Creation of the World

Creation of the World: Is Genesis 1 a parable? Is the earth the globe or the fertile land? Parallels throughout the Bible examined.

See the Holy Spirit in creation PAGE ONE

There is only one God. {persons or really personae are NOT separated}

H. Leo Boles and the Gospel Advocate

Jesus told the Apostles that TRUTH WAS HIDDEN in PARABLES from the foundation of the world to keep it a mystery to those who did not "have ears." Jesus then explained that people are like "soils" which treat the "seed" in different ways. It was not given to the multitudes of the Jews to understand because they had rejected His words for hundreds of years.

We need to be careful because God does not speak to all of us in the same way but based upon what we have done with the initial gift of mind or spirit and the natural laws known by everyone. As different forms of soil:

But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Matthew 13:23

If you plant a wheat seed you get dozens of wheat seed. If we plant the word in the heart the Word will naturally flow out.

Those who "draw out" the word into the good "earth" or fruitful place and "put the seed together mentally" and really possess it will reproduce that Word because things reproduce after their kind. All of the types of soils or human hearts are responsible for their own condition.

All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them: Matthew 13:34

That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world. Matthew 13:35

The creation of the world does not say that the "globe" was created but the "earth" or fruitful places were made suitable for mankind:

Kosmos (h2889) kos'-mos; prob. from the base of 2865; orderly arrangement, i.e. decoration; by impl. the world (in a wide or narrow sense, includ. its inhab., lit. or fig. [mor.]): - adorning, world.

If Jesus is going to speak to us it is important to begin with the basics. Paul wrote:

For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world (age): but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Hebrews 9:26

Jesus spoke to the multitudes, including the Jewish clergy, using parables because they tried to make God into a controller of everyday life just as had the Babylonian clergy which ruled from the "towers" of Babel or Ur. Isaiah 48 shows that God hide His truth from them because they would dilute it and peddle it door-to-door.

He that sendeth a message by the hand of a fool cutteth off the feet, and drinketh damage. Prov 26:6

The legs of the lame are not equal: so is a parable in the mouth of fools. Prov 26:7

Mashal (h4912) maw-shawl'; appar. from 4910 in some orig. sense of superiority in mental action; prop. a pithy maxim, usually of a metaphorical nature; hence a simile (as an adage, poem, discourse): - byword, like, parable, proverb.

In the creation of the world, God did not create the sun and moon on the fourth day. Rather, as the clouds (ignorance) cleared away, the sun and moon were ordained to rule or regulate the day and night:

And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, Genesis 1:17

Nathan (h5414) naw-than'; appoint, ascribe, assign, bring forth, distribute do, occupy, offer, ordain, pay, perform, place, pour,send out, set (forth), shew, shoot forth (up), give.

Yet also I lifted up my hand unto them in the wilderness, that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands; Ezekiel 20:15

ASK ye of the Lord rain in the time of the latter rain; so the Lord shall make bright clouds, and give them showers of rain, to every one grass in the field. Zech 10:1

By them shall the fowls of the heaven have their habitation, which sing among the branches Psa 104:12

He appointed the moon for seasons: the sun knoweth his going down. Psalm 104:19

Asah (h6213) aw-saw'; a prim. root; to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest application (as follows): - accomplish, advance, appoint, apt, govern, serve, set, shew,

While the word bara may or may not mean "create out of nothing" the word asah means to make out of existing material or to appoint it to a new use.

And the function of ordaining the Sun and Moon:

And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. Genesis 1:18

Mashal (h4910) maw-shal'; a prim. root; to rule: - (have, make to have) dominion, governor, * indeed, reign, (bear, cause to, have) rule (- ing, - r), have power.

While the Babylonian accounts are myths they are not, like a lot of the Bible, parables:

"The term myth is not normally applied to narratives that have as their explicit purpose the illustration of a doctrine or standard of conduct.

Instead, the term parable, or illustrative tale, is used. Familiar examples of such narratives are the parables of the New Testament. That parables are essentially non-mythological is clear because the point made by the parable is known or supposed to be known from another source.

Parables have a more subservient function than myths. They may clarify something to an individual or a group but do not take on the revelatory character of myth. "myth" Encyclopædia Britannica Online.

Parables speak only to those who already discern truth from nature and general knowledge handed down. When they hear the explanation then the total mystery becomes clear. The mystery of many of the parables is that you may waste your time planting the Word in a parking lot. After all, Jesus said: "If they will not receive you, shake the dust off your feet" because no revivalistic scheme will arouse those already dead.

The "creation of the world" theme is repeated many times in the Bible and illustrates various conditions. For instance, we have spoiled and polluted that which God freely gave us in perfect working order. God will destroy and burn up our own works to prove -- over and over -- that we are not God.

The Creation of the earth out of Chaos accounts are at times identified as parables or songs or laments. They just confuse those who make "gods" out of the natural elements such as wind (spirit) or fire. The ancient myths are worthy of study because they are the songs and sermons of seekers but not finders of the true God. For this reason, Scripture makes liberal use of both factual history and pagan myths (as did Paul) to dispel error or darkness before it teaches the truth or light. Or, as Jesus would say, "It has been said, but I say unto you."

To understand creation as quite different from the Babylonian accounts, we must understand that God was not evolved and His creative acts in what is perhaps an infinite universe has been going on for an extremely long period.

However, the Bible speaks of a certain period which concerned the people who were then living and in conflict with a carnal or "beast-like" people who hated truth.

These post flood people like Nimrod knew how to use wine, women, music and sex to enslave people and make them serve a Tower of Babylon or temple state much like Israel at Jerusalem under the Human Monarchy. In order to enslave people they composed their own versions of creation, the flood and other events and used these to educate people to become slaves OF the gods. This meant, slaves of the priests, musicians, prostitutes and other temple "ministry."

The pagan saw all things coming into existence through sexual-like reproductive process. Therefore, when Genesis one speaks in sexual terms such as "hovering" we must be spiritual alert not to try to force God to say what He never said. When the "elohim" of the pagans do something God wants us to know that He is the only True "El."

The image of God's spirit or wind hovering over the waters is the image of a conception; the foundation of the world in Hebrews is its deposition which is figurative of conception (g2602). Paul used this word later of conception:

Through faith also Sara herself

eceived strength to conceive seed, and

was delivered of a child when she was past age,

because she judged him faithful who had promised. Hebrews 11:11

The end is the consumation of a dispensation or completion of a plan. The world here is aion or age. However, this period began when the earth was "set up on its foundations" and became a fruitful place. Genesis, for instance, does not speak of the creation of the world as a globe but of the fruitful places able to conceive and bring forth fruit suitable for human habitation.

In First Samuel 2:8b the writer said: "For the foundations (pillars) of the earth are the LORD's; upon them he has set the world." The image is that of the land masses of the earth being conceived and birthed out of the deep or T^ehowm. In the Babylonian Myths this was personified as the goddess, Tiamat. We may be tempted to personify the agents such as wind and fire as minor "gods" or spirits.

