Yahweh Re-Orders Creation

Genesis 1; Psalm 8; Psalm 74:12-17

Yahweh, our Lord—your name is ruling throughout the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens!
Even from toddlers and infants you have established strength,
Due to your enemies— for in this way you silence the Enemy who desires to take revenge.
I give thought to the heavens—your handiwork; and the sun and moon—your creation.
How little humans are—why do you pay attention to them?
Yet you placed humans just under the gods and gave him your glory and ruling power!
You established humans to rule over your creatures and everything is under their feet—
The living creatures, the animals, the swimming things and the flying things.
Yahweh, our Lord—Your name is ruling throughout the earth!
Psalm 8

The King of Rock
Yahweh God is the creator of all things. Before anything else existed, Yahweh God created the heavens, where he lived, and the earth. He created powerful beings to live and rule in heaven—dragons and cherebim and angels—and they ruled heaven and earth with Yahweh God. He ruled over everything in heaven and his powers ruled over the sea and over the air. We don’t know how they ruled or what they ruled, but long before mankind the earth existed with water over all the surface.

The Emperor Strikes Back
Among the powers that ruled over the earth was Leviathan, the dragon. But this dragon was wicked and decided to rebel against Yahweh. He called up his whole realm—the waters and seas—to lift themselves up against Yahweh and to take his place as ruler of the universe. The waters covered the earth and destroyed everything that existed, making everything Chaos. And Leviathan roared in heaven and claimed his authority to rule over all, taking out all the light in the air and bringing darkness. Thus the powers were called darkness. Yahweh was angry that these upstarts that he himself created would try to take his place as ruler and so he fought against them. In great power, Yahweh fought Leviathan and conquered him—although he was not killed.

The Light Stuff
Yahweh then determined to punish the powers that he had established over the earth and he replaced them. First of all, he determined to judge Leviathan and the powers of Darkness. So Yahweh spoke with the word, “Light—be!” and Light separated the powers of darkness. God looked at the expanse and spoke with the word, “Lights—be!” and the heavenly powers of the sun and the moon lived in the expanse. Now, instead of just the kingdom of darkness that ruled over the earth, there was a time of light, ruled by the power of the sun and a time of darkness, ruled by the moon—day and night. No longer was Leviathan in power over the lower heavens.

Separation of Water and State
Yahweh then punished the waters. Yahweh spoke with the word, “Expanse—be!” and an expanse appeared above the waters. He spoke with the word “Divide—be!” and the waters were divided—some on the earth and some in Heaven. Yahweh then spoke with the word “Gather” and the waters were gathered together. Yahweh spoke the word “Dry-land—be!” and dry land appeared where the waters were not. Yahweh spoke with the word, “Sprout” and vegetation came out all over the land. Thus the earth was divided into two kingdoms—the kingdom of land and the kingdom of water.

Filling Up
Then Yahweh spoke with the word, “Waters, swim with swimming things.” And various kinds of creatures appeared in the water, so the waters were no longer free to rise up. Then Yahweh spoke with the word, “Expanse, be flown in with flying things.” And various kinds of flying creatures appeared in the lower heaven. Yahweh spoke with the word to the swimming and flying things, “Be fruitful and multiply, fill the waters and fill the air.” Then Yahweh spoke with the word, “Land, live with living creatures,” and various kinds of animals appeared on the land.

“Fish are food, not friends”
Then Yahweh spoke with the word to all the powers, “Humans are made in our image, so they will rule as a power over the air, over the water and over the land.” And so Yahweh created Humans in the image of the gods in the higher heavens in two forms—male and female. And Yahweh said with the word to the humans, “Be fruitful and multiply, fill the land and keep it in line. You are in charge over all the flying creatures, all the swimming creatures and all the living creatures on the land. Rule well.”

The End of the Beginning
In this way, Yahweh conquered his enemies and established Humans as rulers over the earth.


