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VII. CREATION: A GLIMPSE OF GOD’S BEAUTY

GOD SPEAKS TO US THROUGH HIS CREATION.
Creation is the FIRST ACT OF GOD’S REVELATION.

• Creation proves the existence of God.

• Creation, being beautiful and good, tells us that the Person behind it is the source of all beauty
and goodness.

There are two creation accounts in the Bible:

• THE PRIESTLY ACCOUNT – Gen. 1:1-2:4a
• THE YAHWIST ACCOUNT – Gen. 2:4b-24

Take note that these accounts are neither historical nor scientific. These stories are mythical: they are
not real events but they tell us of the TRUTH

PRIESTLY ACCOUNT OF CREATION

AUTHORS: Jewish Priests (Priestly Tradition)
DATE OF COMPOSITION: Between 587-537 B.C.
CONTEXT: Babylonian Captivity
CONTENT: Being written in exile, this account of creation presents an affirmation that God is good, and
that he wants his people to be free. For the mean time, His chosen people must remain faithful to the
commandments, in observing the Sabbath, and they must not do as the prosperous Babylonians who
worship the heavenly bodies. This creation account highlights the power of God and the beauty of
creation. The story, however, is not free from Babylonian influences. In Babylonian mythologies, gods
create through separation of elements. In the priestly account, we find God separating elements before
populating the earth.

The text was written by PRIESTS and NOT BY SCIENTISTS. This creation account is a LITURGICAL TEXT
and not a scientific one.
The priests compared creation to a Liturgical Procession (Something like what we see during high
masses), wherein the arrangement of the participating ministers in HIERARCHICAL i.e. from the least
important to the most important:

- Man is created last to indicate the superiority of man over all creatures.
- The last day is the Sabbath day- emphasizing the of the eminence of seventh day.

THE PRIESTLY ACCOUNT TELLS US THAT GOD IS A GOD OF ORDER AND BEAUTY.

In the beginning = chaos

Day 1 = Day and night
Day 2 = Sky and Seas
Day 3 = Waters and Dry land

Day 4 = sun, moon, stars

Day 5 = birds and fish
Day 6 = animals, humans

Day 7 – Day of rest

Day 1-3 = separation
Day 4-6 = population

GOD’S REST

The priests wrote that God rested on the seventh day to remind the Jews of THE SABBATH REST- a
tradition which the Jews may tend to forget during their exile in Babylon .
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Just as God rested after working, so must the worker rest on the seventh day to enjoy the fruits of his
labor and to glorify his Creator.

Israelites would say that the “seventh day” is the day of their freedom from slavery - from their
toilsome work in Egypt. To rest in to share in the “rest” of God- eternity. To rest on the Sabbath is to
have a foretaste of what God has in store for us in eternity.

LET THERE BE…”

God creates by the mere act of his will unlike the Babylonian gods who cannot create out of nothing.

GOD MADE THE TWO GREAT LIGHTS”

The account does not speak of the sun and the moon but of two great lights. The two great lights
represent the lamps in the temple of Jerusalem signifying the presence of God. The priests were
reminding the people that they should not worship the sun and the moon as the Babylonians did for
these heavenly bodies are merely signs of God’s presence, and that even if the temple of Jerusalem had
been destroyed by the Babylonians, the whole universe is God’s temple.

IMAGE AND LIKENESS OF GOD

God is a Spirit. We cannot resemble him physically. We resemble him in terms of his attributes – God is
good-we are good, God is intelligent- we are intelligent, God is beautiful- we are beautiful…etc. It
doesn’t mean, however that our bodies do not resemble God. Our entire being participates in the image
and likeness of God. This means that even our bodies reflect the goodness and beauty of the Creator.

In what are we the image and likeness of God?

• Just as God is Lord of Creation, Man was created creator and made master of creation.
• Just as God is love, Man is a loving relationship – love cannot exist without “the other” hence the
bible says: “male and female he created them”.
(Note the in this account, male and female were made through the same creative act. This was to
emphasize that while Jews treat women as inferior, women are also made in the image and likeness of
God.)

