PREFACE
When dealing with relationships it is important to orient oneself through the transfer of place and time. Far too often an interpretation of a text can be off the mark, because the person doing the interpreting is not understanding either their place and time or worse yet the place and time of others. This is also where context can be either very important or very distorted. Our task is to find the where and when of the past and transfer its story into our this place and time. We need to understand its relevance to us, but also not at the expense of a prior generations place and time. We have to stay oriented, true and humble, in the face of place and time.
This need to be oriented and not disoriented begins at a young age with a child asking their parents, while they are driving, "Where are we going?" and "Are we there yet?" It all boils down to: 1) "Where?" and 2) "When?". We also see this in the adult question for any relationship as to whether another person is "there" for you "when" you need them.
Genesis is a book that begins with the where and when. It begins with "In the beginning, God created the heaves and the earth". It begins not just with a time - "in the beginning", but also with a place - "the heavens and the earth". It orients us for our travel through the history of who we are and who others were, who came before us, - the "generations".
There are three broad places where we can be and there are three broad times where we can be. For place, we can be either "there, or here, or elsewhere". For time, we can be either "before, during, or after". The places fit well with the real estate advice and mantra: "location, location, location". The time fits well with the decision makers rule that "timing is of the essence".
We see too the tragedy of their neglect. Think of the sad story of Amelia Earhardt, who likely perished in the middle of the Pacific Ocean maybe less than 100 miles from her destination. There are four basics to flying: 1) calculate (ex. fuel needs), 2) navigate (ex. by the stars and maps), 3) aviate (ex. know how to fly a plane), and 4) communicate. The experts believe that she and her navigator got somewhat off course due to the errors of maps they were using and the invisibility of celestial markers during bad weather. Only then it appears that they likely exceeded her calculations for fuel due to extra time required to reach their destination. It was also true as well that they had not realized the kind of communication equipment needed on board to communicate with those on the island they were attempting to reach. But all would likely have been OK, if only their navigation got them to the right place and the right time.
I'm afraid that too often Genesis 1:1-2:4a, is not used for its primary purpose to orient us in place and time to help us navigate as in Genesis 1:1, but rather is used to calculate (how old is the earth), or how to aviate (how does God create), or how to communicate (what are things it says we are to eat). All these things are not invalid concerns, but the primary questions of where and when are often lost in terms of focus by the device called distraction.
OPENING
So to begin, let me say this about transfer from one place and time to another. The best way to discover the relevance of the past is to lay out the connections that are made explicit in a passage. Below you will see a diagram that does just that. It highlights not the measures, not the actions, not the things or persons, but the connections by placing each line in a context where the connecting words come first.
I have found over many years of its use going back to 1979, that it is a very helpful tool for the one purpose of highlighting the connections between things, people, etc. I will later this week be adding what is a more detailed way of seeing the connections, but let me say this at this point. The break up of sentences below, should help you see the bonds and breaks between things better. That is my goal in helping us be oriented to the actual context.
This is not the only reason that is important, but the meaning of words can be greatly enhanced by understanding the context or the connections and disconnections far better. It orients us and that is part of what makes up meaning. So whether you think holy means "moral wholeness", or "purity", or "set apart"; pay attention to context.
Genesis
1-2:4
New King James Version (NKJV)
The
History of Creation
1 In the beginning God
created the heavens and the
earth.
2 The
earth was without form, and void;
and darkness was[a] on the face
of the deep.
And the Spirit of God was
hovering over the face of the
waters.
3 Then
God said,
“Let
there be light”;
and
there was light.
4 And
God saw the light;
that
it was good;
and God
divided the light from the darkness.
5 God
called the light Day,
and the
darkness He called Night.
So
the evening and the morning were the first day.
6 Then God said,
“Let
there be a firmament in the midst of the waters,
and let it divide the waters
from the waters.”