What is “Yahweh”?“Yahweh” is God’s name in the Bible. His name is not “God” or “Lord”—those are just descriptions of who he is. God’s name is his personal identity, and it differentiates him from any other god or lord on earth or in heaven. Yahweh is the God over all other gods—angels, demons or whatever.

What is a “cherebim”?
These are angels that are closest to God. They have six wings and Yahweh symbolically sits on their back as his throne. They fly wherever Yahweh wants them to and everywhere they go, they call “holy, holy, holy” which in Hebrew means “The Holiest”.

Dragons? What kind of dragons?
We know in Scripture that God made a number of dragons. One is called Leviathan—who is a sea-dragon—, another Rahab, and Satan himself is a dragon. They are powerful spiritual beings, giving Yahweh counsel when he asks for it. They may not be literal dragons, but metaphorical ones that indicate powerful beings who live in heaven.

Why does Yahweh rule the earth?
Two reasons: He made it, and he conquered it. It is a basic principle that the creator owns the creation and can do with it whatever he wants. But the creation was stolen by God’s underlings—Leviathan and other spiritual powers. And so God had to get it back. He did this by using great powers, showing that he is the most powerful warrior that has ever existed. Other ancient stories have this tale backwards—the Father God was conquered by his underling

Why have I never heard about this war between God and Leviathan before?
It isn’t clearly spoken of in the Bible. In Genesis 1, there are only hints that it took place. But it is articulated in Psalm 74, right in the middle of the psalm. All throughout the Psalm the writer is begging God to get rid of Israel’s enemies. In the midst, he is reminding Yahweh that Yahweh already conquered much greater enemies than pesky human armies. And so he describes Yahweh’s battle with Leviathan and than describes God’s re-creation of the world in language that is supposed to remind us of Genesis 1. Not many Sunday School teachers have found this text, and some scholars want to make it say something else to fit their theology. But the clearest way to understand Psalm 74 is that the Psalmist is reminded of a battle that takes place before creation.

Did Yahweh make the earth in six days?
Yes and no. First of all, the earth already existed before the six days. We see this in the Genesis account, where the “earth is formless” with “water covering” the earth, before the first day begins. Thus there is already earth and ocean. Also, God lives in heaven. But the six day event is a re-creation of the earth and heavens. Instead of one heaven, there is now three—where God lives, the water where Leviathan lives and the expanse where the stars dwell. Instead of a water-covered earth, there is an earth of both water and land, and everything is full of life everywhere.

Does this account go against science?Some parts do, some parts don’t. Certainly, the timing of everything is different than the fossil record indicates. Having vegetation on the world before there is a sun doesn’t make any sense to science. It is possible that the particular order of creation isn’t important to the writer of Genesis, since Genesis 2:4 indicates that vegetation wasn’t created until after humanity. But the idea that there was a devastating event that destroyed almost all large life on earth and then a quick resurgence of life afterwards certainly agrees with what science has found in the fossil record. The only question science cannot answer: how did life spring up so quickly? Genesis does answer it.

Why did God make so much life in all three realms (water, land, air)?
We don’t really know. Perhaps he wanted to fill the earth with so much life that the spiritual powers would have difficulty taking over the earth again. Perhaps he created life so the humans would have something to rule. Perhaps he just likes lots of life.

Why are humans so important?
Because God gave them authority over the earth. All other creatures—even spiritual ones—are under human control on the earth, unless they give that authority to someone else (More about that next time)

A Guide to Reading the Old Testament

Old Testament: The previous agreement with God’s people. Stories and laws and sermons about and to the people of Israel before 400BC. 39 books.
A sh**ton of screwed up people listening to God

Genesis
Beginnings—Latin. Beginnings of humanity and the people of God— Adam through Joseph.
When you ask people if they've read the Bible, this is actually the part they read.  Well, at least a few chapters.

Exodus
Going out—Greek. The deliverance of God’s people from slavery in Egypt, the first commands and the building of the Tabernacle.
Great story... until you get past the ten commandments.  The second half of the book is all laws and a detailed description of the tabernacle.  Really?  Really?


