Genesis 1.1-2.3

GOD CREATES ALL THAT IS (Gen 1.1)

Genesis begins with the most basic truth: God created everything.

• This occurred "in the beginning"—an unspecified period of time, long ago from the standpoint of the author. He simply thinks back as far as possibly can be imagined, to a time when there was no sky, no land, no world as we know it. At that time God created the terrestrial world and the skies above it.

• Back then, God created "the skies and the land." The author is writing from the earthly point of view, looking out over the world and describing the panorama he sees as a pre-scientific observer. Don't picture a globe in outer space amidst all the other heavenly spheres—that is not the author's perspective. Rather, he is standing with the reader and looking out on a landscape, motioning with his hands across the whole sweep of the view and saying, "God created all of this." In describing what he sees, he uses a compound phrase that signifies, "all that exists."

• God "created" all that is. This special verb is only used with God as its subject in Scripture. It indicates that, out of nothing, God brought into being everything that exists.

• This was done by "God." Though this chapter is not overtly polemical, its teachings stand in eloquent opposition to the idolatrous notions of the nations in Moses' day. Genesis 1.1 looks back to the absolute beginning and asserts that the Source of the entire material universe is the one true and living God, who existed before all things and made all things.

GOD PREPARES A LAND FOR PEOPLE (Gen 1.2-31)

The divine activities described in the subsequent verses do not tell us how God created the universe. The original creation is the subject of 1.1. Beginning with Gen 1.2 the focus shifts and narrows down to the "earth" (or "land") and shows us how, within the universe created in 1.1, God prepared a special place as his own Temple, where human beings could live within his blessing.

The Uninhabitable Land (1.2)
The idea of Genesis 1.2 is: "Now the land was an uninhabitable wasteland, covered with water and thick darkness. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters." This emphasizes that "the land" was at one time unfit for human habitation. Nevertheless, God's Spirit was present, ready to change that situation. By God's work over six days as described in the following verses, it will become "good," a place where people can live within his blessing.

"The land" which is the subject here is not the entire earth, but the Promised Land. This is the same land described in chapter 2 as "Eden," where God planted a garden and created human beings. This is the same land God promised to Abraham. This is the same land before which Moses and the people stood when he gave them the Torah.

Moses wanted to show the Israelites who were about to settle in this land that, within the world God created, he had prepared a special place as his own Temple, where human beings could live within his blessing, and from which they could be fruitful and multiply and fill the entire earth. In Moses' day, Israel's entrance into the Land was to be, as it were, a "new creation" through which God would restore his original blessing to the world. Genesis 1 grounds their mission in the soil of God's original plan.

The description of the first condition of the land in Gen 1.2 would have resonated with the Israelites who first heard Moses' words. In the Exodus, they faced the uncrossable waters, which God separated to deliver them. In the uninhabitable wilderness, where they had lived for 40 years, they had to trust God to lead them by pillar of fire through the darkness.

Big Picture: God makes the land "good" (1.2-31)
The rest of Genesis 1 describes the six days when God prepared the land for human habitation. Bruce K. Waltke gives this summary of this passage:

What, then, is the genre of the Genesis creation account? …We can describe the creation account as an artistic, literary representation of creation intended to fortify God’s covenant with creation. It represents truths about origins in anthropomorphic language so that the covenant community may have a proper worldview and be wise unto salvation. It represents the world as coming into being through God’s proclamation so that the world depends on his will, purpose and presence.

In other words, what we have here is not straightforward, journalistic reporting, but a presentation of historical events in the literary form of a six-day workweek followed by a day of rest. By using this literary framework, Moses portrays God’s creative acts in anthropomorphic language. That means that he describes God in human terms. God is shown speaking, creating, naming, seeing, blessing, and resting. The resulting portrayal is that of:

• God as a master craftsman, doing his daily work with excellence in a six-day workweek
  

• Providing as a good father for his children

• Building a temple (palace) in the world by creating sacred spaces and filling them with sacred objects

• Then taking his place as King by completing his "house," ordaining priests to serve within it (human beings in his image), and resting (which signifies his rule) upon his throne.

The Six Days (1.2-31)
Because Moses employs a literary framework, the events described on the six days are not necessarily chronological, but logical. On the first three days, God forms a place for human habitation:

• DAY ONE: Day and night. God forms his sacred place by dispelling the darkness and setting up the function of time. He calls the sun to break through the morning darkness and names the division of time "day" and "night". This passage is not about the creation of light and darkness, but about overcoming the perpetual darkness that lay over the uninhabitable land and then naming the periods of time marked by darkness and light for humankind's benefit.
  

