commanded the light to shine out of darkness' (2 Cor. 4:6) most surely

indicates that in his estimation, the darkness of Genesis 1:2 is a fit symbol

of the spiritual darkness of the unregenerate mind.

Two words, however, are found in Genesis 1:2, which are so used in

subsequent Scriptures as to compel every one that realizes what a great place

`usage' has in interpretation, to acknowledge that nothing but catastrophic

judgment can be intended by this verse.  The two words that describe the

condition of the earth, in verse two are the Hebrew words tohu and bohu,

`without form and void'.  Tohu occurs twenty times in the Old Testament and

bohu twice elsewhere.  The only occurrence of tohu by itself in the writings

of Moses is Deuteronomy 32:10, where it refers to `the waste howling

wilderness'.  The use which Isaiah makes of this word is highly suggestive

and full of instruction.

Isaiah 24.  This chapter opens with a judgment that is reminiscent of

Genesis 1:2.  `Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste,

and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof ...

the land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled' (Isa. 24:1,3).

When Isaiah would once again refer to this state of affairs, he sums it

up in the epithet, `the city of confusion (tohu)' Isaiah 24:10, and there can

be no doubt but that the desolation here spoken of is the result of judgment.

Another example of its usage is found in 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'.  Here the A.V. treats the word tohu as an adverb `in vain' which

the R.V. corrects, reading `a waste'.  Whatever rendering we may adopt, one

thing is certain.  Isaiah 45:18 declares in the name of Him Who created the

heavens, who formed the earth and made it, that He did not create it Tohu, it

therefore must have become so.  Even more convincing are the two passages

other than Genesis 1:2, where bohu is employed, for in both instances the

word is combined with tohu.  The first passage is Isaiah 34:11.  The context

is one of catastrophic judgment and upheaval.  The presence of such terms as

`indignation', `fury', `utterly destroy', `sword' and `vengeance' in the

first eight verses are sufficient to prove this, and one verse is so

definitely prophetic of the upheaval at the time of the end, as to leave no

option in the mind:

`And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall

be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as

the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig

tree' (Isa. 34:4).

This passage is almost identical with the language employed by Peter

when he speaks of the signs that shall precede the coming of the day of God

and the setting up of the new heavens and the new earth, wherein dwelleth

righteousness (2 Pet. 3:13).

The words tohu and bohu occur in Isaiah 34:11, to which all these

symbols of judgment point:

`He shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion (tohu), and the

stones of emptiness (bohu)',

nor is it without significance that unclean birds like the cormorant and the

bittern possess this devoted land, that nettles and brambles appear in the

fortresses, and that dragons, wild beasts, screech owls and satyrs gather