Tim Maas Retired Quality Assurance Specialist with the U.S. Army

If the question pertains to Genesis 1:2, I would interpret the cited phrase to be referring to "the surface of the waters" (the top surface of the depths of the oceans). (That is, earth was at that stage of creation a sphere containing water, but without any land surfaces breaking above that water.)

January 04 2023 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Justin Hale

Most people reading this phrase presume it to be referring to the 'two waters' mentioned in Genesis 1:7, (Hebrew: 'mayim 'al' מַיִם עַל, the 'upper waters' and 'mayim tahat' מַיִם תַּחַת, the 'lower waters'). However, if people actually pictured this scene, they would realize that there was nowhere left for the Spirit to be 'hovering' since water filled the entire earth and extended up to the edge of what we call 'space.' 

GOD had just destroyed a previous creation using water and this is where the narrative begins, other than simply telling us in verse one that GOD was originally responsible for the creation of heaven and earth. We know this because Scripture plainly states that the earth was not 'formless' but designed to be inhabited when originally created, (Isaiah 45:18). 

So the earth was already here and we had two 'waters' separated only by temperature, since the 'lower waters' would be warm enough to remain liquid and the 'upper waters' would have been a giant ice block which was blocking out all of the light.

When scripture tells us that the Spirit of GOD 'hovered' or 'moved' over the 'face of the deep' the Hebrew word is actually the same word used to describe an eagle 'fluttering' her wings. GOD was 'breaking' the giant ice block, ('mayim al'), and releasing its icy grip on the lower waters, ('mayim 'tahat'), simultaneously opening up great caverns in the earth to receive the waters which filled them until the earth began to 'be watered' by these subterranean springs, (as described in Genesis 2:5-6).

This process continued until enough moisture evaporated to begin the rain cycles, which GOD timed to coincide with His placement of mankind in His 'garden' to begin cultivating it. 

So the only 'place' where the Spirit of GOD would have been 'fluttering' at the time and breaking giant ice blocks would be the edge of what modern people now call 'space.' It is most likely that this giant ice block was released into space, which the Bible refers to as the 'endless abyss,' 'untraversable chasm,' or even the 'bottomless pit' since, from GOD's perspective, space is not 'up' but 'out, down and away' from earth, (His 'footstool'), and heaven, (His currently inapproachable masterwork 'above' the earth).

Our current cosmology is wrong by omission, since understanding what 'heaven' actually is, is the key to grasping our true position in the cosmos. Modern men arrogantly presume that GOD has somehow been 'disproved' by first ascending and then exiting earth out into a vast, waterless, airless and endless vacuum. It doesn't occur to them that they have actually been 'repudiated' and cast out into this 'abyss' like all other arrogant creatures attempting to ascend before them. 'Heaven' cannot be alighted upon and entered using knowledge alone. 

Those failing to ascend are no longer 'above' the earth, but are then drifting away from it and away from heaven down into an abyss filled with 'rejects.' Jesus calls this location the 'outer darkness,' (Matthew 8:12, 22:13, 25:30, etc...), and describes its inhabitants as 'weeping and gnashing their teeth.' That doesn't sound much like Star Trek. In fact, these fictions tend to keep us from remembering that space is 'naturally' a place where human blood boils, vital organs explode, no water or air can be found and where, even if we could scream, no one could hear us because sound waves cannot form there. 

That sounds more like 'hell' to me. The fact that GOD 'ejects' objects into this place which no longer serve any purpose here among His masterworks further reinforces this viewpoint, not to mention the 'fiery walls' we must pass through while entering or exiting.

If mankind hadn't foolishly rejected GOD, these observations might be more obvious to them as well. Even the demons recognize the abyss as their place of judgment, (Luke 8:31).

When you read of 'the deep,' you are reading about this abyss and not about the seas or ocean waters, or about chasms inside the earth itself.

January 04 2023 • 3 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report