The Hidden Message of the First Chapter of the Bible

(Related podcast: The Hidden Message of the First Chapter of the Bible (Podcast) )

God had created all.

This is an apparent and self-evident message of the creation narrative of Genesis. It is a message common to all monotheistic faiths.

However, this is the trivial message.

There is another, deeper, less self-evident. That message relies heavily on proper understanding of the Hebrew text of Genesis 1. It is expressed by the repeated descriptive notification:

“And God saw that it was good” (Ki Tov; conventional interpretation).

In an earlier post (available here), I repudiated this interpretation. This was based on other verses of the Bible, where the central couple of Hebrew words, “Ki Tov”, has a single meaning, consistent throughout the Hebrew Bible:

“Ki Tov” = Because God is good.

The new interpretation changes dramatically understanding the message of the first chapter of the Bible. Suddenly, the bizarre verse, “And Elohim saw Ki Tov”, repeated over and over in Genesis 1 (with variations), attains a completely different meaning.

The message of the first chapter of Genesis is not only, and not mainly, that God created all that there is. No less important message is that Elohim also continuously monitors all that He had created.

Why?

Ki Tov (because of the goodness of God).

The major message of Genesis creation narrative is that God is present in all that He had created, and that He continuously takes care of the created.

However, Divine Providence is currently concealed (“Is there God?”).

This is best demonstrated in the biblical Book of Esther (root of the name is source to various Hebrew words, all related to a single verb… to conceal). God is never mentioned in Esther. Yet, it is amply clear, from beginning to end, that the chain of events, described in great detail, is subject to Divine Providence.

An example:

“Letters were sent by couriers to all the king’s provinces, to destroy, to slay, and to annihilate all Jews, young and old, women and children, in one day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar…And the king and Haman sat down to drink” (Esther 3:13, 15). How very familiar…

Why is the presence of God concealed?

We are living in an era of free-will. Indisputable knowledge that God exists cannot cohabit with free-will. The latter is the underlying principle governing our current existence, as human beings, on Planet Earth. As a consequence, we are free to pursue whatever our heart desires.

Why is that important?

We are here to form ourselves. First, while we grow physically, and later, when we grow spiritually as a result of the chain of experiences, which we are subject to throughout our lives. Our growth as human beings is predicated on our existence as agents of free-will.

Will the era of free-will, of the hiddenness of Divine Providence, ever come to an end?

As documented in the Bible, in Torah and the prophets, the end of God concealment would arrive suddenly, unexpectedly:

“Behold, I send my messenger, and he shall clear the way before me; and suddenly will the Lord, whom you seek, come to his temple…” (Malachi 3:1)

With current realization of End-Time scenarios, unfolding before our bewildered eyes, with the tectonic changes in world affairs that we all witness, perhaps these changes portend the end of a long chapter in human history, the era of concealment, the era of free-will.

To be replaced with a new chapter in human history,

when Divine Providence be concealed no more.

Comment: Main message of this post is given further credence on reading the first of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:2): “I am Jehovah your God, who have brought you out of the Land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage”.