Disaster strikes

Adult Sunday School – Part 2 – Disaster strikes

We have seen that God has created the heavens and earth in Genesis 1:1 - and all was well.

But then, sin was found on earth ... and God destroyed almost everything on earth, with only a few souls remaining. Scripture says He shook the earth.

The aftermath of this tragedy is described in Genesis 1 verse 2 : And the earth was without form, and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep. In Hebrew the word ‘hayah’ is used which means ‘it became’ and not as translated ‘it was’.

It is clear from this scripture that something terrible happened. If you read this as part of the original creation, you need to explain why God created such a chaotic thing. After Gen. 1:1 the earth was perfect, because God does not create chaos. But, in the meantime, something terrible has happened.

What happened is described in Jer. 4 from verse 22 :

v.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. v.23. I beheld the earth and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. V.24. I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled , and all the hills moved lightly. V.25. I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens have fled, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities were broken down at the presence of the Lord, and by His fierce anger. V.27. For thus hath the Lord said, the whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end.

This is repeated in Isaiah. 24 from verse 1 :

v.1. Behold the Lord maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.

v.6. Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.

What is interesting is that both the kings and angels were judged in this instance (see Isaiah 24:21). It is not inconceivable that the demons and fallen angels come from this era, as well as the Kings of the Earth, as the forces of darkness are known.

This destruction is confirmed by two other things.

Firstly we read in Hebr. 12:26 : Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. It is thus clear that He has previously shaken the heaven and earth simultaneously, and that is what Isaiah and Jeremiah refers to.

Secondly we also have the fossil record, continental drift, and the destruction of species at the end of the Permian era when 90% of all species became extinct.

Whether there were many such occurrences when God shook the earth and heavens simultaneously is unknown, but there were indeed many where only the earth was shaken.

At the end of this destruction we sit with the earth without form, and void, and without light, and that is where we will take up the history of the regeneration and replenishment of earth in Genesis 1:3

Today we look at the first part of :

Gen.1:2 And the earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep.

The keyword here is the Hebrew word 'hayah' meaning to exist, that is, be or become, come to pass.

The word 'was' do not have the nearest meaning to 'hayah' in this context, and 'to become' or 'became' is a better translation.

If you prefer 'was' you run into all sorts of difficulties.

1. Firstly, you accept that the earth was 'without form and void' after God created it in Gen 1:1. Most unlikely as God does not create imperfect or chaotic things.

2. Secondly you then have to accept that verses 3 to 30 is part of the creation process in the BEGINNING, which is very unlikely, because in these verses God just said : let it be - this is not compatible with the various verbs used in Proverbs 8 when He created the earth.

3. Thirdly you have to accept that God created the earth in just six earth or terrestrial (24 hour) days - most unlikely as scientific evidence points to a much longer period.

4. In the fourth place you need to explain how days are counted when the sun was only made on the third day (verse 16).

5. Fifthly you need to explain why God replenished (populated again) the earth with life in verse 28 if there was no life before this event.

6. In the sixth place you need to explain with whom Jesus rejoiced and delighted with the sons of men in Proverbs 8:31, when no such occurence is mentioned after Adam was made.

7. You will also then be unable to explian why there were civilisations before Adam.

8. You will also have to explian to which peoples Cain went (the free cities) when he killed Abel.

... and there are many other problems as well ..

If you however accept the verb 'became' is correct, then all falls nicely into place - and that is the translation that we will be using.

So God made the earth in Gen. 1:2 and it became without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep.

What a disaster.

We find the description and explanation of this disaster in Jeremiah :

Jer 4:20 Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is spoiled: suddenly are my tents spoiled, and my curtains in a moment.

Jer 4:21 How long shall I see the standard, and hear the sound of the trumpet?

Jer 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.

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

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

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

Jer 4:26 I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the LORD, and by his fierce anger.

Jer 4:27 For thus hath the LORD said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end.

Jer 4:28 For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black: because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it.

Jer 4:29 The whole city shall flee for the noise of the horsemen and bowmen; they shall go into thickets, and climb up upon the rocks: every city shall be forsaken, and not a man dwell therein.

and in Isaiah :

Isa 24:1 Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.

Isa 24:3 The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the LORD hath spoken this word.

Isa 24:4 The earth mourneth and fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth away, the haughty people of the earth do languish.

Isa 24:5 The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.

Isa 24:6 Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.

It is also confirmed in Job :

Job 9:5 Which removeth the mountains, and they know not: which overturneth them in his anger.

Job 9:6 Which shaketh the earth out of her place, and the pillars thereof tremble.

Job 9:7 Which commandeth the sun, and it riseth not; and sealeth up the stars.

Job 9:8 Which alone spreadeth out the heavens, and treadeth upon the waves of the sea.

This is the condition we find the earth in in the first part of Gen. 1:2

Yes - God shook the earth - probably with a meteor.

Lets look at Hebrews and Revelation :

Heb 12:25 See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:

Heb 12:26 Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.

Rev 6:12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;

Rev 6:13 And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.

Rev 6:14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

Rev 6:15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;

Rev 6:16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:

Rev 6:17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

He says that He will shake the earth once more (in the end times during the sixth seal).

See my notes on this event in : http://www.whatafriend.co.za/One%20more%20time.pdf

If he will shake it once more, it means that he has shaken it before (probably more than one time), and that is when the earth became void :

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

Let us look at Natural History :

There is broad consensus that a very large meteor hit the earth in the Triassic-Jurassic extinction event and that more than 98% of all species died out and became extinct.

There was also an extinction event in the Cretaceous-Tertiary era 65 million years ago.

This must have been devastation on a grand scale, as only a third of the species will die in the last 'extinction/shake event' when the sixth seal is opened, while in this event 98% became extinct.

So - after this happened, God promised to restore the earth again :

Jer 4:27 For thus hath the LORD said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end.

This means that the earth will not be totally obliterated, but that a few men will be left (Isa. 24:6), and this is probably why there were other men on earth when Cain fled.

Disaster strikes – by P.K.Odendaal – July 2012