The Canaanite creation story
El is credited with the idea in Canaan, El is hard to pin down, because El is a universal word for deity. Arabic, Hebrew, Ugaric, Phoenician and Babylonians, use this word, which later formed the Elohim.
The Elohim appear to consist of: Elyon, (the first and highest god), who had the Idea. Elyon expelled air (spoke), and Ruach (the expelled air) commanded Baad (the wind) to blow, chasing away Arapel, ('the cloudy darkness'). All of these were involved in bringing law and order out of the chaotic soup. Zaphashamim (Heavenly watchers) then motivated earth to bring forth life.
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n this story, the entire world was once only Arapel and Baad. Arapel is a word meaning 'cloudy darkness', while Baad means 'wind'. These mingled together to create Chaos. Baad produced Ruach, which describes a breath of command or word. Ruach is different to wind (Baad) because it has a clear direction and focused objective. Baad does not mix with the darkness, but instead blows it all away, revealing light. In common with the other accounts, Children-of-the-Elohim, rebelled against their parents authority and the realm became corrupt.
A ‘Lord’, sat on the throne, and there is an obscure reference in the Ebla tablets, to ‘Lord Dagon’. Dagon mentioned as the god who fell on his face before the ark, in scripture.
The Sumerian creation story.
In Sumerian, An is heaven and Ki is earth, so, in hierarchy, Anshar ruled heaven and Kishar ruled earth. Nudimmud is the name for Ea as a Sumerian creator-god with the idea. Enki, is the god of fresh water, wisdom and incantations, who taught men the arts and skills of civilization by sending them the Seven Sages.
Six other gods mentioned first in Enuma Elish:55 Apsu, Tiamat, Lahmu, Lahamu, Anshar, and Kishar, were Elohim, inhabiting primeval creatures, and allocated smaller domains under the throne of Kishar on Earth. Apsu ( ‘the conscious sea’) delegated Anu (‘An’ means sky) to rule the sky and Ki (earth) to rule earth. Enki, (fresh water god), motivated the water into earthly life. From this base story, the Babylonians developed their history.
In Babylon, it seems that Nimrod’s mother, Semiramis was made high priestess of the Babel Tower. After the period of the Babel tower, the people scattered in a confusion of languages. Semiramis was carried by the people into other lands, becoming known as: Ishtar of Syria; Astarte of Phoenicia; Isis in Egypt, Aphrodite in Greece, and Venus in Rome.56
Josephus tells us that the tower of Babel was an attempt of humans to do away with God and replace Him with a human leader. Building the tower, was an attempt to get into the heavens to seize power from the gods. By the time of the three universities, (Babylon, Egypt and Phoenicia), the consensus became, multiple gods fought among themselves for supremacy. These gods, (spiritual in nature), exerted influence on the physical world with invisible powers. Humans found themselves subject to: seasons, gravity, weather patterns floods, and the like, and could do little about them. So their chief aim became to appease the gods in the hope of a more comfortable life.
Early Babylonians, being the first to categorize anything, proceeded to categorize everything into Domains and Kingdoms. Domains, being first divided into two, (Spiritual and Physical), then divided again into Heaven and Earth, Light and Darkness, and so on. Not having discovered solar-systems, they divided the universe as they saw it into seven kingdoms, each kingdom marked by a planet, each planet being the throne of a god. Each god ruled a domain. Each domain formed a ‘spiritual personality culture’ with other heavenly bodies. The names of these domains, (or personalities), we recognize today under the signs of the Zodiac. Therefore, the earliest known order ranked: Domain, Kingdom and then subject-group.
The rebellion in this story is by Tiawath, one of the deities in the council of Elohim, who thought he should have the highest throne. After the rebellion, he was cast down to the underworld.
The Greek creation story.
