Lesson One

INTRODUCTION

The Book of Beginnings

"In the beginning ..." Genesis 1:1

Genesis means "origin," "beginning," and the book of Genesis is about beginnings. In it, God lays the groundwork for the rest of Scripture, His revelation of Himself to man.

Genesis begins with God's creation of the world and its most blessed occupants, the human male and female. From this climax, the story follows man's plunge into rebellion and its consequences — shame, death, murder, rootlessness, tyranny, idolatry, and war. Two low points mark this account of primeval history (chapters 1–11): the Flood that wipes out an unsalvageable generation and the scattering of the nations who try to build the Tower of Babel. Each time, man seems bound for irredeemable corruption, yet God prevents disaster with merciful judgment.

After Babel, the story narrows to follow one family — Abraham's — through four generations (chapters 12–50). Through this family, God plans to offer salvation from the consequences of the Fall to the whole human race. God calls Abraham from Mesopotamia to Canaan and promises that his descendants will own that land. In the twists of life, God teaches Abraham, his son, his grandson, and his great-grandsons to trust their Lord's promises and obey His plans. By the close of Genesis, God has led seventy members of the chosen family into Egypt but has trained them to pin their hopes on a return to Canaan four hundred years in the future. The stage is set for God's greater acts of salvation and self-revelation in the Exodus, which itself will be only a shadow of mightier things to come. Genesis constantly reminds us that it is only the beginning of a story that will climax in the New Testament and not end until the vision of Revelation is accomplished.

Here is a brief outline showing the four main events of primeval history and the four generations of Abraham's family.

I. Primeval History (chapters 1–11)

A. Creation
B. Fall
C. Flood
D. Babel

II. Patriarchal History (chapters 12–50)

A. Abraham
B. Isaac
C. Jacob
D. Joseph

Genesis and the New Testament

The New Testament quotes Genesis more than any other Old Testament book except Psalms and Isaiah. The great themes of the New Testament all begin in Genesis, and many are scarcely mentioned again between Exodus and Malachi.

For instance, the garden of Genesis 2 with its river and tree of life return in Revelation where the serpent of Genesis 3 and the Babylon built in Genesis 10–11 finally fall. A series of prophecies from Genesis 3:15 through 49:10 point toward the Christ, who transforms the consequences of Adam's sin. The New Testament God — the One personal, perfect, just, merciful, all-powerful Creator and Savior — is the God of Genesis. Likewise, the New Testament view of man's high origin and mission, and his fall and predicament, are rooted in Genesis. Grace, election, free will, the covenant relationship, the substituted sacrifice that atones for sin, the transformation of the sinner, and the obedience of faith all figure in Genesis.

Focus on redemption

Genesis doesn't tell us everything we might like to know about the history of the universe and humankind, for much of that history lies outside God's purpose in giving us the book. Genesis focuses on God's acts as they bear on His plan to redeem man from sin. The book first explains God's perfect plan for humans and then begins to trace His response to their sin — the plan of salvation through a descendant of a chosen family. The origin of the universe is relevant only in that it reveals God's character and defines man's original nature. The nonchosen branches of the human race are not unimportant to God, but they stand outside the redemption story until in Christ they ultimately receive salvation through the chosen family.

Genesis and the Old Testament

Genesis is one of the five books of Moses (see Nehemiah 8:1; John 5:46; Luke 24:27), which the Jews called the Torah (Teaching, Law, Instruction — Psalm 119:174; Jeremiah 31:33). The English word Law does not quite describe the history and instruction about God that the Torah contains. God does give rules for living, but only after He has shown His love and power by delivering Israel (the descendants of Abraham through his grandson, Jacob-Israel) from slavery in Egypt.

The Torah tells how God made a covenant (a treaty between a lord and his subjects) with Israel. The rest of the Old Testament recounts Israel's repeated failures to live up to God's requirements and the repeated sufferings that rebellion causes. Over and over God allows His people to suffer and learn, but He protects a remnant of the chosen family, sends prophets to warn and teach His people, and assures them that one day the promised descendant of Abraham will come. Thus, the rest of the Old Testament tells how God continues the chosen family's training, the story begun in Genesis.

It takes roughly two thousand years to prepare Abraham's family to give birth to the Savior, Jesus.

Viewing the Old Testament as the story of how God shaped Israel to receive the Savior, we can see how Genesis fits into this framework:

1. The five books of Moses (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy) recount Israelite history from the people's beginnings until Moses' death, when the Israelites are poised on the border of the promised land (?–1400 BC). The books also give laws for living in the land under Israel's king, the Lord.

2. Nine books (Joshua–2 Chronicles) tell Israel's history from the start of the conquest of the land, through the climax of prosperity under David and Solomon, and finally to degeneration, conquest by enemies, and exile (about 1400–586 BC).

3. Three books (Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther) record history after the exile (about 538–420 BC).

4. Five books (Job–Song of Songs) give us poetry and wisdom from Israel's golden years under David and Solomon through the exile (about 1000–450 BC).

5. Seventeen books (Isaiah–Malachi) record the words of prophets from some centuries before to shortly after the exile (about 855–430 BC).

Genesis, then, is the beginning of the story. It ends with Jacob's family settled in Egypt around 1876 BC. About 430 years later, Moses led the descendants of that family out of Egypt and back to the land promised to Abraham. During the forty-year trek from Egypt to Canaan, Moses wrote Genesis and his other books. (For relative dates, see the timeline.)

