Genesis
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"The first book of the Bible is for several reasons one of the most interesting and fascinating portions of Scripture. Its place in the Canon, its relation to the rest of the Bible, and the varied and striking character of its contents combine to make it one of the most prominent in Holy Writ. It is with a real spiritual insight, therefore, that the people of God in all ages have fastened upon this book, and given it their earnest attention." —W. H. Griffith-Thomas
Introduction
Genesis provides an appropriate welcome to the Bible. It is a book of beginnings—of the physical universe; of plant, animal, and human life; of many of the key ideas of God's Word. Well has it been called the "seed-bed of the Scriptures." Here, the reader discovers some of the most intriguing people of the Bible. Adam and Eve, Methusaleh, Enoch, and Noah all stride across its pages before the flood. After Noah's flood, Abraham is chosen; his faith is demonstrated again and again, but a faithless moment produced Ishmael, father of the Arab peoples. Isaac was the child of promise, but Abraham was so committed to God that he was willing to sacrifice his and Sarah's only son. The twins Esau and Jacob were born to Isaac and Rebekah; their sibling rivalry continued in the history of their families, which became the nations of Edom and Israel. Jacob was a trickster, deceiving his brother, his father, his father-in-law, and various others he met along the way. But Jacob had twelve sons, who became the progenitors of the twelve tribes of Israel; of special interest is Joseph, used by God to protect his family—indeed, the whole world—from famine. Judah, the forebear of King David and ultimately Christ, is another engaging character. The Book of Genesis ends with the family of Jacob in Egypt, where they are to become the nation of Israel.
The name "Genesis," meaning "origins," comes from the Greek translation of the Old Testament (the Septuagint), which uses the word "Geneseos" ("Generations") as a part of the heading of ten of the eleven structural components of the book. The Jews call Genesis "Bereshith," which is the book's first word (They also call the Books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, and Lamentations after the first word of each of those books.).
Genesis traces the beginnings of God's redemptive relationship with mankind. After Adam and Eve sin, redemption becomes absolutely necessary. In Genesis 3:15, the reader discovers that the Savior will come from the "seed of the woman." The focus narrows to the family of Seth in Genesis 9:26-27. There is more narrowing to the family of Abraham in Genesis 12:3. After that, it is discovered that Messiah will come from the line of Isaac, then the line of Jacob; it narrows still further with the family of Judah.
Of the eight great Covenants of Scripture, four are found here in Genesis—the Edenic, the Adamic, the Noahic, and the Abrahamic. In each of these instances, God tests His children with respect to some aspect of His will; each time, man fails the test.
Genesis occurred in time and space; therefore the events must be understood in a geographical and historical context. Here are actual places; these are real people! Abraham was born in Ur of the Chaldees in 2166 B.C.; he came to Canaan in 2091. In Mesopotamia, this was during the time of the culture known as Ur III; in Egypt, it was the demise of the Old Kingdom and beginning of the First Intermediate Period. The Biblical chronology indicates that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were in the Holy Land until Jacob moved with the family to Egypt in 1876, during Egypt's Middle Kingdom. The Patriarchal Period in the Holy Land lasted for 215 years, beginning with Abraham's entrance in 2091 and ending with Jacob's departure in 1876.
Since Biblical times, the first five books of the Bible have been treated as a whole and called the "Law." To describe these five books, Origen, in the third century A.D., coined the term "Pentateuch," meaning "five scroll-containers."
The Bible presents Moses as the author of the Pentateuch (Exodus 17:14; 24:4, 7; 34:27; Numbers 33:1-2; Deuteronomy 31:9; Joshua 1:7-8; 8:32, 34; 22:5; I Kings 2:3; II Kings 14:6; 21:8; Ezra 6:18; Daniel 9:11-13; Malachi 4:4; Matthew 19:8; Mark 12:26; John 5:46-47; 7:19; Romans 10:5). Humanistic critics question the Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch suggesting any number of theories of origin, but the Bible's statements are clear.
Genesis is the logical and necessary introduction to the Pentateuch. Structurally, the Book of Genesis is composed of eleven documents—an introductory account of the Days of Creation, followed by ten sections, each entitled "The Generations of…." If these are documents ante-dating Moses, God may have inspired Moses to use them in composing/compiling the Book.
The subject matter of Genesis divides naturally into two parts. (1) The first eleven chapters of Genesis speak of four key events: the Creation, the Fall, the Flood, and the Tower of Babel with the resulting dispersion of the world's population. (2) Chapters 12 through 50 speak of four key individuals: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, one of Jacob's twelve sons.
The hand of God
The Creation of Man in the Vatican's Sistine Chapel, by Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564).
Reading Outline
Primeval History, 1—11
- 1:1—2:3, The Days of Creation
- 2:4—4:26, The Generations of the Heavens and the Earth
- 5:1—6:8, The Book of the Generations of Adam
- 6:9—9:29, The Generations of Noah
- 10:1—11:9, The Generations of Japheth, Ham, and Shem
- 11:10-26, The Generations of Shem
Patriarchal History, 12—50
- 11:27—25:11, The Generations of Terah
- 25:12-18, The Generations of Ishmael
- 25:19—35:29, The Generations of Isaac
- 36:1—37:1, The Generations of Esau
- 37:2—50:26, The Generations of Jacob
