Wow, so there is a lot in this chapter... more than I remembered. It pretty much sums up creation - and yes, I do believe in a literal 7 day creation (well, 6 days for creation and a day of rest). At least with the way it comes across in English I can find no other explanation for "and there was evening and there was morning, the first/second/third/fourth/fifth/sixth day". I'm not a scholar of the original languages the Bible was written in, but every translation I've read is like that. Now mind you, if for some reason it wasn't just a few "real" days like that it does not invalidate anything else: God definitely created the universe we know and everything in it, whether it was in six days or over six billion years.
Other interesting things to note here are that in this pre-sin world we (and animals) were only given plants to eat. This inclines me to believe that even current-day carnivores and omnivores were once vegetarian. We also get plural pronouns when God is talking about making man: "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness". This is a great starting point to talk about the triune nature of God (more commonly referred to as the Trinity). It is a bit of a conundrum, but God is both one being and more than one at the same time; eventually we'll find out that this is manifest in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - but more on that later :)
One last item for today is something I've never noticed before, though I've read these first few chapters of the Bible many times over. There is a reference to the purpose for the lights in the heavens (the sun, moon, and stars); they are to "be for signs and for seasons and for days and years". Obviously we make our calendars - days, seasons, and years - around the movement of the Earth in relation to the Sun, but the first item in that list made me pause for a moment: "signs". What exactly does that mean, I wonder? Surely not that things like the Zodiac and astrology are in any way true, but it is an interesting idea none the less. I suppose that Jesus' birth was represented by the sign of a new star which the wise men followed, but I wonder if perhaps there is more to this than we modern people realize. Oh well, it will be a good thing to ask God someday!
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Hey man,
What an inspirational undertaking. Consider this my commitment, to you, to both keep you accountable and to join you in your goal.
I have one additional comment to add to this first chapter reading. While I, too, have read this chapter many times over, I made one other connection that never occurred to me before. That is the practice of holidays in Judaism. Most, if not all, begin at sundown the day before, in our 'reckoning'. It looks like the "...there was evening and there was morning..." portions of this chapter are how they began observing days in this manner. Very interesting to me...
Anyway, thanks William!
-Tony A.
When I read this chapter, I thought: "If God created a system of rules for how the universe works, Genesis 1 would be a reasonable way to explain that to people."
I was thinking today that we may really just be 'thoughts' in the mind of God. Not to take anything away from our being or our freedom to make choices, because I think those stand regardless of whether we consider ourselves as being 'inside' or 'outside' of God. This also comes back to whether we are 'spritual' or 'physical' beings, or whether those are arbitrary definitions and we are a 'holistic' being. I am learning that thoughts are really important, and we're getting closer and closer to being able to imagine a world where thoughts and the communication of those thoughts are the only things that matter (not that we will ever get to that point by ourselves). If God is really thinking about every grain of sand and every sparrow, how much of a stretch would it be to say that he is ACTUALLY thinking about every quark and higgs-boson, and really IS the substance of things? This would also fit with how many parts of the Bible talk about God's faithfulness and his unchanging and enduring nature. Psalm 119:89-91 says "O Lord, your instructions endure; they stand secure in heaven. You demonstrate your faithfulness to all generations. You established the earth and it stood firm. Today they stand firm by your decrees,
for all things are your servants."
When I think of 'enduring instructions', I think of computer programming and how once designed, a single set of instructions can be used forever to accomplish a given task. Are God's 'enduring instructions' the laws that govern the mechanics of the universe? Could it be possible that if we ever do 'discover' these 'instructions' that we will learn the universe is controlled by God's mercy and faithfulness and love?
On another note, the translators notes on the NET Bible talk about the 'signs' part and say that most likely what is meant is that the word 'signs' is the main idea and that 'seasons' and 'days and years' are just listing the categories of signs that would be indicated by what are apparently the 'sun' and 'moon'.
Another thing that is interesting is that the sun and moon are only referred to as a 'greater light' and a 'lesser light'. The translator notes indicate that maybe this was done because the words for 'sun' and 'moon' had religious overtones, but it makes me wonder. I mean I guess it would be a bit of a stretch to apply those descriptions to things other than the sun and moon, but the vagueness intrigues me.
I've often wondered about the possibility you raise, thedanyes, about us just existing in God's mind. But then I wonder if there would be any measurable difference between that and a "physical" reality - I mean, given God's omnipotence would it perhaps simply be that when He thinks about things they become what we consider "real"? The only trick here I guess is that we act in sinful ways, and at least as a human I would find it hard to imagine an at least semi-independent thought process that goes against my very nature (for that is what I think sin is - anything opposed to God's nature). It is a tough thing to even try to wrap one's brain around, but in the end I suppose that this is largely moot: it is a nice exercise in theory, but does not seem to change what God instructs us to do practically.
PS - I hope that some of that made sense; it is getting late, and I may be loosing some coherence.
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