Did you know there is a creation story day 1-7 pattern hidden in the Bible?
It might be challenging to find at first.
Especially because not many Bible commentators know about it.
But once you see it, you can’t unsee it.
And once you understand how the Holy Spirit inspired the biblical authors to use the pattern in the Scripture, it will unlock the Bible for you in a new, deeper way.
Let’s see what the pattern looks like.
Contents
The creation story day 1-7 summary
The below summary of the creation days 1-7 goes through what you will find examined in more detail in our “7 days of creation” article.
The summary highlights the elements that construct the creation story pattern. The elements repeat in the Bible’s Creation Week narratives, guiding you to recognize when biblical writers use the pattern.
Day 1
God created the heavens and the earth. God created the heavens “ready” or “mature” and the earth dark, formless, and void. The earth needs forming, illumination, and filling.
God illuminates, forms, and fills the earth in the following creative acts, which are recognized by the ten “God said” statements.
The first act illuminates the earth with a light coming from His Spirit: “And God said, let there be light, and there was light.” (Genesis 1:3)
The text doesn’t mention that the light on Day 1 is the Holy Spirit. Still, we can infer this from the Bible ending similarly to how it starts: God’s Spirit illuminates the world in Revelation 21. As you read further in this article, you can also see the Spirit’s position repeating between heaven and earth in the creation story day 1-7 pattern.
Day 2
On Day 2, God creates a firmament to separate the waters above from the waters below.
The second creation day is the only one God doesn’t see as good. The goodness refers to the eschaton, meaning the firmament will be removed in the New Heaven and New Earth. It is like a veil placed over creation until the wedding of the Lamb.
The earth is only water at this moment. Dry land appears on Day 3 when the waters below the firmament gather together.
The second creative act completes a symbolic 3-tier Biblical cosmology: waters above, firmament, and waters below.
Day 3
God lets the waters below the firmament gather in one place so dry land can appear. This act forms creation, separating the land from the seas and showcasing the fundamental 3-tier biblical cosmos: heaven, earth, and seas.
In this 3-tier structure, the middle “space” mediates between the above and the below. Rightful mediating happens when the mediator receives from above and distributes it to the below (following the will of God), consecrates from the below in righteousness, and offers it above (offering sacrifices pleasing to God).
The perfect example of mediation is Jacob’s ladder in Genesis 28:10-17. The ladder rests on the earth with its top reaching heaven, and the angels of God descend and ascend on it. In John 1:51, Jesus says He is this ladder and the mediator between heaven and earth.
At God’s command, the dry land between the seas and heaven brings forth grains and fruit trees. Thus, we see the plants for sacramental elements, bread, wine, and oil, created on day 3 (also in Psalm 104:15).
Day 4
On Days 4-6, God continues to fill His creation. On Day 4, God creates the sun, moon, and stars and sets them in the firmament He created on Day 2.
The sun, moon, and stars are created
- to mark time,
- to act as symbols,
- to give light to the earth,
- to separate light from dark.
Day 5
God created sea creatures, divided into fish and sea monsters, and birds, which nest on the earth but fly in the sky.
The first time, God created something with blood. Therefore, the fish and birds are alive since life is in the blood (Leviticus 17:11).
Day 6
On Day 6, God creates man and land animals. God creates man in His image and commands them to subdue and fill the earth, precisely what God did during Creation Week.
God created man and woman as distinct counterparts to be of one flesh, a unity (Genesis 2:23).
There are four “God said” statements on day 6, totaling the statements to ten during the seven days of creation.
Day 7
On the seventh day, God finishes the work that He has done, and He rests on all his work. God blesses the Sabbath day and makes it holy.
On the Sabbath, God is enthroned over creation and delegates the leadership to Adam and Eve to continue the work He has started. The earth is not “ready” yet, and man is responsible for bringing the creation to full maturity—to build it as the City of God.
Now, let’s see one excellent example of how the biblical authors, and the Holy Spirit as the ultimate author, use the pattern.
The creation story day 1-7 pattern in Genesis 2
Genesis 2:4-25 offers another creation account right after the first one has finished. Some critics of Christianity say that the two accounts contradict each other, but this is not so. Genesis 2 account complements Genesis 1 account and gives us more details of what happened on Day 6 of the Creation Week.
Day 1, Genesis 2:4-7
Genesis 2:4-7
This is the history of the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that Yahweh God made the earth and the heavens. No plant of the field was yet in the earth, and no herb of the field had yet sprung up; for Yahweh God had not caused it to rain on the earth. There was not a man to till the ground, but a mist went up from the earth, and watered the whole surface of the ground. Yahweh God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
“Generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created” connects to “God created the heavens and the earth.”
No plant, herb, rain, or man to till the ground connect to the dark, formless, and void.
God breathing His Spirit of life into man connects with God’s Spirit hovering over the waters. The Spirit in Genesis 2 gives life to man as the Holy Spirit gives life to the world. The breath of life or the spirit of life separates light from darkness and life from death.
Day 2, Genesis 2:8
Genesis 2:8
Yahweh God planted a garden eastward, in Eden, and there he put the man whom he had formed.
