Commentary on Genesis 1:1-2:4a

Roger Nam
In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth
The opening words of the creation account in Genesis are a familiar story to many of us. In our
valiant attempts to read the entire Bible in a specified period of time, we confidently zip through this
passage.
For some of us, the creation account recalls the overly-interpretive illustrations from childrens
Bibles, or felt-board Sunday School materials with the modest Adam and Eve and
uncharacteristically happy animals. Others recall the glorious image of the creation of Adam that
covers the Sistine Chapel. Still others might recall a crisis of faith when juxtaposing the creation
account with the content of high school biology.
For this weeks reading, I ask you, Working Preacher, to set those images aside as you begin to
look at the text. The ancient Israelites had never heard of felt-board, nor the concept of evolution.
Rather, in ancient Israel, Genesis 1-2:4a likely triggered other accounts of the origins of the world.
These ancient Near Eastern creation narratives were unapologetically polytheistic.
There were many deities, and they each had changing roles and forms. Marduk was associated
with water, vegetation, and eventually magic and the head of the pantheon. Assur was leader of a
rival pantheon in northern Mesopotamia. Back of Egypt, a different set of gods quarreled over
legitimacy beginning with Osiris and Seth and then Seth and Horus. Each of these major pantheons
had hundreds of lesser deities, contending for prominence or even survival.
And these deities were fickle. According to the Babylonian myth, Enuma Elish, they created
humans, or at least some of them did. But at the same time, they latter regretted the decisions and
schemed to destroy the human race because we were too noisy. These deities would battle, kill,
enslave and retaliate against each other, and humans were often caught in the midst of these
disputes.
Within this cultural narrative, the creation account of Genesis 1:1-2:4a presents a completely
different account of the worlds origins. First of all, the creation in Genesis 1-2:4 is fiercely
monotheistic. Not only is there one God, but this God is sovereign and powerful. God says, and it
happens. God does not have a singular specified area of competence, but rather he is the creator
God of all things. In this power, God has no spatial limitations:

God created the heavens and the earth (1).

Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters (6).

Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear (9).

Similarly, God has no temporal limitations:

In the beginning (1).

Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs
and for seasons and for days and years (14).

As well as creating the vast cosmos, God also created the animal and vegetable life, a meaningful
feat for an agrarian society like ancient Israel. In particular, the creation of the great sea
monsters(21) represents a veiled polemic, championing the power of God. In Enuma Elish, the sea
monster Tiamat gave birth to the first generation of deities, and was later defeated by Marduk. But
in Genesis 1, God has no such struggle with even the sea monsters.
Most significantly, Genesis 1-2:4a provides a unique account of the relationship between humans
and divine. Somehow, God decides to makes humans in our image, according to our likeness. Of
course, understanding the precise theological nature of image/likeness in Genesis 1:26-28 is
elusive, and probably deliberately so.
But minimally, we can infer that humans are not created out of the capricious whim of certain
deities, but rather, we stand as the pinnacle of the creation event. After the creation on humans,
God, in his powerful word, blesses them and declares them as good.
As you consider the wondrous nature of creation, it is important to recognize the radical,
remarkable, and revolutionary nature of the Genesis creation in its original context. This
presentation of God comes as a wonderful relief and assurance to the family on ancient Israel.
The God of Genesis 1-2:4a provides assurance to those, who work to raise crops against the
numerous natural challenges. The God of Genesis 1-2:4a brings peace to the nation struggling for
survival against the numerous encroaching enemies from all sides. God is one. God is powerful.
And God created us in his image. This opening passage of our Bible constitutes the essence of
good news.
Of course, this is not the only good news of the Bible. In addition to giving a refreshing account of
creation, canonically, Genesis 1-2:4a parallels the start of another biblical narrative of that reads, In
the beginning was the Word, and the ensuing narrative assures, comforts, and challenges all who
hear.