The Bible Book

25

than literal; a third camp seeks to

combine the two by promoting the

idea of intelligent design that set

the process of evolution in motion.

Current biblical scholarship

also considers the Creation story

in the context of the period in

which it was written down—during

the exile of the Israelites in Babylon

in the 6th century bce. Faced with

a threat to their identity by King

Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon, God’s

people are encouraged by the poetic

affirmation in Genesis that the

world is a result of God’s good

and creative purposes, which will

ultimately triumph over chaos. ■

GENESIS

The symbolism

of seven

In Genesis, the world is

created in six days, followed

by a seventh day of rest.

This is the origin of the

understanding of the number

seven as a perfect, or

complete, number throughout

the rest of the Bible. Seven—

or its multiples—are used to

draw the reader’s attention

to something that is complete,

in the sense that it is all that

God wants it to be. For

instance, in the Hebrew

Bible, God has seven different

names. In the New Testament

(Matthew 18:22), Jesus tells

his disciples to forgive

70 times seven, meaning

completely and repeatedly.

In the book of Revelation, there

is a series of sevens—seven

letters, seven lampstands,

seven judgments, seven

trumpets—that represents the

completeness of God’s plan.

The seven churches that the

apostle John addresses at the

start of Revelation represent

the universal church.

In the beginning

was the Word, and

the Word was with God,

and the Word was

God ... Through Him

all things were made.

John 1:1–3

According to the first book

of Genesis, God created the

world, all that is in the world,

as well as the entire universe

in seven days.

The menorah, the candlestick

used in Jewish rituals, has

seven branches. The design

of the lamp was revealed to

Moses on the top of Mount

Sinai (Exodus 25:31).

Day 1:

Light and Day

Day 7:

Rest

Day 3:

Moon and Stars

Day 6: Animals

and Humans

Day 5:

Fish and Birds

Day 4:

Plants and Trees

Day 2:

Sky and Sea

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