Then God said, “Let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the firmament of the heavens.” So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” So the evening and the morning were the fifth day. Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind”; and it was so. And God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
Alrighty. Last post we looked at how God is casting the darkness out of our world. We are in the midst of God's movement and progression forward. Even though darkness continues to put up a fight, God is allowing it to come to its full. Think of the story of Abram. Abram is told by God that the fourth generation of his descendants will come back to Canaan. Why can't he possess the land now an let his descendants live there with him? "The sin of the Amorites has not reached its full measure."
So for those of us who are seeing a lot of the corruption of the world (which I must say I know a lot more than I should...), it is comforting to know that even in the midst of that, there is hope. God has always paved the way for hope. God has always provided for His chosen (even feeding them by ravens). But this isn't what I'm wanting to talk about necessarily today.
Last time we looked at how on the fourth day, God created the stars, the sun, and the moon. Here we read on the fifth day, God creates the bird and the fish. On the sixth day, God creates the animals. I assume that my reader has a little knowledge of the Bible (at least), so I would assume that you would also know that humanity was created on the sixth day.
So lets backtrack even further.
On the first day, God creates the heavens and the earth. On the second day, God creates an expanse in the heavens and calls it "sky." On the third day, God parts the seas and creates land.
Did you catch it?
How about it put it like this:
On the first day, God creates the heavens and the earth. On the fourth day, God fills the heavens with stars, the sun, and the moon. On the second day, God creates the skies. On the fifth day, God fills the skies and the seas with birds and fish. On the third day, God created the dry land. On the sixth day, God fills the land with animals and people.
So the first 3 days God is creating something, and the next 3 days God is filling that which He had created.
Isn't it interesting that God spends 3 days creating and 3 days filling? What else comes up in threes?
We know that God is displayed as creator, spirit, and light. He is 3, but He is 1 elohim (god).
The word bara is used as the verb meaning "create." The word bara appears 3 times in Genesis 1, and on the 3rd time, it happens 3 times.
The phrase "evening and morning" occurs 6 times (2 times 3).
But that isn't all for number games that are happening here.
There are also sevens.
The first verse has 7 words in Hebrew.
The second verse has 14 (2 times 7) words in Hebrew.
The seventh paragraph has 35 word (5 times 7).
The word Earth appears 21 times (3 times 7).
The word God appears 35 times (5 times 7).
The phrase "It was so" appears 7 times.
The phrase "And God saw" appears 7 times.
With the usage of threes and the usage of sevens, I must then ask the question: got any tens?
"To make" appears 10 times.
"According to their kind" appears 10 times.
"And God said" appears 10 times. 3 times in relation to people; 7 times in relation to other creations.
"Let there be" appears 10 times. 3 times for the heavens; 7 times for the Earth...
After a while you start to wonder if the author had some help...
This first chapter of Genesis brings all sorts of strange things with it. The number 3 represents wholeness. The Hebrew word for wholeness is shalom. For any of your educated people, you might know that shalom is translated as peace. I remind you that Hebrew doesn't have abstracts without connecting it to some sort of tangible concrete. Shalom is the idea of completion and wholeness. It is the idea of nothing lacking. It isn't the idea of completion like "done." It is the idea of nothing lacking.
The number 7 is usually represented as completion. This time, I wish people wouldn't use the word completion at all. The number 7 is better understood as perfection. The idea isn't that God's creation was done in 6 days and on the seventh He rested, and that is where we get our idea of a 7 day week. It isn't about completion at all, really. It is that on the seventh day God rested because everything was "good." There was nothing that needed to be tinkered with to try and get it just right. 7 is the number of perfection, and many times in the Bible it goes hand in hand with the number 14.
The number 10 brings with it the idea of divine perfection. They get this because of the 10 Commandments. However, I disagree slightly. I think that it is a representation of God. It is a reflection of all that He is and exactly as He is. There were 10 plagues on Egypt. This doesn't represent divine perfection, but seems to represent divine judgment. So I think that the number 10 is best described as the all encompassing nature of God. It is "God as He is."
So this number game in Genesis 1 seems to bring with it the idea of the wholeness of creation (number 3) and the perfection of it (number 7) comes from relationship with God (number 10).
This is exactly what the Hebrews knew to be the Gospel message. This is the concept of the Gospel from the Old Testament. Correct relationship with God, as He is, brings forth wholeness and perfection in the individual. The fact that this is available to us is what we call "the good news."
How interesting is it that the number game in Genesis not only seems to give this message, but even characterizes the creation itself with it? All is not right in creation unless God is present in it. This is another reason why I believe that Genesis 1 is a representation of God building Himself a Temple to dwell in. He formed the heavens and earth so that He might dwell within them.
Next time we'll get into humanity being created, and what does it mean to be image bearers?
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