Sermon Tone Analysis

berē’šîṯ

Who Wrote It?

Tradition…from early times says Moses,

A brilliant man, educated by the best Egyptian minds

Further education before the Almighty on Mt.

Sinai

Skeptics arose early--

All the skepticism begins with a presupposition against any supernatural involvement

The traditional view that Genesis (and the Pentateuch) possesses unity and is the work of Moses has not been destroyed.

On the contrary, the evidence points more and more to the antiquity and unity of the work.

This is not to say that the present form of the book has not been edited by subsequent writers whose work was guided by the Holy Spirit’s inspiration; it does affirm that widespread reshaping of the accounts is unfounded and unnecessary.

Any reshaping of the traditions of Genesis would have been done by Moses under divine inspiration, with the result that the book reports actual events and gives correct theological interpretations of them

Is Genesis History?

It’s either history or it it myth

Skeptics consider it akin to “creation myths” of other cultures

This account assumes sovereignty of one Supreme Being

Advances in archaeology are proving out the historical evidence

It is a theological interpretation of selected records of the ancestors of Israel.

As with all histories, Genesis explains the causes behind the events—but its causes are divine as well as human.

Because it is part of the revealed Word of God, and not merely human history comparable to ancient pagan mythologies, both the events and the explanations are true

Structure of Genesis

Chapter 1: Creation

A series of accounts:

The Bible Knowledge Commentary (3.

The Structure of Genesis)

Ṭôleḏôṯ: these are the generations...

1:4, 5:1, 6:9, 10:1, 11:17, 11:27, 25:12, 25:19, 36:1, 36:9, 37:2

Greek translation of this in Septuagint give us our name: Genesis (geneseos)

Thus, the book of the generations of Heaven and Earth

A Simple Outline

I. The Primeval Events

II.

The Patriarchal Narratives

Primeval: Birth of a world to the “table of nations”

Includes Adamic covenant; Noahic covenant

Patriarchal: begins with Terah, ends with a family in Egypt

Includes the Abrahamic covenant Gen 12 1-3