Genesis 1: 2-5 (Part III) Lesson 5 BERE’SHIT by Mark Jennings

We are spending a lot of time on these beginning verses because of the foundation of truth that is presented right from the very beginning of the Torah.  If the foundation is missed, the whole point will be missed as well.  I am so thankful to YHVH for His amazing Wisdom and Grace to supply us with all we would ever need to know Him, and SEE Him, as He reveals Himself throughout the Torah.  He reveals His Truth from the BEGINNING.  It is my prayer that He would use these studies to OPEN all of our hearts, and minds, to seeing Him in a new and living way.  I pray that, with all of our hearts, we would SEEK Him in His Word.  May our FOCUS be continually on Yeshua, that we might have LIFE in Him.

Gen. 1:2 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.
:3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
:4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
:5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

We have talked about the formlessness of the earth before G-d spoke to His creation to bring forth light. The Hebrew word for “be” in verse 3 is hayah which has the suggestion of something breaking apart to come to pass.  There was, as we looked at before, a separation of the elements and then a reforming, or bonding in a new way, that produces light.  We all have come from this type of formless, foundation-less existence as descendants of Adam and Eve.  We needed a redeemer, and Yeshua is His name.  He SPEAKS into our lives LIFE, and LIGHT.  He BREAKS asunder the chains of darkness with the POWER of His Word, and brings us into His marvelous LIGHT. He literally breaks us apart, away from darkness, by His mighty power, by the Blood of the Lamb. PRAISE HIS NAME!  This TRUTH is SHOWN in His creation of this earth.  HIS truth is revealed in the heavens and the earth, from its very conception.  O how wonderful, O how GLORIOUS is our CREATOR!  Is there anything too hard for Him?  No, there is nothing too hard for Him.

When G-d spoke into His created universe, His Word was POWER.  His Word was STRENGTH.  His Word did not return to Him void.  What can be against His Word in the Universe? There is no other power, nothing can stand against His Word! What He purposes, SHALL BE DONE.  This is His Creation, there is no other creator.  This is His own possession alone, There is none beside Him.  He reigns supreme in His Universe.

We will go from beginning to end of verses 2-5 throughout each lesson on these verses till we move on to the next verses, and do the same thing- much like creation itself, where we see simultaneous events occurring throughout the 6 days creation.

“And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” In this moment in time, in the Universe, is the first recorded moment in time YHVY actually SHOWS, or REVEALS Himself, in a sense, in His creation of the Universe.  We read of His having created, yet we do not see Him, until He begins to move by His Spirit.  He has created, and expanded the entire Universe for this ONE purpose, and this ONE  purpose alone, to bring LIFE FOR FELLOWSHIP- He has created the universe to express many truths, and has created the physical for many purposes to be discovered by man, but the purpose as a whole is for fellowship.  This is the purpose of G-d moving by His Spirit in the Universe, in the earth, in our lives, that Christ may be formed, that Fellowship would be formed.  All of the moving of the Spirit of G-d on the earth is for YESHUA.  If ever there is a move of G-d that is not focused on Yeshua, I say to you, it is a FALSE WIND, a false spirit-  His focus, His intent, is now revealed to the heavenly realm.  His Holy Spirit moving like a mighty wind (ruwach) upon the face of the waters (chaos).  This Hebrew word ruwach (spirit) has the suggestion of a mighty, almost violent in appearance, BLAST of breath.  Is it any wonder?  Think of Moses at the Red Sea.  The wind of G-d separating the waters for the children of Israel to pass through.

Ex. 14:21,22 “And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind (ruwach, same Hebrew word for Spirit in Genesis 1:2) all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.  And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.”

The Spirit of G-d is described for us in the Bible as FIRE.  We know that FIRE brings LIGHT.  The Spirit of G-d moving across the deep waters was bringing light, and in the physical this is made manifest as a sign in nature of the spiritual reality.  Fire represents the Spirit of G-d.  As we see in verse 2, as the Spirit becomes discernable in the Universe as a moving, dancing, swirling, blasting wind, light appears.  There is a correlation between His moving and the elements actually producing light.  His creation reveals Truth about Him, this is PUT INTO the Universe at its creation.  The physical light IS NOT the Spirit of G-d.  He establishes this from the start, by creating in darkness, to show He is not a part of the Universe.

