Genesis

“If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?” - Psalm 11:3

So it turns out the old ladies were right.   I used to bemoan the use of the same traditional stories taught over and over again in Sunday School to the neglect of unpopular stories.  That was, until I was put in charge of the Sunday School curriculum.  Then I began to see that the theological concepts that I simply take for granted were unknown to many of the attendees.  Where did I learn these foundational concepts?  The Sunday School “canon” of stories that are taught over and over again.  Creation.  Noah.  The Tower of Babel.  Abraham.  Jacob.  Joseph.  These stories should be harped on because they are extremely significant.  In this light, Genesis becomes irreplaceable, for it is filled with stories (and by that I mean narratives, accounts of what actually happened, not fairy tales) that powerfully communicate the ground work for the rest of our beliefs.  Every serious student of the Bible needs to master the book of Genesis.

The Place of Genesis

Its Place in Scripture

The Bible is divided into two parts – the Old and New Testaments.  The Old Testament is divided, according the Jewish tradition, into three parts – the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings.  The Law (aka the Torah by the Jews or the Pentateuch) is divided into five (hence the prefix penta) sections.  And Genesis is the beginning of it all.  It sets the stage for the great drama of redemption that is to unfold in the rest of revelation.  Take out Genesis and most of the Bible is unintelligible.

Its Place in History

From a student of Scripture's perspective, Genesis is a sturdy rock upon which everything rests.  It should come as no surprise then that from the perspective of the history of studying religion, Genesis is a battleground.  We’ll visit two battle sites where the war has raged – authorship and sources.

Authorship

Julius Wellhausen,
popularizer of  the JEPD theory

Conservative scholarship believes Moses wrote the first five books.  In contrast, liberal scholarship adheres to this thing called the JEPD theory.  This theory says that different authors or groups of authors (each letter represents a different author’s peculiarity) starting in the 800’s B.C. and spanning the next couple hundred years, each wrote their take on the beginning of the world and the beginning of Israel.  The different accounts, according to this theory were then edited and put together to harmonize as much as possible.  Any alleged contradictions in events or in style of writing are attributed to the compiled nature of the book. 

Why do conservatives believe Moses wrote the first five books?  Because that’s what the Bible says.  While Jews and Christians have held for centuries that Moses wrote Genesis, the most important person who held this view was Jesus Christ.   See Mark 12:26, Luke 16:31, and Luke 24:27 and 44 for examples.  Some claim that He was simply accommodating to the beliefs around Him, but the One who is the truth does not accommodate to falsehood.  He accommodated to a Jewish way of life, but never to their error.  For anyone who upholds Him as a reliable source, His testimony solves the issue.  For those who are interested in a conservative response and refutation of the JEPD theory, I suggest the reading Josh McDowell’s treatment of it in his The New Evidence That Demands a Verdict.

Source

Naturally, who you view as the author of the book will influence where the material comes from.  But if we say that Moses is the author, how did he know about events that took place up to thousands of years before he lived?  The most likely answer is from the Person who was there when the events happened – God.  Remember when Moses would go into the tent of God and his face shone so brightly that he had to put a veil on?  God was talking with Moses as a friend talks with a friend.  (Ex. 38:8-11).  I can easily imagine that the information we read in Genesis came from those spectacular conversations. (By the way, I'm looking forward to having those kinds of conversations in the coming kingdom.  I hope you are too!)

But the book of Genesis is not the only ancient text we have describing the beginnings of the world.  For example, the Bablyonian Text “Enuma Elish” describes the god Marduk’s victory over the sea monster Tiabat and his forming, from her dead body, the heavens and the earth  Afterwards, he executes her henchman consort Qinqu and from his blood and the clay of the earth he forms humanity.  In the Gilgamesh Epic, divine anger leads to global destruction leads to global destruction by means of a flood.  However one human being and his family escape by building an ark on which he brings the animals.  When the flood waters recede, the ark comes to rest on a mountain.  To check whether it is safe to disembark, the flood hero, Utnapishtim releases three birds in succession.  When he leaves the ark, he first offers a sacrifice. 

