This Bible Study is provided by theseason.org
 with permission from it's author, R. Christopherson

Chapter 2

"The Creation."

     Before we can discuss anything of this earth age of flesh man, we must first approach the creation of this universe and all that is within it.  The mind of mankind is limited to the dimension that we are living in, which is within our flesh bodies.  Yet our Heavenly Father has opened the door to our understanding of heaven and other places where he is holding souls. We come to know by reading His written Word.  If you believe that God is the creator of all things that exist, including the processes of life that go on in our earthly cycle, then you understand that YHVH the God of the Universe is worthy of our love and praise. 

Revelation 4:11   "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created."

     In other words, everything that you see, touch, feel and can understand come from our Heavenly Father; and the fact that you even exist causes you to give Him all the glory and honor in your life.  You are a created being, just as the planets, the sun, every soul, and that includes Satan and all the angels.  Genesis 1:1  "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth."  This is a statement of fact.  It does not put a time frame to the statement, but states that at a particular moment in time, or over a period of time, every thing that exists was created by God. 

     So before verse two of Genesis took place, many things had happened to bring this earth to a point where it was a complete ruin, and made void.  And that is what this chapter will be addressing.  Many people like to trace the history of Adamic man, and say that the earth was created back 6000 years ago, when Adam was formed by God.  So lets go to the Scriptures to document things that the Word of God says about this time between verses one and two of Genesis. 

     The fact is only two bodies are mentioned in verse one of Genesis; the heaven and the earth.  God has simply stated a fact, and left it completely up to our imagination to fill in the rest.  However we are talking about an eternal span of time, and making something that never exist, now exists and have substance to it; so how could this happen? 

     We are reminded from the Wisdom of Solomon, written in Proverbs 8:22 that Wisdom is God, for all Wisdom is from God.  "The Lord possessed me in the beginning of His ways, before the works of old."  The "works of old" is the old earth age, spoken of in Revelation 12.  The first six verses of Revelation are talking about that period of time way back before the world age of flesh man we now life in; to a time in that first earth age.  It is looking at some of the events that happened back in that first earth age which was after Genesis 1:1; yet before the recreation of this earth, and the things that are on it, and in the heavens.

     All souls were created prior to this time, yet living in a form just as the angels are here on this earth.  Was it another earth? No, it was the same earth common to us today.  Of that earth age we read in Revelation 12:3; "And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads."

     This wonder known as the "great red dragon" is always Satan.  And all the events that will happen in the end of this earth age of flesh man, will be similar to what brought about the destruction in that first earth age.  Back then, there were forms of government just as today, and those systems of running that government were just as we have it today.  However there are differences between the two and we will be studying the differences between these two. 

Revelation 12:4   "And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born."

     The "stars of heaven" are the "sons of God", which are the souls of these heavenly beings.  This "old dragon" caused one third of all of God's creation to follow him.  In other words, one third of the billions of created beings that God created were deceived in that first earth age into following Satan.  They did not give their love or praise to our Heavenly Father.  Angels do not have wing, but the cherubs do, and you are not a cherub.  You were created with the right to choose and follow whom ever you please.  Satan in that first earth age caused one third of all created souls to chase after him and worship him. 

     When it states that "all living came from mother Eve", it is referring to the Messiah that will come into this world age of flesh man, through the lineage of Eve and the Virgin Mary.  It is through the Messiah; Jesus the Christ that God is offering eternal life to all of mankind.  Every soul that believes by faith and accepts the blood sacrifice that was given on the Cross for their sins shall be saved. This life refers to our spiritual or soul body, not our physical body.  Before we continue, let’s see what Solomon wrote in Proverbs concerning the creation, wisdom and our Heavenly Father. 

Proverbs 8:23   "I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, Or ever the earth was." He is stating that Wisdom was with God, and He possessed even at the time of creating me.

Proverbs 8:24    "When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water."  Even before there was an abyss, or pit, or water to fill the oceans, God's wisdom was there.

Proverbs 8:25 , 26   "Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth:" [25] "While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the high part of the dust of the world." [26] God was there.   Before this earth started to form the way that we know it today, God's wisdom was there to make it all happen. 

