Review and Introduction to the Book of Genesis

My usual practice has been to write an introduction at the beginning of each book studied; however Genesis is very important as the foundation upon which the rest of God’s word rests; it is a long dissertation and has been divided into two three month studies. We have studied the first twenty-seven chapters this winter and will complete the study during the next three months. There are several new families on the mailing list that did not study the first half of Genesis; hopefully they will gain from a review, and then it surely will not hurt any of us to firm up our foundation. The introduction to the second half will hopefully help us to better understand what is ahead for our study this spring.

There should be no surprise to parents when their children start asking questions, to find that one of their most perplexing questions is “Mom, where did I come from?” Genesis is an exciting book because the first information we get is the answer to their question. “In the beginning” Gen. 1:1 starts the answer to our most intriguing questions of life. There is no conflict between the Holy Bible and the Hebrew Bible at this point; the title of the book in their Bible is simply…b’re’shith, meaning “In beginning.” And the true meaning of b’re’shith as they interpreted it actually meant “Head.” Moses wrote this book, and he may have been thinking more about who was the “head,” that is who was in charge,…God!... than he was thinking of time…the start or beginning of everything.

There is no doubt in the mind of Christian people today, God is the source of all things that are; he is the mind and spirit behind all things. God was, is and will always be the power or force who designed our complex universe, He is the glue that holds it together, He is the engineer that designed it and his power and spirit orders the complexities to abide and function in every minute circumstance and carry out his orders regarding the universe and human life. Our earth is still in orbit, with light and dark, land and sea, and has not disintegrated simply because of the Pilot’s superior knowledge.

Genesis is our book of beginnings. To the Jew it is a part of the Law and is named Torah. The first five books of the Bible are called the Pentateuch, but contain much more than a listing of God’s laws. Genesis begins with God’s creation of everything that is; from the microbe or gene to the largest of all animals; from the grain of sand to Mount Everest; and from the two gases hydrogen and oxygen mixed as H2O, water, to the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Some scientist claim that the universe exists as a result of a giant explosion. One thing is for sure…if they are correct…we can be assured that God lit the fuse.

Following the creation of human beings, very soon thereafter comes the account of human rebellion against God. Adam and Eve were created in the image of God, which means that they also had the freedom of choice to do right or wrong. They chose to listen to the earth’s deceiver, Satan, instead of to God, and through their wrong choice evil [sin] entered a perfect world. It immediately contaminated the human race and made it necessary for God to plan to overcome the rebellion. His plan begins with the man in the Bible known as Abram, later known as Abraham.

God knew Abraham to be a man of faith, not perfect, but a man he could depend upon to remain true to his God. God made a covenant with Abraham and it was that if Abraham would remain true and faithful to God, he would be rewarded by being the father of many nations that would be blessed through him. Later on the land of Canaan [now known as Israel] was promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their descendents—and I truly believe that it will ultimately be their land and will not be Islamic.

There are two incidents in the first part of Genesis that stand alone in history as proof that Abraham was a man of great faith. The first incident occurred when God visited with him and told him to take his family and go into a land unknown to him…one that God would show him. People do not like change especially during old age…but Abraham obeyed God and by faith arrived in the land that we know as Mesopotamia, somewhere near the convergence of the two rivers, Tigris and Euphrates. I believe this to be the land of Milk and Honey that God speaks of as the place where His people would reign.

The second event occurred because God had promised that he would be known as the father of many nations. His wife Sarah, was old and without child, and it seemed this promise was impossible, but God sent three angels to assure him that she would bear a son in her old age and she did have Isaac when they were near one hundred years old.

While the Israelites inhabited the land of Milk and Honey, the nations grew, and divisions arose among them. One group built the tower of Babel in rebellion against God, and as a result the people who all spoke one language, and could understand each other, had their language scrambled until there was no dominance…they could no longer understand each other…and this brought about all of the different nations in this area that are still at war with each other this day 2008.

