BEFORE GENESIS: The Unauthorized History of Tohu, Bohu, and the Chaos Dragon in the Land Before Time Paperback – 1 Nov. 2023

I am not a bible scholar, just an ordinary person who believes a lot of what this book is saying. I have found some of the ideas difficult to comprehend. I feel an urgency to reach the lost because I believe the rapture is imminent, It will take me time to digest some of the biblical ideas regarding (Lucifer/Satan/Serpent/Dragon) genetically modifying reptile like creatures into dinosaurs. I will need to read this again seeking guidance from the Holy Spirit.

The only reason I was able to read this book was because I was couped up in a hospital room for several days after my daughter’s surgery. A couple days after the surgery, the surgeon came in the room while I was reading this book. He asked how I liked it, and I told him a little about it. I told him that it has always been difficult for me to reconcile what I know about science versus what is written about creation, and this book provides an excellent argument that both sides can mutually exist. He really perked up after I said that, told me that he had similar issues with the two, and was glad that something was out there that could bridge the gap. He took a picture of the book with his phone and said he was going to look for it to listen to when driving between clinics. Hopefully there will be an audiobook created for this book for those that are unable to find the time to sit down and read.

Book looks good and is interesting reading

I was introduced to this theory of Tohu Bohu 40 years ago and found it compelling in that it makes a lot of sense and explains a LOT re: the human condition. I appreciated this author's in-depth research to get to her conclusions, and especially appreciated all the Bible references that are sometimes confusing in their mistranslations. Very easy to follow the logic until it got a little "muddy" for me at the end. Will need to re-read the chapter on Dinosaurs to connect those big dots. Really like the author's writing style. I was tempted to skip over the build-up to the meaty chapter on the Serpent King, but the debates and evidence sections were so interesting and well written that I chewed every word.

I enjoyed this book for the most part, and while there is a good bit of speculation, there is no way for anyone to really prove what happened before Genesis. I agree with the main idea presented in the book, that there was creation of heaven and earth, then over the course of an unknown time the earth became void and without form and certainly that was not the original intent or original "form" God created it in. I also believe that the Holy Spirit hovering over the earth/waters was to serve as a barrier between heaven and earth in essence "imprisoning" Lucifer on earth during this time after his rebellion failed. The Holy Spirit barrier was necessary because as we find out in the Bible the separation of heaven and earth wasn't established until after this time. Also the creation of "day 1" was "light"(not sun which we associate with ligth), and I believe that "light" was Jesus(and no I do not think Jesus was "created" as he is one with God and was there before this), and that "light" or Jesus defeated Leviathan and the chaos on earth and "it was good", and laid the foundation of reconstructing/creating the world. It is also interesting that each creation "day" is ended with "and it was good" except for one and that is the day the heavens and earth were separated, why would that be? I believe because this is because God had to separate the physical and spiritual world which isn't "good" but was necessary, similar to Adam and Eve being kicked out of the Garden of Eden, yes it was somewhat punishment and not a "good" thing, but it was necessary to prevent man from eating of the tree of life which would make them eternal in their sinful form. The first nearly 2/3 of the book are background information and you really don't get to the real "this is why I'm reading the book" part until the last 1/3, however it is interesting information and needed to understand the later 1/3. That being said there was a lot of information included that could have been left out to avoid unnecessary things such as the long description of Ussher. I understand she was trying to point out the prestige and clout he had at the time, but I could have skipped all the achievements and such of his and just given me the ideas he came up with. The ending was also kinda preachy and could be skipped because it doesn't add to the "before Genesis" conversation and more defends her reasoning for writing the book which I personally don't care about. I also was expecting a little more "wow factor" stuff to be revealed and while it is incredible information, there really wasn't anything too groundbreakingly amazing despite the fact that I had mostly been a young earth believer. I am 32 now and in my 20s I believed in the young earth model and defended it mostly by saying if God created man not as infants but as older then he could create the earth to appear older, however I have sense realized that there is no way to deny there are dinosaur bones in the ground and there are 2 options, you either believe those dinosaurs are no older than 7,000yrs or so old or you believe God purposefully planted bones of a never existing creature in the earth which would bring us to why he would do that and certainly he would not be trying to confuse or trick humans with that information. I also believe that science while not infallible cannot be faked in many ways and while I question dating practices in their accuracy, I also believe it wouldn't be off by such a large discrepancy. So is the earth the billions of years old, maybe not, but before the fall, I believe the concept of time wasn't a thing, and what constitutes a "day" as in the creation week? is a "day" 24hrs? is a "day" a 360 revolution of the earth? is a "day" sunrise to sunset? I find it hard to believe the "day" at the beginning would be so tied to a 24hrs period. The sun wasn't technically created or allowed to be manifest in some way(possibly by a Holy Spirit barrier) so sunrise and sunset wasn't a thing and all that was present was a "light" which I believe to be Jesus just as Jesus will be the light when the New Jerusalem arrives. So we really have no way to know how much time passed between a "day" other than it says there was evening and there was morning but without a sun and without an hour time period we can't know how much time passed prior to the "day" the sun was created if a "day" actually refers to a "day" as we know it. And the "there was evening and there was morning" could also be alluding to basically "there was (darkness or imperfection) and there was (light or creation)" implying that evening was the state of the earth prior to that days creation and the morning was the state of the earth after creation, more of a symbolic evening/morning than a physical manifestation of sunset and sunrise. Which brings me to one of the biggest puzzle pieces that I can't fill in. The human remains that predate the Ussherian Adam time. I have a really hard time believing that there was a preAdam "human" race that lacks the "image of God", and I pretty firmly believe that Adam and Eve were the first "humans" PERIOD with or without the "image of God". So as for the remains of humans, I think they must have either been after Adams time and there is some way whether it be a misunderstanding in the genealogy which I don't really know if that can work out given we have a direct quote from Jude that is considered "inspired Word of God" that says Enoch was seventh from Adam or seventh generation from Adam depending on translation. So where this all fits in may not be something we can perfectly hammer down, but ultimately that doesn't shake me at all. I believe Adam and Eve were the first and the timing of that doesn't matter much to me, but I do believe the earth was created and had an extensive history making up Gen 1:1-2 at which time whether before or after Adam megalithic structures that obviously required knowledge and help(or complete construction) from fallen angels.

I don't know for sure of course since I was not there at the tine but I believe it presents the most reasonable explanation of the world that then was and the fall of Lucifer, how the dinosaurs fit in etc. You may disagree, but should give it a read to be both fair and sure of your own opinion. Well written and yet a bit too wordy for my taste, but then again it is very detailed.