{"id":83,"date":"2015-09-04T03:19:23","date_gmt":"2015-09-04T03:19:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cms2.dcmsweb.com\/2015\/09\/04\/201593matthews-exegetical-series-genesis-1\/"},"modified":"2015-09-04T03:19:23","modified_gmt":"2015-09-04T03:19:23","slug":"201593matthews-exegetical-series-genesis-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/allsetfree\/2015\/09\/201593matthews-exegetical-series-genesis-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Matthew’s Exegetical Series: Genesis 1"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Genesis is a fascinating story of creation. No, I do not believe the book is trying to compete with modern science. No, I do not believe it is telling us how God\u2019s \u201cmarriage laws\u201d work. And no, I do not believe in talking snakes. What I do find fascinating about Genesis is that it is a story of creation that does not include violence. This is contrary to other tales from the surrounding area.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

One such tale is the Babylonian myth, Enuma Elish<\/em>. I sum that story up in the following way in my forthcoming book, All Set Free<\/em>:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Two primordial gods, Apsu and Tiamet, engage in a sexual union and give birth to multiple generations of gods who begin to torment Tiamet with their incessant noise. Apsu and Tiamet plan to kill their sons but Ea (the water god) foils their plan and kills Apsu. Ea hires a hero named Marduk, who is given divine powers in order to defeat Tiamet. He defeats Tiamet and uses half of her body to create the heavens and half to create the earth. The blood of Tiamet\u2019s commander, Kingu, is used to create mankind.<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Violence structured society so it only made sense that the gods were violent too. Pre-Socratic Heraclitus would later go on to say violence was the \u201clogos,\u201d or \u201cstructuring principle of reality.\u201d\u00a0However, the Hebrew writers thought otherwise about attributing violence to God. In my notes throughout, I will point specifically where we see this.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Some of my notes will be new to people but feel free to ask questions. I am always available on Facebook<\/a> to answer anything that may be confusing or that I need correction on.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Chapter 1<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Contrasting the gods of Enuma Elish<\/em>, the God of Genesis speaks things into existence:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>Verse 3: Light<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>Verse 6: Sky<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>Verses 9 \u2013 10: Earth<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>Verses 12 \u2013 13: Vegetation<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>Verses 14 \u2013 15: Stars<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>Verses 16 \u2013 18: Sun and Moon<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>Verse 20: Sea creatures and birds<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>Verse 24: Land animals<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>Verse 26: Humankind in God\u2019s image\u2014this would contrast with how humans are treated in the Babylonian myths<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

An important note is that in Genesis, there are two creation stories. The first is from 1:1 \u2013 2:3. The second is from 2:4 \u2013 4:26.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

In the first narrative, (written by the priestly class exiled in Babylon (Hardin, Jesus Driven Life, 170)),\u00a0in addition to being non-violent, God also gives to humankind freely (this will be contrasted however in the second). Genesis 1:28 \u2013 31 reads: <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cGod blessed them, and God said to them, \u201cBe fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0God said, \u201cSee, I have given you every<\/em> plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every<\/em> tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food.\u00a0\u00a0And to every<\/em> beast of the earth, and to every<\/em> bird of the air, and to everything<\/em> that creeps on the earth, everything<\/em> that has the breath of life, I have given every<\/em> green plant for food.\u201d And it was so. God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.\u201d (All emphasis mine)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Even though humankind was violent, the writer of the first narrative does not attribute any violence to God. Everything created is called \u201cvery good.\u201d Humankind then, as image bearers of God, is to be non-violent. We are to take care of that which is \u201cvery good.\u201d We are to also \u201cgive freely,\u201d as he has.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Stay tuned for Chapter 2\u2026<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Even though humankind was violent, the writer of the first narrative does not attribute any violence to God. Everything created is called \u201cvery good.\u201d Humankind then, as image bearers of God, is to be non-violent. We are to take care of that which is \u201cvery good.\u201d We are to also \u201cgive freely,\u201d as he has.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2874,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-83","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nMatthew's Exegetical Series: Genesis 1<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Even though humankind was violent, the writer of the first narrative does not attribute any violence to God. Everything created is called \u201cvery good.\u201d Humankind then, as image bearers of God, is to be non-violent. 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