Satan’s Fall #2: Genesis 1:1 Intends “Everything Made”

[Paleouss]

Greetings to all my brothers in Christ. May we all find our peace and rest in Jesus Christ the Son of God.

(Gen 1:31 NKJV) 31 Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed [it was] very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

It was my contention that regarding the fall of Satan, Genesis 1:1-31 is one whole creation story. When Genesis 1:31 says everything God had made, it means exactly that. Further, up to that point in the story everything "made" was “very good”, this means from the start of the story (Gen 1:1) to the end of the story up to that point (Gen 1:31). The beginning of the story starts like this…

(Gen 1:1 NKJV) 1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. ...

The challenge had then become distinguishing what God, through the author, intended when Genesis 1:1 reads, “created the heavens and the earth”. Did He mean…

1. Only the physical world, i.e., the first and second heaven and the earth. But not the spiritual abode. In other words, the earth, atmosphere and starry expanse only.
2. All that is created, both the spiritual and physical.

So here is, imo, a sound defense of #2 which is against #1.

1. The Idiom “the Heaven and the Earth” in Genesis 1:1: The ancient Hebrew language did not have a single word for the concept of “everything”, so they used an idiom, also known as a merism here, that combined the highest imaginable thing (heaven) and the lowest imaginable thing (earth) to mean “the totality of all physical and spiritual existence” (Ref #1, also see Jer 23:24, Exo 20:11, Col 1:16). By using the idiom the author of Genesis 1:1 intended to establish two distinct realms that make up “everything”. Idioms are notoriously difficult to understand because their meaning often cannot be understood by the dissection of its parts. Based on the Hebrew use of this idiom and scriptural reference, Genesis 1:1 is clearly intended to mean "everything" that has been made (spiritual and physical)...based on understanding Hebrew idioms and merisms within the biblical text.

(Ref #1) Gordon J. Wenham, Word Biblical Commentary: Genesis 1–15 (1987); Bruce K. Waltke, Genesis: A Commentary (2001); Victor P. Hamilton, The Book of Genesis: Chapters 1–17 (NICOT, 1990)

1. Merisms Within The Biblical Text Mean to Include Spiritual and Physical: So what do other merisms look like within the biblical text that try and communicate something similar to the Genesis 1:1 merism?
   1. Gen 1:1 (Heavens and the Earth): combines two opposites to mean “absolutely everything”, spiritual and physical.
   2. Col 1:16 (Visible and Invisible): Means Jesus created all things, spiritual and physical.
   3. Eph 1:10 (Things in Heaven and Things on Earth): means gathering up all things, spiritual and physical.
   4. Rom 8:38-39 (Neither Angels nor Principalities… Nor Height nor Depth): two merisms that demonstrate total coverage or everything, spiritual and physical.
   5. John 3:12 (Earthly things and Heavenly Things): Means to convey all knowledge, spiritual and physical.

The Genesis 1:1 reading is intended to mean all things both spiritual and physical because it is an idiom and merism. This is consistent within the rest of the biblical text. Additionally, there is absolutely no merism and pairing of “heaven” and “earth” anywhere within the biblical text (or ancient Near Eastern cosmology) to mean only the physical realm or material universe.

(Refs) The JPS Torah Commentary (Genesis) May 6, 2023; Bruce K. Waltke, An Old Testament Theology; John H. Walton, The Lost World of Genesis One: Ancient Cosmology and the Origins Debate.

1. The Word “shamayim” in Genesis 1:1 is plural. Even if one tries to ignore #A and #B that “heaven and earth” in the Hebrew is an idiom and a merism pairing. The word “Heaven” in the Hebrew is שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) and is a structural plural noun and never appears in the singular form (shameh) in the Hebrew Bible. This means that the singular form (shameh) is never used in the Hebrew text.

