The content of chapters 25-31 is essentially the same as 35-40 except the order is chiastic. The instructions are for the ark first and then the tabernacle second. But when they are built the tabernacle is first and the ark is second. In any case, it is incredibly important that 35-40 reflects 25-31 because of what happens in Exo 32-34 -- the Golden Calf episode. We should note in the next post how the Golden Calf contrasts with the tabernacle and ark. But for now the basic point is that this section of Scripture is concerned with the Second Commandment. The Second Commandment forbids worship that is not according to the pattern God has revealed in His word and commands that we worship according to the pattern God has revealed in His word. It is very important that Moses has it built exactly right (Exo 25:8-9).

This sanctuary, one of the reasons it is inappropriate to call the place where you worship a church sanctuary (the people are the church sanctuary), is to be a reflection of the heavenly sanctuary (cf. Heb 8:5). The pattern is very important. God initiated the building project and provided the materials, which came from the plunder of Egypt.

The tabernacle has a three part structure for different levels of holiness. The same pattern can be found back in Exo 24:1-18 when we were looking at Mount Sinai. Sinai and the Tabernacle are earthly replicas of the heavenly sanctuary of God. As things get closer to the ark they are more holy and the materials are more expensive (bronze, to silver, to gold, then to fine gold). Also, fewer and fewer people are permitted to enter as you get closer to the ark: any and all can be outside the camp, inside the camp only ritually clean Israelites can come, in the courtyard the laypeople could come to bring ritually clean animals for sacrifice, in the tabernacle only priest and Levites could come, and the high priest could only enter the holy of holies (a superlative -- the holiest place) once a year on the Day of Atonement. Creation itself is a temple/tabernacle: the earth is the footstool of God's cosmic temple/tabernacle. The three fold division is earth, visible heavens, invisible heaven of heavens (thus we are back to seeing connections with Gen 1).

The tabernacle is God's sanctuary on earth. The ark is His throne (cf. Jer 3:16-17) or the footstool of His throne (1 Chron 28:2). In the ark were the stone tablets of the covenant. It was common in the ancient near east (ANE) to have two copies of a covenant. The copies would be deposited in the temple of the gods of the greater king (the suzerain) and the lesser king (his vassal). Since there is only one God and the covenant is between Him and His people, the two copies of the covenant (the Ten Commandments tablets) are put in the tabernacle. The tabernacle (a tent) is at the center of the camp where ordinarily in the ANE the king would put his tent. Therefore, you are meant to connect the role of the Tabernacle with God's rule as King over Israel. It is a picture of heaven on earth -- the world as it should be -- God with us.

The creation of the tabernacle is therefore a re-creation event -- a new creation event. The Spirit is involved in both as creation in Gen 1 is the work of the Spirit of God (Gen 1:2) and those who work on the tabernacle are given the Spirit (Exo 35:31). Also the phrase "YHWH said to Moses" occurs seven times during the instructions (the first six: Exo 25:1, 30:11, 17, 22, 34, 31:1), the last time (Exo 31:12) introducing the instructions for the Sabbath. Moreover, (cf. Exo 39:32, 43) when the work is finished, Moses blesses the people and he inspects the work like God does when God declares the creation good (Exo 39:43). And the tabernacle is set up "on the first day of the first month in the second year" (Exo 40:17, NIV). Remember the first month was changed to reflect the Exodus event (Exo 12:2).

The first microcosmic picture of heaven on earth we have is the Garden of Eden. We should associate the menorah with Eden as its description resembles a tree. It is on fire, which may also mean to remind us of the burning bush. The references to images of cherubim should remind us that they guard the way to the tree of life in the epilogue of Gen 3. The tabernacle is a microcosm of heaven on earth.

As the tabernacle represented God's presence with his people on earth, the incarnation fulfills this Immanuel (God with us) principle. As John 1:14 should be best translated, "And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us, and we looked at his glory, glory as the only one from the Father, full of grace and truth." And now Jesus is seated at the right hand of God the Father in the heavenly tabernacle. The OT priests ministered in the earthy shadow and copy of the tabernacle of heaven, but Jesus intercedes for us from the seat of power.

