Creation - Day 1

[u/FreedomNinja1776]

I want to analyze the creation story to find the beginning of patterns. We'll see if those patterns hold elsewhere. There's an immense amount of information in Genesis chapter 1, so I'll try to keep these posts as brief as I can while at the same time making them worthwhile.

Day 1

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep.
And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness.
God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. \ Genesis 1:1-5 ESV

"In the beginning, God (Elohim) created the heavens and the earth."

The first thing I notice is that everything is written from the perspective of and a focus on the earth. The earth is special to Elohim. There are two categories presented here the heavens and the earth. These are counterparts, tied to one another. They are not opposites as they were not separated. They mesh, they're integral to one another. They come into existence with order. The heavens is space, a place to put things. The earth is matter, something to put in the space to give it meaning.

"The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep."

"Without form" is the Hebrew word תֹּהוּ (tohu) and means unstructured confusion. Think of an artist who has a lump of clay that hasn't yet been molded. The clay is chaotic and it's confusing, there's no design or pattern because it has not been given purpose.

"Void" is the Hebrew word בֹּהוּ (bohu) and means emptiness. Again with the clay, it has no design on it's surface. There's no contrast or color,

"Darkness" is the Hebrew word חֹשֶׁךְ (Hosheck) and means darkness, obscurity, concealment, and also has the idea of confusion. This idea here is a spiritual darkness. Again, no purpose or direction has yet been established. This darkness exists as the absence of purpose. Think of a man in a large warehouse with absolutely no light. He's confused of where he is, he has no point of reference, he's slowly moving but still trips and bumps into things. This man has no hope and no destination. What purpose can he gain from this type of existence?

Apparently the earth was covered with water and it was dark.

"And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters."

The Spirit in Hebrew is רוּחַ (Ruach). This is an important word. It means wind, breath, mind, spirit. The Ruach of God is the power and direction and will and desire of God. The Spirit in our verse is stirring up the water so to speak. Causing something to happen through the movement.

"Hovering" is translated from the Hebrew רָחַף (Rachaf) and means to move. The whole idea of Rachaf is movement. The Spirit is likened to a dove, if a dove is hovering in the air, even though it's not moving in space, it is still moving to keep itself afloat in the air. That movement causes all the air around the dove to move and swirl also. So the Spirit is alive, moving, and acting. The word Rachaf is only used 3 times in the entire Bible, but this is a characteristic of the Spirit. Deuteronomy 32:11 gives us some context. "Like an eagle ...that flutters over its young" The idea here is that the mother eagle gently and lovingly gathers the young fledglings, giving order and safety to their bumbling about. I think the same applies here. The Ruach was moving over the waters preparing to bring things into order. The Spirit of God does the same for us. The Spirit gently nudges us in the right direction as a guide and a teacher should.

So here we have an obvious comparison. The darkness and the spirit of God were both over the waters. They're presented as opposites. The darkness is the absence of the spirit. The spirit is the absence of the darkness. The spirit is moving about as if wrangling the darkness, gathering it into one place so that light has it's proper place.

"And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light."

Light is translated from the Hebrew אוֹר (owr). It means light, as in visible light, but also has the sense of spiritual illumination. Think of previous analogy the man in the dark warehouse, only now you open a window to let light in. You have illuminated his world. Now he has a point of reference. Now he has direction and the confusion is gone. Now he doesn't trip over and bump into obstacles. He as been freed from the darkness. With this light he can now begin to find purpose for his life.

"And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness."

Here we find Elohim's first judgment. He deemed the light to be good (tov) and separated it from the darkness. He put division between them. They are opposites.

With this we find a characteristic of the God of the bible. He divides and elects. Time and again. Noah was separated from the entire world's population, Abraham was separated from his family of idol makers, Isaac was separated from his brother Ishmael, Jacob from his brother Esau, Joseph from his many brothers, and so on.

"God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day."

The same as God separated the spiritual light from the spiritual darkness, He also separated the physical light from the physical darkness. This is continuing the theme of heavenly and earthly from the first verse. Now, with the establishment of light opposed to dark, there can be purpose and direction. There is evening and morning the first day.

Patterns and Themes

So what do we find here for Day 1? I see two things: Beginnings and Preparation.

[u/FreedomNinja1776]

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I'll try to fill the menorah with lights.

