The Creation Reversal & The Capstone Ending

The passage under consideration in this installment:

1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
3 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.

This is the third installment in the Genesis series of Contextual Exegesis. In the previous installment I explained the unusual method that I used to understand the passage(s) at hand. It's not exactly an attempt to interpret the passages per se, but to allow the passages to interpret themselves, with as little interference from me as possible, or an appeal to an outside source--that is, any previous learning, knowledge or observations.

Here's how I explained it in the previous installment:

Rather than attempt to interpret the various passages by bringing in previous knowledge, or understandings, I allow the text under consideration to contextually reveal itself.

And to my amazement, invariably, the text alone was sufficient to answer whatever questions might arise during a reading.

And this:

I call this approach Contextual Exegesis, as the context is deemed sufficient for a full understanding of the text at hand, without resorting to other passages, scholarly research, and topical analysis.

The passage now under consideration more appropriately belongs to the first chapter, rather than the second. When I have finished my analysis, you'll understand more clearly why I make that claim.

The Creation Reversal

We learn right away that, "Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them." Has anyone noted that at the beginning of the Creation Story, one heaven and one earth are created, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth," and later, once the creation is finished, that "heavens" are referred to.

Why heavens (more than one)? Could this be a mistake in translation? Were there more than one heaven created? Will the context shed some light on this dilemma, our effort to find an answer?

Of course, you can say that it's because it's referencing the "two great lights" and the stars, but that would be conjecture.

For a time this notion of two heavens puzzled me. I looked and looked for a "contextual explanation," without success, until then, when I noticed something. I called it the Creation Reversal. There it was right in front of me, but I had missed it. I'm certain that many others have missed it, thinking that the author merely restated the obvious.

But I've learned that the context in these passages are critical to a complete understanding of the whole, and that nothing should be taken lightly, or taken for granted, or dismissed out of hand because I may think that one thing is being said, when in fact it's not.

This is one of those cases.

I'm going to reproduce the entire statement below, to show you just how the Creation Reversal is stated within the text, but I won't be able to discuss its significance now, because I'm not prepared to discuss it just yet. That will have to wait for another time, as I work my way through the text.

4 ¶ These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens....

So we have one earth, but more than one heaven. It's my guess that there are now two, and I will carry that assumption forth, prepared to switch gears if the context dictate that I do so. But for the time being, let's discuss this reversal, and see where it takes us.

Throughout the first chapter only one heaven is discussed, and it is discussed even after the lights (the host [multitude]) are created and set in the heaven. Further, the creation of "The heaven," preceded the creation of "The earth." And this is an important distinction, one that many researchers have apparently overlooked. But there it is, for all to see, provided we have eyes to see it--the reversal.

The reversal is signalled right at the beginning of Chapter two of the Creation Story, clearly indicating a departure from the previous creation. When the Lord God created, as opposed to God, creation is reversed--we have the earth preceding the heavens. This line of the passage is more important than it seems, for it sets in motion a whole different creation than the first, here represented by the word "heavens" rather than "heaven," Lord God, rather God, and the Creation Reversal placing the creation of earth before that of the heavens.

This is not an insignificant finding, nor observation. Don't trivialize, or reject it. It is key to understanding everything that follows next throughout chapter two, a point that I will try to establish, as I work my way through chapter two's various passages.

As in the beginning we have one heaven and earth, now in chapter two, more than one heaven and earth, the creation of which is now reversed. Keep in mind, by reversing creation, placing the earth first, instead of second, we shift the significance of the order, giving the earth a sort of predominance and importance over the creation of the heaven.

Here are your two heavens: God created one, and Lord God created the other--hence two.

The Capstone Ending

Although I feel that the first passage of chapter two belongs with chapter one, in many ways it lays the groundwork for what is to follow, and I won't quibble with its placement, as it serves as a kind of bridge between the two creations--the first by God, and the second by Lord God.

We were told, at the beginning of chapter two, that the "heavens and the earth were finished," in a creation sense (six days to create the heaven and the earth), but something is still missing, and what is missing, we're told, is the seventh day (a day for blessing and sanctification).

Here's where things get interesting, and hopefully not too confusing. And I'm going to try to express what I found as clearly as I can, and present yet another way of looking at the passage above, one that makes more sense than the way it has always been understood.

Let's take it one step at a time:

And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.

We're told that God ended his work on the seventh day, and that He set aside a whole day within which to do that.

The sentence structure here appears a little odd ("God ended his work which he had made...."), until you understand that for God to end His work, something else had to be done--something that wasn't completely done during the previous six days--something that only the seventh day alone could provide, for which it was set aside to provide.

