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StructureofGenesis

1. Genesis1‐11UniversalHistory2. Genesis12‐36PatriarchalHistory

i. Abraham12‐25ii. Jacob25‐36

3. Genesis37‐50JosephStory

Genesis

1. Introduction

i. Foundation

o The Bible is made up of many different books, but it has one main plot and Genesis “initiates the plot of the whole” (Longman, 15).

ii. Structure

1. 3-fold structure based on content and style

a. Genesis 1-11 Universal History (11:26)

b. Genesis 12-36 Patriarchal History (11:27)

i. Abraham 12-25 ii. Jacob 25-36

iii. Genesis 37-50 Joseph Story

iii. Purpose of Genesis

To show that Israel’s God is the ________________________________whose purpose to establish his covenant ________________will not be hindered by the sinfulness of humanity (Richard Belcher)

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Part 1: Universal History: Genesis 1—11:

A. Genesis 1-2: The Creator Transcendent and Personal

• Introduce Gen 1-2.

1. Gen 1:1-2:4 = God is Transcendent

2. Gen 2:4-25 = God is Personal

1. Gen 1: Declares that God is TRANSCENDENT

• Sum up Gen 1

o Gen 1:1-5

o Gen 1:6-31

vv. 3-5 = day 1 (light and darkness)

vv. 6-8 = day 2 (sky)

vv. 9-13 = day 3 (dry land, plants and vegetation)

vv. 14-19 = day 4 (sun, moon, stars)

vv. 20-23 = day 5 (life in sea and sky)

vv. 24-31 = day 6 (land animals; humanity)

vv. 2:1-3 = day 7 (God rested)

• Debate about the length of “day”

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Reasons why Gen 1 Emphasizes the Transcendence of God

1. “God” = Hebrew: Elohim used 35 times

2. subject of all the verbs

1. “And God said” = 10 times (vv 3, 6, 9, 11, 14, 20, 24, 26, 28, 29) 2. “Let there be . . .” = 8 times (vv 3, 6, 9, 11, 14, 20, 24, 26) 3. “And it was so” = 7 times (vv 3, 7, 9, 11, 15, 24, 30) 4. “And God made” = 7 times (vv 4, 7, 12, 16, 21, 25, 27) 5. “God saw that it was good” = 7 times (vv 4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31) 6. naming or blessing = 7 times (vv 5 [2 times], 8, 10 [2 times], 22, 28)

a. 46 in all.

8 3. ANE creation accounts

o everyone in Moses day believed that some divine being created the worlds.

e.g. Babylonian Myth of Creation, Ennuma Elish. Babylonian god Marduk defeats

the other god Tiamat and divides her body. Marduk’s victory over Tiamat, which represents the sea, allows him to ascend to kingship, where he will reign over the other gods.

• Sea Monsters (Gen 1:21)

• Sun, Moon, Stars (Gen 1:14-19)

Isa 40:26: “26Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these. He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name, by the greatness of his might, and because he is strong in power not one is missing.” Ps 147:4: “4He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names.”

“the single most important theme of these chapters: Yahweh created the cosmos! Marduk didn’t’ do it, nor did Baal, Atum, Re or any other god. Of course there was no conflict at the time of creation because there was no rival who could stand against Yahweh. The purpose of the creation texts, when read in the light of alternative contemporary accounts, was to assert the truth about who was responsible” (Longman, Genesis, 79).

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• Universe Statistics

• David spoke of in Ps 8 when he said:

o “When I look at your heavens the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him?”

4. Creation of Humanity: Gen 1:28-30

a. Image of God and ANE view of humanity

• Epic of Atrahasis. Mankind was created to do the undesirable work of the lesser gods.

o “Before humankind existed, the high gods forced the rest of the deities

to perform manual labor. The lesser gods rebelled against this

10 arrangement, and when one of their number was killed the high gods created humankind from his remains. Humankind was thus created in order to perform undesirable physical work and to provide for the gods” (Arnold and Beyer, Readings, 21).

o “bear the yoke, the task of Enlil (powerful gods). Let man assume the drudgery of the gods (Atrahasis)

• Enuma Elish (“when on high”).

o Similarly, when the god Marduk killed the monster Tiamat and her companion Kingu, he created humanity from the blood of Kingu mixed with clay in order to do the hard physical labor of the gods.

o I shall compact blood, I shall cause bones to be, I shall make stand a human being, let ‘Man’ be its name. I shall create humankind, They shall bear the gods’ burden that those may rest (Enuma Elish)

• Summary.

