Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
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What do you see?
Too often, we modern folk ask Genesis to answer modern questions, like how old is this water-covered ball that spins at 1000 mph in space while orbiting a nuclear-powered fireball?
But Genesis wasn’t written to us.
It was written for us, but not to us.
It was written to people asking ancient questions.
What are those ancient questions?
The phrase “These are the generations of...” as an introduction is used 11 times in Genesis.
Before the Patriarchs: The need for a family of God
2:4 Heaven and earth
5:1 Adam’s line
6:9 Noah
10:1 Shem, Ham, and Japheth
11:10 Shem
The Patriarchs in the Promised Land: Establishing the family of God
11:27 Terah
25:12 Ishmael
25:19 Isaac
36:1 Esau
36:9 Esau
The Patriarchs in Egypt: Incubation for the Covenant People
37:2 Jacob
As we look, let’s ask ourselves . . . is this how we would tell this story?
Chapter 1: God arranges the furniture
Chapter 2: God puts the man in the garden and creates woman—man was incomplete without her
Chapter 3: Woman is “deceived”, both are disobedient.
They experience adolescence.
The serpent and the ground are cursed, but the man and the woman are not.
God is merciful.
God provides for his children as they leave the garden.
The man names his wife “Eve”.
Chapter 4: God disapproves of Cain’s offering.
Cain is emotional and has bad attitude.
Cain kills Abel.
Abel’s “blood cries out to me from the ground”.
Cain is cursed and cannot work the land.
Cain descendents develop culture, murder, and polygamy.
Chapter 5: The descendents of Seth (image of Adam) live a long time and died, except Enoch.
Lamech thinks Noah will save him from the curse on the ground.
Chapter 6: Mankind multiplies and becomes corrupt (violent).
God decrees a wet judgement.
God warns Noah (“Rest”) and instructions on how to build and Ark.
Chapter 7: Entering the Ark and the Flood comes.
Chapter 8: God Remembered Noah
Chapter 9: A New Covenant
Chapter 10: The Table of Nations (map).
Remember that we are still answering ancient questions.
“Why am I like this?”
Why am I a “Hebrew” since I don’t live in Hebron?
Why is it promised?
This story (Genesis) is particularly about Israel.
Our non-Israel questions won’t always get answered.
The Big Shift in Genesis
Genesis chapters 1-11 are “pre-history”.
We aren’t going to get a satisfactory answer on dates and places.
Genesis chapters 12-50 are “history”.
While difficult, we can begin to get good answers on dates and places.
We don’t where Eden or Havilah were, but we do know a lot about Egypt, Hebron, the Negev desert, and most of the places in chapters 12-50.
We know about things tribes like the Kenites, Perizzites, Amorites, Canaanites, and Jebusites.
Well, I don’t personally know much, but you can get a book and read about the archeology and languages of these tribes.
Abraham conquered Abimelech’s men and captured Beersheba in the Negev desert.
We know exactly where Beersheba is and the wells have been in constant use since ancient times.
There is a McDonald's near the main one that Abraham probably used.
Jacob’s Well is a big tourist site in Nablus, West Bank.
It’s Palestinian Authority, so there’s no McDonald’s, unfortunately.
Genesis chapters 1-11 tells a story about God’s blessing and mankind’s rebellion.
Over and over, God gives a blessing (like “be fruitful and multiply”) and mankind rebels (murder is the opposite of multiplying).
Most creation stories are focused on the particular tribe telling the story.
But God’s creation is to fill the world.
Chapters 1-11 are the story of how the world began to be filled.
In chapter 12 we switch to the tribe, the Hebrews, and the first man to live in Hebron… Abraham.
God created a lot of families in chapters 1-11.
But now he is going to save the whole world from their rebellion through one family, Abraham’s.
The blessings of chapters 1-11 become promises in chapters 12-50.
God blessed the first family to be fruitful and multiply, and they failed.
Now in chapter 12, God promises to bless “all the peoples on earth” through Abraham’s family.
God commands the Hebrews to bless all peoples in Exodus 19, but they fail.
So at Christmas, God came to do it himself.
Chapters 12-50 show God overcoming obstacles to his promise.
Infertility, deception, murder, slavery, etc. look like they will derail the promise of God to Abraham.
*Spoiler* They don’t.
God provides the means to overcome and keeps his promises.
The LORD said to Abram:
Go from your land,
your relatives,
and your father’s house
to the land that I will show you.
2 I will make you into a great nation,
I will bless you,
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you,
I will curse anyone who treats you with contempt,
and all the peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.,
The word “Hebrew” might be derived from the name “Eber”, the son of Shem in Chapter 10.
Or, it could be derived from the place-name, “Hebron”.
Or, they both could be derived from “Eber”.
Or, it could be derived from “Hebri”, a Caananite word for refugee.
But...
“Hebri” could be a corruption of “Hebrew”, because the “Hebrews” were “Hebri”.
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