And our bodies are tabernacles for the Spirit. We are being clothed with a heavenly sanctuary (2 Cor 5:1-4). This means that our actions should flow out of our identity as holy ground. Our bodies were originally made to replicate the heavenly tabernacle (being made in the image of God). And we see a hint of this recovery of the image glory when Moses transfigured face shines and from the description of Aaron's robes. (The division of the office of mediator into prophet (Moses) and priest (Aaron) was a division of glory. This office, never meant to be separated, is reunited in Jesus). If you want to explore the significance of Aaron's robe, compare it with the tabernacle and recall those things we said about the tabernacle (there are even seven day patterns).

The book of Exodus is about New Creation. It is a creation where the rule of God (the kingdom of Heaven/God) is reestablished -- heaven on earth -- a creation where God and his people can live in harmony forevermore. This is why the book says so much about the building of the tabernacle.

I have simply retyped and reworded an earlier lecture I gave on this material that is not sourced but the teaching here is a combination of Meredith Kline and Peter Enns.

Labels: Aaron's robe, ark, exodus, Genesis 1, glory, God with us, heaven, image of God, mediator, new creation, sabbath, tabernacle, ten commandments

The plagues and the Exodus Event demonstrate the omnipotence of the true God over the people, livestock, and gods of Egypt. The LORD says, "For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the LORD" (Exo 12:12). And God establishes a statute or ordinance -- the Passover meal. It will be one of the ordinary means of God's grace and salvation until the Passover lamb is slain on the cross. The Gospel of John even understands the fact that the instruction, "do not break any of the bones" (Exo 12:46) with Psalm 34:20 as the reason Christ did not have any bones broken (cf. John 19:36). It is this Passover lamb, who says, this is my body; this is my blood. Thus the Lord's Supper, derived from the Passover meal, is one of the ordinary means of God's grace and salvation today.

And we have an early example of catechizing children: "And when your children say to you, 'What do you mean by this service?' you shall say, 'It is the sacrifice of the LORD's Passover, for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians but spared our houses'" (Exo 12:26-27). And concerning the feast of unleavened bread, it says, "You shall tell your son on that day, 'It is because of what the LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt'" (Exo 13:8). This is something that also should continue today as the Lord Christ taught us to teach them to observe everything that he commanded (see Matt 28:20, Great Commission). Baptism being mentioned in the previous verse, what they are to observe especially includes the Lord's Supper. See Flavel's defense of catechizing in my first quotes of Flavel's Exposition of the Assemblies Catechism on this page.

We also see a glimpse of language that will be elaborated in the Shema (Deut 6:4-9) "And it shall be to you as a sign on your hand and a memorial between your eyes, that the law of the LORD may be in your mouth. For with a strong hand the LORD has brought you out of Egypt" (Exo 13:9). The catechizing continues, "And when in time to come your son asks you, 'What does this mean?' you shall say to him, 'By a strong hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery. For when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the LORD killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of animals. Therefore I sacrifice to the LORD all the males that first open the womb, but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem'" (Exo 13:14-15). And the next verse continues the Shema-like language (Exo 13:16).

This Exodus account is very much a continuation of the narrative of Genesis and we see this in the comments fulfilling prophecies of Genesis. In particular, Genesis 15:13-16 says that the people will be "in a land that is not theirs and will be servants [we could say slaves] there" 400 years and come out with great possessions. Then we see Israel plunder Egypt (Exo 12:36) and it is noted that they had lived in Egypt for 430 years (Exo 12:40). And, as in Genesis 1:2, the Spirit hovered over them like He did the waters at creation in the form of the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night (Exo 13:21-22, 14:24). And then we have the parting of the waters by the wind/Spirit to give way to dry land, also just as in Genesis 1:7-9. Israel is born (they even change their calendar to reflect this new creation (Exo 12:2). And thus how beautiful is the description, "Israel saw the great power that the LORD used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the LORD, and they believed in the LORD and in his servant Moses" (Exo 14:31).

And then we see the Song of Moses, which then Miriam takes up (the repetition of the first line implying that she led the people in singing the whole song too). She led the song, played the tambourine, and all the women danced. This is an interesting example of a prophetess leading worship and proclaiming the good news of salvation in the LORD. Anything that can be said, can be sung, and vice versa. This song was a type of proclamation -- a sermon in verse. And the lesson, fitting what we have said of the purpose of the plagues and the exodus event, is "Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?" (Exo 15:11). And the song foreshadows what will come to pass in the days (and unfortunately years) ahead, as it talks of the inhabitants of Canaan having melted away when they heard.

