In The Beginning: The World That Then Was

Today, many Christians are confounded by the age of the earth. Christians are taught the earth and all of creation is merely 6,000 years old. Yet, this thought is not logical, nor is it Biblical, and I personally believe this teaching is one of the major reasons for unbelief in the world today.

Christians themselves would agree, God created us as spiritual beings. So why are we walking around in a corruptible flesh body, when we have an incorruptible spiritual body that feels no pain and fails to see the effects of age, (1 Corinthians 15:35-55)?

The answer to that question lies with our understanding there was an age of time before the one we presently live in. An age when mankind existed in spiritual bodies and “all the sons of God shouted for joy,” (Job 38:7).

We presently live in the second Heaven and earth age comprised of flesh, “the heavens and the earth which are now,” (2 Peter 3:7). The same Heaven and earth as before, just a different era of time. This is the key to understanding how some of God’s children are “predestined,” even though our Father is “not a respecter of persons,” (Romans 2:11; 8:29-30).

The Earth “Became” Without Form and Void

Turn your Bible with me to,

Genesis 1:1
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

God’s Word does not say when the beginning was, it could have been millions or even billions of years ago.

Through careful study of the Bible, we will prove a major change occurred between the beginning of creation in “the world that then was,” before “the heavens and the earth which are now,” (2 Peter 3:6-7).

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.

The first thing we need to understand is the word “was” has been incorrectly translated from the Hebrew language. The word “was” should have been translated “became,” just as it has been translated many other times in Scripture.

The word “was” implies God created the earth “without form, and void,” and full of “darkness.” We know that is not true, it would create a contradiction with Isaiah 45:18, and we know there are no contradictions in God’s Word.

God did not create the earth “without form, and void,” and full of “darkness.”

However, it did become “without form, and void,” and full of “darkness” due to the fall of Satan in The World That Then Was. That occurred “before the heavens and earth which are now,” which was established during the Seven Days of Genesis.

To truly grasp the appearance of the earth in Genesis 1:2, we need to understand the meaning of “without form, and void.”

Without form” means,

To lie waste; a desolation (of surface), that is, desert; figuratively a worthless thing; adverbially in vain: – confusion, empty place, without form, nothing, (thing of) nought, vain, vanity, waste, wilderness.

While “void” means,

To be empty; a vacuity, that is, (superficially) an undistinguishable ruin: – emptiness, void.

God did not create the earth “a desolation,” “a worthless thing,” or “an undistinguishable ruin” and later fix His error. Just as a carpenter would not create a home as “an indistinguishable ruin,” and then make it right the second time around.

Further, in Genesis 1:2 the earth was completely submerged in water “and darkness was upon the face of the deep.” We were never told about the creation of water, as it had already taken place in Genesis 1:1 with the rest of the earth.

Notice, there was no land or mountains above the water, not until “the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters” and brought forward “dry land” on the Third Day of Genesis, (Genesis 1:9).

This proves, The World That Then Was ended in a great global flood as the Scriptures will make absolutely clear for us as we move through this Bible study.

God Formed The Earth To Be Inhabited

Turn your Bible with me to,

Isaiah 45:18
For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else.

Our Heavenly Father “formedthe earth to be inhabited. He formed the earth for people, animals, insects, and plants to thrive.

God did not form the earth “without form, and void,” full of “darkness” and covered in water. Nor could life emerge from the earth if it was “an indistinguishable ruin.”

God did not create the earth “in vain” which is the same Hebrew word we find in Genesis 1:2, being “without form”. Jehovah, our Heavenly Father is telling us plainly, He did not create the earth “vain,” He did not create the earth “without form.”

Instead, God created the earth withform” which means,

To mould into a form; especially as a potter”.

Our Father is the Potter who molded the earth into form, He “established” the earth which means He “perfected” it, (Isaiah 64:8).

