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The only way we can know God for sure is to look at how He reveals Himself through the Bible. While God revealed Himself in person to Adam and Eve, all that was largely lost by the time of Moses. Now He longed to teach mankind about Himself again.

The intended audience for the Creation story in Genesis is the Hebrews, who had just come out of Egyptian captivity. They had largely adopted the gods of their masters. A tree was a god, a mountain was a god, a river was a god—even a scarab (dung) beetle was a god! These gods were all parts of creation, but had no power to create, themselves. Therefore, our Creator needed a new revelation of Himself. The central issue in this story is that God is powerful. He works outside of Creation; He controls Creation; He has the power to create.

The writer gives us the chaotic state of affairs in the beginning. Genesis 1 says there was water and darkness, and the earth was formless and empty. But notice how God sets up three distinct “environments” as He creates our world:

As the Spirit of God hovered over the waters and this empty mass, suddenly He spoke—and there was Light! God called the light Day, and the darkness Night, and since light is necessary for nearly all living things, we understand why He created it first. On the second day God created the firmament, a word derived from the Latin firmamentum, meaning “to support, prop, or stay.” This giant air pocket suspends the waters above from the waters below.

On the third day God gathered up the waters below into the Seas, and called the dry land Earth. In this act, He created an environment for all the creatures of the air and the seas. He also provided the environment and food that His land creatures would need by creating grass and seed-bearing fruit.

The Creator then fills these environments in the next three days. The first day’s creation (day and night) was filled on the fourth day by the sun, moon, and stars. Right here many scientists have problems with the Bible because they try to apply logic (Greek thinking) to the event. “How can there have been light without the sun, moon, and stars?” they ask. They explanation is simple: The Light in the first day is the Light of God’s presence. This was the same Light that clothed Adam and Eve before they sinned.

On the fifth day He filled the second environment by creating birds for the firmament and sea creatures for the seas. Then on the sixth day He created the animals that inhabited the dry land, culminating with His crowning act of Creation—a man in His own image, to whom He gave dominion over it all.

Do you see the parallels between the first three days and the next three days of Creation Week? Clearly, the Creator is a God of order, but it also demonstrates His great care and love for each of His creatures.

Now we come to a day that has no parallel. After declaring that everything He created was very good, on the seventh day God rested from His labors, and sanctified it. The word sanctuary is used throughout the Scriptures to signify God dwelling with His people: “Let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.” Exodus 25:8. This concept is clearly illustrated by the position of the tabernacle, as the Hebrews camped in the wilderness (see Numbers 2). Three tribes encamped on each of the four sides of the tabernacle, forming a perfect square—with God right in the middle of them.

sImmediately following the creation of man, God longed to spend time with him and bond with him. In blessing and sanctifying the Sabbath, He created a sanctuary in time for us to commune with Him.

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