Genesis 1: Creation. Riverview Church Term 4, 2014 Page 1 of 6 Prepared by Graham Irvine

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1 Genesis 1: Creation Riverview Church Term 4, 2014 Page 1 of 6

2 Introduction: Throughout the book the themes of land and people are prominent. In fact the theme is often the struggle between Israel and God in regards to land and people. Another predominant theme is the theme of exile. If the writers and compilers of Genesis were looking to answer the question Does God still care about us? then we would expect to find this theme in the book, and we do. God rescues the characters in the story from a number of exiles; Adam and Eve from the garden exile Noah and his family from the flood exile Abraham from his homeland exile Isaac from his family exile Joseph from his exile in prison Literary Genre: The inspired author(s) of the primeval prologue drew on the manner of speaking about origins that was part of their culture and literary traditions. Ch. 1 needs to be read in light of creation accounts from Mesopotamia. Although detailed comparisons are relatively few, three basic parallels exist: the picture of the primeval state as a watery chaos, the basic order of creation, and the divine rest at the end of creation. 1 Other ANE Creation Stories: Egyptian Creation Story: WXIwY_txg_kLxVSy71C1iNQ0 Babylonian Creation Story: Genesis 1-2:4a John Walton in his book The Lost World of Genesis One would have us consider the following ideas in relationship to Genesis 1:1-2:4; 1 William Sanford La Sor, David Allan Hubbard, and Frederic William Bush, Old Testament Survey: The Message, Form, and Background of the Old Testament, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1996), 19. Riverview Church Term 4, 2014 Page 2 of 6

3 1. Genesis is ancient cosmology it is not written from a 21st century scientific world perspective 2. Ancient cosmology is Function oriented the ANE cultures were not concerned about how the material world came into existence. They were concerned about the way the world functioned. 3. The beginning state in Gen. 1 is non-functional 4. Days 1-3 establish function spaces in which functioning can occur 5. Days 4-6 install functionaries things to do the functioning 6. The cosmos is a temple 1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. This statement tells the original audience and us much about God. 1. God exists 2. God is the eternal creator 3. God is distinct from his creation, he is transcendent. 4. God is personal 5. Yahweh did not need anyone else to help him with creation. This is unlike the creation stories of other ANE. 6. Creation did not happen out of a conflict of any sort 2 The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. The Hebrew phrase for formless and empty is tohubohu, which is 2 Hebrew words combine to make the word. Tohu means formless and bohu means empty. In English the phrase has come to mean something utterly chaotic. In ANE cultures the way the world looks is because the gods tamed the chaos. John Walton would say brought function to the functionless. Yahweh s uniqueness is that he, by himself, brought order from the chaos. 3 Then God said, Let there be light, and there was light. These verses set up the first time function of creation, the 24 hour day and night cycle. Riverview Church Term 4, 2014 Page 3 of 6

4 The story moves from darkness or night to light or day, hence the evening and morning sequence. The verb hyh (create or to become) is not necessary to indicate the simple existence or identity of a person or thing. The use of hyh generally gives rise to a more fully packed and dynamic statement concerning the being of a person or thing, a being expressed in the entity s actions or deeds, fate, and behavior toward others. 2 And it was good: So when Chapter 1 speaks of it was good the meaning is not moral goodness nor is it perfection, but it means that the creation functioned as it should. 6 Then God said, Let there be a space between the waters Next a space is made for the living things that do not need land. We begin with the deep water and then God divides the water into, water above, the sky, and water below, the earth. This sky space is also where weather functions. The weather in an agricultural society is of extreme importance. Again Yahweh does not need any other god to control the weather; he is quite capable of doing it himself. 9 Then God said, Let the waters beneath the sky flow together into one place Again God separates two things, land from sea. Verse 11 goes on to explain the significance of this separation. The land is now capable of bearing or growing plants. This is the precursor to the development of food production. DAY 1 THE BASIS FOR TIME DAY 2 THE BASIS FOR THE WEATHER DAY 3 THE BASIS FOR FOOD 2 Ernst Jenni and Claus Westermann, Theological Lexicon of the Old Testament (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1997), 360. Riverview Church Term 4, 2014 Page 4 of 6

5 14 Then God said, Let lights appear in the sky to separate the day from the night For Israel s neighbours the sun, moon and stars were gods who had a direct influence on the happenings on earth. This is the development of astrology. Here in Israel s creation story the Holy Spirit makes it abundantly clear that the sun, moon and stars are not in any way to be worshipped. They are not gods they are lights to which Yahweh gives function. Deut. 6:4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 20 Then God said, Let the waters swarm with fish and other life The seas have been prepared, now they are filled with life. 24 Then God said, Let the earth produce every sort of animal Similar to the sea and the sky, the land, made back on day 3, now has something functioning in it. 26 Then God said, Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign Image and Reign: We are apart from creation made in the image of God and made to reign. Ravi Zacharias - Tom Wright - In Genesis Yahweh places a living image of himself within creation, within his temple; humanity. One of the things the image of the god did was to remind people what the god was like. Humanity is God s image in the world; we have a role to remind the world what God is like. Riverview Church Term 4, 2014 Page 5 of 6

6 What does it mean to reign? Read Ps 72. John Olley gives the following summary of how the role of the king was viewed by ANE cultures; A close link is perceived between the actions of the king and the maintaining of order and harmony in society and in nature. He is responsible for upholding justice His decrees as a ruler who does what is right may involve remission of debts, freeing of slaves, reduction of forced labour and release of land. The king is responsible for harmonious order. How do you think this compares with the role Jesus set his followers? Matt 22:37-39 We are a part of creation our place is with the rest of creation. We are to be fruitful and multiply. And God Rested: Over the centuries this idea of God resting has been seen in many ways; God rested meaning he did not do any more creating God rested meaning he did not do any more work God rested meaning he took his place in his temple This last idea is a fairly recent one but fits very well with the ANE cultural influence that we find in Genesis. We find, then, that cosmology and temple converge in the issue of divine rest. Cosmological texts provide accounts of order and security being established, and the temple is where that order and security are maintained and enjoyed John Walton on God s rest. In summary, God is personal, relating to the world, but he is not identified with the world. The world is sacred space, a good space, designed for human flourishing. The ancient Near Eastern authors used ancient imagery known to the original audience, but used it consistently to cast a distinctive view of God and his creation. 3 John H. Walton, Ancient Near Eastern Thought and the Old Testament: Introducing the Conceptual World of the Hebrew Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2006), Riverview Church Term 4, 2014 Page 6 of 6

Walton, John H. Ancient Near Eastern Thought and the Old Testament: Introducing the

Walton, John H. Ancient Near Eastern Thought and the Old Testament: Introducing the Conceptual World of the Hebrew Bible. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2006. 368 pp. $27.99. Open any hermeneutics textbook,