was not the chaos of pagan myth or of evolutionary primeval soup, but the earth lacked discernable form and was empty, in contrast 'to all those created objects which pertain to the form, the ornament and the perfection of the world.'32 The earth was as yet unformed, like the potter's clay which is suitable for the intended purpose, but awaits that fashioning that will result in a beautiful and ordered world fit for human habitation. The account is not to be viewed as order arising out of chaos but a finished, furnished and perfected cosmos being produced from basic materials designed for the purpose. The progress to completion, indeed perfection, was embraced within the first six of the seven days, which established the hebdomadal cycle. The dependence of the fiats that follow upon the primeval creation is indicated by the repeated waw (translated 'and') at the beginning of each new act of God.
Notes and References
12. Genesis 1.1
13. Revised Standard Version footnote on Genesis 1.1.
14. Leviticus 10.6
15. Exodus 6.14
16. Leviticus 2.12
17. Genesis 10.10
18. Genesis 49.3
19. Isaiah 46.10
20. Proverbs 4.7
21. Geerhardus Vos, Biblical Theology: Old and New Testaments (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1948) p.77.
22. L. Berkhof, Systematic Theology (London: Banner of Truth Trust, 1958) p.48.
23. Edward J. Young, In the Beginning, p.23.
24. Ibid., p.24.
25. These comments are applicable to the Kal form of the verb.
26. Genesis 2.7
27. Genesis 2.1
28. 2 Corinthians 12.2,4
29. Matthew Poole, A Commentary on the Holy Bible Volume 1 (London: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1962) p.2.
30. C.F. Keil and F. Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament in Ten Volumes Volume 1 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1973) p.47.
31. Genesis 1.2
32. John Calvin, Calvin's Commentaries: The Pentateuch (Grand Rapids: AP&A) p.2.