Deut. 4:24 “For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.”

The nature of fire is that it is indiscriminating. It desires all and will not rest till it consumes all.  Fire is by nature ALL CONSUMING.  This is seen in human terms as a jealousy.  The presence of the Almighty in the physical universe is that of an all consuming fire.  For any form of life to survive in a Universe that is MADE with combustible  material, there must be protection from the flame where the presence of G-d is made manifest.  All of LIFE in this realm is combustible.  All life in the Universe can burn in a fire- whether it be animal form, or plant, etc., all life!

In order for life to exist in the Universe there must be a protection from the physical light/fire.  It is the same in the Spirit, G-d provides us with LIVING Water.  In the natural, physical, the water is the protection.  The whole earth is covered in dark waters that is unique only to planet earth.  The purpose of water, as I say again, is for the purpose of bringing life to the Universe, for fellowship with G-d.  Water not only is used to form life from the clay, it also is used to hold life together, and sustains life, and protects life on the earth.  Water is a SIGN, a representative of a Spiritual reality, that Yeshua is the Living Water.  Water in this realm of existence is created to reveal a truth about G-d, that His Mercy is FOREVER, even in the very design of life itself is His Mercy made known. Water is not G-d.  It is a part of His creation that REVEALS His Truth.

Water is also as, or is a representative of the soul of man.  It is not the image of G-d, but is designed to REVEAL truth about G-d.  The soul of man is designed to KNOW, and UNDERSTAND.  Water and the dust is what is used to form the life of man, and G-ds Spirit generates it as a divine spark.  The SPARK of life, the electric spark that keeps the heart pumping, represents the Spirit.  So, the body is represented by the dust.  The soul is represented by the water.  The spirit is represented by the spark of life.  The purpose for my adding this will become more clear in the lessons to come.
Yeshua is the Living Water, and is represented by the water that is created for life to exist.  Water is a representative of Yeshua, but it is NOT Yeshua.  It is not a perfect description of Him, it only represents Him in the physical world as being G-d, Creator, in form of man.  Chaos is a representation of this revelation of G-d with us.  The mix of earth and light.  As I mentioned in lesson one, the Universe was created in darkness, yet, the darkness was not a representation of evil, it was to show that G-d was not His Creation, and so, as Yeshua was both man and G-d, He was not a man god, but G-d taking the form of a created THING, or HUMAN. THIS is a representation of chaos, and in Yeshua’s resurrected new body, the chaos is destroyed, or put off.  We will look at His new body as seen by John, and others, in the weeks to come.

Please be clear on this, I am not saying chaos in creation is an evil thing, of course it is not, it is a description of nature, and that is all.  He is much more than anything in the physical world.  There is a purpose for this limited representation of the Son as water in this realm of existence. There is a great truth to be discovered in this, and it is revealed in creation itself.  On the other hand, when evil men “create” disorder through violence, and cause A chaos, this is the work of evil and is not the same as chaos in the created Universe sense.

When G-d destroyed the earth with a flood in Noah’s day,

Gen. 6:5 “And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

Man had no rest from his evil. He was destroying himself day by day, creating his own chaos through violence.  Less and less was being accomplished because of the evil.  Violence is a destruction of productivity, and the earth was filled with violence. Violence is a false light because it is a false power.  Who can stand against the Creator?  Violence is an attempt to go against the creator, and in this it shows itself to be a false power.  Do not fear those who can kill the body, rather, fear the one who can destroy both soul and body with His OWN PRESENCE.

Gen. 6:11 “The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.”

Gen. 6:17 “And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die.”

Water is of the FIRST of creation for life on earth.  It is seen at the very same moment as the foundation of the earth is laid out, and is a part of this forming of the foundation.  Without the cooling water the foundation wrought in fire is  not possible.  It holds at bay the effects of fire.  Again, water is a mercy from G-d for all life to exist.