The principle of the firstborn in the exodus event is most critical in understanding how Jesus' death can cover our sins. It is worth saying that faith in God the Father and in his servant the Lord Christ is the Spirit wrought response of the one who is born again and that this application of salvation depends on the accomplishment of salvation in the death and resurrection of Christ as the firstborn of his people. And that given this accomplishment and application of salvation we too should have our tongues loosed (not because we are drunk, but because of the Spirit) to sing many new songs.

Though things end well, it is ominous that right before the Exodus event the people expressed such unbelief and grumbling saying, "It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness" (Exo 14:12). And Moses tells the people, to best translate the verse, to "Shut up" (Exo 14:14). This foreshadows the rest of the story of the Torah, beginning with the verses immediately following this section (Exo 15:22ff). And is in stark contrast to Jesus who remained silent when accused by the chief priests and elders of Israel rather than complaining.

Labels: catechizing, exodus, feast of unleavened bread, Genesis 1, grumbling, Lord's Supper, miriam, moses, new songs, ordinary means of grace, passover, women

What we want to do here is to begin to observe some of the patterns and to see how the plagues point us back to creation (and thus forward to the new creation), point us forward to the final plague and the Exodus event, and also thus point us forward to the work of Jesus Christ who died the curse of the final plague and began the new creation of the new heavens and earth with His resurrection. You can do the work of seeing Jesus in all of this easily. Pete Enns' commentary and class discussion at WTS is the source for most if not all of these observations.

The snake incident shares some of the characteristics of the plagues and thus we will discuss it here, but the first nine plagues are each a series of three plagues. You know that this is intentional because they follow a pattern. In each series of three plagues the first two have a warning beforehand and the third comes without warning. Moreover, the first warning is always in the morning. And the instructions given to Moses and Aaron follow the pattern of "station yourself" for the first in each series, "go to Pharaoh" for the second in each series, and no formula for the one without warning. And it is also worth observing that you will see that these plagues are comprehensive -- frogs from water, gnats from earth, and flies from the air (for example).

Pharoah's magicians can imitate the plagues through the frogs, close to their strength at the Nile, but they cannot undo any of the plagues. Only God has the power to bring order out of chaos, but at least for the early plagues they are able to imitate these reversals of creation. It is also worth saying that God needs no magician to do these things.

The reason for the plagues is that Israel may know that there is no one like the LORD our God (Exo 8:10) and Israel's protection from their effects is so that they may know that He is the LORD in the midst of the earth (Exo 8:22). And they serve the same purpose for the Egyptians -- so that you may know that there is none like Him in all the earth (Exo 9:14). Other ways this is put include: "so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth" (Exo 9:16), "so that you may know that the earth is the LORD's (Exo 9:29), "that you may know that I am the LORD" (Exo 10:2), and this is the same reason laid out for everything in the book: "the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD" (Exo 14:4) and "you shall know that I am the LORD your God" (Exo 16:12), etc. Thus it is no surprise that the plagues will show us the LORD God as the creator God and show Him defeating the Egyptian pantheon.

While the translation quotes in the paragraph above are from the ESV, for the comments below see the NIV and earlier posts.

The snake incident (Exo 7:8-13) uses a different word for snake or serpent here than it did earlier in Exodus (look back at the instructions). The word here is the same word as "sea monster" from Gen 1:21. The snake was the sign of Egyptian royalty (with their cobra headdress). (As defeats of Pharaoh they were defeats of the one who claimed to be the son of a god.) And it points us forward to the Exodus event because the word "to swallow" is found only here and in Exo 15:12 for the sea swallowing Pharaoh's army.

The plague transforming water into blood (Exo 7:14-25) uses a word sometimes translated reservoirs (Exo 7:19, NIV), which is the same Hebrew word translated "collected mass" in Gen 1:10. It is a rare word. The Nile was a personified deity for Egypt with the name Hapi. Thus the first Egyptian deity is shown to be powerless. The first Pharaoh had used the Nile to try to kill the children of God. All of these water episodes point us to when God will divide the waters again and dry land appear in the Exodus event.

The plague of frogs (Exo 8:1-15) uses the word "to swarm" of Gen 1:28. It is a creation reversal because the animals are ruling instead of man. Heqet, the goddess of childbirth, was drawn with the head of a frog. Thus another false god is exposed as powerless, with the frogs coming from the Nile. And that she is the goddess of childbirth is interesting. It points us to the exodus event because it comes from the Nile and leaves behind the smell of death.

