human life is precious to God. According to Nahum Sarna, the idea that humanity is precious to God was actually a prominent, startling theme in the Torah to its original audience in Moses’ time. It begins with a creation account that deliberately contradicts pagan myths. Instead of bloody tales of gods waging battles and chopping each other into bits to create the world, Genesis tells the story of the creation of humanity, who is created to be God’s image-bearer and appointed to reign over the world.9 We humans may be tiny, but we are exceedingly precious to God.