The "mystery" which we must see is that the Bible speaks of real events which are spiritually discerned. The seed is planted into our heart where we must "put the seed together mentally" if the Word is to multiply. Because the Word never bore much fruit as the Words of God, we should expect that the myths about creation, kings, temples, sacrifices and mandatory ritual celebrations to keep the world from collapsing if we don't "give God a hand."

This study is not to establish creeds. It is a think piece which will go along with our series on Ancient Near East history out of which men like Abraham were called.

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Prophecy of Spiritual Blindness

The Spirit of Christ warned over and over that the collective religion of the Jews was birthed out of chaos and it would come to an end and His Covenant which governed that earth would be shredded and He would create a new Heaven and a New Earth with a New Covenant. The Israelite failure was that they refused to "go into the world and be a blessing to the nations." To dull their consciences and pretend that God never meant what He said, they did -- and do -- worship like the nation of Babylon. As a result, God said:

And I will encamp about mine house because of the army, because of him that passeth by, and because of him that returneth: and no oppressor (animal drivers were the burden Jesus removed) shall pass through them any more: for now have I seen with mine eyes. Zechariah 9:8

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass. Zechariah 9:9

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion ; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem behold, thy King cometh and

he shall speak peace unto the heathen: and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth. Zechariah 9:10

The peace and quiet of Jesus is defined as "beside still waters." Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed (again) to break up housekeeping of a like-the-nations 'church" and send them packing into all the world.

Because Paul said, and I paraphrase, "fools love to be fooled," when the oppressors are fired the people who love false shepherds will not be happy. However, God just loves it. The Babylonian form of government, mixed up with religion, used force to herd the people into their "walls" to serve the temple and the clergy. However, Jesus understood that certain people, based upon how they treat God's evidence in nature and in their heart, will hear or not hear the gospel. When that test was administered He told the people on the limited commission to "shake the dust of the city off their feet." Seeker forms or revivalistic self-help efforts take up a lot of religious energy of the contemporary world, but Jesus speaking through Zechariah insisted:

Three shepherds also I cut off in one month; and

my soul lothed them, and

their soul also abhorred me. Zechariah 11:8

Then said I, I will not feed you:

that that dieth, let it die;

and that that is to be cut off,

let it be cut off;

and let the rest eat every one the flesh of another. Zechariah 11:9

(In A.D. 70 This became literal)

When the people shouted for salvation and told others about His miracles they were looking forward for help, but Jesus was on His way to denounce His covenant because the Jewish clergy had, in fact, already rejected it as The Book of the Covenant before God gave them The Book of the Law as punishment:

And I took my staff, even Beauty, and cut it asunder, that I might break my covenant which I had made with all the people. Zechariah 11:10

And it was broken in that day: and

so the poor of the flock that waited upon me

knew that it was the word of the Lord. Zechariah 11:11

And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. Zechariah 11:12

And the Lord said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the Lord. Zechariah 11:13

The Fulfillment of Spiritual Blindness

In Luke's procession account, the Pharisees did not like Jesus being identified with God:

And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples. Luke 19:39

And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out. Luke 19:40

And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, Luke 19:41
........... Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou,
........... ........... at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace
........... ........... but now they are hid from thine eyes. Luke 19:42

Those who reject Christ's Commission but remain on the payroll devoutly wish that Jesus had organized "prayer circles" or "evangelistic teams" or "shepherding groups" and called an assembly of the lost Jews and forced them to be converted -- or at least dunked into the water.

But, He didn't. When people know the truth and reject it by substituting, as did the Jews, their own traditions of the elders, their own songs and their own scripture in a cut-and-paste job on Christ's words, you know that no amount of jubilating praise will "lead them to Christ." They are lost beyond redemption and Jesus would say of the sheep who tolerated a false shepherd:

Then said I, I will not feed you:

that that dieth, let it die;

and that that is to be cut off,

let it be cut off;

As prophesied, this whole event was to pass Judgment upon the Jews who knew the Word but refused repeat it or to act upon it:

For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, Luke 19:43

And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation. Luke 19:44

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As we continue, we will look at the story of the "beginnings" and see that following the flood event the overwhelming majority of people still failed to grasp the spiritual nature of the earthly accounts. Genesis repeats the pre-flood pattern by showing that Abraham was just one person chosen to be fruitful and spread the seed or Word to all of the nations. The population of "the children of men" continued to honor the nature "gods".

The failure to honor God as the One and Only Elohim is still repeated as we make the Godhead over in our own image and reproduce the Babylonian families of gods. Some of us still show that Jesus isn't speaking to us any longer when we worship the father god, worship the son god and worship the spirit or wind god.

The Babylonians believed that the first gods made a mess of things. The "children ruled over them" and replaced them with better gods such as Enlil, the "holy spirit" or wind god who became the administrator. The lazy gods created mankind so that they could rest. The "patron god of music" arranged magical rituals and they built temples in a communistic system. If we do not hear the parables, we will believe that Jehovah (the One and only elohim) was part of a like the nations triad of gods and we will, like Israel, demand a king to enslave us so that we can worship like the nations and be destroyed like the nations.

The serpent was the symbol of Babylon. Therefore, the Creation of the world Myth, Enuma Elish, must be understood as the Babylonian version handed down through history. The Hebrew view draws many contrasts but we may miss most of them. As an illustration, with many of Paul's letters, we don't have all of the questions and we must understand them based upon his answers. Nowhere is this truer than in the very first verses of the Bible where God begins to dispute the pagan, Babylon view.

And the other end of the Bible, the book of Revelation, warns that the religion of the Babylonian myths will be the end-time religion throughout the world.

The Babylon accounts begin with the origin and evolution of the gods. Each new generation of emerging pairs of gods are new and improved. It sounds much like modern theories of evolution which must begin with nothing.

Whatever exists and whenever it existed, on the other hand, was created by God, first out of nothing and then by making or forming the materials. For an excellent treatment of creation Click Here.

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Those who have too many gods usually have too much religion and it becomes a "burden" laded upon you as you are treated like a pack animal. The ancients really had too many "gods" in contrast to the One God of the Bible. As a result, they really lived a life of total committment because they were temple slaves:

"All of the ancient Middle Eastern people saw the agency of the gods in every aspect of life and nature. Everything on earth was regarded as a reflex of its prototype in the divine or sacred sphere, such as in the biblical description of the creation of man "in the image of God";

"God was viewed as the primary reality of the universe, and human beings were seen as the reflection of that reality.

"In Egypt, Thoth was the scribe in the pantheon. Mortal scribes were viewed as the human reflections of Thoth, and "the beak of the Ibis (i.e., Thoth) is the finger of the Scribe" (Wisdom of Amenemope, ch. XV, 17:7). (See nature worship, Britannica Online.)

"The ancient Middle Eastern people believed that the universe resulted from the injecting of order (cosmos) into chaotic primordial beings or matter (Note: this was the hovering as in copulation), followed by divine acts of creation.

"Genesis 1:1-3 says that

"when God began to create the heavens and the earth, the 'earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters.

"And God said, Let there be light'; and there was light." Thus darkness (i.e., evil) was preexistent. Moreover, the deep (tehom in Hebrew) is the same as the primordial dragon called Tiamat (cognate to the Hebrew tehom) in the Babylonian epic of creation.