Here again are several versions of the Greek creation story. This story is random. In the beginning there was only Chaos, and emptiness. Chaos is given the status of a god in this account. Chaos produced an egg which produced Nyx, a god in her own right, who became ruler of the underworld. Nyx bore, (of herself), Erebus. Erebus married his mother and their firstborn was Gaia (Mother Earth). Three other siblings followed: Tartarus (Hell); Pontus (sea); Eros (Lust). Once Eros was formed, Gaea and Chaos, (two female deities), were able to procreate, shaping everything in the cosmos.57
Considering it was a Greek philosopher, Plato, who expanded the logical order of all creation as: Idea, Enforcer and Activator, in his theory of forms58, the Greek account of creation seems to be the only one that does not follow that pattern. The main three deities in the Greek version: Chaos, Nyx, and Gaia are all passive. Eros is the first Active god.
Greeks, who loved to dissect everything to detail, suggested nine levels of kingdom for life from highest to lowest, the spiritual and the physical realm are intermingled. Greek and Roman influence on domains and hierarchies, has never disappeared. It found its way into the church by the Middle-Ages, under the guise of honouring people as ‘Saints’. Saints were then endowed with special ‘spiritual’ domains.59 Rebellion in the Greek version was by Cronos who persuaded her sons to overthrow Uranus and become the king of the gods.60
When we come to read the creation account in Genesis-chapter-one, we observe a different structure to the other accounts. We are often told Genesis is poetic, But Hebrew poetry is underpinned by logic. Psalmists have produced a method of exposing historic questions to logic. In Genesis-one, we are presented with the logical order of creation, not the scientific method. Figure-eight, is the logical format that people of this period recognized as process of ideas. Egyptians especially believed, from artists to pyramid builders, from kings to cooks, creativity followed this sequence of events. Today, courses teaching anything, from architecture to zoology, follow this pattern. They just label it differently.
Genesis, describes the process from idea to fruition.
In the Hebrew account, Yahweh-Elohym has the idea. He is the supreme God holding the supreme position in a Spiritual Realm. His idea is to create a physical realm,61 with a purpose of extending His kingdom into it.62
Having established the purpose, first, from a void, physical materials are produced in a molten soup, and a formless chaos.63 No surprise here if you have ever visited a building site before construction begins. Hebrew uses two words translated as, ‘without form’ and ‘void’ in most bibles.64 The first might describe, preformed materials in a primeval soup. The second might describe bland, empty field in which a housing estate might be planned.
Next, to establish order, laws and limitations formed in a hierarchy. We see this in the establishment of the authority of the sun as ruler, within the boundary of day and likewise the moon at night. Under that ‘Rulership’, the evening and the morning formed the boundary of a day. Splitting waters into waters above, waters below and waters under the earth, is simply recognizing the stratosphere, the salty sea and fresh water streams lakes and rivers. Hebrew has no single word for Heaven, they use the phrase, ‘waters above’. In the Babylon account, the god, (Mardruke), nearly dies splitting these waters.
Before the world began, the Word was there. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was there with God in the beginning. Everything was made through him, and nothing was made without him. In him there was life, and that life was a light for the people of the world. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not defeated it.65
Contrasts in the accounts
In the Genesis account, One God creates and allocates the Kingdoms and Domains for the purpose of protection and blessing. In the other accounts, many gods claim their own kingdoms in a rebellion, and use it for selfish exploitation.
The Genesis account alone, shows Elohim-Yahweh allocating and commissioning powers according to their purpose. For example, Elohim-Yahweh establishes two lamps,66 The big lamp, (sun), is given authority to rule over day and small lamp, (moon), to give subjective rule during night. These creations themselves are given kingdoms and limits, governed by their purpose. In the Scriptures, they are called ‘hosts’.67 Hosts are also called, ‘sons of Elohim’.68 All other accounts, detail the acts of gods rebelling against the Creator God to usurp creation from him. The gods, use force to acquire for themselves, areas of creation as kingdoms and domains. This main contrast is a contrast in motivation. Creator God made the universe to give and maintain life with good. The other accounts determine the motive of gods as selfishness, in taking power for their own gain. We will examine motivation later.
