Untitled Sermon (9)

The Liturgy of

Creation:

Reading Genesis 1-2 with the Wisdom of the Church

Steven C. Smith, Ph.D.

Part One: The Temple of Creation

I.             Thesis. 

a.    The aim of this series is to help us dig deeper into Genesis 1-2. Our approach will explain how an ancient Jewish liturgical reading of these texts unlocks many hidden mysteries which many modern readers of Genesis remain unaware of. 

b.    As a result our meditation on these sacred texts, it is hoped that God will strengthen our understanding of His word, give us a deeper appreciation of our own liturgy in light of the “liturgy of Genesis,” that He would empower us to live out its truths with joy and fidelity, and above all, that He would enkindle in our hearts a courageous desire to share the Good News with the world around us.

II.           First things First: Putting Aside ‘Myth.’  Approaching Genesis 1—2 with Faith & Reason.

a.    CCC 327: “God himself created the visible world in all its richness, diversity, and order. Scripture presents the work of the Creator symbolically as a succession of six days of divine ‘work,’ concluded by the ‘rest’ of the seventh day.”

b.    Albert Einstein: “I want to know how God created this world. I am not interested in this or that phenomenon, in the spectrum of this or that element. I want to know His thoughts; the rest are details.”

c.    Dr. Christopher Baglow: “When one reads [Gen. 1-3] closely and carefully, one is able to see both its power and its beauty. But more background is necessary to fully grasp its truth.  Some people, who regard themselves as ‘scientific,’ dismiss [the text] as a primitive myth, the product of a ‘Bronze Age desert kingdom.’ Ironically, they have this dismissive attitude, in many cases, not because they know more than the theologians do, but because they know far less ... [and] it is precisely because they do not really understand human history and the human context in which the [text] was written that  they cannot hear God’s voice within it ... ”[1]

d.    Genesis vs. Pagan Myth: “There is a further irony: the scientific atheist dismisses the Genesis 1 account of creation as ‘myth’ and ‘superstition,’ not realizing that it was actually written, among other things, in order to dismiss myth and superstition.”[2]

                                              i.    Babylonian Creation Myths: “When in the height heaven was not named / and the earth beneath did not yet bear a name / and the primeval Apsu, who begat them / and Tiamat, salt-water chaos, the mother of them both, mingled together their waters ... Then in the midst of heaven were created the gods.” (Enuma Elish, Tablet I)

                                            ii.    Ratzinger: “Here [in Genesis] we see the audacity and the temperateness of the faith that, in confronting the pagan myths, made the light of truth appear by showing that the world was not a demonic contest but that it arose from God’s Reason and reposes on God’s Word.”[3]

e.    The Interplay between ‘Form’ & ‘Content’ in Scripture.

                                              i.    There is a need to delineate “form” from CONTENT in Scripture:

i.      Form = Literary shape, style, or genre employed by the biblical author;

ii.    Content = Underlying message / substance of the biblical author;

iii.   The form is always at the service of content, and is selected by the biblical author as the best manner in which to convey the particular truth(s) in light of the audience’s worldview. 

                                            ii.    Ratzinger: “The classical creation account [in Genesis] is not the only creation text of Sacred Scripture.”[4]

                                          iii.    Prov. 3:19, 8:22-23 “The Lord by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding the heavens; by his knowledge the deeps broke forth, and the clouds drop down the dew ... The Lord created me [Wisdom] at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of old.  [I have been established from everlasting, from the beginning, before there was ever an earth. – KJV]”

                                           iv.    Sirach 1:1, 4, 9, All wisdom comes from the Lord and is with him forever ... Wisdom was created before all things, and prudent understanding from eternity ... The Lord himself created wisdom; he saw her and apportioned her, he poured her out upon all his works ... The Lord himself created wisdom; he saw her and apportioned her, he poured her out upon all his works ... To fear the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; she is created with the faithful in the womb.”

                                            v.    Wisdom of Solomon 1:1, 4, 16-19  “Wisdom protected the first-formed father of the world [i.e. Adam], when he alone had been created; she delivered him from his transgression, and gave him strength to rule all things ... When the earth was flooded because of him, wisdom again saved it, steering the righteous man [i.e. Noah] by a paltry piece of wood. She entered the soul of a servant of the Lord [i.e. Moses] and withstood dread kings with wonders and signs ... She brought them over the Red Sea, and led them through deep waters; but she drowned their enemies [i.e. Egyptians], and cast them up from the depth of the sea.”

                                           vi.    Ratzinger: “In its confrontation with Hellenistic civilization, the Wisdom literature [of the OT] reworks the theme [of Creation] without sticking to the old images such as the 7 days. Thus we can see how the Bible itself constantly re-adapts its images [i.e. literary forms] to a continually developing way of thinking, how it changes ... in order to bear witness, time and again, to the one thing that has come to it, in truth, from God’s word—which is the message of his creating act [i.e. content of the biblical text]. In the Bible itself the images are free and they correct themselves over time.  In this way they show, by means of a gradual and interactive process, that they are only images, which reveal something deeper and greater.”



III.         Gen. 1:1 – 2:3  Worshipping God in His Holy Temple

a.    Big Idea: Numerous clues overwhelmingly suggest that Genesis 1 portrays the whole of Creation as God’s divine sanctuary that Eden is the ‘Holy Place’ within this cosmic temple, and that Man, and in fact all of Creation, was created and designed. In our exploration of these two themes, we will offer a number of ‘take-aways’ (practical suggestions, challenges, etc.).

b.    MYSTERY § 1  The Sacred Space of The Garden of Eden.                                      A close examination of Genesis 1-2 reveals that the whole of creation is a cosmological sanctuary with the focal point of the Garden of Eden is its ‘Holy Place.’ Such depictions are not without precedent; numerous ancient texts both in and beyond the Hebrew Scriptures develop along similar lines as Genesis.[5]

c.    Some of the main clues of the Temple motif are as follows:

                                              i.    ‘The God of the Mountain.’ 

i.      One of the oldest terms for God in Scripture, El Shaddai, is often translated as “mighty God,” or God Almighty.  Yet, a more precise translation would be “El, God of the mountain.” El Shaddai is the name by which God revealed himself to Abram when enacting the covenant through circumcision (Gen. 17:1) and to Jacob at Bethel (Gen. 35:11; 48:3).[6]

ii.    In fact, all of the major covenants of the OT between God and His people are forged on mountains:

a.    God covenants with Noah on Mt. Ararat (Gen. 8:4, 9:1-8-17).

b.    God covenants with Abraham on Mt. Moriah, after the “sacrifice” of Isaac (Gen. 22; 12:1-3; 17:1-21).

c.    God covenants with Moses on Mt. Sinai (Exod. 20-24).

d.    God makes an “everlasting covenant” with David on Mt. Zion (II Sam. 7:12-13).  Strikingly, this is the precise location of God’s covenant with Abraham—Mt. Moriah is Mt. Zion; as the Chronicler reveals (I Chron. 3:1).[7]

                                            ii.    The Temple of Mt. Eden.

i.      As we learned, El Shaddai, the God of the mountain, covenants with His people on holy mountains.  Moreover, in the ancient world mountains were considered holy ground, the first temples where one went to “meet” God, and to speak to and hear from God.

ii.    Eden too, is in fact presented as a holy mountain—and a primordial temple. It is here that God places Adam, formed out of the ground (Gen. 2:7), to serve the Lord in His Temple: “And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there he put the man whom he had formed” (v. 8).

iii.   Gen. 2:10 supports this: “A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers (i.e., Pishon, Gihon, Tigris, Euphrates).” More aptly, the river flows down and out of Eden, in every direction, watering the “four corners” of the earth.

iv.   Supporting this image in Genesis is a key text from Ezekiel, in which Eden is called the “holy mountain of God”:

Ezek. 28:13-14 “You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, carnelian, topaz, and jasper, chrysolite, beryl, and onyx, sapphire, carbuncle, and emerald; and wrought in gold were your settings and your engravings. On the day that you were created they were prepared. With an anointed guardian cherub I placed you; you were on the holy mountain of God; in the midst of the stones of fire you walked.”

v.    Thus, Ezekiel assumes the garden in Eden lies atop a holy mountain: “The Garden of Eden is not viewed by the author of Genesis simply as a piece of Mediterranean farmland, but as an archetypal sanctuary, that is a place where God dwells and where man should worship him. Many of the features of the Garden may also be found in later sanctuaries, particularly the tabernacle or Jerusalem Temple. These parallels suggest that the garden itself is understood as a sort of sanctuary.”[8]

                                          iii.    God in His Holy House. God’s movements towards Adam and Eve in Genesis 3 mirror His later movements in the Temple. Specifically, in later liturgical texts that pertain to the Temple, the verb mithallék is used to God’s presence in His house:

i.      Lev. 26:12 “And I will make my dwelling among you, and my soul shall not abhor you.  And I will mithallék (walk among) you, and will be your God, and you shall be my people.”

