In the Beginning, II

The other creation account is the Elohistic story, in Genesis 1:1 - 2:4a. There are six orderly periods: 1) light, 2) firmament, 3) dry land and vegetation, 4) heavenly bodies, 5) fish and fowl, 6) animals and man. The structure is prose but the intention is poetic. It is a celebration of the sovereignty of God and his creative work.

God is presented differently than in the Yahwistic account. God exists before all of creation. Genesis 1:1 doesn't attempt to explain God or God's origin . . . just begins with a blanket statement that God precedes the story, and creatio ex nihilo is certainly implied (creation out of nothing). God does not form things with hands; he speaks them into existence. This sets Israel's God above the pagan gods of the surrounding cultures. The very words of his mouth are powerful enough to create!

Notice that light was created before the sun, moon and stars. By this point, humankind has realized the significance of the sun in their life -- for seasons, for crops and harvest, for light and heat. So important was the sun (and to a lesser extent, the moon and stars) that many had begun to worship them. The God of Israel CREATED the sun, moon and stars, and they are mere instruments of the LIGHT he created and nowhere close to ascending to God.

The creation of humankind is the crowning point of creation. The human alone is made in God's image, and male and female are created together. Check out Psalm 8:5-6. The humans are made responsible for the management of creation. God remains the owner.

I feel compelled to point out that if you are a subscriber to evolutionary theory, the order is roughly compatible. Vegetation existed before lifeforms. Marine lifeforms existed before flying lifeforms. Later came land-based lifeforms, and man came last to the show. So I wonder how such "unevolved" humans came to realize that?? [You didn't miss the sarcastic humor there, did you??]