The Lost World of Genesis One-Session 9

Note: During this session it was stated that God "delivered Egypt" . Obviously it was Israel that was "delivered" FROM Egypt.

The Lost World of Genesis

One-Session 9

Doyle Walker / General

The Seven Days of Genesis 1

Relate to the Cosmic Temple

Inauguration

The relationship between cosmos and temple in the Bible

and in the ancient world, and particularly the common

connection between the two in creation texts suggests that

we should think of Genesis 1 in relation to a cosmic temple.

This is further confirmed by the divine rest on the seventh

day, since divine rest takes place in temples. These ideas

should lead us to investigate what other elements of

Genesis 1 might be affected by thinking in temple terms.

First in line is the curious fact that the number seven

appears so pervasively in temple accounts in the ancient

world and in the Bible.

The opening line of Genesis 1 has seven words, and the

central word, untranslated in English, is two Hebrew letters,

the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet: aleph and

taw.

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When one isolates the theme of time in Genesis 1, another

design pattern emerges that provides a foundation for all of

Israel’s rituals of sacred time.

there are many other ways the number seven is symbolic in

the Genesis narrative: there are seven words in Genesis 1:1,

and fourteen words in Genesis 1:2. There are seven

paragraphs in Genesis 1:1-2:3 marked by “evening and

morning.” The concluding seventh paragraph in Genesis

2:1-3 begins three lines which have seven words each (Gen

2:2-3a).

Each of the key words in Genesis 1:1 are repeated by

multiples of seven in Genesis 1:2-2:3.

“God” = 35x (7 x 5) “land” = 21x (7 x 3) “skies” = 21x (7 x 3)

Key words repeated seven times: “light” and “day” on day 2

“light” on day 4 “living creature” ח) הי ) on days 5-6 “God

saw that it was good” God speaks 10 times in Genesis

1:1-2:3. Seven times are divine creative commands to the

creation itself: “let there be….” Three times are divine

initiatives toward humanity: “let us make ‘adam…,” “be

fruitful and multiply,” and “behold I have given to you….”

scholar Umberto Cassuto:

“To suppose that all these appearances of the number

seven are mere coincidence is not possible. This numerical

symmetry is, as it were, the golden thread that binds

together all the part of the section.” (Umberto Cassuto,

From Adam to Noah: A Commentary on the Book of

Genesis)

All of this numerical symbolism is completely intentional.

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The authors want us to learn that seven represents both a

whole completed creation and a journey to that

completeness.

Seven was symbolic in ancient near eastern and Israelite

culture and literature. It communicated a sense of

“fullness” or “completeness” ש) בע “seven” is spelled with

the same consonants as the word ש בע “complete/full”)

. This makes sense of the pervasive appearance of “seven”

patterns in the Bible. For more information on this, Tim

cites Maurice H. Farbridge’s book, Studies in Biblical and

Semitic Symbolism, 134-37.[2]

Thus the seven days of the Genesis account of origins has a

familiarity that can hardly be coincidental and tells us

something about the seven-day structure in Genesis 1 that

we did not know before and that is not transparent to

modern readers. That is, if Genesis 1 is a temple text, the

seven days may be understood in relation to some aspect

of temple inauguration. What would days of inauguration

have to do with creation? What is the connection? If

Genesis 1 were an account of material origins, there would

be no connection at all. But as an account of functional

origins, creation and temple inauguration fit hand in glove.

Given the relationship of the temple and the cosmos, the

creation of one is also the creation of the other. The temple

is made functional in the inauguration ceremonies, and

therefore the temple is created in the inauguration

ceremony. So also the cosmic temple would be made

functional (created) in an inauguration ceremony.

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We must draw an important distinction between the

building of a temple and the creation of a temple. When we

look again at the account of Solomon’s temple we see that

he took seven years to build it (1 Kings 6:37–38). Most of

this time was spent on what may be called the “material

phase.” The stone was quarried and shaped, the precious

metals were mined, the furniture built, the cedar acquired

and shipped and shaped, the veils sewn, the doors carved,

the priestly vestments made and so on. When all of this was

done, did the temple exist? Certainly not. Because a temple

is not simply an aggregate of fine materials subjected to

expert craftsmanship. The temple uses that which is

material, but the temple is not material. If God is not in it, it

is not a temple. If rituals are not being performed by a

serving priesthood, it is not a temple. If those elements are

not in place, the temple does not exist in any meaningful

way. A person does not exist if only represented by their

corpse. It is the inauguration ceremony that transforms a

pile of lumber, stone, gold and cloth into a temple.

What happens in a temple inauguration to cause this

transformation? We have many inauguration texts from the

ancient world, the most detailed being the dedication of

the temple of Ningirsu by Gudea about 2100 b.c. One of the

first things to note is that at the inauguration the “destiny”

and the powers of the temple are assigned (Gudea B.i.3;

xiii.6). This is the ultimate function-giving act in the ancient

world. Likewise the roles of the functionaries are

proclaimed and they are installed.

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To guide aright the hand of the one who does

righteousness;

To put the wood (neck stock) on the neck of the one who

does evil;

To keep the temple true; to keep the temple good;

To give instructions to his city, the sanctuary Girsu;

To set up the throne of decreeing destiny;

To put into the hand the scepter of prolonged days.

In short, by naming the functions and installing the

functionaries, and finally by deity entering his resting place,

the temple comes into existence—it is created in the

inauguration ceremony.

A good biblical example can be seen in the tabernacle

account in Exodus 35–39, which concerns the material

phase. Exodus 39:32 gives the report on the material phase:

“So all the work on the

tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting,

was completed. The Israelites

did everything just as the Lord

commanded Moses.”

