GENESIS: THE BOOK OF BEGINNINGS
Genesis is a Greek word meaning “origin, beginning.” The original Hebrew title means “in the beginning.”
Although the events in Genesis take place from about 4,000 B.C. to about 1800 B.C., the book was actually written by Moses around 1440 B.C.[1] As all books of the Bible, this one was written by a man under the inspiration of God (cf. 2 Peter 1:21; 2 Tim. 3:16). That is how we can explain that Moses could write about events he never saw, yet record them accurately in every detail. In fact, what Moses wrote is what God desired to communicate to us.
The purpose of Genesis is to show God's selection of Israel to be His people and experience blessing through His covenant of promise. Genesis demonstrates the sovereignty, grace, mercy, and love of God in providing man the opportunity to experience fellowship and blessing in his relationship with God. Or, as one commentator put it, "People can enjoy a personal relationship with God and thereby realize their own fulfillment as human beings only through trust in God and obedience to Him."[2]
Genesis could be outlined in the following way:
I. The Early History of the Human Race (1:1-11:9)
A. Creation of man and his world
B. Fall of man
C. Flood of the world
D. Spread of the Nations
II. The Early History of the Chosen Race (11:10-50:26)
A. The Story of Abraham
B. The Story of Isaac
C. The Story of Jacob
D. The Story of Joseph
This lesson will provide an overview of the message of Genesis. Let’s begin with 1:27:
So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.[3]
1. What do we learn, from the above verse, about how God created us?
Then in 2:16-17, we see God giving man his first test:
And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
2. Why do you think God gave this command to man?[4]
3. According to 2:16-17, what would be the consequence of disobedience to God's command?
4. What does that tell us about disobedience to God?
In response to God’s command, here is what is revealed in 3:6:
So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.
5. What choice did man and woman make regarding the tree from which God told them not to eat?
As a result of their response, God announces these consequences to the man and woman:
To the woman He said: “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; in pain you shall bring forth children; your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.”[5] Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, 'You shall not eat of it’: Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return.”
6. What were the consequences for the woman due to disobedience to God?
7. What were the consequences for the man due to disobedience to God?
Following Adam and Eve’s fall into sin, God graciously promised a Deliverer from sin in 3:15:
So the LORD God said to the serpent: “. . . 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.”
The serpent is identified in Revelation 12:9, for example, as Satan—the Devil. The seed refers to the seed (descendants) of Abraham, as shown in the rest of Genesis; but, ultimately, it refers to Christ (Gal. 3:16). Therefore, this verse is announcing that One will come whom Satan will harm—but only in a minor way (at the cross); however, Jesus would crush (another translation of the Hebrew word for bruise in this verse) Satan's head, meaning He would have complete victory over him.
8. Therefore, what is the promise in 3:15 for Adam, Eve—and the rest of the human race?
Adam apparently understood the promise and believed. For, even though God had announced to Adam that he would surely experience death due to disobedience (Gen. 2:17), Adam, following God’s promise of the future Deliverer, named his wife Eve, which means life. This indicates that though Adam understood he would physically die, he also believed that God’s promise provided spiritual (eternal) life to him and to Eve. Then, notice what follows next: Also for Adam and his wife the LORD God made tunics of skin, and clothed them (Gen. 3:21).
Apparently, in order to provide clothing for Adam and Eve, God slew animals, shedding their blood. This would have been the first provision by God of the shedding of blood to cover man’s sin. Later, God provided animal sacrifices under the law to cover man’s sins—sacrifices which looked toward the perfect sacrifice of the Lamb of God to take away sins. Therefore, it seems Adam believed God’s promise of the Deliverer to provide for man's sin problem and was redeemed by God, as a result.
However, immediately following that, we see this in 3:20-24:
Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever” -- therefore the LORD God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.
As a consequence of sin, man was driven from the garden of Eden. This means that man would no longer experience paradise on the earth until the kingdom comes. And when man was sent out of the garden of Eden, he lost the opportunity to partake of the tree of life.
9. Why was it merciful of God to keep man from eating of that tree after he had fallen into sin?
Sin infected all of the descendants of Adam and Eve, and mankind became more sinful . . . until God decided to judge the world by a universal flood. God saved only Noah and his family (including his sons' wives) through that flood in order to "start over" with the human race.
However, the descendants of Noah also demonstrated sinful rebellion; and their sinfulness grew.
One day man decided to glorify himself by building a tower that would reach the heavens. So men, who at that time spoke the same universal language, began to work together to build this monument to their ego. However, God disciplined man for his foolish venture by scattering men abroad and causing them all to speak different languages so they could no longer communicate with one another.
It was in the midst of man's sinfulness that God spoke this to Abram[6] in 12:1-3:
“Get out of your country, from your family and from your father's house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
10. What does God promise Abram in these verses?
Though the land promise to Abram is not clearly stated in 12:1-3, after he entered the land of Canaan, God announced this to him in 12:7: “To your descendants I will give this land”. The land promise was reiterated to Abram in Gen. 15:18-21, where God outlined to Abram the borders of the land He had promised, and in 17:8. God also reiterated the land promise to Isaac, Abram’s promised son, and Jacob, son of Isaac, along with the promise of many descendants (see 26:3-4 and 28:13-14).