In Psalm 115:16, the Hebrew text is "Ha-shamayim shamayim l'Adonai" (literal word-for-word: “the heavens, heavens, to the Lord”). The reason translators sometimes translate שָׁמַיִם (shamayim), which is always plural in the Hebrew text, to a singular in Psa 115:16 is “due to a translation technique”. Translation technique is the translator's choice to present a more stylistic smoothness (meaning formal elegance or readability). This in no way means that the Hebrew word שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) is not plural in all cases within the Hebrew text (it is plural in all cases in the original text), nor does it mean that the word-for-word translation of Hebrew has the flexibility to include either plural or singular. In other words, seeing “heaven” in one place and “heavens” in another is a stylistic choice and has no intended different meaning in the Hebrew other than “heavens” (plural).

(Ref) Christo van der Merwe, A Biblical Hebrew Reference Grammar (2nd Edition)

1. The All That Has Been Made Argument: The biblical text in Genesis 1:31 explicitly says, “all that He had made”. All that God has “made” includes the spiritual realm. In other words, the spiritual realm is not co-eternal with God. It is “made”. Therefore, Genesis 1:31 is a representation of what “all” God had “made” which points to Genesis 1:1. This agrees with #A and #B and #C.

1. Heaven and Earth Means Visible And Invisible: Verses like Colossians 1:16 demonstrate that the Bible makes reference to not just the physical world when teaching the concept of “all that has been made”. Colossians 1:16 also includes a merism “heaven” and “earth”. (Col 1:16 NKJV) 16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.

Here in Colossians we see that heaven and earth paired together means the “visible and invisible”, i.e., the spiritual and the physical. This merism “all that has been made” can be referenced back to Genesis 1:1. This agrees with A, B, C and D.

1. The Word of God Is About The Son Of God: The Bible is not only a story of the Messiah ben Joseph (the Son of God as Savior to mankind). It is also a story about Messiah ben David (the Son of God as conquer). Additionally, as conquer the story is not just a story of the Son of God conquering profane human beings but also the Son of God conquering those in the spiritual realm (the devil and his angels).

(a) God the Father decreed to create for God the Son that God the Son be the purposeful end of creation, that which all creation culminates toward and in; thereby being the purpose of creation’s beginning and end, all for God the Son.

(b). The heavenly abode, the spiritual realm, is a creation. It is that which has been “made”. It is not co-eternal with God.

(c) Therefore if all creation, that means everything that has been made, is for God the Son. Then it follows that the spiritual realm, the third heaven, was created for God the Son.

(d) The Bible dedicates many of its pages describing how the Son of God puts everything under His foot. This “everything” includes everything that has been made, including the spiritual realm, spiritual powers and spiritual principalities (1Cor 15:24-28, Rom 8:20-23, Psa 8:6, Heb 2:8, Eph 6:12, 1Pet 3:22, Col 2:15).

(e) Therefore, Genesis 1:1 includes the spiritual realm, “all that has been made”, because the rest of the Bible, especially the NT, references the Son of God conquering all physical and spiritual things created, which starts at Genesis 1:1.

This agrees with A, B, C, D.

1. Other Visual Lessons Include the Spiritual Realm Not Just The Physical: It would seem reasonable to think that if God intends to teach about only the physical world in the Genesis 1 creation story. He would be consistent throughout the entire bible. That is, if this story He is telling is about the physical world only in Genesis 1:1, meaning only the first two heavens and the earth are intended, then the biblical text would demonstrate such in the rest of the Bible. But that is not what we see at all.

The Tabernacle/Temple: A shadow of things in heaven (Heb 8:5). The tabernacle is a physical microcosm of the two opposites. The outer court represents the physical earth (physical realm), while the Holy of Holies represents the spiritual dwelling of God (spiritual realm). The Bible frequently teaches and refers to the dwelling place of God (the spiritual realm, i.e., the Holy of Holies). The biblical text explicitly includes the spiritual realm in the construction of the Tabernacle. It includes an outer courtyard, a holy place, and a holy of holies (the dwelling place of God and the spiritual realm). All of this was created and is represented in Genesis 1:1. As shown in the Tabernacle which is a shadow of things in heaven (Heb 8:5). Genesis 1:1 is an “all that has been made” verse. Backed up in Genesis 1:31 and supported by repeated examples of including the dwelling place of God, the spiritual realm, in visuals and examples like the Tabernacle.