Likewise, in Genesis, God “walks to and fro” in the midst of the Garden:

ii.    Gen. 3:8 “And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.”

iii.   As one scholar observes, “Israel’s Temple was the place where the priest experienced God’s unique presence, and Eden was the place where Adam walked and talked with God. The same Hebrew verbal form (stem) mithallék used for God’s ‘walking back and forth’ in the Garden,[9] also describes God’s presence in the tabernacle.”[10]

                                           iv.    The Threefold Structure of the Cosmic Temple.  

i.      The Jerusalem Temple (and its mobile forerunner, the Tabernacle, were, according to Scripture, a “blueprint” of God’s heavenly temple: 

Wisd. 9:8 “Thou hast given command to build a temple on thy holy mountain, and an altar in the city of thy habitation, a copy of the holy tent which thou didst prepare from the beginning.”

ii.    The Temple was comprised of three main divisions: (i) The Outer Courts; (ii) The Holy Place; (iii) The Holy of Holies.

iii.   Each of these divisions corresponds to a threefold pattern of Creation, as depicted in Genesis 1-2.[11] 

iv.   The Outer Courts.

a.    In the Jerusalem Temple, the outermost part of the Temple Mount was the “Court of the Gentiles.” The core biblical principle: God is holy, and anything / anyone that is nearest to Him must be holy. Hence, the outer courts represent the outer regions of the earth beyond the Mountain / Garden:

b.    In Genesis, this corresponds to “the land beyond the Garden,” that was created good, but is nevertheless wild and unruly in comparison to the order of the Garden. It was Adam’s missionary territory. It also meant it was Adam’s duty to keep the “unholy” out of the Temple. More on that in Part II!

c.    “The land and seas to be subdued by Adam outside the Garden were roughly equivalent to the outer court of Israel’s subsequent Temple. Thus, one may be able to perceive an increasing gradation in holiness from outside the garden proceeding inward: the region outside the Garden is related to God and is “very good” (Gen. 1:31) in that it is God’s creation (i.e., the outer court) ...”[12] 

v.    The Holy Place.

a.    In the Jerusalem Temple, this was the covered structure located at the furthest interior space of the overall structure. It is the place for the priests—and priestly actions.

b.    In Genesis, this corresponds to the Garden itself, and everything within its boundaries. 

c.    The author of the ancient Jewish book of Jubilees grasped the Temple –structure of Genesis, when he writes, “[Noah] knew that the Garden of Eden was the Holy Place of the Lord.”[13]

d.    This Garden Temple was created by God as an icon of heaven, and importantly—it is the primary place where those with the eyes of faith encounter the Divine Presence, such that those who live by faith receive God’s divine life, and a divine mission to sanctify the world beyond Eden, that the temple would grow as the faithful multiply.

vi.   The Most Holy Place.

a.    Veiled within the Holy Place was the Most Holy Place, the “sanctum sanctorum,” in which was the Ark of the Covenant—and where God’s presence really dwelt in a special way. Only the High Priest could enter—once a year, on the great Day of Atonement. God dwelt in heaven above, yet at the same time, He was truly present in a special way in the Holy of Holies.

b.    

In the ‘temple’ of Genesis, God dwelt in the ‘heavenly places’ atop Mt. Eden. With respect to God’s presence in the Holy Place of the Garden, the Tree of Life  which is in the “midst” or inner most place of the Garden, signified God’s immortal life, and the source of Adam (and Eve’s) very sustenance.   

c.    An illustration might look something like this:

d.    MYSTERY § 2 The Number ‘7’ in Genesis 1—and why it matters.         As Gordon Wenham explains, “The number 7 dominates this opening chapter [of Genesis] in a strange way.”[14] The number 7 is encoded into the narrative of Gen. 1:

                                              i.    Gen. 1:1 is exactly 7 words: berishith bara elohim et hashamayim wəet haaeretṣ.

                                            ii.    The 3 nouns used, elohim, shamayim and aretṣ [i.e. God, heavens, earth], are key terms in the text that follows v. 1, and each re-occurs in multiples of 7:

i.      Elohim occurs 35 times (5 x 7);

ii.    Shamayim occurs 21 times(3 x 7); and

iii.   Aretṣ likewise occurs 21 times (3 x 7).

                                          iii.    There is a doubling from 1:1 to 1:2—there are 14 words (2x7) in v. 2.[15]

                                           iv.    Following 1:1, which stands apart, the remaining text of Gen. 1 unfolds in 7 paragraphs, each of which pertains to one of the 7 days.

                                            v.    In paragraph #1, the nouns ôr and yôm (light, sea) occur 7 times; ôr occurs another 7 times in paragraph #4. Mayim (water) occurs 7 times in paragraphs #2 and 3.  Ayyā (creatures) occurs 7 times in paragraphs #5 and 6.  

                                           vi.    The key phrase ki-tôv (it was good) occurs 7 times in Gen. 1; the seventh and final is unique, and is located in the final verse of the chapter, 1:31— “And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good (ki-tov meōd).

                                         vii.    Finally ... one would think that the natural break is between Gen. 1 and 2—but this is not the case. The literary break is between 2:3 and 2:4, thus, the “end” of Gen. 1 is actually 2:3! Thus, Gen. 2:1-3 is in effect paragraph #7 according to the sevenfold framework following Gen. 1:1. 

                                       viii.    In paragraph #7, which presents the “seventh day,” concerning the Sabbath, there are 3 sentences, each of which are comprised of 7 words and contains in the identical expression in the very middle, hashebi (“the seventh day.”)

       And on hashebi  God finished His work which He had done.

                                      And He rested on hashebi  from all His work which He had done.

                             So God blessed hashebi  and hallowed it.

e.    Oriented towards worship—The meaning BEHIND MYSTERY §2. 

                                              i.    As the late rabbi and renowned biblical scholar Umberto Cassutto commented, “To suppose that all of this is a mere coincidence is not possible.”[16] But what does it mean— and what could be its significance?

                                            ii.    This decisive pattern in Genesis 1, this “architecture of 7’s,” conveys something remarkable and powerful.  The Creation culminates with God’s “rest” on the seventh day, Shabbat (Sabbath). Shabbat is the key to unlocking the mystery of 7’s. Here’s why:

                                          iii.    As the Catechism reminds us, the Sabbath is “the heart of Israel’s law!” [17] “Creation,” Ratzinger explains, “is designed in such a way that it is oriented towards worship.”[18] He adds,” In the Creation account the Sabbath is depicted as the day when the human being, in the freedom of worship, participates in God’s freedom, in God’s rest, and thus God’s peace. To celebrate the Sabbath means to celebrate the covenant.”[19]

                                           iv.    In Scripture, the Sabbath is—and always has been about much more than “taking a break” and “going to Church” because God ordained a day of rest. It is about God’s perfecting of Creation. 

                                            v.    One other key point needs to be added: in Hebrew, the terms for Sabbath and seven are uncanny in relation to one another Shabbath and Shibbith.  

                                           vi.    This suggests that all along, from Day One right through Day Seven, all of the “seven-ing” was pointing forward to the Sabbath, to the perfection of God’s Creation. The cacophony of Shibbiths – of sevens – in Creation prepares us for the perfecting of Creation: when the newly created Man enters into God’s perfection, into the Shabbat.

                                         vii.    Even more stunning is that the noun shibbith (seven), the number of “perfection” in Scripture, also has a verbal form: sheba.  To “seven” something is to swear an oath, to bind something. (E.g. Beer-sheba = “well of the oath.”)

                                       viii.    In other words, as God creates, His glorious acts of creation cry out that He is “seven-ing” Himself to Creation; God is covenanting with creation, through Creation, binding Himself, seven-ing Himself to His Creation.

                                           ix.    And the climax of God’s seven-ing is in Gen.1:27-28—

“So God created man in His own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be 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.’”

