Genesis – The Book Of Beginnings
A. Who Wrote Genesis?
Originally written as part of a larger work which was divided into five books:
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, & Deuteronomy by the Alexandrian translators of the Septuagint. We know these five books as the Pentateuch.
So there is one author of the Pentateuch and almost every Biblical scholar has determined that the author is Moses.
1) God told Moses to write a book.
Exodus 17:14 (NKJV) Then the LORD said to Moses, "Write this for a memorial in the book and recount it in the hearing of Joshua…
2) The book itself indicates that Moses was the writer…
Deuteronomy 31:9 (NKJV) So Moses wrote this law and delivered it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who bore the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and to all the elders of Israel.
3) It is called the Book of The Law of Moses by Joshua
Joshua 23:6 (NKJV) Therefore be very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses…
4) Jesus ascribed Moses as the author of the Pentateuch….
Luke 24:44 (NKJV) Then He said to them, "These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me."
Mark 7:10 (NKJV) (with Exodus 20:12) 10 For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother'…
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B. Where Was Genesis Written?
- Either while tending his father-in-law Jethro’s sheep on the back side of Midian OR at Sinai as an introduction to the law.
C. When Was Genesis Written?
- About 4000 B.C. (dates vary from 3800 to 4400 B.C.)
D. What Is The Purpose Of The Book Of Genesis?
· 3 Applications for the book:
1. What it says literally. What it meant for the people of Moses’ day.
2. What is the theology of Genesis within the Old Testament. How the
rest of the Old Testament builds chronologically and theologolically
on what is said in Genesis. AND…
3. What is the theology of Genesis from the New Testament
prospective? This relates to how Genesis feeds into and is applicable
to the Christian faith.
a) Matthew 1 gives the lineage of Jesus from Abraham
b) Genesis 3 tells of the fall of man into sin and Genesis 3:15
immediately begins the story of redemption through the
promised son.
Genesis 3:15 (NKJV) And 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.”
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1. A Time Of Beginning!
Genesis 1:1-2 (NKJV) 1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
A. Genesis 1:1 is not the beginning……
John 1:1-2 (NKJV) 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God.
B. God existed before the creation of the earth
Psalm 90:2 (NKJV) Before the mountains were brought forth, Or ever You had formed the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.
2. God The Creator
A. The Godhead – Trinity
Genesis 1:26 (NKJV) Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…
B. God The Father
Isaiah 40:28 (NKJV) Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable.
C. God the Son – Jesus Christ
Colossians 1:16 & 17 (NKJV) For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.
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John 1:3 (NKJV) All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
D. God The Holy Spirit
Job 26:13 (NKJV) By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens
Genesis 1:2 (NKJV) … And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
3. As The Creator, Jehovah Is The Only True God!
Isaiah 37:16 (NKJV) “O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, the One who dwells between the cherubim, You are God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.
Isaiah 40:12 (NKJV) Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, Measured heaven with a span And calculated the dust of the earth in a measure? Weighed the mountains in scales And the hills in a balance?
Jeremiah 10:12 (NKJV) He has made the earth by His power, He has established the world by His wisdom, And has stretched out the heavens at His discretion.
Colossians 1:15-18 (NKJV)
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.
17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.
18 And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.
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4. The More We Learn The More Real God’s Work Of
Creation Becomes!
A. Before Columbus, people thought the world was flat therefore they
had no comprehension of the Genesis creation narrative in the
separation of water and earth and heavens, etc.
B. Satellites show pictures of earth that help to understand the creation
account in Genesis!
C. Exploration of other planets indicate the reality of earth being a
special place for humankind!
Genesis – The Book Of Beginnings
Who Wrote Genesis?
1) God told Moses to write a book. Exodus 17:14
2) The book itself indicates that Moses was the writer… Deut. 31:9
3) It is called the Book of The Law of Moses by Joshua Joshua 23:6
4) Jesus ascribed Moses as the author of the Pentateuch….
Luke 24:44; Mark 7:10
Where Was Genesis Written?
When Was Genesis Written?
What Is The Purpose Of The Book Of Genesis?
Genesis 3:15
1. A Time Of Beginning! Genesis 1:1-2
A. Genesis 1:1 is not the beginning…… John 1:1 & 2
B. God existed before the creation of the earth Psalm 90:2
2. God The Creator
A. The Godhead – Trinity Genesis 1:26
B. God The Father Isaiah 40:28
C. God the Son – Jesus Christ Colossians 1:16 & 17; John 1:3
D. God The Holy Spirit Job 26:13; Genesis 1:2
3. As The Creator, Jehovah Is The Only True God!
Isaiah 37:16; Isaiah 40:12; Jeremiah 10:12; Colossians 1:15-18
4. The More We Learn The More Real God’s Work Of Creation Becomes!