New Genesis Pt. 2: Exploring Creation, Partnership, and Purpose in Genesis

I believe that if you want to know how everything will end in the world, you must understand how everything began. In my previous post, New Genesis Pt.1, I explore how we’ve misunderstood what the end of all things will look like. The belief is mostly that we will all leave this earth. It will explode as we leave, God will make something new, and we will live with God in heaven forever. Sounds nice, but sadly, it’s not true. Not even in the slightest. For more on that, check out that post. New Genesis Pt. 1

In this post, I want to explore the beginning of all things — the old Genesis account of creation. If you are wondering why I am using the terms old and new Genesis, let me share why. Genesis is a Hebrew word that simply means origin or the coming into being of something. So, when I say new Genesis, I am referring to something that is coming into existence. Something that was not there and is now there. Like in the story written in Revelation 21. When I say old Genesis, it refers to the old story of the origin of all things, found in the book Genesis, chapters 1 and 2. These are simple ways to talk about the old and new origin stories of how things came to be, whether in Genesis 1 or Revelation 21.

Interestingly, the origin story in Genesis 1 and 2 is not the first account of creation or origins in ancient history. Learning that truth caught me off guard the first time I heard it. The Babylonians, Assyrians, and Egyptians all had stories that spoke of the origins of everything that pre-dated the Hebrew version of the origins. However, what we have in Genesis 1 and 2 is a story about how everything we see was made but through the lens of a God who cares for his creation and those he has put in charge of it. According to the Hebrews, the origins of everything by the gods was not so they could subjugate and rule over us but so that the God who created everything would rule with us, release the things made for us, to us, and under our care. This was revolutionary to an ancient hearer of this story, maybe even blasphemous.

What does the Hebrew version of the origins tell us about God and ourselves, and what does it have to do with the last origin story told in Revelation 21? Let’s explore.

The Genesis account of creation begins with the state of things being in an empty wasteland, lacking purpose in its current form. “Now the earth was formless and empty.” Genesis 1:2 NIV. That’s what formless and empty means. It serves no purpose. It’s wasted potential. It’s in darkness, and yet God’s spirit is there. This opening verse has so much to say about how we should think about the creator of all things. That even when life feels like it has no purpose and we are wasting away our potential. God is there. It’s in this space he speaks. Let that sink in for a moment.

Now, in order to wrap our minds around Genesis 1 and 2, let’s use an analogy.

These opening chapters are about God turning a house into a home.

I read this analogy first from Prof. John Walton, Ph.D., from Wheaton College. The “house” refers to the earth, and the “home” refers to the space on the earth made for humans. Prof. Walton argues that Genesis 1 and 2 are not about material origins. These chapters are about functional origins. The point isn’t how things got here but what they are here for. God is organizing this earth/house so that the new humans can make it their home.

Picture in your mind buying a new home. It’s empty, lacks purpose, and feels cold and dark. Like in Genesis 1:2. You begin to imagine where things belong. You determine where the bedrooms are, where the kitchen is, and where the living room is. You determine where and what the spaces are. This is what’s happening in Genesis 1, days 1–3. As the movers start bringing in boxes, you provide direction. The label on that box reads “kitchen.” Better put it in the kitchen. The label on the other box reads “kids’ clothes.” Better put that box down the hallway, third door on the right. Now you have Genesis 1, days 4–6. You’re not quite done once you have placed your belongings in their proper space. The last thing to happen is that you, the humans, step into your new house. Genesis 1:26–27. It is now full of your belongings and you. It becomes your home. This is what God is up to in Genesis 1.

Genesis 2, however, does not retell us the same story. No, with Genesis 2, the story moves on. It’s a sequel. It’s as if we are going to find out what is happening with the humans now that they have their home. The occupants have taken up residence. But we still need to unpack things. The details of this home are not yet determined. God takes one of the rooms and begins to make it into a beautiful atrium-like oasis. He takes the man, brings him to this atrium in the center of the home, and asks him to take care of it. Sounds good, right? But where is the other half of this pair first introduced in chapter one? After a brief description of this atrium, God says to the man, you can’t care for this atrium alone. So, they go to find the helper. Who is going to help him take care of this room? After God shows him all the options in the home, the dog, the cat, and the parakeet, nothing quite fits. This is where we often fall off the rails in this story. The creation of the woman from the man. This has caused so much misunderstanding and hurt that it deserves a little deep dive. Trust me, we need to go down this rabbit hole.

