2022-Q2-L1: The Creation

Read for This Week’s Study: Ps. 100:1-3, Genesis 1-2, Exod. 20:8-11, Exod. 40:33, Matt. 25:14-30, Matt. 19:7-9.

Memory Text: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1, NKJV).

Scriptures:

• Psalms 100:1-3: Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! 2 Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! 3 Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
• Exodus 20:8-11. Sabbath.
• Exodus 40:33: And he erected the court around the tabernacle and the altar, and set up the screen of the gate of the court. So Moses finished the work.
• Matthew 25:14-30. The Parable of the Talents.
• Matthew 19:7-9: They said to him, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?” 8 He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. 9 And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.”

Notes

• "The fabric of space and time." The biggest lesson from Einstein's general theory of relativity is that space itself isn't a flat, unchanging, absolute entity. Rather it's woven together, along with time, into a single fabric: spacetime. This fabric is continuous, smooth, and gets curved and deformed by the presence of matter and energy.
• Ibid. The theory of special relativity created a ink between space and time. The universe can be viewed as having three dimensions of space (height, width, and depth) and one dimension of time. This four-dimensional "fabric" is referred to as the space-time continuum. Any mass in a region of spacetime will lead to a distortion / curvature of space-time. Empty spacetime is flat, whereas spacetime in the presence of masses is curved due to gravity. Scientists treat spacetime as a smooth 'fabric' which is distorted by presence of mass. Thus the term the fabric of space and time. The term fabric (i.e. "structure") is used metaphorically. Space-time is not "made" of anything, it is merely a coordinate system.
• Three theological ideas: (1) God is good, (2) God is powerful, (3) Then why is the world a mess?
• Genesis 1: Elohim is powerful, yet seemly impersonal. It is God-centric.
• Genesis 2: Yahweh Elohim is personal. It is man-centric.
• Genesis 1. Everything was "good" while at the end, when man was finally added, the Creation was "very good."
• Yahweh Elohim formed man with his hands (smeared with clay) and breathed into his nostrils the breathe of life. On the cross, Jesus' hands were smeared with blood, and at the end said, "It is finished."
• Covenant with Adam. God entered into a covenant with David in 2 Samuel 7, but the language of “covenant” isn’t used. Hosea 6:7 seems to suggest that there was a covenant with Adam. The elements needed for a covenant are present at creation: two parties, God and Adam/Eve, and there are requirements to keep.
• Hosea 6:7: But like Adam they transgressed the covenant; there they dealt faithlessly with me.
• Copartnership with God. For things to work right in God’s world, man has to show up and do what he’s supposed to do.
• “Traditional Rabbinic opinion” was that Genesis 1 was “the overall account of the creation,” whereas Genesis 2 is an “elaboration of the events of the sixth day of Genesis 1.”[3] The blessing of Genesis 1:28 turns into a curse in Genesis 3:14-19. The command to “multiply” (Gen. 1:28) is met with a description of “multiplied” pain (Gen. 3:16). Jesus cited Genesis 1:27 and 2:24 as complementary texts (Mt. 19:4-5).

Let us make man in our image

Genesis 1:26: Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

These are EGW's comments on the Creation itself and this verse in particular:

• 3MR 425.3: The Father and the Son rested after Their work of Creation. “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made.... And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it He had rested.” Genesis 2:1-3. The death of Christ was designed to be at the very time in which it took place. It was in God's plan that the work which Christ had engaged to do should be completed on a Friday, and that on the Sabbath He should rest in the tomb, even as the Father and Son had rested after completing Their creative work. The hour of Christ's apparent defeat was the hour of His victory. The great plan, devised before the foundations of the earth were laid, was successfully carried out.—Manuscript 25, 1898, 3, 4. (“The Man of Sorrows,” typed, February 24, 1898.)
• SR 20.2: After the earth was created, and the beasts upon it, the Father and Son carried out their purpose, which was designed before the fall of Satan, to make man in their own image. They had wrought together in the creation of the earth and every living thing upon it. And now God said to His Son, “Let us make man in our image.” As Adam came forth from the hand of his Creator he was of noble height and of beautiful symmetry. He was more than twice as tall as men now living upon the earth, and was well proportioned. His features were perfect and beautiful. His complexion was neither white nor sallow, but ruddy, glowing with the rich tint of health. Eve was not quite as tall as Adam. Her head reached a little above his shoulders. She, too, was noble, perfect in symmetry, and very beautiful.
• YI August 10, 1899, par. 3: God said, “Let us make man in our image.” He gave to the work of his hands not only a form resembling his own, but a mind capable of comprehending divine things. His understanding, his memory, his imagination,—every faculty of man's mind,—reflected the image of God. . .