In short, the work was "finished," completed, but not the creation process, notwithstanding that the "heavens and the earth were finished." Think of it this way: Something else was required in order for the creation process to be completed, and that was the purpose of the "seventh day."

The work had to be ended, in the way that a period ends a declarative sentence, and is not complete without it. In the way that a graduation ends the requirements toward a degree, and is not complete without it. In the way that a capstone ends the construction of a pyramid, and is not complete without it.

...and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.

This was not a lying-down resting (God was not tired, nor exhausted.), but a cessation of activity, a refraining from creating, as in God "rested from all his work [he stopped creating]," on the seventh day, that day marking that momentous occasion, and a finalizing of what was started.

Think of the "seventh day" as a finalizing day, a putting on of the finishing touches, so to speak, on what was created, and not a continuation of the work.

So we're told that God ended his work [fulfilled a necessary act or function] which he had made [the heavens and the earth, the totality of the creation].

So what was that necessary act that would place the capstone on all that went before (the six days of creation), for which the seventh day was set aside to achieve?

And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.

This, the Sabbath, is the final act in the creation process--to bless and sanctify that which was created. In some respects this day, the seventh day, is perhaps more important that all the days that went before it.

When I turn to my dictionary, I'm told that to bless is to "invoke divine care for." That's a reasonable answer, but it still seems a little incomplete, a little lacking. And I learn from the same dictionary that "sanctify" means "to make holy," and that "holy" means "sacred and spiritually pure."

That too seems adequate, but I always like to look at the origin of a word, how it got its meaning to fully grasp a word in the round. And for holy, I learn this:

The distinction of the word holy appeared around the 13th Century with the Old English word hālig derived from hāl meaning health, happiness and wholeness. As “wholeness”, holiness may be taken to indicate a state of religious completeness or perfection....

I like the definition, a state of "completeness or perfection," but without the "religious" part. I also like the part, "wholeness," as I think that that applies as well to the true meaning of this passage.

We're told, then, that God blessed [invoked His care for] the seventh day, and sanctified, it [made it holy or whole]: because that in it he had rested from all his work [left off from creating (His work), so as to complete the creation process] which God created and made [the heaven and the earth].

Yet, I still didn't know what it meant to bless, to invoke God's care. That part still eluded me. I still didn't know how to do that, and what exactly did it mean to do so.

That's when this passage came to mind from the first creation, "And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day."

God blessed "everything that he had made" by "beholding" it as "very good." And we're told this time and again throughout the creation narrative, at the end of each creation day, regarding that which God had made and created--"...and God saw that it was good."

By seeing His creation as good, God had, in essence, blessed it, and perfected it, and, by so doing, brought it under His divine Care. Despite blessing each separate creation, he still required a Seventh Day to bless the entire creation, "everything that he had made" one final time, as part of the Capstone Ending.

That blessing is foreshadowed in the final passage from the first creation, when we're told, "And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.

Later, I will discuss how we may do the same: create in the way God creates.

The six days of creation are not complete, you see, without the Seventh Day, the Capstone Day, making the Seventh Day (the Sabbath) more important than all the others.

Without it, this Capstone Ending (And I did see a pyramid and the placing of a capstone as the final act of creating it, when I came to understand this passage.), all that went before (the Work) would not have been made whole, would not have been complete. And although the creation of the heaven and the earth would have been finished, it still would have been incomplete.

Creating As God Creates, By Remembering The Sabbath Day

The foregoing passage offers us a hint as to how we might create as well. We can speak into existence things--"calleth those things which be not as though they were," (the Work Requirement part of the creative process, as in "Let there be Light." Yet, without remembering the sabbath (the seventh day), and keeping it holy and blessing it, we still haven't completed the creation process--that is, our creation is still wanting.

I've developed a practicum of a sort around the creation process. We are, after all, dealing with a creation and not just a day of worship, when the Sabbath is invoked. And since we're the Image and Likeness of God, it follows that we create essentially as He creates, or that we should.

Because we rarely see ourselves as creators, we're going to have to bring more effort to bear to the process than God would, but that shouldn't stop us from participating in the creation process, it just mean that we need to be more persistent, and patient, as we set out to create our heart's desires.

So how do we "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy," as part of the creation process.

To answer that question, let me take you through an illustration of the creation process:

The Work Requirement

The First Step, create something, and that is the easy part: we "calleth those things which be not as though they were." For our example, I'll use the model established in the First Creation.

Two examples, "Let there be health throughout my body." And the next: "Let there be harmony within my house." I will illustrate only one here for the purpose of illuminating the process.

You only need one day to complete the Work Requirement. The Work doesn't have to extend over six days. A day for each creation is sufficient. And this day is not necessarily a diurnal day, but a creation day, and the creation day may extend over several of our workaday days.

