God of Vast Array
Raffaelo Sanzio - The Creation of the Animals.
I am behind in my Torah reading. With Marianna’s visit and the news from Israel, my thoughts have been in the Middle East. My hands have been busy cleaning house and cooking for a retreat tomorrow. On Sunday, I preach at Hope Chapel.. But the real reason my studies are lagging is that I love the first three chapters of Genesis. I find it hard to move along.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.
Reading those words anew, I realized that God made Himself present to creation from the start. He is the “Father of lights and in Him there is no darkness or shadow of turning.” (James 1:17) To create light was to imbue the fabric of creation with a tangible witness of His nature. John the Apostle echoes this blessing of light recorded in Genesis in his version of the creation story.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
It comforted me to think of God present in creation before anything was formed. The Spirit of God hovered over the uncreated chaos, but the first ordering of creation was to separate light from darkness. Once light was separated from darkness, then the water was separated from the land, and the waters below the expanse were separated from the waters above. Plants were made according to their kind, and fish according to theirs.
God did not spare in His creativity! Scripture says the waters “teemed” with fish and the skies “swarmed” with flying creatures. The face of the earth was covered with living creatures - creeping, grazing, loping, swimming buzzing and soaring. As I got caught up in the glory of this explosion of life, I heard this phrase in my head - “the God of vast array.” Thinking it must be scripture I searched for the phrase but found no exact match. The word array, however, does appear in Revelation, where a new heaven and new earth are revealed.
In Revelation 19, Jesus returns to earth on white horse to execute judgment on the earth. A vast army, arrayed in white, appears behind Him, each soldier riding a horse. I am eager to see these horses! Some people, I know, do not believe the horses are real. They take them as a metaphor of some kind - and they may be right. One thing I would bank on is that there are real animals in the age to come! C.S. Lewis goes so far as to hold out the hope of resurrection for every creature which has served its master faithfully. I hope he is right. But whether or not we are reunited with beloved pets, I am certain the new heavens and the new earth will teem with magnificent creatures! I am sure there will be a vast array of glorious beasts, because our God is a Creator. He is Life and Light! And He says that creation is good.
Paul tells us that “the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.” The earth we now know, beautiful as it is, has been subjected to futility by its Creator. But it has in no way been abandoned! The One who subjected creation to futility did so in hope, knowing that one day the men and women He created to steward the works of His hands would one day be ready for the task. And when that day comes, when we are arrayed in white linen riding behind the One whose name is Faithful and True, we will see our God’s creation in its new bounty.
Readings for this Week: Genesis 6:9 - 11:32
Note: On Tuesday I will post a reflection from the late Rabbi Jonathan Sacks on the story of Babel. Very interesting!