In the first chapter of Genesis we find that: God "made" (asah): vss. 7, 16, 25, 26, 2:2; He "divided" (badal): vss. 4, 6, 7; He "placed" {"gave"} (nathan): vss. 17, 29; He "named" {"called"} (qara): vss. 5, 8, 10; He "finished" (killah)!: vss. 2:1, 2:2; He "blessed" (bayrak): vss. 22, 28, 2:3; and, He "sanctified" (qiddash): vs. 2:3.
(It needs be noted that the first three verses of Chapter Two properly belong with Chapter One.)
There is a wealth of description in the various uses of these words in this chapter. We shall not undertake any careful analysis of all these subtleties of interpretation. But for one who wishes to do so, that can be a very interesting and profitable study. But these words (made, placed, divided, named, finished, blessed, sanctified) do not mean "created." We have previously noted (in Chapter One of this essay) that "created" (bara) means "produced that which had not previously existed."
We observe, therefore, that in this first chapter of Genesis the Omnipotent One three times "created." As far as the writer has ascertained, little attention seems to be given to this fact, although it would seem to be of more than passing importance. * * * The first creation was, of course, the creation of the universe: the two heavens and the earth. This was studied in some detail in the first chapter of these ramblings. We need not, therefore, consider it again at this time. * * * The second act of creation is not set forth until the twenty-first verse of Genesis. But first, let us look briefly at all that took place between verses one and twenty-one. * In verse 3, God "spoke" the light, and divided between light and darkness, and named them. In verse 7, God "made" the firmament, or expanse, or the sky. He also "divided" the waters. In verse 9, God "spoke" the dry land into appearance. In verses 11 and 12, God "spoke" the growth of grass, herbs, and trees. (Earth began to grow a beard.) In verses 14-18, God "spoke" and "made" the heavenly bodies - the sun, moon, and stars ñ to appear. * Now in the case of each and all of these, it is to be noted that they were inanimate things. They did not, and could not, move about. Only the grass, trees, and herbs had "life" as we know it. But even they could not move. They could only grow larger, in the place where they were planted. * * * All had now been prepared. It was the time for another - the second - great act of creation.
And God created (bah-rah) : (1) the great sea-monsters, (2) and every living creature that moveth, wherewith the waters swarmed, after their kind, (3) and every winged bird after its kind.
Notice carefully that here we have, for the first time, creatures that can move about under their own power. This is indeed a tremendous event ! * But it was more than self-locomotion which was created. This movement was by no means mindless action. It involved desire, choice, and determination, as well as motion, on the part of the creatures. We sometimes think of animal-life as having but rudimentary intelligence; but each species has been endowed by the Omnipotent One with sufficient brain-power to fulfill its appointed destiny. A bird sits on the branch of an oak tree. Across the meadow he sees a cherry tree, ripe with the red fruit of its springtime. He desires to eat. He chooses the cherry tree. He determines to go, and so he flies over to the food-choice. And as the birds of the air, so the creatures of the sea. We need not try to recount the myriad forms of sea-life, and their various means of locomotion through the water. For the Omnipotent One to create this full phenomenon was as great in its intricacy as was vast the universe of the prior creation. Time Magazine, in its December 4, 1995 issue, had a cover headline entitled, "Evolution's Big Bang. New discoveries show that life as we know it began in an amazing biological frenzy that changed the planet almost overnight." Inside the issue, on pages 66ff, an article entitled, "When Life Exploded," and requiring nine pages of details, was explicit in its delineation of the new phenomenon. -- But what secular delineation calls "Evolution's Big Bang" was in fact a creation, the production of what had not previously existed, by the Omnipotent Being Who was its Creator. -- Yes, the Bible is as scientific as modern science. * Now when we come to the next day, (the sixth day,) we find that the Omnipotent One expanded this new life to include creeping things of the earth, cattle, and field-beasts. "And God made the beasts of the earth after their kind, and the cattle after their kind, and everything that creepeth upon the ground after its kind" (Vs. 25). We need note here that the text does not say that the Omnipotent One "created" the beasts and cattle. Why