Genesis

The book of Genesis was written by Moses around 1450 B. C. The history it records begins
with the creation of the material universe (6000 B. C.?) and ends at the death of Jacob’s son
Joseph (1600 B. C.) . Its contents are often quoted or alluded to in other parts of Scripture,
including the New Testament.

Genesis contains history with which many are familiar. We learn the "stories" as children and
retain them throughout life. Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, the tower of Babel, Noah's
ark, Jacob's encounters with angels--all are memorable and significant parts of the book. If all
we see in this first book of the Bible are isolated "stories" from which to learn, however, we
fail to grasp what the book is all about. It is the book of "beginnings" or the book of
"generations" (both translations of the Greek genesis). It is the foundation of human history.
Yes, that includes the creation of the "heavens and the earth" in the first two chapters, but,
just as importantly, it records the origin of sin, the beginning of life outside of Eden, and the
earliest developments and revelations in God's plan to provide a remedy to the sin problem.
The first book of the Bible is designed to demonstrate how we went from a perfect world to a
world desperately in need of divine providence and salvation. It is designed also to trace the
development of that divine solution from a general promise of victory over Satan (3:15) to the
special promises given to Abraham and his seed (12:1-3; 26:3-4; 28:13-14).

Genesis divides itself naturally into eleven parts, each set off by the phrase "these are the
generations (genesis)" or "the book of the generations" (2:4; 5:1; 6:9; 10:1; 11:10; 11:27;
25:12; 25:19; 36:1; 37:2). Each of the eleven parts contributes directly to our understanding
of the great divine scheme to bring salvation to man, the plan to reconcile the fallen human
race to its creator. The purpose of these divisions is to demonstrate the role of divine election
in the shaping of history and in the development of the scheme of redemption. We will have
more to say about election later.

SUMMARY OF GENESIS

God in perfection; man in innocence

The Bible opens with, "In the beginning God." "God" is the center of the message of the
creation; he is the focal point. The first two chapters of the Bible present to us the
all-powerful, self-sufficient, all-good God of the universe. He is perfect and his creation is
"very good" (1:31), literally, "superlatively good." In other words, it could not have been
improved upon; it was perfectly designed and the design was perfectly executed. Man and
woman were also at this point "upright" (Eccl. 7:29). They were innocent and dwelt in perfect
harmony with their creator. It was typical for God to communicate and interact openly with his
crowned creation (cf. 3:8). All was right--God was perfect, and man was innocent.

The fall of man

That perfect and innocent world existed for a short time. The introduction of sin into the world
(3:1-6) changed everything. There is no way for us to fully comprehend or appreciate the
differences in the world of Genesis 1 and 2 and the world in which we now live. The division
between Genesis 2 and 3 is the greatest in the Bible. It is more significant than the division
between the Old and New Testaments. The "great continental divide" of Matthew 24 pales in
comparison to the universal divide between Genesis 2 and the rest of the Bible. The purpose
of the first two chapters of Genesis is not to provide us with an in-depth look at creation. The
amount of space devoted to a description of the creation is tiny in comparison to the rest of
revelation. Rather, the first two chapters of Genesis are all about God and what his creation
was like before sin.

Sin ruined everything. Man died and will continue to suffer death until the end of time; woman
was cursed with suffering in childbearing; the earth was cursed to add to man’s toils and
pain; and, most of all, the crown of God’s creation, man and woman, who were made in his
image, were cast out of his presence and out of the perfect garden which he created for
them. From this point on, the rest of the Bible is all about getting man back to the garden.
Literally, the rest of Scripture is all about bringing man back into the presence of God. You
might be interested to know that the Greek word for "garden" is paradeisos, "paradise."
"Eden" means delight or pleasure. When the New Testament speaks of Paradise, it is
borrowing from the garden of Eden, the garden of delight or pleasure. Our entire purpose in
life is to return to Paradise, to get back to the garden of Eden (Revelation 2:7; 22:1-5).

The seeds for God’s plan to bring man back into his fellowship and back to Paradise are
uncovered in the rest of the book of Genesis. Everything was perfect between man and his
God; sin ruined everything; now, what can be done on behalf of mankind to remedy the sin
problem? Our creator is a loving God. He wants to enjoy the fellowship of his creation. He
wants what is best for us, and he wants us to return to Eden. Because of his love, he
determined even before man fell to provide a way back into his presence.

