1st Direction Point: Read
Genesis -- “In the beginning. . . .”
Background (Except for "Note" and the proceeding material, this amended introduction comes from the New Oxford Annotated Bible, NRSV):
Genesis, meaning “origin” or “beginning,” covers the time from creation to the Israelite sojourn in Egypt. The book falls naturally into two main sections. The primeval history (1-11), which is universal in its scope (see note at bottom), tells how the blessing of God enabled humanity to multiply, diversify, and disperse on the face of the earth. The ancestral history (12-50), on the other hand, deals with the limited family history of Israel’s ancestors: Abram and Sarai (renamed Abraham and Sarah), Isaac and Rebekah and their twin sons Esau and Jacob, and Jacob’s family, the chief member of which is Joseph. The primeval history reflects a “prehistorical” or mythical view of the movement from creation out of chaos to the return of chaos in a catastrophic flood and the new beginning afterwards, while the ancestral history can be read, at least to some degree, in the context of the history of the Near East in the latter part of the second millennium (1500-1200 B.C.) The primary purpose of the book, however, is not to present a straightforward history but to tell the dramatic story of God’s dealings with the world and, in particular, to interpret Israel’s special role in God’s purpose. Thus the migration of Abram and his family in response to God’s promise is the turning point in the unfolding story. God’s creation has been marred by human violence that, under the judgment of God, threatens the earth with a return to pre-creation chaos. Out of this fallible human material, however, God gradually separates one family line, promising that the descendents of Abraham and Sarah would increase in number, receive a homeland, and have a relationship with God that would benefit other peoples (12:1-3). The promise in its threefold aspect is threatened by various experiences, such as Sarah’s barrenness or Jacob’s having to flee from the land of Canaan. Despite trials and tribulations, however, the people move toward the horizon of God’s future, and when the book ends, in the time of Joseph’s wise and benevolent administration of Egypt, the promise is pressing toward realization.
Note: Centuries later, in his attempt to connect the universal Savior Christ with the Trinity (God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), in the grand prologue to his Gospel, the evangelist John will open with the exact same phrase as does the writer of Genesis: “In the beginning. . . .” John’s point is that Jesus was already existent at the very point of creation and, in fact, was central to it. He strives to bring this thought home to his readers by opening his story (“history”) with the very same words.
Genesis is the first book in the set of five that make up the primary authoritative works of the collection of Hebrew Scriptures (also known as the “First Covenant” or more inaccurately, the “Old Testament”). Together, the books (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy) are known as the Pentateuch or “five scrolls” and are the heart of the Jewish “Law of Moses” or Torah. While being of importance, the other books of the Hebrew Scriptures are of lesser influence and consequence than these first five. It is believed the Pentateuch was written in Babylon during the time of the Babylonian exile (589-538 B.C.) by the surviving priests who were wrestling with how God could have allowed such a tragedy to befall his chosen people. Their answer was the creation of the Pentateuch that outlines the “history” of human beings in relationship with their creator. Their summation is that, no matter what happens to the people, God remains always there.
Genesis 1-2
1 In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
And God said, “Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” So God made the dome and separated the waters that were under the dome from the waters that were above the dome. And it was so. God called the dome Sky. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day. And God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, “Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it.” And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation: plants yielding seed of every kind, and trees of every kind bearing fruit with the seed in it. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the third day. And God said, “Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years, and let them be lights in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. God made the two great lights--the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night--and the stars. God set them in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day. And God said, “Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky.” So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, of every kind, with which the waters swarm, and every winged bird of every kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day. And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every kind: cattle and creeping things and wild animals of the earth of every kind.” And it was so. God made the wild animals of the earth of every kind, and the cattle of every kind, and everything that creeps upon the ground of every kind. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.”
So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” God said, “See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude. And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation.
NRSV Genesis 2:4-25 (another look at creation)
These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created. In the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens, when no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no herb of the field had yet sprung up--for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no one to till the ground; but a stream would rise from the earth, and water the whole face of the ground--then the LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being. And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there he put the man whom he had formed. Out of the ground the LORD God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. A river flows out of Eden to water the garden, and from here it divides and becomes four branches. The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one that flows around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; and the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there. The name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one that flows around the whole land of Cush. The name of the third river is Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates. The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.” Then the LORD God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner.” So out of the ground the LORD God formed every animal of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the air, and to every animal of the field; but for the man there was not found a helper as his partner. So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then he took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called Woman, for out of Man this one was taken.” Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked, and were not ashamed.
Focus point:
It has been accepted for some time in the world of higher biblical studies that there are two “voices” behind the two differing creation accounts in Genesis. The accounts are attributed to two different “authors” seeking to answer two entirely different questions. The first account seeks to answer the question, “How did our world as we know it come into being?” What is highly ironic yet fascinating given the current climate of creationism vs. evolution, an “intelligent designer” vs. Charles Darwin, is that the first account largely follows the geological and natural order of terrestrial creation, which is interesting given its pre-modern origin. For its purpose, the second account attempts to address the nature of God’s special relationship to man and then woman and that between themselves. “How are we different and why were we created?” asks this author. One major difference between the two accounts is that in the second account (2:4-9) the author reverses the order of terrestrial creation: God creates humans before creating anything else, thus emphasizing human’s unique relationship to God.