Breakdown of Books Series: Genesis

 

 This is the first post of a 66 part series where I will breakdown the books of the bible in depth discussing not only their authors and date of writing but also what you can learn from them and key events. I am hoping to discuss a new book of the bible every other week. So we might as well start from the beginning in the first book of the bible: Genesis. 

   Moses was believed to have written Genesis when in the wilderness with the Israelites around 1446 BC to 1406 BC. He was also believed to have written the first 5 books of the bible. When many people think of Genesis they think of the phrase, "In the beginning..." while this is true there is so much more to Genesis than just creation (that is still a big and important part). Genesis first discusses God's relationship with man and then where the nation of Israel comes from. Genesis also  accomplishes telling 4 major stories: Creation of the Universe including the creation of man, the fall of man and the first consequences of sin, the flood, and the scattering of nations. 

    Each of the major stories of Genesis uncover relationships such as God's relationship with man, God's relationship with nature, man's relationship with women, man's relationship with sin, and God's relationship with the devil and evil. This is where we first learn of sin in the bible, the fundamentals of human nature, and God's amazing love through it all. 

    We can see God's relationship with man first begins in Genesis 1: 26 "Then God said, 'Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our Likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.'" The word "Our" meaning God in 3 persons which implies that Jesus has existed since the beginning of time with God not just when he was born into this world. God loved man so much already that he made him to rule over the creatures of the earth and made man in his own image. After creating man and women he blessed them. Further on in chapter 2 verse 7 it explains exactly how man was created: from dust and the breath of life from God. How incredible is that?! Then he placed man in the beautiful and perfect garden of Eden to keep it and take care of it. Then in verse 16 and 17 of the same chapter he gives man his first instruction: to not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In verse 18 God decides to make man a helper so that he is not lonely. God cares for man's emotional needs in addition to his physical needs. In chapter 3, Eve is tempted by the devil in the form of a serpent and sins by eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil which was man's only task. She leads Adam to sin and their eyes were opened. God walks through the garden and finds them naked. God calmly speaks to them and once they admit to their sin he first curses the devil, then disciplines both Adam and Eve for their sin. However, following the discipline he makes clothes for them to cover themselves because he loves and cares for them which is the same for us. God goes on later in Genesis to give blessings to the descendants of  Abraham because he was a good and faithful man. God will always provide for our emotional, mental, spiritual, and physical needs. God's relationship with man continues to develop as there is more sin and also more goodness in the world. 

    God's relationship with nature begins, well, in the beginning. God created the earth, light, darkness, stars, sky, waters, birds, plants, and other animals. God created stars knowing they would be used for sign, seasons, days, and years. He could've just created something to straight out tell man what day it is but instead he has a deep connection with nature and made the stars to be beautiful. Following the creation of these things God saw they were good, blessed them and said "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas and let birds multiply on the earth." (1:22). God also uses nature for signs. In Genesis 6, man becomes corrupted and God wipes out everything except for Noah, his family, and two of each animal. The flood shows how God will punish the wicked and rule over the world. However just a few chapters later in Chapter 9 God establishes the covenant of the rainbow which is also another beautiful sign of nature. It shows that God will never destroy the earth with water again and this covenant is between man, God, and nature. Whenever you see a building or structure such as the Eiffel tower, you probably think how beautiful it is and you know that it didn't just appear it had to be created by someone. The same thing goes for nature, it didn't just appear, it had to be created. Nature itself is evidence enough for God's existence. My challenge for you is for next time you step outside, think about the God that made everything around you, think about how complex and amazingly it is created. It will truly change your perspective. 

    Man's relationship with women first begins when God causes Adam to fall into a deep sleep so that Eve can be created out of Adam's rib. Woman is created to rule beside man as a partner and is named woman because she was taken out of man. They were to be fruitful and multiply the earth. They had a perfect relationship and perfect marriage until Eve caused him to sin by eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Adam felt betrayed and fell to sin because of Eve. Following the fall, God punished women so that man will rule over her instead of by her side. This is further mentioned in Ephesians 5:22-24. 

"The woman was made of a rib out of the side of Adam; not made out of his head to rule over him, nor out of his feet to be trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be beloved." -Matthew Henry

    As previously discussed, sin enters the world from woman but man's relationship with sin continues to progress throughout the bible. One of follow up sins after the fall of man was the murder of Abel. Cain killed Abel because Abel's offering was more pleasing to God because it was done out of faith. God cursed the ground for Cain so it would not longer produce for him which was his job and purpose before killing his brother. Then the world became more populated and thus more sin. So God set limits on a man's life to be no more than 120 years. In Genesis 6:7, God read the hearts of man and knew their thoughts were evil only. God GREIVED for the corruption of man. He planned to blot it all out but Noah was a righteous man and had favor in God's eyes. So God gave him specific instructions to survive the flood and he was able to repopulate the earth. Noah could have easily fallen into sin with the rest of the earth but he stayed faithful. God knows our hearts and will punish the wicked but will save the righteous. 

    The devil first comes into the picture in Genesis 3 and he tempts Eve. The devil is deceptive and evil so God curses him for his wickedness. It is the first evidence that God is COMPLETELY against sin, darkness, and evil. God is nothing but goodness and light. The devil is described as a murdered, the father of lies, a stumbling block, fleshly concerns, prowling looking for something to devour, and a spiritual force of evil. But the Bible describes God as beautiful, pure, good, light, righteous, perfect and just. 

1 John 1:5 “This is the message that we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light, in him there is no darkness at all.”

    I hope this post has helped you better understand Genesis, it's many firsts, and it's many relationships. Thank you for reading!

                                                                    -Abby :)