At Dawn of Time
—after Genesis 1:1—2:3
At dawn of time God made both heaven and earth.
And as the earth was formless and unfilled
And darkness blanketed the ocean’s girth,
God’s Spirit interceded as he willed
And hovered over all the waters chilled.
“Let there be light,” God said, and light appeared!
God verified that light was good and right.
A rift—the light from dark—he commandeered.
The light he christened “Day,” and darkness, “Night,”
On eve and morn of Day One beaming bright.
“From waters let an opening advance.
Let waters from the waters break away.”
The Heavens then emerged, a grand expanse,
To hold the waters high and low at bay.
The evening and the morning: Second Day.
“From lower waters let the land appear.”
God called the dry land “Earth,” the waters, “Seas.”
It was! And God said, “This is quite good here!”
As earth bore seeds and fruit on plants and trees.
With eve and morn, the Third Day passed with ease.
“Now to illuminate the nascent world,
Let lights appear to mark each day and year.”
God made the two great lights and then unfurled
The stars, to brighten day and render clear
The night, as Day Four’s eve and morn drew near.
“Let waters teem with life and birds fly high.”
God made sea creatures, each after its kind,
And birds of their own kinds to grace the sky.
“Be fruitful, multiply!” Thus God designed.
With eve and morning Day Five was assigned.
“Let creatures, tame and wild, dwell on the land,
Like cattle, creepers, beasts—a varied fleet
After their kinds.” And so it was as planned:
God made each one, delightful and discrete,
And praised their worth, from massive to petite.
God said, “Let us make man; let us ordain
They bear our image—with our likeness dwell.
And over fish and heaven’s fowl they’ll reign,
And over livestock. May their rule excel
On all the earth, all its animals as well.
In God’s own image he created man.
A male and female, thus he made them twain.
God blessed them both, decreed his masterplan:
“Be fruitful! Multiply! The earth you’ll gain,
And over every creature you shall reign!”
God said, “I give you plants of every type
For food, and trees producing fruit with seed
For you and animals of every stripe.
God judged his full creation “good indeed!”
Day Six was done as eve and morn decreed.
When all God’s work was done—his vast array:
The heavens and the earth and all therein—
He rested from it on the Seventh Day.
God blessed and hallowed this, the day wherein
He rested for man’s lordship to begin.
Jeff Kemper has been a biology teacher, biblical studies instructor, editor, and painting contractor. He lives in York County, Pennsylvania.
Refreshing to see a biologist supporting creation!
Indeed! Macroevolution is a hypothesis, not a theory, that is taught as a settled fact.
Jeff, this is absolutely beautiful! You have made music of the creation account (not that it’s not beautiful on its own); your form is so lovely! You’ve found phrases and words both accurate and majestic: “At dawn of time” for “in the beginning”; “unfilled” for “void”. You’ve used majestic imagery and language: “Darkness blanketed the ocean’s girth”; “Day six was done as eve and morn decreed.” And “He rested for man’s lordship to begin” is a perfect way to end your portrayal of the week. I love it!
Thanks, Cynthia, for your kind words. Frankly, I didn’t know how this would be received.
Nicely done. Genesis is worthy of poetic skill to tell the story anew.
Yes it is, Brenda. I’m glad you enjoyed it.
Jeff, what a well-done poem on creation from Genesis. It would be such a privilege to be in your biblical studies classroom! Cythia’s praise is well founded.
Thank you, Roy! In my doctoral studies I took a seminar course on Genesis 1-3. After completing my courses, circumstances didn’t allow completion of my dissertation. So I turned my attention to paraphrasing biblical passages. Thanks again for your kind comments.
Well done, Jeff. Your reflect the good order of creation. I especially like two little tidbits turning the truth of reality into your poetic interpretation, namely, your last line and the title. “He rested for man’s lordship to begin” is not so much of a stated purpose in the Bible, but in effect, God’s work is done, and it is now up to man to receive delegated lordship by observing sabbath rest himself. “At Dawn of Time” is a fine heading for the story in which the first few days are counted and their contributions acknowledged as time measurement from the human point of view begins.
Thank you, Margaret. My interpretive conclusion was stated implicitly throughout the sixth creation day, thus the poetic license to state it explicitly. Adam was given the duty to function as God’s coregent on the earth, who also obeys his King, Yahweh. Israel’s kings were modeled after King Adam’s delegated task, for they were to carry out God’s will revealed in the Torah and the prophets. Adam’s failure brings us to redemption’s “Second Adam,” who yet shall reign without fail.
This was really well done. If all of the Bible was told in this manner, it might draw in more readers. I’m eager to see what you can do with the rest of the Pentateuch.
Thanks, Warren! I’m glad you enjoyed it. In fact I am working on poems covering all of Genesis 1-11 and have completed poetic paraphrases of numerous other biblical passages.