Last week we looked at the significance of the structure of the Genesis creation account and its association with the Sabbath and a seven day week.
The seven day week amongst Israelites was rather unique considering they were leaving Egypt which had a 10 day week. This was another means of getting Egyptian traditions, gods, fleshpots, etc. out of the soon to be formed Israelite nation.
400 years in Egypt had substantially affected their culture, identity and religion.
Another purpose of the Creation account was to establish the Creator’s ascendancy over the previous gods they had encountered and would encounter. Instead of a gods of the sun, moon, water, etc.
The God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob was instead the Creator of all these things.
Then as a defining covenant a seven day week was given to the Israelites with its Sabbath to set them apart from all surrounding nations.
In ancient times weeks of all different lengths existed.
An eight-day week was used in Ancient Rome and possibly in the pre-Christian Celtic calendar. Traces of a nine-day week are found in Baltic languages and in Welsh. The ancient Chinese calendar had a ten-day week, as did the ancient Egyptian calendar.
A six-day week is found in the Akan Calendar. Several cultures used a five-day week, including the 10th century Icelandic calendar, the Javanese calendar, and the traditional cycle of market days in Korea. The Igbo have a "market week" of four days. Evidence of a "three-day week" has been derived from the names of the days of the week in Guipuscoan Basque.
More recently and once again likely in an effort to create a national difference and establish a break from the past:
Between 1929 and 1931, the USSR changed from the seven-day week to a five-day week.
In 1931, after its brief experiment with a five-day week, the Soviet Union changed to a six-day week.
The calendar was abandoned 26 June 1940 and the seven-day week reintroduced the next day.
source
Globally we have eventually gravitated towards and settled on the 7 day week because it is astronomically and therefore calandarically superior.
The discussion of the astronomical significance of a 7 day week is a complex topic and best left to its own post.
Now let’s delve a little deeper into the other books of Moses to see if the literary structure that seems so apparent is utilized elsewhere.
Right off the bat we notice that Moses’s life is broken up into 3 periods of 40 years:
- In Egypt being raised as a prince of Egypt
- In Midian receiving his spiritual training and preparation for his mission
- Leading Israel in their sojourn in the wilderness.
The account of the plagues of Egypt in Exodus.
There were ten plagues of Egypt.
We see that they are divided into a very similar literary structure as with the creation account, except this time there are three groupings of three and one final one that once again breaks that pattern for emphasis.
Plagues 1, 4, and 7 are to be communicated to Pharaoh in the morning.
Plagues 2, 5, and 8 are to be communicated to Pharaoh at no stipulated time.
Plagues 3, 6, and 9 are initiated without warning.
Moses is then forbidden to see Pharaoh again and the final plague is unique and stands alone.
This is a very beautiful structure, there are many more intricacies to it as you analyse the complex interplay between its many elements. I will leave these for you to discover for yourself. Since now you know how. Simply look for relationships between repeated elements or concepts.
The Final plague the eventually results in the freeing of the Israelites from Egypt is prefigured by the institution of the Passover.
The Israelite year is also stipulated to commence.
Just as with the creation account, where the defining covenant of the Sabbath was introduced, another defining practice, "the Passover" is here introduced using the same literary device for emphasis. Similarly where the seven day week was introduced here the start of the Israelite year is here stipulated.
In each instance the attentive reader or student of the passage is given clear clues as to what the most important aspect and purpose of the account is, through using a simple literary structure, to group like elements, to create on final stand alone element or climax to the account.
Previous parts of this Series.
Were the seven days of creation in Genesis seven twenty four hour periods? - Delving a little deeper
Were the seven days of creation in Genesis seven twenty four hour periods? - Into the detail
Were the seven days of creation in Genesis seven twenty four hour periods? - Some conclusions
Great post and discussion.
Resteeming this to 9700+ followers.
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The number 10 represents a fullness of quantity. 10 plagues means that egypt got pwned, utterly.
Each plague was an attack on a specific egyptian deity.
Yup, plenty more to this story when digging deeper.
B"H!
"Egypt got pwned "- best comment is best.
What is the main point of the Bible?
It is the written account of Salvation History - The history of God's Covenants with Man.
Covenants are not mere contracts or agreements. They are promises that are made between family members. The Bible is the record of the process of Man being invited to intimately take part in the very existence of God.
sitting on the balcony reading article from gavvet about religion stuff and the church bells start to ring.
Interesting timing... maybe someone tries to tell me something. :-D
Perhaps...