not? The act of creation was to produce intelligent mobility. That principle having been established -- created -- cattle, beasts, and creeping things were simply an expansion to include these new forms of life. The act of creation itself was established in verse 21. * * * The third great act of creation by the Omnipotent One was that of man. "And God (Elohim) created man (ha-adam: the man) in his own image, in the image of God (Elohim) created he him; male and female created he them." (Vs. 27). * As the first Creation was magnificent in its scope, and the second Creation intense in its intricacy, surely this third Creation would be equally significant in its way. Let us notice several points about the text. 1. As an act of Creation, it must mean, first of all, a significant difference between "man" and the previously created moving creatures. 2. The difference would seem to be "the image of Elohim." Was the Omnipotent One creating (we say this reverently) a sort of "junior clone" of Himself? In the Septuagint -- Greek translation of the Old Testament -- the Greek word for "image" is transliterated as "icon." -- Icons in Greek Orthodox churches are pictures of saints and divine beings on the ceiling and walls. Computers use icons on their "menus" as little figure representations of whole documents and even programs. -- Can we use these as examples of the possible meaning of "image" as found in the text? 3. The Hebrew word for "man" is "a-dam." It is a generic word. Later in the Scripture the word was personalized to refer to the first man, Adam. 4. The third clause of the verse, indicating that both sexes were included in this creation, shows that "adam" really means "human being." Later in the Sacred Text we shall find another word for "man": "ish," meaning an human being of the male sex. (Genesis 2:23). 5. Three times in this 27th verse of the First Chapter does it say "created" (bah-rah). It would seem that when God inspired the writing of the text, He knew in advance the coming of an evolutionary theory, and three times put the lie to any thought that man was a part of the previous creation, that of animals. 6. We might add another comment about this "image of Elohim." Evidently God had great plans for man. But, as we know, Adam failed his first test. But God will not be thwarted. We are told in I John 3:2 that eventually "we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is." Then will be manifested the full meaning of the "image of Elohim." * * * * * This entire essay is being entitled "Ramblings." It is intended only as thoughts of the writer as he sees things which do not seem to be brought out by others. In these Ramblings, there is another item which has occurred to the writer. It has to do with the use of the word "day" six times in this first Chapter of Genesis. Much has been written on the question whether the days are twenty-four-hour days, or whether they are long periods of time. Even many, who thoroughly believe in "creation" as opposed to "evolution," interpret "days" as long periods. The writer would like to propose this possibility, however: What constitutes a twenty-four-hour day? Is it not a complete revolution of the Earth on its own axis? Since a day is 24 hours, and the circumference of the earth at the equator is about 25,000 miles, a person standing on the equator is therefore travelling through space at a rate of faster than one thousand miles per hour! We in America are travelling at perhaps 600 m.p.h.
Could the Earth have been originally motionless? Did the Earth start to spin in "day one," and was turning very slowly at first; and perhaps gradually increased its speed until it reached its present velocity? If so, perhaps this could explain the references to "evening and morning," and at the same time allow for long periods of time. Many will scoff at this suggestion. However, there is so little we know, and so much less do we understand. * * * The Omnipotent One said of all His creation that "it was very good." Equally so, the narration of the Event in this First Chapter of Genesis is equally "very good." How the very recital of it all magnifies the Omnipotence of its Creator. How does, in fact, the whole record of events interpret the meaning of the word "Elohim." Only an Omnipotent One could accomplish all which is recounted in these thirty-four verses. Truly did the Apostle Paul write: "The invisible things of him since the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made, even his everlasting power and divinity." (Romans 1:20).
He created the universe. He created intelligent mobility of life. He created man in His own image.
Great Creator indeed: The Omnipotent One.
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