Creation as Temple-Building and Work as Liturgy in Genesis 1-3

Creation as Temple-Building and Work as Liturgy in Genesis 1-3¹

Genesis 1-3, in its account of creation, presents the cosmos as one large temple, the Garden of Eden as the Holy of Holies, and the human person as made for worship. The very content and structure of Genesis 1-3 is in a very real sense liturgical; the seventh day is creation’s high point.²

The Sevenfold Structure of Creation in Genesis 1

The number seven is important for the form and content of Genesis 1 as the number of perfection in the ancient Near East, the number relating to covenant, and of course, the number of the day known as the Sabbath, the pinnacle of creation.³ Genesis 1:1 contains seven words: běrē’šît bārā’ ’elōhîm ’ēt hašāmayim wě’ēt hā’āreṣ. Genesis 1:2 has fourteen words, seven times two. Furthermore, significant words in this passage occur in multiples of seven: God (35 times, i.e., seven times five), earth (21 times, i.e., seven times three), heavens/firmament (21 times), “and it was so” (7 times), and “God saw that it was good” (7 times).⁴

The heptadic structure is sufficiently apparent and scholars from Umberto Cassuto to Jon Levenson have commented upon it.⁵ Gordon Wenham observes, “The number seven dominates this opening chapter in a strange way.”⁶ Wenham notes further that Genesis 2:1-3 makes reference to the seventh day three times, in three separate sentences composed of seven words each. This focus on seven highlights the unique status of the seventh day.⁷ Moreover, although we find ten divine announcements and eight divine commands in Genesis 1:1-2:3, there are three formulae grouped in sevens. In order to retain this sevenfold structure, certain formulae are actually omitted where we might expect them, namely the fulfillment formula in 1:20, the description of the act in 1:9, and the approval formula in 1:6-8.⁸ The significance of these omissions is underscored by the fact that in the LXX these missing formulae are included. The sevenfold structure of the Hebrew text is thus lacking in the LXX which prefers to complete the various formulae.⁹

The careful attention to a sevenfold structure indicates that Genesis in its final form is a liturgical text.¹⁰ We may go further and state that, in fact, Genesis 1 reads as a sort of liturgical hymn.¹¹ On the basis of the heptadic structure, Weinfeld has argued that its Sitz im Leben is the liturgy.¹² The poetic framework and symmetry of this passage is what allows one scholar to describe its theme as the “Cosmic Liturgy of the Seventh Day.”¹³ Creation unfolds as a “cosmic liturgical celebration” culminating on the seventh day.¹⁴

The Tabernacle as a New Creation

Numerous parallels exist between the seven days of creation and Moses’ construction of the tabernacle in the Book of Exodus.¹⁵ The tabernacle’s consecration process lasted seven days, indicating another heptadic pattern also connected to the Sabbath ordinances. Furthermore, key verbal correspondences exist between Moses’ construction of the tabernacle in Exodus 39-40 and God’s creation of the world in Genesis 1.¹⁶ Weinfeld includes a very useful comparison between particular Hebrew phrases which are identical or nearly identical in each passage, including among others.

1) Gen. 1:31 [“And God saw all that He had made, (kăl ’ašer ‘aśah), and found it (wěhinēh) very good”]; Exod. 39:43 [“And when Moses saw that they had performed all the tasks (kăl hamělā’kāh)—as the LORD had commanded, so they had done (wěhinēh ‘aśû ’ōtāh)”].

2) Gen. 2:1 [“The heaven and the earth were completed (wayěkulû) and all (wěkăl) their array”]; Exod. 39:32 [“Thus was completed all (watēkěl kăl) the work of the Tabernacle of the Tent of Meeting”].

3) Gen. 2:2 [“God finished the work which He had been doing (wayěkăl ’elōhîm…měla’kěto ’ašer ‘āśāh)”]; Exod. 40:33 [“When Moses had finished the work (wayěkăl mōšeh ’et hamělā’kāh)”].

4) Gen. 2:3 [“And God blessed…(wayěbārek)”]; Exod. 39:43 (“And Moses blessed (wayěbārek) them”].

