Introduction
Having introduced creation’s importance to the biblical message of redemption, analysis of the actual Genesis 1 creation narrative can proceed. Analysis of the creation story often focuses upon defending the veracity of Scripture against the perceived attacks of science. Much effort within the church has been dedicated to arguments against evolution and the various sciences that claim the universe’s age dates back billions of years. While these efforts may be sincere, we believe these efforts obscure the true redemptive meaning of the narrative. Consider the testimony of Bernard Anderson:
“In the book of Genesis creation does not stand by itself as though it were a prescientific attempt to explain the origin of the cosmos. Rather, as indicated by the position of the creation stories at the opening of the Bible, creation is the prologue to history. It sets the stage for the unfolding of the divine purpose and inaugurates a historical drama within which Israel and, in the fullness of time, the church were destined to play a key role.” [1]
As prologue to biblical history, the creation-narrative must be examined in biblical context, where focus is upon the history of God’s efforts to redeem His fallen creation. The drama opens with creation that through sin brings degeneration or de-creation, requiring a restorative plan to redeem fallen creation. The successful completion of that plan is proclaimed in the closing chapters of Revelation (chapters 21-22). At this juncture however, our focus is upon the Genesis 1 creation narrative and what the author intends to convey. We begin with an examination of the structure of the narrative.
Structure of Genesis 1 Creation Narrative
Genesis 1 begins the account of creation, recounting God’s creation of the cosmos. Chiasmus is evident between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 2:4:
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth”
“This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created.”
It forms an inclusio marking Genesis 2:4 as the completion of the cosmic creation narrative.[2] Genesis 2:3-4 concludes the creation account of the cosmos while vs 4 serves a secondary role of transitioning from the narrative of the creation of the cosmos to a secondary, more detailed narrative of the creation of man. A second chiasmus is evident between the creation account of Genesis 1:1 and the account of “new creation” in Revelation 21:1:
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth”
“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away”
It hints that John’s vision of a new creation forms another inclusio with the Genesis 1 creation narrative, marking the end of God’s redemptive drama.
Returning to Genesis 1, God’s creative activities are highly ordered with a number of phrases recurrent throughout the six day account. Internally, each day formally resembles the next through certain common literary features that include divine command (“And God said, ‘Let . . .’”), execution formula (“And it was so”), fulfillment (“And God made X” or “And there was X”), approbation (“And God saw that it was good”), naming (“And God called . . .”), and day enumeration (“There was evening and there was morning, the X day.”).[3]
The creation narrative begins by establishing that God created the cosmos. That the cosmos was created “in the beginning” establishes that whatever may have pre-existed is of no relevance to man or creation. All theological relevance begins with creation. Vs 2 is of importance, “And the earth was formless and void”, where the Hebrew word translated “void” means empty or unfilled. Genesis 1 draws attention to the earth’s starting point – that it was unformed and unfilled. God’s creative activities for the six days of creation are focused on forming and filling His creation. The specific activities of creation can be divided into two groups of three days per Table 1:
Table 1: Outline of Creation
Day 1 Light Day 4 Luminaries
Day 2 Sky Day 5 Birds and Fish
Day 3 Land (Plants) Day 6 Animals and man (Plants for food)
Day 7 Sabbath[4]
Three of these days deal with activities in the heavens (days 1, 2, 4) and three deal with the earth (days 3, 5, 6). These activities are interwoven in chiastic form (heaven, heaven, earth; heaven, earth, earth) and the 3rd and 6th day also contain a double announcement with a two fold occurrence of an approval. A similar correspondence is evident in God’s creative activities in forming and filling the earth (see Figure 1).
Figure 1: Days of First Creation [5]
The formative activities occur during the first three days and involve differentiation and separation, anticipating a later filling of these spaces. [6] God formed specific domains within His creation and then filled each domain with life. In doing so, He transformed what began as formless and empty into something formed and filled. Forming also involved differentiation and separation. He differentiated light from darkness, the heavens from the earth, separating them via a firmament and then separating the seas by the land. In naming the light “day” and the darkness “night,” God has in reality created time:
“If something connected with light is named ‘day’ we can deduce that it is not light itself, but the period of light, for that is what ‘day’ is. . . . God called the period of light ‘day’ and the period of darkness he called ‘night’.” [7]
This interpretation solves the long-standing conundrum of why evening is named before morning. There had been darkness in the pre-creation condition. When God called forth a period of light and distinguished it from this period of darkness, the “time” system that was set up required transitions between these two established periods. [8]
Thus, the first creative act is the establishment of a time-clock, a rhythm of creative days that we will claim anticipates a rhythm of “eschatological” days to occur at determined (if not pre-determined) times. On the first “day” time was created (temporal separation), and on the second “day” space was created (spatial separation). Likewise the creative activity of the second day also brought the creation of weather. No approbation followed until spatial separation was completed on Day 3 with the separation of the waters and land. The pre-creative waters were separated by a “firmament” with the expanse above named “sky”. [9] The third day brings the emergence of land which divides and separates the earth’s waters. The emergence of dry land completes the triad of “formative” acts of creation transitioning to the triad of “filling” acts of creation.
