Genesis: In the Beginning
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The five books of the Old Testament, beginning with Genesis are known as the Pentateuch [Pen-ta-took]. These Books are collectively known as the Torah [meaning law or teaching.]
These Books establish the foundation for the entire biblical canon and without them, the reader would have little understanding of the rest of the Bible, due to Genesis containing the call of Abraham and Israel as God’s response to the predicament of man’ sin .
There have been alternative theories as to who the author of Genesis and the Pentateuch [Five Books] was, such as the “Documentary Hypothesis” which in short states that Genesis and the Torah [law] are collaborations of documents written by various authors after the time of Moses.
However there are several reasons why this is suspect .
First, it is contradictory to the view of the Jews and early church.
Second, the Pentateuch/Torah itself declares Moses to be the author:
For example:
Deuteronomy 31:9 states, “Then Moses wrote this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and to all the elders of Israel.”
Third, the rest of the Bible, both in the Old and New Testaments designate Moses as the Author of the Pentateuch/Torah.
Ezra 6:18 - And they set the priests in their divisions and the Levites in their divisions, for the service of God at Jerusalem, as it is written in the Book of Moses.
Romans 10:5 - For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them.
With that said we can be affirmed that Moses wrote the Book of Genesis approximately between 1450 - 1410 BC, sometime between the Exodus and his death .
Daily Double: The meaning of the terms BC and AD?
What is Before Christ ?
What is Anno Domini ? Latin for “in the year of the Lord.”
The Jews named the Book [Beresit] “In the Beginning” after the “first words of the Book” in Hebrew, which translates as the word “Genesis ” in Greek.
The book is divided into two main sections:
[Genesis 1 - 11:26] Pertains to the history of mankind - from creation to Terah [Abraham’s Father].
[Genesis 11:27 - 50:26] Deals with the election and history of God’s Chosen People.
Can you imagine when the people of God read this for the first time!
“In the beginning”… there was and is something refreshing, exciting and optimistic about these words.
In our lives….whether these words would describe the dawn of a new season, the birth of a child, the start of a new career, or a simple change in mindset or direction
A new beginning stirs up feelings of enthusiasm and hope as we meditate on what the imaginative future might hold.
Not only are we introduced to the happenings in “the Beginning” but we are introduced to the orchestrater and author of “the Beginning.”
The Star of the show comes to light from the get go in verse one… and calls Himself God !
“Elohim ” is a Hebrew name for God. The name has plurality and speaks directly to the vastness of the power of God. It is the most frequently used name for the Lord and appears more than 2,500 times in the Tanakh [The Hebrew Bible/Old Testament]
The Name doesn’t prove the plurality of the Godhead in and of itself since it is assigned to a singular being [God]…but would have been a fascinating puzzle piece to the Hebrew people as they discovered more about the Trinitarian Godhead and His purpose for them later on in scripture.
So what can we take away from tonight? Why is the Book of Genesis important? Why did God go to the trouble of having the Genesis account recorded?
One reason is that we:
“May look forward in faith
But our understanding comes by looking back to our past”
We in this modern-day world are so future - centric. We are so heavenly minded… that we are no earthly good. [Robby Gallaty]
So Caught up in our hope that lies ahead… that we forget our purpose for today .
But if we were to look at the Hebrew People - what we would observe is that they lived their lives with their backs to the future… and their eyes toward the past
Because … when they looked back, they could see the handywork of God [ex: Genesis] and that produced in them a confidence and courage as they lived each day for their God.