Pastor Tim Brown, Calvary Chapel Fremont, Sunday July 31, 2011

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    The Holy Spirit is Waiting

    Genesis 1:2

Baxter: creation/fall/flood/Babel/Abraham/Isaac/Jacob/Joseph

The Holy Spirit and Creation

The earth was FORMELESS/VOID/DARK - not look good.  How should we understand a formless/void/dark earth?  How can this planet which has been created by God start off so inhospitable to life?

The two words that are translated formless/void are tohu va bohu.  They occur together in two other passages.

I looked at the earth, and it was formless and empty; and at the heavens, and their light was gone.  Jer. 4:23

The desert owl and screech owl will possess it; the great owl and the raven will nest there. God will stretch out over Edom the measuring line of chaos and the plumb line of desolation.  Is. 34:11

Both I/J use these words to describe the consequences of sin which result in judgment on Israel/Edom. So, does v2 describe result of judgment?  Is v2 the way God made the earth/what it came to be?

It is thought, by some, that there is a between vv1&2there is a big gap.  Before the six days of creation that begin in v3, there were previous generations/civilizations on this planet that were judged/ destroyed/then God starts over in v3.  Others don’t follow – they say that v2 doesn’t describe the result of judgment but a phase of creation.

Tsumura writes that: “Tohu/bohu means an ‘unproductive/uninhabited place.’  The main reason for the author’s mentioning the earth as tohu/bohu… is to inform the audience that the earth is ‘not yet’ the earth as it was known to them.”

http://books.google.com/books?id=eOQjVxVM6goC&printsec=frontcover&dq=inauthor:%22David+Toshio+Tsumura%22&hl=en&ei=rnwxTtW3JujWiALe_P2OBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CDcQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q&f=false
 
Was it chaos/disorder/disorganization or emptiness/empty space?

v2 describes a phase of creation

Gap Theory: darkness in v2 is result of fall of Satan.  Is. 45:7  God created the darkness.  The darkness in v2 is literal darkness.  Don’t confuse the literal reality w/ symbolic meaning.  Sometimes yeast is evil; sometimes yeast is yeast.  The darkness in v2 is physical, not moral. If physical darkness is evil, then nighttime is evil.  But we couldn’t survive w/o the night.  We say, “I can’t wait until it gets dark.”  Kids come in/time for bed/Wheel of Fortune not air/no 10 o’clock news

The earth was created formless/void – like an uninhabited desert.  Then God began to form/fill.  He created in phases.  The earth was like Play-Doh in its container - formless/void – you create!  When you play w/ Play-Doh w/ your kids/grandkids teach them G1:2.

the role of the holy spirit

So the earth is empty/uninhabited/dark.  But note the 2nd ½ of the verse - the Spirit was hovering upon the face of the waters.  The Holy Spirit wasn’t at work yet/He’s waiting for something to happen.  Something has to happen b4 the Spirit’s power is unleashed.

Note the parallelism: darkness was upon the face of the deep and the Spirit was upon the face of the water.  Darkness/Spirit are in the same place.

But one more bit of info is given us about the Spirit.  While the darkness is simply upon the face of the deep – the Spirit is moving/ hovering/waiting.  The Holy Spirit was there in a way that the darkness wasn’t there.  The darkness was there in its fullness – it couldn’t get any darker.  The Spirit was there in all His potential - the full potential of the Spirit isn’t seen in v2.  He is waiting.  We have yet to see the full potential of the Spirit.  Apply.

The HS is hovering – but not working.  What’s He waiting for?  Why doesn’t the Holy Spirit create light in this darkness?  He waits for the Word 2b spoken.  The Holy Spirit doesn’t work where there is no Word.    No Word until v3.  Where there is no Word of God there is no work of God.

As the Word comes to you, the Spirit works in you.  Where there is no Word of God there is no work of God.  So many experience emptiness in their lives/wonder why the Holy Spirit doesn’t come/do something.  He works where there is the Word.  He is waiting 4u right now!  God has a word to speak to your finances/faith/emotions /marriage/health… He is waiting for you to take up the Word.  Bible reading/study is so important.  Listening for His voice is crucial!

“But, Pastor – I’ve been allowing the Word of God into my life and I haven’t experienced the work of God in my life.”  Heb. 4:2.  Note: work that He is doing/wants to do is other/deeper than what you think it might be.  Cf. Drainers – prayer for healing/flooded with peace.  I don’t see healing, but I do see Christ.

Even as the Holy Spirit was instrumental in God’s creation, He is instrumental in God’s new creation.  God was going to make something from this formlessness/void/darkness.  What a great description of your life b4 God got a hold of you.  The Holy Spirit is excited over what you can become.  Saw a lady wearing a hat: God Made Me – He was just showing off!  We see Him taking hold of Noah/Abraham/ Jacob – making something of their lives to the glory of God.  God sees the big picture of what you can become.  God wants to show off in you!

The Holy Spirit and Israel

Moses is writing not only to tell the story of creation, but to tell the story of Israel, too.  Even as the earth was not what the earth was to become, so, in Egypt, Israel was not what Israel was to become.  Even as the Spirit was hovering upon the face of the waters, the Spirit was hovering upon Israel – waiting to bring them forth.  They had no form as a nation/were in darkness/God called Moses/Moses spoke the Word of the Lord/Spirit was unleashed to work.

It wasn’t deliverance from Egypt/miraculous preservation through the wilderness that made Israel unique.  What made them unique/ set apart was the Word of God – they received the Word of God.  Receiving/formed by/led by the Word.  “Thy Word is light.”  As they obeyed the Word of the Lord/as the Spirit worked, they were blessed.  As they ignored it - became small of soul/spiritually dry.

Even as the earth was not what the earth was to become/Israel/so you.  The Spirit is waiting to work.  Noah/dove.  As you take up God’s Word, the Spirit has a resting place.  As the Word is spoken into your life the Spirit is released into your life.  If the Holy Spirit isn’t invited into certain areas of our lives, these remain untouched.

Even as the world was created empty/void – so you…

This theory used to be more widely held than it is today, though some reputable scholars still hold to it.  It is an attractive theory because it allows us to place in the gap between vv1&2 any finding of science that seems to dispute the Scripture – fossils/pre-historic man/rocks that are thought to be billions of years old.

The most current/comprehensive discussion of the phrase in reference to cognate Semitic languages as well as biblical usage is given by David Tsumura (Earth/Waters of G1-2):

    Hebrew tōhû  is based on a Semitic root and means “desert.”’ The term bōhû  is also a Semitic term based on the root “to be empty.” …The Hebrew term bōhû  means (1) “desert,” (2) “a desert-like place,”  i.e. “a desolate or empty place”  or “an uninhabited place”  or (3) “emptiness.” The phrase refers to a state of “aridness/unproductiveness” (Jer 4:23) or “desolation” (Isa 34:11) and to a state of “unproductiveness/emptiness” in Genesis 1:2. 1

This word move/hover is used in Dt. 32:11 to describe a mother eagle watching over her young.

Earth created/gradually brought forth/man bearing image of God.

Israel created/gradually brought forth/called as God’s people – uniquely bearing something of God.  Even as man bears something the animals don’t, so Israel something the nations don’t.  So the church bears something the nations don’t.

Light/separation/filling/quickening/into Eden – promised land.