In biblical cosmology, since God met Adam in the Garden of Eden, the Garden usually refers to the Holy of Holies. In this mini-cosmos, all three tiers of the cosmos are within the earth:
- The Garden of Eden is the Holy of Holies
- The land of Eden is the Holy Place
- The world is the courtyard
The Garden, however, can refer to the Holy Place when considering that the river that waters the Garden comes from above. The Bible doesn’t mention the river’s source, but since rivers flow from above to lower places, the source is above the Garden. This river is the River of Life that we encounter at the end of the Book of Revelation, where it says the source of the water is the Throne of God.
In this mini-cosmos, the highest heavens (God’s throne is in the highest heavens) are included in the three tiers:
- The source of the river, the highest heaven, is the Holy of Holies.
- The Garden of Eden is the Holy Place.
- The land of Eden is the courtyard.
(The fractal double mini-cosmos also emerges in the Creation Week accounts of Genesis 1, Noah’s Flood, and Moses’ and Israel’s encounter with God at Mt. Sinai. However, this deserves an article of its own.)
The connection becomes further solid when you consider that the Holy Place included a golden lampstand with seven lights representing the seven moving lights of the firmament: the Moon, Venus, Mercury, Sun (central), Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn.
Like the Temple, the Tabernacle faced east, so when you went from the courtyard into the Holy Place, you moved eastward, representing the movement from the Land of Eden to the Garden, which was planted eastward in Eden.
God put the man in the Garden, like He put the Levitical priests in the Holy Place, to act as mediators between the people of Israel and God – the earth and heaven.
Day 3, Genesis 2:9
Genesis 2:9
Out of the ground Yahweh God made every tree to grow that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food, including the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
In verse 9, like on Day 3, God creates the trees to fill the dry land.
Day 4, Genesis 2:10-16
Genesis 2:10-16
10 A river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it was parted, and became the source of four rivers. 11 The name of the first is Pishon: it flows through the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; 12 and the gold of that land is good. Bdellium and onyx stone are also there. 13 The name of the second river is Gihon. It is the same river that flows through the whole land of Cush. 14 The name of the third river is Hiddekel. This is the one which flows in front of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates. 15 Yahweh God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate and keep it. 16 Yahweh God commanded the man, saying, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden;
Bdellium is white (Exodus 16:31, Numbers 11:7), and Onyx is black or black and white. The colors refer to the separation of light and darkness on Day 4.
The firmament where God put the sun, moon, and stars on Day 4 covers the whole earth, as do the four rivers, which figuratively cover the entire world.
In Joseph’s dream in Genesis 37, the sun, moon, and stars refer to Jacob, his wife, and Joseph’s brothers, essentially symbolizing a king, queen, and the immediate leaders of a nation.
God created the lights to rule the day and night like He created man to rule on earth. Thus, in verses 15-16, the man, Adam, refers to the sun like Jesus, the Last Adam, who is called “the sun of righteousness” (Malachi 4:2).
Adam is to cultivate, to work on the garden to bring forth good fruit, and keep it, to guard it. These priestly and kingly duties correspond to ruling and mediating as a royal priesthood.
This is why Daniel 12:3 says, “And they that are wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.” God’s people who mediate God’s will to others will be symbolically placed in the firmament.
Day 5, Genesis 2:18-21
Genesis 2:17
but you shall not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.”
God lays out His first commandment of Genesis 2 in verse 17, which connects with the first commandment of Genesis 1 on Day 5.
Day 6, Genesis 2:18-21
Genesis 2:18-21
18 Yahweh God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make him a helper comparable to him.” 19 Out of the ground Yahweh God formed every animal of the field, and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. Whatever the man called every living creature became its name. 20 The man gave names to all livestock, and to the birds of the sky, and to every animal of the field; but for man there was not found a helper comparable to him. 21 Yahweh God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. As the man slept, he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place.
God created Adam from the dust of the ground and Eve from the side of Adam. God creates man as male and female, two distinct parts to bring them back together in marriage. God then separates Adam into two “parts” to bring them back together as one flesh in marriage.
Animal of the field connect to the Day 6, as well.
Day 7, Genesis 2:22-25
Genesis 2:22-25
Yahweh God made a woman from the rib which he had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. The man said, “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh. She will be called ‘woman,’ because she was taken out of Man.” Therefore a man will leave his father and his mother, and will join with his wife, and they will be one flesh. The man and his wife were both naked, and they were not ashamed.
God brings Eve to Adam like the Church, the bride of the Lamb, to Jesus. They are united as one flesh as believers are “in Christ” and “partaking in the divine nature.”
God blesses the seventh day like He blesses Adam by bringing him his wife, Eve.
There is a sense of rest and things being in the correct order because they were both naked but not ashamed of it.
The creation story day 1-7 pattern elsewhere
The goal of the creation story days 1-7 is the union of heaven and earth through man. When you see the pattern highlighted, try to see how God completes the union in the narrative.
The pattern is used several times in the Bible; below are some of the passages.
- Genesis 7-9, Noah’s Flood
- Exodus 14, parting of the Red Sea
- Exodus 25-31, blueprints for the Tabernacle
- God undoes the fallen world with the Ten Plagues and re-creates a new one with the Ten Commandments