Celestial Celebration

Below are notes and explanations from a podcast episode on Inquiries of Our Reality; the first of a series on rarely discussed passages and narratives in the Bible, entitled the Illuminated Bible.

Illuminated Bible: Genesis of Creation

When you read Genesis 1, you don't get the whole story. There's something else that happens during the creation of everything we know and have yet to discover. In the beginning of God's reply to Job's crying out, He further addresses the beginning of the earth's creation. It is in this story that we get a unique insight into what happened during the creation of the heavens and the earth. As it happens, Genesis 1 picks up the creation narrative after supernatural beings were already created. These beings sang together and shouted for joy as they witnessed the Lord laying the foundations of the earth.

Job 38:4-7
“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. 5  Who determined its measurements—surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? 6  On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone, 7  when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

Imagine millions of spiritual beings of various shapes and sizes, glowing brilliantly, all of them singing and shouting for joy as He forms the foundations of the earth. Imagine them transfixed on God as He hovers over the primordial waters of creation (Genesis 1:2), and the sound of thunderous applause as He speaks, "Let there be Light."

This story, it just so happens, is in fact the beginning of what becomes a pattern; celebration at the forming of a home where God can dwell with humanity. The earth was the first place where God dwelled with humanity, in the garden of Eden (Genesis 2). After the fall of humanity (Genesis 3), this was no longer the case, but God did not leave humanity alone. He told them to build a temple, one that was designed to symbolize Eden where humanity and God once dwelled in harmony.

1 Kings 6:29
Around all the walls of the house he carved engraved figures of cherubim and palm trees and open flowers, in the inner and outer rooms.

It was a place of worship, prayer, and coming before the Lord, but this too was destroyed. During the rebuilding of the temple in the days of Ezra, a similar thing happened to the beginning of creation.

Ezra 3:10-11
And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests in their vestments came forward with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the Lord, according to the directions of David king of Israel. 11 And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the Lord, “For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever toward Israel.” And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid.

These narratives, especially when compared the celebration of angels at the salvation of man (Luke 15:10), forms a beautiful pattern and an important theme: It is the goal of God, and the celebration of both angels and man alike, for God to dwell with humanity. It is a story that is truly older than the earth itself.

Conclusion

• Just as the Israelites sang and shouted in worship to God at the laying of the foundation of the temple, so the sons of God sang and shouted for joy as the Lord laid the foundations of the earth—the dwelling place of both God and man.
• The temple was a place where both God and man could dwell in the same place once more, harkening back to God’s original design for planet earth.
  • Consider the creation narrative: the angels sang and shouted at the creation of a realm where God would dwell with man.
  • Consider salvation in Jesus Christ: When someone chooses to follow Jesus and confesses and repents from sin, they are indwelt with the Holy Spirit (John 7:37-39) and the angels are filled with joy (Luke 15:10). This is why we should join the angels in their joy and worship God, celebrating the making of a new home for Him to dwell with humanity.
• In the end God and humanity will dwell together on the new earth for eternity, and all will finally be as it was originally intended (Revelation 21-22).

This is not only the oldest story in the Bible. It is final one, and it is never ending.