The Jeremiah 4:23 Katabole
An Excerpt from “The Pre-Adamite World” by Arthur J Licursi
Here we address the generations of the earth:
“These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens,” Genesis 2:4 (KJV)
We begin with the original creation.
“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” Genesis 1:1 (KJV)
“For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else.” Isaiah 45:18 (KJV)
But then we have this in the 2nd verse in the whole Bible.
“And the earth was without form [Heb. tohu, chaotic], and void [Heb. bohu, empty of life]; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.” (Genesis 1:2a (KJV)
Thus the earth that was created to be habitable had become a chaotic mess void of life.
Then notice the similarity of the above with, the Earth’s judged condition after the Tribulation is spoken of here by the prophet Jeremiah:
“I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.” (Jeremiah 4:23 KJV)
Although the words “without form, and void” seen above in Jeremiah 4:23 are the same verbiage as that are spoken in Genesis 1:2a before the start of the seven-days of Genesis Regeneration, Jeremiah is speaking of a Ruin to come on earth Future From Jeremiah’s Time, in the “Day of the Lord” and His coming in vengeance, wrath, and judgment, then to Reign in His Kingdom on earth. We know this because of what else is said in the following verses of Jeremiah:
“I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly [earthquake]. I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled. I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the LORD, and by his fierce anger. For thus hath the LORD said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I NOT Make A Full End. For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black: because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it. The whole city [of Jerusalem’s population] shall flee [cf. Matt. 24:15-16] for the noise of the horsemen and bowmen; they shall go into thickets, and climb up upon the rocks: every city shall be forsaken, and not a man dwell therein.” (Jer. 4:24-29)
Jeremiah’s words “without form and void” (Gen. 1:2), refer to a coming ruin, as came upon the first generation of “the heavens and the Earth” of Gen. 1:1. This was followed by the Regeneration of Gen. 1:3-31. The Biblical interpretive ‘Rule of First Mention’ would suggest the same was true concerning the seven-days of the Genesis regeneration, the formation of Adam’s world, which occurred after the “KATABOLE” often translated as “THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD [Gk., cosmos, meaning The Overthrow Of The Arrangement Of The Heaven And The Earth That Existed At That Time],” (Matt. 13:35, 25:34, Jn. 17:24, Eph. 1:4, Heb. 4:3, 9:26, 1 Pet. 1:20, Rev. 13:8, 17).
This above came as result of Lucifer’s rebellion and the evil that came by him on the ‘first earth creation.’ This will now be examined.
Adam’s world was only pristine on the surface. For under Adam and Eve’s feet, entombed and hidden in the volcanic and sedimentary rocks of the planet, was a buried fossil record of the first earth’s ruin and judgment. This is God’s material testimony to the truth of the existence of a previous “world [age]” on the face of the Earth and the long reign of death across ancient ages past, long before the ‘new world (age)’ of Adam and to this day.
This material evidence was there all along but only examined and understood by man over the past two to three centuries, now speaks to us about the existence of a previously created world (Gen. 1:1), that became evil, subject to death and which eventually was destroyed as noted in Gen. 1:2a. Then it was Divinely replaced by the ‘present world (age)’ (Gen. 1:3-2:1), which also soon became “evil.” With the fall of Adam to Sin and the Sin nature IN the flesh bodies of fallen humanity (Rom. 8:3b, 7:17)
For review purposes: the ancient world was under the stewardship of an “anointed” Cherub, a spiritual creature called the ‘covering cherub,’ named ‘Lucifer.’ (See Isa. 14:12-16 KJV and Eze. 28:13-17 KJV) Through Lucifer’s sin of rebellion against God, the old world under Lucifer’s stewardship was the first subjected to Death and, through time eventually perished. At the end of its time, when the stars of the old universe, including Earth’s sun, perished, bringing darkness (both physical and spiritual), which took its final toll with the ancient Creation being frozen. That time is specifically what these two verses point to:
“And the earth was [Heb. haya, became] without form [Heb. tohu, waste], and void [Heb. bohu, an empty ruin); and darkness was upon the face of the deep [waters]. And the Spirit of God moved [Heb. rahap, brooded] upon the face of the waters.” (Gen. 1:2 KJV)
“For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world [cosmos, the heaven and the earth] that ‘then was,’ being overflowed with water, perished: But the heavens and the earth, which are ‘now,’ by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.” (2 Pet 3:5-7 KJV)
The old world was the first “generation” of “the heaven and the Earth” (Gen. 1:1). The heavens and Earth “which are now” are the Second Generation of “the heavens and the Earth.” It’s the same planet Earth but in different ages upon the face of the same planet. This is why the Bible says: “These are the generationS of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens,” (Gen. 2:4 KJV)
What is ‘commonly’ known as the ‘seven Creation days’ of Genesis occurred over seven literal 24-hour days about 6,000 years ago, according to the chronology of the Bible. But this does not mean that the Earth is only 6,000 years old. Many people think the seven creation days in Genesis 1:3-31 are a description of the Earth’s geologic history. It is not! The geologic record shows that the Earth existed long before the start of Adam’s world.