Two things are evident in the above EGW quotes: (1) Only TWO Divine Beings were involved in the "work of Creation;" and (2) Man was created in "a form" resembling the form of the Father and the Son. That is to say, man's physical appearance resembles that of the Father and the Son. There is no mention of the Holy Spirit in any of EGW's commentary.

With respect to the verse itself, nothing in this verse implies a three-Person, coeternal God. The plural pronoun "us" which occurs only four times in the Old Testament (see Plural Pronouns Used for God) gives no hint of who the "us" includes. The "us" could have very well been His divine council which included angels. Some commentators certainly regard this as a possibility. The four instances of "us" are Genesis 1:25; 3:22; 11:7 and Isaiah 6:8. None provide support for a triune God. In contrast, the Hebrew word, Yahweh (the most common name for God in the OT), occurs over 6,800 times all in the singular—that is, they all refer to a single Being.

Personality of God

When EGW referred to "the personality of God," she was speaking of the persons of the Father and the Son. (Why this is important will become apparent later.) In a letter addressed to Dr. J. H. Kellogg, in regard to the controversy over his book, The Living Temple, she writes the following:

18LtMs, Lt 253, 1903, par. 12: “I have often seen the lovely Jesus, that He is a person. I asked Him if His Father was a person, and had a form like Himself. Said Jesus, ‘I am the express image of My Father’s person!’ [Hebrews 1:3.]

James White, EGW's husband, had the same view:

• PERGO 7.4: What is God? He is material, organized intelligence, possessing both body and parts. Man is in his image.
• PERGO 7.5: What is Jesus Christ? He is the Son of God, and is like his Father, being “the brightness of his Father’s glory, and the express image of his person.” He is a material intelligence, with body, parts, and passions; possessing immortal flesh and immortal bones.

SUNDAY. The God of Creation. Psalm 100:1-3.

From the lesson: The name Elohim denotes preeminence and strength, and the use of the plural form of the word Elohim expresses the idea of majesty and transcendence.

The second Creation account (Gen. 2:4-25) presents God as up close and personal, the immanent God YHWH, whose name many believe denotes closeness and relationship. The Creation text as a whole is, then, an implicit appeal to worship God; first, to be aware of God’s infinite grandeur and power, and at the same time to acknowledge our dependence on Him because He created us “and not we ourselves” (Ps. 100:3). This is why many of the psalms often associate worship with Creation (Ps. 95:1-6; Ps. 139:13, 14 [compare with Rev. 14:7]).

This twofold view of a God who is both majestic and powerful, and who is also close, loving, and in a relationship with us, contains an important point about how we should approach God in worship. Awe and reverence go along with joy and the assurance of God’s proximity, forgiveness, and love (see Ps. 2:11). Even the sequence of the two presentations of God is meaningful: the experience of God’s proximity and the intimacy of His presence follows the experience of God’s distance. Only when we have realized that God is great shall we be able to appreciate His grace and enjoy, in trembling, His wonderful and loving presence in our lives.

MONDAY. The Creation.

From the lesson: Read Genesis 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31, and Genesis 2:1-3. What is the significance of the refrain “it was good” in the first Creation account? What is the implied lesson contained in the conclusion of Creation (Gen. 2:1-3)?

At each step of the Creation account, God evaluates His work as tov, “good.” It is generally understood that this adjective means that God’s work of Creation was successful and that God’s observation that “it was good” means that “it worked.” The light was illuminating (Gen. 1:4). The plants were yielding fruit (Gen. 1:12) and so forth. But this word referred to more than the efficiency of a function. The Hebrew word tov is also used in the Bible to express an esthetic appreciation of something beautiful (Gen. 24:16). It is also used in contrast to evil (Gen. 2:9), which is associated with death (Gen. 2:17). The phrase “it was good” means that the creation was working nicely, that it was beautiful and perfect, and that there was no evil in it. The world was “not yet” like our world, affected by sin and death, an idea affirmed in the introduction to the second Creation account (see Gen. 2:5). This description of the Creation radically contradicts the theories of evolution, which dogmatically declare that the world shaped itself progressively through a succession of accidental happenings, starting from an inferior condition to a superior one.

