Genesis I. Introduction A. Critical nature of Bible reading and study (2 Timothy 2:15) 1. Important not just to read, but to understand what is read 2. Recognition of difficulty of understanding parts of the Bible 3. Involves lots of people living at different times in different places! B. Let us begin a book-by-book analysis of the Bible so that we can read with understanding! C. We begin with Genesis-- the book of beginnings 1. Such is the meaning of Genesis in Greek 2. Hebrew name Bereshit: "In the beginning," the first word of the book D. A very important and fundamental book! 1. Everything that takes place in the Bible somehow is grounded in Genesis 2. Genesis lays out God's creation and plan 3. Genesis heavily influences the New Testament E. It is important and fundamental that we understand Genesis also! F. Let us consider the book II. Genesis: The Details A. Authorship 1. Moses traditionally considered the author 2. Author not identified in the book, nor attested by any Biblical author 3. Moses is quite likely, but we will speak of the Genesis author 4. Inspiration certified by Jesus and others (Matthew 19:4-6, 2 Peter 1:20, etc.) B. Dating 1. Timeframe of book itself: Creation to roughly 1800 BCE (at least 4000 years) 2. Genesis 1-11: Creation to 2000 BCE 3. Genesis 12-50: 2000 BCE to 1800 BCE 4. If Moses is author, book written ca. 1450 BCE 5. Written by God’s inspiration, stories remembered over time C. Audience 1. Written to Israelites (cf. Genesis 2:3) 2. Even if some material covers other people, overall book clearly geared toward Israel 3. Original audience likely Israel as they enter the land of Canaan; also for later Israelites 4. We also gain much from it as Christians (Romans 15:4) D. Purpose 1. The author writes to tell Israel the story of her origins and the reasons why things are the way they are 2. The author demonstrates through his work God's plan for His creation, especially as it relates to Israel's role in that plan 3. For Christians, Genesis demonstrates God's eternal plan in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:11), and how His promise plays out in early time III. Genesis: The Story A. Main Sections 1. Creation to Abraham: Genesis 1-11 2. Abraham: Genesis 12-24 3. Isaac and Jacob: Genesis 25-36 4. Joseph: Genesis 37-50 B. Creation (Genesis 1-3) 1. God creates all things in seven days (Genesis 1:1-2:3) 2. The sixth day described, Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:4-25) 3. Deception of Eve by the serpent; the Fall; cursing of man, woman, serpent, and land; removal from Eden (Genesis 3) C. Adam's Descendants (Genesis 4-5) 1. Adam has sons: Cain and Abel (Genesis 4:1-2) 2. Cain murders Abel, cast off as punishment (Genesis 4:3-16) 3. Descendants of Cain (Genesis 4:17-25) 4. Adam's descendants to Noah (Genesis 4:26-5:32) D. Noah and the Flood (Genesis 6-9) 1. Corruption of sons of God, Nephilim (Genesis 6:1-4) 2. God's decision to destroy mankind because of sinfulness (Genesis 6:5-7) 3. God's choice of righteous Noah and his sons; instructions to build the ark (Genesis 6:8-22) 4. Animals come to Noah; Flood takes place (Genesis 7) 5. Waters subside; earth returns to normal (Genesis 8) 6. Covenant between God and all flesh; Noah's drunkenness (Genesis 9) E. Noah's Descendants (Genesis 10-11) 1. Noah, his children, and their lands (Genesis 10) 2. Tower of Babel; confusion of languages (Genesis 11:1-9) 3. Shem's descendants to Abraham (Genesis 11:10-32) F. Abram (Genesis 12-16) 1. God calls Abram; Abram to Canaan and Egypt (Genesis 12) 2. Return to southern Canaan; separation of Abram and Lot (Genesis 13) 3. War on Sodom; capture of Lot; Abram's rescue of Lot; Melchizedek blesses Abram (Genesis 14) 4. God makes promises of land and people to Abram; foretelling of sojourn in Egypt, Exodus (Genesis 15) 5. Sarai gives Hagar to Abram; birth of Ishmael (Genesis 16) G. God's Covenant with Abraham (Genesis 17-18:16) 1. Covenant made between God and Abram; name changed to Abraham; circumcision inaugurated; promised birth of Isaac (Genesis 17) 2. God visits Abraham; promised birth of Isaac in one year (Genesis 18:1-16) H. Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 18:17-19:38) 1. Intended destruction of Sodom; Abraham's barter with God (Genesis 18:17-33) 2. The angels and Lot (Genesis 19:1-10) 3. Promised destruction of the city; Lot's departure (Genesis 19:11-23) 4. Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:24-29) 5. Incest of Lot’s daughters—origin of Moabites and Ammonites (Genesis 19:30-38) I. Abraham and Isaac (Genesis 20-25:11) 1. Abraham, Sarah, and Abimelech (Genesis 20) 2. Birth of Isaac (Genesis 21:1-8) 3. Exile of Hagar and Ishmael (Genesis 21:9-21) 4. Agreement between Abraham and Abimelech (Genesis 21:22-34) 5. Testing of Abraham; offering of Isaac; Nahor's descendants (Genesis 22) 4. Death of Sarah; purchase of cave of Machpelah as a family tomb (Genesis 23) 5. Eliezer to Aram to find wife for Isaac; discovery of Rebekah; Rebekah goes, becomes Isaac's wife (Genesis 24) 6. Abraham’s other children; his death (Genesis 25:1-11) J. Ishmael's Descendants (Genesis 25:12-18) K. Isaac, Rebekah, Esau, and Jacob (Genesis 25:19-27:46) 1. Birth of Esau and Jacob (Genesis 25:19-26) 2. Esau despises his birthright (Genesis 25:27-34) 3. Isaac and Rebekah in Gerar; taking and return of Rebekah; well controversies; God blesses Isaac (Genesis 26:1-33) 4. Esau takes local women as wives (Genesis 26:34-35) 5. Isaac's intent to bless Esau; Rebekah and Jacob’s duplicity; Jacob gets the blessing; Esau made secondary (Genesis 27) L. Jacob in Aram (Genesis 28-31) 1. Jacob sent away to Aram to find a wife (Genesis 28:1-9) 2. Jacob sees the ladder in a vision at Bethel; God is with him (Genesis 28:10-22) 3. Jacob reaches Aram, meets Rachel (Genesis 29:1-10) 4. Jacob works for Laban for Rachel; given Leah as wife; given Rachel as wife; Jacob works 14 years for them (Genesis 29:11-30) 5. Leah bears Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah (Genesis 29:31-35) 6. Rachel gives Bilhah to Jacob; Bilhah bears Dan and Naphtali (Genesis 30:1-8) 7. Leah gives Zilpah to Jacob; Zilpah bears Gad and Asher (Genesis 30:9-13) 8. Rachel, Leah, Reuben, and mandrakes; Leah bears Issachar, Zebulun, and Dinah (Genesis 30:14-21) 9. Rachel bears Joseph (Genesis 30:22-24) 10. Jacob readies to leave; Laban's duplicity; Jacob's part of the flock is blessed (Genesis 30:25-43) 11. Jacob loses favor, flees secretly; Rachel steals Laban's household gods (Genesis 31:1-21) 12. Laban pursues, meets Jacob; compromise reached; each goes to his own land (Genesis 31:22-55) M. Jacob in Canaan (Genesis 32-36) 1. Jacob sends gifts to Esau (Genesis 32:1-23) 2. Jacob wrestles with angel of God, named Israel (Genesis 32:24-32) 3. Jacob meets Esau; the brothers reconcile; each goes his own way (Genesis 33) 4. Dinah violated; Shechem wants to marry her; Simeon and Levi have them circumcise themselves and all males, come in at night and kill them all (Genesis 34) 5. God appears to Jacob; Jacob blessed at Bethel, covenant established through him and his descendants (Genesis 35:1-15) 6. Rachel bears Benjamin, dies in childbirth (Genesis 35:16-20) 7. Jacob's family (Genesis 35:21-26) 8. Death of Isaac (Genesis 36:27-29) N. Joseph to Egypt (Genesis 37) 1. Joseph and his dreams (Genesis 37:1-11) 2. Joseph sent to find his brothers (Genesis 37:12-17) 3. The brothers conspire to kill him (Genesis 37:18-20) 4. Reuben tries to persuade them out of it (Genesis 37:21-22) 5. Joseph arrives; they cast him into the pit; they sell him to Ishmaelites (Genesis 37:23-28) 6. Reuben fears the worst; the brothers dip Joseph's coat in blood, deceive their father (Genesis 37:29-35) 7. Joseph sold to Potiphar in Egypt (Genesis 37:36) O. Excursus: Judah and Tamar (Genesis 38) 1. Judah's descendants (Genesis 38:1-4) 2. Tamar, wife of Er and then Onan, who both die (Genesis 38:5-10) 3. Judah's unrighteousness (Genesis 38:11-12) 4. Tamar pretends to be temple