Proverbs 8:27- 29  "When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set the compass upon the face of the depth:" [27]  "And when he established the clouds above: when he strengthened the fountains of the deep:" [28]  "When he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment: when he appointed the fountains of the earth:" [29]  Wisdom was there. 

     In other words, there were lands, oceans, fields and lakes, and God set His commandment that they should all be separated through the "compass", and today we call that compass "gravity".  This is the force that keeps us on earth, and it is because of gravity that the waves end at the shoreline, and resends back into the sea.  

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." "

     This is God speaking as Isaiah the prophet is writing it down, and YHVH our Heavenly Father is telling us that when He created the earth, it was not created in vain or void.  Thus we read in Genesis 1:2 "And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep."  It had to mean that something happened from the time of creation of this wonderful earth, to the time that it was made void.

     In the translation from the Hebrew text; the word "was" from "...the earth was without form, "  We see from the original Massorah Text that it reads "...became without form..."  This is the same word change that was given in Genesis 2:7  "...and man became a living soul."

     This corresponds with its other use of the world in #2255, which reads; "to ruin".  To ruin or "tohu" of the earth, means that total destruction had come to pass upon the surface of the earth.  The second "was" in verse two was in italics type because there is no verb "to be" in the Hebrew language.  The problem in translating from Hebrew to English is that the verb, "to be" is not distinguished from the verb, "to become".

     The correct Hebrew translation from the Massorah Hebrew text for the words, "without form" is "tohu-va-bohu" in the Strong's Hebrew dictionary, reference #1961 to verify the word "was". "Yahah, haw-yaw; is a prime root, to exit; to become, or come to pass."

     Let’s continue to find the true meaning for the word "void". #2258, in the Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary.  It tells us to go to #2254 for the meaning; "Chabal, Khaw-bal; to wind tightly as a rope, to bind, to pervert, destroy, to corrupt, spoil, travail."   By our search of these two verses, we see that the earth was created perfect, but something happened to cause it to become a complete ruin and was destroyed. 

     Peter addressed this also in II Peter 3:5, 6  "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:" [5]  "Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:" [6]

     This is not talking about the flood of Noah's time like many preachers’ say; "perished" as stated here means total and complete destruction.  "The world that then was" ended in total ruin through another flood prior to Noah’s day.  There were no survivors on the earth; no animals, no man, no insects, nor did vegetation of any form come through this first flood.

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

     This then is the second heaven and earth age which we are living in now.  This earth will not be destroyed until God's time of judgment on the ungodly men of this earth age comes to a close.  That time of perdition or destruction is after the Millennium, and after the great white throne judgment.

II Peter 3:8  "But beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day."

     One week is the same as 7000 years.  We are approaching the Sabbath of that week very shortly which has the name in years as, "the Millennium".

II Peter 3:9  "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance."

     Our Heavenly Father has much patience concerning His Promises, for He is not willing to have any of His children perish along with Satan; as stated in Ezekiel 28:18   "Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring the to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee."

II Peter 3:10   "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up."

     "A thief in the night" is a figure of speech meaning that Christ will come at an unexpected time.  This sounds like a scary time, but what does it say in the original text?  These "elements" are all the evil "rudiments"; including the evil spirits, and all those forms that go to make up the idolatry of men.   They will all burn at their appointed time.  These elements are not elements making up the physical properties of this earth, but things that offend our Heavenly Father.

     So why would our Heavenly Father want to destroy Satan and turn him to ashes from within?  To understand this we have to go back to Ezekiel 28, and it will open our minds to many things in prophecy.  This will take us back into that first earth age, prior to Genesis 1:2, to see what Satan was created for, and what caused his fall.  

Ezekiel 28:1, 2   "The Word of the Lord came again unto me, saying," [1] " "Son of Man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, 'Thus saith the Lord God; `Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, `I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas;' yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God:' ' " [2]

     This word "Tyrus" means "rock", and it refers not to cities, but to an individual, Satan.  The command is to this person of the lower case, "rock"; "Because thine heart is lifted up"; It was Satan's pride and self-righteousness.  Satan claimed to be God when in fact he was just a created soul, just like you and I.  Satan is a created being and he claimed to be God; "yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God."