A Question: If the seven days of Gen. 1:3-31 were not the original creation of the heavens and Earth… then what were they?
In the 10 occurrences of New Testament, this regeneration or second generation of “the heavens and the Earth” is specifically referred to in the KJV as “The Foundation [katabole] of the World” and …it is likened to a “conception” (Grk., “a katabole”) in the Scriptures.
The short answer is that it was the birth of a new generation or ‘a new earth age,’ subsequent to the original creation. Adam’s time was of the REgeneration of “the heavens and the Earth.” It is an event the Greek Scriptures refer to in Greek as the “katabole.” In the N.T. of the KJV Bible there is this key phrase, “The foundation of the world,” that refers back to a time BEFORE the seven days of the Genesis 1:3-31 recreation.
“That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation (Gk., katabole) of the world (Gk., cosmos).” (Matt. 13:35)
This exact phrase “foundation (Gk., katabole) of the world” is found in the following verses: (Matt. 13:35, 25:34, Lk 11:50, Jn 17:24, Eph. 1:4, Heb. 4:3, 9:26, 1 Pet 1:20, Rev. 13:8 17:8), a total of 10 verse references. In each of these verses the English word “foundation” is translated from the Greek “katabole.” The Strong’s definition of the Greek: katabole kat-ab-ol-ay’ from Strong’s 2598; a deposition, i.e. founding; figuratively, conception: conceive, foundation.
The other New Testament verses where the English word “foundation” is found are: (Luke 6:48-49, Luke 14:29, Rom. 15:20, 1 Cor. 3:10, 11, 12, Eph. 2:20, 1 Tim. 6:19, 2 Tim. 2:19, Heb. 1:10, 6:1, Rev. 21:19), a total of thirteen (13) verse references. In each of these verses the word “foundation” is translated from the Greek word ‘themelios.’ Strong’s definition: them-el’-ee-os from a derivative of 5087; something put down, i.e. a substruction (of a building, etc.), (literally or figuratively): — the foundation. So, we have a katabole that became the foundation of a new age.
There is one other place in the Greek Scriptures where word “katabole” translated as “conceive.” “Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.” (Heb. 11:11) Why is that Greek word “katabole” translated into the English word “foundation” in all the KJV verses containing the exact phrase “foundation of the world” and also the word “conceives” in Heb. 11:11?
Why are the Scriptures comparing the “foundation of the world” to a ‘conception’? Please notice that the phrase “foundation of the world” is NOT speaking about the ‘creation’ of “the heavens and the Earth” in the time of Adam.
Only here is the phrase, “the foundation of the earth” speaks of the Very Original creation event, as it is used here in Heb. 1:10.
“Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands:”
In the above verse, the English word “foundation” is NOT from ‘katabole,’ is akin to a ‘conception’ but it is translated from the Greek word, ‘themelios,’ which is akin to a structure or base of beginning. This tells us that the verse above is describing the time when God ORIGINALLY created the Earth. And, since the verse says this was “in the beginning,” it correlates correctly with the very first verse of the Bible: “In the [very] beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1 KJV)