“我（智慧）在那里；他……为沧海定出界限，使水不越过他的命令。” – 箴 8:27-29
历史上，人们通常认为是摩西受神的默示写了圣经的前五卷书。作为埃及王室的一员，摩西（被国王女儿收养的希伯来孩子——出埃及记第 2 章）在成长过程中可能会被灌输许多关于世界起源的神话。例如，一个古老的美索不达米亚神话认为，战神马尔杜克与统治混乱海洋的怪物提亚玛特作战。马尔杜克打败了提亚玛特，使世界从混乱中恢复了秩序。
现在，让我们再来看看创世记第一章。我们看到了大水，但它们并没有被描述成神或怪物；它们只是神所创造的世界的一部份。神告诉水应当流到哪里，不可以流到哪里。（又见箴 8:12-31）摩西宣告了真神掌管着万物。
在有关创世的神话中，人们总是不确定自己所信的神是否能抵挡混沌的力量。例如，古埃及人相信，他们的太阳神“拉”每晚都必须下到冥界打败巨蛇阿波菲斯，否则有序的世界就会毁灭。
但在创世记的故事中，神不是藉着战斗，而是藉着说话创造了秩序与和平。创造不可能由其他的力量或神来完成；只能由真正的主宰来实现。
祷告
主神，我们赞美你，天上地下没有任何力量能够胜过你，万物都在你的手中。阿们。
创世记 1:3-10
3神说：“要有光。”就有了光。
4神看光是好的，就把光暗分开了。
5神称光为昼，称暗为夜。有晚上，有早晨，这是头一日。
6神说：“诸水之间要有空气，将水分为上下。”
7神就造出空气，将空气以下的水、空气以上的水分开了。事就这样成了。
8神称空气为天。有晚上，有早晨，是第二日。
9神说：“天下的水要聚在一处，使旱地露出来。”事就这样成了。
10神称旱地为地，称水的聚处为海。神看着是好的。
Moses And Monsters
“I [Wisdom] was there . . . when [God] gave the sea its boundary so the waters would not overstep his command.” – Proverbs 8:27-29
Historically Moses, directed by God, is understood to be the writer of the first five books of the Bible. Growing up as part of the royal family in Egypt, Moses (a Hebrew child adopted by the king’s daughter—Exodus 2) would have been taught many myths about the origin of the world. An old Mesopotamian myth, for example, held that Marduk, a warrior god, fought against Tiamat, a monster ruling the chaotic sea. Marduk defeated Tiamat and brought order out of chaos.
Now, let’s look at Genesis 1 again. We see powerful waters, but they are not described as a god or a monster; they are simply a part of the world God is creating. God tells the waters where they can go and where they cannot go. (See also Proverbs 8:12-31.) Moses shows that the true God is in control of all things.
In myths about creation there is always uncertainty about whether a people’s gods can hold back the forces of chaos. The ancient Egyptians, for example, believed that their sun god Ra had to descend into the underworld every night to defeat the great serpent Apophis, or else the ordered world would be destroyed.
But in the Genesis story, God creates and makes peace not through battle but with a word. No other force or would-be god is there; creation has only one true Lord.
Prayer
Lord and God, we praise you that no force in heaven or on earth has power over you, and that you hold all things in your hands. Amen.
诵读: 骆云秀
片头: 张妙阳