11. Does the evidence suggest God promised a literal land to Abram and his descendants (Israel), or not (as many people today believe)? Explain.[7]
As indicated in the outline at the beginning of this lesson, the early history of the human race features four primary events: the creation of the world; the fall of man into sin; the judgment of God upon the world via the flood in Noah’s day; and the judgment of man via God's scattering of the nations. Following the early history of the human race comes the early history of the chosen race—Israel—featuring four primary men: Abraham; Isaac; Jacob; and Joseph. (Of the four, Joseph is given the most space in Genesis (chapters 37-50).)
The focus on Joseph in Genesis revolves around his mistreatment by his brothers and the sovereignty of God to accomplish what is good by the brothers’ actions. Due to jealousy, the brothers sold Joseph to slave traders who took him to Egypt to sell him to Potiphar, an officer of the Pharaoh of Egypt.
Joseph served Potiphar well, and distinguished himself in service until Potiphar's wife falsely accused Joseph of rape because he wouldn’t lie with her. Because of his righteous behavior, Joseph was thrown into prison by Potiphar.
Joseph remained there until he interpreted dreams of Pharaoh that no one else was able to interpret. Joseph also gave the king advice on how to prepare for a coming famine of which the dreams warned. As a result, Pharaoh placed Joseph second in command in all of Egypt.
As a result of the famine, Joseph’s brothers were forced to come to Egypt and to appear before Joseph for food. When Pharaoh found out these are the brothers of Joseph, he granted them and their family members (including their father, Jacob) land in Egypt where they and their descendants remained and their needs were met.
However, when Jacob died, the brothers become afraid that Joseph, with his great power in Egypt, would have them killed for what they did to him. After all, Joseph “lost” thirteen years of his life in slavery and in prison due to his brothers’ jealousy.
However, Joseph's response to his brothers in 50:20 revealed his faith in God:
“But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.”
12. What impresses you about Joseph's response?
13. What does that teach us about how we should respond to being mistreated?
14. What do we need to realize in order to respond the way Joseph did?
Genesis ends with Joseph announcing to the children of Israel that God will bring them out of Egypt to take them to the land He promised to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. He then makes them promise that when that time comes, they will carry his bones into the land to bury them there; for he apparently wants to be resurrected in the land of promise.
15. What does that indicate about Joseph’s faith in God’s promise? (Do you think Joseph believed that the land God had promised to Abraham and his descendants would be a literal land? Explain.)
Joseph’s life shows two important lessons. First, God calls us to trust Him even in our dark times—even when we don’t know what He’s doing, or why He’s doing it, or how He’ll come through for us.
Second, God blesses obedience. For we see God eventually rewarding Joseph for his faithfulness through difficult times by raising him up to rule in the kingdom of Egypt—a picture of what He will do for faithful believers in His future kingdom.
The lessons we gain from Joseph are the lessons of the book of Genesis. We can trust what God has prescribed for us, and we need to wait on Him to bring His promised blessing for us.
EXODUS: DELIVERANCE FROM BONDAGE
Exodus is a continuation of Genesis. Therefore, it also was written by Moses between 1445 and 1405 B.C. The message of the book focuses on deliverance of God’s people from bondage into a special relationship with Him.
It is God who brings about Israel's deliverance, and it is God who brings Israel into a special relationship with Him. Therefore, Exodus displays the sovereignty of God to provide deliverance from bondage for man into a special relationship with Him. And this deliverance is accomplished because of God's faithfulness to His covenant to Abraham.
Summing it up, we can see that the message of Exodus is: God demonstrates His faithfulness to His promise by delivering us from bondage into a special relationship with Him.
We could outline Exodus in this way:
I. God delivers Israel from bondage (chapters 1-15).
A. God prepares Israel and Moses for His deliverance (chapters 1-4).
B. God demonstrates His power to deliver (chapters 5-11).
C. God delivers Israel (12:1-15:21).
II. God delivers Israel into a special relationship with Him (15:22-40:38).
A. God teaches Israel through experience about their special relationship with Him (15:22-18:27).
B. God establishes the Mosaic Covenant to show Israel how to experience the best in their special relationship with Him (19:1-31:18).
C. Israel breaks their covenant with God, but God shows His faithfulness to Israel by renewing it with them (chapters 32-34).
D. God outlines preparations for Israel's worship of God in their special relationship with Him (chapters 35-40).
Now let's take a whirlwind tour through Exodus.
Earlier, we mentioned that the message of Exodus is: God demonstrates His faithfulness to His promise by delivering us from bondage into a special relationship with Him. However, in order to understand this statement, we need to determine what the promise is. To do that, let's go back to Genesis 15:13-14: