Genesis

What do you see in this book that tells you about the Original Reader?

      The biggest thing that I've seen over these 50 chapters is that the Israelites needed to know their identity. Genesis is a book that gives identity to this group of people. It gives them hope for the promised land and of a Messiah. It gives them their lineage and shows how God has formed them and called them out as His chosen people. This book is about God telling the original reader who they are. That they are a nation that will bless other nations, they are special and chosen, and that they will have problems with other peoples from other lands. We know that the original readers were the Israelites who were under the leadership of Moses. They were in the wilderness and maybe they didn't quite know who they were and why they were in the wilderness. God gives them all of the information and also gives them a hope for the future. They learn that the Messiah will come from the descendants of Judah, through Jacob, through Issac, and through Abraham.

What do you see in this book that tells you about the author?

      We can clearly see the authors view of God. He knew God to be someone who was very involved in the lives of people. God was involved in working out His redemptive plan and cared about all that was going on in the world. Moses describes God's character and His involvement in the lives of people throughout the book. We know that the author lived after Joseph had passed away. He seemed to know a lot about Egypt and about Israel. For example in Gen 50:3 the author knew exactly how many days embalming took. We believe the author to be Moses, but we don't find too much evidence for that in the book of Genesis alone. It's only in later books do we see that others attributed the first five books of the bible to him. The author also gives many examples that show the character and nature of God. In Gen 31:22-24, we see God being a protector when He tells Laban to “leave Jacob alone!”

What are the main themes, and repeated ideas in this book, and what is a one sentence summary of the main idea?

      With Genesis being so large of a book there are a number of main themes that can be found. We see God throughout the whole book speaking identity and purpose to His chosen people. That they are chosen and called out. In Gen 35:11,12 God tells Jacob what His descendants have to look forward to. We can also see a theme of sexual sin among the characters in this book. We see this time and time again in chapter 34 with Shechem, and again in chapter 19 with Lot's daughters. Another theme I noticed in Genesis was the impatience of people after God had made a promise. Abraham is a famous example when he had a child with Hagar in Gen 16:4,14. One last theme I saw come up was men not standing up for what they knew to be true and right. I saw this with Adam when Eve tempted him, with Abraham when Sarah tempted him, with Reuben when he failed to stand up firmly for Joseph, with Abraham and Issac when they lie about their wives, and also Jacobs favoritism to Joseph and Benjamin. I just see continually the men choosing something other than what they know is right. Sometimes after being tempted by their wife and other times because they don't really trust God with their lives.

Summary: Genesis is about God giving Israel their identity and their purpose in God's redemptive plan for the whole world.

What is the primary reason this book is written

      I think the primary reason this book is written is to give Israel their identity and purpose. Most of Genesis describes how the nation of Israel came to be. Throughout all of that God made promises and shared with them what His plans for the future of this people would be. In Gen 13:14-17 when God says that is just one example of God telling them about their future and what He is giving to them. Apart from the original reader, Genesis also gives the human race identity and purpose as His creation. As people that God would one day send a Messiah to save and redeem. That is something everyone receives blessing from.

What does this book show about the character and nature of God?

      Since this is the introductory book to the bible, God wastes no time in making clear who He is. We see how detailed God is. In the whole redemption story and in the story of Noah. Gen 7:1-4 shows how He gave specific details for Noah to follow. In Gen 9:1-3 and 28:20 we see how God provides as He provides food for Noah and Jacob and their families. In Gen 15:1 God tells Abraham that He will protect him. At the end of verse 16 in chapter 15 we see that God is patient with people in their sin. He shows mercy and patience to the Amorites in the midst of their sin. In Gen 18:13 God tells Abraham that there is nothing too hard for Him to do. To Leah in Gen 29:31 God shows that He cares for people, and sees them in their dark times. When Leah is burdened by Jacob's lack of love for her God comes down and meets her and blesses her. There are limitless examples. A few more things we see in Genesis is God's sovereignty, that He's a good leader, He sometimes uses bad circumstances for good, He speaks, He's personal, He is creator, and He is in control of everything.

What does this book show about God's redemptive plan for mankind?

      God's redemptive plan gets put into action immediately after the fall. After Adam and Eve sin God's plan is immediately put into action when God says to Satan in Gen 3:15b, “He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.” There must be a penalty paid for their sin, the penalty of death. God demanded animal sacrifices from men and women until one day the perfect sacrifice would come. God tells Abraham in Gen 12:3b, “All the families of earth will be blessed through you.” We know that God is referring to Jesus who would come and be the savior of the whole world. Even all the genealogies show that God has a plan and that His plan will come about through the people He puts in the pages of the bible. In Gen 49:9-10 God tells the tribe of Judah that they will see “the one whom all nations will honor”come from their lineage. This tells us that not only will Israel be redeemed but all the nations. God is protective over His plan when in Gen 20:3, He tells Abimelech, “You are a dead man, for that woman you have taken is already married!” Her seed was part of God's redemption plan and He protected her from that being messed with.

Personal Application

      After reading the whole book and talking about I realized how great of a leader God is. This is probably the biggest thing that impacted me reading through Genesis this time. Having just finished staffing a DTS I understand a little more about leadership and how difficult a thing it is. I learned a ton and am continuing to learn as I think about how God dealt with His chosen people. Even God, as a perfect leader didn't see perfection from the people following Him. It said nothing about His leadership, but simply about the choices of the people under Him. He never felt bad about Himself or His ability to read when Abraham or Isaac sinned. At the same time He didn't demand perfection from people. There were always punishment for sin and responsibilities because of sin, but God was merciful and worked with people where they were at. He never put impossible expectations on people. He allowed them to fail and made a way for them to overcome. He is great at giving vision and something to look forward too. God knows how everything will end and He shares that with us to give us hope. We always have reason to be filled with joy because God has shared with us how things end. That in the end, we win. That Satan's head will be crushed. He is firm in His leadership as well and doesn't allow things to fall through the cracks. God understands the importance of being detailed and expects the people under Him to be detailed as well. Its when humans try to cut corners that things go bad. He's extremely loving and cares more about the person than what needs to get done. Even if His plan for redemption is at stake. God always cares about the individual and loves them in a wild way. God takes the time to guide people through the process, He never just gives them an objective and lets them fend for themselves. He was with them along the way as they were afraid or lacked faith.

      I saw so much of God's leadership in this book, it challenged me and inspired me to lead like Him. To care more about people than what needs to get done, to love people with an aggressive love, to give people the vision and to bring them along in the story. God is an amazing leader, a perfect leader, and one that I am excited to learn even more from as we go through the bible.