Act 2: Introduction to Narrative Patterns
Genesis 4-11 (and beyond), Images 6 through 10
What follows is a supplemental commentary on the second Act in “The Canon" collection of captioned art.
Summary
I say Genesis 4-11, but these images really carry the very end of Genesis 3 through the very beginning of Genesis 12. This section forms a critical foundation for narrative patterns traced throughout the entire canon - especially the Old Testemant. One could argue some of these start in Genesis 1-3, but I would say they don't really begin being exercised as "patterns" until Genesis 4-12. What I appreciate about these action-packed chapters is they do a great job of inviting our awareness to the presence of patterns. This is helpful since pattern identification will prove to be one of the most important skills needed for interpreting Hebrew meditation literature. By God's providence, we get to start building this skill at the very start of His story. So what are some of these initial patterns, patterns which set the stage for the Gospel message?
- That despite the verdict of death, God's pursuant love illuminates a hope and longing for "full" life.
- In parallel, the stressors experienced in a reality marked by decay and strife invites man to commit acts of violence in a desperate attempt to gain control in a fleeting world.
- This violence is extended to creation itself, highlighting the the universal percariousness of life outside of Eden. Man's separation from God is an event with seemingly cosmic implications.
- The omonious hope found in the preservation of Adam and Eve as they depart from their life-giver finds new footing as God continues to preserve remnants throughout the darkest times in the history of humanity. It is made evident that God desires renewal.
- The least-expected became main characters in the drama of God's redemptive vision. Continually, God ventures to the margins to invite the outcasts and the oppressed into the center of His ongoing Kingdom work.
But even through death, God's love persisted
Image 6 of 29 in The Canon
Inspired by Genesis 3:17b-19, and Romans 8:19-21
“Cursed is the ground because of you;
through painful toil you will eat food from it
all the days of your life.
It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
and you will eat the plants of the field.
By the sweat of your brow
you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
and to dust you will return.”
"For the eagerly awaiting creation waits for the revealing of the sons and daughters of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God."
The decay experienced in this world is an often forgranted present, packaged in the unwelcomed realities of pain, toil, and lament. We do not enjoy decay; we long for life. But this begrudged pilgrimage is in fact a grace-filled appeal. Light persists, the shadows (or hardships of life) could not be explored without this grace - it would only be utter darkness. Instead, man finds themselves wrapped up in an ongoing drama between the life we experience, and the death we observe. A dance between light and darkness. I believe this contrast is presented as an appeal for us to come back to the life-giver, to have hope for what will later be revealed to us as the promise of resurrection life in Jesus Christ. Life persists, even through death, and image 6 in the series is how I imagine this bittersweet reality.
Scarcity went on to invite fear, and fear invited violence
Image 7 of 29 in The Canon
Inspired by Genesis 4:4b-7 and 11:4
“The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.’”
"Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.’”
This image illustrates one of the first narrative patterns we see in scripture: the outplaying of man's inclination towards violence. Furthermore, it articulates the role fear plays in this progression. Genesis 4 through 11 conveys this. First in the resentment of Cain, then the envy of the Sons of God, and culminating in the hubris of Babel. One might say that respectively, these acts of violence were tragic responses to the deep-rooted fears of rejection, isolation, and insecurity. Fears that have festered since Adam and Eve first hid from God in the garden. There is a universal longing for security that is simply out of reach in man's journey through the shadowlands. And if it is not granted to him by chance, he is vulnerable to try take what he can by force. This is how I imagine the interplay between fear and violence in the opening narratives of the Bible.
Creation groaned from man's acts of "decreation"
Image 8 of 29 in The Canon
Inspired by Genesis 6:5 and Isaiah 24:4-5
"The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time."
"The earth mourns and withers; the world languishes and withers; the highest people of the earth languish. The earth lies defiled under its inhabitants; for they have transgressed the laws, violated the statutes, broken the everlasting covenant."
From the beginning, man was bestowed the responsibility to be stewards of God's creation. Consequently, it is a great tragedy that we find creation lamenting its own destruction under the neglect of man. It echos sentiments of Romans 8, that even the earth awaits liberation from its bondage to decay. The scarcity/violence dynamic of the previous scene continues too, illustrating the commodification and exploitation of the resources entrusted to man's care. Its as if a thread is slowly pulled, unraveling the carefully organized work of creation back into the chaos from which it was formed. I imagine this scene as the removal of the barriers which had separated the land from sea, and the light from dark. The firmament is drawn back, and the chaos waters return.
But a remnant provided hope for renewal
Image 9 of 29
Inspired by Genesis 8:1 and Romans 11:5
"But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded."
"So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace."
Another very prominent narrative pattern we're introduced to in the opening chapters of Genesis is that God preserves a remnant, and He seeks reconcilation with His creation. The is perhaps most evident in the story of Noah, but it is also true for Abraham, Joseph, Ruth, Jonah, and Esther among many others. Decay is a natural consequence to man's departure from the life-giver. But we do not loose hope, because even if man's descent has made the garden reality unreachable we find that God enters the shadowlands and paves avenues for deliverance. God is loving, patient, and pursuant. He is not dettered by our brokenness. Instead, He enters it. Like a bird over the sea, unencumbered by the pulsating torrents swirling below it. That is how I imagine God's pursuant love.
Working through the margins God sought to reconcile the whole world
Image 10 of 29
Inspired by Genesis 12:1-3 and Micah 4:6-7
"The Lord had said to Abram, ‘Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."
"'In that day,’ declares the Lord, ‘I will gather the lame; I will assemble the exiles and those I have brought to grief. I will make the lame my remnant, those driven away a strong nation. The Lord will rule over them in Mount Zion from that day and forever."
By itself, God's pursuit of man is confounding. But I find it even more perplexing that He invites man into His process of restoration. God appoints man as co-laborers in His grand redemptive plan. Furthermore, He does not often enlist the strong, the rich, or the eloquent. Instead He ventures to the margins of humanity to comission those least likely to "change the world", at least by the measures of man. The lame, the poor, and the oppressed will be found at the center of God's kingdom. He does the unexpected, with the unexpected; they are the vehicles chosen to usher God's work of reconcilation into the entire world. And that is how imagine the start of God's journey to bring man back to the garden-place.
