Monday 2nd January
Read Genesis 1:24-25
“And God said, ‘Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.’ And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.” (NIVUK)
On the sixth day God created animals and humanity from the ground. We have not yet considered the structure the poet uses to write. There is a pattern not simply between days, but also within days. Most days begin with the word of God: ‘And God said’. Creation occurs through speech.
The psalmist appreciated the significance of those small words ‘And God said’ –
“By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
their starry host by the breath of his mouth.
7 He gathers the waters of the sea into jars;
he puts the deep into storehouses.
8 Let all the earth fear the Lord;
let all the people of the world revere him.
9 For he spoke, and it came to be;
he commanded, and it stood firm.” (Psalm 33:6-9) (NIVUK)
He spoke, and it came to be. The way the days are structured is well captured by an ancient Latin translation of the command on the first day – ‘Fiat lux’ or ‘Let there be light’ (Genesis 1:3). God spoke and His word is like a completed command, a ‘fiat’. The fiat is spoken and then, in a way, the poet opens a pair of brackets and describes what happened in response to that promised word. The brackets commence with the repeated observation: ‘And it was so’, and proceeds to describe that what transpired after the word was spoken matched that word perfectly.
For many seeking to reconcile Genesis 1 with the scientific record, the ‘Fiat’ theory provides a useful framework. God spoke on six days and then rested, just as it was recorded by the poet. But the outworking of those powerful words took time, (as explained within the brackets). The effect of those words, whilst never in doubt, progressed according to God’s plans and purposes inevitably.
We can find confidence in the ‘fiat’ behind God’s words. Their assured effect is a comfort in uncertain times. As Isaiah wrote:
“As the rain and the snow
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
it will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:10-11) (NIVUK)