"The first act of creation is God's evoking light (i.e., the forces of good) by fiat.

"Accordingly, God is not responsible for the forces of evil, which were there before he embarked on the creative process. Proceeding by fiat he separated the water-containing earth from the water-containing heaven, confined the earth's waters to the bodies of water (leaving the rest as dry land), created the various species of vegetation, the heavenly bodies, the animal kingdom, and finally man, who is to rule over the earth. All this takes six days, after which God rests on the seventh, so that the Sabbath crowns the epic of creation and imposes the obligation to observe the sabbath in keeping with the principle of imitatio Dei (the imitation of God). The concept of the sacred Britannica Members.

This is not Sabbath day "worship" using modern rituals: it is ceasing from Work and concentrating on God and His Word.

This is an important point: the myths -- and a lot of modern religion -- insists that mankind serve the gods by serving his agents. However, Jehovah serves mankind and "came to seek and save the lost" where part of the lostness is the burden of rituals which are, almost by definition, labor-intensive. Those with "50 ministeries" have built their own Tower of Bable.

The sun and moon were not created on the fourth day but were ordained or appointed to be the time keepers. On the other hand, light was created in the beginning:

Light is: Owr (h216) ore; from 215 (glorious); illumination or (concr.) luminary (in every sense, including lightning, happiness, etc.): - bright, clear, / day, light (-ning), morning, sun.

The book of Job (27, 29) explains a similar process and calls it a parable. In chapter 12, the light is to rescue Israel from darkness which is ignorance and slavery:

He discovereth (denuded or uncovered) deep things out of darkness, and bringeth out to light the shadow of death. Job 12:22 He taketh away the heart of the chief of the people of the earth, and causeth them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way. Job 12:24 They grope in the dark without light, and he maketh them to stagger like a drunken man. Job 12:25   The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow (shade or error) of death light is sprung up. Matthew 4:16 From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Matthew 4:17

Many of the events which were recorded by Moses show the conflict between the "serpent" in the form of nations or kings acting as "gods," and Jehovah Who was the one and only "elohim" Who created all things. The Lucifer-types always tried to take credit so that they, and not God, would be worshipped. The chaldean astrologers of Babylon are seen throughout the Old Testament and the myths under the symbol of a serpent which is related to the brass instruments and weapons of the human oppressors

Babylonian deities surmounted by Sin, surrounded by Shamash and Ishtar and ascended by Nabu the wise serpent. King Naram-sin is horned as a god in victory. Sin, Shamash and Ishtar are the second generation Babylonian trinity. Hebrew NEBO, major god in the Assyro-Babylonian pantheon. He was patron of the art of writing and a god of vegetation. Nabu's symbols were the clay tablet and the stylus, the instruments held to be proper to him who inscribed the fates assigned to men by the gods. In the Old Testament, the worship of Nebo is denounced by Isaiah (46:1).

The "nations" under the direction of Lucifer stood for ignorance or darkness, slavery and working for the gods. Yehovah, on the other hand, represented light or knowledge and freedom from religious burdens. Rather than having to go to the king's temple for the king's worship, the Sabbath permitted you to rest and even restricted your travels to the sanctuary except the males three times a year. To remedy the situation, God ordained that the Priests go into all of their world and teach the law. This freedom from ritual is always the product of knowledge about God:

But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. 1 Corinthians 2:10

Deep is: Bathos (g899) bath'-os; from the same as 901; profundity, i.e. (by impl.) extent; (fig.) mystery: - deep (-ness, things), depth.

Depth is the Hebrew: Bathus (g901) bath-oos'; from the base of 909; profound (as going down), lit. or fig.: - deep, very early.

The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water? John 4:11

The Spirit of Christ as full Deity (Colossians 2:9) went to great depths to keep us from personifying His Mind or Spirit and making us guilty of polytheism. The spiritual waters come from the deep because Christ is uniquely qualified as God Incarnate to draw for us. And the "water" turns out to be His Word:

For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ. 1 Corinthians 2:16

And His Spirit:

It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are Spirit, and they are Life. John 6:63 (NIV Note: "or Spirit)

While the Babylonian Epics picture mankind as the servant of the gods who rested on the sabbath and thereafter while mankind became their slaves, the Bible has God creating all things so that mankind lives by the gifts of God and is served by the gifts of God. The Sabbath was given to serve mankind but Israel, living like the nations, turned it into a god which had to be served.

When evil people reject the rest of God brought when Jesus removed the "burdens of anxiety created by religious ritual," God puts them back under a Babylonian form of faith and worship. Again, they have to WORK at worship to force the gods to come down or move the worshippers into the presence of the gods.

They work to build a "house of worship" to which you must come if you are going to meet the god. They annoint human mediators to help you feed and appease the gods with "action words" totally devoid of Biblical truth.

They, like the kings at the towers of Babylon, use musical worship to help move you up, step-by-step, to meet the gods as the agent of the god's living in the house of the god at the top. Or they "provide a platform upon which the gods land."

This is all in forced imitation of the Babylonian "work for the gods" worship. In reality, it is not dangerous. It will not lead people astray. In fact when this "revival through external means" becomes visible, it is God's sign that the pretend-gods are lost beyond redemption. In Corinth, speaking in tongues trying to make contact with God was identified by Paul as madness and a sign to unbelievers, as they had been to the unbelieving Jews in Isaiah 28. Human effort in commerce and music is the sign of the end-time religion in Revelation 18.

Creation of the World out of Nothing Symbolic of our Ignorance

One of the spiritual explanations of the literal event is that God creates us out of the deep waters of our own ignorance.

The Bible is filled with events which are similar to the "creation with chaos" event but Jehovah recreates us out of the chaos. While these events literally happened, to have meaning for our own chaos or "Egyptian captivity," we must understand the spiritual meaning which Jesus, in Matthew 13, said was hidden in parables. To understand the parables we must dig deeply into God's Word.

Marcion listed the first canon and removed all references to Christ as the Son of the Old Testament God. Speaking of modern theologians, Tillich wrote of the 19th century belief that the first god created the mess and a third "person" was left to clean it up:

"There is much gnostic Marcionism in them, that is, a dualistic blasphemy of the Creator God. They put the Savior God in such opposition to the Creator God that, although they never fall into any real heresy, they implicitly blaspheme the divine creation by identifying it with the sinful state of reality.

Against this tendency Irenaeus said that God is one; there is no duality in him. Law and gospel, creation and salvation, are derived from the same God." (Tillich, Paul, A History of Christian Thought, p. 42)

The Babylonian myths proclaim that the gods were the creators of chaos. However, mankind has always been responsible for the literal and spiritual chaos and we dare not accuse the Father god and the Son god of being incompetent creators of "a totally worthless mess."

Again, we are deep into the Babylonian godhead and the end-time religion when we worship the "name" of the Father and the "name" of the Son and the "name" of the Holy Spirit as "God in three persons." One noted scholar and writer even suggests that Christianity needs a three-person Godhead because all of the pagans had one!

