The Creator and Conception: Some Initial Observations from Genesis

1. Genesis Includes Conception as One of the Two Main Reasons for Gender (Procreation & Partnership)

Gen 1:27 – So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

2. Genesis Presents Fruitfulness and Multiplying as a Blessing (Something Good and Desirable)

Gen 1:28 – To Adam & Eve – Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth."
Gen 9:1 – To Noah & His Sons – So God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them: "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. … Gen 9:7 And as for you, be fruitful and multiply; Bring forth abundantly in the earth And multiply in it."
Gen 17:6 – To Abraham – I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you.
Gen 17:20 – To Ishmael – And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall beget twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation.
Gen 28:3-4 – May God Almighty bless you, And make you fruitful and multiply you, That you may be an assembly of peoples; And give you the blessing of Abraham, To you and your descendants with you, That you may inherit the land In which you are a stranger, Which God gave to Abraham. (Isaac to Jacob)
Gen 35:11 – Also God said to him: "I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall proceed from you, and kings shall come from your body.
Gen 48:3-4 – Then Jacob said to Joseph: "God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me, and said to me, 'Behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will make of you a multitude of people, and give this land to your descendants after you as an everlasting possession.'
Gen 48:15-16 – And he blessed Joseph, and said: "God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, The God who has fed me all my life long to this day, The Angel who has redeemed me from all evil, Bless the lads; Let my name be named upon them, And the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; And let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth."

3. Genesis Focuses the Role of a Woman on Two Enterprises: Her Husband and Her Children

Gen 3:16 – To the woman He said: "I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; In pain you shall bring forth children; Your desire shall be for your husband, And he shall rule over you."

4. Genesis Identifies Eve’s Extended Significance by Her Motherhood

Gen 3:20 – And Adam called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.

5. Genesis Pictures Conception as a Normal Result of Intimacy

Gen 4:1 – Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, "I have acquired a man from the Lord."
Gen 16:4 – So he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress became despised in her eyes.
Gen 19:36 – Thus both the daughters of Lot were with child by their father.
Gen 25:1-2 – Abraham again took a wife, and her name was Keturah. And she bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah.
Gen 30:4-5 – Then she gave him Bilhah her maid as wife, and Jacob went in to her. And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son.

6. Genesis Records the Understanding that God Is Directly Involved in Conception, and in Control Over It

Gen 4:1 – Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, "I have acquired a man from the Lord."
Gen 4:25 – And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and named him Seth, "For God has appointed another seed for me instead of Abel, whom Cain killed."
Gen 29:32-33 – So Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben; for she said, "The Lord has surely looked on my affliction. Now therefore, my husband will love me." Then she conceived again and bore a son, and said, "Because the Lord has heard that I am unloved, He has therefore given me this son also." And she called his name Simeon.
Gen 30:1-2 – Now when Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister, and said to Jacob, "Give me children, or else I die!" And Jacob's anger was aroused against Rachel, and he said, "Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?"
Gen 30:18-20 – Leah said, "God has given me my wages, because I have given my maid to my husband." So she called his name Issachar. Then Leah conceived again and bore Jacob a sixth son. And Leah said, "God has endowed me with a good endowment; now my husband will dwell with me, because I have borne him six sons." So she called his name Zebulun.
Gen 33:4-5 – But Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept. And he lifted his eyes and saw the women and children, and said, "Who are these with you?" So he said, "The children whom God has graciously given your servant."

7. Genesis Summarizes Men’s Lives by Their Fatherhood

Gen 5:4 – After he begot Seth, the days of Adam were eight hundred years; and he had sons and daughters.
Gen 5:7 – After he begot Enosh, Seth lived eight hundred and seven years, and had sons and daughters.

8. Genesis Rests Salvation on God’s Ability to Control Conception

Gen 3:15 – And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel."

9. Genesis Requires God’s Ability to Fulfill His Promises by Actively Controlling Conception

Gen 9:9 – And as for Me, behold, I establish My covenant with you and with your descendants after you,
Gen 9:12 – And God said: "This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations:
Gen 13:14-16 And the Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: "Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are--northward, southward, eastward, and westward; 15 for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever. 16 And I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered.
Gen 15:5-6 – Then He brought him outside and said, "Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them." And He said to him, "So shall your descendants be." And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.
Gen 16:9-10 – The Angel of the Lord said to her, "Return to your mistress, and submit yourself under her hand." Then the Angel of the Lord said to her, "I will multiply your descendants exceedingly, so that they shall not be counted for multitude."
Gen 17:2-8 2 And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly." 3 Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying: 4 "As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations. 5 No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations. 6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. 7 And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you. 8 Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God."
Gen 18:11-14 – Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age; and Sarah had passed the age of childbearing. Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, "After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?" And the Lord said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh, saying, 'Shall I surely bear a child, since I am old?' Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son."
Gen 21:1-3 – And the Lord visited Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as He had spoken. For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. And Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him--whom Sarah bore to him--Isaac.
Gen 21:18 – Arise, lift up the lad and hold him with your hand, for I will make him a great nation."
Gen 26:3-4 – Dwell in this land, and I will be with you and bless you; for to you and your descendants I give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father. 4 And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; (Jacob)
Gen 26:24 – And the Lord appeared to him the same night and said, "I am the God of your father Abraham; do not fear, for I am with you. I will bless you and multiply your descendants for My servant Abraham's sake."
Gen 28:13-14 – And behold, the Lord stood above it and said: "I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. (Jacob)

10. Genesis Displays God’s Ability to Open and Close the Womb, Often in Response to Prayer

Gen 20:17-18 – So Abraham prayed to God; and God healed Abimelech, his wife, and his female servants. Then they bore children; for the Lord had closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham's wife.
Gen 25:21 – Now Isaac pleaded with the Lord for his wife, because she was barren; and the Lord granted his plea, and Rebekah his wife conceived.
Gen 29:31 – When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, He opened her womb; but Rachel was barren.
Gen 30:17 – And God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son.
Gen 30:22-23 – Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb. And she conceived and bore a son, and said, "God has taken away my reproach."

11. Genesis Indicates that God’s Control Over Conception Was That Power Which Abraham Believed God For, Which Resulted in His Righteousness

Gen 15:1-6 – After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, "Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward." 2 But Abram said, "Lord God, what will You give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?" 3 Then Abram said, "Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed one born in my house is my heir!" 4 And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, "This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir." 5 Then He brought him outside and said, "Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them." And He said to him, "So shall your descendants be." 6 And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.