The plague of gnats (Exo 8:16-19) has these insects come from the ground like how man came from the dust (Gen 2:7). The gnats are the princes of Egypt rather than Pharaoh (cf. 1 Sam 2:6-8 and 1 Kings 16:1-3). Man as a result of the curse returns to the dust upon death. Thoughts about death point us to the Exodus event result for Egypt.

The plague of flies (Exo 8:20-32) again shows us the creation reversal motif. The land is left destroyed. There is no known reference to the Egyptian pantheon but the word "destroyed" in Exo 8:24 is the same as the destroyer in Exo 12:23, thus pointing us to the final plague and therefore to the Exodus event.

The plague on the livestock (Exo 9:1-7) again reminds us of Genesis 1 since they were created on the same day as humankind and the latter was to rule over them. Hathor, the mother and sky goddess, was depicted as a cow. Death of these livestock points us to the final plague and thus the Exodus event, which also kills animals (Exo 11:5 and 12:29).

The plague of boils (Exo 9:8-12) is an obvious blight on the creation of man. This was an attack on Pharaoh who made them make bricks. The dust causing the boils is from the kiln. The bricks were kiln-baked bricks. This skin disease would disrupt Egyptian religious practices. This is the first plague damaging human life.

The plague of hail (Exo 9:13-35) affects the plant world. A word for vegetation in Exo 9:22 is in Gen 1:11-12. The god Seth showed himself in wind and storm. The god Min was tied to the harvest schedule. Hail is often a sign of divine judgment and it does kill the humans who are outside.

The plague of locusts (Exo 10:1-20) mentions the rest of the vegetation of Genesis 1. It is a polemic against Isis and Min like the last plague. The locusts come by an east wind, just like the wind that will divide the Sea and the locusts drown in the same sea where "not one survived" (Exo 10:19 and 14:28). It is called a deadly plague and causes darkness foreshadowing the next two plagues.

The plague of darkness (Exo 10:21-29) reverses Genesis 1:3. It is a polemic against Re, the sun god. Pharaoh claimed to be the son of the sun god. Darkness is symbolic of death in Scripture (i.e. Job 17:13, Psa 143:3).

There are ten plagues, thus the tenth plague is the fullness of the plagues. Many of the first nine plagues foreshadowed it. It reverses the creation of man by bringing their death. It is a defeat of the Egyptian god of the dead Osiris. It destroyed the firstborn cattle too. Cattle were venerated in Egyptian religion. Since this is a plague on the firstborn it represents what will happen to all of the Egyptian men who come out after Israel into the Sea of Reeds. It is really part of the Exodus event and foreshadows the rest of what will happen.

Remember that these plagues also ultimately foreshadow the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. For example, there was darkness before His death.

Labels: exodus, false gods, Genesis 1, new creation, pharaoh, plagues, serpent

Genesis began with a prologue and then consisted of ten books. The larger structure was one of prologue, narrative, poetry, epilogue. Exodus is not nearly as elaborate in structure. The organizational strategy is best understood thematically: salvation, law, and worship. The section on the salvation of the Israelites from the land of Egypt, the house of slavery is Exodus 1:1-15:21. The section on the law begins with 15:22 and continues through the end of chapter 24. The rest of the book is the section on tabernacle worship.

Exodus begins with a conjunction. The purpose of a conjunction (usually translated "and" in English even when a more specific relationship between the clauses is obvious) is to connect what follows with what came before. Exodus is continuing the story of Book Ten of Genesis. It is not continuing the poetry or the epilogue as much as it is continuing the narrative of Book Ten. Thus the first six Hebrew words of the book are a direct quote from the narrative. More specifically they quote the second telling of the move of Jacob and his family to Egypt in Genesis 46:1-27. The second telling begins with 46:8. "And these are the names of the sons of Israel, the ones who came toward Egypt" (my rough translation). Exodus begins with these identical words and summarizes the rest. Exodus, for example, lists the sons rather than giving the exhaustive list of the sons and their descendants. Both mention that the descendants numbered seventy (seven times ten) and that Joseph was already in Egypt. This is a clear case of recapitulation. Here it serves to tie the entire book of Exodus as a continuation of the narrative of Book Ten of Genesis.