:-)
holy father 10 votes and 4 dollars 20x more than my biggest till now! ty guys on the balcony again and smiling much love cheers
Who keeps ringing that bell? I can't concentrate.
Interesting to see a post about religion on steem, keep up the good work
there are more if you look
they are everywhere! let those who have ears... :)
Why were there so many plagues enforced onto the Egyptians?
Was it because how they used to defy God and worship their Emperor as one or was it all the evil and morbid things like killing all babies?
It was an all-out attack on primitive religion and polytheism. It is the recorded instance of I AM WHO AM asserting himself and his sovereignty.
So, are you okay with your god visiting so much violence and suffering on an entire group of people? Innocent Egyptian families and children that had no part in the decision making and no awareness of what was even going on.
Even before the death of the first born, this plagues seem to imply a total lack of concern about humanity in general.
I don't get choked up or indignant about it. Life has always been rough. The trick for us is being able to look back thru history and prehistory to see the design. It is called salvation history, and the Bible is the record of it. But you're not going to understand the meanings behind the stories unless you are prepared to learn about the writing style, target audience, and Traditional interpretations. People who read the King James Version and then contend that it is the 100% accurate literal word of God (as if God dictated the finished work in English), deprive themselves of the chance to learn about ancient cultures and ideas. Similarly, people who read the more brutal stories and then exclaim, "I can't possibly believe in such an unfair God!" have given up rather than choose to mine the stories for deeper meaning.
The Hebrew stories are very rich, and only fools like Richard Dawkins are comfortable writing them off as fantasies about some bearded man in the clouds.
All I can say is "Amen"
All I can say is "omigosh!" Thanks very much for your input! :)
Yes! All I can say is 'Amen' too...
I have always had a different view about this. I believe that the earth was created by God but there was no time involved. Hence the different ages...ice age etc...one day could have been a million years. Seeing that there is proof of evolution everywhere, that is the only thing that makes sense in my mind.
Perhaps we can get into evolution next week.
I can talk about this for hours with the kids in class. Very interesting topic to discuss and just to hear everybody's views are amazing. I am just saddened by the vast amount of kids especially in my class that do not have a religion anymore...living in a free world, just makes me sad and I can't force them to believe what I believe.
Well, luckily you cannot! Noone should force others to think the way they do!
such a sensitive topic to post on. It's really hard to comment about religion with a pure honest heart without offending anyone who subjectively see different. I will say this in hopes it doesn't offend anyone nor you @gavvet..religion is a weapon a massive weapon at that. The book is written and reads like a mythological tale:) What's the old saying walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, must be a duck:) Anyhow i'm more of a spiritual person like someone who meditates often, idk whatever makes you happy is fine with me...beLIEve in santa for all I care lol...I knowledge aka KNOW I am! Great Post!!!!
If all you see is a Duck, you need to look a little closer...
Oh no:) I read it and decode it, I get way more than that from the bible. It has so much numerology and astrology to learn and increase enlightenment. The aspect of the church's and rituals achieved in church something I choose not to partake in anymore. I am a illuminated being I know the power withing those text, cheers!
I hate it when people shy away from religion and politics. They end up meeting at coffee shops to talk about sports, the weather, and Donald Trump. And they remain afraid of offending someone with their musings. Political Correctness (politeness) prevents honest discourse.
Very good read, I'll surely look forward to future posts....
Thank You for sharing such a nice post about religion
And I'm glad I follow you
@gavvet
Since I first started to read the Bible, it never came in my mind this question until you brought it up. Great !
Hopefully it results in more
Great post... Gives so much to think about as to how far we've came. Thanks for sharing.
Very nice post. I like the pome very much
It must also be noted that God also passed these judgements onto the gods of Egypt, as @thomsaquinasftw stated before. Many people wonder why would God judge something that doesn't exist - according to the Bible, the gods of Egypt did exist - entities which the Egyptians worshipped and made images of.
God showed everyone that he is supreme and all the other gods are submissive to him. Not in the sense of a Pantheon, but rather that he reigns above them and they are gods, not God. They may rule over certain aspects of God's creation but they are in no sense an authority to be worshipped. That privilege goes only to the Creator.
At the same time, it is also wrong to disrespect the gods of the Gentiles by saying they do not exist. We must not insult or accuse, that is God's authority and we must not place ourselves above our own station either. Perhaps we dismiss the worship of idols, which some people do, and perhaps we reject any god other than the Creator, but we must also not desecrate something others see as holy. This is an act which can only be done through God's intervention and judgement. He judges men and gods, not we.