Based on the above, it is reasonable and most likely that God intended Genesis 1:1 to include, or mean, all things "made", i.e, spiritual and physical.



Peace to all

p.s. I have other projects going on so my responses may be slow. my apologies in advance.

 

[Deacon]

The emphasis in the Genesis creation stories is that the God of Israel is sovereign over all things in heaven and earth.
He created all things.
This is supported in the NT epistles: ...all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. Colossians 1:16 (ESV)

But it's a bit nonsensical to try to imagine what happened before the creation of time.
The story told in Genesis 1 was written to the children of Israel. It's their story.

The Bible itself doesn’t explicitly state when God created the heavenly council or the angelic beings who comprise it.
As you've demonstrated, the sequence about whether the spiritual realm was created before or during the creation narratives remains a matter of interpretation rather than explicit biblical statements.

Until we 'know fully' (1 Corinthians 13:12) it will remain a matter of speculation rather than revelation.

Rob

 

[kyredneck]

The Word “shamayim” in Genesis 1:1 is plural.

So is this he word Elohim.

 

[percho]

(Gen 1:31 NKJV) 31 Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed [it was] very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

This is very true. However is very good, perfect? Consider. The above is the creation, correct.
Gen 2:3 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.
The creation is a done thing. So what does Romans tell us about this very good creation.

for to vanity was the creation made subject -- not of its will, but because of Him who did subject it -- in hope,

That very good creation was made subject to vanity. Not of its own will, not because of the sin of Adam. The one made from the dust of the ground, flesh and blood with the soul of the flesh in the blood.

Why? Is it relative to the devil? Where was the devil, the god of this age in the darkness of this age when God said what he had created and made was very good yet subjected to vanity?

From 2 Cor 4:6 because God who said, Out of darkness light to shine

put on the whole armour of God, for your being able to stand against the wiles of the devil,
because we have not the wrestling with blood and flesh, but with the principalities, with the authorities, with the world-rulers of the darkness of this age, with the spiritual things of the evil in the heavenly places; Eph 6:11,12
in whom the god of this age did blind the minds of the unbelieving, that there doth not shine forth to them the enlightening of the good news of the glory of the Christ, who is the image of God;

Why was this very good creation subjected to vanity, in hope, before the sin of Adam?

 

[Paleouss]

Genesis 1:1: Historical Interpretations and Only Physical View Leading To Rigid Dualism​

The term “merism” to represent Hebrew word-pairs that represent totality was made popular in 1952 by A.M. Honeyman. However, ancient interpreters already recognized the concept of totality in Genesis 1:1 long before. Some quick examples…

• The Wisdom of Solomon (1st Cent. BC): When paraphrasing Genesis 1:1, the Jewish text exchanged “heavens and earth” for the Greek word “cosmos”. The Greek philosophical understanding of the word “cosmos” was “a beautiful, ordered, harmonious whole”. In the Wisdom of Solomon the concept in Genesis 1:1 included the heavenly court, souls, and angels as well as animals, land, stars and seas.
• Book of Maccabees and Second Temple Jewish literature: 2 Maccabees 7:28 sees the “heaven and earth” pairing as a comprehensive totality, a merism, that encompasses all created reality, both spiritual realm and physical realm.
• Book of Jubilees (2nd Cent. BC): The Book of Jubilees views Genesis 1:1 as a singular act establishing both heavenly hosts (spiritual realm) and earthly matter (physical realm).

Early church fathers like Augustine and Basil (2nd-5th century) also interpreted the binary pair (later to be called a merism) to mean “the totality of everything made”, both spiritual and physical (visible and invisible) understanding that it was used because the ancient Hebrew lacked a word for “everything that exists”.

