Formless and Empty

'God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep.” Genesis 1:1-2a

The strong, mighty, omnipotent God created the universe not from any pre-existing materials but he made it from nothing. Before creation, there was only God. There were no atoms or molecules, time did not exist, and there was no space. There was no dirt! Can you imagine this?  No, I don’t think we can imagine the power it took to create the explosive creation of the heavens and the earth. Talk about a big bang!

The result of this explosive creation of the heavens and the earth? Genesis 1:2 tells us that the “earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep.” The earth was empty, covered with water, and literally in darkness. The Hebrew words used here are tōhu and bōhu, translated as "formless" and "void." Tōhu and bōhu are often paired together in the Old Testament and portray a “place of chaos, formlessness, emptiness, a wasteland” (Brown-Driver-Briggs Lexicon). 

God did not plan for the earth to remain “formless and void.” It is clear God chose not to initially create the universe with everything completed in one explosive moment. He could have simply snapped his Godly fingers or shouted and it would all be done. He chose to first create and shape the “container” called Earth over three days and then he chose for another three days to fill the Earth with the living. The Earth was not to remain unoccupied, unfilled, or void of life. Again, this was not His plan. He created the formless and empty earth to demonstrate His power to give it shape and fill it with life. For now, this earth is in darkness but before this day would be done there would be light!

Father God, Lord Jesus, Holy Spirit you are right here, right now. Help me focus on the God who created in an explosive moment the heavens and the earth and trust the God who filled the formless, empty, dark with life and hope. God, help my vision to not be limited by what I see but may it be firmly attached to the greater realm not seen. Thank you Creator God.

For thus says the Lord,

who created the heavens

    (he is God!),

who formed the earth and made it

(he established it;

he did not create it empty,

    he formed it to be inhabited!):

“I am the Lord, and there is no other.

Isaiah 45:18 ESV

‘By faith, we understand that the universe

was created by the word of God so that what

is seen was not made out of things that are visible.”

Hebrews 11:3 ESV