What should we do with these accounts?  First, we can contrast them with the account in Genesis to gain a better feel for the impact it would have had on the original hearers.  The creation account in Genesis contrasts with “Enuma Elish” and we can suspect that the original readers would have noticed these contrasts.  There were not several gods competing, but one God, who was there in the beginning.  Nothing forced or coerced Him to create.  He simply chose to.  The universe was not made of pre-existent stuff, like an old dead god.  God brought it to being out of nothing. 

A scene from the Epic of Gilgamesh

Second, we can think about how they are similar.  The Gilgamesh Epic sounds strikingly similar to the story of Noah.  Some have pointed out these similarities as an attack against the reliability of Genesis.  And Christians can shake with fear because the arguments sounds esoteric and confusing.  Hold your horses everyone.  What is the argument?  Is it that since there are (at least) two very similar accounts of the world being destroyed by a flood, that means. . .there was no flood?  How would another, independent account discredit the one we already have?  Or is the argument that Moses (or whoever) got his information from the Gilgamesh Epic?  First, notice that’s just one of four possibilities.  It could be that the Gilgamesh Epic came from Genesis.  Or it could be that that there was a “parent document” which gave rise to both stories.  Or, fourthly, there is no literary connection.  But in any of the first three situations, the reliability of Genesis is not lessened.  Moses could have received all of his information directly from God, but didn’t have to.  He admits using sources (Ex. 24:7, Num. 21:14), as do other biblical writers (i.e. Luke 1:1-4).   The doctrine of inspiration only requires that God was supervising the whole process to keep Moses from error. 

All that to say, the stories that convey the foundation theology of Genesis are reliable accounts of actual history.  There is no need to feel intimidated by liberal scholarship.  Trust the Lord and you'll be fine.

                            

The Plan of Genesis

Genesis is like a car racing towards a stop light and then slamming on the breaks.  It covers a lot of terrain very quickly – thousands of years in eleven chapters.  It then slows down its pace when it gets to Abraham in chapter twelve.  It then slows down even more when it approaches its destination by telling in depth the story of Joseph as that sets the stage for why Israel is in slavery in Egypt. 

One way to outline Genesis is by noticing the repeated phrase “This is the generation of. . .”  If we take those as our dividers, the outline looks something like this:

   1.       Intro: The creation of the world (1:1-2:3)             

   2.       The generations of the heavens and of the earth (2:4)

   3.       The generations of Noah (6:9)

   4.       The generations of the sons of Noah (10:1)

   5.       The generations of Shem (11:10)

   6.       The generations of Terah (11:27)

   7.       The generations of Ishmael (25:12)

   8.       The generations of Isaac (25:19)

   9.       The generations of Esau (36:1)

   10.   The generations of Jacob (37:2)

A simpler outline focuses on the beginning of the world and the beginning of Israel.  We have:

   1.       Before Abraham [Primeval History] (1-11)

   2.       Abraham and After [Patriatchal History] (12-50)

The Purpose of Genesis

Look for What is There

The purpose of Genesis is not to satisfy all of our curiosity, so we must be content to focus on what God did choose to tell us.  There is no point in reading between the lines to answer questions like what life was technology like before the flood or what religion was like under the leadership of Melchizedek or where Satan got the idea to rebel against God.  We’ll have to wait to ask the Lord those things in glory. 

Look for God’s Character

The fourth word in Genesis introduces us to its main character and great hero – God.  Remember that Genesis is a foundational book and there is much to be learned about the essential nature of God when reading it.  So as you read through Genesis, ask yourself “What do I learn about who God is from what I’ve read?”  Here are a few I found:

He is Transcendent

The Andromeda Galaxy,
the work of God's fingers

As you read the account of creation, the person of God is immensely impressive.  He stands over creation, completely independent of it.  He is not like Santa Claus, who has power only if people believe in him.  He in no way needs creation.  He was not forced to create – He simply chose to do so for His own glory.  Think of His incredible power in verses like Gen. 1:16 – “He made the stars also.”  It’s half of a sentence, almost thrown in there!  For Him, the creation of billions of galaxies is "the work of his fingers" (Psalm 8:3).  He exists outside of the universe as the all-powerful creator.

