One of the things Pageau doesn’t point out directly in his The Language of Creation is that, in the Hebrew mindset, we don’t need to understand the mechanism of things we encounter in our fallen world. There’s nothing wrong with it, but it’s not necessary to serve the Lord. Rather, the emphasis in Scripture is the human experience. The Hebraic spiritual outlook woven into the Bible presumes this the starting point for symbolism.
God created light without any reference to a source. On the one hand, the concept of light is far more important as a symbol than any source. We should assume that, in biblical symbolism, He is the ultimate source of light. In the narrative, it almost always represents His Presence, His Word, His will, etc.
Thus, time and space are best understand as part of above and below. Time in the Bible is inherently cyclical. When God separated day and night, they became symbols of above and below.
Pageau notes that time is a carrier for our human experience. It ensures that things keep moving and happening and it never stops. Unlike our materialistic western view, in which time is simply a matter of potential, in the Hebrew mind it is a prime mover. Time always changes things in our lives. We are today not the same person as yesterday. Every moment is unique; you cannot possibly duplicate any experience or context. Something will always have changed, if only by tiny increments.
Insert here the discussion of how westerners think of God in terms of distance, almost absence. The image of God as the watchmaker, who winds it up and then leaves it alone is fundamental to western thinking. To the Hebrew mind, God is always directly involved, paying close attention and adjusting things to His liking. Reality itself is constantly evolving under God’s hands. Because of the time factor, our world is not always self-consistent.
Finally, time is the opposite of space. Space tends to be solid and resists change. However, time is pervasive and more powerful, if you will. Thus, space eventually yields to the flow of time cycles.
Pageau notes this will seem naive to westerners, but in the Hebrew worldview, the wisdom of this symbolism is critical to peace with God. It is the highest priority, even a duty, to view the world through a spiritual lens, a moral frame of reference about all things being judged wrong and right, not simply neutral. At the same time, a thing may be wrong and right at the same time, depending on the level of consideration.
I received Pageau’s book yesterday and it already started the gears turning in the first 40 pages. An excellent recommendation! Thank you.