REFLECTIONS ON SCRIPTURE: SOME PATTERNS IN GENESIS Part One
DAY ONE:
Creation (and possibly separation) of heaven and earth
Earth is formless and void, covered by chaos waters, no mention of heaven being the same (seems odd, but would make sense if earth was “bled” or removed from heaven)
Spirit of God blows over the unformed earth, stirring the waters.
God declares light
God separates light and darkness, light is “glorified” and separated above the darkness by succeeding it. Thus a greater union is formed, one where darkness serves the light, and therefore finds its purpose in it.
In glorification, separation and greater union, they are given new names, names signify purpose and the mastery over the object by the person who names. Light is named day, darkness is called night.
DAY TWO:
God declares the separation of the waters, the waters above from the waters below
Similar to light on the first day, the water above is glorified in its separation from the water below, and the water above is given a new name in its glorification, called “sky”.
DAY THREE:
God separates dry ground from the waters below.
Again, in their separation, and the dry ground’s glorification above the sea, they are given new names, the dry ground is called “Land” and the waters below the sky are called “Sea”
Therefore, in all these separations, and in the greater union formed in their distinctions, the foundations of the ornaments of creation, the formerly chaotic earth, is tamed and is stable enough for a greater glorification.
Now that sky and land is set over sea, day over night, signifying heaven being over earth, the greater glorification can come from up to down in a greater way, rather than the Spirit coming from heaven to a barren earth, now he has steps or “ladders to earth” from heaven, moving from heaven through Sky to Land and then to Sea.
The first thing then is God declaring the land to be fruitful, to produce plants and trees and multiply them over the earth. The Spirit of Life is moving, and after passing through Sky, then he gets to earth, life springs up, and life, especially plant life, is associated with day rather than night, meaning this happened during the day, when the light of God was out, heralding the arrival of the Spirit of God, the wind, or “breath” of life, who is also the water of life, you can see a Pentecost theme here. Light, air and water all requirements of life, including plant life.
Note that these separations are for a greater purpose than just to condemn or remove a part of creation, rather one part is separated and glorified for the sake of the other. The glory of the day glorifies the night. We know the night is beautiful because of the beauty of the day that succeeds it. Land is raised for the Sea’s sake, light for darkness’ sake. Israel is separated and glorified for the Gentiles’ sake, Jesus is glorified for Humanity’s sake. God doesn’t abandon his creation, He glorifies it. If you have any questions, you are free to ask, we are all growing. We’ll continue with the other four days in part 2. In the meantime, God bless you.