Leviticus
Book of the Levites—Latin. Commands of the temple cult: sacrifices, priests, basic laws for all ethnic groups in God’s people.
It begins with butchering animals. It's only downhill from there.  Wait till you get to chapter 18.

Numbers
 Census—English. Stories of the wanderings of the children of Israel in the wilderness for 40 years and sundry laws.
Look, just skip the counting of the tribes, unless you like reading lists of names that mean nothing to you. The good stuff begins at chapter 11.  Start there.

Deuteronomy
 Second law—Greek. The lectures of Moses to the children of Israel before they entered the promised land.
Moses whines like a old guy at McDonalds.  

Moses in the book of Deuteronomy

Joshua
 Yahweh is salvation—Hebrew. Stories of the conquering of the promised land.
Gotta just love that genocide.

Judges
 God’s chosen leaders—English. Stories of the rebellion of God’s people and God’s salvation of his people through heroes.
I can't wait until someone does a movie on this book. NC-17 for sure.

Ruth
 Friend—Hebrew. A story woman’s obstinate choice of Israel and Yahweh, an ancestor of David.
You really want to win your man?  Sleep with him.  He'll get the hint.

I Samuel
 Listen to God—Hebrew. Stories of God’s choices of Samuel, Saul and David to lead his people, to the death of Saul.
This book wants to be treated like it's own thing.  But it's really just the first half of the book of Samuel-- who dies a quarter through this book! Who is naming these books, anyway?

II Samuel
 Listen to God—Hebrew. Stories of the reign of David over God’s people.
David was awesome in the first half of the story-- you know, I Samuel.  Now he screws up.  Don't you love happy endings?

I Kings
 English. Stories of God’s call to his kings over his people, from Solomon to Elijah and the death of Ahab.
It's a bunch of sucky leaders until Elijah. Elijah is the best, though.  He even gets suicidal.  Elijah rocks.

II Kings
 English. Stories of God’s call to his kings over his people, from the death of Elijah to the exile of Judah.
Elisha, the sequel to Elijah.  You know he won't be as good.

I Chronicles
 English. A summary of God’s history, from Adam and focusing on the rule of David.
Wait.... Eleven chapters of names and then a story we already read?  What is this book even doing here?

II Chronicles
 English. A summary of God’s history, from the death of David to the end of Judah’s exile.
This book seems really familiar... oh yeah!  We already read it in Kings.

"Have you heard of  this before?"
"Seems familiar"

Ezra
 Helper—Hebrew. Stories of the return from exile: rebuilding of the temple and the re-establishment of the Law.
Nothing like a Bible scholar to break up marriages.

Nehemiah
 Sorrow of Yahweh—Hebrew. Stories of the Emperor’s cup-bearer building the walls of Jerusalem through turmoil.
The emperor's right hand man goes to his hometown to take over.

Esther
 Star—Persian. The story of the salvation of the Jews in exile.
She sleeps to the top and then topples a corrupt government.  Gotta love Jewish heroines.

Job
 Enemy—Hebrew. An epic poem of a man in severe trial learning to trust in God’s justice.
The most depressed man in the Bible arguing with his stupid friends in Shakespearian. 

Psalms
 Songs of praise—Greek. Songs to God.
Wow, that's long.  I mean, really long.  Do we have to read it all? Like reading the lyrics of Dylan.

I've only got thirty years to go...

Proverbs
 English. Wise epigrams, mostly by Solomon.
I think Solomon would be wiser with a few guitar riffs thrown in there.

Ecclesiastes
 Sermons—Latin. Essays of wisdom, on the worthlessness of the world and of confidence in God.
Whenever I start feeling hopeful or happy about the state of the world, I go here.  Straightens me out immediately.  Like, by the first word.

Song of Solomon
 or, Song of Songs—English. A love poem.
The Bible to watch porn by.