                                            x.    Only then does God declare (for the seventh time), ki-tov meōd – it is very good.  All of Creation—every creature, the stars, the seas, the mountains and valleys—and each and every Person, is part of the grand design of God, and is created and designed for worship. Creation – and Man in particular, is created in such a way that it —that he and she—are oriented to worship.

                                           xi.    God brings Creation and Man into existence—into relationship with Himself, and that the “perfecting” of creation, for which it was created is worship.

              xii.    We have reached not the end of our study, but merely the conclusion of the first half. Genesis 2:1-3 is the end of Act I, a two-act drama. Next time, as we go deeper into the Creation narrative, we’ll see how in Act II (Gen. 2:4-25), Man is called to participate in the life of God in His Temple. Specifically, we’ll learn how Adam is God’s Royal High Priest, created for worship, and called to extend God’s Temple presence over the face of the earth.

[1] Christopher Baglow, Faith, Science and Reason. Theology on the Cutting Edge (Downers Grove: Midwest Theological Forum, 2011), 43, emphasis mine. Ratzinger agrees: “Here, we see the audacity and the temperateness of the faith that, in confronting the pagan myths, made the light of truth appear by showing that the world was not a demonic contest but that it arose by God’s Reason and reposes on God’s word ... Hence, this creation may be seen as the decisive ‘enlightenment’ of history and as a break-through out of the fears that had oppressed humankind. It placed the world in a context of reason and recognized the world’s reasonableness and freedom. But is also may be seen as the true enlightenment … it put human reason firmly on the primordial basis of God’s creating Reason, in order to establish it in truth and love, without which an ‘enlightenment’ would be exorbitant and ultimately foolish.” From: Joseph Ratzinger, In the Beginning (Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 1990) 14.

[2] Baglow, Faith, Science and Reason, 14.

[3] Ratzinger, In the Beginning, p. 14.

[4] Ratzinger, In the Beginning, p. 14, 15, emphasis mine.

[5] See especially: Greg Beale, The Temple and the Church’s Mission. A Biblical Theology of the Dwelling Place of God (Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, 2004), 44-66; “God’s Temple City,” in T. Desmond Alexander, From Paradise to the Promised Land: An Introduction to the Pentateuch, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2012), 119-33; Alexander, From Eden to the New Jerusalem (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2008) 13-73;  E. P. Sanders, Judaism: Practice and Belief 63BCE–66 CE (Philadelphia: Trinity Press International, 1992), 47–145; Emil Schürer, The History of the Jewish People in the Age of Jesus Christ (175 B.C.—A.D. 135), 3 vols., rev. and ed. Geza Vermes, et al. (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1973, 1979, 1986, 1987), 2:237–313; Menahem Haran, Temples and Temple Service in Ancient Israel (Oxford: Clarendon, 1978); Joachim Jeremias, Jerusalem in the Time of Jesus, trans. F. H. Cave and C. H. Cave (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1969), 21–27, 84–86, 147–221; H. H. Rowley, Worship in Ancient Israel (London: S.P.C.K, 1967), 71–110; Yves Congar, The Mystery of the Temple (New York: Newman Press, 1962); L. Michael Morales, The Tabernacle Pre-Figured: Cosmic Mountain Ideology in Genesis and Exodus (Leuven: Peeters, 2012); Jacob Chanikuzhy, Jesus the Eschatological Temple (Leuven: Peeters, 2012); Margaret Barker, Temple Themes in Christian Worship. 3rd ed. (London: Bloomsbury, 2013); Nicholas Perrin, Jesus the Temple (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2012).

[6] See: Eerdmans Bible Dictionary (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1987), 332.

[7] II Chron. 3:1 See: S. W. Hahn, The Kingdom of God as Liturgical Empire. A Theological Commentary on 1-2 Chronicles (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2012), 112ff. 

[8] Gordon Wenham, “Sanctuary Symbolism in the Garden of Eden Story,” in: Proceedings of the World Congress of Jewish Studies 9 (1986), 19. See also: T. Desmond Alexander, From Eden to the New Jerusalem (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2008), 20-31.

[9] See: Gen. 3:8.

[10] Beale, The Temple and the Church’s Mission, 66. 

[11] See: Beale, “General Symbolism of the Temple” in: The Temple and the Church’s Mission, 32-36.

[12] Beale, The Temple and the Church’s Mission, 75. .

[13] Jubilees, 8:19. See: James Charlesworth, ed., The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, vol. 2 (New York: Doubleday, 1998), 73. 

[14] Gordon J. Wenham, Genesis 1-15, Word Biblical Commentary Vol. 1 (Waco, Texas: Word Books, 1987), 6.

[15] While it appears that Gen. 1:1 is comprised of just 12 words, in Biblical Hebrew, 2 words may be co-joined by a hyphen, as two are here. Hence, Gen. 1:2 is comprised of 14 words—wəhaaretṣ hayətah tohu wabohu wə-hoshek ‘al-pəne təhowm wə-ruah mərahepet ‘al-pəne (“The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters”).

[16] Umberto Cassuto, A Commentary on the Book of Genesis Part I: From Adam to Noah: Genesis I-VI, trans. Israel Abrahams (Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 1961 [1944]), 15.

[17] CCC 348; see: Exod. 20:8, 11 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy ... for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it;” Exod. 31:14 “You shall keep the Sabbath, because it is holy for you; everyone who profanes it shall be put to death; whoever does any work on it, that soul shall be cut off from among his people;” Lev. 16:31 “It is a Sabbath of solemn rest to you, and you shall afflict yourselves; it is a statute forever;” Isa. 56:2 “Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who holds it fast, who keeps the Sabbath, not profaning it, and keeps his hand from doing any evil.”

[18] Ratzinger, In the Beginning, 27.

[19] Ratzinger, In the Beginning, 30-31.

The Liturgy of

Creation:

Reading Genesis 1-2 with the Wisdom of the Church

Steven C. Smith, Ph.D.

Part One: The Temple of Creation

I.             Thesis. 

a.    The aim of this series is to help us dig deeper into Genesis 1-2. Our approach will explain how an ancient Jewish liturgical reading of these texts unlocks many hidden mysteries which many modern readers of Genesis remain unaware of. 

b.    As a result our meditation on these sacred texts, it is hoped that God will strengthen our understanding of His word, give us a deeper appreciation of our own liturgy in light of the “liturgy of Genesis,” that He would empower us to live out its truths with joy and fidelity, and above all, that He would enkindle in our hearts a courageous desire to share the Good News with the world around us.

II.           First things First: Putting Aside ‘Myth.’  Approaching Genesis 1—2 with Faith & Reason.

a.    CCC 327: “God himself created the visible world in all its richness, diversity, and order. Scripture presents the work of the Creator symbolically as a succession of six days of divine ‘work,’ concluded by the ‘rest’ of the seventh day.”

b.    Albert Einstein: “I want to know how God created this world. I am not interested in this or that phenomenon, in the spectrum of this or that element. I want to know His thoughts; the rest are details.”

c.    Dr. Christopher Baglow: “When one reads [Gen. 1-3] closely and carefully, one is able to see both its power and its beauty. But more background is necessary to fully grasp its truth.  Some people, who regard themselves as ‘scientific,’ dismiss [the text] as a primitive myth, the product of a ‘Bronze Age desert kingdom.’ Ironically, they have this dismissive attitude, in many cases, not because they know more than the theologians do, but because they know far less ... [and] it is precisely because they do not really understand human history and the human context in which the [text] was written that  they cannot hear God’s voice within it ... ”[1]

d.    Genesis vs. Pagan Myth: “There is a further irony: the scientific atheist dismisses the Genesis 1 account of creation as ‘myth’ and ‘superstition,’ not realizing that it was actually written, among other things, in order to dismiss myth and superstition.”[2]

                                              i.    Babylonian Creation Myths: “When in the height heaven was not named / and the earth beneath did not yet bear a name / and the primeval Apsu, who begat them / and Tiamat, salt-water chaos, the mother of them both, mingled together their waters ... Then in the midst of heaven were created the gods.” (Enuma Elish, Tablet I)

                                            ii.    Ratzinger: “Here [in Genesis] we see the audacity and the temperateness of the faith that, in confronting the pagan myths, made the light of truth appear by showing that the world was not a demonic contest but that it arose from God’s Reason and reposes on God’s Word.”[3]

e.    The Interplay between ‘Form’ & ‘Content’ in Scripture.