This is very important, and something I don't think I've ever heard. We have to remain respectful of the right of others to worship idols, because to attempt to change their minds thru any means other than reason is coercion. Is this what you are getting at? You can want to see someone converted, but to tear down their altar and sacrifice with your own hands won't do it. They will just end up resenting you and your message.... I think I can agree with that.... but time is short, and we have to get much more convincing!
Oh, I agree! We cannot be lax in our efforts to spread the truth. But we cannot go about spreading truth by throwing stones. That is not what Yahshuah commanded the Apostles to do and it is not what we should do as their disciples.
I believe that our approach should be Paul's - when he spoke to the Gentiles in Athens (and I might not that they asked him about his faith, he did not begin preaching wildly in their meeting places; he was an example of his faith, which provoked others to come to him, much like the animals went to Noah for their salvation, he did not need to look for them) Paul first explained who the Creator is, that he made the world and everything in it. He explained the beginning, so that they could understand the end. We cannot begin preaching about sin to people who do not know what sin is. Sin is the transgression of the law. Where there is no law, there is no sin. A person who does not have the law cannot possibly comprehend the need for salvation.
We need to be aware of the difference between us who have the spiritual truth and those who have the carnal truth.
These days our idolatrous gods have wheels or mortgages attached, we buy with plastic or work excessive hours for...
So true!
Very much true. Many people are willing to give up their Creator-given rest in order to continue slaving, while giving themselves the excuse of poverty. We decide to accept bigger and bigger burdens, compromising the Creator's holy days and his appointed times of rest and celebration, and say that we have to, or we would not be able to pay our bills. We have lost faith in our Creator's providing power, and are worthy of Yahshuah's rebuke.
We have willingly returned to Egypt and put the shackles of bondage, which Yahuah took off of us. Like the Hebrews in the desert we cry about the good old days in Egypt. But the day is coming when our Creator will no longer overlook our stiff necks and our stubbornness.
But I'm beginning to ramble again! Haha ^_^
Love these Sunday post from you thank you so much.
It's my first time reading about our genesis with interest. Now i have to sit down in a pose of a wise man and think about significance of a 7 day week.
Really an exceptional work dear friend @gavvet, I must admit that many things of this information unknown, thank you very much for that, congratulations to the great amterial presented
I wish you a beautiful Sunday surrounded by friends and family
its great post mate..when we digging deeper we can get more info abou our religious works and spiritual things..Another purpose of the Creation account was to establish the Creator’s ascendancy over the previous gods they had encountered and would encounter. Instead of a gods of the sun, moon, water, etc. that is the point im looking very deeply...this is a awesome post..keep it up writing...
I have never paid attention to the plagues structure... so all the time when I read your articles I have part of 'aha moments'
Hi @gavvet, this is a beautiful post, you learned me a lot in this post that I did not think about previously.
Nice post and thank you for sharing.
I'm a nice guy from Egypt and I love to know a lot about history
And most importantly, how are you brother?
The first week of the week was considered seven days before going into the week and dividing it. First we must know that the moon revolves around the earth every 28 days. It contains four different forms during this period. If we divide it by 4, the result is 7. And seven days, then the Hebrews sanctified this period of time and became divided into seven years and did not know that the Sabbath is the first day of the week and means the day of preparation and the rest of the days are said to be the first or second or third and Hkz, Spaton is a period of time means a period from Saturday to Saturday But the Babylonians considered the week as a period in which time was measured in order to calculate religious duties and rites and also mentioned the story of the flood and that its duration was seven days. The Romans divided the time into eight days and then divided it into seven days. They called each day the name of the goddess of their gods which they worshiped. The Chaldeans divided the week into seven days, considering that God created the world six days and that the seventh day is for rest. They divided the week into seven days and called each day a name of the planets known to them. They are five planets, and the moon is the sixth and the sun is the seventh, where the Sabbath was called Saturn, Sun Sun, Moon Moon, Tuesday Mars, Mercury Wednesday and so on. This Babylonian division is the norm and is practiced in all countries to this day. And on the knowledge that the names differed name from one era to another, some of them named the names of their gods and some named them by the names of their leaders or the name of the chapters of the year and seasons and in the days of ignorance called the Sabbath: Shyar means in Hebrew the most comfortable Sunday, Tuesday: Jabbar and meaning waste, Wednesday: Dabbar any time after Thursday, a sociable, what is away from the brutality, Friday: Arabism did not know what it means. Currently called Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. And these are the names, as mentioned in the Koran, the first Sunday and the last Friday and became Saturday derived from the Sabbath, which has been cut and therefore to this day, the Jews sanctify this day and cut off their actions and do not work. In the end, we conclude from all that is missing that the Babylonians are attributed to them the idea of division of the week, but the label is a system emerged after a period and every era he called his hobby as mentioned above and all people were dedicated one day and has special considerations to them. Summary The Babylonians consider that they were the ones who divided the week, but in terms of naming the days of the week, they differed from the era of the age, and to know that the moon circulates around the earth 28 days, we also know that the moon comes on 4 different forms of crescent and square first, This is the days of the week, and the moon has great importance in many things, including tides, which help in the transfer of thermal energy from the equator to the poles, and the moon is moving away from the ground at an estimated distance of 4 cm, where of this process produces a large amount of gravitational energy, where The resulting energy then turns from gravity into kinetic energy that occurs in the seas and oceans, and over millions of years it has influenced the evolution of life on Earth
This has been an interesting read. Resteemed.
