The first chapter of the Bible these days gets swept up into debates about evolution, science, etc. But how was it understood by the ancient Israelites when it was written? Why did they consider it important enough to be written down?
It is notable that God calls two things good that the ancient Israelites would generally not have considered to be good, but rather terrifying. Darkness and the abyss of the sea were both symbols of evil, danger and chaos, but God calls them “good” when he places them in their appropriate contexts and within their appropriate boundaries.
Another note – vegetation was created before the sun, which may seem strange. But keep in mind that the Israelites knew very well that the sun was required for plants to grow. This order was purposeful, and the contradiction was purposeful.
Later, man was created – in the image of God. This is in stark contrast to how surrounding cultures saw man. The image of God (or rather, of the gods) was restricted to rulers. The Israelites, though, put the basis for equality and democracy right in their own “founding document.”
The book of Genesis may have been formalized, compiled from oral tradition and other written accounts, during the Babylonian exile. If that is the case, this chapter would have served at least in part as a rebuke to the Babylonian creation account, in which Marduk tears apart the body of Tiamat in order to create the world.
The Genesis creation account puts forth two bold statements that go after the theology of the cultures around them. First, there is one God, not many. Second, the creation of the Earth did not happen in the midst of war and conflict, but was rather a purely good act of creative construction.
The counterintuitive order of creation may also have had something to do with this. The sun gods of the era were vital because of the importance of sun for crops, yet here Israel says “no, in the end even the sun is subservient to the creator God, and if He wants plants, he gets plants, and the sun is irrelevant.”
So how does this creation account impact our own relationship with the culture around us? Regardless of how you interpret the specifics of the passage, we all should take from this passage the understanding of the one God as the creator of heaven and earth. How does this understanding of a creator God set us apart from those with their own creation stories, their own gods of science and chance?
–Sermon Notes, Dave Lester, Seed Church, Lynnwood, WA
Genesis 1
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