Scripture makes it abundantly clear, God “is not the author of confusion,” He is not the Creator of “a desolation,” “but of peace” and ‘perfection,’ (1 Corinthians 14:33, Psalms 18:30).

Isaiah 45:18 perfectly aligns with Genesis 1:2 when we understand “was” should have been translated “became.”

These facts bring harmony to the Scriptures. God formed the earth in perfection, but it “became without form, void,” and full of “darkness” due to the Fall of Satan. That took place in The World That Then Was, “before the heavens and earth which are now.”

The Earth “Became” Covered In Water

God is gracious enough to provide us with multiple witnesses to the facts we have covered so far. We are going to turn our Bible to the book of Psalms, and we should understand Psalms 104:5-30 perfectly overlays with Genesis 1:1-31.

Psalms 104:5
Who laid the foundations of the earth that it should not be removed for ever.

God laid the foundations of the earth “in the beginning” as Genesis 1:1 documents. Scripture makes it clear, the earth will never be removed, (Genesis 8:22).

When this took place is unknown to mankind, it could have been millions or even billions of years ago. I am sure one day, God will provide us with these details.

Psalms 104:6
Thou coveredst it with the deep as with a garment: the waters stood above the mountains.

While Psalms 104:5 explains our Father “laid the foundations of the earth” in the beginning, verse 6 explains He then covered the earth with water. Meaning, it was not covered with water before, but “became” covered in water, “became without form, and void,” and full of “darkness” as we learned in Genesis 1:2.

Scripture provides us with even more clarity and detail by explaining there was so much water, it “stood above the mountains.” Simply meaning, there was no “dry land.” That completely aligns with the state of the earth as outlined in Genesis 1:2; 9 until “the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters,” during the Seven Days of Genesis.

For God to create the earth in ‘perfection,’ and then destroy The World That Then Was by covering the earth in water means something happened. There had to be a reason for Him to take such action. As we have explained, this was due to the Fall of Satan in The World That Then Was.

The Heavens And The Earth Were Of Old

Please turn your Bible with me to,

2 Peter 3:4
And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.

What is the subject?

‘The beginning of creation,’ the events we read of in Genesis 1:1 and Psalms 104:5.

The scoffers of the Last Days say, “all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation,” (2 Peter 3:3). This is known as “uniformitarianism” which shares the same definition Scripture just provided you.

How wise God is to know they would say such a thing in the Last Days.

However, we are quickly learning, things have not been the same since the beginning of creation. We are learning the earth while created in perfection, “became an indistinguishable ruin” due to the destruction of The World That Then Was by a global flood.

Let us continue.

2 Peter 3:5
For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water.

Who is willingly ignorant?

Those who believe things have always been the same since “the beginning of the creation.” They are willingly ignorant of the fact, the heavens and the earth were of old, the works that “became” old as Proverbs 8:22 explains.

These scoffers do not understand there was an era of time, The World That Then Was, before “the heavens and the earth which are now.” God makes it clear, The World That Then Was stood out and in the water at “the beginning of the creation.”

This simply means some of the land was above the surface of the water, and some of the land was below the surface of the water. There were mountains and life, the earth was a habitable place.

Unfortunately, due to the Fall of Satan, that did not last.

2 Peter 3:6
Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished.

God’s Word makes it clear, The World That Then Was became ‘overflowed with water and perished’ which perfectly aligns with the state of the world as described in Genesis 1:2 and Psalms 104:6.

We are not talking about Noah’s flood, the subject isthe beginning of the creation,” millions or billions of years before Noah’s time. Further, Noah could not have inhabited a world that “perished.”

We can now be certain as the Scriptures harmoniously state, the earth “became without form, void,” and full of “darkness” when God “coveredst it with the deep.” When “the waters stood above the mountains,” due to the Fall of Satan in The World That Then Was.

The Heavens And The Earth Which Are Now

2 Peter 3:7
But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

While The World That Then Was ended in a global flood, “the heavens and the earth which are now” established The Second Heaven and earth age during the Seven Days of Genesis, (Genesis 2:1).

