Genesis

Summary The first book of the Bible Genesis is concerned with 'beginning' or 'origin'. A majority of scholars accept that Moses penned much of the first five books (the Pentateuch) but, of course, under divine inspiration. Whilst it is easy to accept that Genesis is concerned with the beginning of man's history, it is more important to realise that it is God's revelation on how the world was created, how man was created, how man sinned and how redemption is made possible. Genesis is not just a history of man from creation to Jacob, it is God's account of the way He made a promise after Adam's sin which would enable man to be redeemed. The promise is made in 3:15. At some time in the future the seed of the woman (Jesus) would bruise the head of the serpent (sin). The book follows with the story of man's fall and the way redemption was pursued - Enoch, Noah, the call of Abraham and the renewing of the promise (12:1 - 3), Isaac and the reminder of the promise (21:12 - 13), Jacob and another renewal (28:13 - 15, 35:9 - 12). Genesis sets the scene for the essential framework of Scripture - creation, sin, judgement, redemption or deliverance and new creation. This theme is found in miniature in the episode of Noah where one family was saved from the surrounding sin by the Ark and baptism (1 Peter 3:20 - 21) and in the beginning of the account also the nation of Israel's freedom from the bondage of Egypt, (Acts 13:17). Underlying the theme is the implication of God's love, that even though man was disobedient, God in His love and mercy made provision for man's hope of eternal life.

Outline of Genesis 1:1 - 2:25 Creation. 3:1 - 3:24 Adam's sin and punishment, but the promise of redemption. 4:1 - 5:32 Adam's life and death. 6:1 - 2:32 Noah's faith and God's covenant. 11:1 - 11:32 Babel - dispersion of the nations and the original Babylon. 12:1 - 25:10 Abram ('high father') and Abraham ('father of a multitude'). 25:11 - 28:10 Isaac (and disloyal) - freedom and bondage (allocations 4: 21 - 31). 28:6 - 36:43 Jacob and Esau - two nations. 37:1 - 50:26 Joseph and his brothers. Entry into Egypt.

Genesis

Author – Moses
Time – Creation to 1650 B.C.

Summary – "Genesis" means "beginning". As its title implies, it is the foundation of the Bible, on which everything is built. The book tells of the Creation followed by the rebellion of our first parents. It then records the growth of wickedness in the earth followed by the flood in which the only human survivors were Noah and his family. Another rebellion against God’s commands is stopped by the introduction of different languages. The rest of the book is the early history of the Jewish nation (also called the Israelites or the children of Israel.) This mainly concerns four outstanding men – Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph.

Passage	Subject
Chapters 12 to 18	Abraham’s faith and wandering
Chapter 19	Destruction of Sodom & Gomorrah
Chapter 20	Abraham’s lapse in faith
Chapter 21	The Birth of Isaac
Chapter 22	Abraham’s faith confirmed
Chapter 23	The death of Sarah, Abraham’s wife
Chapter 24	Finding a wife for Isaac
Chapter 25	The Birth of Jacob and Esau
Chapter 26	Isaac and Abimelech
Ch. 27 v 1 to 28 v 4	Isaac blesses Jacob
Chapter 28	Jacob flees from Esau
Ch. 29 v 1 to 30 v 24	Jacob marries Leah and Rachel
Ch. 30 v 25 to 31 v 55	Jacob and Laban
Chapters 32 & 33	Jacob and Esau meet
Chapter 34	The Dina incident
Chapter 35	Jacob Returns to Bethel
Chapter 36	Esau’s descendents
Ch. 37 v 1 to 11	Joseph dreams of greatness
Ch. 37 v 12 to 36	Joseph sold by his brothers
Chapter 38	Judah and Tamar
Chapters 39 to 45	Joseph in Egypt
Ch. 46 v 1 to 49 v 28	Jacob and his other sons go to Egypt
Ch. 49 v 29 to 50 v 26	Death of Jacob and Joseph

PENTATEUCH - GENESIS TO DEUTERONOMY

Pentateuch means 'teaching' or 'instruction' and refers to the first five ('pent') books of the Bible, books that include considerable instruction and law.