Before the band of fugitive slaves entered the promised land, every one of them needed to know some core truths about their God and themselves. They had to know how being Israelites made them unique, set apart from all the peoples they were going to encounter. They needed to know who this God was who had freed them from Egypt and promised them Canaan. The stories about the Creation, the Flood, Babel, Abraham, and so on may have been passed down in Jacob's family for generations, but the people needed an accurate, written record stamped with God's authority. In Canaan, they were going to face all kinds of challenges to their calling as a holy people and to their faith in the true God, so God guided Moses to write five books to set Israel straight.

As you study Genesis, think of yourself both as a Christian and as an Israelite whose family has just entered Canaan. Keep in mind these questions: "Who is this God we've committed ourselves to? What is my relationship to Him, and how did it come about? How did our people, Israel, come to be? What did God choose us to do, and why? Where did we come from, and why are we trying to conquer Canaan?" And most importantly, "How should all this affect the way I live?"

The documentary theory

A theory current among many scholars asserts that the Torah is not the work of Moses, but rather is an edited compilation of "four types of documents, processes, or schools." These four are called J (the Jahwist or Jehovah source), E (the Elohist or Elohim source), P (a Priestly school), and D (the Deuteronomist or Deuteronomic school who did the final editing). There are many variations of this theory, and also many flaws. Therefore, we will leave this debate to the commentaries3 and follow the traditional view that Moses substantially wrote Genesis. He may have used oral and written records of tribal genealogies and history, since in societies where writing is rare, people cultivate extremely accurate memories for such things. A later editor may have updated certain place names for clarity, for instance, Dan (Genesis 14:14) was not given this name until the days of the Judges (Judges 18:29). However, these details do not negate the fact that Genesis was written by Moses under the guidance of God's Spirit.

Science and Scripture

Genesis focuses on man's relationship to God and draws its information from revelation and remembered events. Science studies material remains (fossils, rocks, the stars, and so on) and repeatable experiments to answer questions about how and when things happened. Therefore, it is not surprising that science can tell us nothing about God, and that Scripture does not address technical questions of physics, chemistry, and biology. As God's Word, the Bible is infallible, but our human understanding of both God's Word and material remains is very fallible. Therefore, in this study we won't tackle alleged conflicts between traditional interpretations of Scripture and current interpretations of material remains. Instead, we will deal with the issues Genesis intends to address and ignore most others. We assume that perfect understanding of Scripture and material evidence would resolve all apparent conflicts, but these matters are unsuitable for a Bible study guide.

God and man

The nineteen lessons in this guide are just an introduction to the Book of Beginnings. We will follow the main plot from two perspectives. From one angle, we will look at God — His nature and character as revealed through His words and actions. From another angle, we will look at man — who he is and should be, what God wants him to do, and what he does. We will trace God's plan of redemption through Genesis from God's side and from man's, always looking for lessons for our own lives.

The best way to begin studying a book is to read it straight through and outline it broadly for yourself. Since we expect most users of this guide won't want to read all of Genesis first, we've given you the two outlines above. If you can, read as much of Genesis as possible with these outlines to guide you before beginning lesson 2.

For the group

This "For the Group" section and those in later lessons are meant as possible ways of organizing your discussions. Select whatever suits your group.

Worship. Some groups like to begin with prayer and/or singing. Some pray briefly at the beginning for the Holy Spirit's guidance but leave extended prayer until after the study. Others prefer just to chat and have refreshments for a while and then move to the study, leaving worship until the end. You might experiment with different structures until you find one that suits your group.

Warm-up. Many people find it hard to dive into a Bible discussion when their thoughts are still on what they did during the day. Starting with singing or prayer can help people make the transition from business to Bible study, but many groups like to begin with a brief warm-up question.

As you start a new study, whether your group has been together for a long time or has several new members, you may want to discuss what each person hopes to get out of your group — out of your study of Genesis, and out of whatever else you might do together. How much emphasis would you like to put on prayer, study, outreach to others, singing, sharing, and so on?

What are your goals for personal growth, service to others, and so on? If you have someone write down members' hopes and expectations, then you can look back at these goals later to see if they are being met. Discuss what you hope to give as well as get in your group.

How to Use This Study. Make sure that the group is committed to preparing each lesson ahead of time. Point out the optional questions, the Study Skills, and the Study Aids section. If necessary, examine how members' goals for the group can be met; for instance, do you need to allow two weeks per lesson in order to save more time for prayer and sharing? Answer any questions members have about the study.

Introduction. You could do all of the preceding parts of this "For the Group" when you first give members their study guides, and come the next week prepared to begin here and move to lesson 1.

Here are some questions to clarify the key points at the beginning of this lesson.

1. What does Genesis mean?

2. What are some of the themes of Genesis?

3. Summarize the plot of Genesis, using the four key events of chapters 1–11 and the four key men of chapters 12–50 to guide you.

4. Why does Genesis repeat the phrase "these are the generations of ..."

ten times?

5. Who wrote Genesis? Who were the author's original audience, and what were they going through at the time?

6. What does Law (Torah) mean? In what sense is Genesis part of God's Law?

7. How does Genesis fit into the overall message of the Old Testament and the whole Bible?

Discuss some ways in which Genesis is relevant to your lives as Christians. Why is it important for you to know the origins of the world, man, and sin? Why do Christians need to know what God promised to Abraham and his descendants, and what happened to Abraham's family?