                                              i.    There is a need to delineate “form” from CONTENT in Scripture:

i.      Form = Literary shape, style, or genre employed by the biblical author;

ii.    Content = Underlying message / substance of the biblical author;

iii.   The form is always at the service of content, and is selected by the biblical author as the best manner in which to convey the particular truth(s) in light of the audience’s worldview. 

                                            ii.    Ratzinger: “The classical creation account [in Genesis] is not the only creation text of Sacred Scripture.”[4]

                                          iii.    Prov. 3:19, 8:22-23 “The Lord by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding the heavens; by his knowledge the deeps broke forth, and the clouds drop down the dew ... The Lord created me [Wisdom] at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of old.  [I have been established from everlasting, from the beginning, before there was ever an earth. – KJV]”

                                           iv.    Sirach 1:1, 4, 9, All wisdom comes from the Lord and is with him forever ... Wisdom was created before all things, and prudent understanding from eternity ... The Lord himself created wisdom; he saw her and apportioned her, he poured her out upon all his works ... The Lord himself created wisdom; he saw her and apportioned her, he poured her out upon all his works ... To fear the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; she is created with the faithful in the womb.”

                                            v.    Wisdom of Solomon 1:1, 4, 16-19  “Wisdom protected the first-formed father of the world [i.e. Adam], when he alone had been created; she delivered him from his transgression, and gave him strength to rule all things ... When the earth was flooded because of him, wisdom again saved it, steering the righteous man [i.e. Noah] by a paltry piece of wood. She entered the soul of a servant of the Lord [i.e. Moses] and withstood dread kings with wonders and signs ... She brought them over the Red Sea, and led them through deep waters; but she drowned their enemies [i.e. Egyptians], and cast them up from the depth of the sea.”

                                           vi.    Ratzinger: “In its confrontation with Hellenistic civilization, the Wisdom literature [of the OT] reworks the theme [of Creation] without sticking to the old images such as the 7 days. Thus we can see how the Bible itself constantly re-adapts its images [i.e. literary forms] to a continually developing way of thinking, how it changes ... in order to bear witness, time and again, to the one thing that has come to it, in truth, from God’s word—which is the message of his creating act [i.e. content of the biblical text]. In the Bible itself the images are free and they correct themselves over time.  In this way they show, by means of a gradual and interactive process, that they are only images, which reveal something deeper and greater.”



III.         Gen. 1:1 – 2:3  Worshipping God in His Holy Temple

a.    Big Idea: Numerous clues overwhelmingly suggest that Genesis 1 portrays the whole of Creation as God’s divine sanctuary that Eden is the ‘Holy Place’ within this cosmic temple, and that Man, and in fact all of Creation, was created and designed. In our exploration of these two themes, we will offer a number of ‘take-aways’ (practical suggestions, challenges, etc.).

b.    MYSTERY § 1  The Sacred Space of The Garden of Eden.                                      A close examination of Genesis 1-2 reveals that the whole of creation is a cosmological sanctuary with the focal point of the Garden of Eden is its ‘Holy Place.’ Such depictions are not without precedent; numerous ancient texts both in and beyond the Hebrew Scriptures develop along similar lines as Genesis.[5]

c.    Some of the main clues of the Temple motif are as follows:

                                              i.    ‘The God of the Mountain.’ 

i.      One of the oldest terms for God in Scripture, El Shaddai, is often translated as “mighty God,” or God Almighty.  Yet, a more precise translation would be “El, God of the mountain.” El Shaddai is the name by which God revealed himself to Abram when enacting the covenant through circumcision (Gen. 17:1) and to Jacob at Bethel (Gen. 35:11; 48:3).[6]

ii.    In fact, all of the major covenants of the OT between God and His people are forged on mountains:

a.    God covenants with Noah on Mt. Ararat (Gen. 8:4, 9:1-8-17).

b.    God covenants with Abraham on Mt. Moriah, after the “sacrifice” of Isaac (Gen. 22; 12:1-3; 17:1-21).

c.    God covenants with Moses on Mt. Sinai (Exod. 20-24).

d.    God makes an “everlasting covenant” with David on Mt. Zion (II Sam. 7:12-13).  Strikingly, this is the precise location of God’s covenant with Abraham—Mt. Moriah is Mt. Zion; as the Chronicler reveals (I Chron. 3:1).[7]

                                            ii.    The Temple of Mt. Eden.

i.      As we learned, El Shaddai, the God of the mountain, covenants with His people on holy mountains.  Moreover, in the ancient world mountains were considered holy ground, the first temples where one went to “meet” God, and to speak to and hear from God.

ii.    Eden too, is in fact presented as a holy mountain—and a primordial temple. It is here that God places Adam, formed out of the ground (Gen. 2:7), to serve the Lord in His Temple: “And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there he put the man whom he had formed” (v. 8).

iii.   Gen. 2:10 supports this: “A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers (i.e., Pishon, Gihon, Tigris, Euphrates).” More aptly, the river flows down and out of Eden, in every direction, watering the “four corners” of the earth.

iv.   Supporting this image in Genesis is a key text from Ezekiel, in which Eden is called the “holy mountain of God”:

Ezek. 28:13-14 “You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, carnelian, topaz, and jasper, chrysolite, beryl, and onyx, sapphire, carbuncle, and emerald; and wrought in gold were your settings and your engravings. On the day that you were created they were prepared. With an anointed guardian cherub I placed you; you were on the holy mountain of God; in the midst of the stones of fire you walked.”

v.    Thus, Ezekiel assumes the garden in Eden lies atop a holy mountain: “The Garden of Eden is not viewed by the author of Genesis simply as a piece of Mediterranean farmland, but as an archetypal sanctuary, that is a place where God dwells and where man should worship him. Many of the features of the Garden may also be found in later sanctuaries, particularly the tabernacle or Jerusalem Temple. These parallels suggest that the garden itself is understood as a sort of sanctuary.”[8]

                                          iii.    God in His Holy House. God’s movements towards Adam and Eve in Genesis 3 mirror His later movements in the Temple. Specifically, in later liturgical texts that pertain to the Temple, the verb mithallék is used to God’s presence in His house:

i.      Lev. 26:12 “And I will make my dwelling among you, and my soul shall not abhor you.  And I will mithallék (walk among) you, and will be your God, and you shall be my people.”

Likewise, in Genesis, God “walks to and fro” in the midst of the Garden:

ii.    Gen. 3:8 “And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.”

iii.   As one scholar observes, “Israel’s Temple was the place where the priest experienced God’s unique presence, and Eden was the place where Adam walked and talked with God. The same Hebrew verbal form (stem) mithallék used for God’s ‘walking back and forth’ in the Garden,[9] also describes God’s presence in the tabernacle.”[10]

                                           iv.    The Threefold Structure of the Cosmic Temple.  

i.      The Jerusalem Temple (and its mobile forerunner, the Tabernacle, were, according to Scripture, a “blueprint” of God’s heavenly temple: 

Wisd. 9:8 “Thou hast given command to build a temple on thy holy mountain, and an altar in the city of thy habitation, a copy of the holy tent which thou didst prepare from the beginning.”

ii.    The Temple was comprised of three main divisions: (i) The Outer Courts; (ii) The Holy Place; (iii) The Holy of Holies.

iii.   Each of these divisions corresponds to a threefold pattern of Creation, as depicted in Genesis 1-2.[11] 

iv.   The Outer Courts.

a.    In the Jerusalem Temple, the outermost part of the Temple Mount was the “Court of the Gentiles.” The core biblical principle: God is holy, and anything / anyone that is nearest to Him must be holy. Hence, the outer courts represent the outer regions of the earth beyond the Mountain / Garden:

b.    In Genesis, this corresponds to “the land beyond the Garden,” that was created good, but is nevertheless wild and unruly in comparison to the order of the Garden. It was Adam’s missionary territory. It also meant it was Adam’s duty to keep the “unholy” out of the Temple. More on that in Part II!

c.    “The land and seas to be subdued by Adam outside the Garden were roughly equivalent to the outer court of Israel’s subsequent Temple. Thus, one may be able to perceive an increasing gradation in holiness from outside the garden proceeding inward: the region outside the Garden is related to God and is “very good” (Gen. 1:31) in that it is God’s creation (i.e., the outer court) ...”[12] 

v.    The Holy Place.

a.    In the Jerusalem Temple, this was the covered structure located at the furthest interior space of the overall structure. It is the place for the priests—and priestly actions.

b.    In Genesis, this corresponds to the Garden itself, and everything within its boundaries. 

c.    The author of the ancient Jewish book of Jubilees grasped the Temple –structure of Genesis, when he writes, “[Noah] knew that the Garden of Eden was the Holy Place of the Lord.”[13]

d.    This Garden Temple was created by God as an icon of heaven, and importantly—it is the primary place where those with the eyes of faith encounter the Divine Presence, such that those who live by faith receive God’s divine life, and a divine mission to sanctify the world beyond Eden, that the temple would grow as the faithful multiply.

vi.   The Most Holy Place.

a.    Veiled within the Holy Place was the Most Holy Place, the “sanctum sanctorum,” in which was the Ark of the Covenant—and where God’s presence really dwelt in a special way. Only the High Priest could enter—once a year, on the great Day of Atonement. God dwelt in heaven above, yet at the same time, He was truly present in a special way in the Holy of Holies.

b.    

