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In Genesis 1:1, God created the heavens and the earth, and they were created perfect and without fault. The earth, from the beginning, was created to be the home of man, and as such it was created beautiful and perfectly habitable for man.

The Uninhabitable Earth

We know the earth was created as a habitable place, for Isaiah 45:18 tells us:

For this is what the Lord says—

he who created the heavens,

he is God;

he who fashioned and made the earth,

he founded it;

he did not create it to be empty,

but formed it to be inhabited—

he says:

‘I am the Lord,

and there is no other.’ (NIV)

We are told in Isaiah 45:18 that God created the earth specifically to be inhabited, he did not create it to be empty. This means when God created the earth in Genesis 1:1, the earth was created as habitable, created as a place upon which man could live. However, by Genesis 1:2, something has changed, something drastic has happened, for we read: “The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters” (NKJV).

Though the earth was created perfect and habitable in Genesis 1:1, by Genesis 1:2 the earth was formless and empty, covered by a global ocean and wrapped in darkness. We are also told the Holy Spirit was there, hovering over the global ocean. In Genesis 1:2, the earth is utterly uninhabitable, completely uninhabitable for man.We know from Isaiah 45:18 that the condition of the earth in Genesis 1:2 is not how God had created it.

What happened? What caused the uninhabitable, formless, empty, dark, and flooded condition of the earth we see in Genesis 1:2?:

I beheld the earth, and indeed it was without form, and void;

And the heavens, they had no light.

I beheld the mountains, and indeed they trembled,

And all the hills moved back and forth.

I beheld, and indeed there was no man,

And all the birds of the heavens had fled.

I beheld, and indeed the fruitful land was a wilderness,

And all its cities were broken down

At the presence of the Lord,

By his fierce anger. (Jer 4:23–26 NKJV)

This prophecy of Jeremiah, like many prophecies, speaks on various levels simultaneously. On the one hand, it is prophesying a desolation to come upon Israel, but on the other hand, it also is harkening back to a time that describes, almost exactly, the earth in Genesis 1:2.

Jeremiah 4:23 tells us the earth was without form and void, that it was empty and had “no light.” There was only one time in Earth’s history when these conditions existed, and that was in Genesis 1:2—never since that time has the earth been formless or empty or without light. Jeremiah goes on to tell us there was no man and, in fact, no life upon the earth. Again, the only time in Earth’s history when these conditions existed was in Genesis 1:2. At that point the prophecy in Jeremiah telescopes forward to the parallel desolation foretold upon Israel.

What is most important here is that as Jeremiah summarizes this condition of the earth, he also tells us what caused the earth to be empty, formless, dark, and lifeless—he tells us these conditions upon the earth were the result of the LORD’s “fierce anger.”

Based on what we read in Isaiah 45:18, Genesis 1:2, and Jeremiah 4:23–26, as well as many other verses in the Bible, we can conclude the following: in Genesis 1:1, God created the earth as perfect and as fully habitable for man, yet by Genesis 1:2, the earth was a cursed and desolate wasteland, a ruin, made so by God’s wrath. The condition of the earth in Genesis 1:2 was not how God originally created it in Genesis 1:1. Something happened between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2 that caused God to curse the earth as well as the entire creation.

How can we say that the earth in Genesis 1:2 is cursed? There are three elements that are present upon the earth in Genesis 1:2 that clearly show the earth in Genesis 1:2 as a cursed Earth. These three elements are darkness, a global ocean, and the presence of the Holy Spirit.

The Curse of Darkness

God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.—1 John 1:5 (NIV)

Darkness in the Bible is never a good thing—it is always and only ever associated with the enemy or with the curse and wrath of God. Darkness always represents the absence of God, the curse of God, and the outpouring of his wrath. There are many verses throughout the Bible that testify to this. Here are a few, with a brief comment following each one.

Darkness Associated with Satan, Evil, or the Enemy

“To open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me” (Acts 26:18 NIV).

We are told in this passage that when one comes to Christ, they have their eyes opened and they are turning from darkness to light, turning from the power of Satan to God, thereby equating darkness with the power of Satan.

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Eph 6:12 NASB).

Ephesians 6:12 equates the forces of darkness with the spiritual forces of wickedness.

“For he rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son” (Col 1:13 NASB).

Here we are told there is a domain (or kingdom) of darkness, which is in contrast to the kingdom of Jesus Christ.

“The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light” (Rom 13:12 NASB).

The deeds of darkness, associated with “the night,” are contrasted with the armor of light, which is associated with “the day.”

“Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness?” (2 Cor 6:14 NASB).

This verse equates unbelievers and lawlessness with darkness.

