Romans - God's Timeline I: The First Heaven and Earth

The phrase “life eonian” was used in Romans 2:7, and 5:21. I briefly discussed what “life eonian” was in the last section, but here I would like to give you a more detailed look at the eons in their entirety, that the full scope of “reigning in life” with Christ may be made known to us.

Such a detailed project may take a few articles, but I believe this to be wholly worth it. It will enlighten us on God’s careful word usage, both in Romans and in the rest of the scriptures. This word study will not only consider a comprehensive use of the word aion and its derivatives (in the New Testament, at least – OT will be used but it may not be comprehensive,) but will also consider major topics concerning God’s timeline. Namely, at this point, we will take a critical break in the Romans study to consider the following, which will guide us in our studies going forward:

-       three heavens and the three earths

-       the five worlds

-       the five eons

-       the twelve administrations

These points, which respectively concern us with the material basis of the universe, its moral constitution, its duration and character, and the different stages of man’s development thus. This will firmly prepare us for a consideration of Romans 6, which will concern us with the direction of human history, and God’s relative agenda with us on this pale blue dot.

I plan for this study to be as comprehensive in its scope as it can be. I want to make it abundantly clear that the chart we will look at in a moment is full of scriptural weight, and carries an abundance of truth. I don’t want to hide any details from you, and if any of you have additional points to bring to the table (and some of you already have,) I’d be more than happy to listen.

Wait, Wait, Wait… Who Asked?

Why does this timeline matter? Well, supposing for a brief moment that the word aion means “eon,” or, an extraordinarily long period of time, let us observe Hebrews 11:3:

By faith we are apprehending the eons to adjust to a declaration of God, so that what is being observed has not come out of what is appearing.

Clearly, if our understanding of the term is correct, apprehending the eons would adjust our understanding to resemble a declaration of God, as opposed to our own personal beliefs or opinions.

Now, in order to ensure that this is, indeed, the declaration of God, we must first consider a few other concepts which are notably clearer and more direct in scripture before applying any definite meaning to aion and its adjectival forms.

A Visual Representation of God’s Calendar

With that said, there are other believers that have concisely lined up this symmetrical timeline for us. Let’s take a look at the following chart:

(Note: my blog is extremely feisty when it comes to showing images. You can view an enlarged, clearer version of this photo by clicking here.)

This is a large, expansive chart that, on the surface, looks complicated, but I hope to break it down for you in an easily-digestible fashion. For a detailed video which explains all of this to you without making any major attempt to prove the position, you can click here.

First, this calendar is best comprehended when broken down in pieces, from left to right. As you look along the left column, you will see that each section of this calendar is broken into a different topic, shown on the grand scale from the beginning of the “eonian story of creation” to the end. As such, I am going to begin in the top left section of the chart.

The Three Heavens and the Three Earths

In this section, I will cover “The Three Heavens and Earths,” and “The Creations.” Observe:

There is one line in all of scripture – and in most of the known world – which mankind knows. Not only is it the most popular, but it stands out as the greatest introduction to any book ever written. Observe Genesis 1:1–

In a beginning, Elohim created the heavens and the earth.

This statement is commonly known, but how little time do many of us spend truly dwelling on its depths? Such a statement prepares us, not only for the theme of Genesis (which concerns us with creation and generation,) but gives us the thesis statement, if you will, for the entirety of Holy Writ. At this point, we are introduced to a character, Elohim, and we are informed of His ability to create incomprehensibly vast spheres of space. The rest of Holy Writ demonstrates the reliability of this claim, and we would do well to view it again in light of the entire body of work, which, from our special vantage point, we can do.

However, our goal is not quite yet to study Genesis 1:1 in detail (we should do this after reading Romans a few times, or, perhaps, even after reading Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians, and stand in our apostle’s words when we revisit older passages.) What we want to do is study the heavens (yes, it’s plural, more on this when we study Genesis,) and the earth in relation to time.

Three Heavens

It is commonly supposed that there is one single heaven in existence, and that this is where you go when you die. Many posit that the “expectation of the glory of God” as expounded upon in Romans 5:2 is this glory.

First, such a theory is counter-intuitive. Many great minds have countered such a theory with the simple claim that one could profess belief, and then kill themselves, and immediately enter a much greater eternity with God than this pitiful existence on earth. Even greater minds have noted that, when the text is properly translated, no verse verifies this claim without heavily straining or changing the words.

In truth, there are three heavens, and three earths, which demand our attention. The apostle Peter, when writing to the twelve tribes of the dispersion, writes in 2 Pet. 3:5-7–

For [scoffers] want to be ignorant of this, that there were heavens of old, and an earth cohering out of water and through water, by the word of God…

These evidently cannot be the heavens and earth which we are living in today, for Peter continues in verse 7, saying,

Yet the heavens now, and the earth, by the same word, are stored with fire.

And, finally, Peter clarifies later in verse 13 that

We, according to His promises, are hoping for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness is dwelling.