Isaiah
 Yahweh will deliver—Hebrew. Prophecies, sermons and stories about the salvation of God, in two parts: a. God’s salvation during the time of Hezekiah (ch 1-39). B. God’s salvation after the time of exile (ch. 40-66)
Hey, I think I know a few of these!  I really got a Handel on Isaiah!

Jeremiah
 Yahweh is on high—Hebrew. Prophecies and sermons and stories about God’s judgement of God’s people during the war and fall of Jerusalem and the restoration of God’s people.
Gotta appreciate a guy who stands face to face with God and says, "You're just wrong."

Lamentations
 Statements of lament—English. Jeremiah’s poems of sorrow at the fall of Jerusalem.
Okay, so you lost your hometown.  Saw it burn in front of you.  Watched women eat babies.  First world problems.

Ezekiel
 God is strong—Hebrew. Visions of a wild prophet among the captives of Babylon during the siege of Jerusalem.
Whatever this guy is on, give me some so I can throw it in the toilet.

Daniel
 God is my judge—Hebrew. Stories and visions of faith and the judgment of the nations by Daniel, a man in exile.
Chapters 1-6:Whoa, some really excellent stories.
Chapters 7-12: WTF?????

Hosea
 Deliverance—Hebrew. Prophecies about God’s betrayal by his wife, Israel, and his plans to restore her.
And I thought Ezekiel had it bad.  God is never naming my kids.

Joel
 Yahweh is his God—Hebrew. Prophecies about the events of the Day of the Lord.
General gloom and doom.  Just another day for a prophet.

Amos
 A burden—Hebrew. Prophecies about injustice in the land of Judah.
Gotta appreciate a guy who stands before a king, talks about how all the enemy nations suck-- "But you know what?  You suck worse and let me tell you how."

Obadiah
 Servant of Yahweh—Hebrew. A prophecy about God’s judgment of Edom.
I love this book.  It's shorter than Danny DeVito. 

Jonah
 Dove—Hebrew. A story about a prophet rebelling against the mercy of God against evil nations.
The only minor prophet anyone really reads.

Micah
 Who is like Yahweh?—Hebrew. Prophecies about the salvation of God.
The cliff notes of Isaiah.

Nahum
 Consolation—Hebrew. A prophecy about the judgment of Nineveh.
Another book about Nineveh? I'm never visiting that town.  All punishment and repentance.

Habakkuk
Embrace—Hebrew. Prophecies and a poem about the judgment of Israel and the judgment of Babylon and the faith of the prophet.
"God, your people suck!"  "Yeah, well, I'm going to punish them with Babylon."  "God, wait!  Babylon sucks worse!"

Zephaniah
 Yahweh of darkness—Hebrew. Prophecies about the judgment of God on Judah for idolatry.
I know I read this book, like, five times, but I can't remember a thing about it.

I'm afflicted with CRS:
Can't Remember Sh**

Haggai
 Festive—Hebrew. Prophecies about the rebuilding the temple after exile.
Haggai, you're boring.  Just dull.  Please, talk to your friend Zechariah.  He'll give you a few tips.

Zechariah
 Yahweh is remembered—Hebrew. Prophecies and visions of the present and future after the return from exile.
Zechariah, you are effed up in the head. You need to chill. Take a few tips from Haggai. 

Malachi
 Messenger—Hebrew. Prophecies about the restoration of God’s justice through the Law.
A prophet who actually makes sense and says it like it is!  No poetry, no mysticism, just "I hate divorce! Where's my money!"  I get it. 

The Great Commands

The Ten Words of Yahweh

1. Worship Yahweh only.
2. Do not worship or serve any images.
3. Do not use Yahweh’s name uselessly.
4. Keep the seventh day holy by not doing your job on that day.
5. Respect your father and mother.
6. Do not murder.
7. Do not commit adultery.
8. Do not steal.
9. Do not bear false witness.
10. Do not desire anything that belongs to your neighbor.




The two greatest commands

1. You shall love the Yahweh your God with all of your heart, with all of your soul, with all of your mind and with all of your strength.

2. You shall love your neighbor as yourself.