Rancho Bernardo Community Presbyterian Church

John 1:1-5 and Genesis 1:1-8, 26-31

This is the first in a series of sermons on Genesis that will run through this winter. I introduced the idea before Christmas that we sometimes miss what is happening in our Christian scriptures because we don’t get the references that come from the Hebrew Bible. As a result the Bible can leave us feeling confused at best or outright stupid at worst. This year, let’s review the foundational Bible stories from the first book of the Bible: Genesis.

I am aware that many of us have tried at some point to read the Bible. Most of us give up just a few pages in. Genesis chapter one, when read as scientific history stretches our faith beyond belief. We wonder things like “How could there be twenty-four hour days before there was a sun or moon?” Must a Christian believe literally in a seven-day creation that happened a few thousand years ago or can we believe in dinosaurs and stars that are millions of years old? How do we reconcile religion and science?

Let me suggest that the first chapter of Genesis was written by a poet not a scientist or historian. What is the difference between the writings of a poet and a historian? Let’s explore the implications.

Read Genesis 1:1-8.

President Coolidge sat down to breakfast with a guest in the White House. The President took his coffee cup and carefully poured some coffee into the saucer. The guest, assuming this to be something done commonly at the White House followed suit and poured some of his coffee into his saucer as well. Next, the President added some cream to the coffee in the saucer. The guest followed suit. Then the President added a small bit of sugar. The guest did the same thing. Side by side the President and the guest proceeded to stir the concoctions in their saucers. Then the President leaned down and placed his saucer on the floor for the cat. We are not told what the guest did.

The guest could see how to do step by step what the President did, but he had no idea why. It is the difference between the writings of a historian and a poet. The historian seeks to explain step by step how things happen. The poet reveals why it matters to us.

We can see the difference by reviewing our own American history. How many of us recognize the name of Paul Revere? Of course we quickly think of the famous poem, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, written in the 1850’s. “Paul Revere’s Ride” begins with the well known line, “Listen my children and you shall hear, of the midnight ride of Paul Revere.” The poet tells us that Paul Revere waited across the river in the middle of the night watching the church bell tower. “One if by land and two if by sea,” the signal came from the church bell tower. Paul Revere jumped on his horse to warn the colonists of the impending attack. By two o’clock he arrived in Concord to announce that “The British are coming! The British are coming!” It is a stirring poem.

Historians tell us that Paul Revere’s part in the American Revolution was greatly overplayed by Longfellow. In fact, in contrast to the survey taken today where most of us recognize the name of Paul Revere, historians agree that if you surveyed most Americans around 1800 few would have recognized the name of Paul Revere. He was not famous in his own generation. It was not until Longfellow’s poem that Paul Revere became a household name in America.

The historical facts are quite different from the poetry. There were actually three riders that night. Paul Revere, one of them, was captured in the middle of the night in Lexington. It was another rider who made it to Concord where the minutemen stood their ground against the British army. Since they all considered themselves to be British citizens, it would have made no sense to announce “the British are coming.” In other words, the facts of history disagree with the poem.

So what do we do? Shall we throw out the poem as inaccurate? Or do we appreciate the poetic license and intention of the poet? The poet is not trying to record data or facts, but he seeks to stir our imaginations toward patriotism and courage. Longfellow wanted to fire our blood with courageous patriotism. This is not a poem to teach us how the American Revolution progressed historically from one stage to the next. It is a poem of patriotic courage.

So, is the Bible intended only as history or is there also poetry? Let me make the argument that the Genesis creation account is a poem, not history. I can show that this does not injure our understanding of the Bible by giving an example where an historical account is juxtaposed with the same account poetically presented.

Judges 4 and 5 provide an example of this. A historian wrote Judges 4 giving us an account of what happened in an important battle in ancient Israel. The details include a prophetess named Deborah and a general named Barak, who was called to lead the army of Israel. God told Deborah to give a message to General Barak what specifically he must do to win the battle and set the Israelites free from their oppressors.

