01 B’resheet (Part B) - In the beginning - Genesis 1:1-6:8
Spiritual Power The word translated as “hovered”, in verse two of chapter one, is “m’rachefet." The root word is “rachaf," and conveys the sense of “shaking,” “moving,” or “fluttering,”[1] as when a bird softly relaxes its flight to alight upon its young. It adequately describes the actions of the Ruach (Spirit) as he lovingly and closely watches over the created substance. How so? Well, this verb, although found three times in Scripture, is defined as “hovering” only one other time in the entire TaNaKH: “He found his people in desert country, in a howling, wasted wilderness. He protected him and cared for him, guarded him like the pupil of his eye, like an eagle that stirs up her nest, hovers over her young, spreads out her wings, takes them and carries them as she flies.” (Deuteronomy 32:10-11) This beautiful illustration of the protective power of the Spirit, in relation to his children, Am Yisra’el (People of Isra’el), as they traveled through the wilderness reminds me of the same Spirit that hovered over the waters at the beginning of creation. The word translated “hovers”, in our above verse, is the same root as the one used in Genesis 1:2, “rachaf”. In fact, to strengthen the connection between the two applications, the Haftarah to B’resheet is Isaiah 42:5-43:10. A “haftarah” is a prescribed reading portion from the prophets and writings, chosen to compliment the Torah portion. In this passage, we read in the opening seventeen Hebrew words, a summary of the first chapter in Genesis: “Thus says God, ADONAI, who created the heavens and spread them out, who stretched out the earth and all that grows from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk on it….” Omniscience at Work Unlike the evolutionist models, we find in the Torah, a Creator that is intimately interested in his creation. He doesn’t just whip something together, via cosmic dust and proton-charged molecules, and then abandon it to “evolve” on its own. His beginnings, as stated above, carry with them, meaning and divine purpose. Reading further into our parashah, HaShem goes on to create: 1. Light and Darkness on the first day 2. Firmament and sky on the second day 3. Dry land and seas, grass, plants and trees on the third day 4. Stars, planets, sun and moon on the fourth day 5. Marine life and birds, livestock and crawling animals on the fifth day 6. Male and female on the sixth day 7. A time of rest and refreshing on the seventh day The sequence of events is not randomly initiated like the evolutionary models suppose. Everything is done with a super-intellect at the helm. Our galaxy is not just spinning along, drifting through the universe with no one to chart its course. Our LORD, ADONAI Tzva’ot (the LORD of Hosts) was there at its birth, and he will be there when it comes to an end, orchestrating every minute detail. When all of his creation has run it’s chosen course, he will be there to facilitate another new beginning. I have spent quite a bit of time discussing the details of creation versus evolution, and the consequences of choosing the wrong system. However, believe it or not, that was not the primary thrust of my commentary. I want to briefly talk about the decision to sin, from a different angle. This brings me to the second part of my commentary: man’s choices.
