In every human culture the expression 'in the beginning . . .' always signals the recounting of something fundamental, of something that sets out the ground for what is defining for that society, something that provides the basis for their insisting on doing something the way it is done. It is that society's way of saying, "This is how things are meant to be" and, therefore, "this is how we shall live."" This is what the book of Genesis does for the Hebrew and Christian people. The first account tells of the beginning of the cosmos, of the earth, of creation, and of humans. Above all else—though it is often easy to forget—it tells of the God who created them all. This account provides the crucial foundation from which we build up our perception of what life is about, what it was meant to be, and how then we ought to live.
The account falls into two main sections. The first—we will call it the "Six Days of Divine Work"—runs from 1:2-31, and it takes us from the chaos the earth was in some point in its creation (v2) to the ordered plenished state in which humans could live in comfort, provision, and security, which God could claim was "very good" (v31). The second—the "Seventh Day of Divine Rest"—makes up 2:2-3. The two sections are set within a framework composed of the thrice-repeated expression, "the heavens and the earth" (1:1, 2:1 & 2:4):1
. . . created the heavens and the earth, 1:1
Six Days of Divine Work, 1:2-31
. . . the heavens and the earth, 2:1
Seventh Day of Divine Rest, 2:2-3
. . . the heavens and the earth when they were created, 2:4a
While modern Christians have tended—as a result of being distracted largely by the agenda of North American Christians in their run-ins with evolutionism—to focus attention on the account of the six days, notice that the author of Genesis fixes his attention rather on God's rest on the seventh day. Not only is it given a 'stand-alone' place framed by the "heavens and the earth" lattice and, therefore, made to contrast sharply with the six days of divine work, it is also emphasized by repetition. While each of the six days are mentioned only once each, the seventh day is mentioned five times, thrice by the specific expression "the seventh day" (2:2a, 2b, 3a) and twice more by the pronoun 'it' in 2:3b ("He sanctified it") and 2:3c ("in it He rested"). This should warn us against turning this account into a 'proof text' for pious biology when it is in fact a majestic pageant of praise of the Omnipotent God who does all things well, and can be trusted to complete what He began.
J. I. Packer provides, thus, another way of understanding what Genesis 1 & 2 is about:
Genesis 1 and 2 . . . tell us who without giving many answers about how. Some today may think this is a defect; but in the long perspective of history our present-day "scientific" preoccupation with how rather than who looks very odd in itself. Rather than criticize these chapters for not feeding our secular interest, we should take from them a needed rebuke for our perverse passion for knowing Nature without regard for what matters most; namely, know Nature's creator.
The message of these two chapters is this: "You have seen the sea? the sky? sun, moon, and stars? You have watched the birds and the fish? You have observed the landscape, the vegetation, the animals, the insects, all the big things and little things together? You have marveled at the wonderful complexity of human beings, with all their powers and skills, and the deep feelings of fascination, attraction and affection that men and women arouse in each other? Fantastic, isn't it? Well, now, meet the one who is behind it all!" As if to say: now that you have enjoyed these works of art, you must shake hands with the artist; since you were thrilled by the music, we will introduce you to the composer. It was to show us the Creator rather than the creation and to teach us knowledge of God rather than physical science, that Genesis 1 and 2, along with such celebrations as Psalm 104 and Job 38-41, were written.
J. I. Packer, I Want to Be a Christian (Wheaton, Ill.; Tyndale House, 1977) 42.
Low Chai Hok
©Alberith, 2014