Scripture makes it plain that the Word as fully God created the universe and all things in it. However, the creation of the world story is often repeated throughout the Bible to help people understand that their religion has so destroyed their society that only God can recreate it out of vanity or nothing. Israel had nothing upon which God could build but His own grace. It is fitting that Christ does a creation out of nothing as He puts us through the deep, Tehowm or Tiamat where the old "body" is destroyed and the "new man" is resurrected into a new life.

It is, therefore, important to look at creation-like accounts to help explain the original creation of all things. In the flood, the waters prevailed upon the EARTH. Now, the earth is not the globe but the "fruitful place" which rises out of the flood or sea. Therefore, when the flood was over, the water HAD A PLACE to run back to. This then does not speak of the "globe" being covered but whatever part of the earth occupied in the record.

And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days. Genesis 7:24

AND God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark: and God made a wind (same spirit) to pass over (similar to hover) the earth, and the waters asswaged; Genesis 8:1 (God hadn't forgotten)

The fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained; Genesis 8:2

And the waters returned (ran) from off the earth continually: and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated (bereaved) . Genesis 8:3

And again, when the spirit hovered over the Red Sea it was a God-caused wind which blew the waters off the face of the earth so that Israel could cross on dry ground. The wind blew as a direct action of God but we cannot picture the literal, Spirit God swishing over the Red Sea or to impregnate the waters of creation. The condition of Egypt was vanity and destruction and they needed to get out of the same:

Tohu (h8414) to'-hoo;  from an unused root mean. to lie waste; a desolation (of surface), i. e. desert; fig. a worthless thing; adv. in vain: - confusion, empty place, without form, nothing, (thing of) nought, vain, vanity, waste, wilderness.

This word is never used of God-created wastlands but is used of what God produces as a natural result of people ignoring His Word. Even deserts are man-made. For those whose eyes and ears are opened to receive all truth, God made it clear that the mess was not His:

For thus saith the Lord that

created the heavens; God himself that

formed (squeezed it into shape) the earth and

made it; he hath

established it (stood up vertically),

he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited (to settle down in quiet):

I am the Lord; and there is none else. Isaiah 45:18

This explains God's work when He decided to people the earth with potential spiritual natures as just one tiny speck of dust in the vast, perhaps limitless, universe. Tohu speaks of our worthless works:

He taketh away the heart of the chief of the people of the earth,
........... and causeth them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way. Jb.12:24

He poureth contempt upon princes,
........... and causeth them to wander in the wilderness, where there is no way. Ps.107:40

The city of confusion is broken down:
........... every house is shut up, that no man may come in. Is.24:10

Behold, they are all vanity; their works are nothing:
........... their molten images are wind (same as spirit) and confusion (tohuw). Isaiah 41:29

When God began to set the earth into order, it was like a wilderness, it was confused, it was all vanity.

The "deep" out of which the land or dry, fruitful place was "formed" was the:

Tehowm (h8415) teh-home'; (usually fem.) from 1949; an abyss (as a surging mass of water), espec. the deep (the main sea or the subterranean water-supply): - deep (place), depth

Tehowm is the female goddess, Tiamat, of the Babylonian Epics. However, the Babylonians made the fatal error of making gods out of things like earth, deep water, salt water, fresh water and even saw Enlil as the Wind (spirit) god. When God began to reform the earth he molded it or squeezed it. Thus the earth or dry ground is explained by the plates being squeezed or formed so that the dry ground rests on the "pillars" of the buckled land. These "pillars" still tremble because of the built-in natural laws which causes them, like "gods" to fly across the face of the earth like islands.

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. Genesis 1:2

In the six hundredth year of Noahs life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up (ripped open), and the windows (irrigation ditches) of heaven were opened. Genesis 7:11

The tohuw and bohuw also existed in Egypt in a spiritual sense. The parable-like image is of God's blast of wind from His "nostrils" and not a third "person" which forces the waters to be "piled up like sand" and evil Tiamat or Tehown made into "Jello" in the heart or internal organ of the sea.

And with the blast of thy nostrils the waters were gathered together, the floods stood upright as an heap, and the depths were congealed in the heart of the sea (Yam). Ex.15:8

The Babylonians believed that the deep was a real god. They believed that the wind was a god--their holy spirit.

However, the deep stands for ignorance or captivity, and
the wind is God's spirit or mind which dispels ignorance.
The Psalmist also personifies natural elements:

Which by his strength setteth fast the mountains; being girded with power: Psa 65:6

Which stilleth the noise of the seas, the noise of their waves, and the tumult of the people. Ps. 65:7

But God shall wound the head of his enemies, and the hairy scalp of such an one as goeth on still in his trespasses. Psa 68:21
The Lord said, I will bring again from Bashan, I will bring my people again from the depths of the sea: Ps. 68:22
Let the heaven and earth praise him, the seas, and every thing that moveth therein. Ps. 69:34

The book of Amos draws a parallel between the musical performers in Israel who oppressed the common people and took away the "food and water" from them. In chapter 8 this is spiritualized as removing the spiritual food or Word of God:

HEAR this word, ye cows of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria, which oppress the poor, which crush the needy, which say to their masters, Bring, and let us drink. Am.4:1

Tehowm or "surging mass of waters" is from:

Huwm (h1949) hoom; a prim. root [comp. 2000]; to make an uproar, or agitate greatly: - destroy, move, make a noise, put, ring again

And Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king in Gihon: and they are come up from thence rejoicing, so that the city rang again. This is the noise that ye have heard. 1K.1:45

Cast forth lightning, and scatter them: shoot out thine arrows, and destroy them. Ps.144:6

Related words are:

Howleluwth (h1948) ho-lay-looth'; from act. part. of 1984; folly: - madness.

The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness: and the end of his talk is mischievous madness. Ec.10:13

This is what happens among people when the "praise" god in the pagan sense of:

Halal (h1984) haw-lal'; a prim. root; to be clear (orig. of sound, but usually of color); to shine; hence to make a show, to boast; and thus to be (clamorously) foolish; to rave; causat. to celebrate; also to stultify: - (make) boast (self), celebrate, commend, (deal, make), fool (- ish, -ly), glory, give [light], be (make, feign self) mad (against), give in marriage, [sing, be worthy of] praise, rage, renowned, shine.

All matter, we believe, exists because a Supreme Being created it. However, the established fact of ancient 'earths' or 'fruitful places' populated by huge beasts gives clear proof that God does not need human beings in order to be "fulfilled," and as some demand "needing a family of gods so that He would not be lonely." The Bible speaks of giant serpents, serpents which walk upright, Tannnin, Rahabs, Behemuths, Leviathans and Lillith-like beings. It speaks of a host of angelic beings who tried to wrestle the universe away from God and were cast out into the earth which, they thought, was and is theirs to dominate. The Bible speaks of the "garden of Eden" as a celestial garden not subject to the decay and chaos of the earth. In fact, there are more deep, mysterious questions than answers. Perhaps God wants mankind to understand that they are not, like Lucifer, "supreme" enough to replace Him and decide how He will be served.

