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"The lion is come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way;
he is gone forth from his place to make thy land desolate; and thy cities shall be laid
waste, without an inhabitant" (Jer. 4: 7).
"Destruction upon destruction is cried." "I beheld the earth, and lo it was without
form and void; and the heavens, and they had no light . . . . . broken down by His fierce
anger" (Jer. 4: 20-26). Here then are the three inspired occurrences of the two words
tohu and bohu, Gen. 1: 2; Isa. 34: 11 and Jer. 4: 23. If Gen. 1: 2 does not refer to
a day of "vengeance" or "fierce anger" should we not have to acknowledge that both
Isaiah and Jeremiah by the use of these peculiar words, have misled us? And if once that
be our conclusion, inspiration is invalidated, and it does not matter much what Gen. 1: 2
means, for our trust is shaken, and Moses too may be wrong! This however cannot be.
We have in faith put into practice I Cor. 2: 13, and have founded it blessedly
illuminating. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and Moses, Isaiah and
Jeremiah speak with one voice, because inspired by one Spirit. Nothing is said in
Gen. 1: 2 concerning the cause of this primeval judgment, any more than any explanation
is offered to explain the presence of the serpent in the Garden of Eden, but there are
evidences that can be gathered from various parts of Scripture to make it clear that
there was fall among the angels, that Satan is a fallen being, and that the catastrophe of
Gen. 1: 2 is associated with that fall. Into the gap thus formed, the present six day
creation is placed as a "fullness" carrying the Redemptive purpose to the threshold of
Eternity, and it is here also the "age-times" begin.
No.4. The Temporary Nature of the Present Heaven and Earth.
pp. 223 - 226
"The things which are seen are temporal" (II Cor. 4: 18).
"For by Him were all things created that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible
and invisible" (Col. 1: 16).
"And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters, and God said, Let there be
light; and there was light" (Gen. 1: 2 3).
With the words of Genesis the first movement toward the goal of the ages is recorded.
That it indicates a regenerative, redemptive movement is made clear by the allegorical
use that Paul makes of it when writing to the Corinthians.
"For God, Who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our
hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ"
(II Cor. 4: 6).
When we come to consider the place that Israel occupies in the outworking of the
purpose of the ages, we shall find that there will be repeated in their case these allegorical
fulfillments of Gen. 1: 2, 3.
"And He will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people,
and the veil that is spread over all nations" (Isa. 25: 7).