Preliminary Thoughts The first five books of the Bible are known by several names: The Pentateuch (penta=five; teuchos=scroll or book), the Five Books of Moses, the Law of Moses, the Torah (Hebrew for Law), the Law. It is believed that Moses was the author of these books for several reasons. Luke 24:27And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. Matthew 18:4; 19:7-8; 23:2 Mark 1:44; 10:3-4; 7:10 Luke 5:14; 16:19, 31; 20:37; 24:27, 44 John 3:14; 5:39, 45-46; 6:32; 7:19, 22-23 The Torah, Pentateuch, Law, etc: Genesis – The Book of Beginnings Exodus – The Birth of a Nation Leviticus – The Law of the Nation Numbers – The Wilderness Wanderings Deuteronomy – The Law Renewed There are those who question the historical validity of Genesis and in particular, the first 11 chapters. However, it is interesting to note: Adam is mentioned in Deuteronomy, Job, and I Chronicles, not to mention, the New Testament in Romans, I Corinthians, I Timothy, Jude and the Gospel of Luke 3:38 in the genealogy of Mary, “Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God.” No passage ever gives a hint to the effect that Adam was fictitious or symbolic. Noah appears in I Chronicles, Isaiah and Ezekiel. In the New Testament, Matthew, Luke, Hebrews, I & II Peter. Abraham appears 15 times in the Old Testament and 11 times in the New. Jacob appears 20 times in the Old Testament and 17 times in the New. The New Testament quotes Genesis 165 times with 200 allusions to the text, 100 from the first 11 chapters. In John 5:45-47 Moses and Jesus appear to be “interlocked.” – “Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?” Preliminary Thoughts The Book of Genesis 3 New Testament References from Genesis The Creator and The Creation Matthew 13:35; Mark 13:19; John 1:3; Acts 2:24; 14:15; Romans 1:20; II Corinthians 4:6; Colossians 1:16; Hebrews 1:10; 11:3 Allusions to the Creation Romans 1:25; 16:25; Ephesians 3:9; I Timothy 4:4; Hebrews 2:10; 4:10; 9:26; James 3:9; Revelation 3:14; 4:11; 10:6; 14:7 Creation of Man and Woman Matthew 19:4-6; Mark 10:6; Acts 17:26; I Corinthians 6:16; 11:8-9; Ephesians 5:31; I Timothy 2:13-14; Revelation 2:7; 22:2, 14 The Flood Matthew 24:37; Luke 17:26; I Peter 3:20; II Peter 2:5; 3:5-6 Augustine said, “The New Testament is in the Old concealed, the Old Testament is in the New revealed.” In the Book of Genesis we have many “firsts” in Scripture: creation childhood agriculture man sin city life woman murder races sabbath sacrifice language marriage grace a chosen people home trade Genesis Anticipates False Philosophy Atheism – created by God Pantheism – God is transcendent Polytheism – one God Materialism – matter had a beginning Humanism – God, not man, is ultimate reality Evolutionism – God created Uniformism – God intervenes Major Doctrines in Genesis Election Incarnation Salvation Rapture Justification by Faith Death and Resurrection Believer’s Security Priesthood Separation Antichrist Chastisement Palestinian Covenant 4 The Study of Genesis The following is from The Bible Believer’s Commentary on The Book of Genesis, by Dr. Peter Ruckman, p.viii: DATA: The book was written by Moses and is commonly called “The First Book of Moses.” It has 50 chapters, 1,534 verses and 38,267 words. It is found first in the list of Books in the Hebrew canon and in the English canon. The word “Genesis” is kin to “generations,” “genes,” or “generate,” and marks the book as “the Book of Begin- nings.” It records the beginning of the Heavens, the Earth, Man, Sin Redemption, the Races, and the Covenants. Its outstanding characters are Adam and Eve, Noah and Enoch, Cain and Abel, Lot and Abraham, Isaac and Ishmael, Esau and Jacob, Joseph and Judah. The types of Jesus Christ in the Book are Adam, Abel, the Lamb, Isaac, the Ark, Judah, Shiloh, and Joseph. The types of Anti-Christ are Cain, Ham, Nimrod, Laban, Ishmael, Esau, and Pharaoh (the office, not the man who befriended Joseph). Every major doctrine in both Testaments is found in the first 12 chapters, and the Book is a supplement to the Book of Revelation, making the Bible an infinite circle, with neither beginning nor ending, in regard to its inexhaustible