PRIESTLY ACCOUNT: EXODUS RETOLD

The priests wanted to remind the people in exile that just as God liberated their ancestors from Egypt,
so will this same God liberate them from the Babylonians. Through the creation account, the priests
retold the EXODUS STORY.

Gen 1:1-2 “In the beginning…The earth was a FORMLESS wasteland and DARKNESS covered the
waters…”
Gen 1:3- “And God said : ‘Let there be light…’” - this light is not the sun for the sun is yet to be
created. This is the light of God Himself- the light which guided the chosen people in their journey from
slavery to freedom.
In Egypt, the Hebrews were formless as they had no sense of unity, no leaders, no freedom. They were
in darkness for they were strangers to the GREAT LIGHT.
Gen 1:9 “Let the water under the sky be gathered in a single basin so that the dry land may appear.”
“God said…”
Is repeated ten times:

The waters were parted and dry land appeared…

To form his people, God must first set them free and then…
give them laws.
For the Jews, CREATION and LIBERATION are synonymous. When God liberated the Israelites, He
created His People.

YAHWIST ACCOUNT OF CREATION

AUTHOR: Jewish “Catechists”
DATE OF COMPOSITION: Around 950 B.C.
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CONTEXT: Reign of King Solomon
CONTENT: This creation account is focused on man. Again, this is not a scientific or eye-witness
account but an attempt to answer questions regarding man’s nature, origin, and purpose of existence.
In this account, life on earth began when water gushed forth from the ground. Being the earliest written
scripture, this recalls what paradise meant for the Israelites who wandered in the desert for forty
years…the oasis.

Gen 2:7 “The Lord God formed man out of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his
nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being.”

People at that time concluded that since man returns to dust at death, man must also be made of dust.
But the author added a special element to indicate the holiness of man- God’s breath. Man is not like
any other creature- he is hallowed by God’s breath, and since God is eternal, man lives for as long as
God is in his soul – sanctifying grace.

YAHWEH POTTER
In this story, God created man out of clay. To create is to make something out of nothing. This was a bit
difficult to understand so the authors used the image of the POTTER – a person who turns something
worthless (clay) into something beautiful.

THE LONELY MAN

The man was placed in the Garden of Eden symbolizing all the things humans long for. Yet the bible
attests to the fact that the solitary man cannot be happy – he cannot reach his goals, he cannot fulfill
God’s plan: IT IS NOT GOOD FOR MAN TO BE ALONE. He needs to relate with others.

NO SUITABLE PARTNER
The story goes on with the creation of the animals to be man’s companions. God gave man the power of
naming the animals. In the Biblical context, to name something is to have dominion over it. Man was
given authority over other creatures. At the same time, God expects man to be the steward of creation.

At first, the man was happy. After a while, he was sad again. Was God stupid not to know that what man
needed was a woman? The author was simply pointing out that animals do not make a suitable partner
for man and that man can only find fulfillment once he enters into a loving relationship with a woman.

BONE OF MY BONES AND FLESH OF MY FLESH

The author, realizing that one of the greatest pains of man is the lack of company conveys this
message: Without others, man and human life is not “good”.
The man was made to sleep because creation is God’s “secret”. Only God knows how to create.
The woman was taken from man’s rib to show that in marriage, man and woman become one.

Gordon Higham wrote: “Woman was not taken from man’s head to be ruled by him, nor from his feet to
be trampled by him. But under his arm to be protected by him, from near his heart to be loved by him,
and from near his side to walk beside him.”

IT’S GETTING HOT IN HERE…

The bible says that the man and his wife were naked but were not ashamed.
Looking around we see children who are not ashamed to walk around naked, but as they grow into
adulthood, they begin to be conscious about the necessity of covering themselves.
The author is telling a concrete reality: all adults are sinners and are responsible for the evils in society.
No one is exempted from this guilt.

