Bible Reflection - Genesis 1 to 2:3
Genesis 1 to 2:3
It seems that people have always gone to war. War brings with it winners and losers. The winners exert power and influence. They hope to keep their treasures and economic gains.
Our bible passage comes from a time after a war when the ruling class and wealthy had been exiled in Babylon. While in a foreign land and as their children returned, they asked “how do we make sure this doesn’t happen again.”
War and exile were the calamity. The opening of Genesis is a part of a sacred reflection. The emerging leaders had settled on an answer. If we are more faithful, then bad things will not happen.
One of the key distinctives of the people of Israel was their belief in one God. The nations around them believed in many Gods. Each religion had music and stories to help people learn their culture.
The leaders of Israel wrote a new poem which is captured in Genesis 1 to 2:3. Time began when the ONE God called everything into existence in an ordered way. One of the main purposes of this poem was to teach people the reality of one God rather than many Gods. This belief was essential. Alongside it, the leaders taught people many ancient religious practices. They wanted all Israel to honour their special relationship with God.
We have so much knowledge about the earth and the universe. We know much more than the people of Israel could ever imagine. Many of our questions would be foreign to the ancient mind. Geology, archaeology, astronomy, and physics present us with different questions.
The ancient leaders – the writers of Genesis - were saying to their people – our captors believed this, but they are wrong. There are not many Gods – only one.
We need the poets and song writers of our age to tell a new story. You think there is no God – but there is!
The passage challenges the surrounding culture. It says the captor’s songs and stories are filled with mistakes. Don’t follow their ways.
We also need our story tellers and artists to help us distinguish wisdom from folly. We need them to hold contemporary culture to account.
It seems that one of the most worrying things for the ancient leaders of Israel was the busyness around them. Their insight was that each week needed space for reflection. That human activity had insufficient purpose unless people stopped. We need time to wonder and celebrate, to ponder and examine. They saw this as a gift and command from God.
We can only imagine what it was like for people to adopt this way of life. Slowly, activity is moved to six days including some preparation for the seventh day. Some rituals and prayers evolve to mark the transition into the time of rest. The conversations become different.
In the slowness, other things take more prominence. Light and dark. Water and dry. Moon and stars. Birds and animals. One and other. The poetry of the passage makes even more sense. It is a call to appreciate the wonder of creation. To see all that God has made and then honour God.
Our lives are filled with overwhelming busyness. We are driven to efficiency at work and then we pack as much as possible in before going to bed. Our entertainment is often highly stimulating with light and sound. Companies design products to hook us and keep us. We have lost the art of rest and forget why we need it.
The Genesis writers might look on our technology with awe. However, they would question our addictions. They would wonder when we encounter each other at real depth. They would challenge us for our fleeting engagement with God. They would encourage us to live differently.
For many of us, rest times allow our brains to form the questions we have been too busy or too fearful to ask. Rest allows us to appreciate other dimensions of life including a spiritual dimension. We sense that our purpose may have more to it than simply production and pleasure.
Genesis 1:1 to 2:3 is a wonderful poem that engages in wider thinking and presents people with challenges. It speaks to us today inviting us to ponder our beliefs and the ways we live.