The Second Condition of a Become-Empty Earth

While God did not create the earth empty, it became disorganized and empty. And science agrees that life on earth existed on a scale which would make feeble man unable to compete. In fact, when the earth was destroyed by water, mankind still lived up to ten times as long and that age gradually diminished possibley because the water shield was precipitated and, like global warming, aging was accelerated. Great animals still grew and it was almost impossible to live with these beasts which were now hostile to mankind because they had to compete for food in a re-created environment. This gives rise -- even before the flood -- to the Chaldean-like characters of Jubal, Jabal, Tubal-Cain and Naamah. They organized cities, created warfare and used music and sorcery to control the people. After the flood, Nimrod collected and domesticated animals and put them behind walls. He was a great hunter (against God) and dominated people because He could destroy animals just as He had destroyed Tiamat the ancestor goddess or Tehowm.

This is believed, by some, to have been the animal or beast life which inhabited God's perfect earth and so polluted it that it was not fit for habitation by what we identify as the human race. This second condition is explained by the word:

Bohuw (h922) bo'-hoo; from an unused root (mean. to be empty); a vacuity, i. e. (superficially) an undistinguishable ruin: - emptiness, void.

Isaiah speaks of this destroyed condition made by humans who ignored the Words of God which are the product of His Spirit or Mind:

But the cormorant and the bittern shall possess it; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it: and he shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion (h8414 tohuw), and the stones of emptiness (h922 bohuw) Isaiah 34:11

They shall call the nobles thereof to the kingdom, but none shall be there, and all her princes shall be nothing. Isaiah 34:12

And thorns shall come up in her palaces, nettles and brambles in the fortresses thereof: and it shall be an habitation of dragons, and a court for owls. Isaiah 34:13

The void and empty chaos was caused by ignoring the book of the Lord and replaing it with empty prophecies which the prophets and prophetesses "stole from one another." The briars destoyed God's "Vineyard" or "garden of Eden" when the leaders were so consumed with musical festivals that the people hungered and thirsted to death because of lack of hearing the Word. Therefore, when we become empty and vain the solution is a re-creation of our "fruitful places." Isaiah often calls us back to the Word of the Lord:

Seek ye out of the book of the Lord, and read: no one of these shall fail, none shall want her mate: for my mouth it hath commanded, and his spirit it hath gathered them. Isaiah 34:16
........... And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water:
........... ........... in the habitation of dragons, where each lay,
........... ........... shall be grass with reeds and rushes. Isaiah 35:7

The huge mythological beasts like Tiamat or Tehowm were often personified as gods and kings and spirits. Perhaps we just don't want to admit that we are destroyers of God's creation. The king of Tyre and the King of Babylon are personified as Lucifer. They made their lands void and empty by enslaving the people with the inventions of Jubal and his family: music to enchant and enslave even the Jews. People, too, are beasts if they are ignorant:

I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts (behemoth). Ecc 3:18

So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before thee. Psalm 73:22

Behemah (h929) be-hay-maw'; from an unused root (prob. mean. to be mute); prop. a dumb beast; espec. any large quadruped or animal (often collect.): - beast, cattle.

Hang onto Isaiah's statement in 35:7 that the dragons occupied the fields but were cast out. Now, listen to Moses speak of the beasts from which Adam might have taken a wife:

And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him. Genesis 2:20

Chay (h2416) khah'ee; from 2421; life (or living thing), whether literal or figurative: wild beast, company, congregation, living creature, thing, merry, multitude, springing, troop.

Adam got his wife somewhere. I doubt that the God I serve proposed that Adam marry a cow. Rather, he looked over the daughters of men (beasts) and found that there was no one suitable to marry a son of God. From Jeremiah's recalling the account of the first chaos we might believe that some people survived as the great land and sea beasts which had polluted the world were destroyed. In Jeremiah's account, he said:

For thus hath the Lord said, The whole land (earth) shall be desolate;
........... yet will I not make a full end. Jeremiah 4:27

In the New Testament people are beasts:

One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, The Cretians are alway liars, evil beasts, slow (unemployed) bellies. Titus 1:12

The Cretian clergy had it made: they built a tomb and claimed that Jupiter was burried in it. People flocked from all over to get close to the relic. This allowed them to really be unemployed because they were performing no useful occupation. Paul warned the "many" around Thessalonica that if they wouldn't work when the people worked they should not eat.

These "beasts" are really like the venomous serpent in the garden:

Therion (g2342) thay-ree'-on; dimin. from the same as 2339; a dangerous animal: - (venomous, wild) beast.

But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute (unreasonable) beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves. Jude 1:10

Woe unto them for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core. Jude 1:11

Ezekiel 29: Egyptian the Serpent

Egypt, too, is the personification of the evil serpent in a creation song. The serpent or lucifer or Satan might be a Judas or a Peter who loses total dependance upon God:

Tanniyn (h8577) tan-neen'; (Ezek. 29:8), tan-neem'; intens. from the same as 8565; a marine or land monster, i. e. sea- serpent or jackal: - dragon, sea-monster, serpent, whale

Speak, and say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lieth in the midst of his rivers, which hath said, My river is mine own, and I have made it for myself. Ezekiel 29:3

On the other hand, when Lucifer tried to say "I have made it, worship me" God sent destruction and recreated order to prove that God was the creator and not your local "god-person"

And the land of Egypt shall be desolate and waste; and they shall know that I am the Lord: because he hath said, The river is mine, and I have made it. Ezekiel 29:9

The king of Egypt as the "agent" of the great serpent or Satqn or the Devil was the Tanniyn which comes from:

Tan (h8565) tan; from an unused root prob. mean. to elongate; a monster (as preter-naturally formed), i. e. a sea-serpent (or other huge marine animal); also a jackal (or other hideous land animal): - dragon, whale. Comp. 8577.

The Trees In Eden Represent People

In the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it: and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar: and under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing; in the shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell. Ezekiel 17:23

And all the trees of the field shall know that I the Lord have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish: I the Lord have spoken and have done it. Ezekiel 17:24

Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground? Luke 13:7

And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it: Luke 13:8

And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down. Luke 13:9

I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Revelation 22:13

Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. Revelation 22:14

For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie. Revelation 22:15

Ezekiel 31: Egypt will Destroy Assyria - The Superior "tree" in the Garden of Eden

We offer this chapter with little comment to show how God used parables among those who understood parables, to define spiritual values. Often the "literal" story is a parable or written in "a superior form."

1 AND it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the third month, in the first day of the month, that the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

2 Son of man, speak unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, and to his multitude; Whom art thou like in thy greatness? (And the answer is: Syria of the garden of Eden)

3 Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with fair branches, and with a shadowing shroud, and of an high stature; and his top was among the thick boughs.

That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased! Isaiah 14:4

4 The waters made him great, the deep (Tehowm, Tiamat) set him up on high (made haughty) with her rivers running round about his plants, and sent out her little rivers unto all the trees of the field. (Irrigation) (Note: The Enuma Elish literally begins "When on high."

5 Therefore his height was exalted above all the trees of the field, and his boughs were multiplied, and his branches became long because of the multitude of waters, when he shot forth.

6 All the fowls of heaven made their nests in his boughs, and under his branches did all the beasts of the field bring forth their young, and under his shadow dwelt all great nations.