riches. Genesis vs. Revelation Event Genesis Revelation Earth created 1:1 Earth passes 21:1 Sun to govern Day 1:16 No sun 21:23 Darkness called Night 1:5 No night 22:5 Waters called Seas 1:10 No more seas 21:1 A River for Earth 2:10-14 A river for New Earth 22:1-2 Man in God’s Image 1:26 The image of Satan 13 Entrance of sin 3:6 End of sin 21:27 Curse pronounced 3:14-17 No more curse 22:3 Death entered 3:19 No more death 21:4 Out of Eden 3:24 Restored Eden 22 Tree of Life guarded 3:24 Right to Tree of Life 22:14 Sorrow and Suffering 3:17 No more sorrow 22:4 A Bride for Abraham’s son 24 A Bride for Abraham’s seed 21 Preliminary Thoughts The Book of Genesis 5 Marriage for Adam 2 Marriage for the 2nd Adam 19 Satan, God of this World 3 Satan banished 20 6 The Study of Genesis Introduction When was the “beginning”? How old is the Universe? How old is the Earth? How old is man? Where do we look for answers? Science or Scripture? Creation or Evolution? Chance or Design? Big Bang or God spoke? Adam and Eve or primates evolving? Millions of years or six days? Do we look at Scripture through the lens of Science or vice-versa? The Debate rages on the question of origins. Within Christianity there had not been a widespread debate on the nature of creation until the 16th Century. Nor was there much of a debate about the length of the six days of creation until the 19th Century. The reason – a simple straight-forward reading and interpretation of Genesis Chapters 1 & 2 gave us the simple facts and answers to our questions. But with the rise of modern science and evolutionary theory, the Biblical account of Creation came under continual attack which caused many to seek to reconcile Scripture with scientific discovery. Although I believe that the Book of Genesis was not written primarily to be a science book, I do believe that it is scientifically accurate when it is read and interpreted properly. Here is the ‘rub’ – “interpreted properly.” Who decides the author’s intended meaning and interpreta- tion? This question leads to answers that go in several different directions. Knowing that I am fallible, I must be careful not to jump to conclusions that would disqualify others’ opinions and even their professed conversion to Jesus Christ. What I am saying is that I believe there is room for civil disagreement and discussion, and that is not to say that I do not have my own opinions. The Book of Genesis is far more concerned about the God of creation than the creation itself. Two chapters give us essentially all of the information we need to understand the First Cause, i.e., God created. Hebrews 11:3, “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.” In Genesis Chapters 1 & 2 we learn that God is eternal, transcendent, creative, orderly, good, personal, powerful, gracious, alive, the author of life, and independent from the rest of the creation. Psalm 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Romans 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Receiving Genesis Chapters 1 & 2 as fact lays the foundation for what one believes about all of life, a philosophy of life, or a world view. Of course there are several other theories, philosophies or world-views: Deism teaches that God creates but is not present in the workings of His creation. Introduction The Book of Genesis 7 Pantheism teaches that God is a part of (His) creation. “Pan” = god (Greek) Panentheism or Monism teaches that all is in God and all is one. Process Theology or Open Theism teaches that God is a process, growing in knowledge with His creation. Naturalism teaches that matter comes forth from natural processes, without the aid of any supernatural entity. Matter and life are created by chance. Matter is either eternally existent or it comes into effect out of nothing (ex nihilo). Pantheism and Panentheism both have a god that is part of the creation, making it impossible for Him to be the creator. Naturalism, materialism and atheism leave us with an infinite regress of cause and effect, or the belief that everything came from nothing with no cause or purpose! Evolutionary theory does not go back to the origin of the Universe.