Sunday Devotional: Genesis 1:2

Now the earth was a chaotic wasteland, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.

Genesis 1:1 introduced the creation story by telling us that God created the heavens and the earth. This serves both to introduce this section of the book and to tell us that the universe didn’t just pop into existence. It was all created by God. We aren’t given an apologetic for the existence of God; He is assumed to exist. And God alone is responsible for all things coming into existence (which is worth remembering when reading John 1:3 and Colossians 1:16).

Most translations render the Hebrew of Genesis 1:2 as “the earth was formless and void” or something like that. The terms used in the original, tohū and bohū are likely synonymous, and together paint a picture of the newly-formed earth as bare and empty, like a blank canvas, or better like a rough stone waiting for the sculptor’s chisel. There is, also, an aspect of “chaos” to the new creation, in the sense that God had yet to bring order to His creation. That’s what I see in these two rhyming Hebrew words; I’ve tried to communicate that in my translation.

In addition to the chaotic wasteland of the earth, there is “darkness over the surface of the deep.” The “deep” referred to here are the waters, which at this point would be uninhabited. No fish, frogs, anenomi, or amoebae. Just vast expanses of empty water. “Darkness” is often used to symbolize the presence of evil, though here it might simply be referring to the fact that there was no light. Since light is the first thing God creates after the heavens and the earth, this may just be reminding us that there is no light at this point. Light does not exist by default; God will need to speak it into existence. Mentioning darkness also, I think, adds to the atmosphere, giving us the sense of a cold desolate place in need of the Creator’s life-giving touch.

“Spirit of God” could be simply a “divine wind” since the Hebrew ruach can mean “spirit,” “breath,” or “wind” depending on the context. It might be fitting here to speak of God’s breath blowing over the waters, evoking perhaps the breeze one might feel from a large lake or ocean. However, “Spirit” is probably the better translation, creating a sense of anticipation. The creative work is not yet complete. The grammatical form of the verb “hovering” should lead us to imagine God’s Spirit continuously moving back and forth across the deep, maybe like a bird circling, waiting to make its move.

The purpose of Genesis 1:2 is to give us a “before” picture of the world right after God has brought it into existence. This is the world before the Lord has completed His work of creation. Without God’s loving, creative hand, the world is a barren wilderness, a dark, lifeless void. And it would have remained so if the Lord had not determined to bring order and beauty to this chaotic rock.

Genesis 1:2 reminds us that God is sovereign, and without Him there would be no order, beauty, or purpose. He is the one who initiated all of creation. And He forms His creation according to His plan and His good pleasure. He did not ask the universe’s permission to make trees, birds, animals, sunsets, and butterflies. In our sinful state, we too are spiritually void, desolate, dark, and without a future or a hope. We need God to bring order to our chaos, beauty to our desolation, and light to our darkness.

If you are in that state of spiritual barrenness and darkness, I pray the Lord would, by His Spirit, introduce you to Jesus, the light of the world and the true light of life.