God’s first creative act of filling is in the heavens, with the establishment of the starry hosts, the sun and the moon. These heavenly “lights” divide the day from the night and are used for time-keeping (seasons). These heavenly lights are also “signs” suggesting far more than simple time-keeping. A correspondence between day 1 and day 4 can be seen: day 1 – the creation of time, day 4 – the creation of time-keepers. The reference to signs anticipates that the system of time-keeping involves more than the physical seasons, suggestive of important “times” in God’s eschatological plan. [10] Both the sun and the moon are given authority to rule the day and night.
After filling the heavens with astral bodies, God creates the abundance of species in the water, air and land and concludes with a blessing to “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill . . .” Without God’s creative power, there would be no life on earth. By His blessing, life is self-sustaining. His creation provides all that is required for life to fulfill His mandate of filling the earth, sky and seas. There is an implied cooperation between God and creation in attaining this mandate. Life is defined by mobility which excludes the vegetation brought forth on the third day. [11] This vegetation is preparatory as a food source for the species to follow. In Biblical terms, life begins after the formation of the various domains. Day 5 brings the creation of lifeforms in the heavens and the seas, in correspondence with the creation and separation of the waters above (sky) and the waters below (sea). Thus, the two spaces created on day 2 (sky and the sea) are filled with living being: the sky with every winged bird and the seas with every type of fish.
The creation of land animals on Day 6 likewise corresponds with the formation of dry land on day 3, completing God’s creative activities of forming and filling. The blessing and mandate to be fruitful and fill is uniquely applied to the lifeforms with mobility. [12] The mandates pronounced on Days 5 and 6 are similar though for mankind, the mandate is extended to include ruler-ship and dominion over creation. Man is made God’s vicegerent, ruling over the earth as God rules the heavens. Man not only has dominion but is given the mandate to subdue the earth. Partnership and cooperation are implied in God’s appointment of man to this regal task. Partnership seems further emphasized in God’s decision to make man in His image. Being made in God’s image reflected that man’s ruler-ship was God’s ruler-ship “in proxy”. Man’s responsibility was to rule as God would rule. Man is God’s representative (His image).
With the earth formed and filled, creation has been completed. The source of all that exists is God. He has created all and everything is under His divine authority, even “chaos”. Chaos implies formlessness, a pre-creative state of disorder that exists apart from God’s creative order. Completed creation represents orderliness – order as God has formed and separated. Anticipated in this truth are the consequences of failing to maintain creation as God had ordered. If the created spaces are not maintained, if boundary-breaking occurs, disorder and chaos result. [13]
With creation completed, God ceases His creative activity, declaring the seventh day a day of rest, anticipating the (eternal) Sabbath. [14] God blessed this day, marking it with significance and setting it apart from the other six days. The seventh was sanctified and made holy. Oddly, the seventh lacks the familiar close “and there was evening and there was morning”. We believe this omission deliberate, foreshadowing the completion of re-creation, the completion of God’s redemptive plan, when all time ceases. [15]
The final day of the account stands out from the six-day sequence that preceded it. Day 7 is categorically set apart, consecrated as Sabbath. The culmination of creation is as much a day beyond creation as the introduction marked creation’s pre-ordered state (day 0). Day 7 and Day 0 bracket the account as a whole. The literary envelope they establish informs the aim and process of creation. [16]
Chiasmus is seen here as well. As day 0 was a period of pre-creative timelessness, implied is the post-creative timelessness of Day 7 when God’s redemptive activities are completed and there is no longer need for the signs and seasons as God’s plan has reached completion. The times and seasons establish the timing of God’s redemptive plan. The unity of the creation account is seen in its chiasmus, its balance between forming and filling, the internal correspondences between each of the forming and filling days, as well as in the bracketing of creation with the timeless past and a timeless future. However, these are not the only marks of ingenuity noted in the construction of this passage. The creation account is also marked with a substantial occurrence of mystical numbers, offering further insights into the mind of the author and the ways of God. Wenham notes that the creation passage is marked by a significant occurrence of “sevens”.