• DAY TWO: Waters above and below. God forms his sacred place by making space between the waters. This description reflects the common Ancient Near East understanding of a "firmament"—a dome over the world under which life may flourish.

• DAY THREE: A fertile land. God forms his sacred place by dividing the waters below so that land may appear and produce fruit.

The "shell" of God's temple on earth is now completed. God has "formed" the "unformed" land of Gen 1.2 into a space where his creatures may live in his blessing.

It is no longer of place of darkness, but a place where day and night may be distinguished.

It is no longer a place flooded by raging waters, but a place where the waters have been separated and a protective "roof" set in place overhead, with a dry land below that produces food for human nourishment.

What remains in the next three days is for God to "fill" this "unfilled" land.

• DAY FOUR: Lights. God fills his sacred place first of all by placing "lamps" to shine in the day and night (note the parallel to day one). This is the same word used in the Torah to describe lamps in the Tabernacle. The purpose of these heavenly lights is for signs (to point to God, not to themselves as "gods" like the nations around them believed) and for seasons (to help Israel know when to worship God at his appointed festivals).

• DAY FIVE: Sea and sky creatures. God fills his sacred place by making creatures to dwell in the waters below and sky above (parallel—day two).
  

• DAY SIX: Land creatures and human beings. God fills his sacred place by first having the land (parallel—day three) bring forth living creatures. Then, in a passage that stands out because it breaks the literary patterns of the other days, God creates humankind in his own image, gives them dominion over the other creatures, blesses them, describes the provisions he has given them and the other creatures, and ends by pronouncing it all "very good". The picture of human beings here in God's image and likeness suggests that he is ordaining them to be the priests who oversee his temple and serve as his representatives in the world.
  

And so, God completed preparing his temple—a sacred land in the world where human beings and living creatures might live within his blessing and under his Kingly rule.

God takes his throne (2.1-3)
Though set apart by a chapter division, these verses should be read as the culmination of the temple-building project of Genesis 1.2-31.

On this day, with his work complete, God "rested". He also blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because this was the day of his rest. John H. Walton argues that this is the climax of the temple imagery in Genesis 1. God's rest is not so much about relaxation as it is about God taking his throne as King (Isaiah 66.1).

God's Sabbath is not a withdrawal from the world and its operations (e.g. 'My work is done, it's all yours now; good luck!); instead it represents his taking his place at the helm. This is what Israel's observance of the Sabbath gives recognition to.

Here we see the God ascending the throne and sitting down, signifying completion of his creative work, a scene that will be repeated in later events, as when his glory filled the Tabernacle and the Temple upon their completion and dedication, and most importantly, when Jesus ascended and took his place at the right hand of the Father, making eternal rest available to all in a new creation (Hebrews 4).

CONCLUSION
The language of this sublime portion of Scripture may be called, "exalted prose". When one examines the literary underpinnings, such as repetition, the use of the number seven, etc., the artistry revealed is magnificent. Some have suggested that this passage may have been used in Israel's worship as a liturgical piece celebrating God the Creator and King. Whether or not that is so, reading Genesis 1 should certainly lead us to worship and contemplation as we ponder its majestic words.

The Big Picture of the Torah

SUMMARY: When we step back and look at some features of the Torah as a whole, we can gain insight into the message of this long and complex book.

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Composed of five long "books," the Torah can be an imposing read. Furthermore, it is complex, combining many types of literature, including historical narrative, poetry, genealogy, case law, and speeches. In this study, I hope to give some helpful "big picture" points that will help us keep the forest in mind once we start walking through the trees.

THREE BIG STORIES

• Genesis 1-11: The Beginning. The story of creation, early life in the land, and the scattering of the nations before God called Abraham.


• Genesis 12-Exodus 19: The People. The story of Abraham's family from his calling to their enslavement in Egypt, to the Exodus, to their establishment as a nation at Mt. Sinai.


• Exodus 19-Deuteronomy: The Law. The story of Israel receiving the Law at Mt. Sinai, wandering through the wilderness, and the new generation being instructed as they prepare to enter the Promised Land.

Since Genesis 1-11 is obviously introductory, we see that the main story of the Torah really breaks down into two parts: (1) the Hebrew people before the Law, (2) the Hebrew people under the Law.

This leads to our second observation.