Paul warned us in II Thessalonians 2:3   "Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perditions," It will be no different in this earth age, then it was in that first earth age, for this "man of sin" Satan will try to deceive all the souls that he can.  Satan is the "son of perdition".

     The prophet Isaiah spoke of Satan's fall in Isaiah 14:12 "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!"   "Lucifer" is the "fallen star", and he is also the "morning star" that shall come first just before the close of this earth age of flesh man.  Satan has not been cast down to the ground yet, that time will come at the sixth trump, as recorded in Revelation 12:7-9. 

Revelation 12:7-9  "And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels," [7]  "And prevailed not, neither was their place found any more in heaven." [8]  "And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with in." [9]

       Satan was the serpent that deceived Eve, and from that deception Cain became, the first murderer.  He was the dragon in the first earth age, and he is the devil that deceiveth in this earth age of flesh man.  This "world" age as given here is "oikoumene" in the Greek, and it refers to any age that is inhabited.  This applies to both the first and the second ages, including after the Millennium when Satan is released for that short period of time.  The "Kosmos" however would deal with only a specific period of time such as the first or second earth age, or the time of the great tribulation, or even the Millennium age.

Isaiah 14:13   "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:"

     When Satan said, "I will ascend into heaven", he was declaring his intension to be God.  To be over all the "stars" or children of God, including you and I.  The "sides of the north", is in Jerusalem and "the mount of the congregation" is where Satan will sit when he comes to rule the earth when he is cast out of heaven.  When he sits on his throne and claims to be God, Daniel called this "the abomination of desolation" in Daniel 9:27, and Jesus refers to it in Matthew 24:15.   You will see this happen while living in your flesh body right here on earth.  It is one of the seven signs that Jesus gave us to mark the end of this generation.   

Isaiah 14:14   "`I will ascend above the heights of the clouds I will be like the Most High'."

     Satan wants complete control over the heaven and earth, and this is the stated purpose of the One World System and their agencies. 

Isaiah 14:15 , 16 "Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit." [15] "They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, `Is the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms;" [16]

     This will happen at our Lord Jesus Christ's return to set up His kingdom right here on earth.  He will rule from Jerusalem through that Millennium period, and we will discuss this period later in this study.  So why would Satan even start to consider himself to be on the level with God? The answer is because God created Satan in the full pattern of God's creation.

Ezekiel 28:3, 4   "Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee:" [3]  "With thy wisdom and with thine understanding thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures:" [4]

     If you think that you can out-smart Satan, think again, for even Daniel did not have the wisdom and understanding that Satan has.  He knows the Scriptures, and he will twist and distort them to cause you to believe a lie.  If you think that Satan is that ugly one that people like to portray him, think again; for Satan was created in full beauty. 

Ezekiel  28:12  "Son of man [Ezekiel], take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, `Thus saith the Lord God; `Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty."

     This is identifying Satan as one created, and when he was finished God made him full of wisdom and beauty for a purpose.  With the twelfth verse God is changing his title from a prince of God's kingdom, to the king of his own fallen kingdom. 

Ezekiel  28:13  "Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, and sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created."

     This reference of Eden is not to make it a legend, but stating a reality.  Satan was in the Garden of Eden, and he deceived Eve into having a child by him.  That child's name was Cain, and the Kenites are the sons of Cain.  Until you come to understand of this fact, you will never really understand many of the truths of the Scriptures.  The other point here is that Satan was a created being, just as you and I are.  He was created to perform a special mission with his life.  The point is that Satan is a finite being, limited in his abilities, yet still supernatural and full of wisdom.

     There are ten precious stones mentioned here and each of these stone are mentioned as being in the breastplate of the High Priest.    

Ezekiel 28:14, 15   "Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God ; thou has walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire." [14] "Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee." [15]

     Now we know that Satan is a cherub and not a man, because Satan has never existed nor lived in the body of a human.  Satan was created to fill the position of cherub, at the altar of God, and it was no accident that Satan was placed there.  He was anointed for that position to give service to our Heavenly Father.  Yet he was a loser, he couldn't focus on his mission and fell from the grace of God.  God made him a guard at the altar of God, and because of his pride, he tried to assume the very power that he was assigned to protect. 