He is Immanent

And yet He stands inside the universe as intimately concerned with the well being of every creature.  He is not just the great cosmic designer.  He is personal and is concerned with people’s actions.  He walks with Adam and Eve in the garden.  He gives directions, not suggestions, and watches to see if people will obey. 

He is Just

When His creatures disobey, we see God’s justice in that sin must be punished.  The world is plunged beneath the curse because Adam and Eve’s one act of disobedience.  They are banished from God’s presence because He cannot tolerate imperfection.  The world quickly goes from bad to worse till “every imagination of [man’s] heart was only evil continually” (Gen. 6:5).  And so a destruction comes that still has not had its equal – the great worldwide flood, killing millions, if not billions, of men, women, boys and girls.  What a tragedy that this horrific event is so often cutesified and people only remember the toddler's version.  The screaming out of a countless number of dying souls should be a vivid reminder that God's punishment for sin does come in time.   

He is Gracious

But alongside every display of the justice of God, we see His grace as well.  With the fall there’s the God-given sacrifice and promise of a redeemer.  With Cain there’s the mark.  With the flood there’s the ark.  With Sodom and Gomorrah there are the angels to rescue Lot.  And the list goes on.

He is Sovereign

Through all the acts of rebellion, punishment, and offers of grace, nothing catches God by surprise.  As you read through Genesis, it becomes very clear that everything is headed towards his determined end as we see one man called out from the nations, being prepared to be his people.  We can see God’s great sovereignty over the whole world in microcosm with Joseph.  Though injustice after injustice occurs, the dreams God gave Joseph do come true.  In fact, we can say it was through the injustices of man that God accomplished his goal.  Joseph himself grasped God’s sovereignty in those famous words to his brothers – “you meant it for evil, but God meant it for good” (Gen. 50:20).

I remember teaching my little sister how to play chess as a child.  I was (and still am!) five years older than her, which is quite a difference when you’re twelve.  I could always get her to put her queen in harm’s way by putting a pawn out.  I remember the excited look on her face as she saw that she could take the pawn.  She would say “you’ve made a mistake now Bruce” as she slid her queen down the board take my insignificant piece.  Now, I didn’t coerce Bethany to more her queen.  I didn’t reach across the board and cheat by moving it against her will.  I set up the board so that she freely did what was in my plan.  And that, in some small way, is what God’s sovereignty is like – never violating our free will, never "reaching across the board" and manipulating our actions, but setting things up so that  His will is accomplished.

The land would not have been saved if Joseph was not in charge of the grain in Egypt.
And that wouldn’t have happened if the cup bearer didn’t remember Joseph.
And that wouldn’t have happened if Joseph wasn’t in prison.
And that wouldn’t have happened if Joseph wasn’t wrongly accused.
And that wouldn’t have happened if Joseph wasn’t sold.
And that wouldn’t have happened if his brothers weren’t angry with him.
And that wouldn’t have happened if God hadn’t given Joseph his dreams! 

Look for Christ

Genesis three is one of the most significant chapters of the Bible because it not only explains the entrance of sin and why we are not in paradise any more, but it gives the first promise of a redeemer, One who will crush Satan’s head (Gen. 3:15).  Chapter three actually frames the rest of the Bible.  Throughout the rest of Genesis (and also the rest of the Bible for that matter), God will often intervene in creation to provide salvation for mankind.  These are all “mini-salvations” in that they are smaller versions of the great act of salvation predicted in Genesis 3:15.  Just like my little boy’s play farm animals look something like the real deal, so these “mini salvations” bear a resemblance of the great and ultimate and real salvation that will be provided by the Messiah.  So as you read through Genesis, keep your eye out for “pictures of redemption.”  The slain animal, the ark, the offering of Isaac, the betrayal  of Joseph and his rise to glory, are all great portrayals of the redeemer crushing the serpent’s head.  1 Pet. 1:11 says that in the Old Testament, “The Spirit of Christ . . . testified before hand the sufferings of Christ and the glory which should follow.”  So as you read Genesis, allow the Spirit of Christ to show you more of who God is and what he has done in giving His Son to crush the enemy and reverse the curse.