Page 47 - Foundations

beginning God created the heavens and the earth, [but] the earth became waste and void.” The
earth which God created originally was not waste, it only later became waste...

We do not know when God created the heavens and the earth, nor do we know how long was the
period after the original creation that the desolation described in verse 2 occurred. But we do
believe that the original, perfect creation must have passed through many many years before it
became waste and void. Such a long period would be enough to cover the so-called pre-historic age.
All the years which geology demands and all the so-called geologic periods which it distributes
among those years can fall into this time frame. We do not know how long the earth underwent
change nor how many changes there were before it became waste and void because the Scriptures
do not tell us these things. Yet we can affirm that the Bible never states that the age of the earth is
but six thousand years in length. It merely shows that the history of man is approximately six
thousand years old. By understanding the first two verses of Scripture, we can recognize that there
is no contradiction between the Bible and geology. The attack of geologists against the Bible is
merely beating the air. How marvelous is the word of God.
[Source: Watchman Nee; The Mystery of Creation]

This doctrine presented by Watchman Nee was greatly divergent from what I had been taught in the
Baptist church. Yet, even at that young age I had developed habits of testing new teachings carefully.
I got out my Strong’s Concordance and checked the definitions of the words in dispute. I verified
for myself whether the conjunction “and” that ties verses 1 and 2 of Genesis together could be
translated as “but.” I also checked to see if the Hebrew word rendered as “was” in verse 2 had been
translated as “became” in other verses. I found that every statement made, every argument set forth,
in the words above by Watchman Nee were in fact true. The most common teaching of the Genesis
account of creation follows the pattern set forth by the King James Bible.

Genesis 1:1-2
In the beginning God created the Heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void;
and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the
waters.
KJV

The phrasing here leads the reader to conclude that God originally created the Heaven and the earth
formless and void and covered in darkness. Beginning in verse three we then read of God forming
the earth and all it contains into a habitable planet. Yet, those who translate the book of Genesis from
Hebrew to English could have just as readily set forth the words in the following manner.

Genesis 1:1-2
In the beginning God created the Heaven and the earth. But the earth became formless, and void;
and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the
waters.