Abraham, his family Isaac, Jacob and Esau and their families were directed to leave Mesopotamia and move into Canaan and that general area that we know as Israel and the Holly Land today. According to the covenant made with Abraham, God gave this land to his Chosen People, it later became known as the Northern and Southern Kingdom {Judah} and Jerusalem and the temple has held the dominant position since that day even though they have been conquered more than once and the city and temple has been destroyed and rebuilt. Time will not permit us to go into each of the different problems that arose during the first half of the book of Genesis.

We will not review some of the events that form the turning points of the history of God’s people, the Israelites, as recorded in chapters 28 through 50 in this book. Probably the greatest of all themes found here is the fact that there is only one true and living God…who has no rivals and is omnipotent. This one true God has extended his love to all people including the Gentiles {US} and finally in the NT we find that God’s Chosen People are no longer just the Israelis but include Christians too.

Following the destruction of the tower of Babel, there was an expansion in religious beliefs that resulted in the creation of “many gods.” This rebellion against the true God is at the basis of most of the problems that came upon the early nations. In this summer study the emphasis will be on the fact that there is only one God—this is known as Monotheism—only one God. This covers a period in history when the shepherds wandered the country sides in search of pasture land. Walled cities with defensive gates were scattered through the land as places of safety at night.

In early days of creation, beginning with Adam and Eve they were ordered to be prolific and inhabit the land. After the flood, the population had been reduced to Noah and his family who were ordered to do the same thing. In these cases it was necessary for some intermarriage and some men had more than one wife. You will find that this is not what God wants out of the family unit, and the order comes down that they are to have only one wife, and the family becomes a predominant teaching. This practice started with Abraham and Sarah and continued with Isaac and Rebecca who had two sons Jacob and Esau, but Jacob broke the pattern when he had four wives including two who were slaves, Rachel and Leah and at least thirteen children. There is little doubt that this mixed marriage caused the problem between Joseph and his eleven brothers. Parental preference showed up again when Jacob loved Joseph more, and showed it openly by furnishing him the coat of many colors and allowed the brothers to see that the father preferred Joseph to them. They sold him into Egyptian slavery and took the coat of colors, covered with blood, back to Jacob to prove that he was dead.

Joseph used his lengthy imprisonment in Egypt to move into a place of leadership. God gave him the power of interpreting dreams which he used to gain his good standing with the Egyptian pharaoh. He predicted the terrible famine that was coming, and was placed in charge of making preparations for the country to survive. He was successful and moved to the top ranking officer under the pharaoh. Using this power and position, he was able to become reconciled with his family and was chosen by God to lead His people out of bondage.

During this spring we will cover three main units. The first is the ‘growth of faith’ and it shows Jacob’s spiritual development. The second unit has to do with the ‘practice of faith’ and it demonstrates Joseph’s faithfulness to God in his many severe trials and problems with the pharaoh and then in his success in leading his people out of bondage. The last major step lists a specific ‘task of faith’ which focuses on Joseph’s ability to test his brothers, and eventually reconciling with them even after they had sold him into slavery. His father Jacob and the family eventually moved to Egypt in order to have food, and Joseph’s last promise was kept when he carried his father back to Canaan for burial. This will end our study in Genesis.

You say…”That is OT stuff, how does it pertain to me?” Matthew 1:1 says that Jesus is a descendent of Abraham. Jesus is our Lord and Savior and he will carry out God’s promise made to Abraham regarding God’s continuing action toward his people…US. In Galatians 3: 29 and Romans 4: 9-17, Paul identified the followers of Jesus as spiritual descendants of Abraham and that is US. Therefore, the principles of behavior outlined in these lessons are only the bare minimum of what God expects from YOU AND ME.

START NOW! READ & STUDY GENESIS 28 THROUGH 50. May God bless each and every person that diligently studies this portion of God’s word.

Do you want to keep God’s commandments that pertain to you? Yes? Well then…just remember that he told you to “Study to show thyself approved.”