Blog 2023-09-22
Ge 1 - Tablets of ten commandments [∞]
Tablets of ten commandments
God probably wrote the first account of creation on tablets like he wrote the law on tablets for Moses. [1] As you read Genesis 1, count how many times “God said”. There were ten commandments for creation, and ten commandments given to Moses, for men.
There is a difference between the two sets of commandments. When he commanded the light to be, it was. When he commanded the waters to part, they parted. But when he commanded men not to worship other gods, men did not obey him. Everything in the universe obeys God except man.
The structure of the story shows us what was on each tablet. You are familiar with written structure. In a book, you expect a title page, an introduction, and then chapter breaks. When you write on tablets, you use a different structure.
The introduction to the creation story is at the top of the first tablet. 1 ¶ In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
The words “heaven to give light upon the earth” are used at the bottom of the first tablet, and the top of the second so that you know what order to place the tablets when you read.
The ideas on the first tablet tell about God. They are repeated in order on the second tablet to tell how God made us to be like him.
The end of the story is told in two verses: 4 ¶ These [are] the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens, 5 And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and [there was] not a man to till the ground.
There is another structural hint. The last time he mentions ‘heaven and earth’ we are told to look for the other ‘heaven and earth’ “before the herbs, rain and man”. Herbs did not appear until the Third Day. It indicates that it is the close of the story that started on the first day, so that you don’t look for another tablet to continue reading.