There is a strong purpose for HOW G-d destroyed LIFE on the earth the way He did in Noah’s day.  He did not come in His Holy Spirit Power as Fire from Heaven, why is this?  There was purpose in it, to show as a sign, His perfect Will through a rebirth of the human soul through faith in Yeshua.  Water is a form of chaos, in that there is a mixture of light and dark.  There is no mixture in fire, or pure light.  The Fire of the Spirit consumes all the darkness, like a jealous lover.  The water PROTECTS creation, is a COVERING for creation.  It is in covenant with fire, to sustain life.  Just as life does not exist without water, NOR does it exist without light.  They work together, BUT, the water protects against the nature of the light.

We can see plainly that this destruction was of a type to CLEANSE the earth of evil flesh, but it did not REMOVE the evil flesh.  It WASHED the earth, but it did not CHANGE the earth.  (We can see this truth represented also, in the preparation of the sacrifices made on the altar in Leviticus). The flood was used to CLEANSE man, but it did not CHANGE man, as is seen in the following history that we will look at in the weeks to come.  For now, I want to bring out a point that I feel is crucial to understanding the whole of the Torah from the foundation, that is in the first few verses of Genesis.

Gen. 8:21  “And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.”

The destruction of all life, besides Noah and his family, was not a sweet savor to G-d.  He takes no pleasure in the destruction of the wicked.  Water itself did not produce PLEASURE in G-d.  It wasn’t until FIRE was applied, that pleasure was realized.  Water cannot purify, it can wash, it can clean, but it does not purify.  Fire purifies, and when it purifies it causes a sweet smelling savour to arise to the L-rd.  The combination of a form of dust and water (body) combined with fire produces a sweet smelling savour.  Again, the Holy Spirit is represented by FIRE in this created Universe.

Some do not realize that Yeshua coming in form of fallen man is NOT what G-d has taken pleasure in.  He was PLEASED with His Son.  The Father took pleasure in His Son, not because He was a man, but because He was PURE.  The Son only did what He saw His Father do.

Phil. 2:5 “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
:6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
:7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
:8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
:9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
:10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
:11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Some are not aware that the Universe itself is a humbling for G-d to have His presence in. We have looked at this briefly in lesson one, that G-d is not His creation, and those who worship created, dead things are blind to who G-d is.  It is very much beneath Him, who by nature is a consuming fire. What represents His Spirit in this realm CONSUMES, DESTROYS, ALL the darkness, EVERYTHING!!!  He is unable to come in His greatness in a universe that will be destroyed by His Own Presence.  Nothing can hold Him, no house, no temple, NOTHING.  He is FAR GREATER than His creation.  For this universe to HAVE His PRESENCE with us in POWER, it must be RE-MADE in FIRE and LIGHT.  And, of course, that is exactly what is going to happen after the millennial Reign of Yeshua.  When once you get the whole big picture of the PURPOSE of the Torah, that reveals the WILL of G-d, the rest of the Scripture unfolds like a scroll of great blessing.  It ENLARGES the capacity of the reader to depth and heights non can know but those who belong to Him, and IN Him, for it is He Himself that reveals.

Yeshua humbled Himself, and this is brought out in His own creation of the world.  His earthly presence was as the place of the water from the beginning of creation.  This does not take away from Him, it only explains Him.  What He was like before He came in form of man was far greater than what he appeared to be in form of man.  Water represents G-d in form of man, Fire represents G-d in His Glory..  In form of man His was the Water, on His return, we will see the Nature of His G-d-hood.

Yeshua said to His disciples in John 14:12, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.”

Water can cleanse, Fire purifies.  The greater works are works DONE IN THE FIRE OF THE HOLY GHOST.  We will look at this in detail in the weeks to come.

Again, it is not in that Yeshua became a man that is the pleasure of the Father, but that He lived a perfect, spotless, PURE life.  As PURE  as a living fire.  He was totally consumed by the FIRE of G-d’s nature, which would destroy anyone else because of the mixture, the darkness and light, the combustible elements within us.  In Him, Yeshua, there was no darkness, only in the earthly form He took on is there a mixture of light in dark, in the natural sense, as seen in the death and aging.  Death and ageing is proof of the mixture in our physical bodies.  But, as Paul the Apostle has written, we will PUT OFF this outward corruptible flesh, and put on immortality, just as Yeshua had done in His resurrection.

