One must understand the 3 heaven and earth ages to answer your question
Three World Ages
(These verses are all taken from the KJV Bible)
Genesis 1:1-2
1 In the beginning God created the Heaven and the earth.
End of sentence. Nothing more is said and no time frame is given.
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.
was: OT:1961
hayah, haw-yaw;
a primitive root [compare OT:1933]; to exist, i.e.
be or become,
come to pass (always emphatic, and not a mere copula or auxiliary):
KJV - beacon, altogether, be (-come), accomplished, committed, like), break, cause, come (to pass), do, faint, fall, follow, happen, have, last, pertain, quit (oneself-), require, use.
without form: OT:8414
tohuw, to'-hoo;
from an unused root meaning
to lie waste;
a desolation (of surface), i.e. desert; figuratively, a worthless thing; adverbially, in vain:
KJV - confusion, empty place, without form, nothing, (thing of) nought, vain, vanity, waste, wilderness.
void: OT:922
bohuw (bo'-hoo); from an unused root (meaning
to be empty);
a vacuity, i.e. (superficially)
an undistinguishable ruin:
KJV - emptiness, void.
But wasn't this the way that God created the earth so he could seed it with plants, animals and finally people?
No, if you take a look at Isaiah 45:18 you will see the condition of the earth at the time of creation.
Isaiah 45:18
18 For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else.
Well then, how did the world become without form and void?
Jeremiah 4:23-28
23 I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.
24 I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly.
25 I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled.
26 I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the LORD, and by his fierce anger.
27 For thus hath the LORD said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end.
28 For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black: because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it.
KJV
Wasn’t this Noah’s flood?
No, because, as you will see below, there were eight Adamic souls saved plus an ark full of animals. The overthrow destroyed everything, there was no man, the birds were fled, the fruitful place was a wilderness and the cities were broken down.
Genesis 7:11-16
11 In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.
12 And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.
13 In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark;
14 They, and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort.
15 And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life.
16 And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him in.
KJV
1 Peter 3:20
20 Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.
KJV
Wait a minute, if this happened before Genesis 1:2, how could there be cities to be broken down?
There are several verses in the Bible telling us that our souls and spirits existed before the creation of this earth age:
Ephesians 1:3-6
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
4 According as he hath
chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
KJV
The apostles were predestinated to Jesus Christ!
Peter gives very convincing scripture about the creation, destruction of the earth and about the havens and earth,
which are now. Furthermore he is saying that we once knew! hence "stir up your pure minds by way of
remembrance." And in verse 3:5 Peter states that "we willingly are ignorant." I am paraphrasing here, the entire scripture is listed below.
2 Peter Ch. 3
3:1 This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance:
3:2 That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour:
3:3 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts
3:4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
3:5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:
3:6 Whereby the world that then was,
being overflowed with water, perished:
3:7 But the heavens and the earth,
which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
3:8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
KJV
There are a number of verses that promise
Mark 10:30
But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come
eternal life.
KJV
John 5:39
Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have
eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.
KJV
Acts 13:48
And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to
eternal life believed.
KJV
Romans 2:7
To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality,
eternal life:
KJV
When you look up this word "eternal" in the Strong's concordance you will see that eternal live applies also to the past! You will live in all eternity past, present and future. For this to happen we must have existed before this life and before this earth age.
eternal: NT:166
aionios, ahee-o'-nee-os;
from NT:165; perpetual (also used of
past time, or
past and future as well):
KJV - eternal, for ever, everlasting, world (began).
Jeremiah 1:5
5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
KJV
Revelation 13:8
8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
KJV
1 Peter 1:20-21
20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,
21 Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.
KJV
Three World Ages (bibleresearcher.org)