This age will end in fire at the White Throne Judgement which ushers in the Eternity, the third and final world age, “the new heavens and a new earth wherin dwelleth righteousness,” (2 Peter 3:13, Revelation 20:11-13).

We will turn our Bible to Genesis 1 in a moment, and we are going to Psalms 104 again as well. These chapters overlay one another so we will read them in parallel to gain additional insight into the Scriptures.

Pay close attention and turn with me to,

Genesis 1:9
And God said Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place and let the dry land appear: and it was so.

This action began in Genesis 1:2, when “the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters” and initiated the 7 days of Genesis. That being, the Second Heaven and earth age, “the heavens and the earth which are now.”

Psalms 104:7
At thy rebuke they fled; at the voice of thy thunder they hasted away.

In Psalms 104:6, our Father covered the earth with water during The World That Was.

In verse 7, we find our Father commanding the water to be removed “unto the place which thou hast founded for them.” Just as we found in Genesis 1:9, which also documents the present earth age, “the heavens and the earth, which are now,” (Psalms 104:8).

Genesis 1:10
And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.

At our Father’s Word, ‘the waters that stood above the mountains’ dissipated, and “dry land” once again reappeared. Just as it had in The World That Was, when the earth was “standing out of the water and in the water,” (2 Peter 3:5).

Psalms 104:9
Thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over; that they turn not again to cover the earth.

The establishment of “dry land” was the “bound” the waters could “not pass over.” This Scripture perfectly aligns with Genesis 1:9-10 and proves, after the Third Day of Genesis with the appearance of “dry land”, the waters would never turn “again to cover the earth.”

These Scriptures also document for us, Noah’s flood was not global. The waters could never turn “again to cover the earth.” So they certainly did not during Noah’s day which was at least thousands of years after the Third Day of Genesis.

The Heavens Had No Light

We are now going to turn our Bible to the book of Jeremiah to further prove the point we have drawn out in this Bible study. If we begin reading from the top of chapter 4, God explains how the Tribe of Judah turned away from Him and disregarded His Laws.

Let us continue.

Jeremiah 4:22
For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.

God explains how foolish Judah was, and we can certainly include ourselves in that today.

He explains, His people are “sottish” which means “silly”. His people have not “known” Him, which means “acknowledged” Him, and they have no understanding.

If they had understanding and acknowledged Him, they would have certainly followed His Word. God is going to remind them what He did in the past, what He did to The World That Then Was due to rebellious behavior.

Jeremiah 4:23
I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.

The earth was what?

“Without form, and void.”

The same Hebrew words we found in Genesis 1:2 and Isaiah 45:18, which describe the same appearance of the earth, “a worthless thing,” “a desolation,” “an indistinguishable ruin.”

God is explaining the earth “became without form, and void” and even provides details to the heavens by explaining “they had no light.”

Now we can understand why the earth was full of “darkness” as described in Genesis 1:2 and why the heavenly lights (sun, moon, and stars) were appointed during the Seven Days of Genesis.

  • In 2 Peter 3:5-6 we are told, “the heavens were of old” which includes the heavenly lights, and that world age perished.
  • This is confirmed in Genesis 1:2, where the earth “became” full of “darkness” due to “the heavens had no light,” (Jeremiah 4:23).

We can conclude then, God rearranged the heavens from The World That Then Was into ‘the heavens which are now.’ The heavenly lights, being the sun and stars, during the Fourth Day of Genesis, as light once again appears on earth.

God did this “to divide the day from the night” for our present age and for “signs and seasons” which means “appointed time.”

We have to understand, God is an Astronomer, “He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names,” (Psalms 147:4).

What names?

“Arcturus, Orion, Pleiades,” and “Mazzaroth” which means, (Job 9:9; 38:32)

Some noted constellation (only in the plural), perhaps collectively the zodiac

While the names of most stars have been erased from the minds of men, the stars and constellations were appointed by God, He placed them into their positions for a purpose, for “signs” and “appointed times.”