The Seventh Day

The Second Step, bless that which as been created. Behold it as good. Take the first creation, health--spend time each day seeing (realizing) its presence throughout your body, and knowing that both the body, and the health coursing through it are Good, this will invoke God's Care for the body. But the creation process is still not done. There's a final stage or step that must yet be fulfilled. The Capstone must be set in place. And so we come to the Third Step.

The Third Step, sanctify that which has been created, make it holy, or whole. How do we do this? We do this by keeping out of mind that which will corrupt the creative process--fear, worry, anxiety, doubt, or what have you. We keep it whole by keeping it perfect, and pure--the totality of that which we desire to create. When doubt, fear, worry, and so forth, enter into our creation, the purity and perfection of that which we hope to create is spoiled.

This is where the Capstone comes in, the finishing touch, that which will keep that which has been created holy (whole), it's the Amen, the finalizing step that invokes the full power of the Sabbath.

The Fourth Step, Capstone that which has been created. Although this step comes first in the narrative, it seems appropriate for our purposes, at least, to place it last. When a thing is ended, we say that "It is done." God "ended" the work which he had made, by blessing the seventh day, and making it "whole."

We make our creation "whole," in the same way, by blessing it and ending it, knowing that it "It is done."

This is the "amen" of the work, which is defined in part as "1. so be it: said or sung at the end of a prayer or hymn to affirm its content...."

I'm aware that "amen" probably has many definitions within Jewish religious tradition, and I'm not trying to preempt that here with my statement, although I like to think that, in some small measure, my definition is viable as well.

So be it, using a little black Ebonics, can be stated, "it be so," if it is reversed. And if "it be so," we get an affirmation, then, that that which is desired, is no longer lacking, but enters a state of "it is done," or "it be so".

Let's continue summing up of the creation process by using our illustration of providing health throughout the body. And using the words/thought, "Let there be health...," the condition which we desire to manifest as our reality, we take pains to see it, realize it, and visualize it throughout the body and, at the same time, bless it by seeing the "good" blended with the health, while acknowledging that the "work" is done, "It is done," it is complete, it is so, or using our Ebonics, "it be so."

Here's the important part: we don't have to go back to the "work" part, "Let it be," unless we wish to reassert the creation, but what we do need to do is keep the Capstone in place (keep the creation whole), and we do this by reinforcing a firmness of thought, and mind, a resolve, resting in the assurance that the "work is done." We need to keep "remembering the Sabbbath, and keeping it holy," that the work is done, until that which we have created in the Work Stage is finally manifested.

This is the point where many will falter, and quit, but I'm urging you to remember, and remember again, until either "it is done" in your experiences, or done within your knowing.

This, in sum, is what we can do to create health: Simultaneously, we see the health throughout our body, that it is good, with a firmness of thought, mind, and resolve that says the work is done.

In this illustration, that's all that is needed to create as God creates. The method outlined here may be adapted to anything else that you wish to create. To make my point, I will take you back through the process using Jesus' creation methodology that he passed on to his followers.

23 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; [Creation] shall not doubt in his heart, [The Seventh Day] and [Keep it Holy, Whole, within the Seventh Day] but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. [Capstone, within the Seventh Day]
24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.

What things soever ye desire [Nothing is off limits, excluded], when ye pray [The Creation, calleth a thing as though it were (not ask, beg, or supplicate] believe that ye receive them [The Seventh Day, with Cap Stone: It is so, It is done], and ye shall have them. [Nothing is held back or denied.]

What is missing in this creation process is the blessing portion--seeing the creation as good--which should add even more power to the process.

Recreation

I debated for a time whether I would include Recreation in this blog entry, since the entry is already longer than I would wish. But then I realized that the subject would be incomplete without it, especially since the process is a rather simple one.

From time to time you will come upon an experience that you'll feel that you didn't create--facing an unexpected bill for a car repair, finding yourself stranded along the side of the road because your car stalled, and stopped, requiring mechanical attention, encountering a rather truculent person who singles you out as the source of his or her trouble--the list could go on and on.

How do you recreate the situation to bring harmony, a solution, a resolution, supply to meet whatever the moment requires to restore the moment to "wholeness," to "holiness?"

You do what you do to create, "You remember the Sabbath, to keep it holy." You look the situation straight in the eye, and bless it, insist that harmony is the fact, "that All is perfect and All is good." Repeat this as best you can, despite appearances to the contrary, and harmony will prevail, the Sabbath will come to your rescue, depending on how much spiritual growth you have attained during the interim.

That's it.

If you'd like for me to help you construct a creation process for a particular situation, you merely have to ask. Just follow the suggestions that I have outlined here and you should be okay. Yet, know: I'm always available to critique, and support your creation efforts.

Good creating to you!