Even though Exodus reports that Joseph and all his brothers and their generation had died, it does not give us another heading like each of the books in Genesis, "These are the generations of..." Instead, the new thing God would do begins with the New Testament Torah: "The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham" (Matt 1:1). This is the title of the Book of Matthew, not just the genealogy that follows. "The book of the genealogy of" is just another way of translating the Genesis book titles. The gospels are the same kind of genre as the Old Testament Torah books and there are many connections between Exodus and Matthew. Future posts will mention some of them. This difference between the two is very instructive as well. Exodus is highlighting continuity between the story of Genesis and the present circumstances.

Furthermore, the prologue of Genesis (Genesis 1:1-2:3)is the prologue of the entire Torah. So it should not surprise us, especially given how Exodus is a continuation of the Genesis narrative, that there are multiple connections between Exodus and Genesis 1. The first such connection is in Exodus 1:7, which Peter Enns translates, "The Israelites became fruitful and swarmed; they increased in number and became exceedingly strong" (NIVAC on Exodus, 41). The word choice of swarmed is instructive because it can be found in Gen 1:21 and 8:17 for animals to fulfill their creation mandates. The creation mandate for humanity in the image of God (1:28) is being fulfilled by the Israelites. Creation and salvation (new creation) are interrelated in Exodus. Future posts will mention many of these connections to Genesis 1.

Looking backwards to creation points us forwards to the new creation Jesus inaugurates with His resurrection. Looking forward to the Gospel of Matthew, points us forward to the way Jesus brings about a greater salvation than the exodus. It is instructive then that the transfiguration is a discussion with Moses (representing the Torah) and Elijah (representing the prophets). Moses was there at the first exodus. The prophets pointed us forward to a second exodus. And the content of their discussion with Jesus is "his exodus, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem" (Luke 9:31). Thus we will be looking at how the Book of Exodus points to the climax of salvation through Jesus Christ. Once you see how to do this with Exodus you should go back and do this with Genesis too.

Labels: creation, creation mandate, exodus, Genesis, Genesis 1, law, matthew, recapitulation, salvation, tabernacle, torah, worship

The key to seeing what is most important to the author is noticing the compositional strategy of the book. Most of the books in Genesis follow the following pattern: heading ("these are the generations of..."), narrative, poetry, epilogue. Actually Sailhamer, as mentioned in my earlier post, "The Way of Wisdom: The Canon and Cessation," notes that narrative, poetry, epilogue is the compositional strategy of the whole of Genesis and the whole of the Torah. In this strategy the key is the poetry. The difference between this book and most of those in Genesis is that the pattern of narrative, poetry, epilogue takes place thrice.

Genesis 2:4 is the heading for the second book: "These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that YHWH God made the earth and the heavens." It is worth noting, since this is a common structure in Genesis, that the mention of heavens, earth, earth, heavens is a chiastic pattern. Also the heading is artificially contrived to maintain continuity with the rest of the ten headings in the whole of Genesis. (Ten being a consistently significant number for fullness.) The title does not tell us who the book is about, instead the book is about this person's descendants. Thus, the first book is about the "descendants" of the heavens and the earth.

Within the narratival sections there is a general pattern. Each one begins with the problem, the response to the problem, and interaction between the person(s) involved and God. In the first panel (Gen 2:5-22) the main problem is that the earth has not yet brought forth vegetation (Gen 1:12) because it had not rained. It is also noted that there was no man, thus no irrigation. God solves these problems one at a time. First with rain, as translated by Lee Irons and Meredith Kline in "The Framework View" in The G3n3s1s Debate, "So a rain-cloud began to arise from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground." The word translated "rain-cloud" is only found in Scripture in Job and is found in another ANE language. In Job and the other language it means, "rain-cloud." (Not to mention that this translation makes sense as the solution to the problem introduced.) The other part is then solved by making man and designating him as the priest who guards or keeps the garden (Gen 2:15). God tells the man not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil (a probationary test) and after making the land animals and birds then makes woman. The act of naming the animals shows Adam's servant-king power over the creation.