This difference between accounts show: the gods exploiting the earth for power and wealth. The Genesis account describes the role of humankind is to ‘Work and Take Care’ of the resources. Moses used the same words to describe the priest's work.69 Priests were a representative of God to bring blessing to the earth. Other Scriptures show our work as sowing and replenishing the earth, turning the whole world into a garden of Eden.70
The Purpose of the Kingdom-of-God
The Kingdom of God is the central message of the bible. When Genesis-chapter-one opens, it announces Yahweh-Elohim has created for the express purpose of expanding his kingdom. Idea, initiative, planning, purpose, and motivation belong to Yahweh. His idea is to expand His heavenly kingdom into a physical realm.
Why should God look at all this, remark that it is good, and decide to create humans, ‘in our likeness’? What gives mankind a, likeness, not present in animals? Theologians will be quick to shout out, ‘Spirit’! But what is spirit? Scripture itself states that spirit is hard to define, chiefly because it blends with the soul and body.
God's word is sharper than the sharpest sword. it cuts all the way into us. It cuts deep to the place where the soul and the spirit are joined. God's word cuts to the centre of our joints and our bones. It judges the thoughts and feelings at our very heart.71
If earthling, like animal, is a shell of dust called body, and has the capacity to emotionally feel, mentally reason and wilfully decide on motivation, what is it about ‘spirit’ that separates us from animals?
Then God said, "Now let's make72 humans who will be like us. They will rule over all the fish in the sea and the birds in the air. They will rule over all the large animals and all the little things that crawl on the earth."73
According to the Hebrew account, as proclaimed in Genesis, we have a logical and detailed order of creation that is understood by all the early world
.
The idea of creation was conceived by Yahweh-Elohim.
As the author of creation, He has the full right of authority of all that is created.
His character and personality determine the principles and design.
His purpose for creation, determines the outcome,
His principles limit the boundaries of the driving powers, (or principalities), that energize creation.
His communication and instruction is expressed in full through his word.
Creation material is inanimate clay and energized by the Spiritual power called life.
The setting up and maintenance of Creation, in Genesis, describes a hierarchy:
Authority, innately recognizes the hierarchy by which it exists.
Boundaries, innately inherit a recognition of Authority.
Authorities are divided into kingdoms, which limit the bounds of that authority.
Kingdoms are appointed Rulers, (Kings), whose purpose is to maintain order and boundary of law, as viceroys of the creator.
Finally, we can state a Principle of Creation:
The creator owns the idea.
The idea determines the Principles and standards by which the creation fulfil function .
The Creator’s principles and Character, determine the motivations and the limits driving the creation (called Principalities and Powers in scripture).
Boundaries, limit Principalities and Powers, by a built-in recognition of Authority.
The Hierarchy in Authority stems from the creator who allocated and delegated it.
Authority is distributed into Kingdoms and overseen by
Rulers, (Kings).
Rulers or Kings are accountable to the creator.
Rulers or Kings are charged with the protection, order, motivation and outcome of the domain.
55 The cuneiform writings telling the story
56 One of several Sumerian creation versions formed from a tablet fragment found in Nippur.
57 Source: greekmythology.com/
58 Most creative disciplines recognise this order: composers, Engineers, Builders, Artists , Novelists etc. all start as an idea which is reproduced in physical format. A summary of Plato’s theory of forms : “man”, is not merely an idea in the mind of god, but reproduced within the bounds of god’s idea as a reality.
59 St. Christopher for Travellers, St Valentine for lovers, St Bernadette for healing, and Mary to intercede to Jesus on ones behalf.
60 Forgive me, if you are a classic scholar, the object is to see the common thread in the numerous variations of these stories,
61 ‘Heavens and the earth’, is simply the early Sumerian way to say everything in the physical realm
62 Lit: Lofty and Firm.
63 Genesis 1: 2a
64 to'-hoo and bo'-hoo
65 John 1:1-4
66,, Hebrew calls these ‘lamps’ (Hebrew mutwaer,) the same word is used for lamp in tabernacle-
67 Exo_12:41 ; 1Sa_1:3 ; 1Ch_11:9 ; Psa_59:5
68 (Hebrew Sabot)
69 Num 3:8
70 Genesis 2 : 15
71 Heb 4:12
72 Made in the image (heb :tselem) literally means ‘Idol Statue’ as it is translated in so many other places.
73 Gen 1:26