• Contrast with the Bible!

o Humanity is created in God’s very image! Not to do slave like labor, but to rule over creation and carry on the divine commission to develop creation into a beautiful arena of glory and pleasure.

• Image of God. What does it mean to be in “God’s image?”

a. Mankind has _____________________________________

• “image” (tselem) used of “royal images”

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2. Mankind is made for “ ” 3. Mankind is made to “ ”

2. Genesis 2 Declares that God is PERSONAL • How the text emphasizes this

1. Names of God: Elohim (35x in Gen 1) vs. Yahweh (20x in Gen 2)

2. Way God acts in Gen 2

o “formed him from the dust” (2:7)

o “breathed into his nostrils” (2:7)

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o Saw that man needed a helper, so he provided one (2:18)

o Then in 2:19, it says: “out of the ground the LORD God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name.”

Practical point of Imminence

Garden of Eden is a Sanctuary

• God seeks to have an intimate relationship with his image bearers

1. God walks in the Eden as he does in the tabernacle (Gen 3:8; cf. Lev 26:12) 2. Eden and the tabernacle/temple are entered from the East and guarded by cherubim

(Gen 3:24; Exod 25:18-22; 26:31) 3. The verbs “to work it (i.e. the garden) and take care of it” (Gen 2:15) are only used in

combination elsewhere in the Pentateuch of the duties of the priests in the tabernacle (Num 3:7-8; 8:26).

4. Gold and onyx, mentioned in Gen 2:11-12, are used to decorate the tabernacle and priestly garments (Exod 25:7, 11, 17, 31).

5. The ornaments of the tabernacle/temple are filled with “Eden-like” imagery, reminding the priest that he is entering an “Eden-like” space when he enters the sanctuary.

What is so special, or important, about the tabernacle/temple? Why would Moses, the author, describe the garden of Eden in terms related to the tabernacle/temple?

The Point: Eden, the place where God and man perfectly enjoy each other’s presence, is the

prototype for later sanctuaries, where God and man are able to meet.

Revelation: The new heavens and new earth are described as a “new Eden” where there is a “tree of life” (Rev 22:2), a river (Rev 22:1), and where there will “no longer be any curse” (Rev 22:3).

13 B. Gen 3: The Fall

1. What does the snake attack?

2. What’s wrong with “being like God, knowing good and evil?” (Gen 3:5)

3. The Results of the Fall

a. Death

b. Broken relationship (Spiritual Death)

• Between God and man

• Between Adam and Eve

c. Broken rule

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d. The Promise of Judgment and Salvation

i. Key text: Genesis 3:15

“And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.”

ii. Gen 3:19-21 and the promise of life

B. Genesis 4-11 The Promise of Redemption Unfolds

a. Gen 4: Cain and Abel

i. What was Eve thinking in 4:1?

ii. What is the main point of the story?

1. Moral

2. Theological

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iii. Why did God reject Cain’s sacrifice?

Problem: Nothing that explicit in the text that tells us Cain’s motivation or God’s motive for rejecting it. Are there any textual clues that my fill in this gap?

1. It wasn’t a sacrifice?

2. Not offered in ?

3. Not his offering (i.e. it’s a heart issue) “Abel’s sacrifice is characterized as the best of his class and Cain’s is not. The point seems to be that Abel’s sacrifice represents heart-felt worship; Cain’s represents unacceptable tokenism” (Bruce Waltke, “Was Cain’s Offering Rejected by God Because It was Not a Blood Sacrifice?” WTJ 48 (1986): 363-72 (369).

iv. Genealogy: Cain – Lamech (Gen 4:16-24)

v. A new “Seed” – Seth (4:25-26)

b. Gen 5: Genealogy

i. What’s the main point?

