August 17, 2024
The Bible. Scripture. The Word of God. 66 books written by more than 40 authors, over a span of approximately 1500 years, on 3 continents (Asia, Europe and Africa) and in 3 different languages (Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek). And yet, despite all those variables, the Bible is not a set of disjointed stories. It is one story with many chapters.
While the Bible paints an unwavering picture of the consequences of sin, the Big Story is about God’s pursuit of man and his plan to redeem and restore what was lost through sin.
Between paradise lost (Genesis 3) and paradise restored (Revelation 21), the Plan of Salvation is developed and expanded upon - ultimately manifesting itself in the birth, life, death, resurrection and 2nd Coming of Jesus, which ultimately brings about the final defeat of sin.
Before getting to the story proper there is a Prologue – Creation. God breathed creative power. He said it and it happened – “In the Beginning.” It is no accident that the first thing God wanted us to know is that there was a beginning and that He existed before “the beginning.” He is the Creator and everything that follows is intentionally created:
• Day 1 = Light – separation between light and darkness – day and night.
• Day 2 = Atmosphere – separates water (below and above)
• Day 3 = The water below is gathered into one place and dry land appears. Green plants and fruiting trees.
• Day 4 = Sun to rule the day and moon to rule the night and stars.
• Day 5 = Sea creatures and birds.
• Day 6 = Land creatures and every creeping thing.
Creation reveals the heart of God: His imagination, His sense of humor, His love of beauty. He looked at all he had made and it was good, but it wasn’t complete. The day was young and he had one more thing to do:
Genesis 1:26-28 - And God said, “Let us make humankind in our image and according to our likeness,” …. So God created humankind in his image, in the likeness of God he created him, male and female he created them. And God blessed them, and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it, and rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of heaven, and over every animal that moves upon the earth.”
God looked around and saw everything he had made and this time it was very good.
• Day 7 = Everything was just as God wanted it so he stopped working. The Prologue says he “rested,” but he wasn’t tired, there was simply nothing left to do – because it was perfect. The 7th Day was to be a special, set-apart day, because God’s creation was complete and on this day he was going to enjoy fellowship with what he had made. It is God who made the 7th Day holy and he did so at creation. No human has the authority to change what God has declared holy.
Genesis 1 provides a wide-angle view of creation week – a sort of a snap shot with little detail. This, of course, makes humans crazy, because we want details and in the absence of details we make all sorts of stuff up. God did not see fit to give us a moment by moment account of each day of creation. Why? Because it is not critical information for the Big Story (Deuteronomy 29:29). THAT God did it – in 6 days – is what matters. The DETAILS are not important.
That brings us to Chapter 2:4-6 and our fist example of why having multiple translations is helpful.
In the NIV, this is how verses 4-6 reads: “This is the ACCOUNT of the heavens and the earth when they were created. When the LORD God made the earth and the heavens -- and no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth and no plant of the field had yet sprung up, for the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no man to work the ground, but STREAMS came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground--
• Our 1st word, “account,” in the original Hebrew is, “toledoth” which means, “descent, family or history: birth, generations.” The various English versions use “account,” “record,” “generations,” or “history.” This same word will be used 10 more times in Genesis to introduce family genealogies (5:1; 6:9; 11:10, 27; 25:12, 19; 36:1, 9; 37:2) I personally prefer “record” or “history” because that makes more sense to me.
• Our 2nd word, “stream,” in the original Hebrew is “ed”, which means “a mist.” Using the word “stream” to replace “mist” creates a completely different visual in the mind. I prefer mist.
This is how verses 4-6 read in the New King James Version: “This is the HISTORY of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens, before any plant of the field was in the earth and before any herb of the field had grown. For the LORD God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the ground; but A MIST went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground.”
The important detail here is that prior to God bringing rain on the earth, a mist came up and watered the ground. This will become vital to our understanding of the events in chapters 6:8-7:24.
Beginning with verse 7, the 6th day of creation comes into sharper focus, specifically the account of the creation of humans and their garden home. This IS important for the Big Story, so we are given a more detailed account. Verses 7-25 are not in chronological sequence – they are an expansion of Genesis 1:26-31.
• God formed “adam” = man or mankind, from the dust – like a potter forms a clay pot. God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a “nephesh” = a soul, living being, life, self, person, desire, passion, appetite, emotion. It was the lifegiving breath of God that transformed the sculpted pile of mud into a person, “made in the image of God.” According to verse 19, the animals were also formed from the dust, but only humans received “the breath of God.”
This was another important thing God wanted us to know: by Hebrew definition, a “soul” is not a separate disembodied spirit separate from the body. “A soul, living being, life, self, person, desire, passion, appetite, emotion” is created by dust + breath of God. So, when a soul / living being dies, it returns to its component parts: dust and the breath of God.