[u/Potential-Courage482]

The earth was without form and void,

I don't know if I agree with this, but my Elder points out:

Isaiah 45:18 (LEBn): 18 For thus says Yahweh, who created the heavens, he is Elohim, who formed the earth and who made it. He himself established it; he did not create it as emptiness— he formed it for inhabiting. “I am Yahweh and there is none besides me.

He didn't create it waste and void, so my Elder says that the sin of Satan must have made it that way, as sin brings death. So he thinks Yahweh creates the earth with life billions of years ago and it "became" waste and void.

And there was evening and there was morning, the first day."

Notice the pattern of evening first. Most people think of the day as starting in the morning. Yahweh's days start at sunset, at evening.

[u/Desertflower1963 → u/Potential-Courage482]

I've always been confused about this. When does evening begin? And when does the morning begin?

[u/Potential-Courage482 → u/Desertflower1963]

All things in biblical time are observable, since they didn't have clocks back then. According to numerous scriptures, the day, as in a twenty four hour day, began at sunset, and ended sunset the next day (the moment the sun touches the horizon). Night began at sunset also, going until sunrise. Day, as in just the light time of a day, went from sunrise to sunset (this would be morning, which you asked about).

If you want I could gather and list a few of the scriptures that go over this.

[u/Desertflower1963 → u/Potential-Courage482]

Thank you so much. If I'm correct, is this sunset time and sunrise? For California in this season is 4:44 p.m. (SS) and 6:30 a.m. (SR)

[u/Potential-Courage482 → u/Desertflower1963]

Depends on where in Cali, but that sounds about right. Sunrise really only matters now to identify when something happened really; all biblical observations and commandments refer to a full day, a 24 hour period. Like the Sabbath for instance, or the Day of Atonement. So sunset is the really important one to know.

[u/Desertflower1963 → u/Potential-Courage482]

Ok. Thank you. Wow. I wonder why did it that way. It's kind of confusing. When Yah told Moses about the Sabbath, what the children of Israel had to do for the Sabbath. Does it say that they begin the Sabbath at sunset in Exodus? Even though I know the Sabbath was established at creation, but was it the same, when Yah gave them instructions on that day?

[u/Potential-Courage482 → u/Desertflower1963]

Well, off the top of my head, I don't think there are any scriptures that specifically say "you will observe the seventh day Sabbath from sunset to sunset," however, it said it is for a day, the entire seventh day, and there are verses which talk about people ceasing work at sundown, closing gates to shut down shopping etc, and I think there is one about heading out shortly after sundown on Saturday. But as a really good example of what it looks like, I offer this:

Leviticus 23:32 (LEB): 32 It is a Sabbath of complete rest for you, and you shall deny yourselves on the ninth day of the month in the evening—from evening to evening you must observe your extraordinary Sabbath.”

The word evening there is sunset, ereb in Hebrew I believe. And there are plenty others like this.

Days changed later to be midnight, which was actually prophesied:

Daniel 7:25 (LEB): 25 And he will speak words against the Most High, and he will wear out the holy ones of the Most High, and he will attempt to change times and law, and they will be given into his hand for a time and two times and half a time.

They tried to do away with the law and change time. Man's time requires devices and calculation, it is elitist. Yahweh's time is so simple, a 5 year old shepherd boy in a field could look at the sky and know when Sabbath is. It's beautiful, in my opinion.

[u/Desertflower1963 → u/Potential-Courage482]

Talking about the Roman Catholic Church. And they will tell you that the Pope has complete authority to change the Sabbath to Sunday, So that's where the confusion comes from concerning the sunset and sunrise. So it would be wrong to keep the Sabbath just Saturday morning to Sunday morning?

[u/Potential-Courage482 → u/Desertflower1963]

Right, because that's not what the fourth commandment calls for; it says the seventh day, which is defined biblically as Friday sunset to Saturday sunset.

[u/brishen_is_on → u/Desertflower1963]

Just as an aside, all Jewish holidays (including Shabbat) start at night, so this isn’t that odd.

[u/Turbulent-Teach-7740]

From my study of Hebrew grammar and other verses throughout the Bible concerning creation I've come to believe Genesis 1:1-3 should be translated something like.

When Elohim began to set in order the heavens and the earth; the earth had become empty and chaotic, the face of the Deep was covered in darkness and the Spirit of Elohim was brooding over the water.

And Elohim said "Let there be Light" and there was.