*Bereshit bará Elohim et hashamaim ve-et haáretz:*
Genesis 1 to 3 talk about Earth reset after a catastrophe? Or, just the restoration of the nation of Israel/Judah?
I'm going to propose some biblical passages here, to explain why I think the beginning of Genesis is not about the restoration of the Earth.
Forgive me in advance for any confusion as I don't speak your language, I'm using a translator.
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Almost every time *reshit* is used in the bible it does not come with the preposition *Be* in genesis it is used *Bereshit*.
The first occurrence we can cite is Genesis 10: 10. where *reshit* means: *the beginning of*.
Genesis 49: 3. where it says:
"my strength and the *principle of (reshit)* my vigor."
Exodus 23: 19. 'You will bring the best of the first-fruits of your soil to the house of Yahweh your God. 'You will not boil a kid in its mother's milk.
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So it's at the beginning of something already created. That is, as Mr. Paul Wallis even defends, this is about a reboot.
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Now comes the controversial hypothesis I mentioned at the beginning.
Conventional theology will say that there in these opening verses of the Hebrew Scriptures there is a reference to the Earth in the beginning, when God created it, that is, Planet Earth.
But it doesn't seem to refer to that.
What appears is: that these verses are referring to the rebuilding of the Nation of Judah.
Again I will put the biblical passages to explain.
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The term used further in Hebrew is *Tohu wa-bohu*. At this point I think we all know that this is a land or perhaps nation in desolation, meaning the land already exists.
Chapter 1 of Genesis describes the tradition in theological terms, refers to the cosmogony of the creation of the Temple in Jerusalem, which is a prefiguration of the Earth in the myth of Genesis.
So that when the deity goes to build Jerusalem, the land, in this case Jerusalem is already destroyed, completely desolate in Pieces.
And here I am making a hypothesis that the creation that was destroyed is Jerusalem. It is in a state of *Tohu wa-bohu*.
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And why is this nation already destroyed?
Because Nebuchadnezzar destroyed it.
Babylon invaded Jerusalem in 587 BC and destroyed Jerusalem.
So the land that is Jerusalem and Judah as a whole is desolate, destroyed, deserted, abandoned.
On the fact that the creation mentioned in Genesis is the creation of Jerusalem, you can read Isaiah 65: 18 -19.
18 Rejoice instead, rejoice forever in what I am creating, for behold, I am creating Jerusalem to be 'Joy' and my people to be 'Joy'.
19 I will rejoice in Jerusalem and rejoice with my people. The sound of weeping will no longer be heard there, nor the sound of a scream;
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This is the creation of the new heavens and the new earth.
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If you go to Psalm 102, it's the same thing.
The psalmist is saddened by the destruction of Jerusalem and begins to negotiate with God, trying to convince him to rebuild Jerusalem.
So one of the arguments he makes is when the Lord rebuilds Jerusalem, *Bara* verb build/create.
The created people will praise Yah.
The term created in this passage of the psalms is the verb *Bara* verb build/create, the same used in Genesis 1.1.
I want to state again here that this is just a hypothesis.
Hug to everyone!