Bible Stories: Creation

Bible Stories: Creation (Genesis 1:1-2:3)

 

In The Beginning...

What’s your favorite Bible Story? Mine is the story of Jacob found in Genesis. Bible stories have captivated our imaginations and inspired us for millennia. Each story carries truth to benefit our lives.

 The early chapters of Genesis work like an overture to a symphony. Just as an overture gives the listener a preview of musical themes that will be performed more fully later in the symphony, the early chapters of Genesis introduce theological ideas that will recur again and again throughout the rest of the Bible.

Genesis 1 begins with the Hebrew word re-sit’, which means the beginning, but it is also a word used to describe the best or choice parts of a sacrifice. The word is used to describe firstfruits offerings in which worshippers bring their first and best to God. The Bible begins by saying, “First, the best thing, God created the heavens and the earth.”

 

Last week we talked of a Babylonian creation myth. The warrior Marduk slew the great sea dragon and with her carcass made heaven and earth. This myth spoke to the warrior culture of Babylon.

 

But for Jews, the central ethic of their lives is not war or military dominance. It is their vocation as God’s chosen nation. Israel is called to be holy as God is holy. They live in covenant with God, keeping God’s righteous laws and holy practices. The words of the covenant are poured over and meditated upon. As Moses wrote in Deuteronomy 8:3,

 

one does not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.

 

The word of God takes center stage in Genesis chapter 1. It is by God speaking that light shines in darkness, order is brought to chaos, and life springs from empty barren wastes.

 

Some Christian traditions read the Bible as literal history, instead of religious narrative. They teach that dinosaurs were on Noah’s Ark and the earth is only 6,000 years old. According to science, the earth is 4.5 billion years old and the universe is 13.8 billion years old. I lean on the side of science. It is a helpful tool, but science is not God. Science is limited by our senses. An eagle can see further than I can see. A dog hears more than I can hear. A monkey is more agile than me. We are limited by our senses and our bodies. Our minds can be pretty narrow. We tend to see what we want to see and hear only what we are comfortable hearing.

 

My Old Testament professor told me, “The question we should ask when approaching Bible stories is not, “Is this story true?” For then, we are imposing empiricism upon a text that wasn’t written for that purpose. It’s not a science book, nor is the Bible a history book, even though much is based in actual history. Bible stories carry God’s truth. The question we should ask is, “What truth is in the story?” Arguing that the universe was created in six 24 hour periods, misses the point of the creation story.

 

The creation story lays a foundation of theological ideas that will be featured throughout the whole of the Bible. God is established as the creator, the Maker of Heaven and Earth. God creates by speaking. His word is life.

 

On the first day, there was nothing but darkness, chaos, a swirling unformed emptiness devoid of life. A leading theory in cosmology says that, in the early stages of the universe, dark matter, which makes up 23-27% of all matter in the universe, formed into gargantuan chunks called halos. Their mass attracted other matter and eventually became the origin of stars and galaxies. It’s called dark matter because, in order for astrophysical models to work, there must be space matter we cannot see. Advances in physics have detected the presence of dark matter as more than just a theory, even though it has not been observed. In the beginning there was darkness.

 

The Spirit of God moved over the darkness, like an eagle hovers over her nest protecting her young. It is a gentle image of tenderness. Deep inside we all need the tender care of our heavenly parent.

 

 

Moving into darkness is God’s first recorded act of selflessness and sacrifice. These dark waters were not inviting. The darkness was a terrible chaotic churning ocean of death where nothing can live. God moved near that darkness to make room for us, to make room for heaven and earth.

 

God spoke, “Let there be light!” Notice that the sun, moon and stars are not formed until the 4^th day of creation. Green plants appear on the 3^rd day with dry land. Scientifically speaking, that cannot happen. How could plants grow on a day without sunlight? The biblical idea, however, is that the light of God’s presence is what gives life to everything.

 

Darkness is metaphorical for ignorance, blindness and wickedness. Beware of the dark side! In the scriptures, darkness is used to describe secrecy, misery, sorrow, and death. Did you know the 2^nd leading cause of death in young adults is suicide? There are a lot of people living in darkness. They seek to escape life without hope, without light. The good news is that God tenderly moves near our darkness, bringing light and life.  

 

God saw that the light was good and separated the light from the darkness. God separated the dark waters of chaos from earth, that earth might become a safe place to nurture life. The word separated in Hebrew is badal. It means to divide or separate, but it also means to set apart, to choose.