ADAM AND EVE

We know now that the story is mythical. Was there really an “Adam and Eve”? One thing is for sure-
there was a first moment for humanity. The first human beings, no matter who they were, how many
they were, or in which part of the world they were – the first humans were Adam and Eve. How
humanity began existing is for science to answer. One thing is certain- man originated from God.
Gen 2:17 “From that tree you shall not eat, for the moment you eat from eat, you are surely doomed
to die”. It is not knowledge of good and evil that is fatal to man, but his desire to make himself God
(see Gen 3:5).
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To become what one is not is to die.
The tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evils presents to us the a dilemma at the same
time a power: the power to choose between life and death.

Learnings:

• God is the source of everything.

• The whole of creation is good. Creation reflects the beauty of God.
• Man is the highest creature – he is the only one created in the image and likeness of God.
• Creation is at the service of man. Man is the steward of creation.
• Man is not a solitary being. He only finds happiness by relating with others.
• Man and woman are equal. They become one in the community of marriage.

VIII. ORIGINAL SIN AND GOD’S PROMISE OF SALVATION

FALL OF MAN
Every story needs a villain. In the story of the fall of man, it is the serpent which played the role. The serpent
symbolizes that evil does not come from within man but from outside.

The forbidden tree was described as “attractive and its fruit was good for eating.” What appears to be
beautiful is not always good. Evil finds a way to be attractive, man must be careful.

The serpent tricked the woman by saying ‘You will not die… you will become like gods, knowing good and
evil.” This is actually what the story meant by death- TO DIE IS TO BE WHAT ONE IS NOT. Man is man,
God is God. If man makes a god of himself, he denies himself, he rejects his nature, he refuses to be who he
is, he dies

“The woman ate the fruit and gave some to her husband.”
This does not mean that women are evil and that the first sin was really done by the woman. New Testament
references would call this first sin “the transgression of Adam”, never of Eve. The story, however, reflects
the male domination in the author’s society. It will be unacceptable then to have a story wherein it is the man
and not the woman who sins first.

We do not really know what the first sin was, but every sin, like what is depicted in the story, involves pride
and disobedience.
There was a prohibition but they still ate the fruit- DISOBEDIENCE.
They deemed their decision to disobey God as more valuable than God’s will – PRIDE.

They realized they were naked. Before sin, man accepted himself as he is. There was nothing to be ashamed
of. When man ate the fruit, he rejected himself, he wanted to be god. His guilt and shame is symbolized by
his realization of his nakedness.
Adam blamed his wife, Eve blamed the serpent. Man always try to justify his offenses, but he cannot escape
the consequences of his actions.

PROTOEVANGELIUM
The FIRST GOOD NEWS: God has not given up on man, but man is incapable of saving himself. He will
send a SAVIOR – the woman’s offspring who will once and for all defeat the power of evil. Jesus is this
Good News. He is the woman’s offspring. By his death and resurrection, he conquered sin and death.

ORIGINAL SIN
Why are we held liable for something we did not do? It has already been mentioned that we do not know
what exactly the first sin of man was. Was this first sin the original sin? NO!
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Sin is not limited to actions. Sin can be a condition- a condition that is contrary to God’s will. The first men
will be liable for their sins, but we inherit the effects of this sin – something which God did not intend for us.

Original sin is the consequence of the first sin – a consequence that is shared by the entire human race.

Original sin is not a SOMETHING. It is the ABSENCE OF SOMETHING – God’s abundant life in us.

When man was created, God’s breath was in him, but he disobeyed God and lost God’s breath, because of
this, man cannot pass on God’s breath to his descendants – thus we need baptism to receive sanctifying
grace.

When man was created, he lived an abundant life in paradise. But by his sin, he lost paradise, and
consequently, he deprives his descendants of access to paradise.

EVIL IN THE WORLD

A woman’s greatest joy is motherhood but there is pain that goes with childbearing.

A man find’s fulfillment in his work but there is great hardship that goes with working.

People want to live but death is inevitable.

