No 38

(Literal and poetic accounts of Creation)

In Genesis chapter 1, we see the literal account of Creation: Day 1, The creation of light; Day 2, The separation of the waters; Day 3, The creation of plant life; Day 4, The creation of the sun, the moon and the stars; Day 5, The creation of all the species of birds and fish; Day 6, The creation of all the species of land animals and, of course, man. These were six literal 24-hour days (See study #12). Chapter 2 of Genesis is a summing up of the Creation week and we see that God rested on the seventh day – “And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.”(v2). Now did God actually rest as we know rest to be? Did He actually say “OK, I’m tired, I’ve been working all week and I’m exhausted”? The Almighty Creator tired? Maybe…But I believe He wanted to set the pace for all human, animal and plant life on earth; that’s why He created the Sabbath (see study # 107). He also instituted the Sabbath year (Leviticus 25:4) and the Jubilee year, seven Sabbaths of years (Leviticus 25:11 to 13). In the Bible, God has literally provided the ways and means by which man and animal can survive because rest is important.

Now…God, in His wisdom, to ensure that man understood all the implications of the Creation so that it became a matter of the heart, He moved men to write the poetic account of Creation; this we see in the book of Job, in the Psalms and many, many other places in Scripture. My favourite poetic account of Creation is Psalm 104; take a few moments to read it. In it, you will find references to all the different aspects of Creation and I even have a favourite verse in the Psalm “O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches.” (Psalm 104:24)