7 Thus was he fair in his greatness, in the length of his branches: for his root was by great waters.

8 The cedars in the garden of God could not hide him: the fir trees were not like his boughs, and the chestnut trees were not like his branches; nor any tree in the garden of God was like unto him in his beauty.

Berowsh (h1265) ber-osh'; of uncert. der.; a cypress (?) tree; hence a lance or a musical instrument (as made of that wood): - fir (tree).

And David and all the house of Israel played before the Lord on all manner of instruments made of fir wood, even on harps, and on psalteries, and on timbrels, and on cornets, and on cymbals. 2S.6:5

Howl, fir tree; for the cedar is fallen; because the mighty are spoiled: howl, O ye oaks of Bashan; for the forest of the vintage is come down. Zec.11:2

See Isaiah 5

9 I have made him fair by the multitude of his branches: so that all the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, envied him.

10 Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Because thou hast lifted up thyself in height, and he hath shot up his top among the thick boughs, and his heart is lifted up in his height;

For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: Is.14:13

Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee. Eze.28:17

Yiphah (h3314) yif-aw'; from 3313; splendor or (fig.) beauty: - brightness.

Yapha (h3313) yaw-fah'; a prim. root; to shine: - be light, shew self, (cause to) shine (forth).

Heylel (h1966) hay-lale'; from 1984 (in the sense of brightness); the morning-star: - lucifer.

And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. 2 Cor 11:14

Therefore, Nachash is the shining one or Lucifer.

How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. Rev 18:7

And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all. Rev 18:14

Opora (g3703) op-o'-rah; appar. from the base of 3796 and 5610; prop. even-tide of the (summer) season (dog-days), i.e. (by impl.) ripe fruit: - fruit.

And saying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls Rev 18:16

And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all. Rev 18:21

And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee; Rev 18:22

And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived. Rev 18:23

11 I have therefore delivered him into the hand of the mighty one of the heathen; he shall surely deal with him: I have driven him out (of the garden) for his wickedness.

12 And strangers, the terrible of the nations, have cut him off, and have left him: upon the mountains and in all the valleys his branches are fallen, and his boughs are broken by all the rivers of the land; and all the people of the earth are gone down from his shadow, and have left him.

13 Upon his ruin shall all the fowls of the heaven remain, and all the beasts of the field shall be upon his branches:

14 To the end that none of all the trees by the waters exalt themselves for their height, neither shoot up their top among the thick boughs, neither their trees stand up in their height, all that drink water: for they are all delivered unto death,

to the nether parts (womb) of the earth, in the midst of the children of men, with them that go down to the pit.

15 Thus saith the Lord God; In the day when he went down to the grave I caused a mourning: I covered the deep for him, and I restrained the floods thereof, and the great waters were stayed: and I caused Lebanon to mourn for him, and all the trees of the field fainted for him.

16 I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to hell with them that descend into the pit: and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, shall be comforted in the nether parts of the earth.

The King of Babylon Parallel Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm (maggots) is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee. Isaiah 14:11(Viol is nebel: from an empty wineskin like a familiar spirit) How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground (like a tree), which didst weaken the nations! Isaiah 14:12 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: Isaiah 14:13 That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners? Isaiah 14:17

17 They also went down into hell with him unto them that be slain with the sword; and they that were his arm, that dwelt under his shadow in the midst of the heathen.

18 To whom art thou thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? yet shalt thou be brought down with the trees of Eden unto the nether parts of the earth: thou shalt lie in the midst of the uncircumcised with them that be slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, saith the Lord God.

Ezekiel 32: Egyptian like a destroyed earth - A Lamentation or Song

32:1 AND it came to pass in the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, in the first day of the month, that the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

When God pours out His spirit of judgment, he sends someone to sing us a song:

Son of man, take up a lamentation for Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say unto him, Thou art like a young lion of the nations, and thou art as a whale in the seas: and thou camest forth with thy rivers, and troubledst the waters with thy feet, and fouledst their rivers. Ezekiel 32:2

Waters are: Mayim (h4325) mah'-yim; dual of a prim. noun (but used in a sing. sense); water; fig. juice; by euphem. urine, semen: - * piss, wasting, water (-ing, [-course, -flood, -spring]).

Troublest is: Dalach (h1804) daw-lakh'; a prim. root; to roil water: - trouble.

In the Babylonian Creation of the world Account, when Tiamat (Tehowm or deep) was thought to be a personal god and dangerous, she was destroyed. As the waters in Genesis are "sliced" to make the upper and lower waters, Ezekiel shows in his "song" or poetic lamentation that Egypt will undergo the same "became chaos" condition of the early earth.

First, God catches Egypt the serpent with a net as Marduk captures Tiamat, cuts her into two halves and puts her flesh upon the earth to cover the mountains and fill up the valleys. The Babylonian message is that the naturally destructive race is destroyed and the raw materials used to recreate the earth:

Thus saith the Lord God; I will therefore spread out my net over thee with a company of many people; and they shall bring thee up in my net. Ezekiel 32:3

Then will I leave thee upon the land, I will cast thee forth upon the open field, and will cause all the fowls of the heaven to remain upon thee, and I will fill the beasts of the whole earth with thee. Ezekiel 32:4

And I will lay thy flesh upon the mountains, and fill the valleys with thy height. Ezekiel 32:5

Psalm 74 is another poetic account which recounts the events in which God recreated or restored that which had been destroyed by the "beasts"   For God is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth. Psalm 74:12 Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength: thou brakest the heads (7 heads in myth) of the dragons in the waters. Psalm 74:13 Thou brakest the heads of leviathan (symbol of Babylon) in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness. Psalm 74:14   After reciting how God created all things, the Psalmist continues:   O deliver not the soul of thy turtledove unto the multitude of the wicked: forget not the congregation of thy poor for ever. Psalm 74:19 Have respect unto the covenant: for the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty. Psalm 74:20 O let not the oppressed return ashamed: let the poor and needy praise thy name. Psalm 74:21 Arise, O God, plead thine own cause: remember how the foolish man reproacheth thee daily. Psalm 74:22 Forget not the voice of thine enemies: the tumult (rushing or roaring) of those that rise up against thee increaseth continually. Psalm 74:23

Second, the fire-breathing dragon is destroyed and its fires quenched. God will use it as waters to cover the skies. The dragon has no light of its own and it covers the stars so that all is dark on the earth.

I will also water with thy blood the land wherein thou swimmest, even to the mountains; and the rivers shall be full of thee. Ezekiel 32:6

And when I shall put thee out (quench its fire), I will cover the heaven, and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light. Ezekiel 32:7

All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over thee, and set darkness upon thy land (earth), saith the Lord God. Ezekiel 32:8

Those who have worshipped the king or queen of the waters will stand in amazement and understand that the king was not, as claimed, the One True God. In the Genesis account, the serpent which was the national symbol of Babylonia, is connected through Hebrew words to the brass of the Chaldean soothsayers whose "trumpet" was made like a red-throated Egyptian cobra. It hissed and murmured and spat out the poison of the enchanters or soothsayers. For instance:

IN that day the Lord with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea. Isaiah 27:1

Nachash (h5175) naw-khawsh'; from 5172; a snake (from its hiss): - serpent. An almost identical word is related to musical worship which was, as Paul agreed, like speaking in tongues.