These, and many other evils troubled the author’s mind. THIS CANNOT BE GOD’S WILL. Evil
cannot come from God, EVIL IS THE ABSENCE OF GOD.

PARADISE
PARADISE – not a place but a symbol of ORIGINAL JUSTICE which is the state of man’s total happiness.

The author of the Yahwist Account of Creation saw the different evils that were prevalent in his world. His
faith tells him that his world is not what God envisioned it to be. So he thought of a perfect world that existed
before the advent of sin - PARADISE.

More than something we have lost, PARADISE is something we have to regain. It is our “on-going project”
as we joyfully await the future that is projected by our past.

IX. HOLDING ON TO GOD’S PROMISE

Amidst toil and life’s meaninglessness…

ONCE UPON A TIME IN EGYPT (Read the last chapters of Genesis and find out how the Israelites
ended up living in Egypt.)

At first the Israelites lived as free men in Egypt. This was because Egypt was ruled by a Semitic family.
After a while, this dynasty was overthrown, and the Israelites became slaves.
The Israelites were treated harshly by the Pharaoh. The Pharaoh feared the implications of the rapidly
increasing number of the Israelites in Egypt because:
• The Israelites were consuming much of Egypt’s resources.
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• If they continue to grow in number, the Israelites might over-throw the government through an
uprising.
To arrest this, the Pharaoh intensified the labor that the Israelites had to do, and even ordered the midwives
to kill the newborn male babies.

A Foretaste of God’s saving power…

THE EXODUS EXPERIENCE (Read Exodus 1-15)

This was the opportune time for God to manifest His love for his chosen people. Through some providential
event, he caused Moses to be part of Egypt’s royal family, and eventually appointed him as liberator of the
Israelites.

The Exodus experience was a manifestation of God’s saving power. Through this event, Israel learned that
the God of their fathers was deeply in love with them and was willing to do great things for them.

The Exodus was the central event of the Old Testament. This was the even that they concretely understood
how God is SAVIOR.

God’s pledge of love…

THE COVENANT (Read Exodus 19-25)

“I WILL BE YOUR GOD AND YOU WILL BE MY PEOPLE!”

Having been delivered by God from slavery in Egypt The chosen people vowed to worship and serve God
alone. On His part, God will made Israel his special possession, a “kingdom of priests, a holy nation.” On
their end, the Israelites promised to keep God’s law.

The law of the covenant was the DECALOGUE of the TEN COMMANDMENTS.

The Lord promised bountiful rewards to those who are faithful to the covenant. But those who are unfaithful
would have to face the consequences of their actions.

MOSES: A MESSIANIC PROTOTYPE

• Being spared from the Pharaoh’s decree that newborn males were to be killed, Moses prefigured what
was to happen to Jesus: Jesus himself was spared from the decree of King Herod to kill the male
infants.

• Moses liberated the Israelites from Egypt, Jesus saved the world from sins.

• Moses gave the Old Law- the Decalogue. Jesus gave the New Law- the Beatitudes and the Law of
Love.

• Moses’ mediation between God and the Israelites prefigured what Jesus Christ was to do – reconcile
the world once and for all with God.

A broken vow…

THE CHOSEN PEOPLES’ INFIDELITY

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Countless times after the Israelites avowed to worship alone the One True God, they fell into idolatry. Often
they envied the pagans who wee much prosperous that they were, and so they began to worship the pagan
gods.
But idolatry was not without a price. Throughout their history as a nation, Israel often suffered foreign
assault.

In the promised land, there was always the threat of the attack of the Midianites and eventually the
Philistines. Again, God proved to be a faithful God, and once again manifested his saving power. The Lord
delivered his people from foreign invaders by appointing the charismatic military leaders : the judges.

A royal priesthood, a holy nation…

THE KINGDOM OF ISRAEL

The Israelites thought that the reason behind their political and economic instability was the fact that they did
not have a king.

Upon the insistent demand of His people, God permitted the establishment of the monarchy.