In the second panel (Gen 3:1-13) the problem is the serpent. Adam is the one to blame in the text because he had been given the role of the priest ("guard" the garden). Adam's response to the problem, however, was not to stand up to the serpent but to buy into his lies. In this panel the interaction between God and man is one of judgment. The picture is that of Judgment Day, or as it is often referred to in Scripture "the day" -- thus "And they heard the sound of YHWH God walking in the garden in the Spirit of The Day" (Gen 3:8). Adam and Eve hid because they knew it was The Day "for in The Day that you eat of it you shall surely die" (Gen 2:17). The judgment day motif is complete with the sound of YHWH, which elsewhere in Scripture is described as incredibly loud and similar to that of a huge army. And the Spirit of God, usually translated with the silly "cool" idea of wind, should be identified with the Spirit of God from Gen 1:2 that hovered like a bird over the face of the waters. The response of Adam and Eve to the questioning in the court of judgment was to pass the blame. Adam blamed God and the woman. Eve blamed the serpent. It is not much of a step to Cain's "Am I my brother's keeper?" (Gen 4:9).

In the third panel (Gen 4:1-22) the problem is that "Cain brought to YHWH an offering of the fruit of the ground." Abel's offering was accepted because it was the firstborn of his flock, but Cain's offering was not the firstfruits of the ground. And Cain's sin mastered him as he killed Abel in premeditated murder in the field. Unlike in later Scripture where the death penalty is prescribed for murderers, God spares Cain and protects him. The genealogy offered in this chapter includes several interesting things worth noting. As we have been stressing structure, you should number the genealogy with Lamech as number seven. Cain is number 2, Enoch is number 3, Irad is number 4, etc. Number seven will without a doubt be significant. And Lamech is significant because he shows that sin has escalated out of control to a climax ready for God's judgment since he has two wives in contrast with the teaching of the first panel of marriage between one man and one woman and is a murderer (this we discover in the poetry). The genealogy is also structurally interesting because Lamech has three sons Jabal, Jubal, and Tubal-cain. Adam also had three sons, Cain, Abel and Seth, and Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth.

Most important in this book's structure is the poetry. In panel one the poetry is Gen 2:23: "This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man." In panel two the poetry is Gen 3:14-19. The most quoted portion of this poem is the protoevangelium: "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel" (Gen 3:15). The poetry in the third panel is Lamech's curse where he boasts of murdering a young man for striking him and calls for revenge seventy-sevenfold. Unlike Cain, Lamech does not want his family to wait for God's vengeance but to take unbridled revenge into their own hands if anyone touches him. This is the perfect example of disproprotionate response -- Lamech kills a man for hitting him and if anyone kills him in reply he calls for seventy-sevenfold retaliation. Lamech's words are the anti-gospel. All of this poetry points to Jesus Christ. Jesus is the new Adam and his church is the Woman, bone of his bones and flesh of his flesh. Jesus is the seed ("offspring") of the woman who bruises the head of the serpent. And Jesus is the one who goes through the curse of death on the cross for our sins and leads us to forgive seventy-sevenfold as he forgives his murderers.

The rest of the text in each panel (the remainer of each chapter) are the epilogues. The first epilogue shows a happy relationship between man and wife without shame. Shame would require clothing in the second panel (first they clothe themselves, but in the epilogue God sacrifices an animal to give them garments of skin). The epilogue also explains the continuing application of the poetry to the life of God's people ("a man shall leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife, and they shall become one flesh" Gen 2:24). In the second panel, the continuing consequence is being driven from the mountain-garden of fruitfulness (Eden) so that man would not eat of the tree of life and seal himself to continue forever in his fallen estate. The way to the tree of life is through the sword of the circumcision of Christ on the cross. And in the third panel we see the birth of Seth. Seth's son Enosh would be the heir of Abel as this is the first example of a common practice in Israel (for example Boaz does this in the book of Ruth for Elimelech and his son Mahlon). This is why Enosh is mentioned here: Abel has his heir and the book can conclude on a note of hope with calling upon the name of YHWH.

We could examine these three chapters and note a great many more details. My reflections here owe much to my professors at Westminster Theological Seminary, the works of Meredith Kline, and the commentary of Bruce Waltke. As always I have added my own observations and analysis and any mistakes are my own.

Labels: abel, cain, Genesis, Genesis 1, kline, lamech's curse, protoevangelium, sailhamer, serpent

This text is a prologue for the whole of Genesis, the whole of the Torah, the whole of the Old Testament, and the whole of Scripture. It is not a science textbook.

