GET READY
“Genesis” means beginning. In Hebrew this book is called “bereshith,” which is usually translated “in the beginning” – which is, in fact, how the Bible opens. Genesis and the next four books are often called the Pentateuch (“Five Teachings).
THE WORD
Author
Scripture itself, as well as Jewish and Christian tradition, holds that Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible [check Lev 1:1-2, Neh 13:1, Matt 8:4 or Acts 26:22]. In fact the first five books are called the “Law of Moses,” or Torah. Moses is certainly at the center of events during the exodus from Egypt and would have a definite interest in recording the early history of the Jewish people as they prepare to start life in their new and “promised” land.
Some scholars, however, point to the different writing styles and differences in the story lines as evidence that more than one “source” wrote parts of Genesis. Whether it was Moses or someone else, the writer relied on the Hebrew oral tradition for the stories about creation, the early humans and the original Israelite families.
Context
Throughout their history Jews have been a nation of families, and the history of those families has been very important to their identity as God’s chosen people. When they escaped from Egypt the Jews were nothing but a group of former slaves. They needed to know who their ancestors were and, more importantly, how God had chosen those ancestors and worked with them, if they were going to be successful as God’s people. Genesis is that story.
Structure
Genesis has three major sections. The first section tells the story of God’s creation of the world and humanity, and humans’ “first” sin and separation from God [1:1-3:24]. The second section is the story of early humans: the first birth, the first death, Noah and the great flood, [4:1-11:26]. The last section is the story of Abraham and his descendants: Isaac, Jacob and Joseph, [4:27-50:26].
Major Themes
Genesis introduces three basic doctrines (or teachings) of our Christian faith:
- God, who is the creator of the universe and humanity, wants a relationship with his creation – with us.
- Humans are created in God’s image.
- Humans are incapable of loving God and maintaining a relationship with him.
We will expand on each these great teachings below.
Genesis is also the story of a family – in fact it reads like one of our contemporary soap operas. There is love and marriage, infidelity, lying, trickery, deception, attempted murder, kidnapping – all the characteristics and dysfunctions we see around us today.
GET INTO THE WORD
1. According to tradition who wrote the book of Genesis? What else did he write? What is this work sometimes called? What makes this person qualified to write such a work?
2. Why do some people believe more than one person wrote Genesis? What evidence do they have? What is the source of information for Genesis?
Note . . .The “sources” are identified by letters: “J” is the “Jehovah” source because it uses that name (or “YHWH”) for God; “E” is the “Elohim” source, referring to God as “Lord”; “P” is the “Priestly source for its focus on the role of priests.
3. What is the primary characteristic of the Jewish nation? Why is this important to them? What were they before they became a nation?
4. What are the major parts of the book of Genesis? Which is the longest? What role does each part play in helping the Jews understand who they are?
5. What are the major themes of Genesis? Why are they called doctrines? What else is included in the book of Genesis? How different is this from our life today? Why do you think this is part of the Bible?
DOCTRINE NOTES . . .
God: Our faith starts with the belief that God created the universe and all that is in it, including us. Genesis opens: In the beginning God, created the heavens and the earth [Gen 1:1]. The first things we learn about God are that he existed “in the beginning” and that he created everything else that exists. Other attributes of God include:
- Spirit: According to Jesus, God is spirit, [John 4:24]. He has no physical form or body.
- Changeless: even though part of creation may change, God is the same, and your years will never end, [Heb 1:12]. God is perfect; he is not different from one time to another or to one group or another.
- All Powerful: God created the universe out of nothing; for God all things are possible,[Mark 10:27].
- All knowing: if God created everything he knows everything about every thing. In fact he has put wisdom in the inward parts [and] given understanding to the mind, [Job 38:36].
- Everywhere: in Psalms the poet asks where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? [139:7]. God is present throughout his creation.
- Eternal: God does not exist in our time frame; he is present in all time: he is the one who is and who was and who is to come, [Rev 1:8].
Humanity: Our faith continues with the belief that God created us and wants a relationship with us.
- We are like God: Genesis teaches that God created us in his “image” and according to his “likeness,” [Gen 1:26].
- We are alive: In the second creation story (yes, there are two; and, yes, they are different), Genesis says God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being, [Gen 2:7].
- We are created for a relationship with God: from the beginning God wants a relationship with us. Paul calls this a “mystery” for the fullness of time to gather up all things in him, [Eph 1:10].
Sin: humans are not capable of maintaining a relationship with God. Sin is both the situation we are in apart from God and the disobedient actions we take because we are apart from God.
- Sin is disobedience: Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s direct command to not eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, [Gen 2:17]. As a result, God cut off their relationship with him, [Gen 3:23].
- Sin can be a thought, such as hate [1 John 3:15]; something we said, like an insult [Matt 5:22]; or an action, such as murder, theft, or lying about someone, [Matt 15:19].
- Sin is not scalable: there are no “little” sins or “medium-sized” sins (or “really big sins”). James says, whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it, [2:10].