Here is how most understand this part of the story. God puts the man under anesthesia, performs surgery, and makes a woman from the rib of the man. Or so we think. The Hebrew term used in Genesis 2:21 is tardēmâ (deep sleep). It occurs seven times in the Hebrew Bible. It describes three different sorts of circumstances. In all three circumstances, this sleep blocks all perception in the human realm. In the Septuagint, Jewish translators opted for the Greek word ekstasis. This word is the same as the one they used in Genesis 15:12. It suggests an understanding related to visions, trances, and ecstasy. It’s also used in the New Testament, Acts 10:10, 11:5, and 22:17, which the NIV translates as trance. Why does this matter? Well, there is good evidence that God did not make Adam take a nap or put him under some sort of anesthesia. God put the man into a trance-like state where he has a vision of who is to lead alongside him in the home. God is giving him a complete view of his partner in this world. She has been there all along, according to Genesis 1. But the man needed to see that God had provided the helper required to care and provide oversight of the home. I often wonder if this is more about the man’s inability to see his half as equal, and the woman has already been there shaking her head. Men do that a lot. Think we can do it alone, that we don’t need anyone or anything.

The reality is that God made us for relationships, and the point of the story isn’t to tell us the priority of man over woman but to highlight the ridiculousness of the man thinking he can do it alone — just my two cents.

So, what’s the deal with the rib?

The word “rib,” as it is traditionally translated, means side. The Hebrew text more accurately states, “and he took one from his sides,” Genesis 2:21. Which could be translated as “part of his sides.” This word, side (tsela), describes the other side of something that exists already. It’s an architectural word. It neither supports nor affirms an inequality or superiority of the other half. It is simply the other side of something. Not beneath, not above, but the side. In Exodus, this word is used to describe the sides of the ark of the covenant, Exodus 25:12. Or the side of the Tabernacle, Exodus 26:20. It is one thing described in two parts. Again, God is not performing surgery to make a woman. God is revealing to the man that the woman is the other half of him and that together, they make the one image. In this “deep-sleep” and “rib” story is God revealing to the man that no other creature can assist him in the stewardship of the home other than the woman, who is literally the other side of him.

The last thing I’ll say about this is that it has nothing to do with marriage and sex. People often misread it as a prescriptive declaration as if this is the proof text to affirm marriage as the highest form of existence for humans. Many have indeed treated this verse in that way. It says: “That’s why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife. They become one flesh.” Genesis 2:24 NIV. Notice the beginning of verse 24. “That’s why…” The Hebrew phrase “therefore” or “that is why” is an editorial comment, not an extension of the previous quotation. It is saying, “This is why we do things the way we do.” It links a practice from the narrator’s time to the historical event. Whoever is editing this story is stepping in to inform the reader. They say, “See, we model this oneness today in marriage.” The point of the story isn’t to affirm marriage and sex. That’s introduced by an outside voice. The editor tells the reader why they do what they do in the way that they do it. Marriage isn’t itself the expression of the ideal. It’s a sign, pointing us to the original humans and reminding us that we are here together, caring for our home. The point of the story is to affirm that, as humans, we cannot do the work God has set out for us alone. We need each other.

After this realization, the woman is there with him to partner with him. She is beside him, not under him, in a patriarchal sense. He is no more over her than she is to him. They are equal and sufficient helpers to each other. The chapter ends with a celebration poem, and their oneness is in perfect harmony and without shame. What a world that would be.

Genesis 1 and 2 are trying to show us two things. One is that we are humans. To be human is to be set apart from all other created things in that we embody the creator himself. We’re His idols on the earth. Two, we’re to partner with each other and God to continue caring for this home he gave us.

Okay, now we know how God wanted everything to be. So, how does that relate to the New Genesis story in Revelation 21? And, what does this have to do with the end of all things? More on that in part three.