Without Form and Void

Introduction

As we introduced last week, and will continue to reiterate throughout our series, we want to adopt the cultural waters of the ANE (ancient near Eastern) who lived at the time of the Exodus.

Moses was charged by God to write these things down. He was inspired of the Holy Spirit to write down what they understood to be the creation of all things. The cosmos as they understood it. As we talked about last week, cosmos simply means the way they understood the order of the world/universe as they perceived it.

Based on what we know, we have our own modern day cosmology which causes us to ask questions of the text. These are not bad questions, but these are often times questions that the Bible doesn’t answer. There is a desire to try and read our own cosmology into the text, but we do an injustice to what the text, and therefore what God wants to show us. I will argue that when we ask the wrong questions, we miss the depth and richness that God intended for us.

While the text is written to ancient people, God in His goodness and sovereignty has written it for us. If we can do the task of putting ourselves in the place of the ANE believer, then I think the scripture opens itself up to us and we find gems and precious promises that are deeply applicable for us today regarding life and godliness.

The apostle Peter in writing to the early church would say this, 2 Peter 1:3–7 “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.”

If you were not here last week, I encourage you to go to our website and take in the introduction to our series. We look at the first verse, but some of the examples given are intended to help you orient your heart and mind as to how we are approaching our series in the book of Genesis. I think it’s actually very helpful in all of Bible study, but particularly in our approach to the book of Genesis.

Discipleship: Having different languages and cosmologies allows us to step out of our “what we know”, learn what it is saying, and then allow it to reflect and help us in our context. This is what Jesus called ‘love’. It’s love that makes us open to other ways of seeing the world that can enrich my sense of who I am and who God is. If we are able to use Genesis as this training ground, already it is going to make us better humans, better followers of Jesus, contributing to our flourishing and the flourishing of those around us.

We’re going to jump right into our text this morning. If you are able and/or willing, would you please stand with me as I read Genesis 1:2 “Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.”

This is the word of the Lord. Let’s pray. You may be seated.

The Earth was formless and empty

Our text should almost give you sense of despair. It was chaotic, it was dark, it had no purpose, it had no function.

I’m sure all of our minds have our own images as to what these words conjure up.

To the ANE listner, this would what they would call non-existence. I want to remind us that in our cosmology, we think of nothingness as immaterial, no shape, no substance… to the ANE person something has to have function or they lose meaning and or purpose, devolving into nothingness… if something doesn’t have purpose or can sustain life, it is non-existence, wasteland, desolate, formless, and void.

The phrase here in Hebrew is a fun one… it is tohu va vohu

Deuteronomy 32:9–10 (NASB95)

9“For the Lord’s portion is His people; Jacob is the allotment of His inheritance.

10“He found him in a desert land, And in the howling tohu of a wilderness; He encircled him, He cared for him, He guarded him as the pupil of His eye.

Isaiah 24:10-12

10The city of tohu is broken down; Every house is shut up so that none may enter.

11There is an outcry in the streets concerning the wine; All joy turns to gloom. The gaiety of the earth is banished.

12Desolation is left in the city And the gate is battered to ruins.

Isaiah 45:18 (NIV)

18For this is what the Lord says— he who created the heavens, he is God; he who fashioned and made the earth, he founded it; he did not create it to be tohu, but formed it to be inhabited— he says: “I am the Lord, and there is no other.

Psalm 107:40 (Job 12:21, 24) [Yahweh] pours contempt upon nobles, and he makes them wander in tohu that has no road.

Darkness over the surface of the deep

“…and darkness was over the face of the deep abyss (Heb. tehom)

Job 38:16–17 ““Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the tehom (deep)? Have the gates of death been shown to you? Have you seen the gates of the deepest darkness?”

Jonah 2:5–6 “The engulfing waters threatened me, the tehom (deep) surrounded me; seaweed was wrapped around my head. To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever. But you, Lord my God, brought my life up from the pit.”

While in modern cosmologies, water is “something,” in ancient near eastern cosmology, the “cosmic sea” belongs to the pre-creation state, a neutral, function less, state of non-organization and lifelessness.

“Very little in ancient Near Easter cosmologies [including Genesis 1] relates to the manufacture of the material cosmos… Rather, they recount the organization and ordering of the elements of the cosmos as a functional whole. If we are going to understand ancient views about how the cosmos came into existence (creation cosmology), it is essential that we understand ancient views about what constitutes existence (creation ontology). In the ancient world, something came into existence when it was separated out as a distinct entity and given a function and a name… this is a function-orient- ed ontology. This is in stark contrast to modern ontology, which is focused on the material existence or structure of something. For us, the existence of the world is perceived in physical, material terms… this is a substance-oriented ontology… [For the ancient biblical authors] creation was about the establishment of the functioning cosmos, not about the origins of the material structure or substance of the cosmos.” — JOHN WALTON, ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN THOUGHT AND THE OLD TESTAMENT, 180-181.

