Genesis
Who wrote it and when?
This a subject that still provokes a lot of debates, but it’s mostly accepted that Moses is the author of it, around 1445 B.C
Some sources also suggest that Moses did not really wrote it all, but, he partially wrote it and also compiled several other scriptures that were written or orally passed over through generations.
As we can find the Bible for example multiple verses that contains the following general structure:
Genesis 5:1 This is the written account of Adam’s family line.
Which could indicate the people were gathering knowledge by themselves which later was used by Moses.
I also found this interesting NY Times article from 1981, that claims that a computer was fed the entire Genesis and based on the structure of the sentences and words used, they came to a conclusion that Genesis was written by a single author. (I couldn’t find the original paper published by the researches yet)
Chapter 1 - The Beginning
Here we have a brief showcase of how God created everything, from nothing.
Following in this order, day by day:
- 1st: Light
- 2nd: Skies
- 3rd: Land, seas, vegetation
- 4th: Sun, Moon and stars
- 5th: Sea creatures and birds
- 6th: Animals on land incl. Humans
Some things that stands out
Jesus as the Word of God
What I find most interesting here is that when God says for example Let there be light, this reminds me of Jesus, the One called the Word of God.
In a way we could say that it was actually Jesus performing the actions expressed by God, we can see how this comes together with what is written on John 1:1-4 about Jesus:
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.
And also on John 1:14
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Light before the Sun?
It’s interesting how it shows God first creating light on the 1st day, but the Sun only on the 4th. How can this be?
Apparently this is a nice detail that we have multiple theories around it, but one that stood out for me was that the initially created light was coming from God itself, or another light source created by Him, as we can find some verses talking about it.
5 There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.
19 The sun will no more be your light by day, nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you, for the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory.
Is the author talking about 6 literal days?
This is another good source of discussion, there are people that argue the days here are actually a long period of time.
Others say Genesis 1 is not supposed to be a scientific research paper of how it really happened in detail, but more like a How to put in human-understanding-terms the process of creation that happened?
Others also say that we should take it literally and each day was really a 24-hour cycle. Would God want start the Bible, the foundation of everything that is about to start with not-clear wording about it?
I find this personally intriguing, as a physics and astronomy loving person, I’m always trying to find a middle ground on what Evolutionism and Creationism is telling us.
Creation of Mankind
26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals,[a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
Here we can see God talking about Himself in plural, denoting the Trinity
It’s also interesting the verse starts with God, the Creator, which is notably working here throughout the first chapter, made mankind in His (or maybe better, Their) image.
And the verse ends with a clear intention of God that mankind was created for work, just as He was working
Women
27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
Another interesting detail here is that God created mankind, male and female in His own image, so I believe we could assume they are equal in rights.
What changes in future sentences is only regarding given tasks/responsibilities for each, not really diminishing or empowering any of them.
Chapter 2 - God’s rest + Adam and Eve
The chapter starts with last day of creation, the day in which He rest.
And the chapter goes on better explaining what happened during mankind creation on the 6th day.
Some things that stands out
God’s rest
We have to take into consideration that this was not really a literal rest, not as we need to rest after work, for example.
I believe this some kind of analogy for us, that he stopped with the creation, the creation task was ticked on His list.
We also have indications in other books that God continues to work, including in the 7th day, our Saturday.
16 So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began to persecute him. 17 In his defense Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.”
Eve’s role as helper
Following on the same topic of male and female creation, on Genesis 2:18 we can read:
18 The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”
We can see women were created as equal to man, both as image of their Creator, but with different roles, being the most distinctive function the being the right-hand of the man, his helper and supporter.
We need to be careful not to use this in a diminishing way. As we can also see in the Bible, God himself being called our helper, for example in Psalm 33:20
20 We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help and our shield.
With that in mind, should we literally say: God is less than us, just a helper/servant? I believe not, and the same goes for the role of the women.