While this contest between God and the drgon in the deep is taking place, there are many of those who have lived without God who will stand by in amazement. Most of this older generation will die and not remain to pollute God's cleansing effort. Some, however, will. They are the sons or children of men.

In this later fulfillment, it is Babylon who will defeat Egypt. The serpent in Greek represents the amazement created by Satan's agents. However, again God has to prove that people need to hold Him in amazement:

I will also vex the hearts of many people, when I shall bring thy destruction among the nations, into the countries which thou hast not known. Ezekiel 32:9

Yea, I will make many people amazed at thee, and their kings shall be horribly afraid for thee, when I shall brandish my sword before them; and they shall tremble at every moment, every man for his own life, in the day of thy fall. Ezekiel 32:10

For thus saith the Lord God; The sword of the king of Babylon shall come upon thee. Ezekiel 32:11

By the swords of the mighty will I cause thy multitude to fall, the terrible of the nations, all of them: and they shall spoil the pomp of Egypt, and all the multitude thereof shall be destroyed. Ezekiel 32:12

Not only will Lucifer's agent be destroyed, all of the beasts representing an evil generation who are "dust" but without God's Spirit. Again, the earth is not the globe but is restricted to Egypt in this story:

I will destroy also all the beasts (behemah or Behemoth) thereof from beside the great waters; neither shall the foot of man trouble them any more, nor the hoofs of beasts trouble them. Ezekiel 32:13

Then will I make their waters deep, and cause their rivers to run like oil, saith the Lord God. Ezekiel 32:14

When I shall make the land (the earth) of Egypt desolate, and the country shall be destitute of that whereof it was full, when I shall smite all them that dwell therein, then shall they know that I am the Lord. Ezekiel 32:15

Ezekiel then shows that this "earth becomes chaos" repetition is a song which is made to be sung by later generations.

This is the lamentation wherewith they shall lament her: the daughters of the nations shall lament her: they shall lament for her, even for Egypt, and for all her multitude, saith the Lord God. Ezekiel 32:16

Lamenting, which Jesus rejected as a ritual healing act, was:

Qiynah (h7015) kee-naw'; from 6969; a dirge (as accompanied by beating the breasts or on instruments): - lamentation.

Quwn (h6969) koon; a prim. root; to strike a musical note, i. e. chant or wail (at a funeral): - lament, mourning woman.

And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah: and all the singing men and the singing women spake of Josiah in their lamentations to this day, and made them an ordinance in Israel: and, behold, they are written in the lamentations. 2 Chronicles 35:25

Choq (h2706) khoke; from 2710; an enactment; hence an appointment (of time, space, quantity, labor or usage): - appointed, bound, commandment, convenient, custom, decree (-d), due, law, measure, * necessary, ordinance (- nary), portion, set time, statute, task.

This "lasting ordinance" was not a law of God but it was the command to tell the story of how people fail when they tried to become "the biggest tree in the garden of Eden" and are cut down by God to prove that they should not be honored.

God's people had to wander in the vain and empty wilderness because of darkness which stands for ignorance:

He discovereth deep things out of darkness, and bringeth out to light the shadow of death. Job 12:22

He increaseth the nations, and destroyeth them: he enlargeth the nations, and straiteneth them again. Job 12:23

He taketh away the heart of the chief of the people of the earth, and causeth them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way. Job.12:24

They grope in the dark without light, and he maketh them to stagger like a drunken man. Job 12:25

He poureth contempt upon princes, and causeth them to wander in the wilderness, where there is no way. Psalm 107:40

The city of confusion is broken down: every house is shut up, that no man may come in. Isaiah 24:10

Darkness in all examples is a type of the "void and empty" condition out of which the earth and Israel came:

Choshek (h2822) kho-shek'; from 2821; the dark; hence (lit.) darkness; fig. misery, destruction, death, ignorance, sorrow, wickedness: - dark (-ness), night, obscurity.

The "light" is not the "break of day" in this passage but it is--

Owr (h216) ore; from 215; illumination or (concr.) luminary (in every sense, including lightning, happiness, etc.): - bright, clear, / day, light (-ning), morning, sun.

Jeremiah and the Creation of the world Parable

The "superior language" of the creation story is applied by Jeremiah to the ignorance of the people.  He repeats the creation-like story for a nation which had become void and empty. By the use of similar language we might believe that Genesis is the story of God recreating as He did at the Flood and as the Red Sea.

Jeremiah, moved by the Spirit of Christ, understood that the plural gods did not create anything but destruction and emptiness by their agents:

Thus shall ye say unto them, The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth, and from under these heavens. Jeremiah 10:11

He hath made the earth by his power,

he hath established the world by his wisdom,

and hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion. Jeremiah 10:12

When he thunders, the waters in the heavens roar; he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth. He sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind (spirit) from his storehouses. Jeremiah.10:13

At that time this people and Jerusalem will be told, "A scorching wind (spirit) from the barren heights in the desert blows toward my people,

but not to winnow or cleanse; Jeremiah 4:11

a wind (spirit) too strong for that comes from me. Now I pronounce my judgments against them." Jeremiah 4:12

Amos, Isaiah and Ezekiel attribute the fatal ignorance to the replacement of God's Word with musical celebration. Therefore, God asked:

How long shall I see the standard (banner), and hear the sound (bleating, singing, sound) of the trumpet? Jeremiah 4:21

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. Jeremiah 4:22

Because the people did not understand the Creation Story often repeated in their writings, they did not understand their history. Therefore, being ignorant of Genesis and the destruction of the world which had to be recreated, they were bound to repeat the history.

Within the context of a foolish, ignorant nation who was being made void and empty, Jeremiah makes it mean the same thing as the creation in Genesis. As if singing a song, he repeats the story in poetic form but uses the past tense:

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

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

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

The earth had been a fruitful place but it had become void and empty. As a result, the "breath" of God shot out of his "nostrils" and explain what was happening when the earth was chaos and God's Spirit (wind) was hovering over or rearranging things. While Jeremiah is speaking of a spiritually destroyed earth, he uses the story of the original creation of the world as poetic:

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 (breath from His nostrils) . Jeremiah 4:26 (the "earth" is defined as a fruitful place prepared for mankind out of the waters)

For thus hath the Lord said, The whole land shall be desolate;

yet will I not make a full end. Jeremiah 4:27

For this shall the earth mourn (wail or lament), 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. Jeremiah 4:28

The word "earth" over which the waters spread does not speak of the "globe" or entire world.

Erec (h776) eh'-rets; from an unused root prob. mean. to be firm; the earth (at large, or partitively a land): - * common, country, earth, field, ground, land, * nations, way, / wilderness, world.

Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. Exod 20:12

Rather, it often means that part of the land which needs to be cleared of waters to make it a fruitful place. God clearly defined things so that we do not have to make up stories:

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

The word "black" describes the same event in the Egyptian story when God split the dragon, put out her fires, used one half to cover the earth and the other hand to cause "darkness over the face of the earth" when there had previously been light from the already-existing stars:

And when I shall put thee out, I will cover the heaven, and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light. Ezekiel 32:7

Jeremiah then turns to the future tense to warn that the horsemen are coming in judgment and there is no place to hide.