In the ‘temple’ of Genesis, God dwelt in the ‘heavenly places’ atop Mt. Eden. With respect to God’s presence in the Holy Place of the Garden, the Tree of Life  which is in the “midst” or inner most place of the Garden, signified God’s immortal life, and the source of Adam (and Eve’s) very sustenance.   

c.    An illustration might look something like this:

d.    MYSTERY § 2 The Number ‘7’ in Genesis 1—and why it matters.         As Gordon Wenham explains, “The number 7 dominates this opening chapter [of Genesis] in a strange way.”[14] The number 7 is encoded into the narrative of Gen. 1:

                                              i.    Gen. 1:1 is exactly 7 words: berishith bara elohim et hashamayim wəet haaeretṣ.

                                            ii.    The 3 nouns used, elohim, shamayim and aretṣ [i.e. God, heavens, earth], are key terms in the text that follows v. 1, and each re-occurs in multiples of 7:

i.      Elohim occurs 35 times (5 x 7);

ii.    Shamayim occurs 21 times(3 x 7); and

iii.   Aretṣ likewise occurs 21 times (3 x 7).

                                          iii.    There is a doubling from 1:1 to 1:2—there are 14 words (2x7) in v. 2.[15]

                                           iv.    Following 1:1, which stands apart, the remaining text of Gen. 1 unfolds in 7 paragraphs, each of which pertains to one of the 7 days.

                                            v.    In paragraph #1, the nouns ôr and yôm (light, sea) occur 7 times; ôr occurs another 7 times in paragraph #4. Mayim (water) occurs 7 times in paragraphs #2 and 3.  Ayyā (creatures) occurs 7 times in paragraphs #5 and 6.  

                                           vi.    The key phrase ki-tôv (it was good) occurs 7 times in Gen. 1; the seventh and final is unique, and is located in the final verse of the chapter, 1:31— “And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good (ki-tov meōd).

                                         vii.    Finally ... one would think that the natural break is between Gen. 1 and 2—but this is not the case. The literary break is between 2:3 and 2:4, thus, the “end” of Gen. 1 is actually 2:3! Thus, Gen. 2:1-3 is in effect paragraph #7 according to the sevenfold framework following Gen. 1:1. 

                                       viii.    In paragraph #7, which presents the “seventh day,” concerning the Sabbath, there are 3 sentences, each of which are comprised of 7 words and contains in the identical expression in the very middle, hashebi (“the seventh day.”)

       And on hashebi  God finished His work which He had done.

                                      And He rested on hashebi  from all His work which He had done.

                             So God blessed hashebi  and hallowed it.

e.    Oriented towards worship—The meaning BEHIND MYSTERY §2. 

                                              i.    As the late rabbi and renowned biblical scholar Umberto Cassutto commented, “To suppose that all of this is a mere coincidence is not possible.”[16] But what does it mean— and what could be its significance?

                                            ii.    This decisive pattern in Genesis 1, this “architecture of 7’s,” conveys something remarkable and powerful.  The Creation culminates with God’s “rest” on the seventh day, Shabbat (Sabbath). Shabbat is the key to unlocking the mystery of 7’s. Here’s why:

                                          iii.    As the Catechism reminds us, the Sabbath is “the heart of Israel’s law!” [17] “Creation,” Ratzinger explains, “is designed in such a way that it is oriented towards worship.”[18] He adds,” In the Creation account the Sabbath is depicted as the day when the human being, in the freedom of worship, participates in God’s freedom, in God’s rest, and thus God’s peace. To celebrate the Sabbath means to celebrate the covenant.”[19]

                                           iv.    In Scripture, the Sabbath is—and always has been about much more than “taking a break” and “going to Church” because God ordained a day of rest. It is about God’s perfecting of Creation. 

                                            v.    One other key point needs to be added: in Hebrew, the terms for Sabbath and seven are uncanny in relation to one another Shabbath and Shibbith.  

                                           vi.    This suggests that all along, from Day One right through Day Seven, all of the “seven-ing” was pointing forward to the Sabbath, to the perfection of God’s Creation. The cacophony of Shibbiths – of sevens – in Creation prepares us for the perfecting of Creation: when the newly created Man enters into God’s perfection, into the Shabbat.

                                         vii.    Even more stunning is that the noun shibbith (seven), the number of “perfection” in Scripture, also has a verbal form: sheba.  To “seven” something is to swear an oath, to bind something. (E.g. Beer-sheba = “well of the oath.”)

                                       viii.    In other words, as God creates, His glorious acts of creation cry out that He is “seven-ing” Himself to Creation; God is covenanting with creation, through Creation, binding Himself, seven-ing Himself to His Creation.

                                           ix.    And the climax of God’s seven-ing is in Gen.1:27-28—

“So God created man in His own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be 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.’”

                                            x.    Only then does God declare (for the seventh time), ki-tov meōd – it is very good.  All of Creation—every creature, the stars, the seas, the mountains and valleys—and each and every Person, is part of the grand design of God, and is created and designed for worship. Creation – and Man in particular, is created in such a way that it —that he and she—are oriented to worship.

                                           xi.    God brings Creation and Man into existence—into relationship with Himself, and that the “perfecting” of creation, for which it was created is worship.

              xii.    We have reached not the end of our study, but merely the conclusion of the first half. Genesis 2:1-3 is the end of Act I, a two-act drama. Next time, as we go deeper into the Creation narrative, we’ll see how in Act II (Gen. 2:4-25), Man is called to participate in the life of God in His Temple. Specifically, we’ll learn how Adam is God’s Royal High Priest, created for worship, and called to extend God’s Temple presence over the face of the earth.

[1] Christopher Baglow, Faith, Science and Reason. Theology on the Cutting Edge (Downers Grove: Midwest Theological Forum, 2011), 43, emphasis mine. Ratzinger agrees: “Here, we see the audacity and the temperateness of the faith that, in confronting the pagan myths, made the light of truth appear by showing that the world was not a demonic contest but that it arose by God’s Reason and reposes on God’s word ... Hence, this creation may be seen as the decisive ‘enlightenment’ of history and as a break-through out of the fears that had oppressed humankind. It placed the world in a context of reason and recognized the world’s reasonableness and freedom. But is also may be seen as the true enlightenment … it put human reason firmly on the primordial basis of God’s creating Reason, in order to establish it in truth and love, without which an ‘enlightenment’ would be exorbitant and ultimately foolish.” From: Joseph Ratzinger, In the Beginning (Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 1990) 14.

[2] Baglow, Faith, Science and Reason, 14.

[3] Ratzinger, In the Beginning, p. 14.

[4] Ratzinger, In the Beginning, p. 14, 15, emphasis mine.

[5] See especially: Greg Beale, The Temple and the Church’s Mission. A Biblical Theology of the Dwelling Place of God (Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, 2004), 44-66; “God’s Temple City,” in T. Desmond Alexander, From Paradise to the Promised Land: An Introduction to the Pentateuch, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2012), 119-33; Alexander, From Eden to the New Jerusalem (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2008) 13-73;  E. P. Sanders, Judaism: Practice and Belief 63BCE–66 CE (Philadelphia: Trinity Press International, 1992), 47–145; Emil Schürer, The History of the Jewish People in the Age of Jesus Christ (175 B.C.—A.D. 135), 3 vols., rev. and ed. Geza Vermes, et al. (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1973, 1979, 1986, 1987), 2:237–313; Menahem Haran, Temples and Temple Service in Ancient Israel (Oxford: Clarendon, 1978); Joachim Jeremias, Jerusalem in the Time of Jesus, trans. F. H. Cave and C. H. Cave (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1969), 21–27, 84–86, 147–221; H. H. Rowley, Worship in Ancient Israel (London: S.P.C.K, 1967), 71–110; Yves Congar, The Mystery of the Temple (New York: Newman Press, 1962); L. Michael Morales, The Tabernacle Pre-Figured: Cosmic Mountain Ideology in Genesis and Exodus (Leuven: Peeters, 2012); Jacob Chanikuzhy, Jesus the Eschatological Temple (Leuven: Peeters, 2012); Margaret Barker, Temple Themes in Christian Worship. 3rd ed. (London: Bloomsbury, 2013); Nicholas Perrin, Jesus the Temple (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2012).