16 ii. Enoch = 7th generation (5:21-24)

iii. Noah…the snake killer? (5:29)

c. Gen 6-9: Noah and the Flood

i. 6:1-4: Who are the “sons of God” and “daughters of men”?

1.

2.

3.

ii. Theological Point

• The flood demonstrates God’s hatred of sin, sovereign control over

creation and history, and his relentless desire to have a relationship with humanity

iii. God’s covenant with Noah (Gen 6:18-19; 8:17-9:17) a. Reaffirm God’s redemptive goal for both creation and mankind.

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b. The sin/fall of Noah (Gen 9).

• Gen 9:1-17. Reflects Gen 1-2.

1. “Be fruitful and multiply (Gen 8:17; 9:1, 7)

2. Fall of Adam (Gen 3); fall of Noah (9:20-21)

3. Sin of offspring (Cain and Ham).

4. Nakedness (3:9-10)

b. Gen 10: Table of Nations

c. Gen 11: Tower of Babel and Abraham

i. What’s wrong with building a tower?

Not build a tower to reach into heaven (i.e. climb into heaven)!

• Better: NLT “…into the sky…”

18 They are looking for significance in themselves (“let us make a name for

ourselves”).

• NLT 11:4 “‘Come, let’s build a great city for ourselves with a tower

that reaches into the sky. This will make us famous and keep us from being scattered all over the world’.”

ii. Ray of hope: Genealogy of Abraham (11:10-32)

• The emphasis sin Gen 3 has been the “avalanche of sin” (EOT, 86), but the

account (3-11) closes with a ray of hope

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Part 2: Patriarchal History: Gen 12—36

A. Genesis 12-25: Abra(ha)m

a. Theme of redemption is crystallized

• Gen 3-11 was clear about the condition of humanity. God’s two acts of judgment (Flood and Babel) didn’t halt the problem. We are still waiting for God to redeem his people, fix the problem of sin, and restore his creation.

• Connection with Gen 1-11

o land

o seed

o blessing

o genealogy

o word

• Now, we begin the story of redemption, a story that was seen earlier through the promised seed and the hope of Seth’s line (Noah, Shem, and now Abraham).

b. Date: ____________

• 1 Kings 6:1 (966 + 480 = 1446 BC) • Exod 12:40 (1446 + 430 = 1876 BC for Jacob and fam’s sojourn in Egypt –

Gen 50) • 290 years for Abrahm, Isaac, Jacob = 2,166 for birth of Abraham, which =

2091 B.C. for Abraham’s entry into Canaan in Gen. 12:4-5.

• Round numbers?

20 c. God’s Promise to Abraham: Gen 12:1-3

1Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."

3 parts of the Promise

1. _______________ (12:1, 7; 13:14-17)

2. _______________ (12:2; 13:15-16; 17:4-6)

3. _______________ (12:2-3)

a. Israel and the nations (12:3; Gen 14; Gen 37-50)

b. Through a Mediator (12:3; 22:18; cf. Gal 3:16)

Partial fulfillment throughout Genesis… • Patriarchs acquire certain land rights (21:22-33; 23:1-20; 33:19)

• They have children/descendants (often with difficulty) (21:2-7; 25:21)

• Abraham and his family are constantly blessed (wealth, livestock, etc.)

o Nations are also blessed

Gen 14

Gen 37-50

o There continues to be the hope of a Royal “Seed” (Isaac, Jacob, Joseph…)

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“Nearly all the episodes in Gen 12-50 may be related to these promises” (DthIB, 249). Throughout Genesis, the partial fulfillment of these promises are evident; however, the anticipation of a future more complete fulfillment is equally clear (cf. Clines).

d. Gen 15. God’s official establishment of the covenant with Abraham.

