Biblical Renewal
A narrative of renewal is woven throughout the Bible. Renewal can take multiple forms.
God’s Creative Order
The Bible opens with “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). This sentence is more than an introduction. It is more than an origin declaration. It offers a pathway for the entire biblical story to unfold. Biblical authors were not alone in pondering the question of the universe’s origins, as the Canaanites, Egyptians, and Mesopotamians all had ideas about how the universe came into being. The biblical authors shared many views with these other cultures and contrasted in critical ways.
In the Beginning
The Bible describes the ancient world view of pre-creation as chaos, the dark of night, the abyss: “Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” (Genesis 1:2)
God’s Light
Genesis 1 describes God bringing order to chaos: “And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.” (Genesis 1:3)
In God’s Image
Genesis 1 continues to describe God’s creative order, unfolding in stages of increasing complexity: the molecules of air and water, followed by land arising out of the chaotic sea, then plants growing, followed by animals swimming, running, and flying, and humans as the capstone of creation, created in God’s image.
Sabbath of the Land
The Bible prescribes a sabbath for the land. Mosaic law specifies a year of fallow, where “For six years you are to sow your fields and harvest the crops, but during the seventh year let the land lie unplowed and unused…Do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove” (Exodus 23:10-11) (Leviticus 25:3,4). If they did not give the land a sabbath, the price was exile,“‘Then the land will restore its Sabbaths all the days of the desolation, while you are in your enemies’ land; then the land will rest and restore its Sabbaths. All the days of its desolation it will have the rest which it did not have on your Sabbaths, while you were living on it” (Leviticus 26:34-35).
