Genesis is the book of beginnings. The word Genesis means "the origin, the source, the creation, or coming into being of something." The Hebrew name for the book is bereshith, the first word in the Hebrew text which is translated as "in the beginning."
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was a formless void, there was darkness over the deep, and God's spirit hovered the water. - Gen. 1:1-2 -
Genesis describes such important beginnings as the Creation, the fall of man, and the early years of the nation of Israel/Jacob. The beginning of salvation history - the story of God and man, sin and grace, wrath and mercy, covenant and redemption - also begins in the Book of Genesis. These themes are repeated often throughout the rest of the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible. As the Book of Revelation is the climax and conclusion of the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible, so the Book of Genesis is the beginning and essential seed-plot of the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible. Thus, Genesis is an important book for understanding the meaning of the entire Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible.
The Book of Genesis may conveniently be divided into four major parts: ( 1 ) the Creation and the early days of mankind. - Gen. 1-11 - ( 2 ) the story of Abraham and Isaac. - Gen. 12-25:18 - ( 3 ) the story of Jacob and Esau. - Gen. 25:19-36:43 - ( 4 ) the story of Joseph and his brothers. - Gen. 37-50 -
The first major part of the Book of Genesis chapters 1 to 11 contains five great events: ( 1 ) the history of creation and a description of life in the Garden of Eden before the Fall. ( 2 ) the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden: the temptation and fall of man. ( 3 ) the story of Cain and Abel. ( 4 ) the story of Noah and the Flood: the wickedness and judgment of man. ( 5 ) the story of the Tower of Babel: the proud presumption of man, the confusion tongues [languages] and the scattering of mankind upon the earth. Each of these events relates to the whole of humanity, and each is filled with significance that continues throughout Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible.
The rest of the Book of Genesis chapters 12 to 50 relates the narrative of the four great patriarchs of Israel: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. The theme of these chapters is God's sovereignty in calling out a CHOSEN PEOPLE who would serve and worship Him.
The Book of Genesis gives no notice about the author. In the Old and New Testament, the early Church, however, held to the conviction that Moses wrote the book, as did the Jerusalem Talmud and the first century Jewish historian Josephus. In spite of the number of modern scholars who reject the Mosaic authorship of Genesis, the traditional view has much to commend it. Both the Old Testament and the New Testament contain frequent testimony to the Mosaic authorship of the entire Pentateuch. It would be difficult to find a person in Israel's life who was better prepared or qualified than Moses to write the history recorded in the Book of Genesis. A man who 'was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians.' Moses was providentially prepared to understand and integrate, under the inspiration of God, all the available records, manuscripts, and oral narratives. Moses may have written the book during the years of the wilderness wandering to prepare the new generation to enter the land of Canaan.
As a prophet who enjoyed the unusual privilege of unhurried hours of communion with God on Mount Sinai, Moses was well equipped to record for all generations this magnificent account of God's dealings with the human race and the nation of Israel.
Yahweh called Moses, and from the Tent of Meeting addressed him, saying, Speak to the sons of Israel; say to them - Leviticus 1:1; Exodus 25:1 -
At that time they were reading from the Book of Moses to the people, when they found this written in it - Nehemiah 13:1 -
Then Jesus said to him, 'Mind you do not tell anyone, but go and show yourself to the priest and make the offering prescribed by Moses, as evidence for them.' - Matthew 8:4 -
So Moses was taught all the wisdom of the Egyptians and became a man with power both in his speech and his actions. - Acts 7:22 -
But I was blessed with God's help, and so I have stood firm to this day, testifying to great and small alike, saying nothing more than what the prophets and Moses himself said would happen. - Acts 26:22 -
Moses may have finished writing the Book of Genesis not long before his death on Mount Nebo. - Deuteronomy 34:1-12 - During this time the children of Israel now, led by Joshua, were camped east of the Jordan River, poised for the invasion of Canaan. In such a crucial historical context, the message of the Book of Genesis would have been of tremendous spiritual help to its first hearers or readers. The creation of the world, the beginnings of sin and disobedience, the principal of judgment and deliverance, the scattering of the nations, the call and covenant God made with Abraham, the checkered careers of the first descendants of Abraham - all of these accounts would bear directly on the attitudes and faith of the new community.
The first readers or hearers, of the Book of Genesis were the covenant community, the Chosen People of God. Like Abraham, they were on a journey - a great venture of faith into the unknown. - Gen. 12:1-9 - Like Abraham, they needed to respond to God in wholehearted faith and in the fear of the Lord. - Gen. 22:1-19 - They needed to hear such words as were spoken to Isaac:
"I am the God of your father Abraham.
Do not be afraid, for I am with you.
I will bless you and make your descendants many in number
on account of my servant Abraham." - Gen. 26:24 -
The Book of Genesis is a primary source for several basic doctrines of the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible. The book focuses on God primarily in two areas: He is the Creator of the universe, and He is the one who initiates covenant with His people. Genesis ties creation and covenant together in a stunning manner: the God who initiates covenant is the same God who has created the entire universe. The eternal God and almighty Creator enters into covenant with His people!
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. - Gen. 1:1 -
In the beginning was the Word:
the Word was with God
and the Word was God. - John 1:1 -
God's covenant with Abraham is the basic plot of the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible. God's work from that day forward was to accomplish His plan for the nations of the world through His people Israel, the descendants of Abraham. God's covenant with Abraham contains a number of personal blessings. And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. But the climax of the text is in the words of worldwide import:
I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name so famous that it will be used as a blessing.
