Tag: earth

Parallel Journeys

Posted on by jovial_cynic

וַיֹּ֖אמֶר נִסְעָ֣ה וְנֵלֵ֑כָה וְאֵלְכָ֖ה לְנֶגְדֶּֽךָ׃
And [Esau] said, “Let us start on our journey, and I will proceed at your pace.”
Genesis 33:12 (Revised JPS, 2023)

There is a teaching among the rabbis that when Esau and Jacob separate here, Esau is saying something that should be understood theologically.

“I will proceed at your pace” can mean “I will travel parallel to you.” The Midrash speaks to a division of the world – a picture of this life and the hereafter.

I see it similarly, but within a slightly different framework.

My journey through Genesis has led me to believe strongly in this repeated theme of heaven and earth. Not the “future heaven” of the afterlife (that’s “resurrection”), but in the present spiritual reality of heaven, where God currently dwells. Genesis 1:1 speaks of God creating heaven and earth, and I think this describes “twin realities.” And here in this part of Genesis, we are shown a parallel path for Jacob and Esau. Twins.

The Jewish writings describe Esau as a sort of wickedness and evil incarnate, and point to repeated passages where God has rejected Esau. He appears irredeemable. But maybe the picture isn’t meant to be a picture of “good vs evil,” but rather “spirit vs flesh.” It is our flesh that craves the things of Esau. His stomach, his lust, his desire for blood. In the same way the Flood narrative specifically calls out an end to “all flesh,” I think the text is telling us that the corrupted flesh is dying, and that no flesh will survive. The spirit survives, and longs for a day of resurrection, where all flesh will be made new again.

Adam and Eve, too, are a story of flesh and spirit. Read the text carefully and see where death is assigned, and where life is assigned. It’s a repeated story.

So when Esau says “I will travel at your pace,” we’re being told a plain truth: our spirit and our flesh are twins. They are the same. And this is just like the way Adam and Eve came from the one body, cleaved in two, but are one.
Strangely, Jacob will INSIST on separating from Esau, and the next chapter is the tragedy at Shechem. I think this is related.

We are flesh AND spirit. We are not spirit that happens to inhabit a random body. We are not a body that happens to have a soul. They are linked as one. To try to separate this identity in the present life means to ignore the needs of the present life. The story of Dinah seems linked to a failure to see this.

Jacob’s Ladder

Posted on by jovial_cynic

וַֽיַּחֲלֹ֗ם וְהִנֵּ֤ה סֻלָּם֙ מֻצָּ֣ב אַ֔רְצָה וְרֹאשׁ֖וֹ מַגִּ֣יעַ הַשָּׁמָ֑יְמָה וְהִנֵּה֙ מַלְאֲכֵ֣י אֱלֹהִ֔ים עֹלִ֥ים וְיֹרְדִ֖ים בּֽוֹ׃

He had a dream; a stairway was set on the ground and its top reached to the sky, and messengers of God were going up and down on it.
Genesis 28:12 (The Contemporary Torah, JPS 2006)

There is a fascinating rabbinical thought about this passage in Genesis 28. It notes that the angels are described as going UP, and then going DOWN, and not the other way around.

These angels live on earth. They go up “to heaven” and then return to their assigned abode.

The imagery tells us that the angels get their assignments from God and carry them out on earth. They go up the ladder to report what they have seen, and then come back down to execute God’s commands.

It is a dream. It is meant to be seen like a parable.

Remember: “angels” is “malakim,” or “messengers.” A messenger is a deliverer of God’s message. Sometimes the message is through words; sometimes it is through action. The message is God’s will and purpose.

“Jacob’s Ladder” is a visual representation of “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.”

Removing the Dross

Posted on by jovial_cynic

Seven days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature I have made.
Genesis 7:4 (NIV)

If 40 means a period of testing in Hebrew numerology, and we’ve been introduced to the concept of “pure” in verse 2 by way of the word “clean,” we are given a statement in verse 4 that is going to tell us what God is doing, just like God was telling Noah what He was doing.

