Join Rabbi Schneider in another enlightening episode as he delves into the profound themes of creation, as described in the first chapters of Genesis. Explore the mystery of creation and uncover how the formless and empty beginnings of Earth relate to finding purpose in our own lives. This episode prompts listeners to reflect on their spiritual journey and the divine purpose embedded within them, discovered through scripture and personal faith.
We see that the earth was formless and empty and void like a wasteland, that there was darkness but not light yet. And this is applicable for our lives today because God saves us out of the darkness. I’m excited to be continuing this series today that I’m entitling The Mystery of Creation. The first several chapters in the book of Genesis that we call in Hebrew, Be’er Sheet, are so fundamental and so foundational to discovering who we are and why we’re here. Everybody needs to understand their purpose. And the world today is looking for purpose in so many ways, whether it be in looks, in money, in job position, in fame, in athleticism, in beauty, so many ways that people are looking for identity and purpose. But I want you to hear me. The purpose that you and I need to discover to truly bring form into our life, to bring our destiny into clarity, to bring true vision for our purpose in being here is found in the first chapter of the Bible. Doesn’t that make sense? If indeed you were created by God, the Creator. Doesn’t it make sense that He holds the key for your purpose? And in fact, church, He revealed that purpose to us in the first chapter of the Bible. Doesn’t that make a lot of sense? The first chapter of the Bible that describes creation would contain within it the reason for the Creator’s putting us here until you and I take a hold of our Creator. understanding why we’re here, what his purpose for putting us here is, until we understand that and live in that, we’re never going to find fulfillment and our lives will never make a difference. And so I’m excited to be digging deep into the pages of scripture here with you to discover our purpose for being here once again we’re going to be looking at some of the nuts and bolts of the process of creation and then following that we’re going to look more specifically as to why the creator why father god put us here through his son yeshua through jesus Now, on the last episode in this series, I began to talk about the beginning. To simply say that in verse 1 of Genesis 1, when the Lord says, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, we’re not talking about, obviously, the beginning of God. God is infinite. He’s beyond knowing fully because there’s always more of him. He’s incomprehensible. We know him. We’re going to know him more and more. He is so far beyond us, however, church. We’ll always be discovering him. We’ll never know him fully. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. I also focused on the last episode that the word here in the Hebrew for God is Elohim, which is God plural. El is God singular. Elohim is God plural. And I began to discuss this. Why does it say God plural? Why doesn’t it just say in the beginning, El, God singular created the heavens and the earth? And why does it say in the 27th verse of this same chapter, the Lord saying there, let us, God said. Why didn’t he say, I’m gonna make man in my image? Rather, he said, I’m gonna make man, he said, in our image. Let us, he said, us plural, make man in our plural image. Why that plural type of communication? Because within God, there’s a multidimensional nature. In other words, he has relationship within himself. The scripture tells us, for example, that the Son, Yeshua, has always been, Jesus has always been in the bosom of the Father. And there’s this love relationship between the Father and the Son. So within God, there’s a multidimensional nature. And so he says, Elohim, let us make man in our image. in fact we read in the book of john the gospel of john as the lord is speaking of creation we read this in the beginning was the word and the word was with god get it now and the word was god he was in the beginning with god and all things came into being through him and apart from him nothing that’s come into being has come into being And then in the 14th verse of John 1, we read, and the word became flesh. Who is the word flesh? It’s the Son. And so inside God, there is relationship. And so he said, let us make man in our image. Elohim, in the beginning, Elohim, God plural. There’s one God. The Lord our God, the Lord is one, one God, but yet within him is a multidimensional nature. You say, I can’t understand that. It doesn’t make sense. And it doesn’t make sense, beloved, because God is spirit. He’s above the natural. Just like it doesn’t make sense, as I said in the last episode, how God could have always been. Where did he come from? He didn’t come from anywhere. Does that make sense? That God has no beginning? Does that make sense? It makes no sense. We can’t grasp it. So don’t expect to grasp it. