THE SPIRIT OF GOD BROODING
OVER THE DEEP TO PRODUCE LIFE
Then there is another and in this verse, indicating that something more happened: "And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." The Hebrew word for moved means brooded or hovered, as when a mother bird broods over her eggs to bring forth life. This indicates that after God’s judgment God did something to bring forth life. The situation was really waste and void, and there was darkness upon the depth of the water. Then the Spirit of God came in to brood, to hover, over the situation in order to produce life.
Following this, from Genesis 1:3 to the end of chapter two, there is a long record of how life was brought forth through the brooding of the Spirit. These two chapters are full of striking significances. Every detail of these two chapters has some significance. You should not merely read the letters in black and white; rather, you must know the significance of what you read. In Genesis 1:2 we read about the Spirit. What is the significance of the Spirit here? In the Bible the Spirit always signifies life. What is the significance of the waste, void, darkness, and deep water? All these signify a disaster, and even death. These are all negative things. Then all of a sudden something good came, that is, the Spirit. The Spirit came not to rebuke, not to condemn, but to brood, as a mother bird broods over the eggs. The "eggs" are just the waste, void, darkness, and deep water. These are all terrible things, yet these terrible things came under the brooding of the "mother hen"; hence, they all became "eggs."
We also were under this brooding. We are out of Adam, and Adam was out of the dust, which was there under the brooding. The dust, which is the earth, was the first thing that came out of the brooding of the Spirit. First, there was the Spirit; then, after the Spirit there was light (vv. 3-5); and after the light the firmament was made (vv. 6-8), which is the air. Then the resurrection of the buried earth came up on the third day, the day of resurrection (vv. 9-10). Hence, the first thing that came up because of the Spirit’s brooding is the resurrected earth. Adam was made out of this earth, and we are a part of Adam. Hence, we came out of the brooding of the Spirit. Our existence came out of the Spirit’s brooding in God’s history. God firstly came out of eternity and entered into time by creating the heavens and the earth. Then God’s creature rebelled, and God judged him. This rebellious one became God’s enemy, and the entire universe became waste, void, and darkness. Then God moved. He moved by the brooding of His Spirit, and we are included there under that brooding.
The brooding brought forth the earth. But for the earth to produce life, there is the need of light and air. Therefore, on the first day the light was recovered, and on the second day the air, the firmament, was created. Then on the third day, the day of resurrection, the buried earth came up (typifying the buried Christ resurrected), ready to produce life. The producing of life started from the lowest life. There is a sequence of life in Genesis, beginning with the lowest life, the life without any consciousness. First, we find the grasses, the herbs, and the trees (vv. 11-13). These are living things, but their life is very low and without any consciousness. These were created on the third day, immediately after the earth resurrected from the death water.
(The History of God in His Union With Man, Chapter 3, by Witness Lee)