In Greek:

AND it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. Luke 2:1

We know that the "globe" was not taxed. Here, the Greek is:

Oikoumene (g3625) oy-kou-men'-ay; fem. part. pres. pass. of 3611 (as noun, by impl. of 1093); land, i.e. the terrene part of the globe; spec. the Roman empire: - earth, world.

God's Parable of Using Natural Elements in Creation

Look at your right index finger and move it without saying, "move finger." Now, you know that life and all of the highly complex parts of mankind did not evolve by taking chances, goofing, backing up and trying again. In fact, the creative story of Adam and of following mankind is described using modern genetic-like terms. God writes the Ginomai (human Genome) on a "scroll" and the scroll "rolls up" into a cylinder and grows into a human being. All of this is from God's "Word" in DNA which is the blueprint for making a human.

Adam was not a litteral "mud pie." Rather, Moses describes the creation of mankind much like the Babylonians described the making of their gods which "whistled" or "spoke to them" when they blew their breath (spirit) into it. However, when Jehovah our Elohim created Adam he was really a living, breathing, thinking human. Furthermore, God put the genetic code in his sperm so that all future people went through a natural (yet supernatural) process.

God created all of the natural processes and laws. It is not demeaning, therefore, that He sometimes uses wind, fire, earthquakes and floods to create and recreate the earth. For instance, the dry land in the Red Sea crossing can occur quite naturally. A miracle, therefore, might consist of the timing and the protection of the Israelites. And again, when He wanted a garden for Adam and Eve He "planted" the garden (fruitful place) and it grew and reproduced. Indeed, the Psalmist shows that the greatest proof of God is the product of His creation of the world and the orderly course of stars and rivers.

The wind is often symbolic of God's breath as He speaks His Word. The wind or spirit is God's agent of creation along with all of the other forces of nature:

BLESS the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed with honour and majesty. Psalm 104:1

Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment: who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain: Psalm 104:2

Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters: who maketh the clouds his chariot: who walketh upon the wings of the wind (spirit): Psalm 104:3

Who maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire: Psalm 104:4

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

The "spirit" hovers over the earth because the spirit has wings and feathers. However, this is not a person but the wind which is God's literal and spiritual power in the creative process.

It is overwhelmingly beautiful to know that the heavens truly declare that God uses natural processes (supernaturally sent) to fulfill His Word:

Fire, and hail; snow, and vapour; stormy wind (Ruwach or spirit) fulfilling his word: Ps.148:8

Jeremiah Asked the Question:

Wherefore thus saith the Lord God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them. Je.5:14

Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay. Jeremiah 20:9

Is not my word like as a fire? saith the Lord; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces? Jeremiah 23:29

Babylon was the physical hammer but the Word is the Lord's spiritual hammer

How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and broken how is Babylon become a desolation among the nations! Jeremiah 50:23

And Paul Responded:

And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits (same as Holy Spirit), and his ministers a flame of fire. Hebrews 1:7

Paul quoted Psalm 104 which speaks of the creation of the world.  The ministering work is through the Word using angelic beings

But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool?  Hebrews 1:13

Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?  Hebrews 1:14

Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven. Matthew 18:10

Jesus Christ was the Creative Spirit or Mind

John wrote that the Word was with God and was God. This is a progressive way of saying that He was the Supreme Creator of the Universe in His Pre-Incarnate form. Of the Word, John wrote:

He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. John 1:10

He came unto his own, and his own received him not. John 1:11

But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: John 1:12

Peter says that He was in the world as the Spirit:

Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. 1 Peter 1:11

And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. Rev 19:10

Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 2 Cor 3:17

Jesus also used wind and water as a parable to describe the invisible but powerful work of God in the world.

The wind (Pneuma or spirit) bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit (Pneuma). John 3:8

Bloweth is Pneo (h2154) pneh'-o; a prim. word; to breathe hard, i.e. breeze: - blow. Comp. 5594.

The apostles inspired and moved along by the Spirit of Christ in them understood the Word as Christ "breathed" on them.

And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive (get hold of) ye the Holy Ghost: John 20:22

Luke explained this as Christ blowing upon them as He taught them through the Holy Spirit dwelling within Him:

Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen: Acts 1:2

At Pentecost the sound of a rushing wind was symbolic of the wind or spirit of Christ as the "another Comforter" returning as He promised to be Father-Son in Spirit form (Jn 14:16-18):

Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind (hard breathing) came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. Acts 2:2

However, the wind or spirit which God uses in the physical world was something which God created. He created the spirit but this was not a person:

Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel: and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel.  Amos 4:12

For, lo, he that formeth the mountains, and createth (bara) the wind (Spirit or ruwach), and declareth unto man what is his thought, that maketh (Asah) the morning darkness, and treadeth upon the high places of the earth, The Lord, The God of hosts, is his name.  Amos 4:13

Because we intend to keep the Word away from people as they did in Israel by composing their own songs and replacing education or edification with so-called "worship," we will help make the spiritual world vain and empty as we destroy the "fruitful places" because we worship the earth and the "beast people" who are its best products. Paul, in Galatians 3, makes it clear that true Israelites are the children of Abraham who fled from the Babylonian form of life and religion and willingly go into the "deep" so Christ can defeat the serpents, dragons, and beasts who try to make us natural men and women. This is water baptism.

This process was probably repeated for the Jews as the chaos and emptyness the clergy had created brought the Romans (Some enemy is always used by God) to destroy the earth which then existed in Jerusalem:

Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. Matthew 24:34

Heaven (happiness) and earth (Ge, the fruitful place occupied by the Jews) shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. Matthew 24:35

But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. Matthew 24:36

However the signs of the time would be obvious to those who were not, like those condemned by Jeremiah 4, ignorant of the light and living in darkness which God had and will interposed between His Light and people who do not love His Word:

But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. Matthew 24:37

For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, Matthew 24:38

And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. Matthew 24:39

We are told that a million Jews perished in Jerusalem as Jesus came in Judgment using the Romans. However, God always spared a tiny remnant. The Jews who had symbolically gotten on the "Ark" or crossed through the Red Sea in baptism all escaped so that God did not make an end to them all.

We noted above that we are in the deep waters of ignorance or Tehowm when Christ comes in judgment upon people vain and empty. We noted that the sounds of madness was the sound of giving in marriage:

Halal (h1984) haw-lal'; a prim. root; to be clear (orig. of sound, but usually of color); to shine; hence to make a show, to boast; and thus to be (clamorously) foolish; to rave; causat. to celebrate; also to stultify: - (make) boast (self), celebrate, commend, (deal, make), fool (- ish, -ly), glory, give [light], be (make, feign self) mad (against), give in marriage, [sing, be worthy of] praise, rage, renowned, shine.

Pretty hard to hear that last trump when you are trying to make yourself look mad or insane to attract the lost gods to accept the worship due God. At the same time, the Word / Music parable is ignorance of God's Words as the ultimate show of contempt even as He refuses to listen to your crys of "Lord, Lord" because He may not number you as one of His own.

Kenneth L. Sublett

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