4. God creates the universe and humans — Genesis 1:1 – 2:25
GET READY
Let’s be clear at the outset: if you are looking for a scientific explanation of how God created the universe you are in the wrong book: here all you will get is “God said . . . and there was . .. it was good.” Genesis presents the spiritual story of God’s creative actions.
THE WORD
1In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, 2 the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. 3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. [Verses 6-25 describe the creation of the sky, the oceans and dry land, plants, the sun, moon and stars, and animals.]
26Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.”
27So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
28God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” 29God said, “See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. 30And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.
[Verses 31-2:4 describe God’s rest on the Sabbath.]
2Another Account of the Creation
4In the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, 5 when no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no herb of the field had yet sprung up — for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no one to till the ground; 6 but a stream would rise from the earth, and water the whole face of the ground — 7then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being. 8 And the LordGod planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9 Out of the ground the Lord God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Verses 10-14 describe the rivers flowing out of the garden.]
15The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. 16And the Lord God commanded the man, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; 17but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.”
18Then the LordGod said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner.” . . . 21So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then he took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. 22And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. 23Then the man said,
“This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh;
this one shall be called Woman, for out of Man this one was taken.”
24Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh. 25And the man and his wife were both naked, and were not ashamed. NRSV
GET INTO THE WORD
1. When does the Bible open? What is happening? Who is involved?
2. What is the first thing that God creates? What does he do with this creation? What is the result? What is the order of the rest of creation [see Notes]?
3. What does God create after animals? What is different about this creation? What role does it play in God’s world? How did God bless these creatures?
4. How does the second creation account begin? How is the creation of humans different? What are the two steps in this creation? What is different about the reference to God [see Notes]?
5. What does God do next? What is in this garden? Why do you think these things are included? What does God say about these items?
6. What does God create next? What is different about this creation? How does the man respond? What is the outcome?
GET PERSONAL
How do these two creation accounts affect your view of God? How do they affect your view of the world? How do they affect your view of humanity? How do they affect your view of yourself? How does God help you know your value and importance to him?
NOTES . . .
1:1. In the beginning— a single word in Hebrew, it is usually understood to mean “beginning period,” not the starting time.
Genesis 1 could have originally been a hymn of creation; it follows a repeating pattern and has a definite rhythm.
1:2. Wind from God— Hebrew uses the same word for wind and spirit.
1:6-25. The order of God’s creation:
Day 2: Sky and water
Day 3: Dry land and seas, and plants
Day 4: Sun, moon, stars (to track time)
Day 5: Sea creatures (fish) and birds
Day 6: Land animals and humans
1:26. Humankind— the Hebrew word “adam” means “red” or “earthy.” It also means “human being” (either gender) and it is the name of the first human God created.
Image— essence, with the same attributes: life, rationality, moral sense, love, holiness. Paul tells the Ephesians: clothe yourselves with the new self, created according to the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness, [4:24].
1:28. Have dominion over— God created humans for a purpose: to manage (on God’s behalf) the creation.
2:4. Lord— “Yahweh” signifies the God with a relationship to his creation, especially humans.
2:5. When no— the second account focuses almost exclusively on God’s creation of humans.
2:7. Man— the same “adam” as in 1:26, but the context makes the male gender clear.
Dust— other ancient Middle East creation narratives also depict humans from dust, which emphasizes our earthly nature.
Breath of life— our spiritual nature comes directly from God’s spirit.
2:8. Garden in Eden— the Hebrew word for “Garden” usually refers to a park with trees. “Eden” means “well-watered.”
2:22. Rib . . . woman— God could have created the woman from dust, but this emphasizes the partnership aspect of the relationship.
Memory Verse
Ever since the creation of the world his eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has made,
[Romans 1:20].
Lesson 5:
Genesis 3: The first sin
Why is it that we are “considered incapable of loving God and having a relationship with Him”
If God doesn’t have a physical form than how is it we are made in his image–I’m assuming that when we get to Heaven or where ever God has planned for us that we too will be just a spirit. If this is the case then we don’t need to worry about our bodies being cremated etc–my nephew’s religion believes that when we meet God that we will have our human form as it is on earth?
A lot of keystrokes have been used trying to answer these questions. Here’s a few more. Many scholars have concluded that “image” and “likeness” together are another example of Hebrew parallelism: using a similar expression to say the same thing (check just about any Psalm). Richard Rohr says “image” refers to God’s essential characteristics present in every human — specifically and especially our self awareness and capacity to love. “Likeness” refers to our transformation from independent, self-centered individuals who see ourselves as separate from God (the basic definition of “sin”), into interdependent, other-focused members of God’s family. It is the image and likeness of God’s spiritual identity, not his physical identity (he doesn’t have one — unless you mean us together as his church).
I guess this is what it means to have “faith” for without it–we wouldn’t be able to wrap our heads around it all–even with “faith” we fail to truly understand. I guess the understanding that we don’t understand; that we must trust and have “faith”