by W. Eugene March
As is widely recognized the opening chapters of Genesis present two descriptions of God’s creative activity. The first, Genesis 1:1-2:4a, is often called the “priestly” account and emphasizes the power of God who creates all that is by simply uttering the divine word. This account probably was written during the Babylonian exile (sixth century B.C.) to give encouragement to those displaced by war. The second, Genesis 2:4b-25, seems to have been written somewhat earlier (perhaps during the tenth century B.C.) with the aim of stressing the intimate relationship that God established with and between humankind as well as the community that God intended between humans and with God.
To get too involved in a discussion of the literary issues or the scientific disputes surrounding “evolution” are not very useful. Both accounts commend awe in the presence of the One who is creator of all things and who invites us all to recognize our true value as human beings in a time when a sense of meaninglessness severely threatens us all. In ancient times the question was not “whether” God created the world – that is a modern issue. The question was “which” God had acted and for what purpose. The two accounts in Genesis affirm that the God who will come to be worshipped by Abraham and Sarah and meet Israel and the church as Redeemer is the Creator who brought all things, including us, into existence for good. This is the very One who Jesus called Father. This is where we begin.
CREATED FOR RESPONSIBILITY
The writers of the Bible often employed something like what we call puns to make a point. It is difficult to capture this in translation. God “formed man [Hebrew ’adam] from the dust of the ground [Hebrew ’adama]” (2:7). We are “creatures of dust,” “earth creatures,” ’adam from ’adama. But God further “breathed into his (’adam) nostrils the breath of life” (2:7) and placed ’adam in a beautiful garden with instructions to “till it and keep it” (2:15).
What are we moderns to make of this? We can argue over the “literalness” all we want, but the significance is more important. What the writer wanted to convey, I believe, is that human beings are important to God, God’s special creatures. While truly of the dust, we are special to God. Further, we have a divinely ordered responsibility to care for God’s world. One of the most potent, enervating “enemies” threatening old and young alike these days is a sense of being valueless. A loss of purpose, a loss of hope, an inability or unwillingness to recognize that decisions do matter. Genesis says we are valuable because God made us. Genesis insists that we are here for a purpose.
CREATED FOR COMMUNITY
A second word play is found when God differentiates the earth creature (’adam) into man/male/husband [Hebrew ’ish] and woman/female/wife [Hebrew ’ishsha] (2:22-23). Each of the two Hebrew terms has multiple meanings depending upon context. The deep relationship is signaled in the similarity of the words ’ish/’ishsha as well as the description of the one creature being formed out of the very substance of the other (2:22). Why did God form two humans from the one? Because God did not want the “earth creature” to be alone (2:18). There is no hint that ’ishsha is any way subservient or of secondary significance to ’ish. God wanted ’ish to have a “helpmate,” to be in community, to not be alone, and thus God fashioned ’ishsha (2:18).
It continues to be God’s desire that human beings live in community. We cannot, as single individuals, satisfactorily tend the garden, earth. We need one another. From birth to death humans need others, and when relationships are not formed individuals usually suffer deeply, both physically and psychologically. Only communities can address the ecological problems that threaten earth. Each of us individually has a significant role to play, but none of us can fulfill our responsibility alone, a responsibility to God and to one another.
GIFTED WITH NAMING
One of the most distinctive marks of humankind is the capacity to “name” reality. Humans readily and frequently “name” their experiences and thereby define them. According to Genesis this is the way it has been from the very beginning. “The man” was called upon to name all the vast number of creatures that God had made (2:19-20). It was during that process that God became aware that “the man” felt very alone despite the multitude all around him (2:20). How the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil” (2:9, 17) fits into all of this is not clear in the text. But what is clear is that humans have an important “naming” function to carry out.
How one “names” experience continues to be critical. Is the glass “half empty” or “half full?” One’s behavior will be affected in accordance to how the situation is understood. Experience suggests that our “naming” of things, of coming to understand our reality, is best done in community. Community perception is not always correct, but isolated individuals are even more prone to error.
God has made each of us a valuable member of an earth wide community and charged each of us to tend the garden faithfully. We do so best by naming things for what they are and by working together to make things better than when we began. And all along, we are assured of God’s abiding care and confidence. We are earth creatures blessed and enlivened by God’s own breath, no more but no less.
For discussion: What are some things you have observed that make people think they are of no value? What are some of the ways your congregation as a community might help restore a sense of value to people? How does loneliness affect the way people perceive their circumstance and try to deal with it?