The first king of Israel was Saul. At first he was a good king, but he got engrossed in wars at the expense of
the nations welfare. This led to his eventual downfall.

Israel considers David as the nation’s greatest king. His reign was the beginning of Israel’s golden age.
Though he himself had fallen into a great sin, David humbled himself before the Lord, and because of this
God loved David so much, and Israel was blessed through him.

DAVID: A MESSIANIC PROTOTYPE

• David was from Bethlehem, just as Jesus was born in Bethlehem.

• David was a shepherd; Jesus was the Good Shepherd.
• David was God’s anointed, Jesus is the “anointed one”, the Christ.
• David defended Israel against the Philistines; Jesus defended humanity against the power of sin and
death.
• David brought the ark of the covenant into Jerusalem. David was the mind behind the construction of
the temple of Jerusalem. Jesus was the mind behind the establishment of the Church.
• David was king of Israel; Jesus was “King of the Jews”, and eventually “Universal King”

The fallen kingdom…

THE ENDLESS STORY OF OPPRESSION

David’s successor was Solomon, who is known as the “wise king.”

Unfortunately, this wise king was foolish in many ways. While Israel was generally prosperous during his
reign, Solomon was engrossed in leisure and extravagance. He imposed high taxes on people. He was a
womanizer.

While his greatest achievement was the construction of the Temple of Jerusalem, Solomon also built shrines
for pagan gods at the request of his pagan wives.
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The division of the kingdom after his reign was attributed by the Israelites to his sin.

After the death of King Solomon, Israel’s third king, the kingdom of Israel experienced political instability
which led to a split. The kingdom was divided into two.

The Northern Kingdom was called ISRAEL, and the Southern Kingdom came to be known as Judah.

As a consequence of the division, the military forces weakened, making the two kingdoms prone to foreign
invasion.
Since the legitimate King was in the South, Israel was politically unstable. There were internal rivalries its
leaders resulting to changes in dynasty. Israel was eventually invaded by Assyria in 722 B.C.

In 587 B.C., Nebuchadnezzar captured Jerusalem (capital of the South). This is the period known as the
Babylonian Exile. The temple and the entire city was reduced into rubbles. The elite of Israel were brought
to Babylon to work, leaving behind those who were deemed useless.

In 538 B.C., Babylon itself was invaded by Persia. Cyrus the Great allowed the Jews to go back to Judah and
rebuild the temple and the city. For the Jews, this relative peace brought about by the benevolence of the
Persian king, became a time to renew their covenant with God.

In 332 B.C., the Persian Rule ended with the coming of Alexander the Great. Alexander brought the Hellenic
to Palestine. His reign was however short-lived since he died at the age of 33.

The successors of Alexander the Great were the Ptolemies of Egypt. Many Jews were exiled in Egypt. The
Jews prospered under the Ptolemies, but they were imposed heavy taxes.

After the Ptolemies came the Syrian Seleucids. Antiochus Epiphanes was the worst of all conquerors. He
attacked Jerusalem on a Sabbath, knowing that the people will not take arms on Sabbath Day. He
abominated the temple by sacrificing a pig, he ordered the burning of Hebrew Scriptures, he forbade the
practice of the Sabbath rest and of circumcision.

The Jews were infuriated and revolted against Antiochus. This rebellion is knows as the Maccabean Revolt
(164-163 B.C.), for it was lead by the Maccabean family.

The Jews won this war, and as a result, they enjoyed one hundred years of independence.
This quasi-self-rule ended in 63 B.C., when the Romans under General Pompey, invaded Palestine.

WAITING FOR THE MESSIAH

Through these years of oppression, the Israelites found exhortation in the words of the prophets who spoke
about the coming of the Christ, God’s Anointed One, who will deliver Israel from captivity.

The chosen people patiently waited for the fulfillment of God’s promise of a Savior. We Christians believe
that this savior is no one else but Jesus Christ. The Jews who refused to believe him are still waiting for the
savior until now.