[6] See: Eerdmans Bible Dictionary (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1987), 332.

[7] II Chron. 3:1 See: S. W. Hahn, The Kingdom of God as Liturgical Empire. A Theological Commentary on 1-2 Chronicles (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2012), 112ff. 

[8] Gordon Wenham, “Sanctuary Symbolism in the Garden of Eden Story,” in: Proceedings of the World Congress of Jewish Studies 9 (1986), 19. See also: T. Desmond Alexander, From Eden to the New Jerusalem (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2008), 20-31.

[9] See: Gen. 3:8.

[10] Beale, The Temple and the Church’s Mission, 66. 

[11] See: Beale, “General Symbolism of the Temple” in: The Temple and the Church’s Mission, 32-36.

[12] Beale, The Temple and the Church’s Mission, 75. .

[13] Jubilees, 8:19. See: James Charlesworth, ed., The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, vol. 2 (New York: Doubleday, 1998), 73. 

[14] Gordon J. Wenham, Genesis 1-15, Word Biblical Commentary Vol. 1 (Waco, Texas: Word Books, 1987), 6.

[15] While it appears that Gen. 1:1 is comprised of just 12 words, in Biblical Hebrew, 2 words may be co-joined by a hyphen, as two are here. Hence, Gen. 1:2 is comprised of 14 words—wəhaaretṣ hayətah tohu wabohu wə-hoshek ‘al-pəne təhowm wə-ruah mərahepet ‘al-pəne (“The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters”).

[16] Umberto Cassuto, A Commentary on the Book of Genesis Part I: From Adam to Noah: Genesis I-VI, trans. Israel Abrahams (Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 1961 [1944]), 15.

[17] CCC 348; see: Exod. 20:8, 11 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy ... for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it;” Exod. 31:14 “You shall keep the Sabbath, because it is holy for you; everyone who profanes it shall be put to death; whoever does any work on it, that soul shall be cut off from among his people;” Lev. 16:31 “It is a Sabbath of solemn rest to you, and you shall afflict yourselves; it is a statute forever;” Isa. 56:2 “Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who holds it fast, who keeps the Sabbath, not profaning it, and keeps his hand from doing any evil.”

[18] Ratzinger, In the Beginning, 27.

[19] Ratzinger, In the Beginning, 30-31.

The Liturgy of

Creation:

Reading Genesis 1-2 with the Wisdom of the Church

Steven C. Smith, Ph.D.

Part One: The Temple of Creation

I.             Thesis. 

a.    The aim of this series is to help us dig deeper into Genesis 1-2. Our approach will explain how an ancient Jewish liturgical reading of these texts unlocks many hidden mysteries which many modern readers of Genesis remain unaware of. 

b.    As a result our meditation on these sacred texts, it is hoped that God will strengthen our understanding of His word, give us a deeper appreciation of our own liturgy in light of the “liturgy of Genesis,” that He would empower us to live out its truths with joy and fidelity, and above all, that He would enkindle in our hearts a courageous desire to share the Good News with the world around us.

II.           First things First: Putting Aside ‘Myth.’  Approaching Genesis 1—2 with Faith & Reason.

a.    CCC 327: “God himself created the visible world in all its richness, diversity, and order. Scripture presents the work of the Creator symbolically as a succession of six days of divine ‘work,’ concluded by the ‘rest’ of the seventh day.”

b.    Albert Einstein: “I want to know how God created this world. I am not interested in this or that phenomenon, in the spectrum of this or that element. I want to know His thoughts; the rest are details.”

c.    Dr. Christopher Baglow: “When one reads [Gen. 1-3] closely and carefully, one is able to see both its power and its beauty. But more background is necessary to fully grasp its truth.  Some people, who regard themselves as ‘scientific,’ dismiss [the text] as a primitive myth, the product of a ‘Bronze Age desert kingdom.’ Ironically, they have this dismissive attitude, in many cases, not because they know more than the theologians do, but because they know far less ... [and] it is precisely because they do not really understand human history and the human context in which the [text] was written that  they cannot hear God’s voice within it ... ”[1]

d.    Genesis vs. Pagan Myth: “There is a further irony: the scientific atheist dismisses the Genesis 1 account of creation as ‘myth’ and ‘superstition,’ not realizing that it was actually written, among other things, in order to dismiss myth and superstition.”[2]

                                              i.    Babylonian Creation Myths: “When in the height heaven was not named / and the earth beneath did not yet bear a name / and the primeval Apsu, who begat them / and Tiamat, salt-water chaos, the mother of them both, mingled together their waters ... Then in the midst of heaven were created the gods.” (Enuma Elish, Tablet I)

                                            ii.    Ratzinger: “Here [in Genesis] we see the audacity and the temperateness of the faith that, in confronting the pagan myths, made the light of truth appear by showing that the world was not a demonic contest but that it arose from God’s Reason and reposes on God’s Word.”[3]

e.    The Interplay between ‘Form’ & ‘Content’ in Scripture.

                                              i.    There is a need to delineate “form” from CONTENT in Scripture:

i.      Form = Literary shape, style, or genre employed by the biblical author;

ii.    Content = Underlying message / substance of the biblical author;

iii.   The form is always at the service of content, and is selected by the biblical author as the best manner in which to convey the particular truth(s) in light of the audience’s worldview. 

                                            ii.    Ratzinger: “The classical creation account [in Genesis] is not the only creation text of Sacred Scripture.”[4]

                                          iii.    Prov. 3:19, 8:22-23 “The Lord by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding the heavens; by his knowledge the deeps broke forth, and the clouds drop down the dew ... The Lord created me [Wisdom] at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of old.  [I have been established from everlasting, from the beginning, before there was ever an earth. – KJV]”

                                           iv.    Sirach 1:1, 4, 9, All wisdom comes from the Lord and is with him forever ... Wisdom was created before all things, and prudent understanding from eternity ... The Lord himself created wisdom; he saw her and apportioned her, he poured her out upon all his works ... The Lord himself created wisdom; he saw her and apportioned her, he poured her out upon all his works ... To fear the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; she is created with the faithful in the womb.”

                                            v.    Wisdom of Solomon 1:1, 4, 16-19  “Wisdom protected the first-formed father of the world [i.e. Adam], when he alone had been created; she delivered him from his transgression, and gave him strength to rule all things ... When the earth was flooded because of him, wisdom again saved it, steering the righteous man [i.e. Noah] by a paltry piece of wood. She entered the soul of a servant of the Lord [i.e. Moses] and withstood dread kings with wonders and signs ... She brought them over the Red Sea, and led them through deep waters; but she drowned their enemies [i.e. Egyptians], and cast them up from the depth of the sea.”

                                           vi.    Ratzinger: “In its confrontation with Hellenistic civilization, the Wisdom literature [of the OT] reworks the theme [of Creation] without sticking to the old images such as the 7 days. Thus we can see how the Bible itself constantly re-adapts its images [i.e. literary forms] to a continually developing way of thinking, how it changes ... in order to bear witness, time and again, to the one thing that has come to it, in truth, from God’s word—which is the message of his creating act [i.e. content of the biblical text]. In the Bible itself the images are free and they correct themselves over time.  In this way they show, by means of a gradual and interactive process, that they are only images, which reveal something deeper and greater.”