TWO MAIN BIOGRAPHIES

• Abraham pictures the life of faith before the Sinai law covenant.


• Moses ultimately pictures the life of failure under the Sinai law covenant.

The main characters before the Law were the patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob). These fathers of Israel are Scripture's main examples of God's way of "by grace, through faith" (Ephesians 2.8-9). Though they were extremely flawed individuals, they "believed the Lord, and the Lord reckoned it to [them] as righteousness" (Genesis 15.6). Abraham is even said to have fulfilled God's whole law (Genesis 26.5). How is this? Most certainly not because of his works, for he failed time and time again; but because of his faith, by which he was counted righteous.

Before the Law, Moses is also portrayed as a man of faith, through whom God worked signs and wonders to produce faith in the Hebrews (Exodus 4.29-31). However, under the Law, the great prophet was finally prevented from entering the Promised Land. Why? Because of his unbelief (Numbers 20.12).

The Torah is making an all-important point that is only fully developed in the N.T. by the Apostle Paul in letters like Galatians and Romans: The Law cannot save, for it produces sin and unbelief. It is only by God's grace through faith that people are counted righteous before God.

THE FUTURE HOPE

In his works on Genesis and the Pentateuch, Dr. John Sailhamer has identified a literary pattern in the Torah that, when analyzed, communicates that the outlook of the work is primarily eschatological, that is, it points to the future as a key component of its theological message.

Each of the first four chapters of Genesis is organized in the following pattern:

1. A detailed historical narrative
2. A poem or poetic speech emphasizing a climactic theme
3. A conclusion or epilogue

So, for example, in chapter 1, you have the creation account (1.1-25), a poetic description of the creation of humans in the narrative of the sixth day (1.27), and then the seventh day as conclusion to the story. Compare chapters 2, 3, and 4 and you will find the same pattern.

When Sailhamer stepped back and surveyed the entire Torah (Gen-Deut), he found the same pattern on a macro-level.

Part One—Genesis (from Creation to Egypt)

1. Genesis 1-48. Narratives of the beginning and the patriarchs
2. Genesis 49. Poetic blessing speech by Jacob
3. Genesis 50. Conclusion: Jacob's death, Joseph & his brothers, the family in Egypt

Part Two—Exodus-Numbers (from Egypt to the Land)

1. Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers 1-21. Narratives of Israel, the law, the wilderness
2. Numbers 22-24. Balaam's poetic oracles
3. Numbers 25-26. Conclusion: The unfaithfulness of Israel and final census
   

Part Three—Deuteronomy (Preparing to enter the Land)

1. Deuteronomy 1-31. Sermons of Moses to the new generation
2. Deuteronomy 32-33. The poetic song and blessing of Moses
3. Numbers 25-26. Conclusion: The death of Moses
   

What is most interesting about this pattern, on both the micro and macro-level, is that it highlights the POETIC sections. These sections are like "red ink" (Sailhamer's term) that bring out the significant themes the author wants to drive home.

Furthermore, each of the poetic speeches on the macro-level is introduced in the same fashion.

• A significant character gathers others around him before an important event
  
• He speaks to them about what will happen "in the latter days"

And so, in Gen 49.1, it is Jacob addressing his sons before his death. In Numbers 24.17, it is Balaam addressing Balak before Israel enters the Promised Land. In Deut 31.28-29, it is Moses addressing the children of Israel before his death and their entrance into the Land. Each speech is introduced by the character saying he will tell his audience about "the latter days." And so, at three significant points in the story, when a great change is about to occur for God's people, one of their leaders looks beyond the immediate events at hand (which, though important, will not provide the answer to restoring God's blessing to the world) and looks far into the future to a time of God's ultimate judgment and salvation whe the world will finally be put to rights.

The Torah begins with the words, "In the beginning...." Each major section ends with an address about "the latter days," a time beyond the circumstances of the characters in the story. The Torah is eschatological in nature, which means it is pointing us beyond itself and the events it portrays to God's future.. The "answers" it gives about how God restores his blessing to a fallen world in the grip of sin, evil, and death lie in the future. And note how that future hope is presented:

Genesis 49.10
The sceptre shall not depart from Judah,
nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,
until tribute comes to him;
and the obedience of the peoples is his.

Numbers 24.17-19
I see him, but not now;
I behold him, but not near—
a star shall come out of Jacob,
and a sceptre shall rise out of Israel;
it shall crush the borderlands of Moab,
and the territory of all the Shethites.
Edom will become a possession,
Seir a possession of its enemies,
while Israel does valiantly.
One out of Jacob shall rule,
and destroy the survivors of Ir.