Darkness Associated with the Curse, Wrath, or Judgment of God

For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell [Tartarus] and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment. (2 Pet 2:4 NASB)

These are springs without water and mists driven by a storm, for whom the black darkness has been reserved. (2 Pet 2:17 NASB)

Both of these verses tell us a place of darkness is reserved for God’s judgment upon evil.

Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Stretch out your hand toward the sky so that darkness spreads over Egypt—darkness that can be felt.’ (Exod 10:21 NIV)

One of God’s plagues—or curses—upon Egypt was a plague of darkness.

Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ (Matt 22:13 NASB)

Darkness is a place of judgment upon evil, and it is not a good place.

That day will be a day of wrath—a day of distress and anguish, a day of trouble and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness. (Zeph 1:15 NIV)

The “day of darkness and gloom” is specifically described here as a day of God’s wrath, a day of distress, a day of anguish and trouble.

I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the Lord, do all these things. (Isa 45:7 NIV)

Here, light is equated with prosperity, while darkness is equated with disaster, and God is the one who creates both, which affirms that darkness is a curse of God.

Contrast of Light and Darkness

God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. (Gen 1:4 NIV)

At the beginning of Genesis 1, we are told the “light” was “good,” and that the (good) light was separated from the darkness. It is implicit in this that, since the light was good, and since the good light was separated from the darkness, then the darkness, by contrast, was bad.

You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. (1 Thess 5:5 NIV)

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light. (Eph 5:8 NIV)

In both of these verses, Christians are children of light, not of darkness, and in Ephesians 5:8, Christians are described as actually being light.

Yet when I hoped for good, evil came; when I looked for light, then came darkness. (Job 30:26 NIV)

Here, “good” is equated with “light,” while “evil” is equated with “darkness.”

I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness. (John 12:46 NASB)

Whoever believes in Jesus Christ has come into the light, and has come out of darkness—again, there is a contrast with light and darkness, where light is good and of God, while darkness is bad and not of God.

This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. (John 3:19 NASB)

In these verses, darkness is again contrasted with light, and the darkness is opposed to the light. It is clear from these verses, as well as many others throughout the Bible, that darkness is never a good thing—it is always associated with evil, the enemy, or the wrath or curse of God. The clearest affirmation of this truth is in 1 John 1:5.

God is Light

God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. (1 John 1:5 NIV)

This verse is very clear—God himself is light; he doesn’t just give off light, he is light itself, light is part of his divine nature, and in him there is no darkness. How then are we to understand Genesis 1:2, “Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters” (NIV)? How can a God, who himself is light, a God in whom there is no darkness, create an Earth that is surrounded by and engulfed in darkness? In fact, how can a God, who himself is light, a God in whom there is no darkness, create an entire universe filled with darkness (just take a look at the night sky)? How is this possible?

It is not possible, because God did not create the earth covered in darkness, and neither did he create a universe filled with darkness. The earth as described in Genesis 1:2 is not how God created it; rather, by Genesis 1:2, the earth is cursed, a ruined wasteland upon which was poured the wrath of God. The darkness that covers the earth in Genesis 1:2 is the result of God’s curse.

Likewise, the universe itself is under God’s curse, filled with darkness end to end, thereby also evidencing the wrath of God upon it. This curse of darkness upon the universe is affirmed in Isaiah 50:3, where God tells us he clothed the heavens with darkness: “I clothe the heavens with darkness and make sackcloth its covering” (NIV). To clothe the heavens with darkness means the darkness was applied to the heavens after they were created. This verse also continues to tell us God made sackcloth the covering of the heavens. Sackcloth is always used throughout the Bible to represent suffering and hardship, so when we are told God clothed the heavens with darkness, and then equating that with giving the heavens a covering of sackcloth, it clearly denotes the heavens, the universe, is suffering under God’s wrath. This suffering of the universe is further evidenced in the following verses from Romans 8:19–22:

For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. (NIV)

This passage in Romans tells us creation itself is currently subject to suffering and is in bondage to decay, waiting eagerly for its liberation. This is the same suffering and bondage of creation as seen in Genesis 1:2, as evidenced by the darkness engulfing the earth, which is the same darkness that also engulfs the entire universe. That entire darkness—the darkness engulfing the earth in Genesis 1:2, and the darkness filling the entire universe—was the result of God’s curse upon the earth and upon the entire creation.