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Now let’s go to verse number two. The earth was formless and void. Come with me now. The earth was formless and void. Now, the Hebrew that we get these words formless and void also carry the concept of the earth, listen now, get it, was empty and void. and a wasteland. In other words, there was no life to it yet. It had no clear boundaries yet. It was formless, it was void, it was empty, and it was like a wasteland. It had not come into being yet. All there was was chaos. Look with me again, please, at verse number two. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. When we study the Torah, when we study the first four books of our Bible, the ancient Jewish sages tell us this. There’s four levels of meaning. There’s the surface meaning, and then there are three other deeper meanings that we need to be looking for to fully get the revelation that God our Creator wants us to receive through the text. So obviously, we see the surface meaning here. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep. But I want to take you to a deeper concept now. We oftentimes call this a midrash in Hebrew. It’s looking at the deeper meaning, taking the root, the surface meaning, and then extrapolating from it deeper realities. Now, you will recall, those of you that have studied the Bible a little bit, that when the Lord made man, he made man, we read in Genesis 2, verse 7, from the dust. Why I’m telling you this now is because I want you to see that the earth’s creation has application for your life, because in a sense, that which God did in the earth, he does in you and I as well, because listen, we’re made from the dust of the earth. That which the earth is made from, is what we’re made from. And so even as we study the earth’s history and could extrapolate meanings when we look at the earth’s history, those same meanings can be applied to each one of us personally because we derived from the dust of the earth. Genesis 2, 7 says this, “‘Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground,’ And Genesis 3.19, after the fall, God said this to Adam, you are dust and to dust you shall return. So I want you to see here a parallel between the creation of the earth and your own history and God’s involvement in your personal life. So in the beginning, the earth was formless and void. It was empty. It was like a wasteland and darkness was over the surface of the deep. Again, the formless and void speaks of emptiness and void there. Darkness was over it. Get this. Before God said, let there be light, there was darkness. So hear me. Darkness was there before the light. Now there’s something here for you. Once again, darkness existed before the light. Let me say it again. In the very beginning, we don’t see the light yet. We see that the earth was formless and empty and void like a wasteland, that there was darkness, but not light yet. And this is applicable for our lives today because God saves us, listen now, out of the darkness. The scripture tells us that we’ve been chosen as a royal priesthood and a holy nation to proclaim the excellencies, get it now, of him that called us out of darkness. darkness into his marvelous light. So we came out of darkness into the light, even as the earth came out of darkness into the light. And no matter where you’re at in your life right now, no matter what deep darkness that you’re in, I don’t want you to be afraid I don’t want you to have no hope because even as in the beginning, all there was was darkness, emptiness, and void, and God spoke and created something beautiful out of it, the earth, so too in your life, regardless of what darkness you’re going through, God is just waiting for you to reach out to him by faith so that he can speak his word into your life and bring forth from that darkness something beautiful in your life. Beloved, God has a purpose for everybody today. and there’s nowhere that we can go, nothing that we’ll ever do that puts us outside of Him being able to reach us with the light.
SPEAKER 01 :
You’re listening to Discovering the Jewish Jesus, and Rabbi Schneider will be right back. But first, I want to invite you to take Rabbi’s teachings with you wherever you go. With the Discovering the Jewish Jesus podcast available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and many more, you can listen to all of Rabbi’s powerful messages anytime. Stay rooted in God’s word. Just search for Discovering the Jewish Jesus on your favorite podcasting platform today. If you like what you’re hearing and if you’re being blessed by it and you want more of it in the future, I want to encourage you to give today. We wouldn’t be able to make this content free and available to everyone unless someone supports us financially. We need people whose heart is for the work of God that He uses this ministry to accomplish. So would you consider helping us continue to share the gospel? Give online at discoveringthejewishjesus.com. And now, back to Rabbi.
