Genesis 1:26-
Notes
Transcript
Intro:
Intro:
By way of introduction… let me say… sometimes the Bible is not abundantly clear. We read it, and we attempt… with whatever tools are at our disposal, to interpret what it is saying.
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Fortunately, we live in a world where a lot of those tools are in abundance. We have the research of experts and scholars to reference… - We have the ability to look into the grammar… and even have documents that give us a peek into the the ancient culture that these books were written into.
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We also have to remind ourselves… that this book existed first, as a series of spoken stories. They survived, being handed down… from Generation to generation… for nearly 5000 years before Moses put those stories into print.
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When we put ourselves into the story… we should do it in three ways...
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ONE: We should go in, as modern contemporary humans living in our day and age… with all the knowledge and understanding that we have been given through the entirety of the scriptures… We should look at them, ever mindful of how these stories will connect themselves to the Gospel… and how these stories point to Jesus… and magnify God’s ultimate work of redemption.
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TWO: But let’s take it back a layer. - We should also put ourselves in the world of the reader. How did the Hebrew people from somewhere around 1400 BC forward understand these passages? They didn’t read it armed with the theories of modern science in hand. They didn’t have a combative agenda, seeking only to understand the creation story in a way that defeats the scientific arguments of it’s day. This wasn’t to them, a scientific book. To them, this was history. This was God’s story… teaching the basics of humanity, and God’s interaction with humanity, on many different levels.
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THREE: We peel back another layer… and put ourselves in the actual story… looking closely at the world that is being described. Considering the lives of these early characters… and doing our best to understand their ancient world… with the tools that we have at our disposal.
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As I mentioned a moment ago… we have tools. And sometimes those tools help… and sometimes they hinder.
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Before we move forward, let’s qualify our approach, by talking about how these tools might hinder.
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Traditional interpretations can be helpful. We should add them to our arsenal as we attempt to understand to scriptures. But, they also can be a problem.
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Sometimes, we just fall into a default interpretation… and instead of reading the text as it is clearly presented… our minds automatically process the scriptures… like meat through a grinder… to bring about the default traditional conclusion.
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Meat goes in a grinder… and it turns into a tube of sausage. They both have the same contents… but they are also, both quite different. And now, one has something foreign giving shape to it, and holding it together.
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Sometimes, our default interpretations are just that… they are sausage. They have the same ingredients… though with some added spices… but we have to do something complicated to them… and then, wrap them up in some foreign philosophy… so that they hold shape.... so that every thing is clean and tidy.
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Raw meat… can be messy. And sometimes, a clear reading of the scriptures… is messy.
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It isn’t always palatable to us. It’s not what we’re used to and quite honestly, it tastes different.
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We have only made it 26 verses into this study… and for myself… and for some others… this has tasted different than what we are used to.
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And I only bring this up tonight… to warn you… that what follows… is going to have some stuff in it that tastes different.
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I have certain rules and guidelines for interpreting the bible… I’ve shared them with you before and have done a complete study on it at some point in the past couple years…
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I share those rules… and we all nod in agreement… but then, sometimes we apply those rules… and the answers look a little different.
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So… we will look at these passages in Genesis… and we will consider what they say… and we will talk about the things we traditionally talk about… and we’ll look at what the scriptures say… that might not fit in with what we traditionally talk about..
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And I’m going to say this upfront. I’m not fully married to either view.
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The scriptures have surprised me so many times over the years… by showing me something new… or by correcting something I’ve seen incorrectly… - that I’m not ever going to ‘dig in’ to a conclusion… when there are competing conclusions that fit the whole of scripture… and don’t compromise the Gospel.
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So… with that… let’s jump in.
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Gen 1.26a ‘Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness...”
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For ages, people have asked… “Who is God talking to?”
… the standard answer has been… - He is speaking amongst Himself, w/in His triune being. - and this is a solid answer… for we see in the NT… Jesus speaks to God the Father, and God the Father speaks to Jesus… and God is 3 in one… and it could be said that humans are also… body, soul and spirit… and thus… three in one, after God’s image.
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But, there is a second option… for we talked at length in our first study about the divine counsel of elohim described in Ps. 82 and many other scriptures… who govern the cosmos with Yahweh… and it’s equally reasonable… that God is speaking amongst His counsel… like we saw Him doing in 1 Kings 22:15-29 when they were brainstorming about a plan concerning Ahab.
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So… from this point forward… God is simply creating. We don’t see any planning or any discussion… - but now, there’s interaction.
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God is going to do something special. The creation of humans is a big deal to the readers of Genesis… because the readers of Genesis are humans… - There’s something special and unique going on here..
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… As if all of this creation… leading up to this point… had a purpose. And that purpose, was to be a place of habitation for God’s ultimate creation - the human.
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And the human is made in God’s image and after His likeness. - The language here, and in other places, is telling us… that each man and woman… is an image bearer. They bear the image of God.
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And this is important language. We can’t just brush over this… it will be a prevalent concept moving forward. Humans bear, or carry God’s image. And as image bearers… they are given a responsibility.
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The first part is in vs. 26… and the second part is in vs. 28. - They are to have dominion… meaning, they… the humans… have the right and the capacity.. to manage the animals. - And the second part… - they have a responsibility… to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it....
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that word ‘subdue’… means, to subjugate it… to make it, a subject under the administration and responsible rule, of mankind.
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So.. as God’s image bearers… they are called to administrate the creatures of the earth, in a way that properly represents God… and they also called to be fruitful and multiply all over the earth.
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In verses 29-30… God told man… ‘these things are yours… these plants… these animals… you… my image bearers… are responsible for them.
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Now… a quick segue to the 10 commandments...
7 “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.