III.         Gen. 1:1 – 2:3  Worshipping God in His Holy Temple

a.    Big Idea: Numerous clues overwhelmingly suggest that Genesis 1 portrays the whole of Creation as God’s divine sanctuary that Eden is the ‘Holy Place’ within this cosmic temple, and that Man, and in fact all of Creation, was created and designed. In our exploration of these two themes, we will offer a number of ‘take-aways’ (practical suggestions, challenges, etc.).

b.    MYSTERY § 1  The Sacred Space of The Garden of Eden.                                      A close examination of Genesis 1-2 reveals that the whole of creation is a cosmological sanctuary with the focal point of the Garden of Eden is its ‘Holy Place.’ Such depictions are not without precedent; numerous ancient texts both in and beyond the Hebrew Scriptures develop along similar lines as Genesis.[5]

c.    Some of the main clues of the Temple motif are as follows:

                                              i.    ‘The God of the Mountain.’ 

i.      One of the oldest terms for God in Scripture, El Shaddai, is often translated as “mighty God,” or God Almighty.  Yet, a more precise translation would be “El, God of the mountain.” El Shaddai is the name by which God revealed himself to Abram when enacting the covenant through circumcision (Gen. 17:1) and to Jacob at Bethel (Gen. 35:11; 48:3).[6]

ii.    In fact, all of the major covenants of the OT between God and His people are forged on mountains:

a.    God covenants with Noah on Mt. Ararat (Gen. 8:4, 9:1-8-17).

b.    God covenants with Abraham on Mt. Moriah, after the “sacrifice” of Isaac (Gen. 22; 12:1-3; 17:1-21).

c.    God covenants with Moses on Mt. Sinai (Exod. 20-24).

d.    God makes an “everlasting covenant” with David on Mt. Zion (II Sam. 7:12-13).  Strikingly, this is the precise location of God’s covenant with Abraham—Mt. Moriah is Mt. Zion; as the Chronicler reveals (I Chron. 3:1).[7]

                                            ii.    The Temple of Mt. Eden.

i.      As we learned, El Shaddai, the God of the mountain, covenants with His people on holy mountains.  Moreover, in the ancient world mountains were considered holy ground, the first temples where one went to “meet” God, and to speak to and hear from God.

ii.    Eden too, is in fact presented as a holy mountain—and a primordial temple. It is here that God places Adam, formed out of the ground (Gen. 2:7), to serve the Lord in His Temple: “And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there he put the man whom he had formed” (v. 8).

iii.   Gen. 2:10 supports this: “A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers (i.e., Pishon, Gihon, Tigris, Euphrates).” More aptly, the river flows down and out of Eden, in every direction, watering the “four corners” of the earth.

iv.   Supporting this image in Genesis is a key text from Ezekiel, in which Eden is called the “holy mountain of God”:

Ezek. 28:13-14 “You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, carnelian, topaz, and jasper, chrysolite, beryl, and onyx, sapphire, carbuncle, and emerald; and wrought in gold were your settings and your engravings. On the day that you were created they were prepared. With an anointed guardian cherub I placed you; you were on the holy mountain of God; in the midst of the stones of fire you walked.”

v.    Thus, Ezekiel assumes the garden in Eden lies atop a holy mountain: “The Garden of Eden is not viewed by the author of Genesis simply as a piece of Mediterranean farmland, but as an archetypal sanctuary, that is a place where God dwells and where man should worship him. Many of the features of the Garden may also be found in later sanctuaries, particularly the tabernacle or Jerusalem Temple. These parallels suggest that the garden itself is understood as a sort of sanctuary.”[8]

                                          iii.    God in His Holy House. God’s movements towards Adam and Eve in Genesis 3 mirror His later movements in the Temple. Specifically, in later liturgical texts that pertain to the Temple, the verb mithallék is used to God’s presence in His house:

i.      Lev. 26:12 “And I will make my dwelling among you, and my soul shall not abhor you.  And I will mithallék (walk among) you, and will be your God, and you shall be my people.”

Likewise, in Genesis, God “walks to and fro” in the midst of the Garden:

ii.    Gen. 3:8 “And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.”

iii.   As one scholar observes, “Israel’s Temple was the place where the priest experienced God’s unique presence, and Eden was the place where Adam walked and talked with God. The same Hebrew verbal form (stem) mithallék used for God’s ‘walking back and forth’ in the Garden,[9] also describes God’s presence in the tabernacle.”[10]

                                           iv.    The Threefold Structure of the Cosmic Temple.  

i.      The Jerusalem Temple (and its mobile forerunner, the Tabernacle, were, according to Scripture, a “blueprint” of God’s heavenly temple: 

Wisd. 9:8 “Thou hast given command to build a temple on thy holy mountain, and an altar in the city of thy habitation, a copy of the holy tent which thou didst prepare from the beginning.”

ii.    The Temple was comprised of three main divisions: (i) The Outer Courts; (ii) The Holy Place; (iii) The Holy of Holies.

iii.   Each of these divisions corresponds to a threefold pattern of Creation, as depicted in Genesis 1-2.[11] 

iv.   The Outer Courts.

a.    In the Jerusalem Temple, the outermost part of the Temple Mount was the “Court of the Gentiles.” The core biblical principle: God is holy, and anything / anyone that is nearest to Him must be holy. Hence, the outer courts represent the outer regions of the earth beyond the Mountain / Garden:

b.    In Genesis, this corresponds to “the land beyond the Garden,” that was created good, but is nevertheless wild and unruly in comparison to the order of the Garden. It was Adam’s missionary territory. It also meant it was Adam’s duty to keep the “unholy” out of the Temple. More on that in Part II!

c.    “The land and seas to be subdued by Adam outside the Garden were roughly equivalent to the outer court of Israel’s subsequent Temple. Thus, one may be able to perceive an increasing gradation in holiness from outside the garden proceeding inward: the region outside the Garden is related to God and is “very good” (Gen. 1:31) in that it is God’s creation (i.e., the outer court) ...”[12] 

v.    The Holy Place.

a.    In the Jerusalem Temple, this was the covered structure located at the furthest interior space of the overall structure. It is the place for the priests—and priestly actions.

b.    In Genesis, this corresponds to the Garden itself, and everything within its boundaries. 

c.    The author of the ancient Jewish book of Jubilees grasped the Temple –structure of Genesis, when he writes, “[Noah] knew that the Garden of Eden was the Holy Place of the Lord.”[13]

d.    This Garden Temple was created by God as an icon of heaven, and importantly—it is the primary place where those with the eyes of faith encounter the Divine Presence, such that those who live by faith receive God’s divine life, and a divine mission to sanctify the world beyond Eden, that the temple would grow as the faithful multiply.

vi.   The Most Holy Place.

a.    Veiled within the Holy Place was the Most Holy Place, the “sanctum sanctorum,” in which was the Ark of the Covenant—and where God’s presence really dwelt in a special way. Only the High Priest could enter—once a year, on the great Day of Atonement. God dwelt in heaven above, yet at the same time, He was truly present in a special way in the Holy of Holies.

b.    

In the ‘temple’ of Genesis, God dwelt in the ‘heavenly places’ atop Mt. Eden. With respect to God’s presence in the Holy Place of the Garden, the Tree of Life  which is in the “midst” or inner most place of the Garden, signified God’s immortal life, and the source of Adam (and Eve’s) very sustenance.   

c.    An illustration might look something like this:

d.    MYSTERY § 2 The Number ‘7’ in Genesis 1—and why it matters.         As Gordon Wenham explains, “The number 7 dominates this opening chapter [of Genesis] in a strange way.”[14] The number 7 is encoded into the narrative of Gen. 1:

                                              i.    Gen. 1:1 is exactly 7 words: berishith bara elohim et hashamayim wəet haaeretṣ.

                                            ii.    The 3 nouns used, elohim, shamayim and aretṣ [i.e. God, heavens, earth], are key terms in the text that follows v. 1, and each re-occurs in multiples of 7:

i.      Elohim occurs 35 times (5 x 7);

ii.    Shamayim occurs 21 times(3 x 7); and

iii.   Aretṣ likewise occurs 21 times (3 x 7).

                                          iii.    There is a doubling from 1:1 to 1:2—there are 14 words (2x7) in v. 2.[15]

                                           iv.    Following 1:1, which stands apart, the remaining text of Gen. 1 unfolds in 7 paragraphs, each of which pertains to one of the 7 days.

                                            v.    In paragraph #1, the nouns ôr and yôm (light, sea) occur 7 times; ôr occurs another 7 times in paragraph #4. Mayim (water) occurs 7 times in paragraphs #2 and 3.  Ayyā (creatures) occurs 7 times in paragraphs #5 and 6.  

                                           vi.    The key phrase ki-tôv (it was good) occurs 7 times in Gen. 1; the seventh and final is unique, and is located in the final verse of the chapter, 1:31— “And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good (ki-tov meōd).

                                         vii.    Finally ... one would think that the natural break is between Gen. 1 and 2—but this is not the case. The literary break is between 2:3 and 2:4, thus, the “end” of Gen. 1 is actually 2:3! Thus, Gen. 2:1-3 is in effect paragraph #7 according to the sevenfold framework following Gen. 1:1. 