Yeshua’s work on this earth was as that of water, in that, He came to live a spotless, sinless life.  He represented the spotless offerings, the sacrifices offered on the altar, that were washed, cleaned, prepared by man, and in His time of passion, in His suffering, was consumed by the Holy Fire, and accepted of His Father as a sweet savour.

Yeshua is the Word of G-d, John 1:1, and it is by Him that we are WASHED, by the renewing of our minds, which is also represented by water.

Eph. 5:26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,

Water is used to wash the offering, the utensils, everything, in order to make the sacrifice.  Water was used before the fire to make ready the sacrifice.  The offering must be made clean before it can be offered.  Water can not purify the offering, only fire can purify, we will see the significance in this as we continue on.  We can see in this the work of Yeshua, before the giving of the Holy Spirit in tongues of fire.

When G-d destroyed the earth with a flood of water in Noah’s day, we can look at it as a cleansing of the earth.

We are of water in our natural creation.  We are of water and clay, and we are totally dependant on water, and we are dependant on the food which is all of the clay, or dust, that comes from the soil (the food itself is dependant on water).  We are tied to the earth for life.  The earth was destroyed by its own life source.  Man was destroyed in the flood by what he is made up of.  Man cannot be purified by the same substance that it is made from.  Washing cannot purify, the religions acts that make up washing in the world of man cannot purify.  We can clean our dirty hands on the outside, as water cleans a dish, but it cannot purifiy.  We will get into this in detail when we begin to look at the sacrifices made by the children of Israel in the desert.

We are dependant on what we are made up of.  We die if we don’t eat and drink.  We can go for weeks without food, but we die after a few days without water.  This again is a purposed design in our creation, and that of the whole universe, that will be brought out in detail as we continue  this study of the Torah.

Water cleans, but fire purifies completely. The flood of destruction was to destroy the evil from advancing on the earth, but it did not have the power to purify the earth.  There were piles of rotting flesh after the flood.  The earth is covered with signs of the flood, with fossils of these dead bodies.  The earth was not purified of these corpses, nor was man purified of sin.  Washing with water cannot purify a man.  It can clean him, but not purify him.

Only the Blood of Yeshua can cleanse a man.  His blood was spilled as a perfect sacrifice for our sins.  He was bruised, and pierced, and nailed to a tree in the crucible of affliction, as in a fiery furnace, and spilt His precious blood, to wash away our sins.  Nothing else would do, no matter how many sacrifices were made, or are made.  It takes a WORK of the Holy Spirit of Fire to accomplish this.  And when Yeshua went up to be, again, with His Father, HE SENT the comforter, as flaming tongues of fire, to those who were watching and waiting for His promise.  He won us out of the world, and presented us to the Father SPOTLESS in Him, so that we might find MERCY before the Throne of G-d.  His Holy Spirit of Fire is MAKING US READY for the return of Yeshua in all of His glory, who’s brightness will light up the eastern sky when He appears.  He is making us ready to WALK IN THE FIRE OF G-D.  Now is the time of salvation. Now is the time for the Water of the Word to wash us, and CLEANSE OUR MINDS. NOW is the day of Mercy, the day of SALVATION. Now is the time for the FILLING of the Holy Spirit of Fire to CONSUME the dross IN MERCY.  His WORD in us is a GREAT MERCY for us.  His WORD in our hearts PROTECTS US from being consumed by THE Consuming Fire.  It is my prayer for my own life, that G-d would JUDGE ME NOW according to His Mercy (water), and not according to my own sin (that is consumed by the Fire of G-d’s presence)

G-d has made Him self KNOWABLE in the Universe.  He has revealed His Mercy in the things He has made.  All of creation PRAISES Him.  The Bible is all about Him.  It reveals His Nature, and His plan for US.  As we continue on in these studies, I hope you will put Him Yeshua, in the first place of your heart and mind, that He may fill up your vision.  He is everything creation is about.  He desires to reveal Himself to you and I in a way that brings complete blessing, spirit, soul, and body.

Shalom

Bond Servant Mark