Page 55 - Foundations

Jeremiah 4:22-28
“For My people are foolish, they have not known Me. They are silly children, and they have no
understanding. They are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.” I beheld the earth,
and indeed it was without form (tohu), and void (bohu); And the heavens, they had no light. I
beheld the mountains, and indeed they trembled, and all the hills moved back and forth. I beheld, and
indeed there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens had fled. I beheld, and indeed the fruitful
land was a wilderness, and all its cities were broken down at the presence of Yahweh, by His fierce
anger. For thus says Yahweh: “The whole land shall be desolate; Yet I will not make a full end. For
this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black, because I have spoken. I have purposed
and will not relent, nor will I turn back from it.”

In this passage the prophet Jeremiah is pronouncing Yahweh’s judgment upon Judah and Jerusalem.
Because of the wickedness of the people, He has determined to make the land a desolation. The very
same descriptors found in Genesis 1:2 are found in this passage speaking of the ruin God will bring
upon the land of His people. Can there be any clearer evidence that the earth described in Genesis
1:2 has suffered the judgment of Yahweh? Not just one, or two, but all three of these signs of
judgment are found in both passages of Scripture.

What could account for the destruction of the first earth? What was the transgression that caused
Yahweh to turn a habitable planet into a wasteland and to seal it up in darkness? That topic will be
explored in the next chapter.