"I will bless those who bless you:
I will curse those who slight you.
All the tribes of the earth
shall bless themselves by you." - Gen. 12:2-3 -
The promise is realized in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, His Church, through whom peoples of all nations and families may enter into the joy of knowing God. Indeed, God has kept his promise.
And when I am lifted up from the earth, I shall draw all men to myself. - John 12:32 -
All baptised in Christ, you have all clothed yourselves in Christ, and there are no more distinctions between Jew and Greek, slave and free, male and female, but all of you are one in Christ Jesus. Merely by belonging to Christ you are the posterity of Abraham, the heirs he was promised. - Gal. 3:27-29 -
Does this mean that God has failed to keep his promise? Of course not. Not all those who descend from Israel are Israel; not all the descendants of Abraham are his true children. Remember: It is through Isaac that your name will be carried on, which means that it is not physical descent that decides who are the children of God; it is only the children of the promise who will count as the true descendants. - Rom. 9:6-8 -
Genesis presents the creation of man as male and female in the image and likeness of God - Gen. 1;26-27, 9:6 - man's fall and ruin, his judgment, and his possible triumph in God's grace. In this context of man's judgment came the first whisper of the gospel message of the final triumph of Christ over Satan:
The woman replied, 'the serpent tempted me and I ate.' Then Yahweh God said to the serpent. 'Because you have done this, I will make you enemies of each other: you and the woman, your offspring and her offspring. It will crush your head and you will strike its heel.' - Gen. 3:13-15 -
To lead a sinful life is to belong to the devil,
since the devil was a sinner from the beginning.
It was to undo all that the devil has done
that the Son of God appeared. - 1John 3:8 -
This prophecy was fulfilled by the death of Jesus on the cross, a sacrifice that destroyed the works of the devil, and Jesus' Resurrection was about breaking out into an entirely new form of life, into a life that is no longer subject to the law of dying and becoming, but lies beyond it - a life that opens up a new dimension of human existence. In Jesus' Resurrection a new possibility of human existence is attained that affects everyone and that opens up a future, a new kind of future, for mankind.
Saint Paul was absolutely right to link the resurrection of Christians and the Resurrection of Jesus inseparably together: "If the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised... But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep." - 1Cor. 15:16, 20 - Christ's Resurrection is either a universal event, or it is nothing, Saint Paul tells us. And only if we understand it as a universal event, as the opening up of a new dimension of human existence, are we on the way toward any kind of correct understanding of the New Testament Resurrection testimony.
In the Book of Genesis chapter 3, the apostle Paul referred to the story of Adam's fall by comparing Adam to Christ. Christ is portrayed as a second Adam who, by His atonement, reverses the effects of the Fall. God, in order to cover the nakedness of Adam and Eve ( symbolic of sin, guilt, and disobedience ) killed an animal ( thereby shedding blood ) and made tunics of skin with which to clothe them. - Gen. 3:21 -
In fact, according to the Law almost everything has to be purified with blood; and if there is no shedding of blood, there is no remission. - Heb. 9:22 -
Well then, sin enter the world through one man, and through sin death, and thus death has spread through the whole human race because everyone has sinned. Again, as one man's fall brought condemnation on everyone, so the good act of one man brings everyone life and makes them justified. As by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by one man's obedience many will be made righteous. - Rom. 5:12,18-19 -
The Book of Genesis takes the reader or hearer to the moment when the Creator spoke into being the sun, moon, stars, planets, galaxies, plants, moving creatures, and mankind. Those who seek to discredit the Book of Genesis by pointing to alleged discrepancies between religion and science are blind and arrogance to the exalted Spiritual content of this work. If any readers or hearers expects to find in Genesis a scientific account of how the world came into existence, with all questions concerning primitive life answered in technical language, he or she will be disappointed. Genesis is not an attempt to answer such technical questions.
The Book of Genesis is marked by exquisite prose, such as chapter 22 ( the account of the binding of Isaac ) and chapters 37-50 ( the Joseph narrative ). Literary critics often point to Genesis 24, the story of a bride for Isaac, as a classic example of great narrative style. Genesis also has poetic sections such as the solemn curses by God ( Genesis 3: 14-19 ) and the prophetic blessing of Jacob ( Genesis 49:3-27 ) Genesis 1, the history of creation is written in a highly elevated prose with a poetic tone.
At times attention is focused on the male/men, but female/women of major significance also appear in the Book of Genesis: Eve is the mother of all living - Gen. 3:20 - Sarah had a faith that was complementary to Abraham's - Gen. 21:1-7 - and Leah, Rachel, Bilhah, and Zilpah are the mothers of the 12 patriarchs of Israel. - Gen. 29:31, 30:24, 35:23-26 -
Genesis is also a book of firsts. Genesis records the first birth - Gen. 4:1 - the first death - Gen. 4:8 - the first musical instruments - Gen. 4:21 - and the first rainbow - Gen. 9:12-17 - Genesis is indeed the book of beginnings. As the children of Israel read this book in the wilderness, or after they crossed the Jordan River, they knew that their encounters and experiences with God were just beginning.
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Sunday, May 24, 2009
I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!
I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.
HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -
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