General Barak was afraid. Instead of doing what God said, he asked Deborah to accompany him. She agreed to go but assured him that he would not get the credit for winning the battle. Instead, a woman would get credit for the victory.

The historian closed the account of that battle by describing how the Israelites were valiant in battle. The enemy chariots were abandoned as the enemy army fled before the Israelites. Even the enemy general fled from the battle without his own chariot. On foot he arrived at the tent of a peasant woman. The woman’s name was Jael. She offered the general some food and drink. He asked if he could hide at the back of the tent and catch some sleep. When the enemy general lay down to rest in her tent, Jael saw her opportunity to assist in the victory. Quietly approaching the sleeping general, Jael took a hammer and tent peg and drove the peg into his temple. She killed the general as an act of faith in God in order to set her people free from the oppression. The historian remembered her as the one who ended the battle by killing the enemy general.

Those are the facts. The Israelites won a battle. Two women helped God’s people gain the victory. A peasant woman got credit for killing the enemy general.

The next chapter of the Bible (Judges 5) retells the same events in the form of a poem. The poet took some poetic license with the story in order to turn it into a song of victory. The poem was intended to be sung by the Israelites of future generations. In the poem Jael rises up against the enemy general and strikes him down in her tent. The image is of God helping a weak Israelite peasant woman battle successfully against a strong pagan general.

Historically the poem is inaccurate. However, the intention was for God’s people to celebrate that the lord can use any of us. We need to trust the Lord and stand up for our faith. We need to appreciate the difference between Bible history and Bible poetry. The historian seeks accuracy with the facts. The poet touches the heart.

Now let’s go back to the opening verses of the Bible and consider the implications that this is poetry not history. What evidence is there that this is a poem rather than history? First is the format. It is written like a song with refrains and choruses. We see repeated phrases such as “And God said…” “and it was so….” “And there was evening and there was morning….” These refrains and choruses serve the poet to organize the information and bring the focus from the universe to humans.

The poem shows clear organization. It begins by describing three days of God creating realms and places. There are the realms of light and darkness. There are the realms of sky and water. There is the realm of land. These are the first three days of the creation poem. The next three days reveal God’s creation of rulers for each realm. Day four matches day one. For the realms of light and darkness God creates the rulers: sun and moon. Likewise, the fifth day matches the second day. For the realms of sky and waters God gives the rulers: birds and fish. The sixth day reveals the creation of the rulers over the realm of land: animals.

Appreciating that this is a poem helps us avoid the old debates over faith and science, creation and evolution. But it does something more. It helps see the most important moment in the creation poem. The poet breaks the familiar rhythm to make an important point. It is the moment when god creates people.

We are used to the poetry rhythm. God said… and it was so… and it was good. Suddenly, in the midst of the sixth day, God pauses and speaks twice in the same day. This breaks the rhythm of the entire poem. Instead of the normal refrain, “and it was so… and it was good…” we read, “Then God said, Let us make humans….”

The point of the poem becomes clear when we notice the dramatic pause and the syncopated rhythm of day six. Instead of humans being simply another animal to share the realm of land, humans are created in the image of God. The poet is reflecting on one of the great philosophical questions. Why are we here? The answer of the Genesis creation poem is that we are here to share partnership with God. We are intended to enjoy a relationship with God at a level unknown to the rest of creation. We are the image of God!

In my previous Presbytery I had a reputation for asking some tough theological questions of candidates being considered for ordination as ministers. My favorite question was one I used with many candidates. I always sought out the candidates privately and warned them what I would be asking before asking them publicly before the rest of the Presbytery. This was the question I most often asked: “If you saw someone walking down the street that you did not know at all, what could you say about that person for sure?”

Over the years I have heard most candidates jump immediately into the New Testament for their answer. Many candidates have responded that they knew God loved that person. (John 3:16; “for God so loved the world…”) I have heard some say they were confident that the person needed God’s forgiveness brought to us through Jesus. (Romans 3:23; “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…”) But only a few have ever responded with a reference to the Genesis creation poem.

We are created in the image of God. We are invited to enjoy a special relationship with God. For me, this is more important than debates over history and evolution.