• Unconditional Covenant of Gen 15

o ANE and Biblical parallels

“Abban placed himself under oath to Iarimlim and had cut the neck of

the sheep (saying): ‘(let me so die) if I take back that which I gave thee!’ (Alalakh, 17th cent. BC)

“If the troops have been beaten by the enemy they perform a ritual ‘behind’ the river, as follows; they ‘cut through’ a man, a goat, a puppy, and a little pig; they place half on this side and half on that side…and the troops walk right through, and when they come to the river they sprinkle water over them” (Hittite treaty)

“Because you have broken the terms of our covenant, I will cut you apart just as you cut apart the calf when you walked between its halves to solemnize your vows. Yes, I will cut you apart, whether you are officials of Judah or Jerusalem, court officials, priests, or common people—for you have broken your oath.” (Jer. 34:18-19)

o illustration: Wayne and Gretchen

o The (very powerful) theological point!

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e. Abraham’s FRAGILE faith?

• Abraham obeyed in Gen 12; had faith in 15:6, but he also had many doubts and moral failings.

1. Journey in Egypt (Gen 12)

2. Tries to manufacture the promise under his power

i. Eliezer as heir?

• “O Sovereign LORD, what good are all your blessings when I don’t even

have a son? Since you’ve given me no children, Eliezer of Damascus, a servant in my household, will inherit all my wealth. 3 You have given me no descendants of my own, so one of my servants will be my heir.” (Gen 15:2-3 NLT)

ii. Abraham and Hagar

• “He refuses…to trust the Lord, so he tries to manufacture an heir according to the customs of his day” (Longman, Genesis, 97).

iii. Ishmael the heir? • wants Ishmael to be the heir (Gen. 17:17-19)

3. Lies about his wife again! Gen 20

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f. Gen 22: Abraham and the ‘binding’ of Isaac

• Significance:

• Location:

• Sacrifice:

g. What about Isaac?

i. “Flat” Character

ii. Main point: The promise continues through genealogy o “…most importantly we know that Isaac is the recipient and conduit of the

covenantal promises because God says he will be with him and will bless him (e.g., Gen 26:24).

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B. Genesis 25-36: Jacob

a. Birth of Jacob • Longman = “Jacob: God works through the foolish things of the world” (Genesis, 136).

• The name “Jacob” is related to a Hebrew word that means “one who deceives” or

“cheats.”

b. Steals the Birthright

c. Dream at Bethel

• Dream emphasizes the promise and grace of God

• It also prophecies a “reversal of Babel”

o Pentecost = reversal of Babel; fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham (cf. Gal 3:14)

25 d. At Paddan-Aram with Uncle Laban

e. Wrestles with God • loads of questions surround this event:

• The text just doesn’t answer these.

• Main point: the renaming of Jacob as Israel

f. Conclusion • The story of Jacob is one of persistent grace, even more than the story of Abraham.

Jacob is a good sampling of humanity after the fall, and yet he will not and cannot thwart God’s promise to bless Abraham and the nations through his seed.

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Part 3: The Joseph Story: Genesis 37-50

A. Introduction

B. Major Themes

a. Partial fulfillment of Abrahamic promise • Israel is becoming a mighty nation and is blessed

• The nations are being blessed through Israel

o Gen 12:3 “bless the nations through you”

o Gen 22:18 “bless the nations through your seed”

o Gen 37-50 God blesses the nations through Joseph, the seed of Abraham

o Key word in 37-50 = “bless/ing”

Gen. 39:5 So it was, from the time that he had made him overseer of his house and all that he had, that the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of the LORD was on all that he had in the house and in the field. Gen. 47:7 Then Joseph brought in his father Jacob and set him before Pharaoh; and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. Gen. 47:10 So Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from before Pharaoh.

• What about the Land?

b. God’s sovereignty through bad circumstances • Key passage: Gen 50:18-20

18His brothers also came and fell down before him and said, "Behold, we are your servants." 19But Joseph said to them, "Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? 20As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.

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c. God’s grace in redemptive history

• What’s the deal with Gen 38? Out of place?

• Gen 49

• Theological point:

C. Conclusion