In these three portions of the same passage, the heavens and earth are progressively given a past, present, and future tense. This is extremely important, for this simple verbiage will come into play when we later consider the word aion and aionios. For now, however, let us briefly consider details concerning this revelation.

The First Heavens and Earth

The heavens and earth which are first presented to us in Gen. 1:1 are perfect. As we read later in Deut. 32:4–

Grant greatness to our Elohim! The Rock – flawless are His deeds, For all His ways are right judgment.

When He effects, enacts, forms, makes, creates anything, it is perfect. He is flawless in nature, and thus creates a perfect first heaven and earth. Let us note that, thematically, Peter made a note to tell us that the earth was “cohering out of water and through water.” In scripture, the waters of the earth are a prevalent motif, typically denoting chaos and destruction (Gen. 7:6-24, Matt. 8:24, 12:40, 14:24-26, Mk. 5:13, John 6:16-22, etc.) Water is unstable, impermanent. It has three different states which are interchangeable. Keep this in mind, for I will be returning to it in greater detail throughout this mini series. Short story long, this perfect creation would have been a sight to behold.

So… what happened?

Well, there is a big event which occurs between verses 1 and 2 of Gen. 1, which we will consider in greater detail within this series. We will consider verse 2 in a moment. Before we do, however, let us finish 2 Pet. 3:5-6, which I (not so subtly) cut off. Peter writes–

For [scoffers] want to be ignorant of this, that there were heavens of old, and an earth cohering out of water and through water, by the word of God; through which the then world, being deluged by water, perished.

These heavens and earth collapse. A “deluge” is a “DOWN-SURGE.” It is a down surge of water that destroyed this first heaven and earth. The earth is flooded.

This cannot, naturally, be the flood referred to in Genesis 8, for a “new heavens and earth” are not said to be formed at the beginning of Genesis 9. In fact, the flood referred to in Genesis 7 is said to have been waters from above as well as from beneath (7:11.) While the flood of Genesis 7 is indeed massive, it shrinks in scope to the flood we are deferred to in 2 Pet. 3:5.

This is a minor intervention: the word “world,” as we discussed previously, is kosmos, a word that is, literally, a “system” or “order.” I will be returning to this at a later time in the next few articles. For now, we may understand the “world” as both the “heaven” and “earth,” covering the entire order and method by which God operated at that time. When the first heaven and earth are destroyed, so also, the world, called a “then world,” per the verse above, is said to have “perished,” or, “ceased to be.”

Introduce the Problem

Very little is said concerning the first heaven and earth, practically speaking. We receive undeniable confirmation of their existence, but pitifully few verses tell us of their practical nature. Instead, after telling us that He created this first heaven and earth (which itself begins many narrative points,) God switches gears, and quickly introduces conflict in verse two:

As for the earth, it came to be a chaos and vacant, and darkness was over the surface of the abyss. And the spirit of Elohim vibrated over the face of the waters.

This throws us quickly into confusion. A number of questions arise, but we may start with the obvious:

What do you mean the earth falls apart?? How did that happen? How did such a fate befall an all-powerful Deity’s work? Did said Deity have anything to do with this? And what does it say about His character?

We do not get immediate answers to this question. Like any good book, the Bible patiently plods along, overloading the conflict before providing any answer to these qualms in the complementary Greek scriptures. When we compare this verse with the passage considered in 2 Peter (as Bullinger so helpfully does in his Companion Bible,) we can begin to unravel a great difficulty which has confused many for thousands of years, now.

There’s a wealth of information here, in regards to our current topic. First, the elephant in the room: we do not, in this version, read that “the earth was without form and void.” This is a terrible translation, and many atheists have (rightly) poked at the Biblical narrative for shoddy statements like this. How, pray tell, is an earth without form and void?? It’s a physical earth. It has a definite shape! Such a phrase forces interpretive reasoning which will almost certainly contradict or deny a later portion of the passage!

Moreover, the term is not “was,” but “became,” or “came to be.” God did not “create” the earth as formless or void. Isaiah verifies this for us, in Is. 45:18–

For thus says Yahweh, Creator of the heavens; He is the One, Elohim, the Former of the earth and its Maker, He Himself established it; He did not create it a chaos; He formed it to be indwelt…

That this earth, which had been formed to be indwelt, “became vacant,” speaks of a terrible tragedy which takes place between Genesis 1:1-2. This statement is lost on the King James only crowd, who are unable to note that Gen. 1:2’s “chaos” and Is. 45:18’s “chaos” are the same word theu (along with “create,” in 1:1 and 45:18, bra.) This is no accident, and it is deceitful to hide this fact from the general populace. When we recognize that God did not create the earth a chaos, and yet, by Gen. 1:2, the earth mentioned in 1:1 becomes a chaos, we are forced to recognize that a large event occurred which takes place between these two verses.

Perhaps, say… a deluge?

- GerudoKing