Another look at Genesis

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Another look at Genesis
Steve Schaffner Grace Chapel
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A different approach to Genesis 1

• Assumption the message made sense to the
  original hearers.
• Used language and imagery they understood.
• The meaning cannot depend on knowing science.

• So ignore what science says.
• Are science and Genesis talking about the same
  things?

• What issues were important to ancient Israel?
• What ideas and stories did Genesis compete
  with?

• What does Genesis 1 have to say on its own
  terms?

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The framework hypothesis
The ordering of events in Genesis 1 is a literary
framework, not a chronology.

• Geological and biological questions were not
  important issues for the ancient Israelites.
• Genesis 1 shows strong structure, both in
  language and in content.
• Sources

In the Beginning The Opening Chapters of
Genesis Henri Blocher
The Meaning of Creation Conrad Hyers
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The structure of Genesis 1
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The physical shape of the world
The Mesopotamian picture
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The physical shape of the world
The Egyptian picture
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The theological shape of the world
All the nations surrounding Israelites were
polytheists. Polytheism, nature gods were a
constant temptation. Josiah did away with
the pagan priests appointed by the kings of Judah
to burn incense on the high places of the
towns of Judah and on those around Jerusalem
those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun
and moon, to the constellations and to all the
starry hosts. He took the Asherah pole from
the temple of the LORD. (2 Kings
235-6)
A typical creation story of the Ancient Near East

• The world begins in watery chaos a raging sea.
• Gods emerge from the chaos and give birth to
  more gods.
• The gods fight a lot.
• One heroic god
• Defeats the sea god and armies of sea monsters
• Brings order to sea, land and heavens
• Becomes the chief god.
• Humans are fashioned to do the gods work for
  them.

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Genesis 1 vs. other creation stories
The physical picture sounds similar

• Formless, watery chaos at the start.
• Boundaries are set for the sea.
• A fixed sky separates waters below and waters
  above.
• Heavenly bodies are placed in the sky.

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Genesis 1 vs. other creation stories
The theological picture is radically different

• There is one, all-powerful creator God.
• God transcends all of nature.
• Instead of confusion and strife, there are just
  commands God is in complete control.
• Order, meaning and beauty come from God they
  are a blessing from him.

The mythical elements have all been eliminated.
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A digression on sea monsters
So God created the great creatures (tannin) of
the sea . . .
Tannin is usually translated monster or
serpent. Why this word?
In pagan myths, the gods had to defeat the
sea-monsters to control the sea. Baal defeated
a seven-headed monster named Lotan (Leviathan in
Hebrew. The same imagery appears in the Old
Testament (Ps. 74, Isa. 27, Isa. 51).
In Genesis 1, God controls the sea with a word of
command. The tannim is now just a sea animal, and
one of Gods creatures.
Compare Psalm 10424-26 How many are your
works, O LORD! In wisdom you made them all The
earth is full of your creatures. There is the
sea, vast and spacious, Teeming with creatures
beyond number Living things both large and
small. There the ships go to and fro, And the
leviathan, which you formed to frolic there.
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The heavenly bodies
Shamash, Mesopotamian sun god
When you look up to the sky and see the sun, the
moon and the stars all the heavenly array do
not be enticed into bowing down to them and
worshiping things the LORD your God as
apportioned to all the nations under heaven.
(Deuteronomy 419)
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Verses to discuss
And God said, Let there be lights in the expanse
of the sky to separate the day from the night,
and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and
days and years, and let them be lights in the
expanse of the sky to give light on the earth.
And it was so. God made two great lights the
greater light to govern the day and the lesser
light to govern the night. He also made the
stars. (Genesis 114 - 16)
So God created man in his own image, in the image
of God he created him male and female he created
them. God blessed them and said to them, Be
fruitful and increase in number fill the earth
and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and
the birds of the air and over every living
creature that moves on the ground. (Genesis 127
- 28)
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Old Testament passages mentioning sea monsters
Awake, awake! Clothe yourself with strength, Arm
of the LORD Awake, as in days gone by, As in
the generation of old. Was it not you who cut
Rahab to pieces, Who pierced that monster
through? Was it not you who dried up the sea, The
waters of the great deep, Who made a road in the
depths of the sea, The waters of the great
deep, Who made a road in the depths of the sea So
that the redeemed might cross over?
Isaiah 519-11 How many are your works, O
LORD! In wisdom you made them all The earth is
full of your creatures. There is the sea, vast
and spacious, Teeming with creatures beyond
number Living things both large and
small. There the ships go to and fro, And the
leviathan, which you formed to frolic there.
Psalm 104 24-26
But you, O God, are my king from of old You
bring salvation upon the earth. It was you who
split open the sea by your power You broke the
heads of the monster in the waters. It was you
who crushed the heads of Leviathan And gave him
as food to the creatures of the desert. It was
you who opened up springs and streams You dried
up the ever flowing rivers. The day is yours, and
yours also the night You established the sun and
moon. It was you who set all the boundaries of
the earth You made both summer and winter
Psalm 7412-17 In that day, The LORD
will punish with his sword, His fierce, great and
powerful sword, Leviathan the gliding serpent He
will slay the monster of the sea.
Isaiah 271
(Word in red Hebrew tannin)