Did you know: Genesis 1 is a poem

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1

The first chapter of Genesis describes the way that God created everything, taking six days to make Heaven and earth out of nothing. In order, He makes light (day 1); the sky (day 2); the earth, seas, and vegetation (day 3); the sun and moon (day 4); the animals of the air and sea (day 5); and land animals, then humans (day 6). God finally rested from his work (day 7) which explains why the Sabbath is a day of rest.

The magnificent description in Genesis 1 is highly repetitive, so each day starts with the Lord speaking, ‘And God said, ‘Let there be …’ and each ends with an affirmation, for example, ‘God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.’

Incidentally, each day follows the Jewish pattern and proceeds from sundown to sundown rather than midnight to midnight.

The descriptions are drawn very precisely, and are phrased with great precision. It is a poem. Furthermore, the highly repetitive nature of the poem suggests it was first written to be read aloud as liturgy. While we know almost nothing about the structure of ancient Jewish liturgy at this time, the context suggests either the start of planting season (in which case Genesis 1 should be seen as comprising a series of prayers that ask God for a good harvest), or these verses were read / sung at the harvest (in which case they celebrate God’s provision).

If Genesis 1 is a liturgical poem (either imploring or celebrating) then it is not history. Reading this chapter in a literal way is not valid and leads to ridiculous conclusions: the Bible contradicts science—for example, the biblical phases of creation are separate and distinct but science clearly shows they overlap; Genesis says creation occurred in six ‘days’ and science suggests millions of years; and so on. In fact, Genesis 1 never pretends to be science and God does not wish us to read this account in such a manner.