CHAPTER 7
LOCATION 1: THE ORIGINAL UNIVERSE
After time was in place, the very first location created by God was the universe. We will call it the "original universe" since over the history of time there will have been two completely different universes plus two renovations of the original one. At the current point in time we are living in the first renovation of the universe, not in the original universe. The original universe was created just prior to the creation of the angels, and long before man was created. That original universe and its original earth were created for the angels as their primary home, and they lived on it in a societal structure much as man does now. The current universe as it now exists, which we will call the "renovated universe," is a changed version of the original universe, with those changes made in preparation for man's occupancy. Although we do not know how long the angels existed in the original universe before man was created, it was certainly a “very long time,” therefore the original universe also existed for a very long time before man was created. Don't worry, this is all consistent with Genesis chapter one, which we will see as this book unfolds. But at this point we will proceed to answer the question posed earlier which asked "what does it mean, the original universe?"
As a summary, the original universe was somewhat like the existing renovated universe, however, God had to make some significant changes to prepare the universe and earth for man's occupancy. A primary change was that the earth in the original universe included different plants and animals, including the dinosaurs, therefore the original universe was where dinosaurs roamed the earth and the plant life was generally more exotic and tropical. The entire earth had temperate weather, and possibly there was no tilt to the earth (speculation alert -- the Bible does not say). Although we know the earth in the original universe is the same basic earth and had a sun, we do not know whether the original universe had stars and planets as they exist now. This is because Genesis 1 says the stars and planets were created for the renovated universe, but does not say anything about having them in the original universe. Therefore it is possible, but not certain, that the original universe did not have the vast expanse of stars, planets, and other celestial bodies which now fill our renovated universe. The earth's surface was also changed on the renovated earth, with more elevation changes and oceans. The Garden of Eden was on both versions of the earth. But the most important change was that the original inhabitants of the earth, the angels, were replaced by new inhabitants, namely man. But why the changes to the universe and earth? Why did the angels leave? Why was man put on earth, the former home of the angels? We will answer these questions and many more in the coming chapters.
The Bible reveals that God first created the original universe and heaven, followed by the creation of the angels, and then the earth, in that order. As with many difficult subject areas in the Bible, we are not told everything in one succinct location, so it is a matter of putting the various concepts together into a complete picture, which will be done as this books proceeds.
We must start by understanding that the Bible does not use the term "universe" or any similar terminology (although some translations will incorrectly insert the term "universe" in a couple passages when it should be "world" or "ages"), but rather the Bible uses "heavens" in the plural to describe the multi-layered universe:
Isaiah 44:24 "I, the LORD, am the maker of all things, Stretching out the heavens by Myself And spreading out the earth all alone"
Jeremiah 32:17: “Ah, Sovereign Lord, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you.”
The Bible uses the term "heaven" for the throne room of God and also uses "the heavens," meaning the universe in layers:
Nehemiah 9:6: “You are the Lord, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you.”
We have already noted that souled creatures require time and location, so both a universe and heaven needed to be in place before the angels could be created. Therefore these locations came first in the order of creations. But the earth was not a part of the original creation of the universe, since the following verse shows that the angels already existed when the earth was created:
Job 38:4 “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand. 5 Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? 6 On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone— 7 while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?”
The "morning stars" and "all the angels" who sang and shouted for joy both refer to angels. The "morning stars" are the leadership angels (Satan was called "the bright morning star" before his fall) and then there are the regular angels called "all the angels" referring to the remainder of them.
We see from the verses above how the angels were ecstatic about the earth being created for them to use as a home when it says God "laid the foundations of the earth....while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy." This means the angels already existed before the earth was created, and they watched from heaven and cheered as God created the earth. Therefore "the angels shouted for joy" because the earth was created for them as their home. Man was not yet created, and would not be created for a very long time because God originally created the universe and later the earth for angels, not for man. This creation of the original earth must have been shortly after the angels were created, who were living in heaven and in the universe until God created earth as a separate home for them to enjoy. And it was a spectacular location designed and created specifically for the angels, and this beautiful paradise planet would become their very own home, which made all the angels "shout for joy" at earth's creation.
Angels therefore used planet earth as a home and the center of their societal structure long before man arrived. The Bible reveals that before his fall Satan enjoyed access to the Garden of Eden which was originally created for the angels, and was only ever on the earth.
Ezekiel 28:12 says of Satan: “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: ‘You [Satan] were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. 13 You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone adorned you: 14 You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you.”
So Satan was in the Garden of Eden long before man was created, and the Garden of Eden was only on earth. Long before Satan and his fallen angels revolted against God they roamed the entire universe as they pleased, since God provided it as a sort of inter-galactic abode and theme park for them to enjoy. But the angels primarily lived on the earth inside a societal structure since it was the most beautiful place in the universe. It may be hard to imagine that the earth and its original creation of plants and animals was the home of angels, but that is what the Bible reveals to us. They could travel back and forth between earth and heaven nearly instantaneously, since space travel was not a problem for them in their powerful bodies. The bulk of the angels lived and remained on the earth, while high ranking angels split their time between heaven and the earth. And the Garden of Eden was open to the angelic hierarchy as the premier spot on earth, with its Tree of Life and other fantastic food and scenery, although there was no Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil at that time. That tree would only be set up as a test for mankind much later when human history began on the same earth, although it would be refurbished for mankind, including a new set of plants and animals. But the Garden of Eden would generally be the same. And by the way, the Garden of Eden still exists on the earth, although it has been shut off from humans, so no one can enter it today. But it will be re-opened in eternity, as we will see in later chapters.
We have discussed how time and location are closely interrelated, and both are necessary for creatures to survive and relate to God. And during the "eternal now" before creatures were created there was neither time nor location since both are unnecessary to God. Remember, God is pure “Existence” and requires nothing else unless He desires something else. And He did. So after time was set into motion and the original universe and heaven were put in place, God created the angels. Man would not be created until a long time later, so this original creation of the universe and heaven was only for the angels. For a very long time God and the angels coexisted in harmony and unity in both heaven and in the original universe, primarily on the earth. Angels went back and forth but their home was on the earth, not in heaven. And that universe was designed for their pleasure and societal structure much like mankind, with hierarchy, order, working task assignments, and social life. These are necessary for the happiness of created beings. This angelic societal structure established on the earth lasted for a very long time. They worked and had positions within the society and were happy in their relationships with each other and with God.
Therefore in the original universe the earth was the premier planet and had the dinosaurs and exotic plant life, which were provided for the enjoyment of the angels. The dinosaurs could not harm the angels. In fact, since the angels could not die nothing could harm them. This existence of the universe and angels in harmony with God continued for an indeterminate period of time, but certainly for a very long time, possibly even millions of years, or maybe for a much shorter period. Satan was one of the highest ranking angels and God gave him everything a creature could desire. This harmony between God and his angels was only interrupted when some angels led by Satan revolted against God. Then things changed.
And just for any Big Bang enthusiasts and other anti-creationists who try to reconcile their theories about the universe with the Bible, the Bible shuts off all discussion on those issues:
Hebrews 11:3 "By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible. "
Job 26:7: "He spreads out the northern skies over empty space; he suspends the earth over nothing."
I will repeat the keys to understanding the Biblical view of time and the universe:
God does not need time, and exists in an “eternal now” apart from time
God created time; it did not exist until He created it
God does not need location; He created locations for souled creatures
Time, the universe and heaven were originally created for the angels
Angels revolted against God and changed the course of time, required changes to the universe, and also required additional locations to be created
Man was created to prove the love and fairness of God to Satan and his fallen angels
Eternity will continue time and location forever
We will now look at the second location created by God, which was heaven.