Introduction to Genesis

Genesis as the seed-plot of the Bible

Or we could say that without Genesis the entire foundation of the Bible would star falling down.

Genesis isn’t just a book of random ideas generated and interspersed but rather a mosaic, a group of ideas that the rest of Scripture will continue to build upon. Maybe when you look at one close up it seems random, but you when you take a step back you see everything fitting together.

A transcendent creator-God

God’s blessing of man-kind as those made in His image

Redemption for man-kind through the seed of Eve.

What does Genesis mean and who wrote it

It means birth or source.

Genesis is the first book of what is known as the Torah (or law), which is the 1st five books of the Hebrew Scriptures. It was considered one book, not five separate books.

Throughout most of Jewish history it has also been called the “book of Moses”. It tells the history of the people of Israel as they prepare to enter into the promised land of Israel. It was used to remind them of the God they served as they prepared for the next step of their journey. The whole book builds on itself and especially these first 11 chapters of Genesis that deal with the history of mankind.

Moses would be qualified to write the book. He was incredibly educated in Egypt, where he would have learned to read and write. Especially in the types of literature he produces. genealogy, narrative, law codes, and speeches.

In recent times there have been attempts to appoint authorship to others. Specifically what is called the JEDP theory. This theory supposes that there are 4 different authors of the Pentateuch over hundreds of years of Jewish history. This theory will say “this language tells us this author wrote it.” There is the Yahwist (preferred to call God by His proper name) the Elohist (preferred the Hebrew word for God), the Priestly writer (wrote the law aspects), and The Deuteronomist (wrote most of Deuteronomy). They even look at this like the different in the accounts of Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 as proof of this. Then there was one final “compiler” of all this information.

First of all, we have never found any of these alleged documents. But also it misses a few important points.

Several times the Bible clearly points to Mosaic authorship

Throughout almost all of human history these five books have been attributed to Moses. But beyond that, the text tells us that Moses wrote a lot of things down.

Joshua 1:7 “Above all, be strong and very courageous to observe carefully the whole instruction my servant Moses commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right or the left, so that you will have success wherever you go.”

Exodus 17:14 “The Lord then said to Moses, “Write this down on a scroll as a reminder and recite it to Joshua: I will completely blot out the memory of Amalek under heaven.””

Exodus 24:4 “And Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. He rose early the next morning and set up an altar and twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel at the base of the mountain.”

Numbers 33:2 “At the Lord’s command, Moses wrote down the starting points for the stages of their journey; these are the stages listed by their starting points:”

Exodus 34:27 “The Lord also said to Moses, “Write down these words, for I have made a covenant with you and with Israel based on these words.””

Deuteronomy 31:9 “Moses wrote down this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the Lord’s covenant, and to all the elders of Israel.”

Deuteronomy 31:22 “So Moses wrote down this song on that day and taught it to the Israelites.”

Throughout the OT it points to Moses as the author, as well as the NT. Jesus, all the Gospel writers, Paul, and the writer of Hebrews all state Moses as the author.

2. Places and names generally fit Mosaic authorship

When we look at names, regions, and records, they fit not with something written later but with the age that Moses wrote during. Several of the scenes attest clearly to eyewitness accounts rather than second-hand accounts. Things like familiarity with Egyptian language and geography.

3. The structure and themes of the book point to Mosaic authorship

As we will see as we begin to read Genesis, the continuity of the book provides clear evidence that one author must have written it and not separate authors.

4. The style of writing doesn’t fit a later date

If we look at other sources during the same time period we find literature that resembles that of the Pentateuch.

-In fact we do find some parallels to the Genesis accounts. For example, there are many flood accounts during this same time, especially the Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh. In fact Genesis is most likely written against the Egyptian creation myths. Some in the past have tried to use this as an argument against the Bible, but in fact it supports it. It proves that there was some type of great flood that occurred. We find Creation accounts in different people groups, we find some Eden accounts in Akkadian tales and Babylonian traditions. Sumerian traditions have similar Genealogical accounts.

When we look at law codes of other people groups we see similarities as well. But what we see is that Genesis is a polemic against these other law codes and narrative accounts, that just a similar accounting. Moses is arguing for the God of Israel against these other gods.

5. Although it was written down, a majority of people would have an oral telling of the Pentateuch not a written one.

Most people couldn’t read, but it was also an extensive process to write things down. There was usually one writing of something that was spoken to the groups of people. Later on they would start to do more extensive writing and to have many copies of the text.

6. A few others

Divine names can be used in different contexts and by the same author.

The main issue is that it is often used to doubt the Bible as God’s Word.

What themes are we looking for?

Blessing, seed, land

“What we find is the divine initiation of blessing, which is compromised by human sin followed by gracious preservation of the promise: blessing-sin-grace.”

And this shows us the story of redemption that will extend all the way to Jesus. It shows us that God’s plan isn’t thwarted by human sin but that God is good and He will redeem it. But also, it doesn’t mean that God ignores sin, that there is a consequence to sin but God acts justly.

God will provide blessings for His people that will then be a blessing for the rest of creation and mankind.

But then what we will also see is that there will often be curses after someone breaks the rules of God’s blessings.

-This will lead to “de-creations” that is a reversal of God’s good creation

The promise of a “seed” for God’s people will come up time and time again.

But then we will see when there is sin, there will be a poisoned seed, one that goes against the blessings of God’s people

God will provide a land for His people

But again, God’s people will be forced to leave the land God promised them when they sin.

Civilization and technology

We will see inventions by humans, those not made by God. Certainly God allows technology for our benefit but we will see that cities, buildings, tools, are often used to oppose God and put ourselves in his position.

Covenant

God will make covenants with His people, it uses a sign that points to the truth that God will be faithful to the covenant He has made with His people.

We don’t often understand covenant, but covenants were often sealed by killing an animal, the point being “if I break this covenant let what has been done by this animal be done to me.” We will see God hold up His end while man is unable to uphold His.

Our outline will follow the toledot structure.

Toledot means “this is the account of” and it links the sections of this book together, it looks backwards to who we just learned about and forwards to the next character in our story. It is a beautiful formula to show the unity of the entire book, from creation all the way to Joseph at the end. It shows all the pieces of the book are connected by God’s plan throughout the history of His people.

What we will also see is that in each of these new accounts we will see a blessing come to lineage God is dealing with and promises for their generations.

Conclusion

The main battle of the Hebrew faith is fought against the confusion of human and divine, of God and nature. Genesis has correspondence between human and divine that departs from other mythological ideas.Genesis is a polemical against idols and mythology. It is ideologically and theologically incompatible to other Ancient Near Eastern concepts. The New Testament authors discuss Genesis not as myth but as truth. Genesis is the beginning truth.Many believe because there are supernatural accounts or because something can't be "corroborated" that it can't be history. But Genesis, and the Bible, is a unique work of history among ancient people. It comes from a historical frameowkr of God's acts. This doesn't mean it is just a chronicling of events, but deals with God's redemptive plan through history. It isn't just about recording specific events, but rather used events as a way of revealing who God is through history. That Yahweh is sovereign over all of it.