“(Genesis) 1:1 consists of 7 words, 1:2 of 14 (7 x 2) words, 2:1-3 of 35 (7 x 5) words. The number seven dominates this opening chapter in a strange way, not only in the number of words in a particular section but in the number of times a specific word or phrase recurs. For example, ‘God’ is mentioned 35 times, ‘earth’ 21 times, ‘heaven/firmament’ 21 times, while the phrases ‘and it was so’ and ‘God saw that it was good’ occur 7 times.” [17]
Wenham catalogs a number of key recurrent formulae used in this passage.
“Genesis 1 is characterized by a number of recurrent formulae: (1) announcement of the commandment, ‘And God said’ (10 times; vss 3, 6, 9, 11, 14, 20, 24, 26, 28, 29); (2) order, e.g. ‘Let there be . . .’ (8 times; vss 3, 6, 9, 11, 14, 20, 24, 26); (3) fulfillment formula, e.g. ‘And it was so’ (7 times; vss 3, 7, 9, 11, 15, 24, 30); (4) execution formula or description of act, e.g. ‘And God made’ (7 times; vss 4, 7, 12,16, 21, 25, 27); (5) approval formula ‘God saw that it was good’ (7 times; vss 4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31); (6) subsequent divine word, either of naming or blessing (7 times; vss 5 [2 times], 8, 10 [2 times], 22, 28); (7) mention of the days (6/7 times; vss 5, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31 [2:2]). It is worth noting that although there are ten announcements of the divine words and eight commands actually cited, all the formulae are grouped in sevens.”[18]
These observations show the author’s attention to detail and indicate that the focus of his message was not scientific explanation but spiritual revelation. The chiastic structure, the repetition of key phrases, the presence of mystical numbers all suggest that the author is revealing important aspects of God’s character, purposes and work in creation through the use of symbols, structure and numerology. Understanding these aspects of God’s character and purposes can only be gleaned with a careful eye toward later scriptural passages marked by similar structures, grammar, words and numbers.
Relevance to Contemporary Christians
The careful structure and apparent deliberate employment of symbolic numbers suggests that the author does not intend a scientific explanation of creation. Nor is it a simple myth designed to placate the curious on the existence of God. There is a one-to-one correspondence between each forming and filling day to complete creation, suggestive the author has well thought-through ideas about God and His creative purposes. The pairing of forming and filling days, the pairing of formed and filled regions and pairing of timeless past with timeless Sabbath rest all introduce symmetry and order. Even the sea, apparently a remnant of the primordial ocean of chaos (tĕhowm – “the deep”) that was subdued and brought under God’s dominion, hint of creation as the establishment of order. Similarly, tĕhowm which to the ancients was the abode of the dead, became the place to which all life returned upon death. It points to a belief that life was part of God’s order and death (the post-life state) brought a return to the place that was pre-life. Life is the centerpiece of God’s creative-redemptive plan.
Creation also seems to to be a place for both God and man, a seeming stage for an anticipated drama. God’s creative activities have wrought space, an arena from which a redemptive drama will unfold. Also created was time, suggestive that the redemptive drama that will soon begin and will progress like a play, with multiple acts timed according to God’s still unrevealed purposes. One can anticipate a cadence of redemptive activities. It is within this dual-aspect creation that redemptive themes will emerge that guide, if not govern God’s redemptive interactions with His creation.
Further, the interactions involve a partnership between God and His creation with specific entities having authority to govern (the heavenly bodies and man) with man to have dominion and subdue, implying creation is incomplete. The task to subdue points to further work. It hints that dominion must also be taken over the earth. The blessing of fruitfulness on all lifeforms also suggests creation is incomplete as the earth is not yet filled. Yet God’s activities are complete and He can rest. It is as if God has passed the baton to His lifeforms and especially to man for creation to show forth God’s glory through fruitful filling, governing, subduing and taking dominion.
Though three spaces are created, man’s leading role in the drama to come points to the earth as the stage for that drama. Yet later revelation reveals that the drama involves all three spaces, heaven, the earth and the deep. The Ancients believed that God created the cosmos as a three-tiered temple, and the drama involves the entire temple. Man’s kingly role of dominion and subduing the earth suggests he is appointed as an Ancient Near Eastern priest-king, mediating for creation. That he is created in God’s image also portends a special relationship between mankind and God. Man’s role seems appointed to keep the boundaries maintaining the eternal Sabbath of creation-rest, oversee the filling of the earthly spaces with life and bringing forth human life abundantly.
