#3──從無到有──Nisi Prius, before Ex Nihilo

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第一部分：創世記的記載

一、開始：第三章 從無到有

我所理解的是什麼，和實際是什麼──很可能是兩件截然相反的事情。我必須從聖經中確定，上帝過去、現在和將來，都是不可改變的，不受影響的。祂以前是，現在是，將來也是，沒有受造物的任何部分可以容納祂。所以     如果我假設創世記1:1是對以前的事情的總結，那麼我就可以推測創世記1:2是對這些事件的推斷。或者我可以把創世記1:1理解為事件本身的一部分；「起初，神創造天地」。這似乎令人難以置信地不言自明。但我們必須問的問題是：「起初是什麼時候？」我們發現，天是在「起初」之後說的，地也是如此──但我們是否可以說這只是一個總結，而不是第一天之前的部分時間？

讓我們用總結的觀點把這個問題往下看一下。是的，上帝確實創造了一切（謝謝你的直接介紹，摩西）。但它是什麼呢？是不是應該說「起初，上帝創造了一切？」為什麼要列出具體內容？難道他不可以說「起初，上帝創造了人、蘿卜、豹子和其他一切？」但既然列出了非常具體的項目，我們就不能認為這是一個總結，而是列出了上帝在第一天之前所造的全部東西。

也許清單的想法是有道理的。創世記1:2說：「地是沒有形狀，也是虛空， 黑暗籠罩著深淵的面。神的靈安息在水面上。」⁵⁷如果我們發現第2節中列出了更多具體的事情，我們就必須對第1節進行若幹假設。讓我們研究一下第1節列出的內容。上帝、天和地。第2節列出了：地、深淵（和它的面）、神的靈、水（和它們的面）和黑暗。現在，請容忍我，我可能會在 「深」字上有些動搖，因為有時我把它理解為「水」，有時我把它理解為「深淵」。但我認為在幾乎所有情況下，它確實是指「深淵」。 ⁵⁸

我們在這裡看到第一天之前的一切。上帝，祂的靈、天、地、水、深、 黑暗。這是一個不可迴避的、所有重要的清單。上帝（在祂的以羅欣 (Elohim) 表現中）在那裡，宇宙也在那裡。這就是宇宙的全部光輝。上帝和祂的其他東西。而它的部分是這樣的。天、地、水、深淵、黑暗。正是從這些元素中，上帝將在未來的經文中移動和形成，操縱和形成所有的創造。關於這四個基本元素所處的情況，我們唯一要知道的是：「無形無質」。⁵⁹這句話說明瞭很多問題。它是混亂和空虛的。混亂和空虛。這是對事物存在之前的虛無的一個很好的總結。但上帝就在那裡，祂負責這一切的形成。這是在我們看到神的任何行動之前。下一節的第一句話是：「神說」（And God said），或按希伯來語的字面意思：「說神」（Said God），這是一個行動動詞，與描述行動來源的名詞相連。我覺得很新鮮，知道他沒有揮舞雙手，從帽子裡掏出一隻兔子，或做一些同樣愚蠢的事情，就像小哈里．布萊克斯通在1987年橙色碗半場表演中所做的那樣。⁶⁰這一切只需要祂的一句話。

最近在臉書上與布蘭登和賽蒙的對話中，我們談到了聲波是液體在受到聲音刺激時發出的光。當耶和華對著水說話時，光就被創造出來了，這不是很有趣嗎？沒有什麼比我們造物主無限的想像力在自然界中的一面鏡子了。會不會是這樣的事情呢？當上帝說話的時候，事情就會發生。「耶和華的聲音發在水上．榮耀的　神打雷、耶和華打雷在大水之上。耶和華的聲音大有能力．耶和華的聲音滿有威嚴。耶和華的聲音震破香柏樹．耶和華震碎利巴嫩的香柏樹。他也使之跳躍如牛犢、使利巴嫩和西連跳躍如野牛犢。耶和華的聲音使火焰分岔。耶和華的聲音震動曠野．耶和華震動加低斯的曠野。耶和華的聲音驚動母鹿落胎、樹木也脫落淨光。凡在他殿中的、都稱說他的榮耀。」 ⁶¹