When we want to describe the pre-creation state, we use three images that are the most potent images of desolation, uninhabitable: the wilderness, darkness, and the deep abyss. In what we consider literal terms, those are mutually exclusive— how can a desert be a deep sea? But on their metaphysical meaning, they’re all referring to the same thing: the realm of non-life and non-order.

But God was hovering over the waters

There is formlessness (no function)

There is emptiness (no use)

And there was darkness over the surface of the deep (hopelessness- no life can function)

There are a lot of parallels to our lives.

While we want to make sure we are not reading too much into these passages to over-spiritualize them. But we are entering into a season that will no doubt be polarizing. We will as a people (culture) be drawing lines in the sand saying us against them.

Church we should not participate in the line drawing. Have your conviction. Have your reasons. Do your due diligence. But let us not draw lines that God does not draw for us.

There is an hopelessness that comes when we look at those disordered thing in this life. That’s what sin did… not to jump to chapter 3 right away… sin disordered what God ordered. It’s a battle against tohu vavohu.

He’s actually sent the church to be an agent of His Kingdom to bring back order. Primarily through love. But the fruit/response of someone who is filled with the Spirit is one of love, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, meekness, humility, joy, and self-control.

Genesis tells us that the RUAKH of God was hovering over the chaos waters.

RUAKH is a fun word… it means spirit or breath… and so the Spirit of God or the breath of God was over the water.

“When the ruakh of Elohim is present, the abysmal disorder is neutralized and can become a vehicle of life.”

When we look at Genesis 1, we start to see what Tim Mackie (Bible scholar; Bible Project co-founder) says as hyperlinks to other places in our Bible. Where else do we see the wind/breath associated…

Exodus 14 (crossing of the Red Sea)

Ezekiel 37 (army of bones)

John 20 (Jesus breathing on the disciples to receive the Holy Spirit)

One of the powerful and exciting things that we’ll see as we give ourselves to studying Genesis is then going through the Bible and see how often the Biblical authors are calling back to the Genesis and the the other books of the Torah. It enriches our time in the word and gives us greater grasp on what is taking place. The complexity, depth, and beauty become so much more clear.

It draws us in.

Just this last week, I asked Malissa due some research for me. I’ve been given an opportunity to go back to Europe in the next couple weeks and share at a conference to encourage missionaries and pastors. I wanted to know what was going on in their respective churches to encourage them in their good work. Malissa came across the Brown family. They are in the Ukraine. We saw this on their website…

The paragraph above the red reads, “From a living room, then a 2nd floor office, to various storefronts; our "Sunday Service" (currently in a converted mini-mart near the river) is the place people are invited to weekly hear the Word of God and the Gospel.

Our goal is not Mukachevo alone, but all of the Trans-Carpathian region, and all of Ukraine; so we look for ways to build up the Body of Christ throughout the region. Our goal is always to raise up a new generation of leaders. We always looking for people who want to try long term missions.”

In red it reads, “Our current focus of ministry is the refugee crisis as a result of war. They have converted their church into a refugee center and are also placing people in homes, and coordinating with many other churches and ministries. Through the church and the generosity of  many people we are able to financially provide for the needs of many ministries serving refugees.”

This is sewing order and peace in the midst of chaos. This is the reordering of God’s good and right order in the world.

God has a solution in the coming weeks as we read ahead and see what he does on the days ahead.

Conclusion

But to suffice it to say… what is disordered, hopeless, and empty now, because God is near and hovering over, HE will bring order.

If you find yourself empty, needing order, needing hope, God has not left you abandoned. If sin you’ve committed, sin others have committed against you, or sin has been committed in your presence that has left you hopeless… God is near.

His desire is for you. It’s for you to reorder your life in a way that gives you life and gives life for others. Yes, you heard me right. It’s not only does God want to give you hope, but use you to give hope to others. In that you align yourself to the plan that God has for you, you are in a position to bring that hope and joy to others.

It starts by yielding your life and allegiance to Jesus. Jesus has come that you might have life and have it abundantly. It is through Jesus that we experience the fulness of God.

It’s our sin that separates us from God (see Gen 3), but God in His loving kindness took the penalty of sin upon Himself that we might have relationship with Him. In following Jesus, He brings healing, hope, and understanding of what this life is, how this life is to be lived, and the fullness that can be had no matter our background, the things we’ve done, the things done to us, and the things we’ve done to others.

It starts with confessing our sin that has separated us from God, seeking God’s forgiveness by asking, receiving his forgiveness, and then walking in a new relationship with Him and the church.

Would you stand.

If that is you this morning, I want to lead us in a prayer, but I want you to come find pastor Josh or I after church so we can speak with you and get you plugged in.