While a large number of earthly church fathers favored the allegorical, merism understanding to mean “everything spiritual and physical” (particularly the Alexandrian order). There were some early church fathers, not that well known, from the Antiochene School of interpretation, that favored restricting the Genesis 1:1 statement to mean only the physical, visible universe. However, it is important to note that the original reason for taking such an interpretation of only physical in Genesis 1:1-5 was largely motivated by the opposition to the writings of Philo and the Greek philosophical thought he had ushered into biblical interpretation.

Diodore of Tarsus was very concerned with the writings of Philo and his attempt to interpret spiritual hidden data from Genesis 1:1-5 (not unlike the Gap-Theory). In response and a counter to the Philo trend that had seeped into the Alexandrian school of thought, Diodore championed the opposition to the spiritual realm being represented in the “heaven and earth” pairing of Genesis 1:1.

The ultimate irony of Diodore’s position to counter Philo’s postulating spiritual data in Genesis 1:1-5 is that his aggressive defense forced him to push the entire spiritual world out of the text by postulating a physical realm only in Genesis 1:1. In his effort to stop Philo and Alexandrian thought, Diodore ended up creating a rigid metaphysical dualism where spirit and matter were completely segregated. This ironically was the exact Platonic dualism of Philo that Diodore was trying to avoid.

A student of Diodore’s, Theodore of Mopsuestia (350-428 AD), and Augustine of Hippo (354-430 AD) apparently both recognized this threat of dualism that Diodore of Tarsus had created by championing an “only physical” view of Genesis 1:1. Both scrambled to correct the issue in their writings. Theodore thought that a detached spiritual realm was dangerous to Christian doctrine so he eliminated the dualistic possibility of his mentor by collapsing the timelines. He interpreted the angels into Day one along with matter and ensured, as he thought, there was only one single creation event under a unified cosmic architect (staying opposed to Philo).

Augustine saw the same dualistic danger but argued that “heavens and earth” already included both realms, spiritual and physical. For Augustine, Genesis 1:1 already explicitly stated that God created spirit and matter together in the merism of Genesis 1:1, preserving a unified, non-dulistic Christian worldview from the very first sentence.

Viewing Genesis 1:1 "heavens and earth” as strictly physical started to become popular during the Scientific Revolution in the 17th century and then the Enlightenment in the 18th century and found its modern form in the 19th century emphasis on geology and physics as theologians scrambled to explain an earth that might be millions of years old. By the 20th Century it became highly popular to think that “In the beginning” (time), “God created the heavens” (space), “and the earth” (matter). This was a direct response to accommodate the science of the day. An interpretation the original audience and the author of Genesis 1:1 never intended.

This more recent modern understanding strips away the Hebrew and Patristic view of “heavens and earth” as both the spiritual and physical realm (one creation event) and is not what God intended when he inspired Moses to write Genesis 1:1... IMHO.

Keep seeking God's truth as if it were hidden treasure.

 

[Paleouss]

So is this he word Elohim.

It is not.

Peace to you.

 

[kyredneck]

It is not.

Peace to you.

 

[Alan Dale Gross]

It was my contention that regarding the fall of Satan, Genesis 1:1-31 is one whole creation story. When Genesis 1:31 says everything God had made, it means exactly that. Further, up to that point in the story everything "made" was “very good”, this means from the start of the story (Gen 1:1) to the end of the story up to that point (Gen 1:31). The beginning of the story starts like this…

God Created the Angles of which one was Lucifer. Lucifer later attempted to exult himself above the Throne of God and Fell into a State of sin and then became Satan.

We don't want to be the ones who attempt exult Satan by saying God Created the Fallen Satan and called that Very Good.

Why? Is it relative to the devil? Where was the devil, the god of this age in the darkness of this age when God said what he had created and made was very good yet subjected to vanity?

Right. Above.