The face of the “earth” would normally be the face of “eretz,” in Hebrew. But here, it is not “eretz.” It is “adama.” It is the ground from which Adam (thus, all of humanity) is made. It points to us.

And then “living creature” has been “nefesh chayah” every time until this verse. Living creatures.

But here, it is “yekum,” which is very, very odd. The KJV translates this most closely to the literal meaning: “living substance.”

I. living substance, that which stands or exists, existence, substance
H3351: יְקוּם (yᵊqûm)

There are only two other places it is used in the Scriptures. The next time we see it is in verse 23, where it is clear that God did what He said. He has wiped out “yekum.”

And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark.
Genesis 7:23 (KJV)

But the more interesting instance is Deuteronomy 11:6, where it means a person’s possessions. Their stuff. The things in them that, perhaps… needed to be removed.

And what he did unto Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben: how the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their households, and their tents, and all the substance that was in their possession, in the midst of all Israel:
Deuteronomy 11:6 (KJV)

And so Genesis 7:4 may point to this understanding: God is providing a period of testing (40 days) that is meant to remove the impurities (yekum) from us (adama).

This is purification. This is gold purified by fire. This is God making us into people who reflect Him.

Vast Array

Posted on by jovial_cynic
Guest Author @Randallthetrue from Twitter/X:

So the heavens and the earth were finished with all their forces.
Genesis 2:1 (John Goldingay, The First Testament)

What I love about this translation (John Goldingay, The First Testament, A New Translation, is it uses the word forces.

This opens up many lines of thought.

First Question: What forces is it talking about? I can think of many such as gravity, air currents, electricity, life (breathing and so on), photosynthesis… there are many.

Next the Scripture states that says God rested. but what is interesting is the forces He instituted did not stop. When He spoke them into existence they were always there. They never stop for the Sabbath. Mankind was told to take a Sabbath and in a different way the fields of the earth were told to be Sabbathed as well.

Heaven and Earth, Earth and Heaven

Posted on by jovial_cynic
I’ve argued that “love God” is the same as “love your neighbor,” and that the order isn’t the point. Loving your neighbor is like loving God. The order doesn’t indicate priority.

Some of you think heaven is greater than earth, due to the order of creation. You’re wrong.

Look.

This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.
Genesis 2:4 (NIV)

The Vault

Posted on by jovial_cynic
I just had this epiphany today. I’ve always wondered about day #2 of creation in Genesis 1, because it’s the only day God doesn’t say is “good.”

I think I have an answer. The focus isn’t the separation of the waters (chaos above, chaos below)… but about the “vault.”

Some bibles say “firmament,” and some say “vault,” but the image is this space created between the waters that separates the waters above from the waters below. And it’s inside this separation where God separates water from land. Inside this special place.

I often think about working against the curses of Genesis 3 & 4, and how we’re meant to shine as lights in the darkness. A part of our Christian prayer is “on earth, as it is in heaven.” And it’s a prayer to create a protected space in this life where God can be seen clearly…

This protected space is like a vault that holds back the waters of chaos & darkness. It’s space where water is gathered away from land, which represents humanity. And life flourishes on that land.

When we pray “on earth, as it is in heaven,” we’re praying for the firmament.

So why does God not say “it is good?”

Perhaps it’s because it isn’t good *yet.* It represents the good we MUST DO later, after the curse of sin. It WILL be good.

Create or Split

Posted on by jovial_cynic
The word “create” in Gen 1:1 includes a once-used alternate meaning. In Joshua 17:15, it is used to mean “cut down, or divide.” To split. To separate.

Heaven (masculine word); earth (feminine word). Separate, but perhaps made of the same thing.

It echoes.

“Splitting to create order” is the prevalent theme: heaven/earth, light/dark, waters-above/waters-below, water/dry-land.

I think “in the beginning, God split heaven and earth” can be a reasonable additional view of the text.