Unfortunately, man turned the zodiac into a religion.

Regardless, Scripture tells us the heavens “day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge,” (Psalms 19:2).

While “all scripture is given by inspiration of God,” it is possible HIStory, past, present, and future was written by God into the stars through their names and heavenly arrangement, (2 Timothy 3:16).

Otherwise, what ‘speech and knowledge’ would the heavens declare aside from their grandeur?

It is possible the stars were at one time used to pass down the Word of God from one generation to the next. To show us signs of what was, and what was to come.

God’s Word from the beginning made it to the time of Moses when the Word of God became the written Word. The accounts and truth from the beginning of creation to the time of Moses were no doubt passed down through the stars where no man could alter the meaning, and these heavenly lights were appointed by God during the Fourth Day of Genesis.

There Is No New Thing Under The Sun

Now turning our mind back to Jeremiah 4:23, and understanding ‘the heavens had no light’ should not be a surprise to us.

We should remember,

The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.

Ecclesiastes 1:9

Simply meaning, history repeats itself…

Just before the Day of the Lord, we find the heavenly lights in a similar state.

Turn your Bible with me to,

Isaiah 13:10
For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.

The what?

“The stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light” neither the sun.

Just as the heavens during The World That Was went dark, “the heavens and the earth which are now” will go dark as well.

Let us continue.

The Mountains And Hills Trembled

Jeremiah 4:24
I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly.

Depending on how our Father ‘covered the earth with the deep’ it would have caused absolute calamity on earth. Regardless, we are told the mountains and hills moved and trembled.

It is commonly believed the earth was once a Pangea, where all landmasses were connected. By looking at a map of the world we can make this conclusion through simple observations, by the shapes of the continents alone. The continents are like a puzzle and there is no doubt in my mind Scripture is declaring the separation of the Pangea into the continents we have today.

To further the point, we can find the fossils and remnants of;

  • Lions in California
  • Camels in Tennessee
  • Petrified Forests in Arizona
  • Massive changes in Alaska’s landscape

Then we have Ashfall Fossil Beds State Park in Nebraska. A park that features numerous “African” animals that were buried in a volcano an estimated 12 million years ago.

The evidence is there, we only need to open our eyes to see it.

Jeremiah 4:25
I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled.

We are given details concerning the destruction of The World That Was. There was not a single man alive on the earth after its destruction, not even a single bird in the sky. This becomes obvious since the world was completely covered in water.

During The World That Was, mankind occupied our true bodies which are our spiritual bodies that never get sick, old, or die. This is why you will not find true human remains older than about 8,000 years, from the Sixth Day of Genesis.

However, we find the fossils of various land and marine animals spread across the sands of time. Know and understand, The World That Was is where all ancient fossils belong.

When The Morning Stars Sang Together

Please turn your Bible with me to,

Job 38:4
Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare if thou hast understanding.

God is asking Job, where were you “in the beginning” when I “created the heaven and the earth” as Genesis 1:1 explains?

You will notice the phrase, “laid the foundations of the earth,” which is the same phrase we found in Psalms 104:5. So we know we are talking about the very beginning of creation itself.

Job 38:7
When the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

In the beginning of creation, it was a peaceful time when “the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy.”

There is no doubt whatsoever, this event occurred sometime after “the beginning” in The World That Was. There has never been a moment in the history of this world age where all of God’s children, “the sons of God shouted for joy.”

People die each and every day. There is pain and suffering, and there will continue to be until our Father Himself comes to live with us on earth during the Eternity.

Now, who are “the morning stars” that “sang together”?

They are none other than Jesus Christ and Satan.

Out of Christ’s own mouth,

I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.”

Revelation 22:16

We can document one of Satan’s many names is “Lucifer” in Isaiah 14:12. There Satan is called, “son of the morning” and the very word “Lucifer” means, “the morning star.”

