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Create Not Make

There is a world of difference between creating something and making it. To make is to re-form or re-fashion something that is already in existence.  What is made is limited by the nature of the material that is used and by the skill and experience of the person using the material. The Wright brothers made their airplane out of cloth, wood, bits of string and ropes, and a small engine.  The result was an aircraft that flew for less than a minute and traveled a few feet off the ground for a distance of 852 feet.  In contrast, today’s aircraft are made from lightweight, high-strength carbon fiber alloys, are controlled by sophisticated guidance and navigational systems, and are powered by jet engines capable of generating as much as 94,000 pounds of thrust.  In the time between the Wright brothers first flight and the high performance jets of today are advances in the formulation of materials and the skill to use them.  Yet, as amazing as the Wright brothers initial flight was, and the progress that has been made since, both of these achievements are ultimately limited by the material used and the skill of the people using them.
In contrast to making something, to create is to cause something to come into being that did not exist.  It is not a re-forming of existing material but the creation of the material itself.  While a maker or manufacturer uses the material at hand, the creator determines what the material is, its nature, and therefore its intended use.  The creator, having unsurpassed and original knowledge of the nature of the material created, also is the source of the skill necessary to use the material for its intended purpose.  The creator, as originator of what was created, also has the uncontested right to  provide the material and the skill to use it to the maker and give them guidance and limits on how the material is to be used.

The very first book of the Bible asserts that God is the creator of everything that is.  As creator He has the uncontested and sovereign right to determine how what He has created is to be managed, and how it is to be used. the focus of His creation is the land.  God who has created the land has the sovereign, unilateral, and incontestable right to determine how the land will be used, by whom, and for how long.  The apostle Paul puts it like this in Acts 17:26 "He [God] made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation."  In other words, God determined what nations are to exist, where on earth they will be, and how long they will continue to inhabit the land allocated to them.  So, the God who created the earth will determine how the earth will be used.

Now an interesting question might come to mind about now. Why begin the Torah, the book of the law, with a discussion of creation (Gn. 1–2), fall (Gn. 3—5), flood (Gn. 6–9), the creation of the nations (Gn. 10–11), and with a patriarchal narrative that begins with a promise to Abraham and his decedents of land, seed, and blessing (Gn. 12—50)?  Why not instead simply begin with the first commandment to the nation of Israel in Ex. 12:2?  In think the 11th century Jewish rabbi who is popularly known to us by the acronym Rashi provided a great answer.  He cited Ps. 111:6 and wrote "For if the nations of the world should say to Israel, “You are robbers, for you conquered by force the lands of the seven nations [of Canaan],” they will reply, "The entire earth belongs to the Holy One, blessed be He; He created it (this we learn from the story of the Creation) and gave it to whomever He deemed proper when He wished, He gave it to them, and when He wished, He took it away from them and gave it to us."

There will be more on this later.  For now, let's just sum up by saying that since God created everything, He has the uncontested right to rule and part of that rule is to place nations on the earth where He pleases and for as long as He pleases.


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