Why, Not How
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1
In The Beginning – Rethink from the beginning. Start with the beginning and think again about what it says. In our culture, we are so saturated with scientific naturalism (the idea that all explanation must be found within a closed-universe model of inferential empiricism) that we almost automatically think this verse is about the cause of the universe, namely, God. In other words, we adjust the verse to meet our view of the issues about the world. One of the big issues is how the world began. Christians oppose the idea that the world began by accident. Christian claim the world began by the action of an intelligent designer (called God). Therefore, we think this verse is about our paradigm concerning creation.
But it isn’t. Genesis wasn’t written to counteract Darwin. No one who heard this account from Moses had any idea about Darwin or the Big Bang or anything else that we might consider important about creation. The people of Torah had other things on their minds. Genesis 1-3 combats ancient mythology about issues of sovereignty, not causality. “The supreme question is not, “Who made the world?” but rather “Who transcends the world?” The biblical answer is, “He Who created heavens and earth transcends the world.”[1]
The children of Jacob have just been removed from the sovereignty of Pharaoh. They have seen the mighty hand of YHWH demonstrate His absolute superiority over the Egyptian divinities. YHWH has called them to Himself, rescued them from the hand of a evil dictator and claimed them as His own. From now on, He is their King. They are about to enter into a land filled with other competing gods, gods who lay claim to the loyalties of many other tribes. The most important question facing the children of Jacob is this: Which god is the supreme god? Genesis settles the question. Only one God made everything. Only One God transcends all that has come into being. That God is YHWH. He is supreme. Not only is He the supreme god, He is the only God. Sh’ma, O Yisrael, YHWH Eloheinu, YHWH ehad.
The children of Jacob take a very long time to learn this lesson. It is a very costly lesson to learn, but since the Babylonian captivity, they have never entertained any other god. Our re-interpretation of Genesis 1:1 is perhaps the result of our paradigmatic view about “how” rather than “why.” Rather than view Genesis 1:1 as a statement about how the world began, we might look at it as a statement about why there is a world at all. Then we will move toward awe, grandeur and the mystery of existence – and a God who reigns over it all.
So, does your God reign, or is He caught up in a debate with Darwin?
Topical Index: Genesis 1:1, in the beginning, bere’shiyt, sovereignty, causality
[1] Abraham Heschel, The Prophets, Vol. 2, p. 45.
A still unanswered question brother Heshel- “why?”. Yes, G-d is quite capable and power and almighty and is the Creator. So what? He’s big. He’s huge. He created this world and everything in it. Yes, the earth is the LORD’s and all who dwell therein. He owns the cattle on a thousand hills, the wealth in every mine. So what?Does this make a difference to me or to you? Why? G-d is Sovereign? I am not? Very well- I agree in totality- G-d is big. And when I say big -it’s bigger than big- how about really big? Or even really, really big. Have we yet got the “big picture?” Okay- G-d is big. Now I feel all better- right? Hooray for how really big and awesome G-d is. Let’s all celebrate how huge (now we’ve gone from big to huge- right?) Wow!- look how big G-d is. We can even use words to describe Him as “awesome” and “grand”. G-d is big and I am am not so big. There He is and here am I. So, brother Heshel- let’s stop to compare Big vs. small. G-d is bigger than me and bigger than all. I am so comforted by this. The Sovereignty and majesty of G-d.
May I? May I brother Heshel? May I “fast-forward” to John 3.16? I much prefer (is it a matter of personal preference?- my “opinion” vs. that of another?) May I look again at the words “G-d So loved?” G-d so loved that He gave.. (hmm.. benevolence toward another at cost to myself- excellent definition). If love is measured by sacrifice, (and it is) and the value of something is often determined by the price someone is willing to pay for it, may I look again at Calvary? This very same Sovereign G-d became flesh and lived among us. Yes, -the very One who “in the beginning”- became a man and breathed the very same air He created. The Creator (El Gibbor) became the creature- just like you and me. Flesh. He who knew no sin became sin. Is this love? Holy G-d became sinful man. How? or Why? Brother Heshel- are you there? Were you there when they crucified my LORD? Why Calvary brother Heshel? What was the purpose of the cross?
Why was the second Adam necessary? Could it be that this mighty G-d, this Sovereign Creator -“so loved the world?”
Yes, -“why?”
Love sent my Savior to die in my stead;
Why should He love me so?
Meekly to Calvary’s cross He was led;
Why should He love me so?
Nails pierced His hands and His feet for my sin;
Why should He love me so?
He suffered sore my salvation to win;
Why should He love me so?
O how He agonized there in my place;
Why should He love me so?
Nothing withholding my sin to efface;
Why should He love me so?
Why should He love me so?
Why should He love me so?
Why should my Savior to Calvary go?
Why should He love me so?
“He shewed them his hands and his feet” (Luke 24:40). -Why?
Sh’ma, O Yisrael, YWHW Eloheinu, YHWH ehad shouldn’t that be YHWH and not YWHW??
Yup. Sorry. My backwards typing mistake.
“Only one God made everything.”
Hmmm
Job 1:6 One day the Sons Of God came to attend on Yahweh, and among them was Satan. So Yahweh said to Satan”Where have you been?”
Job 1:7 “Round the earth,” Satan answered, “roaming about.” So Yahweh asked him, “Did you notice my servant Job?”
Job 1:8 “There is no one like him on the earth: a sound and honest man who fears God and shuns evil.”
Assuming that “only one God made everything” is the most important point.
What are Satan and the other Sons of God, if not “gods”?
In my mind, the relationship between Satan and Job is very similar to the relationship between Athena and Odysseus.
Except of course that Odysseus is attracted to Athena, and Odysseus is Athena’s favorite “man.”
Dr. Moen, are you agreeing with Dr. John Walton’s book The Lost World of Genesis One? I have recently read it and it seems to me you have the same general point here.
I do not know of this work. Now I will have to take a look.