From a study done by E.W. Bullinger about the "
foundation" of the world...
There are two words translated "foundation" in the New Testament. 1. Themelios and 2.katabole. (snip) A comparison of the passages (especially 2 Cori. 4:9 and
Rev. 12:10) will show that kataballo and katabole are not the proper terms for founding and foundation, but the correct meaning is casting down, or overthrow. Accordingly, the noun katabole, derived from, and cognate with the verb,
ought to be translated "disruption, or ruin."
The remarkable thing is that in all occurrences (except Heb.11:11) the word is connected with "the world," kosmos and therefore the expression
should be rendered, "the disruption, or ruin of the world, clearly
referring to the condition indicatetd in Gen.1:2 and described in 2 Peter 3:5-6, for the earth was not created tohu (Is. 45:18) but became so, as stated in the Hebrew of
Gen. 1:2 and confirmed by
2 Peter 3:6, where the "
world that then was by the word of God," [Gen.1:1] perished, and "the heavens and the earth which are now," by the same word were created [Gen.2:4] and are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment [
2 Peter 3:7] which shall usher in the "new heavens and the new earth" of [
2 Peter 3:13.]
The disruption of the world is an event forming a great dividing line in the dispensations of the ages. In
Gen. 1:1 we have the founding of the world [
Heb. 1:10 themelios], but in
Gen. 1:2 we have it's overthrow.
Ample New Testament testimony is thus given to the profoundly significant fact recorded in
Gen. 1:2 that
the earth became tohu and bohu (i.e. waste and desolate); and darkness was on the face of the deep before the creation of the heavens and the earth which are now [
2 Peter 3:7].