Genesis 1:2

“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.”

And the earth, this phrase is the same phrase that ended the verse before, emphasizing the point that we’re now just talking about the earth (excluding the heavens). Henry Morris points out in “The Genesis Record” that “It is significant that every verse in the first chapter of Genesis (except Genesis 1:1) begins with the conjunction “And” (Hebrew waw). This structure clearly means that each statement is sequentially and chronologically connected to the verses before and after. Each action follows directly upon the action described in the verse preceding it.” Matthew Poole points out “The same confused mass or heap is here called both earth, from its most solid and substantial part; and the deep, from its vast bulk and depth; and waters, from its outward face and covering.”

was, Morris says also “The gap theory also proposes that the word translated “was” (Hebrew hayetha) should really be translated “became,” thus suggesting a change of state from the original perfect creation to the chaotic condition inferred from verse 2. Although such a translation is grammatically possible, it is unlikely in this particular context. The verb is the regular Hebrew verb of being (hayetha), not the word normally used to denote a change of state (haphak). Although hayetha can also, if the context warrants, be used to introduce a change of state, it simply means “was” in 98 percent of its occurrences. That is why, in the King James and every other standard translation of the Bible., Genesis 1:2 is always translated “was,” never “became.” There is nothing at all in the context of Genesis 1, to suggest that it should in this particular case be rendered “became.” But even if it were to be translated “became,” it would not necessarily imply a change of state. It might well refer simply to the nature assumed by the created earth in response to the divine creative fiat of Genesis 1:1.”

without form, and void;, unformed and unfilled, as Isaiah 45:18 points out, God didn’t intend it to stay that way, the first three days of creation he formed it, and in the last three days he filled it. An attack on creation (and thereby God) is the Gap Theory, which posits a gap between two different creative acts of God, in which the world he first created is destroyed (usually said by the fall of Satan, which doesn’t happen until Gen 3:14). There is nothing else in scripture referring to this, and was created in 1814 to compromise with the religion of Science. It also contradicts much scripture, such as Romans 5:12, where it is said that death is the result of Adam’s sin.

and darkness was upon the face of the deep., upon the face, shows us that it was dark on the surface or uppermost part, so there wasn’t any light yet shining on it, letting us know that the heaven above it was also without light, as we find manifest in later verses (also Jer 4:23). Deep, also translated abyss, comes from a root denoting rage, or to roar, and is commonly used for the depths of the sea. So we have a churning, chaotic mass, from which God in the next three days would form the world.

And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters., the Spirit of God applied the force to form the earth from the chaos. The word “moved” here is translated in the Septuagint as the Greek “phero”, which is also used in II Pet. 1:21, also speaking of the oving of the Holy Ghost.

Notes & Quotes

From “The New Defenders Study Bible”:

“This gap theory, however, requires a worldwide cataclysm at the end of the geological ages, in order to account for the globally flooded and darkened earth described in Genesis 1:2. The cataclysm, in turn, is hypothetically connected with the fall of Lucifer in heaven (Is 14:9-14) and his expulsion to the earth (Eze 28:12-15), though such a cataclysm is nowhere mentioned in Scripture. However, in addition to its obvious contradictions with other important and clear Bible passages (1:31; Ex 20:11), the gap theory is self-defeating geologically. The geological age system (which is the necessary framework for modern evolutionism) is based entirely on the principle of uniformitarianism, a premise which denies any such worldwide cataclysm, and requires that we interpret earth history by the applying of present geological processes into the remote past. The concept of geological ages is based entirely on a uniformitarian explanation of the fossil beds and sedimentary rocks of the earth’s crust, which would all have been destroyed by such a pre-Adamic cataclysm. Thus, any attempt to ignore or explain away the supposed great age of the earth by the gap theory makes an unnecessary compromise with evolutionism, and displays a lack of understanding of the geological structures and processes to which evolutionists appeal in defending their long ages.

The real answer to the geological ages is not an imaginary pre-Adamic cataclysm, but the very real cataclysm of the Noah’s flood (see comments on ch. 6-9), which provides a much better explanation of the fossil beds and sedimentary rocks, eliminating all evidence of geological ages and confirming the biblical doctrine of recent creation.”

From Matthew Henry’s Unabridged Commentary:

“If the work of grace in the soul is a new creation, this chaos represents the state of an unregenerate graceless soul: there is disorder, confusion, and every evil work; it is empty of all good, for it is without God; it is dark, it is darkness itself. This is our condition by nature, till almighty grace effects a blessed change.”

References

Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth. Ps 104:30

For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Romans 1:20

God is a god of order, and brought things to a perfect order. Then sin came into the world, bringing death and destruction. We are now in the Kingdom, but won’t see the new heaven and the new earth until the second coming of Christ.