Thursday, April 15, 2010

Genesis 2 - Jurassic Park Without All the Killing ... Yet.

Genesis 2

What it literally says - After creating everything, God rests on the seventh day, making it holy.

The creation of Man is then told in a little bit more detail, how God created him from the "dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life" (7).  God places man in the Garden of Eden, situated in "the east" and amidst four rivers, and home to the infamous trees of "Life" and of "the Knowledge of Good and Evil," the latter of which God tells the man not to eat from or he "will surely die" (17).

Man names all the animals, then God sees that He needs to create another creature to be with the man, a helper.  God, taking and working with a rib from the man's side, creates this helper, who man names "woman."  Man and woman are to be united, and at that point in history, being naked was all right.

What is says to me - The literal translation controversy continues smoothly from chapter 1.  I believe that such a garden existed.  I mean, have you ever been in a beautifully made garden or park?  A national reserve?  Being surrounded by the giant wows of nature is one of the most satisfying, humbling and relaxing feelings the human brain can experience!  Well, I guess unless you're being chased by a swarm of bees, ants, or some bears.  But I love being surrounded by nature.  I love being in it.  The fresh oxygen, the pretty scenery, the wondrous formations, the soft rustling of flora in the wind ... not much can beat the natural world when you get the chance to be there.  It's heaven on Earth.  So, yeah, to me it makes natural sense (pun intended) that God would make His first dwelling place in the midst of nature.

If I remember correctly from college, I think this is considered the "second Creation story" or something like that because of the the discrepancy of the timing of when man was formed.  In chapter 1, God made man on day six after everything else.  But verses 4b - 7 say that man came before the vegetation.  Hmm ... I don't know what this means, really.  I also read somewhere, too, that Genesis might not have been completely written by the same author, Moses in this case.  Chapter 1 calls God "God," where as chapter 2 refers to Him as "LORD" (Yahweh).  Two different schools of thought?  Is the Bible tainted?  What do you think?  That's a whole other topic that we'll certainly arrive at when we get to the "God-breathed" verses.  Something to chew on in the mean time.

Now about how man was formed ... I go back to chapter 1.  I believe God can do anything   Is dust figurative?  Is this coming-from-the-dust idea an ancient way of mentioning our dead ancestors or "predecessors" or something?  In my opinion, no, because I don't believe in macroevolution; anyway this isn't the proper place to discuss this debate (perhaps the comment section?).  God had a hand in everything, just like in chapter 1, and His hand is big enough to touch the stars and caring enough to touch a grain of sand.  He made us with purpose and intentionality.  And further proof to me, we are given the chance to show and feel that love He made us with by the existence of the opposite sex!  We can love God and love someone else.  Spread the love!  He's creative like that.

And also note that creation ended with woman ... that's how important the "weaker" sex is; God's final jewel in the crown of creation was woman (read Captivating, everyone).  Think about it.

Like yesterday, I see God's meticulous hand in the fact of existence.  That's what I get today.

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