willieH: Hi Joyce!
Hi guys!
2-- why does God give us various accounts/retelling? of the creation in Scripture?
Joyce :)
(2) The first "account" is 7 days, the second in the "day" (singular)
I think I addressed this one in my previous post...
The 1st "account" in Genesis is about the creation of TIME and its participants...
The 2nd "account" is about the GENERATIONS of those which traverse time... which are found
IN YHVH (Acts 17:28) and IN the
DAY of
YHVH... that which is
IN YHVH, is
IN ETERNITY... This includes time, the natural creation, all that IS... (Col 1:
(3) The first shows both male & female created, the 2nd makes them separate creations
GOD created the parameters of the inhabitants and characteristics of TIME in the first account...
INHABITANTS: Male & female, all creatures, plants, waters, etc...
CHARACTERISTICS: Celestial bodies - Seasons, Days, years, etc...
GOD then manifests those parameters in the 2nd account GENERATION by GENERATION, all of which are found within the DAY of
YHVH God... Beginning with the 1st Generation, Adam and Eve...
YHVH first brings forth the Garden for Man to live in, ...then brings forth the Man, ...and then brings forth the rivers for him to swim in and drink from, ...then brings the animals to the man to be named, entering into (by name) intimate fellowship with them, ...and finally from the Man, brings forth the Woman with whom the Generations of Man shall share life upon the earth...
(4) The first appears to say that EVERY TREE was given, the 2nd prohibits one...
Every herb bearing SEED WAS GIVEN as food... and EVERY tree
IN the WHICH is the fruit of a tree YIELDING SEED...
(Gen 1:29)My question here is, ...DID the "tree of the Knowledge of good and evil" actually YIELD SEED?
hmmm.... not sure about that one!
The tree
of itself was ordinary (probably a fig tree)... but it was the FORBIDDANCE of it, which set it aside from the others in the Garden...
In the 1st "account"
EVERY TREE Yielding SEED, was given for FOOD
(Gen 1:28)
In the 2nd "account" GOD noted that ONE tree was to be avoided. Guess it is entirely possible that this tree did not YIELD SEED...
It was decided by
YHVH that the man know good and evil... and that the PURPOSE of GOD be
REVEALED as it
IS WRITTEN...
Something like this... I have 100 cars in my garage... and ALL the cars belong to me (and thereby indirectly, my son)... They are ALL vehicles which are meant to be DRIVEN, but as the CONTROLLING OWNER of the cars, I decide my Son can only drive 99 of OUR CARS... and, even though the remaining car is still (indirectly) HIS, and it is good for DRIVING, it is FORBIDDEN to him...
My command does not alter that ALL the cars are still HIS, nor does it alter the DRIVEABILITY of the FORBIDDEN CAR, but His access to it has been limited by My decision because of KNOWLEDGE that I have, which HE does not...
The decision is made because the BRAKES on the car can potentially cause an accident... My son has no knowledge of this problem... and I see no reason to tell him, in part because he has 99 other cars to drive, and in part because I wish to invest TRUST in him to obey my command.
That the car is FORBIDDEN, sets IT apart from the other 99... and the condition of FORBIDDANCE IS the
attraction of it...
I know this is a long drawn out illustration, but it is essentially what happened in the Garden...
(5) God notes EVERY THING in creation to be VERY GOOD in the 1st, but is unhappy in the 2nd...
In the first "account" GOD says everything is VERY GOOD. But does NOT say that it is PERFECT.
It is very good, because, even though He shall bear longsuffering, the goal and PURPOSE of the Creation, will be the PERFECTION achieved IN TIME, in His Son, ...as,
Adam shall KNOW as does
YHVH and His
WORD, ...good and evil, and upon that REVELATION, shall be REVEALED as PERFECT upon the conclusion of that REVELATION, exactly and to the detail, as is
YHVH Himself...
(6) The first mentions God creating man, but does not note, as in the 2nd, that it is done of the dust, nor does the first mention the breath of life.
Though this detail is not present in the 1st account, does not in any way negate that ALL MEN gain life in this manner. At the Creative hand of
YHVH and become animated to LIFE, ...by the breath of HIS SPIRIT, which
IS the breath of life...