5) Gen. 2:3 [“And sanctified it (wayěqadaš)”]; Exod. 40:9 [“…and to sanctify (wěqidašětā) it and all its furnishings”].¹⁷

Crispin Fletcher-Louis sums up the significance of this correspondence nicely when he states that: “Obviously, these correspondences mean that creation has its home in the liturgy of the cult and the Tabernacle is a mini cosmos.”¹⁸

The Temple as New Tabernacle and New Creation

The parallels between creation and the tabernacle are also mirrored in the parallels between the seven days of creation and Solomon’s construction of the Jerusalem temple.¹⁹ Absent are the striking verbal correspondences, yet there remains cosmic symbolism in the temple construction.²⁰ Levenson details these correspondences, including:

1) The construction of the Solomonic Temple in Jerusalem takes seven years to complete (1 Kings 6:38). In Lev. 25:3-7, the seventh year is called a Sabbath, thus forming a connection between the seven days of the week and the seven years of, in the case of Leviticus, agricultural labor, but in the case of 1 Kings, architectural labor.

2) The Temple dedication occurs during the Feast of Tabernacles, which was a seven day festival (Deut. 16:13) which fell on the seventh month of the year (1 Kings 8:2)

3) Solomon’s speech during the Temple’s dedication included seven petitions (1 Kings 8:31-53).

4) The concept of měnûḥāh also links the Temple with creation. Rest occurs at the completion of each project (Psalm 132:13-14—associates the experience of the Temple with rest). In fact, 1 Chron. 22:9 claims that the reason Solomon and not David was instructed to build the Temple was because Solomon was a “man of rest” (’îš měnûḥāh) and of peace (šlm) as his name (šlmh) implies.²¹

Hence we see an association with Temple and creation; the Temple’s construction was depicted as a new creation, and the Temple was seen as a microcosm of world.²²

Creation as Temple in the Ancient Near East.

This association between Temple and creation is not unique to the Genesis text, nor is the heptadic structure. In fact, temples throughout the ancient Near East often had cosmological connotations.²³ The building of a temple often accompanied creation, as we find in the Enuma Elish and elsewhere.²⁴ One of the best examples of ancient Near Eastern temple building is found in the Sumerian Gudea Cylinders. The Gudea Cylinders depict the construction of the Temple as a liturgical act, ²⁵ the temple building and dedication are essentially a step by step ritual process. Richard Averbeck notes that, “Ritual actions and processes saturate the text and, in fact, structure it.”²⁶ Although he does not connect this to the creation account of Genesis 1, the description parallels this passage on a number of points.²⁷ For example:

1)      Temple building connected with fertility (Gudea Cylinder A i 5-9, xi 5-11; Gen. 1:22).²⁸

2) Temple building in connection with wisdom (Gudea Cylinder A i 12-14; Gen. 2:9, 17).²⁹

3) Divine call or permission to build a temple (Gudea Cylinder A i 19; Gen. 1:1, 3, 6, 9, 11).³⁰

4) Construction of temple following all the details of a divinely revealed plan (Gudea Cylinder A i 20-21; Gen. 1:3, 6, 9, 11, 14-15, 20, 24, 26).³¹

5) Tireless commitment to temple building (Gudea Cylinder A vi 11-13; Gen. 1:1-2:3).³²

6) “Pronouncement of blessing on temple” (Averbeck suggests Gudea Cylinder A xx 27-xxi 12; Gen. 2:3).³³

7) Building temple on raised region like mountain (Gudea Cylinder A xxi 19-23 [later traditions associate Eden with a raised mountain, and sometimes Mount Zion is associated with Eden]).³⁴

8) “Laudatory descriptions of the temple” (Gudea Cylinder A xxv 24-xxix 12; Gen. 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 25, 31).³⁵

9) Temple completion’s announcement (Gudea Cylinder B ii 14-iii 1; Gen. 1:31, 2:1).³⁶

10) Seven-day temple dedication (Gudea Cylinder B xvii 18-19; Gen. 2:1-3).³⁷

11) Association of temple building with kingship (Gudea Cylinder B xxiii 18-xxiv 8 [Adam is sometimes interpreted in light of royal terms, as a king, and furthermore, the king of Tyre is associated with Adam in Ezek. 28]).³⁸

12) Divine selection and commissioning of king (Gudea Cylinder A xxiii 25-29 [relates to Adam’s creation in the later interpretation that associates Adam with kingship]).³⁹

