The Creation

 

This can be a good start to try out the approach that has been outlined. The following may not be correct, but hopefully it will be a little different than some other interpretations and will lead to thought and understanding.

 

Genesis 1 – 2:3. The first creation .

 

God created the world in six days and on the seventh He rested. He created it out of nothing and created everything that exists. He created man (Hebrew=adam) in His own image. Male and female He created them. Note that this version does not mention Eve. Nor does it indicate that God created male before female. Depending on the translation, it is not even clear that God created only two people!

 

One important point here is that creation was good. That point is made again and again in this text. As we study the Bible, we should watch for repeated things. That indicates their importance. God's creation is declared good.

 

Another important point is that mankind is told to multiply and to subdue and have dominion over all of creation. Whatever happens from then on is man's responsibility.

 

One of the parts of this description that seems to have raised a lot of controversy is the seven days. Many people insist that creation must have occurred in exactly seven of our current days. Of course no one was there since man ad not yet been created. And there were no days since earth, sun and moon had not been created when this started. So either we have to believe that the writer was inspired to the extent of knowing the exact length of time (almost to the point that the creation story was dictated) or there is some other explanation. Some people believe the Big Bang and evolution theory of creation. Others believe in some intermediate theory that the creation happened in the way described, but the time frame was not earth days (God may not even be constrained by the time dimension as we are).

 

After all, if God is omnipotent, why didn't He just create everything instantaneously? If He is omnipotent, why in the world would he need to rest? Is He so perverse that He created everything in one way and yet leaves us with clues that suggest something very different? Is God not powerful enough to have set everything off with a Big Bang and guided it from there? (Actually the description here is pretty accurate as to the way the scientists say that the universe evolved.) Ask a scientist what came before the Big Bang. We don't even know how one would investigate that. Ask a scientist if evolution is good or bad. Science cannot make that evaluation.

 

So if we do not necessarily accept the seven earth days as literal, why is it there? After all, one of our points in going into this study was that things in the Bible have import because they are inspired. Maybe it is not God that needs to rest on the seventh day, but man. God is setting the example that we need to follow. After all Jesus said "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath" (Mark 2:27-28). And scientists will support the evaluation that man needs a regular time off in order to live healthy and happy. God has provided this simple example for us and yet many of us find it hard to follow.

 

Genesis 2:4 – 2:24. The second creation

 

No mention of seven days here. God forms man or a man or Adam (Hebrew=adam) from dust of the ground (Hebrew=adamah). He creates a perfect garden for His creation. He gives the man the garden with only one rule. Don't eat from a single tree. He creates animals and brings them to the man to see what he will name them. Remember what we have said about naming. This is another way of saying that he has given man control over the animals. Note in this creation, it sounds like Adam (man?) and Eden are created before the animals!

 

Then he creates a partner for man. He creates the partner from a part of the man that man and wife are one. (Note men do not have less ribs than women!) Note that although man is created first, there is no suggestion here that woman should be subservient. The message here is that the creation was done this way in order that the two be made one.

 

Why two creations?

 

According to modern scholars the first creation story is the formal, priestly version and the second is the non-priestly version. Included in our Bible because the compilers were inspired to recognize that each version had something important to say to us. It seems unlikely that the compilers of the Bible did not recognize that they were including two different versions from different sources that did not entirely agree in detail.

 

Subsequently, people have had various problems with the two versions. One is denying that there are two different versions and that they do not agree. Another, even stranger is the legend of Lilith that grew up probably somewhere around the 8 th century BC. In a very brief nutshell, Lilith was the woman created in the first creation story and argued with Adam because she said that she was created equal and Adam insisted that she was subservient (with a lot of fairly explicit sexual description). So Lilith leaves Adam and God creates Eve out of his rib to make her from him and therefore subservient.

 

What does this mean for us today

 

It probably should make no difference to us today whether God created in seven earth days or seven billion years. What we should learn from this is at least:

 

God's creation is good.

Man has control over what God has created and is responsible for taking care of it.

Man is created in God's image and therefore is capable of acting Godly.

God's rules are simple and not oppressive.

Man is not omnipotent and needs to rest after work. Not just sleep at night, but rest a day each week.

Man and woman were created to be partners.