The book of Job presents Yahweh as all-powerful creator both in Job’s speeches about Yahweh and in Yahweh’s response to Job. After Job’s horrific attacks from the accuser (Satan) and consistent defense of his innocence in the face of his interlocutors, Yahweh confronts Job in chapter 38. Yahweh fires off a series of questions in chapters 38–41 that highlight his power in creation and resulting sovereignty over all things. He laid the earth’s foundations, he put the stars and moon and sun in place, he said to the sea, “thus far and no more,” he set light and darkness in its place, he ordained rain and snow and hail, he feeds the animals and gave them their distinctive features and instincts. What’s more, he created Behemoth and Leviathan—beasts humans cannot contain—thus demonstrating his great power. Yahweh’s point is clear: we humans are “not as strong as we think we are.”13 As we cower before animals we cannot overpower, so we should submit to the power and sovereignty he displayed in creation.
Creation in Psalms
Several psalms extol the Lord for the attributes he displayed in creation: wisdom, power, sovereignty, faithfulness. Psalm 33, for example, connects God’s work in creation with God’s faithful love, or hesed. The psalmist here sees God’s love and faithfulness to Israel expressed in creation itself.14 The grand narrative of Yahweh’s special relationship with his people therefore did not begin with his covenant with Abraham in Genesis 12. It began much earlier than that, when Yahweh spoke and the heavens and earth and all within them came forth. Psalm 33 further indicates that Yahweh’s creation was not a static event, a one-time display of greatness and mercy. No, Yahweh’s creative work is ongoing as he fashions the hearts of all the earth’s inhabitants (Ps 33:14–15). Verse 8 points out the appropriate response of humans in light of Yahweh’s creative work: to fear him.15
Psalm 89 likewise extols the majesty of Yahweh because of his work in creation. This psalm declares that the heavens and earth—and all within them—belong to Yahweh because he created them (Ps 89:11). However, it quickly moves in a different direction. After proclaiming Yahweh’s faithfulness and sovereignty in creation, the psalmist reminds the Lord of his covenant with David, thus connecting Yahweh’s faithfulness in creation with his faithfulness to the people of Israel.16 Yahweh’s care and faithfulness and sovereignty in creation assures his people of his care and faithfulness and sovereignty in their lives. Yet the psalmist laments in vv. 38–45 that the Lord has rejected the Davidic servant for a time, then asks in 46–51 how long God will be distant from his people and implores him to remember. The psalm ends with a bold declaration of praise.
The wonder of this psalm—and its importance for a theology of creation—is that it connects Yahweh’s work in creation with Yahweh’s concern for his people. The psalmist honestly reflects on the current crisis—there is no Davidic ruler in Israel, God is silent, the covenant seems demolished—and bases his certainty that Yahweh will hear on the very fact that Yahweh created all things. The psalmist proclaims that we can know that Yahweh hears, remembers, and acts on behalf of his people because he created this whole world. This clear connection between Yahweh’s hesed in creation and his hesed toward his people is a sure foundation on which the people of Israel—and we today—stand. Indeed, “Blessed be Yahweh forever. Amen and amen.”
Creation in Proverbs
Proverbs contributes to the Old Testament understanding of creation by highlighting that Yahweh crafted the world through wisdom. Yahweh did not create haphazardly. He did not set about building a tower before counting the cost, as the foolish are wont to do (Luke 14:25–33). No, Proverbs tells us that Yahweh “fathered [wisdom] at the beginning of his deeds” (8:22).17 Wisdom was there before Gen 1:1 (Prov 8:23–24). Birthing wisdom was the first of his acts, and the rest of creative activity flowed out of it.18 Importantly, personified wisdom does not create, thus further clarifying that wisdom itself is not a goddess but rather one of Yahweh’s many attributes that elicit worship and awe from his creation.19
Thus, whereas Psalms assures us that creation displays Yahweh’s faithfulness to his people, Proverbs tells us that it also displays his wisdom. This is not so difficult to see when we look at the world around us. Trees and animals and bugs all create after their kind. The world works together in an infinitely complex ecosystem. Rains water the earth. The earth produces food. Life continues. These things happen not by chance but by the wisdom of our creator. It is not haphazard; it is not an accident. It is Yahweh’s wise work, Prov 8 assures us.
Consequently, humans also should seek wisdom. As Garrett points out, Prov 8:26 indicates that, “Humans, as dust, are part of the created world and cannot live contrary to the order by which the world was created. By Wisdom the formless, chaotic dust became Adam, the human race. People who reject Wisdom, therefore, are certain to return to their prior state.”20 Creation assures us of Yahweh’s goodwill toward us, and it also assures us of the proper path to take in life—the path of wisdom, the path marked out in Prov 1–9. Bartholomew and O’Dowd rightly point out that “God has built, or etched, an order into the world, and wisdom, personified as a woman, is the key to discerning it . . . She can guide us in walking wisely in this life because she knows the places that God carved out for us.”21 A failure to recognize Yahweh’s faithfulness, Yahweh’s wisdom, and our proper role in light of these two features exhibited so clearly in creation is a dire failure indeed.
Creation in Isaiah
The book of Isaiah, particularly chapters 43–45, is rife with creation theology.22 Having proclaimed judgment on God’s people for their idolatry and waywardness, the prophet now encourages the exiles in Babylon with a word of hope that he bases on Yahweh’s creation of the entire world and his special creation of Israel as a nation.
There are several important items to note in these passages that impact how the people of Israel, and we today, should understand the theological importance of creation. First, Yahweh states plainly that he is the only true God (43:10–12), a fact attested previously in the creation account. Second, Yahweh indicates that he has the right to discipline his people because he created them (43:14–15).23 By extension, his role as creator gives him the right to do what he will with his creation. Third, Yahweh uses creational language—e.g., “seas” and “waters”—to describe his creation of Israel.24 In doing this Yahweh demonstrates that his care in creating the world is consistent with his care in creating Israel. Further, he shows that just as he made the entire world in a special, spectacular event, so he formed Israel in a unique way and for a unique purpose. Just as the entire world was created for a particular purpose by his word, so Israel was created for a purpose through his word.25
Fourth, because Yahweh created the world—and Israel in particular—his people can be assured of his continued care for them. In 44:2–5 he bases his comforting words on the very fact of his creation. This should not be lost on readers today: because Yahweh is the creator, he is the caregiver. He is not a distant God who set the world on its own after creation. Instead, his creation of the world confirms his care of the world. He is a benevolent lord who will see to the protection of his people, his special creation. Fifth and finally, Isaiah 43–45 argues on the basis of creation that the proper response to God is worship. That is, because Yahweh is the only God, the God who disciplines his people with