     If Satan couldn't keep that simple promise, do you think that he will keep any promise that he makes to you.  Satan is a con artist he will promise anything to you if you will worship him, and once you have, your soul will be lost just like his.  So how will Satan use his skills to draw you to him?

Ezekiel 28:16   "By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God : and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire."

     This is the overthrow in the world that once was, in that first earth age.  God told Satan that he was removed from the altar of God, from the midst of the stones of fire.  Satan will use the same methods in this earth age as he did in the first earth age.  He will buy your soul if you let him, for he is the merchandiser of souls.  Shortly he will be here on earth, and God will allow him to use his supernatural powers to offer you what ever it will take to buy your soul.  Satan will lie, and use all of his supernatural powers to trick you into worshipping him, and many will bow down to him.  All those angels coming with Satan will also be supernatural; they have one mission and that is to deceive the entire world for that five months period of time. 

Ezekiel 28:17   "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."

     Satan's heart or self pride was lifted up when he saw his great beauty, and the respect that he received while at the mercy seat of God.  The moment Satan started to believe his own lies, his self pride took control of him.  Great wisdom, beauty and brightness can be the downfall of anyone, as is very common in our world today.  Those times in the first earth age, and through out this earth age, Satan will be given authority to test his children, but at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ it will all be over for him.  Then the whole world will see Satan for what he is, just another created being.

Ezekiel 28:18   "Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee."

     God gave Satan every chance for salvation, just as you and I have, but Satan refused to take God's offer.  Satan strived to gain control and rule as God.  Each time Satan sinned, this pride increased, to where God said that He would bring a fire in the midst of him, to destroy him.  Satan will be the first one to walk into the lake of fire at the end of the Millennium age, and many will gladly follow him to their destruction. 

      God will give you every chance to turn from your sins and follow him, for even in the Millennium age when Christ is here with us; many that have followed Satan in their ignorance will be saved by their works at this time.

Revelation 19:19 , 20   "And I say the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him that sat on the horse, and against His army." [19]   "And the beast was taken, and with him [Satan] the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image.  These both were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone." [20]

     Satan caused the ruin of that first earth age, and that caused YHVH our Heavenly Father to destroy that first earth age.  This happened between Genesis 1:1, and 1:2 for by the time Genesis 1:2 started, the entire earth, moon, stars and universe around us in this dimension had to be completely remade.

Revelation 12:4   "And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered for to devour her child as soon as it was born."

     The "stars" spoken of here are all of God created children and this is taking place in that first earth age.  One third of all of God's children was deceived by Satan, and went to follow him.  The dragon is Satan's role in the first earth age, and the "devil" is his role in this second earth age.  He also played the role of the deceiver in the Garden of Eden against Eve, and Satan received the title of the serpent at that time. 

     The purpose of this chapter is to draw your attention as to who this created being Satan is, what his role was in God's plan, and what cause his fall, that drew so many of God's children with him.  So many souls followed Satan that God had to either destroy His children, or that age that they were living in.  In God's mercy and love, He chose to destroy that first earth age, and all that was part of it, and then he created a new approach for His children to come to Him.  He not only destroyed that old way, but he made our memory void of that first earth age when we were born into this new earth age of flesh man. 

     Mankind likes to toy and devise systems for figuring out their existence, and from their ideas come ways of deceiving themselves into believing a lie.  Today Satan's kids are virtually taking over the One World Order, and trying to take God out of all parts of our lives.  They are redefining the things of God, and tampering with the very creation of God's order.  Early mankind was born into this earth age, and lived almost a thousand years before dying, yet as mankind continued down their path of sin, those long life spans have been shortened.  God then gave us a set of laws to govern our lives, and the community around us.  He gave us a set of health laws telling us that some animals and wild life are not to be eaten, yet people like to say, those laws don't apply to us today, because were living in this New Testament age.