by Theological Themes in Genesis 1 — 11
One theological theme about God found in Genesis 1–11 is that God created everything with no opposition. The scripture, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (Gen. 1:1, New American Standard Bible) ensures that the reader knows that God was the start of creation. The remainder of Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 explains the creation and how God was responsible for all of it.
Hamilton mentions “The most obvious observation is the emphasis in these two chapters on the truth of God’s oneness. Instead of encountering a host of deities, the reader meets the one God. Unlike pagan gods, God has no spouse or consort.”[1] God as creator is distinct from humankind as creature (Gen. 2:7, 21-2). God is moral and holy (Gen. 2:16; 3:23; 6:5-7, 13). God is sovereign and majestic (bara, Gen. 1:1, 21, 27).
When reading “Let Us make mankind in Our image” (Gen. 1:26), there is confusion as God is then mentioned as plural. There is a lot of speculation on what is meant by this and Victor states that there are at least 6 different possible explanations and I agree with his statement, “Sixth, and most plausible to me, is the explanation that sees in the ‘us’ a plural of fullness or plurality within the Godhead. Perhaps God is addressing his Spirit.”[2] The lack of any scripture on any opposition during God’s creation informs the reader that there is no equal to him and that he does as he wants. Victor states, “The closest that Genesis 1 or 2 comes is the reference to the ‘sea monsters’.”[3] But the scripture also ends with “…and God saw that it was good.” (Gen. 1:21).
Another theological theme about God found in Genesis 1–11 is that God is loving, merciful, and always giving humankind motivation to keep living. The story of Adam, Eve and the Serpent is the first example where God was merciful by not killing Adam and Eve immediately when they disobeyed his command of not eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Instead, God provided them with consequences but not before setting them up for continued success. God announces that mankind is now like God because of this action. (Gen. 3:22)
An example is “And the LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.” (Gen. 3:21) God had to kill an animal to provide protective skin for Adam and Eve before being cast out. This might have been the first killing to have happened and it was because of the sin of mankind which is sad to think about. It is also inspiring to see how much God did for mankind. God has a merciful nature and that it is one of the most important attributes of God as he did not want to see mankind live forever in sin which might be one of the reasons for making mankind mortal.
The story of Cain and Abel is also a representation of the Theology as God doesn’t kill Cain for his actions but is merciful in making sure Cain is not killed. “And the LORD placed a mark on Cain, so that no one finding him would kill him.” (Gen. 4:15). Noah is another story where God provides grace upon mankind is through Noah and the ark. “Then God said to Noah, “The end of humanity has come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence because of people; and behold, I am about to destroy them with the earth. Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; you shall make the ark with compartments, and cover it inside and out with pitch.” (Gen. 6:13-14). All three of these stories have the same ending where God provides mercy and grace upon mankind.
A theological theme about mankind found in Genesis 1–11 is that mankind was intentionally created in God’s own image and likeness to rule over Earth and all its inhabitants. “So God created man in His own image,” (Gen. 1:27) is proof that God and man are similar in appearance. “let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the livestock and over all the earth, and over every crawling thing that crawls on the earth.” (Gen. 1:26) gives hierarchy where man is to have domain over everything else. “…it is plain to see that humankind is set apart from the rest of creation and indeed is placed on a pedestal. Unlike the views of pagan accounts that we will examine, in Genesis humankind neither is created as an afterthought nor is consigned to drudge as a substitute for recalcitrant deities. Manual labor is a God-given privilege, not a sentence or a penalty.”[4]
Humankind has a purpose and it is definitely not passive in nature. Helping God rule over Earth is something mankind needs to take seriously and observation proves that we are not completing that objective too well.
More theological themes about mankind found in Genesis 1–11 include:
- Mankind has trouble adhering to rules and is self-centered. A common theme in the stories show where mankind was given clear and concise rules and morals but they disobeyed them for personal gain or retaliation. Some examples include the Serpent tempting Adam and Eve with knowledge, Cain killing his brother Abel because of jealousy, and “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of mankind was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually.” (Gen. 6:5).
- Mankind is accountable to a moral/holy God (Gen. 2:15,17).
- Mankind has free will and capable of sin (Gen. 3:6). God provided everything that was needed but it wasn’t enough which provided the serpent an opportunity for mankind to fall.
- Man’s sin has consequences (Gen 3:14, 23). “And I will make enemies of you and the woman, and of your offspring and her Descendant; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise Him on the heel. (Gen. 3:15, New American Standard Bible), Even with mercy and grace, God will provide punishment for mankind’s actions.
- Mankind is mortal (Gen. 2:17; 3:22).
- Mankind has purpose (Gen. 3:8-fellowship with God; 1:28-stewardship).
- Mankind is to hold life sacred (Gen. 9:6).
[1] Victor P. Hamilton, Handbook on the Pentateuch, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2005), 24.
[2] Ibid., 25
[3] Ibid., 26
[4] Ibid., 28