7 Thus God made the firmament,
and
divided the waters
which
were under the firmament from the waters
which were above the
firmament;
and
it was so.
8 And God called the firmament Heaven.
So
the evening and the morning were the second day.
9 Then God said,
“Let
the waters under the heavens be gathered together
into one place,
and
let the dry land appear”;
and
it was so.
10 And God called the dry land
Earth,
and
the gathering together of the waters
He
called Seas.
And
God saw
that
it was good.
11 Then God said,
“Let the earth bring forth grass,
the herb
that yields seed,
and the fruit tree that yields
fruit according to its kind,
whose
seed is in itself, on the earth”;
and
it was so.
12 And the earth brought forth grass,
the herb
that yields seed according to its kind,
and
the tree that yields fruit,
whose
seed is in itself according to its kind.
And
God saw
that
it was good.
13 So the evening and the morning were
the third day.
14 Then God said,
“Let
there be lights in the firmament of the heavens
to divide the day from the
night;
and
let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and
years;
15 and let them be for lights in the
firmament of the
heavens
to
give light on the earth”;
and
it was so.
6 Then God made two great lights: the
greater light
to rule the day,
and
the lesser light to rule the night.
He
made the stars also.
17 God set them in the firmament of the
heavens
to
give light on the earth,
18 and to rule over the day and over
the night,
and
to divide the light from the darkness.
And
God saw
that it was good.
19 So the evening and the morning were
the fourth day.
20 Then God said,
“Let
the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures,
and
let birds fly above the earth across the face of the
firmament of the heavens.”
21 So God created great sea creatures
and every living
thing
that
moves,
with
which the waters abounded, according to their kind,
and
every winged bird according to its kind.
And
God saw
that it was good. 22 And
God blessed them,
saying,
“Be
fruitful
and
multiply,
and
fill the waters in the seas,
and
let birds multiply on the earth.”
23 So the evening and the morning were
the fifth day.
24 Then God said,
“Let
the earth bring forth the living creature according to
its kind:
cattle
and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each
according to its kind”;
and
it was so.
25 And God made the beast of the earth
according to its
kind, cattle according to its kind, and everything that
creeps
on the earth according to its kind.
And God saw
that it was good.
26 Then God said,
“Let
Us make man in Our image, according to Our
likeness;
let
them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the
birds of the air, and
over the cattle, over all[b] the earth
and over every creeping thing
that
creeps on the earth.”
27 So God created man in His own
image;
in
the image of God He created him;
male
and female He created them.
28 Then God blessed them,
and
God said to them,
“Be
fruitful
and
multiply;
fill
the earth
and
subdue it;
have
dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of
the air, and over every
living thing
that
moves on the earth.”
29 And God said,
“See, I have given you every herb
that yields seed
which is on the face of all
the earth,
and every tree
whose fruit yields seed;
to you it shall be for food.
30 Also, to every beast of the earth,
to every bird of the
air, and to everything
that
creeps on the earth,
in
which there is life,
I
have given every green herb for food”;
and
it was so.
31 Then God saw everything
that
He had made,
and
indeed it was very good.
So
the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
2 Thus
the heavens and the earth, and all the host of
them, were finished.
2 And on the seventh day God ended His
work
which He had done,
and
He rested on the seventh day from all His work
which He had done.
3 Then God blessed the seventh day
and
sanctified it,
because
in it He rested from all His work
which
God had created
and
made.
4 This is the history[c] of the
heavens and the earth
when they were created, in the day
that
the Lord God made the earth and
the heavens,
Footnotes:
Genesis 1:2 Words
in italic type have been added for clarity. They are not found in the original
Hebrew or Aramaic.
Genesis 1:26
Syriac reads all the wild animals of.
Genesis 2:4
Hebrew toledoth, literally generations
I will be returning to this yet this week (as early as tomorrow) to put the passage into context. Thank you for your patience and make sure you re-visit this post because its value will expand immensely.
In Christ,
Jon
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