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Genesis 1:1-5 – Chiasm and Lessons
There are days I wish I could spend doing nothing else than seeing the structures, including the chiastic structures, within the Bible.
(ASV)
A – TIME CREATED: 1) In the beginning
B – PHYSICAL DUALITY: God created the heavens and the earth.
C – DISORDER: 2) And the earth was waste and void;
D – DARKNESS: – and darkness was upon the face of the deep:
E – DIVINE PRESENCE ACTING: and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
E’ – DIVINE PRESENCE SPEAKING: 3) And God said,
D’ – LIGHT: 3) Let there be light: and there was light. 4) And God saw the light, that it was good:
C’ – ORDER: and God divided the light from the darkness. 5) And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night.
B’ – PHYSICAL DUALITY: And there was evening and there was morning,
A’ – TIME CREATED: one day.
These structures are not only attractive because they are fascinating, and reveal the divine hand of God, but because they are instructive. At the risk of over allegorizing, there are spiritual lessons seen right here in the beginning.
A – We are born into an existence of time.
B – Our birth consists of a dual reality of the spiritual and physical.
C – Disorder reigns as we choose sin.
D – Disorder leads to a life without God into darkness.
E – God is there even in the dark times.
E’ – God reveals Himself through His word.
D’ – Light from His word starts its work in my life.
C’ – Because of God’s light, order becomes a reality.
B’ – Our life is spent as a dual reality of the spiritual and physical.
A’ – God works within time making my time His time.
Notice the similar themes of dual realities, disorder, darkness, light, God, “face”, and word the Holy Spirit reveals through Paul’s pen in 2 Corinthians 4:1-6 (CSB):
1) Therefore, since we have this ministry because we were shown mercy, we do not give up. 2) Instead, we have renounced secret and shameful things, not acting deceitfully or distorting the word of God, but commending ourselves before God to everyone’s conscience by an open display of the truth. 3) But if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4) In their case, the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5) For we are not proclaiming ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’s sake. 6) For God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of God’s glory in the face of Jesus Christ.
This passage isn’t the only one reminiscent of Genesis 1. Did you notice the middle section dealing with the Holy Spirit hovering over the water and God speaking?
Matthew 3:16-17 (CSB):
16) When Jesus was baptized, he went up immediately from the water. The heavens suddenly opened for him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming down on him. 17) And a voice from heaven said: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased.”
There are days I am completely enmeshed in seeing how the Bible is one story over and over. Creation, Creator, and New Creation are one story.
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