SPEAKER 04 :
Listen again. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep. This concept of the darkness being over the surface of the deep, it speaks of the fact that this darkness, like the depth of an ocean, was chaotic and it was deep. And the point is that no matter how broken your life is, no matter what miserable circumstances you might have come from. Some of you came from very dysfunctional, broken homes, divorce. Some of you even had parents that were drug addicts or criminals. Some of you have just been through tremendous hardship in your life. I want you to know, no matter how deep is the darkness that you’re in or are coming out of, Be confident because even as God spoke light into the formation of the universe and caused the darkness to bring forth light, so too in your life, regardless of how dark it is, how disturbing your situation is, how hopeless it seems, God is right there. Let’s continue on. The earth was formless and void and darkness is over the surface of the deep. Listen now. And I want you to get that and, because not only was the darkness there, but there was an and, and the spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. Now this word moving also carries the concept of hovering. So once again, We have the waters, listen, the earth was formless and void, empty wasteland, the darkness was over it, speaks of the deep chaos of the darkness and just everything was just all over the place in a dark place. Darkness was over the surface of the deep, it was a deep darkness, but… The spirit of God was just waiting to act, but the spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. God, listen now, he is just hovering over our lives right now, waiting for us to reach out to him, listen, with confidence. Emunah. Emunah is the Hebrew word for faith. God is just waiting to break in. He’s just waiting to breathe light into our life. He’s just waiting to deliver us out of the darkness, to deliver us from the deep chaos. He’s just waiting to to take our lives that are chaotic and breathe life into them so that our lives take on form and purpose and destiny and beauty. And all it takes, beloved, is you and I reaching out to him in faith, just like that woman of old that had the hemorrhage. And she said, if I just touch him, I know I’ll be made whole. And by faith, Her body was all in chaos. She couldn’t solve the problem. The doctors couldn’t solve the problem. But by faith, she touched Jesus. And when she touched him immediately, his light and life came into her body and she was instantly made whole. And the same is true for you and I. So once again, the earth was formless and void. Darkness was over the surface of the deep and the spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. Then God said, let there be light. And there was light. Beloved ones, I want to encourage you today. God’s got a purpose and a destiny for you. And the deeper the darkness that you’re in, the more glorious your victory can be. Jesus said to the woman that had been forgiven much sin, that was anointing his feet with her tears, And the oil, Jesus said, when they marveled at what is she doing, why did she waste that costly vial of perfume? Jesus said, he that’s been forgiven much loves much. In other words, Jesus transformed her darkness into great light. And the same is true for you. The Spirit of God is hovering over your life right now. HE’S HOVERING OVER YOU. HE’S JUST WAITING FOR YOU TO CALL UPON HIM AND TO CONNECT YOURSELF TO HIM BY FAITH. LISTEN, GOD, YOUR CREATOR, DELIGHTS IN YOU. AND ON THE NEXT BROADCAST IN THIS SERIES, WE’RE GONNA GO DEEPER INTO THE BOOK OF GENESIS TO DISCOVER THE REASON THAT ELOHIM, OUR CREATOR, CREATED US. Listen, this message and this series will set your life on a purpose. It’s going to put you on track. It’s going to bring clarity to you so that you can wake up every day knowing why you’re here and better understanding what to do. You know, this is really one of my favorite series that I’ve done. There’s such depth to understanding this reality of how God brings forth light out of darkness. You know, the scripture said He called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. And honey, when we think about our testimonies and understand from where God saved us, That is one of the reasons because we’ve come out of the darkness into the light that we’re able to have such passion for Jesus today.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yes, yes. You know, I remember there was a period of like five years where I was praying. I said, Lord, I don’t know whether you’re really God. I need to know. I need you to reveal yourself. And, you know, I prayed over and over and over every night and throughout the day for five years. And I didn’t feel like I had an answer. But you know what happened during those five years is my life eroded. All the foundations that I had grown up under in the church were all disintegrated. And I found I came into a place of real darkness. And then when the Holy Spirit came and revealed himself to me, that’s when I knew. darkness from light. It was like the discernment of light from darkness, darkness from light. And now when I walk, I am alive. I’m so excited about Father God and His light and His life. And it’s just transformed my whole passion for Yeshua, for Jesus. And my walk, and not only that, but he’s given me discernment because we need that discernment in a world where there is darkness and light.
