Whatever Scripture might be—and deciding just what it is isn’t an easy task—it is not a natural science textbook. Yet, we have an account of origins. Drawing on what the text itself provides, tell me what meaning is being conveyed. What primarily is God doing in this account? The human person? And taking it as an obvious truth that God doesn’t need to rest, what is this business with the seventh day? All that you are required to read for tomorrow is the text of Gen 1:1-2:4. You can find it online here if you don’t yet own a copy of the Bible. (You may also wish to read the relevant portions of this chapter by a fellow named Leon Kass: “Sacred Eating.” It is not required.)
The meaning of Genesis 1:1-2:4 was to provide a story of how the world we live in was created by the Lord God. In it readers will discover how the heavens and the Earth were created. The first creation account of Genesis also reassures that many passages throughout the Bible are scientifically impossible. In this story, there are a few steps in followed by God in Genesis 1 in which God creates, sets an order to what he creates, and then names what he creates. After God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was without form and was void, so the rest of the story explains what adjustments God made to the earth after its initial creation. Examples of these adjustments and additions include creating light and dark, day and night, animals, and humans. This creation story is an anthropological account, as it explains who the human person is. The human person was created by God in his image and likeness, which means that God had high hopes and belief in humans. God created humans so that they multiply and form a relationship with God as well as other people. Humans were also created by God to “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. I thought that God taking a day of rest on the seventh day was quite interesting. God was done creating, so this day of rest could have possibly been because God wanted to spend time relaxing and appreciating how spectacular everything turned out to be. God spent an entire week working and planning out what was needed on earth, and after finally being finished, he deserved a day of rest, even though he may not have needed it.
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