In Exodus 39:43, after they have brought everything to

Moses, he inspects it, and judges it worthy of blessing.

Exodus 40 describes the inauguration—this is the creation

of the tabernacle. The chapter reports everything being put

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in its place, anointed and consecrated (Ex 40:9–16). When

all of this is done, the inauguration is completed by the

glory of the Lord filling the tabernacle (Ex 40:34). In Exodus

we are not told whether all of this was done in one day or

over several days, but we do see that it is done in

connection with the New Year (Ex 40:2, 17).

Inauguration ceremonies are described in the Old

Testament with various levels of detail, including the

activities of cultic ritual for consecration and sacrifices that

initiate the operation of the sacred space. The Hebrew term

is

ḥănukkâ

(see Num 7:10–11, 84, 88; 1 Kings 8:63; 2 Chron 7:5; note

also Ps 30). The dedication is the celebration of the people

that typically follows, though perhaps at times overlaps

with, the inauguration. In the account of the construction of

Solomon’s Temple the inauguration includes a seven-day

dedication to which is added a seven-day feast/banquet (1

Kings 8:65; 2 Chron 7:9). Solomon’s dedicatory prayer

proclaims the functions of the temple:

• place for seeking forgiveness (1 Kings 8:30)

• place for oath swearing (1 Kings 8:31–32)

• place for supplication when defeated (1 Kings 8:33–34)

• place for supplication when faced with droughtfamine

blight (1 Kings 8:35–40)

• place for the alien to pray (1 Kings 8:41–43)

• place for petition for victory (1 Kings 8:44–45)

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In the ancient world the building or restoration of a temple

was one of the most notable accomplishments that a ruler

could undertake. It was believed to bring the favor of the

god, to bring benefits to the city and to bring order to the

cosmos. Of course when the temple project was complete

there were inauguration activities, consecration, cultic acts,

dedication and great public ceremonies. But that was not

the end of it. Temple inauguration could also be reenacted

on a yearly basis, and pieces of literature like the Sumerian

Temple Hymns may have served as the liturgy for such

annual celebrations. In Babylon one of the most wellknown

festivals was the Akitu festival, often celebrated in

connection with the New Year, which reinstalled the deity in

the temple and reasserted the king’s selection by the gods.

The Babylonian creation epic, Enuma Elish, was read in

connection with this festival as it recounts the god

Marduk’s ascension to the head of the gods and his building

of the temple along with his acts of creation.

Long controversy has existed as to whether Israel practiced

similar enthronement festivals or New Year celebrations

that reaffirmed creation, temple presence and royal

election. The Bible contains no clear evidence of such

festivals, but some see hints that they think point that

direction. It would be no surprise if they had such a festival

and would be theologically and culturally appropriate.

Moshe Weinfeld has suggested that Genesis 1 could have

served very effectively as the liturgy of such a festival, and

the suggestion has much to commend it both textually and

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culturally, though definitive evidence is lacking. In this way

of thinking, Genesis 1 would be a recounting of the

functional origins of the cosmos as a temple that was

rehearsed yearly to celebrate God’s creation and

enthronement in the temple.

In this view of Genesis 1, it is evident that the nature of the

days takes on a much less significant role than has normally

been the case in views that focus on material creation, in

that they no longer have any connection to the material

age of the earth. These are seven twenty-four-hour days.

This has always been the best reading of the Hebrew text.

Those who have tried to alleviate the tension for the age of

the earth commonly suggested that the days should be

understood as long eras (the day-age view). This has never

been convincing. The evidence used by the proponents of

the day-age view is that the word translated

“day” yôm

is often a longer period of time, and they chose that

meaning for the word in Genesis 1. The first problem with

this approach is that the examples generally used of yôm

referring to an extended period of time are examples in

which the word is being used idiomatically: “in that day.”

This is a problem because words often take on specialized

meaning in idiomatic expressions. So in Hebrew, the phrase

“in that day” is simply a way for Hebrew to say “when.” The

word yôm cannot be removed from that expression and still

carry the meaning that it has in the expression. Second, if it

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could be established that the word yôm could refer to a

longer period of time, the interpreter would still have the

responsibility for determining which meaning the author

intended in the passage. Word meanings cannot be chosen

as if we were in a cafeteria taking whatever we like. Third,

the attempt to read long periods of time is clearly a

concordist resort, which will be discussed in chapter eleven.

The day-age theory and others that attempt to mitigate

the force of the seven days do so because they see no way

to reconcile seven twenty-four-hour days of material

creation with the evidence from science that the earth and

the universe are very old. They seek a solution in trying to

stretch the meaning of yôm, whereas we propose that once

we understand the nature of the creation account, there is

no longer any need to stretch yôm.

In summary, we have suggested that the seven days are not

given as the period of time over which the material cosmos

came into existence, but the period of time devoted to the

inauguration of the functions of the cosmic temple, and

perhaps also its annual reenactment. It is not the material

phase of temple construction that represents the creation

of the temple; it is the inauguration of the functions and the

entrance of the presence of God to take up his rest that

creates the temple. Genesis 1 focuses on the creation of the

(cosmic) temple, not the material phase of preparation. In

the next chapter we will track the implications of the idea

that the seven days are not related to the material phase of

creation.[1]

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[1] Walton, J. H. (2009). The Lost World of Genesis One:

Ancient Cosmology and the Origins Debate (pp. 86–91).

Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic.

[2] https://thebibleproject.com/podcast/significance-7/

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