                                       viii.    In paragraph #7, which presents the “seventh day,” concerning the Sabbath, there are 3 sentences, each of which are comprised of 7 words and contains in the identical expression in the very middle, hashebi (“the seventh day.”)

       And on hashebi  God finished His work which He had done.

                                      And He rested on hashebi  from all His work which He had done.

                             So God blessed hashebi  and hallowed it.

e.    Oriented towards worship—The meaning BEHIND MYSTERY §2. 

                                              i.    As the late rabbi and renowned biblical scholar Umberto Cassutto commented, “To suppose that all of this is a mere coincidence is not possible.”[16] But what does it mean— and what could be its significance?

                                            ii.    This decisive pattern in Genesis 1, this “architecture of 7’s,” conveys something remarkable and powerful.  The Creation culminates with God’s “rest” on the seventh day, Shabbat (Sabbath). Shabbat is the key to unlocking the mystery of 7’s. Here’s why:

                                          iii.    As the Catechism reminds us, the Sabbath is “the heart of Israel’s law!” [17] “Creation,” Ratzinger explains, “is designed in such a way that it is oriented towards worship.”[18] He adds,” In the Creation account the Sabbath is depicted as the day when the human being, in the freedom of worship, participates in God’s freedom, in God’s rest, and thus God’s peace. To celebrate the Sabbath means to celebrate the covenant.”[19]

                                           iv.    In Scripture, the Sabbath is—and always has been about much more than “taking a break” and “going to Church” because God ordained a day of rest. It is about God’s perfecting of Creation. 

                                            v.    One other key point needs to be added: in Hebrew, the terms for Sabbath and seven are uncanny in relation to one another Shabbath and Shibbith.  

                                           vi.    This suggests that all along, from Day One right through Day Seven, all of the “seven-ing” was pointing forward to the Sabbath, to the perfection of God’s Creation. The cacophony of Shibbiths – of sevens – in Creation prepares us for the perfecting of Creation: when the newly created Man enters into God’s perfection, into the Shabbat.

                                         vii.    Even more stunning is that the noun shibbith (seven), the number of “perfection” in Scripture, also has a verbal form: sheba.  To “seven” something is to swear an oath, to bind something. (E.g. Beer-sheba = “well of the oath.”)

                                       viii.    In other words, as God creates, His glorious acts of creation cry out that He is “seven-ing” Himself to Creation; God is covenanting with creation, through Creation, binding Himself, seven-ing Himself to His Creation.

                                           ix.    And the climax of God’s seven-ing is in Gen.1:27-28—

“So God created man in His own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be 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.’”

                                            x.    Only then does God declare (for the seventh time), ki-tov meōd – it is very good.  All of Creation—every creature, the stars, the seas, the mountains and valleys—and each and every Person, is part of the grand design of God, and is created and designed for worship. Creation – and Man in particular, is created in such a way that it —that he and she—are oriented to worship.

                                           xi.    God brings Creation and Man into existence—into relationship with Himself, and that the “perfecting” of creation, for which it was created is worship.

              xii.    We have reached not the end of our study, but merely the conclusion of the first half. Genesis 2:1-3 is the end of Act I, a two-act drama. Next time, as we go deeper into the Creation narrative, we’ll see how in Act II (Gen. 2:4-25), Man is called to participate in the life of God in His Temple. Specifically, we’ll learn how Adam is God’s Royal High Priest, created for worship, and called to extend God’s Temple presence over the face of the earth.

[1] Christopher Baglow, Faith, Science and Reason. Theology on the Cutting Edge (Downers Grove: Midwest Theological Forum, 2011), 43, emphasis mine. Ratzinger agrees: “Here, we see the audacity and the temperateness of the faith that, in confronting the pagan myths, made the light of truth appear by showing that the world was not a demonic contest but that it arose by God’s Reason and reposes on God’s word ... Hence, this creation may be seen as the decisive ‘enlightenment’ of history and as a break-through out of the fears that had oppressed humankind. It placed the world in a context of reason and recognized the world’s reasonableness and freedom. But is also may be seen as the true enlightenment … it put human reason firmly on the primordial basis of God’s creating Reason, in order to establish it in truth and love, without which an ‘enlightenment’ would be exorbitant and ultimately foolish.” From: Joseph Ratzinger, In the Beginning (Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 1990) 14.

[2] Baglow, Faith, Science and Reason, 14.

[3] Ratzinger, In the Beginning, p. 14.

[4] Ratzinger, In the Beginning, p. 14, 15, emphasis mine.

[5] See especially: Greg Beale, The Temple and the Church’s Mission. A Biblical Theology of the Dwelling Place of God (Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, 2004), 44-66; “God’s Temple City,” in T. Desmond Alexander, From Paradise to the Promised Land: An Introduction to the Pentateuch, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2012), 119-33; Alexander, From Eden to the New Jerusalem (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2008) 13-73;  E. P. Sanders, Judaism: Practice and Belief 63BCE–66 CE (Philadelphia: Trinity Press International, 1992), 47–145; Emil Schürer, The History of the Jewish People in the Age of Jesus Christ (175 B.C.—A.D. 135), 3 vols., rev. and ed. Geza Vermes, et al. (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1973, 1979, 1986, 1987), 2:237–313; Menahem Haran, Temples and Temple Service in Ancient Israel (Oxford: Clarendon, 1978); Joachim Jeremias, Jerusalem in the Time of Jesus, trans. F. H. Cave and C. H. Cave (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1969), 21–27, 84–86, 147–221; H. H. Rowley, Worship in Ancient Israel (London: S.P.C.K, 1967), 71–110; Yves Congar, The Mystery of the Temple (New York: Newman Press, 1962); L. Michael Morales, The Tabernacle Pre-Figured: Cosmic Mountain Ideology in Genesis and Exodus (Leuven: Peeters, 2012); Jacob Chanikuzhy, Jesus the Eschatological Temple (Leuven: Peeters, 2012); Margaret Barker, Temple Themes in Christian Worship. 3rd ed. (London: Bloomsbury, 2013); Nicholas Perrin, Jesus the Temple (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2012).

[6] See: Eerdmans Bible Dictionary (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1987), 332.

[7] II Chron. 3:1 See: S. W. Hahn, The Kingdom of God as Liturgical Empire. A Theological Commentary on 1-2 Chronicles (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2012), 112ff. 

[8] Gordon Wenham, “Sanctuary Symbolism in the Garden of Eden Story,” in: Proceedings of the World Congress of Jewish Studies 9 (1986), 19. See also: T. Desmond Alexander, From Eden to the New Jerusalem (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2008), 20-31.

[9] See: Gen. 3:8.

[10] Beale, The Temple and the Church’s Mission, 66. 

[11] See: Beale, “General Symbolism of the Temple” in: The Temple and the Church’s Mission, 32-36.

[12] Beale, The Temple and the Church’s Mission, 75. .

[13] Jubilees, 8:19. See: James Charlesworth, ed., The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, vol. 2 (New York: Doubleday, 1998), 73. 

[14] Gordon J. Wenham, Genesis 1-15, Word Biblical Commentary Vol. 1 (Waco, Texas: Word Books, 1987), 6.

[15] While it appears that Gen. 1:1 is comprised of just 12 words, in Biblical Hebrew, 2 words may be co-joined by a hyphen, as two are here. Hence, Gen. 1:2 is comprised of 14 words—wəhaaretṣ hayətah tohu wabohu wə-hoshek ‘al-pəne təhowm wə-ruah mərahepet ‘al-pəne (“The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters”).

[16] Umberto Cassuto, A Commentary on the Book of Genesis Part I: From Adam to Noah: Genesis I-VI, trans. Israel Abrahams (Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 1961 [1944]), 15.

[17] CCC 348; see: Exod. 20:8, 11 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy ... for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it;” Exod. 31:14 “You shall keep the Sabbath, because it is holy for you; everyone who profanes it shall be put to death; whoever does any work on it, that soul shall be cut off from among his people;” Lev. 16:31 “It is a Sabbath of solemn rest to you, and you shall afflict yourselves; it is a statute forever;” Isa. 56:2 “Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who holds it fast, who keeps the Sabbath, not profaning it, and keeps his hand from doing any evil.”

[18] Ratzinger, In the Beginning, 27.

[19] Ratzinger, In the Beginning, 30-31.