Seven Things God Was Doing Before Genesis 1:1

by Dr. Gary Hedrick

THE OPENING WORDS OF THE HEBREW BIBLE ARE "Bereshith bara Elohim at
Hashamim vat haeretz." Or, in the English, "In the beginning God created the
heaven and the earth" (Gen. 1:1). However, have you ever wondered what God was
doing before He created our universe with its planets, stars, and galaxies? Was He
idle throughout the infinite eons of eternity past?

In ancient Judaism, the Talmud attempted to answer this question by suggesting

seven things that were created before the universe: Torah (the five books of
Moses), T'shuva (repentance), Gan Eden Garden of Eden), Gehinnom (Hell), Kisse
Hakavoth (the Throne of Glory), Beith Hamikdash (the Temple; lit., "House of the
Sanctuary"), and Shem Hamashiach (the Name of the Messiah).

The Bible shows us that there are elements of truth in these traditional Jewish
ideas. It reveals that God was doing seven things before He created our universe.

1. The Association of the Tri-unity

Each Person of the Godhead was in eternal fellowship with the other two Persons
before the world was created. All three were actively involved in the Creation: the
Father (Gen. 1:1), the Son (John 1:1; Col. 1:16), and the Ruach Hakodesh, or Holy
spirit (Gen. 1:2).

In the same passage, Jesus spoke of the glory He had with the Father before the
world existed (John 17:5). Peter, James, and John had a glimpse of that glory on
the Mount of Transfiguration: "And [Jesus] was transfigured before them: and his
face did she as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light" (Matt. 17:2). This
was the same glorious Presence, or Shekinah, which appeared to Moses in the
Tabernacle a a cloud (Ex. 33:8-10; see also 13:21; 14:19; 16:10; and 40:36).
Also, when Jesus Christ comes the second time, ". . . then shall they see the Son of
man coming in a cloud with power and great glory" (Luke 21:27).

For centuries, the rabbis have struggled with Genesis 1:26, where God says, ". . .
Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: . . ." The plural noun Elohim
(God), used in conjunction with the plural pronouns "us" and "our," argues
persuasively for the existence of a plurality within the Godhead.

But doesn't the idea of divine plurality contradict the Jewish Shema, which
declares that ". . . The LORD our God is one LORD" (Deut. 6:4)? Not when we
realize that the Hebrew word echad (one) is often used to designate a compound
unity rather than a simple unity. Note that the same word is used in Genesis 2:24
when Adam and Eve were married and became basar echad, or "one flesh."

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2. The Creation of the Angels
God created the angels before the foundation of the universe. In fact, they were
witnesses to the Creation. "Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the
earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. When the morning stars sang together,
and all the sons of God shouted for joy?" (Job 38:4, 7).

The Hebrew phrase benai Haelohim, translated "sons of God," occurs five times in
the Old Testament (Gen. 6:2, 4: Job 1:6; 2:1; and 38:7), and ancient rabbinic
sources agree that it refers to angels in each of those instances. (Only in more
recent times have Christian scholars introduced alternate interpretations of this
passage in Genesis.)

Before he fell into sin, Satan was known as "Lucifer, son of the morning" (Isa.
14:12-15), an angelic being of the highest magnitude. God said to him, "Thou art
the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the
holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones
of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou was created, till
iniquity was found in thee" (Ezek. 28:14-15).

The fact that God was engaged in creative activity before Genesis 1:1 has led
some expositors to speculate that He may have created other universes besides
our own, with worlds populated by living beings. The Bible, however, is silent on
this matter. In any case, it appears that the phenomena of sin and redemption are
peculiar to our own world.

3. The Inscription of the Lamb's Book of Life

Another one of God's activities before Genesis 1:1 was writing the names of His
people in the Book of Life. ". . . and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder,
whose names were written in the book of life from the foundation of the world . .
." (Rev. 17:8; compare 13:8). We are told that the inhabitants of the New
Jerusalem will be ". . . they which are written in the Lamb's book of life" (Rev.
21:27).

In the Hebrew Bible, the term sefer chayim (book of life) appears only in Psalm 69:
"Add iniquity unto their iniquity; and let them not come into thy righteousness.
Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the
righteous" (Verses 27-28). Nonetheless, there are many passages that allude to
the existence of a "book: containing the destinies of people in the 'olam haba, or
the "world to come."

One instance is Malachi 3:16, where the Prophet says, ". . . the LORD hearkened,
and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that
feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name."

A further reference is found in Daniel's prophecy: "And at that time shall Michael
stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there
shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that

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same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be
found written in the book" (Dan. 12:1).

4. The Conception of the Messianic Community

God conceived the mystery of the Messianic Community, or the church, prior to
the Creation. This involved the mysterious joining together of both Jews and
Gentiles in the Body of Christ.

"And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the
beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus
Christ: To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly
places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, According to
the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Eph. 3:9-11; see
also 2:10-22).

5. The Provision of Salvation

Before the foundation of the universe, God appointed Messiah Jesus to be the
Mediator of salvation by means of His death. "Forasmuch as ye know that ye were
not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain
conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood
of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was
foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last
times for you" (1 Peter 1:18-20).

Jesus Christ was delivered up according to the predetermined plan and

foreknowledge of God (Acts 2:23). "But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery,
even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would
not have crucified the Lord of glory" (1 Cor. 2:7-8).

6. The Election of God's People

We were appointed by God to salvation before the foundation of the world.
"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" (Eph. 1:4).

"Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our
works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ
Jesus before the world began" (2 Tim. 1:9). "In hope of eternal life, which God,
that cannot life, promised before the world began" (Titus 1:2).

7. The Preparation of the Kingdom

Before the foundation of the universe, God prepared the Messianic Kingdom for
His chosen ones. "Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come ye
blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation
of the world" (Matt. 25:34).

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An ancient rabbinic tradition said that human history would endure for a span of
six thousand years, followed by a thousand-year Shabbat (rest). The Zoham, a
collection of writings from Judaism's ancient mystical tradition, states, "Happy are
those left alive at the end of the sixth millennium to enter into [the millennium of]
the Shabbat" (1:119a).

Whether or not there are six thousand years from Adam and Eve to the coming of
the Messiah (a question which is debatable), the New Testament unequivocally
states that the final age will be a thousand years in duration: "Blessed and holy is
he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no
power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ [Messiah], and shall reign
with him a thousand years" (Rev. 20:6).

This coming Messianic Age, or Millennial Kingdom, will be a thousand-year period

of worldwide peace and prosperity. Messiah Jesus, the Lord of Hosts, will rule the
world through a global "government" headquartered in Jerusalem (Isa. 9:6-7;
24:23).

"And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they
shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruninghooks:
nation shall not life up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any
more" (Is. 2:4).

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Dr. Gary Hedrick is President and CEO of CJF Ministries in San Antonio, Texas, a Messianic Jewish
organization that provides the Good News about Yeshua HaMashiach—Jesus the Messiah—through
publications and a daily radio program, Messianic Perspectives. Dr. Hedrick leads tours to Israel and is
considered an authority on contemporary events in the Middle East and their prophetic significance. He
also has written many articles and study booklets, and has appeared on numerous radio and television
programs.