To the ancient Semite, God’s creation brought order to chaos, setting bounds upon the cosmos that established and maintained order. Those who failed to follow God’s commands were boundary-breaking, and their boundary-breaking brought a judgment of moral chaos to to all creation. Sin, as preeminent boundary-breaking, would disrupt Sabbatical rest, destroying God’s order by un-creating, returning God’s creation to its pre-creation chaos. It is why the curse-judgments of the Sinaic covenant destroy God’s creation through famine, drought, death, sickness, war and captivity. All these judgments are in effect unfruitful judgments, supplanting God’s blessing of fruitfulness with curses of unfruitfulness. The curse-judgments un-fill the earth of life, reversing God’s creation. The curse-judgments of un-filling fit the crime of boundary-breaking which is un-forming by destroying the boundaries God established.
The moral teaching for the Christian is clear. Sin un-forms creation bringing un-filling curse-judgments as a sign to the believer of his failure and need of repentance, atonement and reconciliation. Sin brings far-reaching consequences that that oppose God’s creative purpose to bring forth abundant life. All sin should be viewed as bringing chaos to God’s creation, including death to God’s various lifeforms. Critically, in the new creation in Christ in which life is spiritual, sin destroys God’s kingdom, destroying spiritual life in other Christians. Sin is to be shunned at all costs, and seeking atonement must be a priority when sin occurs.
[1] Anderson, B.W., From Creation to New Creation, Minneapolis, Fortress Press,1994, p. 25
[2] Most scholars consider Genesis 2:3 the end of the creation account and Genesis 2:4 as the beginning of history. We suggest the chiasmus provides a dual purpose of confirming the close of the cosmic creation account.
[3] Brown, William P., The Ethos of the Cosmos, The Genesis of Moral Imagination in the Bible, Grand Rapids MI, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1999, p. 37
[4] Wenham, Gordon J., Word Biblical Commentary 1, Genesis 1-15, Waco, Texas, Word Books, 1987, p. 7
[5] Brown, William P., The Ethos of the Cosmos, The Genesis of Moral Imagination in the Bible, Grand Rapids MI, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1999, p. 38
[6] The activity of separating and filling is recapitulated in Israel’s creation, anticipating greater spiritual truths to follow regarding God’s people, who will be first formed through separation from Egypt, after which they will be brought into a new land, a new space that they can subsequently fill with descendants.
[7] Walton, John H., The Lost World of Genesis One, Ancient Cosmology and the Origins Debate, Downers Grove IL, InterVarsity Press, 2009, p. 55
[8] Ibid, p. 56
[9] The firmament has often been puzzling for believers though Walton offers what may be a credible explanation. Viewing nature through the eyes of an ancient Semite, rain would fall only periodically. To his mind, something must have been in the heavens to hold back these rains – something solid, like a firmament. This may be the source of the expression “opening the windows of heaven,” meaning allowing the rains to fall. Walton, John H., The Lost World of Genesis One, Ancient Cosmology and the Origins Debate, Downers Grove IL, InterVarsity Press, 2009, p. 29-30
[10] There has been discussion on the meaning of “fixed times”, days and years. Some see these as focused upon tracking the cultic days while others have suggested that the stars provide signs of the times.
[11] Bernhard Anderson suggests that mobility, sexuality, breath and blood are the key factors that make up “living beings.”
[12] Though not a lifeform, God fills the heavens with the starry hosts, setting up an interesting irony as the stars were personified in Scripture and in Ancient Near Eastern lore, equated with angels and angelic powers. Thus, even the filling of the heavens can be viewed as the establishment of spiritual lifeforms. Does this suggest angels and angelic powers were created on the fourth day? There is a secondary irony that the starry hosts are given authority to govern by maintaining the timing of events God has established. Equating the stars with the angelic host gives deeper meaning to stars governing.
[13] As will become apparent, sin is a form of boundary breaking that introduces chaos into God’s creation. For order to be restored, boundary-breaking must be halted. More important, there is a moral imperative implied here that sin as boundary-breaking, impacts not just the sinner but all creation. This appears to be the view of the ancients.
[14] The creation of the Sabbath was commensurate with the creation of God’s people Israel, another new creation. Thus, the “seventh” day of rest anticipates the Sabbath, while eschatologically also anticipating the eternal Sabbath.
[15] Most might not think the original creation was designed with a timeless seventh day. It will be argued that the post-creation eternal timeless state was broken by sin. This breach was fully anticipated by God. Hence why His creation included the creation of time and a time-keeping system.
[16] Brown, William P., The Ethos of the Cosmos, The Genesis of Moral Imagination in the Bible, Grand Rapids MI, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1999, p. 39
[17] Wenham, Gordon J., Word Biblical Commentary 1, Genesis 1-15, Waco, Texas, Word Books, 1987, p. 6
[18] Ibid, p. 6