As a prologue to Genesis 2-3 in the Garden of Eden, the creation of man is parallel to the creation of vegetation. The text also reveals what would happen if Adam had passed his probation -- he would continue to fill the earth and spread the garden and enter Sabbath rest. As a prologue to the story of Israel, it describes the creation of the sea and the land on Days 2 and 3a in a way similar to the Exodus Event. The waters separate and dry land appears. Moreover, the text teaches us that Israel was to be the servant of God and the king of creation (including the nations). In two words, Adam and Israel were to be a 'servant king' or, in one word, a 'son'. As a prologue to Scripture as a whole, it points us to the the goal of creation -- a fruitful earth filled with people glorifying God and entering His Sabbath rest.

The days of Genesis 1:1-2:3 are not literal twenty-four hour periods of time. First of all, Day Seven does not end in the text but continues throughout Scripture (Day Eight begins ahead of time with the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ). Secondly, the sun, moon, and stars are not created until Day Four. And thirdly, these days while figurative with respect to earthly time are describing a heavenly reality. That is, the days and the speech of God all take place in the invisible heavens.

The days of Genesis 1:1-2:3 are not sequential periods of time on earth. Clearly Day Seven must be last and Day 6b must take place after Days 1-6a, but the days are not arranged sequentially. First of all, Day One and Day Four take place at the same time on earth. Day Four repeats language from Day One. On Day four it says that these lights are "to separate the day from the night" (Gen 1:14) and "to separate the light from the darkness" (Gen 1:18). This is precisely what was accomplished on Day One: "God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light day, and the darkness He called night" (Gen 1:5). The text through repetition means to let us know that these two Days take place at the same time on earth. Moreover, we should not expect that God would use His providence ("the earth brought forth vegetation" Gen 1:12 and "When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up--for the LORD God had not caused it to rain on the land" Gen 2:5) in one area and sustain light without His normal means of providence until Day Four.

So Days One and Four are parallel. In fact, Day One describes kingdoms and Day Four describes the kings. "God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern (or rule over) the day, and the lesser light to govern (or rule over) the night" (Gen 1:16). Days Two and Five are also parallel. On Day Two the kingdoms of sky and sea and then Day Five the kings of sea creatures and birds. Notice that the kings are created in the opposite order to the kingdoms (chiastic order). Also, they are described as kings by blessing them with a dominion (kingdom) mandate, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth" (Gen 1:22). Moreover, another thing the author does to make sure you read Days Two and Five as parallel in this literary structure is to leave out the phrase "and God saw that it was good" or something similar on Day Two and to leave out the phrase "and it was so" on Day Five. Thus "and it was so" or "and light was" for Day One (phrases that in Hebrew look much more similar than in English) is said a perfect seven times and "God saw that it was good" or "very good" is said a perfect seven times. The only place these are missing in the structure are on days two and five. Leaving out the comment about it being good is appropriate for Day Two because land has not appeared yet -- so in a very real sense it is not good yet.

Days Three and Six are also parallel. The main way this is communicated is through having each have two creative acts. The phrase "And God said, Let..." takes place eight times in the first six days. And to make this work Days Three and Six are both given two. The diagram compared to the text will help you visualize this better. On Day 3a there is the creation of the kingdom called land. On Day 6a there is the creation of land animals. And on Day 3b there is the creation of the kingdom called vegetation, and on Day 6b there is the creation of people as kings. The dominion mandate for man is over the whole of creation in general but more specifically over the garden (preparing us for Genesis 2-3).

Thus at the end of Day Three the formless or more literally "wilderness/desert" earth is on its way to becoming fruitful and at the end of Day Six the void or better empty or "deserted" earth is on its way to becoming full.

Whenever we interpret Scripture we must try to discern what it is that the author is doing. In this text, once you see the structure, it is clear that the Days are not literal nor sequential from an earthly perspective. God is trying to teach us much more important things than a science textbook. And Genesis 1:1-2:3 is fully the word of God and without error.

And this is 'literally' a prologue to the book of Genesis. The rest of Genesis, beginning with Gen 2:4, consists in ten books each beginning with a phrase like "These are the generations of..." and Genesis 1:1-2:3 is the kingdom prologue.

I am heavily indebted to the works and teachings of Meredith Kline (even borrowing his book titled Kingdom Prologue for the title of the post), Lee Irons, and Lane Tipton for this post.

Labels: framework, Genesis, Genesis 1, kingdom, kings, kline, prologue, protology