Genesis 1- Andy's thoughts

Some introductory ideas to consider before reading Genesis
I do believe that it is good to have and to ask questions of the text. I think that these questions that we bring to the Bible are secondary, however, to the questions that the Bible brings to us. The primary questions that the beginning of Genesis raise are-
• Who is the one who is responsible for not only the world’s existence but specifically humanity’s?
• Why is the world the way that it is- specifically, why does it intuitively feel like things are not the way they ought to be?
• What shall we do with our lives and this God that is described?

I hope that we endeavor to still answer these questions rather than rehash old debates that seldom bear much if any fruit. There is something inherently futile about a Christian trying to convince a person of creationism when that person doesn’t yet believe in a Creator. The purpose of Genesis is much more about who is the God that created rather than how and when God created.

Last year I wrote about some ideas central to Genesis and the nature of revelation (the written account of God’s revealing Himself to humanity) and have included one of these excerpts below entitled “Local Gods”. In this passage I state that God is not merely a local god as the surrounding nations of the time would have believed. Instead Genesis shows that the universal creator is God- called YHWH (the Hebrew word for Lord, usually written as LORD in all capital letters in English bibles) Elohim (the Hebrew word for God- technically it is in the plural to reflect the plural of majesty- kind of like the idea of the “royal we”).

Understanding truth through stories.
There is more that I have written about narrative versus propositional truth. I will include that in later blogs. Here, I will just state that the Bible sometimes reveals truth in the form of propositional logic statements (since God has done X, therefore we ought to do Y) and sometimes in the form of narrative statements (stories- “this is the account of…”).

When truth is revealed through narrative rather than proposition we need to think through the truths in the context of a story rather than as a mathematical equation. Most of Genesis is narrative and it will be beneficial to our understanding of it to get the genre right.

Local gods
I believe that there are reasons why the book of Genesis was written. Initially, it was to instruct the Israelites about the God that led them out of Egypt. This was to help answer the immediate questions of “Was it a good idea to leave the security of the (unpleasant but) known?” and “Is it a good idea to enter the danger of the unknown?” More broadly, it was written to show how God interacted with the people of the previous generations and show that the Lord is a covenant keeping God who delights in showing grace and diligently eradicates sin.

The Lord is neither like the local gods of the Egyptians nor the local gods of the Amorites, Hittites, Canaanites, Jebusites, Amalekites, or Philistines. The Lord (YHWH) is the God (Elohim) of everything and everyone. He is more than the mere god of a tree or a field or a hill or a region. He is more than a sun god or moon god or river god. The Lord is the true God. He is the God who created the sun and the moon and the rivers. He is the God who created the trees and the fields and the hills. He is the God of the first peoples and the God of the present peoples (and the future ones as well, but more on that later). The Lord is not a local god. The Lord is the universal God. The Lord is the God of all.

So when we read the beginning of Genesis and see the description of the days and what is made, it is not about the days. Nor is it about the length of the days. Nor is it about the order of the days. It is about the Lord. And specifically about how the Lord is not just the God of one or two of these things, but rather how the Lord is the God of all of these things. The things above? They came from the Lord. The things below? They came from the Lord. The things before us? They came from the Lord. The birds above? The fish below? The animals before? The Lord. The Lord. The Lord. The Lord is the God of all nature.

When we first read about people in Genesis, it is not primarily written to give detailed biological or anthropological data. It is not intended to answer questions of exactly when events took place. Rather it is intended to show that, since the beginning, the Lord, who is the God of all nature, is also the God of all humanity.

Genesis tells the story of the Lord’s relationship with nature and humanity. The Lord transcends the power and authority of any local god and shows them to be cheap imitations of the true God. Whether it is the idols that Jacob’s wife Rachel tries to smuggle out of her home country, the gods of the Egyptians that Pharaoh’s officials consulted and failed to gain the wisdom to interpret his dream in the time of Joseph, the self proclaimed gods that the workers were trying to make themselves at the tower of Babel, the serpent in the garden of Eden who tried to usurp the Lord’s authority, or even Adam and Eve who tried to make gods of themselves, by knowing what only he knew.

