Chaos Theory Part 2

This may be a bold blog post. I request your patience. I will attempt to prove — or at least be unable to disprove — my first hypothesis about chaos reigning in the early universe and ending when God separated light from darkness in Genesis 1:4. I may have to admit to having been silly and simple minded, though, which is equally likely.

First, some good news:  scientists have already done a major portion of my work for me.  In preparing to write this post, I came across articles in which physicists were able to establish that the universe was in a chaotic state at its beginning or very soon thereafter. Of course, I still need to study the Bible to find out  whether I can confirm what scientists have proven. But the groundwork is set. I will still need to argue successfully that the chaos ended at the separation of light from darkness, though. One article that I read presented what they called an iron-clad argument that chaos began 10 to the minus 43 seconds after the Big Bang and ended in just 10 to the minus 36 seconds.*

I was tempted to type out for you a list of scriptures that I think are essential to read when one is studying the universe. We need to be respectful of the enormity of the topic and the possibility that we are trying to look into things that are not meant for us to investigate. When I think of the notion of chaos in the early universe — which would mean that we, by definition, can’t pin down the initial conditions prior to the chaotic period — I am seriously concerned that we are in over our heads and should research something else. If only to save time, at least.

Before I mention those scriptures, I want to acknowledge something that’s obvious but may have missed our attention during this study of chaos. Remember that chaotic systems do not act predictably when one looks forward in time and that, when one looks backward in time, it is impossible to nail down the system’s initial state. Well, we have the Bible. The Lord is not subject to chaos. He can see forward in time and predict the future and He can see backward in time and know the state of things in perfect detail. (See Isaiah 46:9-10.) He is outside of time. He created it. 

First and foremost, about studying the universe, the most important things to learn are God’s characteristics as revealed in His Creation. “For since the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities — His eternal power and His divine nature — have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made…” (Romans 1:20) Another verse to consider is this one: “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. I have not spoken in secret, from somewhere in a land of darkness; I have not said to Jacob’s descendants, “Seek me in vain.” I, the Lord, speak the truth; I declare what is right.’” (Isaiah 45:18-19)

On the subject of whether I am in over my head and pride is leading my eyes, I want to say this: I am not going to try to delineate what happened prior to a chaotic period. It isn’t just impossible to know, it’s beyond my purview. It is not for me to know. That’s my opinion, anyway.

Let’s be sure that our heads are on straight and our hearts are in the right place before we proceed. What follows is a list of those verses that I am hoping you will read at this point. Psalm 136:1-9 expresses what’s most important when we study: being aware of God’s love and our need for it. One would miss the mark if one didn’t acknowledge the role of Jesus Christ in the task of creation. (John 1:1-5) One might forget the preeminence of God and be idolizing His Creation if one didn’t call to mind that the universe is not eternal. (Hebrews 1:10-12) One might forget the limits of our brains and experience if we neglected to recall the Lord’s words in Job 38:1-7. One might forget praising the Lord if one did not review what the 24 elders in heaven said in Revelation 4:9-11.

What would it mean about God if He created a chaotic phase in the early history of the universe? First, it might mean that He has told us everything we need to know about the birth of the universe. Secondly, it might mean that He desired to express His power to overcome chaos. Thirdly, He might have desired to express His choice to establish order. Lastly, He might have been foreshadowing for us the end of chaos when Satan and death can no longer tempt or harm humankind. Those are some ideas that I have; perhaps you can think of others.

Let’s take a good look at Genesis 1:1-5. 
Verse 1: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Verse 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.

Verse 3: And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

Verse 4: God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness.

Verse 5: God called the light “day” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning — the first day.

The first task that I have is to at least establish that the period prior to Verse 4 might have contained chaotic behavior on the part of the physical universe. Well, the earth was formless, and even though the heavens had been created, they contained no stars or other heavenly bodies. (Was there energy, or dark energy?) I don’t think that chaos was out of the question. Some translations of the Hebrew word for “formless” are chaos, confusion, disorder, chaotic mass, and complete chaos. Some alternate translations to “empty” are void, nothing, empty space, and bottomless emptiness. Those words applied to the earth. There aren’t any words, in the Bibles that I own, specifically about the heavens before verse 4.

Why do I think that the Lord established order, and chaos ended, when light and darkness were separated? At least some level of ordered was created. Limits were set on the amount of darkness in the universe. The Hebrew word for darkness can also be translated as confusion, uncertainty, ignorance, obscurity, disorder, death, destruction, misery, wickedness, and sorrow. Not fun. Definitely something that we want to have limited. Notice that the Lord didn’t say that anything was “good” before the creation of light. In 1 John 1:5, we are told this: “This is the message we have heard from him [Jesus] and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.” That’s a mouthful, and that’s utterly essential, as I am sure that you know!

I suggest that the chaotic period may have taken place while the Spirit of the Lord was”hovering” in verse 2. One reason I think that is the Hebrew word translated as “hovering” can also be translated as fluttering, and definitely calls to mind images of a bird hovering. The same Hebrew word is used as a reference to what a bird does over its young (Deuteronomy 32:11) and what God does when He shields Jerusalem (Isaiah 31:5). Perhaps the end of chaos, when light and darkness were separated, was a compassionate act of God. I expect that it was His mercy.  

The fact that humankind were born into an orderly universe says something about what the Lord intended for us. The fact that the Lord placed limits upon what Adam and Eve were allowed to do in Eden says something about the orderly behavior required of us by God.

Here’s an especially wonderful verse; hopefully it will inspire all of us to study more on the subject of light. “For God, who said ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” (2 Corinthians 4:6)

References: * Clara Moskowitz 10/4/2010: “After the Big Bang Came a Moment of Pure Chaos, Study Finds”

Note: The New International Version of the Bible has been used in this blog post with the exception of one or two uses of the Complete Jewish Bible translated by David H. Stern.