Biblical scholars Jennifer Garcia Bashaw and Aaron Higashi point out the difficulties that arise if Christians try to read the Genesis creation stories literally:
It can be difficult to fully appreciate the seven-day schema of creation in Genesis 1 when we’re reading the text in the modern world, where the sciences all attest to an earth that formed over billions of years. Many people in fact feel uncomfortable with this apparent contradiction….
Indeed, there are many Bible readers who, out of a sense of loyalty to a literal-historical understanding of Genesis 1, feel compelled to deny the conclusions of modern sciences. But this feeling is unnecessary because Genesis 1–2:3 does not claim to be a literal-historical text. Rather, it’s a part of a common genre of ancient religious literature known as the creation myth, which is not intended to be a historical representation of events.
The second creation story in Genesis contradicts much of the first. Garcia Bashaw and Higashi show how both are needed:
In Genesis 1, God is a transcendent being who creates the world through acts of speech in a structured process where each step is already anticipating the next. In Genesis 1, God is so successful in creating the world that each day is called good, and God can rest at the end, certain that everything is working as intended.
In Genesis 2, we see something different. In this passage, God is a human-like being who creates by forming things with God’s own hands and breathing life into them. The process in Genesis 2 is fraught with setbacks, where God discovers man’s loneliness isn’t good. God proceeds to make animals to try to fix that loneliness, and then makes Eve because the animals don’t suffice.
In addition to the chapters’ portrayals of God, the stories flatly contradict each other in their orders of creation. In Genesis 1, vegetation is created before animals, then animals are created before men and women, who are made at the same time. But in Genesis 2:4 and following, Adam is created before any vegetation, then animals are created before Eve.…
In many ways, the Bible does us a favor by beginning with two contradictory stories. In so doing, the Bible signals to us at the outset what this text actually is: a diverse collection of religious traditions that have been brought together by different communities of faith over a long period of time…. When you read the Bible, you’re reading an anthology of ancient religious literature—not a textbook, not an instructional manual, not a love letter from God, and not a complete work of systematic theology.
Now, just because it’s an anthology of ancient religious literature doesn’t mean it can’t be inspired by God, or say true things about God, or be helpful in trying to understand God. Its being an anthology just means that whatever is in it that is true, inspired, or helpful will come through in many, sometimes conflicting, voices.
==================
| JAN 13, 2026 Preparing for the Presence to Return |
 The Old Testament book of Ezekiel records a vision of God’s presence departing from the temple in Jerusalem. Remember, God warned the people repeatedly that their sin and idolatry represented a rebellion against his covenant, and Israel’s calling to mediate God’s presence to the world would be broken. That break comes in Ezekiel 10 when God’s glory moves from the Holy of Holies to the threshold of the temple. Then, in Ezekiel 11, his glory leaves the temple through the east gate of Jerusalem and departs from the city entirely. The year was 586 BC. Generations passed, the exiles slowly returned to Jerusalem from Babylon, they rebuilt the city, and they constructed a new temple. But God’s presence never returned; the covenant was not reconstituted as the prophets had foretold. For centuries, the people waited for the return of YHWH’s glory and for his presence to dwell among them again. This hope changes how we read the opening chapters of the New Testament. For example, after the angel appeared to Joseph in a dream and confirmed that Mary’s pregnancy was from the Holy Spirit, Matthew says: “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ‘The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel’ (which means ‘God with us.’)” (Matthew 1:22-23).By citing this verse from Isaiah, Matthew linked Jesus’ birth to the long-awaited return of God’s presence among his people. According to the gospel, Jesus’ arrival is the glory of God that departed the temple in Ezekiel 10-11, now returning to finally end their long exile. This view is reinforced by the opening of Mark’s gospel. Speaking about John the Baptist, Mark identifies him by also quoting from Isaiah: “I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way—a voice calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for YHWH, make straight paths for him” (Mark 1:2-3 and Isaiah 40:3). The text from Isaiah goes on to say, “And the glory of YHWH will be revealed, and all people will see it together” (Isaiah 40:5). To Jews living under Roman occupation in the first century, and who’ve been waiting for YHWH’s glory to return for hundreds of years, Mark’s message would have been both clear and shocking. The time had finally come. God’s presence had finally returned to dwell once again among his people. But this time his glory would not reside in the hidden inner chamber of a building, but in a man from Nazareth. DAILY SCRIPTURE EZEKIEL 10:18-19 ISAIAH 40:1-5 WEEKLY PRAYER. from Clement of Alexandria (c.150 – c.215) Be kind to your little children, Lord. Be a gentle teacher, patient with our weakness and stupidity. And give us the strength and discernment to do what you tell us, and so grow in your likeness. Amen. |
