In this final video treating the Bible’s presentation of creation,
we will consider what it means that the physical world is created for God’s presence.
Building upon the insight that God created the world through his power and with
his wisdom, which serve as mediating principles between God and humanity,
we can see that God’s creation, especially as it is depicted in Genesis 1—2,
is fundamentally ordered toward an encounter with God’s presence.
To explore this topic further, let us return to “the beginning.”
It is perhaps a bit unexpected that we have left off consideration of Genesis 1–2
until now, since these two creation accounts are the most well-known of the entire Bible.
However, as will hopefully become clear, this is because they comprise
a summative statement that completes and unifies the entire biblical presentation of creation.
Given the time constraints of our videos, it is not possible to analyze each of these accounts
detail by detail. Still, we can consider the manner in which they work together to depict
God’s creation of the physical world as providing a space
for his presence in creation in a way that can be experienced by human beings.
This message is most readily perceptible in Genesis 2,
which depicts an intimate relationship between God and the first man and woman in the garden.
It is often said that Genesis 2 offers an anthropocentric
description of creation that complements the cosmos-centric description found in Genesis 1.
This anthropocentrism is displayed above all in the sequence of creation:
the first man is the very first thing created and the first woman is the very last thing created.
Such a “bookending” structure signals that the man and woman are the focus of the account.
Another way in which the sequence of creation demonstrates an anthropocentric focus
is that God creates the man before creating anything else, even a place in which the man
could live. This too, is at the service of a larger point: the garden—the very created world
that Adam and Eve (and all of humanity after them) are meant to inhabit—is created by God
with them specifically in mind; they are meant for that place and that place is meant for them.
This truth is more explicitly expressed in Isaiah:
“God the designer and maker of the earth, who established it,
did not create it as an empty waste, but designed it to be lived in” (Isa. 45:18).
Finally, the anthropocentric focus of Genesis 2 is reflected by the unique and intimate
relationship that God has with the man and the woman; the man is given a share in creation
both by cultivating God’s garden and by naming everything within it. The man and woman are also
depicted as the only creatures who interact directly with God in the garden: they speak
directly with him and regularly meet him on his evening stroll through the garden (Gen 3:8).
The point of this highly figurative language is to stress that the garden—that
is, the created world—was initially a place in which the first humans experienced God’s presence.
Further, Genesis 2’s depiction of such an intimate relationship between God and the first man and
woman serves to elaborate the meaning of the terse statement in Genesis 1:26-27,
which describes human beings as being created in the image and likeness of God.
Let us now turn to the cosmos-centric creation account in Genesis 1, which is an intricately
structured narrative that recounts God’s creation of the universe in seven days. On first glance,
it is apparent that the text features a high degree of patterning and repetition.
Each time God creates something, there are three basic elements: first, God says “let there be x”;
second, the narrator reports “and then there was x”; and finally, God sees and proclaims that
“x was good.” This narrative device is a means by which the sacred author
“colors” the texts, conveying the sense that God’s creation
is methodical and results in a meticulous arrangement of the cosmos.
This meticulous arrangement is further reflected in the parallel descriptions
of the spatial realms that God creates as well as the creatures with which he populates them.
In days 1—3, God creates the physical domains of the cosmos, including the sky, the seas,
and the earth. Then in days 4—6, God then creates the many variegated creatures that inhabit those
domains—the birds of the air, the swarming things of the sea, and the creatures of the earth.
The parallelism here adds to the sense that the cosmos—both taken as a whole and considered in
any of its parts—is imbued with order and structure. Thus, these features of the text
give the impression that God’s creative act was both a serene display of his power
and an expression of his wisdom: the created product comes into being with no
difficulty whatsoever, is well-ordered, and perfectly conforms to God’s will.
This brings us to the seventh and climactic day of this creation account,
which somewhat surprisingly, doesn’t feature the creation of anything at all.
Instead, it is a day defined by God’s rest. Now, this is not rest in the sense of needing a break
after exhausting activity; rather, it is to be understood as a kind of delight or enjoyment.
A good example of this type of rest is found in the books of Numbers and Joshua
which describe how the Israelite people take up their rest in the promised land when they
settle the land and enjoy its harvest. Just so, Genesis 1’s depiction of God resting from his
creative activity on the seventh day is in fact, a claim that upon completing his creative work,
God takes up an abiding presence in the cosmos so as to delight in that which he has made.
When this depiction of divine rest is read in light of the rest of the Pentateuch,
another level of meaning emerges: namely,
that human beings have the ability to encounter God’s presence through their rest on the Sabbath.
In several places, the people are commanded to rest from all work on the seventh day of the week,
and this for two reasons: first, because God himself rested on the seventh day of creation; and
second, because God blessed the seventh day and set it apart as holy. Thus, there is a particular
day that has been set aside by God on which human beings can encounter his divine presence through
their own rest, and for this reason it is called the Sabbath day, which means “rest” in Hebrew.
In addition to setting aside a particular time for this rest, God also sets aside a particular place:
the Tabernacle in the wilderness, and later the Jerusalem Temple
of which it was a forerunner. This physical space, like the seventh day of the week,
is made holy, or set aside, by God so that people can encounter the divine presence there.
This is why the sacred authors use the same vocabulary and repeated
patterns in their description of the people’s building of the tabernacle
as in their depiction of God’s creation in Genesis 1. Just as God created the cosmos in seven days,
declared his creatures good seven times, and just as the narrator refers to the heavens and earth
seven times in that description, so too the construction of the Tabernacle in Exodus 40 and
the inauguration of cultic worship in Leviticus 8 exhibit seven-fold repetition and patterning.
Very briefly we might note several instances of this sevenfold pattern in these texts.
There are seven steps involved in: setting up the tabernacle; situating
the ark within the tabernacle; establishing the table of incense in the meeting tent;
erecting the altar of sacrifice in the courtyard; and finally,
there are seven actions of the priests leading up to the first sacrificial feast.
Moreover, in both the construction of the tabernacle in Exodus 40
and the inauguration of cultic worship in Leviticus 8-10, the narrator repeats an
approbation that things were done exactly as the Lord commanded Moses seven times,
and this is followed by a glorious manifestation of God’s presence in the tabernacle in each case.
The message here is clear: God’s active presence is to be encountered,
above all, in the Tabernacle on the Sabbath. While it is true that God is present to all creation—as
is expressed in the books of Psalms and Isaiah—the glorious presence of God is
found in a particular way in the Tabernacle which, according to the book of Deuteronomy,
God chose as the dwelling place for his name. It is, in effect, the place of divine rest—the
place where God enjoys the company of his chosen people
and offers them the possibility of encountering his presence in their own Sabbath rest.
In conclusion, we might simply note that the creation accounts of Genesis 1–2,
like every creation account and allusion to creation in the Bible, are avowedly theological
descriptions of who God is and the manner in which God created the world. They are not intended to
be disinterested descriptions of the physical processes by which the universe came to be.
Instead, these accounts are a means by which the divine and human authors
express both that God is the ultimate source and origin of the created world,
and that God has made a space for his presence in the created world,
which is intended to enable a direct, personal relationship with human beings.
For readings, podcasts, and more videos like this go to Aquinas101.com. While you're there,
be sure to sign up for one of our free video courses on Aquinas.
And don’t forget to like and share with your friends, because it matters what you think!