Genesis Chapter 1, Verses 20-31

Like the rest of the creation story, days 5 and 6 are once again peculiar in terms of the order of events.

On day 5, God creates the fish and the fowl, which may be alliteratively appealing but is an anomalous combination, don’t you think? He might as well have said, “Let there be no red meat. Only creatures that float and fly. No feet or legs allowed. Keep off the goddamn grass for one more day.”

Fish and birds. Strange, huh?

Then day 6 comes along, the last actual day of creation, and God decides to jam every single land animal, including human beings, into this 24-hour period. Cattle, creeping things, beasts of the earth, and humans, all plopped down on at the same time. And if you are to believe the creationists, this superfluity of two and four legged creatures included the dinosaurs as well. All of these living things crammed into one single day, including the only creature made in God’s own image, yet the birds and fish get their own day.

You’d think that human beings could have at least gotten a day of their own as well.

Verse 26 is especially odd, for it seems to imply that God had assistance with day 6 of the creation. Of course, perhaps he needed the help, since he left so much to do until the last minute. The first chapter of Genesis seems to indicate that God is nothing if not a procrastinator. Verse 26 reads:

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish in the sea, and over the fowl in the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

Us?

Our image?

Our likeness?

When did these other deities appear on the scene?

One can almost imagine God, standing once again on some high mountain peak, suddenly realizing all the work he has to do on the 6^th and final day and suddenly realizing that he might need some assistance:

“Let there be pigs, and sheep, and the Tyrannosaurus Rex, and dogs of every kind, including the hairless ones that will occasionally be mistaken for rodents, and the zebras and… Oh hell. Screw this. I made these days too goddamn short to get anything done. Zeus! Thor! Aphrodite, gimme a hand!”

Must’ve been an amusing moment.

This concludes chapter 1 of Genesis.

I’m hoping for more logic and inspiration in the coming chapters, but I’m not holding my breath.