• God planted a Garden, eastward in Eden, and placed the man there.
• God made every tree grow that is good to look at and good for food. Two specific trees are mentioned: The Tree of Life and the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
• A river came out of Eden and then split into 4 rivers flowing in 4 directions: The Pishon bounded the land of Havilah, “where there is gold and the Bdellium and onyx stone are also found.” The Gihon, “which goes around the land of Cush.” The Tigris, “goes toward the east of Assyria.” The 4th is the Euphrates.
By giving geographical details the original readers would have been familiar with, God is indicating that Eden was indeed a real place, not a mythical utopia.
• God put man in the garden and gave him the job of head gardener.
• God told the man, “you are free to eat from every tree in the garden, EXCEPT the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for in the day that you eat of it you will surely die.”
This 1st command in the Bible begins with a positive, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden.” God was not withholding anything that was good for man. In fact, the man was surrounded by overwhelming abundance. Imagine it: Apple tree, yes. Orange tree, yes. Mango tree, yes. Banana tree, Plum tree, Prune tree, Peach tree, Pear tree, Cherry tree, Lemon tree, Lime tree, Grapefruit tree, Fig tree, Pomegranate tree, Avocado tree, Apricot tree, Papaya tree, Coconut tree…. ALL YES. Pecan, hazelnut, almond, chestnut, cashew, pistachio, hickory, macadamia, pine nut, walnut, Brazil nut, yes, yes, yes. The man was definitely not lacking for choice.
God had provided the entire garden for man to enjoy. He had given him the task of tending and nurturing his garden home. Everything was for him, except ONE thing - The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. This one prohibition was a test of trust, loyalty and obedience. In this one matter God was asking man to trust that he was withholding the tree for a very good reason. It was for man’s best good.
God telling man of the consequence – death – should he choose to disobey, was not a threat, it was a statement of fact – a warning – a protection. It remained in the land of “potential.” Just like the signs, “falling rock,” “avalanche area” or “children at play” are not threats but statements of fact – warnings of potential problems – to those driving in areas where rock falls, avalanches or playing children are possible. The signs are intended to protect.
Here is a real-life example. I have a scar on my right wrist. It is a scar of disobedience.
I was about 3 – 3 ½ years old. We lived in Southern California. The water was terrible, so we drank bottled water. In those days, when dinosaurs still inhabited the land, glass containers were the standard. Our glass container sat in a metal cradle on the floor and could be tilted side to side to pour out the water. My sister and I had free reign of the entire house and back yard to play and let our imaginations run wild – nothing was withheld, EXCEPT that glass water bottle. We were told not to sit on the bottle because we would get hurt if it fell to the floor. Not a threat, a statement of fact, a warning of potential bad ju ju. Had I obeyed, I would have never known anything about broken glass or blood or stitches – which was my mother’s intent – to protect.
I sat on the water bottle.
As expected, when I tilted, the container tilted, fell out of its cradle and broke into a thousand jagged pieces.
I can still remember watching in fascination as the doctor stitched me up….. That’s how I got this scar.
So, God said, I don’t want you to know anything about evil or the consequences of disobedience SO DON’T GO OVER THERE.
(we will unpack the reasons for that tree next week)
• God said, "It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him."
God brought all the animals – all living creatures – to Adam to be named. Whatever Adam called the creature that was its name.
There was one problem, there was no one else like Adam in the garden, so God caused Adam to sleep and removed one of his ribs. Then God took the rib and fashioned a woman and brought her to the man. Adam said: "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man."
The author of Genesis adds a little “therefore” at this point. BECAUSE woman was created from man, THEREFORE a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
Concluding the Prologue with the simple statement, “they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.”
Psalm 104:1-2 suggests that the clothes God wraps himself in include, splendor, majesty and light. Since the man and the woman were created in God’s image, it is possible that they, too were wrapped in light – reflecting the glory of their Creator.
At any rate, the critical idea here, is that they were not ashamed. Another important detail for the Big Story.
God’s crowning creation was mankind. They did not crawl out of the ancient ooze and evolve into just another primate. Mankind was intentionally and thoughtfully created in the very image of God. They were given the ability to reason, create, laugh, share intimacy and know joy. Above all else He gave them the ability to love and be loved.
One thing more God gave humans – freedom to choose. Knowing full well the consequences, why would God give humans such freedom? Why not just create AI humans that can be controlled and programmed to obey?
The foundation of God’s government is others-focused love, which naturally produces loyalty and obedience. He knows that the universe functions best within the context of that love, but he also knows that that sort of love cannot be forced. Power can do many things, but the one thing it cannot do is force genuine, long-lasting love. God knows that that kind of love is only real when it is freely chosen, so he bestowed on humanity the dignity of freedom.
Next week we begin “The Big Story.”