Isaiah 45:18 affirms God did not create either the earth or the universe in that cursed condition, rather, they became that way after they were created. This is clearly affirmed across many translations. Here are three different translations of Isaiah 45:18 to illustrate this; regardless of the translation, they all tell us the same thing:

For this is what the Lord says—he who created the heavens, he is God; he who fashioned and made the earth, he founded it; he did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited. (NIV)

For thus says the Lord, who created the heavens (he is the God who formed the earth and made it, he established it and did not create it a waste place, but formed it to be inhabited). (NASB)

For the Lord is God, and he created the heavens and earth and put everything in place. He made the world to be lived in, not to be a place of empty chaos. (NLT)

Across various translations, Isaiah 45:18 clearly tells us God did not create the earth as an empty wasteland of chaos. He did not create it to be uninhabitable. God created the earth, in Genesis 1:1, as perfect and as habitable for man. The earth became a cursed and empty wasteland afterward. This truth is also affirmed by the description of the earth in Jeremiah 4:23–27, where the formless emptiness of the earth is connected directly to the wrath of God.

Psalm 97 and Psalm 18—God Surrounded by Darkness

In Psalm 97, we are told the following:

The Lord reigns, let the earth be glad;

let the distant shores rejoice.

Clouds and thick darkness surround him;

righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.

Fire goes before him

and consumes his foes on every side.

his lightning lights up the world;

the earth sees and trembles.

The mountains melt like wax before the Lord,

before the Lord of all the earth. (Ps 97:1–5 NIV)

These verses tell us “clouds and thick darkness” surround God. Doesn’t this tell us darkness is a natural part of God’s very own presence, where he is surrounded by “thick darkness?” Isn’t this is a description of God reigning, a description of his glory and therefore something over which the earth should be glad? Does this not then mean that darkness is good? In fact it does not. As we continue to read, the thick darkness which is surrounding God in these verses is completely tied to his wrath and to the destruction of his enemies, as we are told in verses 3–4:

Fire goes before him

and consumes his foes on every side.

his lightning lights up the world;

the earth sees and trembles.

The darkness described in Psalm 97 is related inextricably to the wrath which God pours out upon his foes, a wrath which sees the very earth tremble, and the mountains melt. The darkness of Psalm 97 is inextricably tied in with the wrath, or judgment, of God. We see the same thing in Psalm 18:7–15:

The earth trembled and quaked,

and the foundations of the mountains shook;

they trembled because he was angry.

Smoke rose from his nostrils;

consuming fire came from his mouth,

burning coals blazed out of it.

He parted the heavens and came down;

dark clouds were under his feet.

He mounted the cherubim and flew;

he soared on the wings of the wind.

He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him—

the dark rain clouds of the sky.

Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced,

with hailstones and bolts of lightning.

The Lord thundered from heaven;

the voice of the Most High resounded.

He shot his arrows and scattered the enemy,

with great bolts of lightning he routed them.

The valleys of the sea were exposed

and the foundations of the earth laid bare

at your rebuke, Lord,

at the blast of breath from your nostrils.” (NIV)

We are told here that God makes “darkness his covering, his canopy around him” (v. 11). Once again, if darkness is the result of the wrath or curse of God, then how can God make darkness “his covering?” Does this not mean that darkness is part of the very presence of God himself? No, it does not, for as we continue to read, we are told once again that, in this context of Psalms 18, God “thundered from heaven” and that he “shot his arrows and scattered the enemy.” Therefore, as with Psalm 97, the darkness described here as covering the LORD is inextricably connected with God visiting judgment upon the enemy by way of the outpouring of his wrath.

We see then, without exception, throughout the Bible darkness is always and only the result of God’s wrath, the result of his curse and of his judgment. As a result, we know this is therefore also certainly true of the darkness that covers the earth in Genesis 1:2. The very fact the earth in Genesis 1:2 was covered in darkness is witness to the fact the earth was cursed.

The Curse of the Global Ocean

In addition to the darkness that is covering the earth in Genesis 1:2, there are two other elements present upon the earth—one of which is the global ocean that completely covers the earth. In the Bible, the sea always represents the judgment of God. One of the primary reasons oceans are a curse upon the earth is they make all the areas they cover completely uninhabitable to man. Also, throughout the Bible, God uses seas and oceans to visit judgment upon peoples as well as upon the earth.

This, of course, is most clearly seen in Genesis 6–7, where God destroyed Earth by means of the flood. The flood, the global ocean, was God’s judgment upon the earth. Also, the beast in Revelation 13 arises from the sea, which is to say it rises from a place of judgment (Rev 13:1). Pharaoh’s entire army was obliterated by the Red Sea, the judgment of God upon Egypt (Exod 15:4).

Furthermore, the whole concept of salt (which is a prime element of all the oceans and seas) as relating to judgment is also shown in the judgment upon Lot’s wife, who, upon fleeing Sodom with her husband Lot and their daughters, disobeyed God and looked back and, as a result, became a pillar of salt (Gen 19:26).