And the ideas of local gods is not isolated to the Bible. The ancient Greeks believed in a pantheon of gods who were more like exaggerated images of humans- displaying the best and worst of our traits. And in addition to the Olympian gods, they also believed in river gods, and tree nymphs, and Titans, and powerful creatures of magic. The Romans developed a theology that is basically a knock-off of the Greek gods, only they changed the names to make them sound more Roman. The Egyptians worshipped a multitude of gods- Nun- the god of Chaos, followed by Atum- the first god, who spat out Shu (air) and Tefnut (moisture). They in turn bore 2 children Geb (earth) and Nut (sky). Then Geb and Nut had 4 children- Osiris, Isis, Seth, and Nephthys. These children fought for control over the earth and the underworld.

Meanwhile in the Americas, the Aztecs of Mexico had their assemblage of gods- primarily their twin creator gods- Ometecuhtli and his sister/wife Omecihuatl, then the gods- Quetzalcoatl- who was followed by the blood sacrifice loving – Huitzilopochtli. Then the Mayans of the Yucatan region of Mexico throughout Central America had their own patron gods such as their creator god- Hunab Ku, death god- Cizin, and rain god- Chac. And the Incans of South American were not without their pantheon. Their supreme creator god was Viracocha, and fathered the sun god Inti who fathered other creator gods called Manco-capac and Mama-oullo.

So what is the point of knowing these local/ patron gods? Is there an application to all of this? Why yes, there is. It struck me how odd it was to hear Christians talk about how they are content with giving reverence and honor to God in some aspects of their lives but not all. For example, I have heard pastors bemoan the evils of drinking and smoking, yet they themselves are more than 60 pounds overweight.

They speak as if the Lord is the God of your liver and lungs, but not your stomach or heart. I hear Christians talk about how they want to support a politician who will outlaw abortions, while those same politicians divert resources away from the poor and elderly sick in order to financially and militarily support countries that perpetrate horrible human rights violations. As if the Lord is the God of the unborn but not the elderly. As if the Lord is only the God of Americans and not the God of the Chinese, the Saudis, the Cubans, the Iraqis.

I hear Christians say that they will freely give ten percent of their income to God but don’t spend free time with non-Christians socially. As if the Lord is the God of our checkbooks, but not our day-timers. No, in all things, the Lord is not a local god; the Lord is the God of all.

I do not bring up these controversial subjects merely to provoke people to debate the same old things. I do this to say that we ought to broaden our understanding of who God is. When Christians focus on only one aspect of God or believe that there is only one issue that is important to support politically, legally, or morally, we show that we believe YHWH Elohim to be just another local god.

When we do this, we fail to see that God is the true universal God that He reveals himself to be in Genesis. I believe that the opening of Genesis shows the fullness of God’s involvement with the world and so we ought to respond to Him with offering him the fullness of our lives in worship and obedience.

“God saw that it was good”
There is a phrase that is repeated that I do think bears more careful attention. It is the phrase “God saw that it was good.” Again and again this phrase is repeated and builds to a crescendo in 1:31 “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.” I think that the repetition of this particular phrase is used to stress a point. Figuring out the point isn’t exactly difficult. The point is that the world and everything in it was good. The world was in harmony with itself and with God.

I am using musical terminology intentionally. Instead of the approaching the text as a math equation to be solved (with which I am more comfortable as a math tutor), I have been seeing it like a musical composition to be appreciated. There is a clear melody being played throughout these first two chapters.

The melody line hints at God’s creative power and intimate connection with His creation. There is a harmony of the creation resonating in unison with God. I imagine a symphony building as, one by one, different instruments chime in to add to the fullness of the sound. First the violins, then the flutes, then an oboe followed by a bassoon. Soon the whole orchestra is working in unison as harmony joins melody to paint a beautiful picture of sound.

As I read these chapters, I first imagine God and him creating. Then there are lights and water, and then plants followed by birds. Soon the whole world is working in unison as God and his creation join together to paint a beautiful picture of existence. Tolkien does an infinitely better job of conveying this concept in the beginning of the Silmarillion.

Keep this musical composition image in your minds as we continue to read the next few chapters. It will frame our discussion on a different paradigm for thinking about evil and sin.