prostitute; Judah uses her services (Genesis 38:13-23) 5. Tamar's pregnancy exposed; she exposes Judah; Perez and Zerah born (Genesis 38:24-30) P. Joseph in Egypt (Genesis 39-41) 1. Joseph in Potiphar's house, runs the house (Genesis 39:1-6) 2. Potiphar's wife attempts to seduce him, fails; falsely charges him (Genesis 39:7-19) 3. Joseph imprisoned, gains stature in prison (Genesis 39:20-23) 4. Pharaoh's cupbearer and baker imprisoned; dream dreams; Joseph interprets them accurately (Genesis 40) 5. Pharaoh dreams dreams; cupbearer remembers Joseph; Joseph interprets Pharaoh's dreams (Genesis 41:1-36) 6. Joseph elevated to second-in-command of Egypt (Genesis 41:37-57) Q. Joseph and His Brothers (Genesis 42-45) 1. Jacob sends his sons minus Benjamin to Egypt (Genesis 42:1-5) 2. Joseph recognizes them, but not vice versa; treats them as spies (Genesis 42:6-24) 3. Simeon imprisoned; grain given to other brothers, with their money; they return to Jacob (Genesis 42:24-38) 4. Jacob again sends sons, with Benjamin, entrusted to Judah, to buy more grain (Genesis 43:1-15) 5. Feast involving Joseph and his brothers; favor given to Benjamin (Genesis 43:16-34) 6. Grain and money put in sacks, Joseph's cup in Benjamin's sack; accusation of stealing; Judah offers himself for Benjamin (Genesis 44) 7. Joseph reveals himself to brothers; sends them back to Jacob to bring him down to Egypt (Genesis 45) R. Jacob's Family in Egypt (Genesis 46-50) 1. Jacob and his family go to Egypt (Genesis 46:1-7) 2. Jacob’s descendants (Genesis 46:8-27) 3. Joseph meets Jacob and family in Goshen (Genesis 46:28-34) 4. Jacob and Pharaoh (Genesis 47:1-11) 5. Joseph gains all of Egypt for Pharaoh save the priesthood's lands (Genesis 47:12-26) 6. Jacob multiplies in Egypt; makes Joseph swear to have him buried in Canaan (Genesis 47:27-31) 7. Jacob blesses Joseph's sons Manasseh and Ephraim; the younger received the blessing of the older (Genesis 48) 8. Jacob blesses and prophesies for his sons (Genesis 49:1-32) 9. Jacob dies; he is prepared and buried in the cave of Machpelah (Genesis 49:33-50:13) 10. Joseph treats his brothers kindly; Joseph prophesies the return of the family to Canaan; Joseph makes descendants swear to return his body to Canaan; Joseph dies and is embalmed in Egypt (Genesis 50:14-26) IV. Genesis: Important Passages to Remember A. As we can see, there are many things of great importance in Genesis (cf. Hebrews 11:1-22) B. Genesis 1: God as Creator of all the earth (cf. Romans 1:19-21) C. Genesis 2-3: Paradise Lost 1. Genesis 3:15: first prophecy of the coming Messiah 2. Revelation 21:1, 22:14: final restoration of what was lost in Eden awaits D. Genesis 6-9: Noah and the Ark (cf. 1 Peter 3:20-21) E. Genesis 11:1-9: The Tower of Babel and Pentecost (cf. Acts 2) F. Genesis 14:18-20: Melchizedek and Christ (cf. Hebrews 4-7) G. Genesis 17:1-8: God’s covenant with Abraham (cf. Galatians 3:7-29) H. Genesis 22: Isaac as type of death and resurrection of the seed of Abraham I. Genesis 38: lineage of Jesus through Tamar and Perez (cf. Matthew 1:1-3) J. Genesis 49:10: power of Judah, seen through David to Jesus (cf. 2 Samuel 1, 7; Daniel 2:44-45) K. There are many other excellent lessons to gain from Genesis, but these themes keep recurring throughout the Old and New Testaments V. Conclusion A. Genesis an important, fundamental, and fascinating work 1. God as Creator 2. God as Destroyer 3. God's eternal plan in Jesus through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob B. Important for understanding Old Testament 1. Establishing origins of Israel 2. Sets up the Exodus—Israel in Egypt 3. Provides understanding of the covenant between God and Israel, and the reasons why things are the way they are around ancient Israel C. Let us praise God the Creator who fulfilled His promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in Israel and fully in Jesus Christ, and to whom we will be restored as in the beginning on the last day! D. Invitation/songbook