The oceans of the earth are also a further curse in that we cannot drink ocean water. Human beings of course need water to live—without water, we die. Yet if we had a diet of drinking only ocean water, we would die—drinking ocean water would kill us. Even though we need water to live, ocean water is, in effect, a poison to us.

As a result, it is clear throughout the Bible that the seas and oceans are a curse upon the earth, making all the land that they cover completely uninhabitable for man. The oceans and seas are used by God to bring judgment upon the earth, whether at the flood, upon Pharaoh’s army, or as the source of the beast of Revelation. All of this evidences that the seas and oceans are a judgment from God, even to this day.

As a result, the global ocean that covers the earth in Genesis 1:2 is therefore a curse upon the earth, an oceanic covering that makes the earth utterly uninhabitable for man, the judgment of God upon the earth. Although God created a perfect Earth in Genesis 1:1, an Earth fully habitable for man (Isa 45:18), as of Genesis 1:2, the earth is under the curse of darkness as well as under the curse of a global ocean and is utterly uninhabitable for man.

Lifting the Curse of Darkness

The curse of darkness and the curse of the oceans in Genesis 1:2 remain today, though they are mitigated by God’s mercy and his unfolding redemption, which begins in Genesis 1:3. The Bible, though, tells us ultimately these two elements of God’s curse upon the earth—darkness and seas—will finally be lifted and removed when God redeems Earth, so as to make it what it was always intended to be:

No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. (Rev 22:3–5 NIV)

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. (Rev 21:1 NIV)

These passages describe the ultimate redemption of the earth. Two key points of that redemption is the lifting of all curses upon the earth (Rev 22:3). This lifting of all curses upon the earth includes specifically the lifting of the curse of darkness (night), as well as the lifting of the curse of seas—the two curses upon the earth present in Genesis 1:2—both of these curses will be finally and fully removed by God upon his redemption of the earth.

As a result, from these various passages which outline the removal of all curses upon the earth, and which specifically include the removal of the curse of darkness and the curse of seas, it is clear the two elements upon the earth in Genesis 1:2—darkness and the global ocean—are elements of God’s curse upon the earth.1

The Third Element—The Holy Spirit

In addition to the two elements of God’s curse that are present upon the earth in Genesis 1:2, the curse of darkness and of the global ocean, there is a third element present, and that is the Holy Spirit himself. The Holy Spirit is described in Genesis 1:2 as being present over the earth:

and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. (Gen 1:2)

Why would the Holy Spirit be present upon the earth when the earth is in an accursed state? The Holy Spirit’s presence in Genesis 1:2 can be understood via 2 Thessalonians 2:1–8:

Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers and sisters, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us—whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter—asserting that the day of the Lord has already come. Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God. Don’t you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things? And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. (NIV)

In this passage we are told there will be a man of lawlessness coming upon the earth; this “man of lawlessness” is traditionally understood to be the coming antichrist. We are told something, or some “one,” is holding back the man of lawlessness from being revealed (2 Thess 2:6, 7), and that the man of lawlessness will not be revealed until the one who holds him back is taken out of the way.

Who is the one who is holding back the revealing of the man of lawlessness? Many people understand that the one who is holding back the revealing of the man of lawlessness is, in fact, the Holy Spirit. In that capacity, the Holy Spirit is restraining or holding back evil.

It is in this capacity that we are to understand the Holy Spirit’s presence upon the earth in Genesis 1:2—he is present upon the accursed Earth because he is restraining, or holding down, great evil, an evil that has been cast down to the earth, a casting down which resulted in both the earth and the creation being cursed.

The Earth in Genesis 1:1 was created perfect, beautiful and fully habitable for man (Isa 45:18), but the earth in Genesis 1:2 is formless and void, utterly uninhabitable, surrounded by darkness, and covered by a global ocean; the earth in Genesis 1:2 is a cursed place. Over it all is the presence of the Holy Spirit, who is there in the capacity as a Restrainer of evil.

Why is the earth in Genesis 1:2 cursed? What was the evil that was cast down upon it which the Holy Spirit was restraining? What caused this? The curse upon the earth in Genesis 1:2, the curse of darkness and of the global ocean, as well as the curse of darkness that is upon the entire universe, was the result of the fall of the angels, the angelic rebellion.

1. In various translations of Genesis 1:2, for the words “Now the earth was formless and void . . .” there is often a small footnote attached to the word “was,” with an explanation that the word “was” can also be translated as “became.” In fact, that is the correct sense by which to understand Genesis 1:2—God did not create the earth as an empty chaos wasteland, he created it perfect, but it became an empty, chaos wasteland, surrounded by darkness and the global flood, all as a result of the curse of God.