SPEAKER 04 :
Amen. That’s such a beautiful testimony. Well spoken. You know, David said that God had saved him from the miry clay and put him upon a solid rock.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yes.
SPEAKER 04 :
So regardless of where your past has been, even regardless, beloved one, of where you’re at right now, God is bigger and He can transform whatever darkness you’ve been experienced to and exposed to, He can transform that into light. In fact, oftentimes, people that have been delivered out of great darkness become the most passionate lovers and followers of Jesus. And I think that one of the concepts that I tried to articulate in the broadcast today is that God is master of the universe. He’s Adon Olam, we say in Hebrew. He created everything, both visible and invisible. And he did it all for a reason. All that he created, he is using to bring about the final product. And the final product, Cynthia, is human beings that he created in his own image that could come to know him and love him and experience him. And he even uses darkness to bring about a higher good.
SPEAKER 02 :
Amen. Oh, Lord, that your light would shine in our vessels, that your light would shine in our vessels, that this darkness of this world cannot overcome the light of yourself that reigns within us. And right now, I just release Father God’s love and light into each and every one of his children right now.
SPEAKER 04 :
Isn’t it true about all of us? We love to hear about what we like. In other words, we love hearing about the things that we already like, but the things that we don’t like, we don’t want to hear about it. Well, the reason I’m bringing that up is that sometimes God’s people don’t like hearing about finances because they don’t want to surrender their finances to the Lord. But beloved ones, it’s really important because when we surrender our finances, what we’re really doing is surrendering our heart and affections. That’s why Jesus said man can’t love both God and money. We’ve got to put him first. Some people say that giving financially tithing was just something that was in the Old Testament. But in the seventh chapter of the book of Hebrews, we see Abraham come to Melchizedek, the high priest, who is a type of Christ. And when Abraham met Melchizedek, what did Abraham do? He offered up to God through Melchizedek a tenth of all he had. I just want to encourage you today. Let’s surrender our whole lives to the Lord, which involves every area, even our finances. Beloved ones, if you’re not tithing somewhere, would you tithe to the Lord to discovering the Jewish Jesus? I want to tell you, you’ll be blessed and many souls will be saved.
SPEAKER 01 :
Thank you, Rabbi. And friends, if God is calling you to give to Discovering the Jewish Jesus, a gift of any amount, would you please call us? Our number is 800-777-7835. You can also give online. Our web address is discoveringthejewishjesus.com. And we’ve got a couple of gifts of appreciation that we’d like to send you when you give. We’ve got a special teaching booklet with multiple chapters each and every month. And we also have our monthly newsletter so you can keep in touch with what’s happening in the ministry. But for those who want to become a new monthly partner, we want to send you an extra special gift we’ll send you an authentic handcrafted shofar that’s made in Israel. And speaking of Israel, did you know that Sukkot, also known as the Feast of Tabernacles or Booths, it’s happening this week. It’s a really happy celebration and it began sunset on Monday, October the 6th, and it ends at nightfall on Monday, October the 13th. And you know, the festival of Sukkot It’s a time-honored tradition, and it brings families and communities together in a spirit of gratitude and abundance. And this week-long celebration, it invites us to reflect on God’s blessings in our lives. You can learn more about God’s fall holy days, or you can even give a special fall holy days offering as well by visiting our website at discoveringthejewishjesus.com. And now here’s Rabbi to share God’s special blessing over your life.
SPEAKER 04 :
In the book of Numbers chapter 6, the Lord gave instructions to Moses and Aaron to speak this blessing over his people. And the Lord said, When you speak these words over my people, I will place my name on them and bless them. Receive the impartations of the Lord’s blessings.
The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift you up with His countenance. And the Lord give you, beloved one, His peace. God bless you and shalom.
SPEAKER 01 :
This program is produced and sponsored by Discovering the Jewish Jesus. And I’m Dustin Roberts. Make sure to come back next week when Rabbi Schneider asks a thought-provoking question. Does God create evil? That’s Monday on Discovering the Jewish Jesus.