Monday notes:

• Creation vs. Evolution. They are not just different views, they are opposite views. Neither the twain shall meet.
• Food was good to look at and good to eat.
• We are free, but there are limits. You only exercise your freedom if there is a restriction.
• Not everything that is good, is good for you. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil was not poisonous. This is evident because neither Adam nor Eve died from eating the fruit of this tree.

Hebrew: Tov. The original, biblical, concrete meaning of tov is more along the lines of “well-formed,” “well-wrought,” “well-crafted,” and these meanings make sense in the context of Creation. “Good” is conceptual, value-laden and suggests values that play no part in the early biblical narrative. Tov as “good” is a later understanding of the word, perhaps derived from its original meaning but it is not the original meaning.

The word tov would best be translated with the word “functional”. When looked at his handiwork he did not see that it was “good”, he saw that it was functional, kind of like a well oiled and tuned machine. In contrast to this word is the Hebrew word “ra”. These two words, tov and ra are used for the tree of the knowledge of “good” and “evil”. While “ra” is often translated as evil it is best translated as “dysfunctional”.

When G-d saw that what He created was prepared and suitable to fullfil the purpose for which it was created, He said about it “ki tov,” that it was “good.” If something isn’t able to fulfill some purpose of creation, it is “rah” whose root word means unstable, with no sense of future and continuity. It has no basis for existence, and is doomed to extinction.

It should be noted the Torah does not state explicitly that man’s creation was tov. It is only alluded to in the summarizing verse “v’hinei tov meod”, where the Midrash teaches us that the letters of the word meod, mem, aleph, dalet, rearrange to spell Adam, man. Animals and other creations, fulfill their purpose by their very existence. Therefore G-d could write about their creation that it was “tov.” Man, on the other hand, is created in an incomplete and deficient state, as an undisciplined creature. He must WORK at perfecting himself, at fulfilling his potential and purpose, until he develops to the level of tov.

In order to attain this tov, fulfilling his purpose and potential, he must perfect three different facets of his existence.

He must fulfill his potential in relation to himself, as a uniquely human creation. He must fulfill his potential in relation to his Creator, implementing the will of G-d who brought him into existence. And he must fulfill his potential in relation to his fellow man, fulfilling his responsibilities to the people with whom G-d surrounded him.

(You should see the connection between this idea and things we discussed in the Introduction. We will continue this thread next class, and tie together a number of things that come in trios in Judaism: The three forefathers, their three basic characteristics, the three foundations upon which the world stands, the three cardinal sins for which one must give up ones life rather than be in violation.)

The Three Cardinal Sins

1. Idol worship. The opposite of Love Yahweh your Elohim.
2. Murder. The opposite of loving your neighbor and allowing him to LIVE. Killing someone deprives him of his most basic possession, his life.
3. Adultery ( sexual immorality). The sin against man's own existence, self-destruction, debasing, animalistic, devoid of intellectual clarity, loss of intellect, materialistic, non-spiritual.

TUESDAY. The Sabbath.

From the lesson: It is interesting that the phrase “finished the work” reappears at the end of the construction of the sanctuary (Exod. 40:33), and again at the end of the building of Solomon’s temple (1 Kings 7:40, 51) — both places where the lesson of the gospel and salvation had been taught.

. . . Hence, each Sabbath points us to the hope of redemption.

Tuesday notes:

• There were several key times in history where the concept of "it is finished" occurred:
  • Creation
  • Sanctuary (Ex. 40:33)
  • Solomon's Temple (1 Kings 7:40, 51)
  • The Cross
  • Judgment in Heaven (2nd Coming)
  • Final Judgment
• The Sabbath was "created" to fill a need. Among the many meanings of the Sabbath, "freedom" is a key concept. The Sabbath always a man to be free to rest and think and explore.
• The Sabbath is an expression of God's character.
• Rather than the Sabbath pointing (forward) to the hope of redemption, it in facts points *back* to the character of God as the One who provides salvation.
• The Sabbath was instituted as part of a perfect world. It was not with the thought of the need for a redemptive plan where the Sabbath played a key role. The Sabbath came before the Fall and had fullness of meaning before the Fall. The Fall enhanced and deepened its meaning only because of the nature of the meaning of the Sabbath.
• Our worship to God is predicated on the fact that He is our Creator, not on the fact that He is our Savior/Redeemer.
• GC 437.2: “The importance of the Sabbath as the memorial of creation is that it keeps ever present the true reason why worship is due to God”—because He is the Creator, and we are His creatures. “The Sabbath therefore lies at the very foundation of divine worship, for it teaches this great truth in the most impressive manner, and no other institution does this. The true ground of divine worship, not of that on the seventh day merely, but of all worship, is found in the distinction between the Creator and His creatures. This great fact can never become obsolete, and must never be forgotten.”—J. N. Andrews, History of the Sabbath, chapter 27. It was to keep this truth ever before the minds of men, that God instituted the Sabbath in Eden; and so long as the fact that He is our Creator continues to be a reason why we should worship Him, so long the Sabbath will continue as its sign and memorial.
• DA 289.1: To all who receive the Sabbath as a sign of Christ's creative and redeeming power, it will be a delight. Seeing Christ in it, they delight themselves in Him. The Sabbath points them to the works of creation as an evidence of His mighty power in redemption. While it calls to mind the lost peace of Eden, it tells of peace restored through the Saviour. And every object in nature repeats His invitation, “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28.
• Another way to see it is that Redemption is an example of Creation. Or, that Creation encompasses Redemption.

WEDNESDAY. The Creation of Humanity.

From the lesson: While these understandings are correct, they fail to include the important physical reality of this creation. Both dimensions are, indeed, included in the two words “image” and “likeness” describing this process in Genesis 1:26. While the Hebrew word tselem, “image,” refers to the concrete shape of the physical body, the word demut, “likeness,” refers to abstract qualities that are comparable to the divine Person.

Therefore, the Hebrew notion of the “image of God” should be understood in the wholistic sense of the biblical view of the human nature. The biblical text affirms that human individuals (men and women) have been created in God’s image physically, as well as spiritually. As Ellen G. White clearly comments: “When Adam came from the Creator’s hand, he bore, in his physical, mental, and spiritual nature, a likeness to his Maker.” — Education, p. 15.

In fact, this wholistic understanding of the image of God, including the physical body, is reaffirmed in the other Creation account, which says that “man became a living being” (Gen. 2:7, NKJV), literally, “a living soul” (nefesh), as the result of two divine operations: God “formed” and God “breathed.” Note that the “breath” often refers to the spiritual dimension, but it is also closely tied to the biological capacity of breathing, the part of the man that was “formed … of the dust of the ground.” It is the “breath of life”; that is, breath (spiritual) and life (physical).

Womans as "helper" for Adam. The term “helper” seems pejorative in the English language, but this is only because of a mistranslation of the original Hebrew. The Hebrew word ‘ezer (“helper”) comes from two roots. (1) ‘-z-r means “rescue, to save” and (2) ‘g-z-r means “to be strong.”[48] These root words are used in Deuteronomy to modify God himself! For instance, “There is none like the God of Jeshurun, who rides the heavens to your help (‘-z-r), and through the skies in His majesty” (Deut. 33:26; c.f. v.29). Waltke writes, “The word helper, used for God sixteen of the nineteen times it appears in the Old Testament, signifies the woman’s essential contribution, not inadequacy.”

Adam's sleep before the creation of Eve. Similar to Abraham's sleep before the covenant (Genesis 15:12). Similar to Jacob's sleep before the ladder to heaven.

THURSDAY. The Duty of Humanity.

From the lesson: Read Genesis 2:15-17. What is man’s duty toward creation and toward God? How do these two duties relate to each other? The first duty of man concerns the natural environment in which God has put him. . . The second duty concerns his food. . . The third duty of man concerns the woman, God’s third gift.

Thursday notes:

• What is the first duty? Love the LORD your God. The second is like it, love your neighbor. The third duty is to God's Creation.
• The planet is not more important than people.

FRIDAY. Further Thought: Inferences erroneously drawn from facts observed in nature have, however, led to supposed conflict between science and revelation; and in the effort to restore harmony, interpretations of Scripture have been adopted that undermine and destroy the force of the word of God. Geology has been thought to contradict the literal interpretation of the Mosaic record of the creation. Millions of years, it is claimed, were required for the evolution of the earth from chaos; and in order to accommodate the Bible to this supposed revelation of science, the days of creation are assumed to have been vast, indefinite periods, covering thousands or even millions of years. Such a conclusion is wholly uncalled for. The Bible record is in harmony with itself and with the teaching of nature.” — Ellen G. White, Education, pp. 128, 129.