註

⁵⁷ 自己的總結。

⁵⁸ Strong’s Concordance 8415:”tehom”，ְּתְּהוֹם ，深，海，深淵。

⁵⁹ 無形是  תֹּהוּ，意味著「廢物、無形、困惑、混亂、不真實、空虛 」是 「虛」的意思。בֹּהוּ 是虛空 (VOID) 的ּ意思：「虛無或空虛」。

⁶⁰ 被許多魔術師評價為歷史上最糟糕的現場魔術表演。

⁶¹詩篇29:3-9

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Part One: The Genesis Account

I: The Beginning──Chapter 3: Nisi Prius, before Ex Nihilo

What I understand to be, and what actually is – may just very well be two diametrically opposed things. I have to ascertain from the Scriptures that God was and is and is to come, immutable and unsustained. He is before, is always, and will be forever, without any part of creation to hold Him. So… If I assume Genesis 1:1 to be a summary of what was before, then I can then surmise that Genesis 1:2 is an extrapolation of these events. Or I may understand Genesis 1:1 to be a part of the events themselves;” In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” This seems incredibly self-explanatory. But the question that we must ask is: “When was the beginning?” We find that the heavens were spoken of after “the beginning,” as was the earth – but can we say that this is only a summary, and not part of the time before day one?

Let us take this down the road a little with the summary point of view. Yes, God did create everything (thank you for the direct introduction Moses). But what of it? Would it be better to have said: “In the beginning, God created everything.”? Why are there specifics listed? Could he not have said: “In the beginning God created man and turnips and leopards and everything else”? But since there are very specific items listed, we cannot think that this is a summary, but a list of the total things God had made before the first day.

Perhaps there is something to the list idea. Genesis 1:2 says: “The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was resting over the face of the waters.”¹ We have to suppose several things about verse 1 if we find even more specific things listed in verse 2. Let us examine what verse 1 lists: God, heavens, and earth. Verse 2 lists: earth, the deep (and its face), the Spirit of God, waters (and their face), and darkness. Now, please bear with me… I may waiver a bit on the word “Deep”, as sometimes I understand it to be “waters” and sometimes I understand it to be “Abyss.” But I think in almost every case it does mean “Abyss.”²

We see here all that were before day one: God, His Spirit, the heavens, the earth, the waters, the deep, the darkness. This is an inescapable and all important list. God (in His Elohim manifestation) is there and so is the cosmos. This is the universe in all its glory: God and the rest of His stuff. And its parts are this: Heaven, Earth, Water, Abyss, Darkness. It is from these elements that God will move upon and form in the coming verses to manipulate and form all of creation. The only thing we have to know about the situation that these four base elements are in is this: “Formless and void.”³ That spells out a lot. It was confusing and empty. Chaotic and void. A good summation of the nothing that was before things were. But God was there and He was in charge of the formation of it all. This is before we are shown any action by God. The first words of the next verse are: “And God said” or literally in Hebrew phraseology: “Said God” which is an action verb attached to the noun describing from whom the action originates. I find it refreshing to know that He didn’t wave His hands, pull a rabbit out of a hat, or do something equally as silly as Harry Blackstone Jr did in the 1987 Orange Bowl Halftime show.⁴ All it took was His utterance.

In a conversation recently with Brandon and Symun on Facebook, we talked about how Sonoluminescence is the emission of light from liquid when excited by sound. Isn’t it interesting how when YHVH speaks into the waters, light was created? Nothing like a mirror in nature of our Creator’s limitless imagination. Could it be that it was something like that? When God speaks, things happen. “The voice of Yahweh [is] over the waters; the God of glory thunders. Yahweh [is] over many waters. The voice of Yahweh [is] powerful. The voice of Yahweh [is] majestic. The voice of Yahweh breaks [the] cedars. Yahweh shatters even the cedars of Lebanon. And he makes them skip like a calf; Lebanon and Sirion like a young wild ox. The voice of Yahweh flashes flames of fire. The voice of Yahweh shakes [the] wilderness. Yahweh shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. The voice of Yahweh causes deer to give birth and strips [the] forests bare. And at his temple all in it say, ‘Glory!’” ⁵

Footnotes

¹ Summation by myself.

² Strong’s Concordance 8415: “tehom”, תְּהוֹם , deep, sea, abyss

³ Formless is תֹּהוּ and means: “Waste, formlessness, confusion, chaos, unreality, emptiness”. בֹּהוּ is the word for Void and it means: “Void or empty.”

⁴ Rated by many magicians as the worst live magic show in the history of the profession.

⁵ Psalm 29:3-9 LEB

──Biblical Cosmology by Pauly Hart
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