It's often overlooked that God is a being of order and reason, and more overlooked that He is an artist, the greatest of them. Rhyme and rhythm are displayed even in the plagues, as well as many other cases. I would go a step farther and say these plagues were not brought about by waving a magic wand and breaking the rules of science and nature, but by a climax of them.
That isn't to say they were not divine acts, or supernatural. A bit confusing, I know, so here's a more immediate example of the concept: The world's most brilliant maternity specialist might know everything there is to know about a child being born, perhaps even know how the soul comes to rest in the infantile flesh, but knowing every facet of the science of this process in no way detracts from the wonder at the miracle of birth.
Simply put, the "how" of a miracle does not make it any less of a miracle, but more so instead.
Well put!
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This comment has received a 0.04 % upvote from @booster thanks to: @hamzaoui.
Yes they were 7 24 hour days just like a normal day today, and it happened about 6000 years ago. This was common belief system until Charles Darwin changed the paradigm with evolutionary theories.
Good article
This was an awesome post @gavvet you need to check this humble post it's right up your pond
nice post
Boom
what exploded?
That is rather interesting ! Keep up.
@gavvet I am about to start confessing my sins and ask God for forgiveness after reading this post. Thanks for sharing!
I really appreciate creative posts and look forward to seeing more of your content in the future! I just followed you, and I hope you'll do the same so we can connect and continue to evolve and learn from each other! Remember, be yourself, because nobody does it better -- Full #Steem ahead :)
Follow me @fireangel
Much ❤!!!
Followed
Plzzz back
Really appreciate your work, Followed!
Kindly keep posting for us I love to read :)
Good work! We need more posts like this here!! RESTEEMED :]
it is helpful to me
thank you for sharing
The subject of creation is a very interesting one to me. Thank you!
Hi @gavvet, here in this series of articles I am trying to expLore Evolution n creation from Eastern philosophies... Here is my first post, that tackles creation from the point of Big Bang.. do give it a read, upvote / resteem only if u agree...
Om - The first breath of creation, the sound of the Universe
https://steemit.com/life/@bsameep/the-sound-of-the-universe-or-the-sound-of-big-bang-theories-of-evolution-from-eastern-part-of-the-world
Wow!! Amazing post
Good job, great post
Good article!!! I vote you and follow you
Please see your post mentioned here: https://steemit.com/curation/@steemwizards/steemwizards-new-curation-trail-day-2
Nice and very useful post.thank you very much for sharing.I wish you all the best sir. GOD BLESS YOU.
So cool your artikel..
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Another really interesting passage is the account of the crossing of the Red Sea. The repetition is... striking. One reads it and then wonders why it was written in such a way... when hearing this read aloud, I would always wonder why the author kept saying the same thing over and over...
Significance of parting of the red sea to be explored further down the line, if we get there...
Oh, we'll get there! :)
It's amazing how the human mind is wired to look for causality in coincidences everywhere. Like between literery value and value on a blockchain; -)
It's wired for a whole lot more than we even know. It's the only biological structure that can contemplate eternity!
(obviously, I have to say "as far as we know")
Thanks for this interesting post. resteemed and reading your other links. I hope my followers will as well.
Peace and happiness from Vietnam!
I love history, especially pyramids are so attractive to me since my childhood, soon I have got to visit a place :) Thanks for a drop of a history :)
(Pic source: http://astromic.blogspot.de/2010/06/whats-mystery-about-pyramids-of-giza.html )
Very good read, I'll surely look forward to future posts....
Thankyou for sharing d @gavvet :)
I thought this post was gunna be about Genesis mining. TBH, I'm disappointed