Deuteronomy 32
Rejoice, O nations, with His people;
For He will avenge the blood of His servants,
And will render vengeance on His adversaries,
And will atone for His land and His people.

The Torah points its readers forward to the coming of the Lion of Judah, the rightful Ruler, the Royal Star who will rise to defeat God's enemies and rule over all. The Torah points to the day when God will call all nations to rejoice with his people in his righteous judgment and the atonement he has made for them.

Study Two: Starting at the Beginning—Reading the Torah

SUMMARY: The first part of the Bible is a five-part book called the Torah. Moses wrote this book for the generation of Israelites who were about the enter the Promised Land. By taking their perspective, we can better understand this book.

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The Five-Fold Book
The Bible begins with a five-fold work consisting of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. In our Bibles these appear to be five separate books, but they are traditionally understood as one cohesive work. This section is sometimes called the “Pentateuch” (five-fold book). Other passages in the Bible speak of this as the “Law,” the “Law of Moses,” the “book of Moses,” or simply “Moses.”

Tradition says Moses wrote this work, and Scripture itself supports this tradition. For example, Deuteronomy 31.24-29 portrays Moses completing the book and giving it to the Levites to be kept beside the Ark of the Covenant in the Tabernacle. When Jesus quoted from this part of the Bible, he referred to Moses.

Though often referred to as the “Law,” that title can be misleading. The Hebrew word is “Torah,” which refers to a father’s instruction. The Torah instructs us by telling God’s story from creation to the days just before Israel entered the Promised Land after Moses’ death. It includes descriptions of the laws and ordinances God gave Israel at Mt. Sinai, but these are by no means the main focus of the work. I will refer consistently to this part of the Bible as the Torah.

The Torah is the Bible’s foundation. All the great themes that are developed and brought to completion in the Bible are introduced here. It is like a seed that contains the entire story that unfolds throughout the rest of its pages.

Why Moses Wrote the Torah
However, the Torah is also a work that has its own integrity, and we should read it that way. In order to grasp its meaning, we must first remember who wrote it, the audience that received it, and the circumstances they were in when it was given to them.

Moses wrote this book for the generation of Israel that had come out of the wilderness from Mt. Sinai and was preparing to enter the Promised Land under Joshua. Their parents had celebrated the first Passover, been redeemed from Egyptian slavery, crossed the Red Sea, traveled to Mt. Sinai, entered into a covenant with God to be his chosen nation, rebelled against him early and often, and were ultimately sentenced to perish in the wilderness. This younger generation had now come of age and was ready to take up the task of living under God’s laws in the Promised Land.

If we keep this in mind, many details in the Torah become clear. For example, why did Moses tell the story of creation as he did, in Genesis 1-3?

• God transforming the wilderness and preparing a good land for his people
• God separating the waters to prepare the good land
• God setting the lights in the sky for signs and seasons (in the Torah this phrase refers to the festivals of worship God gave in the law)
• God creating in six days, then resting and consecrating the Sabbath
• God placing his people in a good land of abundance
• God giving his people a commandment that they were to obey
• God exiling his people from the good land when they disobeyed him

Can you see that Moses wrote to his people in a language that was directly applicable to them and their situation? God had promised that he would lead Israel through the waters and the wilderness into a good land, where he would abundantly provide for them and give them rest. There they would be fruitful and multiply and display God’s image to the other nations, as long as they rested in his provisions and obeyed his commandments. If the people failed to do so, they would be removed from the land and taken into exile. The story of the Garden of Eden and Adam and Eve was their story.

One passage in the Torah that states this explicitly is Deuteronomy 30. Here is a key portion of that chapter, which specifies Moses’ challenge to those about to enter the land.

...See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity. If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I am commanding you today, by loving the Lord your God, walking in his ways, and observing his commandments, decrees, and ordinances, then you shall live and become numerous, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to possess. But if your heart turns away and you do not hear, but are led astray to bow down to other gods and serve them, I declare to you today that you shall perish; you shall not live long in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him; for that means life to you and length of days, so that you may live in the land that the Lord swore to give to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

This is the message that Moses wanted to leave with his audience, and it summarizes the Torah’s story, its main themes, and the future prospects of the people of God.

When we put ourselves in the sandals of those who stood on the banks of Jordan, waiting to enter the Land, we can read the Torah with more insight and understanding.