The first intimation that God would provide a remedy for man’s sin is found in Genesis 3:15.
There, the very day Satan and sin destroyed man’s relationship with God, God told the Devil,
"I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He
shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel." War would from then on rage between
mankind and Satan, but ultimately one member of the human race ("seed of woman") would
crush Satan’s head--that is, defeat him and sin decisively.

Corruption of the earth

Once man was cast from the garden, sin took its ugly toll on the human race and its
environment. Sin progressed and conditions deteriorated to the point that God saw "that the
wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his
heart was only evil continually" (Gen. 6:5), and the Creator determined to destroy the earth,
including mankind, with a flood. Noah and his family alone were righteous and were saved by
the grace of God (6:8-9). The sparing of Noah and his family not only preserved the human
race, but preserved the means by which the "seed of woman" could still come into the world
to save man from sin. In the flood account, all of God's divine attributes are noted: his
longsuffering, his justice, his wrath, his love, his mercy, his grace.

Abraham and his seed

After the flood, sin soon prevailed again, demonstrating man's continuing need for a savior.
This time, sin resulted in the division of the human race into separate nations and tongues
(Gen. 11:1-9). From the tower of Babel onward, the rest of the book of Genesis concerns one
branch or division of the human race--the family of Terah (11:27); specifically, Abraham and
his seed. Because of his faith, Abraham was chosen by God for a very special purpose--he
was to be the father of the nation of Israel and of the Christ. Every Bible student must be
familiar with the three specific promises God gave to Abraham: (1) The promise to make of
him a great nation, (2) A land inheritance in Canaan, and (3) Through Abraham’s seed all
nations and families of the earth would be blessed. These promises are first recorded in
Genesis 12:1-3, and are repeated multiple times to Abraham, his son Isaac, and his grandson
Jacob. The rest of Genesis, the Old Testament, and the New Testament is the record of God’s
fulfillment of the promises he made to Abraham. Did you realize that? The entire Bible
revolves around three promises made to Abraham in the book of Genesis. They are the basis
for God’s covenant relationship and dealings with the nation of Israel, and they preach the
gospel of Christ. The Old Testament is the record of the fulfillment of the nation and land
promises in physical terms. God made of Abraham’s seed the nation of Israel (named after
Abraham’s grandson, Jacob/Israel), and God gave Israel the land of Canaan. The New
Testament records for us the fulfillment of the seed promise--in Jesus Christ (son of
Abraham, Matthew 1:1; Galatians 3:16) all nations of the earth are blessed--as well as the
spiritual fulfillment of the nation and land promises (the church is the true "Israel of God,"
Galatians 6:16; heaven is our land of inheritance in Hebrews 4:1-11). If you think we are
overstating the importance of the promises made to Abraham, consider the words of Paul in
Galatians 3:7-8, "Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. And the
Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel
beforehand to Abraham, saying, In you shall all the nations be blessed." Nearly two thousand
years before Jesus was born, God was already preaching the gospel of Christ to Abraham!
You can read about it in Genesis.

The promises around which the rest of history and revelation revolve were first given to
Abraham, but were repeated to his son Isaac. Abraham actually had two sons, Ishmael and
Isaac. It was God’s plan, however, that the promises be fulfilled through the family line of
Isaac, not Ishmael. Isaac himself had two sons, Esau and Jacob. Again, it was God’s plan that
the nation, land, and seed promises be worked out through the line of one, Jacob. Genesis is
the record of God’s election. He chose Abraham, not Haran or Nahor. He chose Isaac, not
Ishmael. He chose Jacob, not Esau. He elected the descendants of Jacob ("Israel"), not any
other nation, for his special purpose of eventually bringing the Savior into the world. For a full
treatment of God’s election, see Romans 9:1-33.

Jacob had twelve sons. One of them, Joseph, was sold by his brothers into slavery and wound
up in Egypt. The careful purpose and providence of God ensured that eventually the rest of his
brothers would join him there, and they together would build a home in Goshen. Abraham’s
descendants were not yet a great nation, and there certainly was no indication that they
would be taking the land of Canaan any time soon, but God was at work preserving that
family, isolating them, blessing them, and allowing them to grow, so that when we turn the
page to the next book in the Bible, Exodus, we find history one step closer to witnessing the
birth of the nation of Israel, and the world one step closer to the arrival of "the seed of
woman" and "the seed of Abraham" for the salvation of mankind and our return to Paradise.

KEY VERSES

Genesis 1:1; 1:31; 3:1-6; 3:15; 12:1-3; 21:12-13; 28:13-15; 45:7-8; 46:2-4; 50:24