So let there be no doubt in your mind…

“In the beginning,” when God “laid the foundations of the earth,” we all sang together for joy, even Jesus Christ and Satan. When Satan sinned by rebelling against God, Satan “became” our arch enemy, and his rebellion led to the destruction of The World That Was by our Heavenly Father.

Predestination

We can now understand why God who “is no respecter of persons” has ‘predestinated’ those he ‘foreknew,’ (Act 10:34, Jer 1:5, Rom 2:11; 8:29-30, 9:13).

Turn your Bible with me to,

Ephesians 1:4
According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love.

God has “chosen” some, His Saints who are His Election before the “foundation” of the world.

This word “foundation” is “katabole” in the Greek language and means, “a deposition” which is a “removal from an office or position.” “Katabole” comes from the root word “kataballo” meaning, “to throw down, cast down.”

Since all souls come from God, He obviously “foreknew” those ‘He chose’ from The World That Was, when they were “predestined,” which means “ordained,” (Ecclesiastes 12:7).

They were “chosen” and “ordained” for the stand they made with God against Satan, before the “katabole,” the ‘casting down’ of Satan, his “removal from his position” of power in The World That Then Was.

This is one of the mysteries that has “been kept secret from the foundation of the world,” (Matthew 13:35).

Summary

We now know, “in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” which “became without form, and void” due to the “katabole.” The rebellion of Satan when he was ‘removed from his position of power.’

“The world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished” as our Father “coverest it with the deep,” when “the waters stood above the mountains.”

The earth remained “an indistinguishable ruin” until “the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters” which established “the heavens and the earth, which are now” during the Seven Days of Genesis.

Like what you’re reading?

Have more delivered right to your inbox!

/* *** Print tooltip */ #printfriendly .underline.web-tooltip.web-tooltip-top:after { content: ' (' attr(data-tooltip)')'; font-size: 70%; font-style: italic; color: #777; } /* *** Font body of document */ #printfriendly #pf-body, ol, ul, dl, li { font-family: Georgia, Arial, Tahoma; font-size: 14pt; } #printfriendly #pf-title { font-size: 18pt; font-family: Georgia, Arial, Tahoma; text-align: center; } /*dev*/ #printfriendly #pf-author { font-size: 9pt; font-family: Georgia, Arial, Tahoma; font-weight: bold; color: #888; text-align: center; } /* *** Style Table of Contents */ #printfriendly .elementor-toc__header, .elementor-toc__body { background-color:#f1f1f1; border-radius: 5px; padding: 15px; width: 75%; margin:auto; margin-bottom: 10px; display:none; } #printfriendly .elementor-toc__header-title { font-weight: bold; text-align: center; } #printfriendly h2 { font-size: 16pt; font-family: Georgia, Arial, Tahoma; text-align: center; } #printfriendly h3, h4, h5, h6 { font-size: 14pt; font-family: Georgia, Arial, Tahoma; text-align: center; } /*print link color, does not affect pdf*/ #printfriendly a, #printfriendly a:visited { color: blue; } /*remove reftagger link attributes, does not affect pdf*/ #printfriendly a.rtBibleRef, #printfriendly a.rtBibleRef a:visited { font-family: Georgia, Arial, Tahoma; color:#333; text-decoration: underline; text-decoration-color: transparent; } #printfriendly p, ul { font-size: 14pt; font-family: Georgia, Arial, Tahoma; } /*style blockquote font size*/ #printfriendly blockquote { font-size: 14pt; } #printfriendly img { border-radius: 3px; } /*favicon*/ #printfriendly #pf-src-url img { border-radius: 0px; } /*print in footer*/ #printfriendly #pf-print-area:after { content: 'Visit: worldeventsandthebible.com, © World Events and the Bible'; font-size: 10pt; color: #777; display: block; text-align: center; }