Genesis 1

The start of the start

The first thing I noticed, when I started reading Genesis 1, was that there is actually already a lot in the first two verses. We usually look at the seven days but read rather fast over the first two verses. When I read them, it reminded me of a potter. God created the heavens and the earth BUT the earth was formless and empty, also there was water. This gave me the mental image of a potter placing some clay on the potter's wheel and getting everything He needs to get started.

Light before the sun ?

On the first "day" God said let there be light and separated the light from the darkness. When I read this my first thought was that it was odd that there was light before the sun, but then I was reminded of the fact that light can come from other things than the sun, i.e. candles. Suddenly it was less odd.

And there was evening, and there was morning

I find this a very interesting sentence, mainly because it is used already before the sun and the moon where created. There is a lot of discussion about the "days" of creation. You might have noticed I have been placing them in quotes. Were they days like the 24 hour days we know, days that are dependent on the rotation of the earth around its axis, giving us the sunrise and sunset? Or was it somehow, just like the climate, different from the days we know today? Maybe it was a period that was simplified to a day for the sake of the story or maybe it wasn't. I have a study Bible at home and sometimes I will share something from in there. There is a footnote there where it says that there are multiple usages of the word "day". And one of them is just a prolonged period of time. We can try to calculate how old the world is but the Bible provides no specific statement as to how long ago the earth was created. If I remember this and still find it interesting enough to ask God when I go to heaven, I would love to hear more about the creation of earth and the universe. I also wonder if there was time between the first two verses and the rest of the chapter.

But does it matter ?

We can wonder all our lives, but does it even matter? Isn't the core of the story that God created living creatures according to their kinds and saw that everything he created was good. That God created us in His image and saw it was VERY good. That God made us responsible to rule over the earth. And this is not ruling like a dictator, exploiting the things/creatures that we rule over. But to rule like a ruler should do. Care for it/them, handle the power He has given us with the necessary responsibility. Is that not the whole point of this chapter?