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If we break this passage down…
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Let’s start with the phrase ‘take the name of the Lord your God’
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Forget about the ‘in vain’ part for a moment. What does it mean, to take the name of the Lord? Does that mean, to speak His name? - because, if we speak His name in poor, disrespectful manner, we are said to, ‘take His name in vain’.
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we have to understand what the word ‘take’ means. If I have a box, and one of you comes and takes that box… what are you doing? - You are carrying it.
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You aren’t verbalizing the box. . You are carrying the box.
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That is literally what this Hebrew word means… - it means to carry, or to ‘bear’. What do we carry or bear? His name. Believe it or not… When God speaks of His name, He also speaks of His image.
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All humans bear, or carry God’s image. - Humans are created in His image. But those who believe in Him… those who are called to live after His principles… - they are commanded, to ‘Not bear His image in vain.’
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That’s what unbelievers who are living according to their own ways… after their own lusts and and their pride… that’s what they are doing. They are out there, bearing God’s image in vain...
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To those who would go out and rule over creation.. and who would subdue it irresponsibly… who wouldn’t care for it and manage it the way God would… they would be bearing His image in vain.... to those who stayed in one place and did nothing… who were not fruitful… who did not multiply..
… - yes, they as human bore God’s image… - but they bore it in vain.
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Exodus gives us some insight into what it means to bear His image responsibly… and to the first humans created… they were given a job… - one that will be repeated - ‘be fruitful and multiply’.
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1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2 And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation. 4 These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. 5 When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up—for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground, 6 and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground—
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So… if we stopped at verse three of chapter two… we would see the end of the creation event.... mankind is created and they are given the job of multiplying across the face of the earth…
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But now, we get some new information...
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And this is either a unique way of overviewing the previous creation event, focusing in on the creation of Adam uniquely… which is broadly, the most common view…
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Or, this can be a unique, mini event of creation all to itself… where God, after creating humans to fill the earth… - hand made a couple people in a small batch, placed them in a specially made region where He manifest Himself and where immortality was available, represented by a tree… and through whom, God elected a line of people that He would work with and through all the way to Jesus.
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Odds are, if you’ve been in a run of the mill evangelical church for any amount of time… this second statement made you bristle a bit.
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And I’m not going to say one or the other is right or wrong, unless I can find clear evidence that one or the other contradicts the story moving forward. For me, the jury is out… - If I dismiss the conclusions that have been handed to me, and look at the passage w/o the influence of church or tradition… a plain reading of the Word can go both ways…
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Interestingly… If Adam and Eden are post creation events, it does make some other questions easier to answer… -
-Where did Cain get his wife? / Cain worried about someone finding him after he killed his brother… who were these people he was worried about? / In Gen 4, Cain built a city. All by himself, or were there others to help him?
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There are other issues to consider with this view… it presents a challenge with the topic of ‘original sin’… and believe me, I went down the Romans 5:12 rabbit hole today on that topic… and I’ve always had issues with the topic of original sin being inherited from Adam… and today’s study helped clarify why I had problems.... - There’s a lot of church tradition and theology mumbo jumbo to dig through if we go that direction...
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I’ve decided not to tonight…
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Another difference we see… is that the humans from chapter one are out subduing all the earth… but Adam and Eve, are in a unique place called, The Garden of Eden.
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So… it’s up to you. You dig into this and see if there’s any validation to the story of Adam, Eve and Eden being a separate, sub-account of post creation. Or you can consider it a periscope of the creation event centered mostly around Adam and Eve.
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One view has been ingrained into me for ages… and the other view is simply something that has confused me and made me uncomfortable for ages. I’m not 100% either way… but let me say this… don’t let comfort, or discomfort be your guides in Bible interpretation.
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I’m going to leave that information there, and jump right into verse 7.
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7 then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. 8 And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed.
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Special effort goes into the creation of God’s image bearers. It first, required discussion… and the language of Chapter 1 verse 26 indicates an invitation for others to participate.
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Now… in chapter 2… we see, this isn’t just a spoken word that brings man into existence. God uses something He has already created… something that existed under the chaotic waters of the pre-creation earth… - God took dirt, and He formed it… He gave it shape… - And then… God breathed life into this creation… and man, became a living soul.
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Comparatively… to all the other things brought into existence… the making of mankind was extensive, unique, and special..
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We don’t know where, on the earth man was made… I like to think it was Iowa… but he was taken from that spot… and placed in a garden that God planted… in the eastern parts of a region called ‘Eden’.
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Take note… it’s not really the ‘Garden of Eden’… Eden is a larger region which may have had other gardens.... but this one was special… and it’s simply referred to as a ‘Garden in Eden’.
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What do we learn about Eden?
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9 And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 10 A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers. 11 The name of the first is the Pishon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 And the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there. 13 The name of the second river is the Gihon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Cush. 14 And the name of the third river is the Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.
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Next week, I want to take some time to talk more about these two trees… We’ll skip over them tonight and give them some time next time around…
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But here, we learn something about this garden.
-There are two kinds of trees… those that are pleasant to look at, and those that are good for food. - It’s not certain if these are distinct or a common trait of the same trees.
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The garden was on the eastern side of Eden… and a river came from Eden… and flowed into the garden. At the garden, it divided and became four rivers. Geographically, this tells us that the land was elevated to the West of Eden.. possibly even mountainous.
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We get names of rivers and regions… some of which appear again as names, geographically in the future after the flood… So even though there will be another Cush.. and another Tigris… and another Euphrates… - These are not those lands… or those rivers. - They merely share a common name.
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If they we held to a belief that they were the same lands or rivers, then we would have to have a different theology on the flood… and that would get complicated to explain.
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In the verses that follow, man is given a job in this garden… and he is given a specific command about the tree of knowing good and knowing evil. - I want to save that topic for next week… so we will end there.
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