Ancient Near Eastern temples beyond Sumer also served as places for divine rest.⁴⁰ In the ancient Near East temples were sometimes further associated with gardens.⁴¹ The parallels here with the creation of the cosmos in Genesis 1 are evident, especially the pattern of seven.⁴² As Loren Fisher notes, the ancient Near East’s convention of describing temple construction in terms of seven, means we should not be surprised that creation in Genesis is heptadic: “One must speak of ordering the cosmos in terms of seven even as the construction of the microcosm must be according to the sacred number.”⁴³ Creation in Genesis, we may conclude, is described as a temple; it is constructed as an ancient Near Eastern temple would be constructed.⁴⁴ The divine fiats are “architectural directives,” in the words of Meredith Kline.⁴⁵

The Garden of Eden as the Inner Sanctuary and the Human Person as Created for Worship

So far we have seen a poetic heptadic structure that portrays the creation of Genesis 1 as related to the construction of a temple. This has both canonical parallels—as with Moses’ construction of the Tabernacle at Sinai and Solomon’s construction of the Temple on Zion—as well as extra-biblical ancient Near Eastern parallels, such as the Gudea Cylinders. What remains to be seen is the implications of this on understanding humanity. Genesis 2-3 depicts the Garden of Eden as the Holy of Holies, and this has implications for our understanding of humanity’s purpose. In this section, I will first discuss Eden’s image as an Inner Sanctuary and then discuss human beings as homo liturgicus, liturgical humanity made for worship.⁴⁶

Gregory Beale notes that the distinction of regions of creation described by Genesis are similar to those of the Temple. The heavens represent the holy of holies, the earth the inner sanctuary, and the sea the outer court.⁴⁷ Other indications of this similarity appear in the text. In Genesis 3:8, for example, God walks back and forth (using a form of hlk) in Eden, which is also how God’s presence is described in the tabernacle in Leviticus 26:12 and Deuteronomy 23:14.⁴⁸

In examining the rest of the canon, we find other evidence that points to intentionality in these parallels that make creation appear as a temple. The Temple, and Mount Zion in general, are frequently associated with Eden, and in some instances actually identified with Eden. Ezekiel 28’s discussion of the king of Tyre is the most famous example where Mount Zion, and the temple, are associated with Eden.⁴⁹ Sirach also associates Eden with the Temple and tabernacle, where the Temple is the new Eden.⁵⁰

Moreover, the Temple was often described with garden-like elements, further associating it with Eden and creation in general.⁵¹ Eden in turn was seen as a prototype of the Temple.⁵² As Lawrence Stager remarks, “the original Temple of Solomon was a mythopoeic realization of heaven on earth, of Paradise, the Garden of Eden.”⁵³ Some of the other elements important in this connection include the presence of cherubim and the eastward-facing entrance. One might mention in addition that the tabernacle and temple menorah was stylized as a symbol of the tree of life. Wenham concludes: “Thus in this last verse of the narrative there is a remarkable concentration of powerful symbols that can be interpreted in the light of later sanctuary design….These features combine to suggest that the garden of Eden was a type of archetypal sanctuary, where God was uniquely present in all his life-giving power.”⁵⁴

Conclusion

If Eden is the Holy of Holies in God’s Temple of creation, the implication is that humanity, created for this inner sanctuary, is best understood as Homo liturgicus. Living in the Holy of Holies, humanity is called to give worship to God in all thoughts, words, and deeds. When we look at the Genesis account of Eden, we find other instances of people portrayed as created for worship. Adam, for example, is told to “till” (from the root ‘bd) and “keep” (from the root šmr). When šmr and ‘bd occur together in the OT (Num. 3:7-8; 8:25-26; 18:5-6; 1 Chr. 23:32; Ezek. 44:14) they refer to keeping/guarding and serving God’s word and also they refer to priestly duties in the tabernacle. And, in fact, šmr and ‘bd only occur together again in the Pentateuch in the descriptions in Numbers for the Levites’ activities in the tabernacle.⁵⁵ Such an association reinforces the understanding of Adam as a sort of priest-king, or even high priest, who guarded God’s first temple of creation, as it were.⁵⁶ In light of this discussion, therefore, what we find in Genesis 1-3 is creation unfolding as the construction of a divine temple, the Garden of Eden as an earthly Holy of Holies, and the human person created for liturgical worship. 

 [Jeff Morrow]