Putting these facts together, we can understand that God would surely have created the heavens and the earth with great order and beauty, yet that through some sinful circumstance they became desolate and devastated—ruined and uninhabitable—in need of renewal (cf. Psalm 104:30) before the creation of mankind! Indeed, Genesis 1:1–2 can accurately be translated: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. But the earth had become a desolation and a chaotic ruin, and darkness was on the face of the deep.”
So, does the Bible describe any sin or rebellion against God, before Adam’s creation, that could have brought such chaos and ruin? Yes, it does! Scripture tells us what Satan had done before he met Eve in the Garden of Eden, seeking to lure her into sinning against God (Genesis 3:1–5). God’s word makes it plain that angels were present before the earth existed, and they shouted for joy when they saw its foundation laid (Job 38:6–7)! Lucifer—who became Satan the devil—existed at this time. Scripture describes this corrupted, sinful creature leading a prideful angelic rebellion (Ezekiel 28:12–16; Isaiah 14:12–14)—a rebellion that Scripture indicates included a third of the angels (Revelation 12:4). Isaiah 14:14 describes this prideful being’s desire to “ascend above the clouds” to take God’s very throne for himself—which implies that his assigned responsibilities were below the clouds, and therefore on the earth! Lucifer had the free will either to obey or to disobey God, and by refusing to carry out God’s will he became Satan—an adversary to God.
As sin always does, Satan’s rebellion brought destruction and ruin—in this case devastating the earth that had been his charge to prepare for God’s purposes. It is this chaotic and ruinous devastation, tohu and bohu, that we see reflected in the words of Genesis 1:2, and it is the miraculous six-day restoration of this planet—to a state of beauty and wonder fit for God’s creation of mankind—that we see in the rest of Genesis chapter 1!
Great read!