In the Genesis account of the pre-natal earth (as it was
immediately before God said "Let there be Light"), we have the
following:
“And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the
face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” (Genesis 1.
verse 2)
But besides this, there was an elaboration of the
state of the world before 'Light' was commanded on 'Day 1'. This information
was given by God to Job when He questioned how Job, or any of his comforters,
could possibly speak of Him 'without knowledge':
Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if
thou hast understanding. Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou
knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it? Whereupon are the
foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof; When
the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? Or
who shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth, as if it had issued out of
the womb? When
I made the cloud the garment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddlingband for
it, (Job 38. verses 4-9)
What is fascinating to me is not only to set these verses side-by-side -
but to consider them in the light of the imagery of 'swaddling' clothes. The
word only occurs twice in the Bible, in Job and in Luke 2:
And she brought forth her
firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid
him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. (Luke
2, verse 6)
Of course, the image of the 'nativity' of the earth in swaddling clothes
(of clouds) should not be taken as suggesting the Son of God was in any way
part of creation. The beginning of John's Gospel makes is clear that 'the Word'
that became flesh and 'dwelt among us' was in fact the Creator:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made
by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. (John 1,
verses 1-3)
So, in these two accounts of the creation 'nativity' scene, we have the
biblically-documented presence of all 3 persons of the Trinity: God (In the
beginning, God created ...), Jesus Christ (the Word that became flesh), and the
Holy Spirit of God, who 'moved upon the face of the waters' under or within the
clouds that prevented light from reaching the 'face of the deep'.
