Six days of creation, preparation, history
Today I'm reading an article on John Sailhamer's view of creation—called "historic creationism" as opposed to the more familiar creationism. In his book, Genesis Unbound (1996, and out of print), he points out that the original Hebrew account describes creation in two separate bits: Genesis 1:1 as the creation of the cosmos over an indeterminate span of time and verses 2-31 describing the six days of preparing the land for man (Adam and Woman) to occupy.*
This invites us to view the creation of the universe in terms that don't require the contention between science and faith that is so familiar with creationism. In addition, it creates a framework that reveals some very interesting connections between the days of preparation (this is an interesting revelation: the days described in Gn 1:5, 1: 8, 1:11, etc., as the first day, the second day, etc., have typically been seen as days of creation rather than days of preparation; think about Jesus' statement, "I go to prepare a place for you" [Jn 14:2]).
One of the most intriguing is that Sailhamer notes on Day Two, God "prepared the sky with clouds to provide rain for the land" (122). Jump to the "a thousand years is as one day" concept introduced in 2 Peter 3:8 and notice that Noah was born near the beginning of Day Two (2921 BC); during Day One, the traditional reading is that there was no rain during this time, but instead the land was watered by fountains and mists. Then rain was unleashed with the onset of the Flood. Day Two: rain and a covenant with Noah. Day Three marks the start of the Abrahamic Covenant, and the generations of Ishmael. Day Four marks the Shekinah glory filling the temple of Solomon and start of the divided kingdom. Day Five marks the beginning of the Church Age and the plowing of Jerusalem with salt by the Romans. Day Six launches the age of exploration/colonization with Leif Ericson sailing to the New World, and the beginning of the Crusades (in 1095) along with a resumption of persecution of the Jews that continues throughout the millennium, culminating with the Holocaust. Maybe.
Day Seven? we’ll have to wait and see; I think we’re too close to have enough perspective, but the words of Daniel anticipate our information age: "But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, until the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase" (12:4 ESV). And the angel's prophecy "that when the oppressor of the holy people was brought down the story would be complete" (12:7 The Message) gives us a bit more to look forward to...
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*All the foregoing said, there are those who are not impressed with Sailhamer's perspective, and call his book fatally flawed. The challenge to his assertions and assumptions is important to avoid being swept away with what appears to be “the new answer” to an age-old question that has dogged the Church in our lifetime and before.
This invites us to view the creation of the universe in terms that don't require the contention between science and faith that is so familiar with creationism. In addition, it creates a framework that reveals some very interesting connections between the days of preparation (this is an interesting revelation: the days described in Gn 1:5, 1: 8, 1:11, etc., as the first day, the second day, etc., have typically been seen as days of creation rather than days of preparation; think about Jesus' statement, "I go to prepare a place for you" [Jn 14:2]).
One of the most intriguing is that Sailhamer notes on Day Two, God "prepared the sky with clouds to provide rain for the land" (122). Jump to the "a thousand years is as one day" concept introduced in 2 Peter 3:8 and notice that Noah was born near the beginning of Day Two (2921 BC); during Day One, the traditional reading is that there was no rain during this time, but instead the land was watered by fountains and mists. Then rain was unleashed with the onset of the Flood. Day Two: rain and a covenant with Noah. Day Three marks the start of the Abrahamic Covenant, and the generations of Ishmael. Day Four marks the Shekinah glory filling the temple of Solomon and start of the divided kingdom. Day Five marks the beginning of the Church Age and the plowing of Jerusalem with salt by the Romans. Day Six launches the age of exploration/colonization with Leif Ericson sailing to the New World, and the beginning of the Crusades (in 1095) along with a resumption of persecution of the Jews that continues throughout the millennium, culminating with the Holocaust. Maybe.
Day Seven? we’ll have to wait and see; I think we’re too close to have enough perspective, but the words of Daniel anticipate our information age: "But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, until the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase" (12:4 ESV). And the angel's prophecy "that when the oppressor of the holy people was brought down the story would be complete" (12:7 The Message) gives us a bit more to look forward to...
___________________________
*All the foregoing said, there are those who are not impressed with Sailhamer's perspective, and call his book fatally flawed. The challenge to his assertions and assumptions is important to avoid being swept away with what appears to be “the new answer” to an age-old question that has dogged the Church in our lifetime and before.
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