 

God chose Israel to be holy, to be a light to the nations, spreading the knowledge of God to the rest of the world. He set them apart from all other nations for this holy vocation.

Their laws set them apart. What they eat and do not eat, what they wear and do not wear. Their behavior is starkly different than those ignorant of God’s right ways. They live by the light of God’s word, while those who don’t stumble around in the dark.

 

There are volumes of books written analyzing Genesis 1. We don’t have time to cover it all. So, we’re going to run very quickly through the days of creation.

 

Genesis 1 is filled with Easter Eggs. Most of them you will not notice, unless you are reading the original language. Some words in Genesis are theologically loaded terms. They are in the narrative precisely because they point to other parts of the Bible. They point to Israel’s shared history and faith. Let’s do some Easter Egg hunting!

 

On the 2^nd Day God created a dome called heaven or sky to push back the dark waters. Just as God separated the darkness from His divine light, so God separated the dark waters of chaos from the earth so that life may be nurtured. God creates safe places for life to flourish. May the church always be a safe place where all people are nurtured!

 

On Day 3, God gathers the waters under the sky so that dry land can appear. The word for dry land is the same word used in the story of the crossing of the Red Sea, when God saved the Hebrews from Pharaoh’s chariots.

 

Another Easter egg is the Hebrew word qava’, translated as gathered. Let the waters be gathered in one place. The word is more often translated as waiting, to wait in hope with longing. It carries the notion of strength, like the twisted cords of a rope holds up under tension. One grows in strength as one endures. The reward is coming. Hang on to hope. The gathered water is later described by a different word, miqve’. This points to the Jewish tradition of ritual baths outside the temple, a baptismal used for washing away dirt and sin. Miqve’ means ground of hope.

 

The dry land God calls eres’, Earth. It’s a theologically loaded term pointing to the promised land, an exceedingly good land flowing with milk and honey. Hebrew slaves waited in hope for deliverance and the inheritance of the Promised Land. We wait in hope for Jesus and the promise of His eternal kingdom.

 

On Day 4, God creates the Sun, moon and stars. These are given dominion to rule over the day and night, and to serve as signs to mark time in days, seasons and years. The word translated as sign is also a theologically loaded term. The same word describes circumcision as the sign of belonging to the covenant between Israel and God. And for the Church, baptism is the sign of belonging to the new covenant in Jesus Christ.

 

On Day 5, God creates fish and birds. A new action is introduced. God blessed the fish and birds. Blessed in Hebrew is barak. Jews today pray before eating bread. “Blessed (barukh) are you, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, who brings forth bread from the earth.”

 

On Day 6, God created animals, creepy crawlies, and humans. Humans are created in God’s image. We are made with a God shaped hole that only God can fill. We are made for a loving relationship with our creator.

 

Chapter one has a false ending. For the story of creation includes a 7^th day, the sabbath day.

 

God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. On the sixth day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day...  God blessed the seventh day and made it holy…

 

God models for us how to do sabbath. Rest, Rejoice, and Renew.

 

God rested. Cease from all your striving. Put down your to-do lists. Surrender your cares and worries. The sabbath is the pinnacle of creation, a special day set apart for God and God’s people. Rest.

 

Rejoice. God delighted in His good creation. Rejoice in all the good you enjoy in life. Fresh air, sunshine, birdsong, green growing things, health, clean water, music, art, family and friends, community, freedom.

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights… (James 1:17) Delight in God’s good creation. Rejoice!

 

And Renew! God blessed the 7^th day. Rabbi Abraham Heschel wrote that the sabbath has done more to keep the Jews, than the Jews have kept the sabbath. The weekly practice to spend the day with God formed the Jewish identity through the ages. Even when their temple was destroyed, they kept the sabbath and maintained their vocation as God’s chosen.  Keeping the sabbath holy, a special and blessed day set apart from all other days, is a gift for all humanity.

 

God blessed the sabbath. When God blesses, there’s a bountiful harvest. When God blesses, flocks and herds are fertile. When Israel faithfully kept the covenant, God blessed them with peace and plenty.

 

When you send forth your Spirit, they are created,

    and you renew the face of the earth. (Psalm 104:30)

 

Rest, Rejoice and Renew in the Spirit of God, the very source of life!