In
the first story in Genesis, the Earth
is a dry thing located inside a solid dome called “The Heavens” – but that’s not all “she” is. She
is actively involved with the Creator in creating several very
important things and she is one of the seven sacred spaces in story.
●
The Creator spoke to the waters
inside the solid dome and told them to “gather into one place.” The
waters did it and the place they had previously covered became the first “dry thing” to exist. The Creator named
it “Earth.”
●
The Creator spoke to the Earth
and told her to cause grasses, plants
and trees to sprout. She did it.
●
The Creator placed the sun and moon in the solid dome “to give light to the Earth.”
●
The Creator spoke to the Earth
again and told her to bring forth and
an “Earth soul” for animals.
She did it and then the Creator made the animals. The Earth soul gave them appetites, desires and longings linked to the
Earth – the sacred space in which they must live. They ate the grasses and
plants the Earth caused to sprout and grow; and that the sun and moon provide
light for.
●
The Creator spoke to the Earth
again and told her to bring forth an “Earth soul” for humans. She did
it and the Creator created the human. The
Earth soul gave humans appetites, desires and longings linked to the Earth – the
sacred space in which they must live. Human also ate food the Earth caused to
sprout and grow; and that the sun and moon provided light for.
●
The Creator also created humans “in his
image.” This linked humans to the Creator and empowered them to do things like him – create new things by changing things that exist, speak and do things
that are TOV (good for
life) -- and he gave humans freewill.
This empowered humans with the capacity “to speak and do things that are RA (bad
for life).
●
The Creator also endowed humans with a
godlike function -- serve the
creation by functioning as the
Creator’s vice regents. In other words, function together as the
representatives of the Creator to the rest of creation.
The
rabbis developed methods for reading, studying and discussing the Hebrew text of
the Bible -- halakhah and aggadah.
●
Halakhah consists of laws, commandments, personals morals
and spiritual discipline.
●
Aggadah uses narratives to reveal meaning, values, and ideas that affect lives.
The
first stories in the Bible are examples of aggadah.
Let’s review some of the meanings, values,
and ideas revealed above about
humans:
●
We have earthly appetites, desires and longings (like animals) that must be
satisfied in order for us to survive as individuals and a specie.
●
We have instincts (like animals), but we can exercise impulse control and
self-discipline.
●
We have freewill to plan and do things that
protect and preserve lives, make lives more functional and increase the quality
of life – reveal the image of the Creator.
●
We have freewill to plan and do things
that destroy and threaten lives, make lives less functional and decrease the
quality of life -- reveal the image
of a wild predatory animal.
You
will get much more from reading stories in the Hebrew Bible, if you can find
the meanings, values and ideas that are embedded in them.
For those of us with Christian biblical heritages,
doing this literally transforms our understanding of
what Jesus taught and the purpose of his movement.
Thank
you for reading this and please share and discuss it with others.
May
your be blessed with, and bless others with, an abundance of TOV,
Jim Myers
Jim Myers
* SOURCES &
RECOMMENDED READING
●
BHC Bible Study Text of Genesis
●
The Lost World of Genesis One: Ancient
Cosmology and the Origins Debate by John W. Walton.
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