Adult Bible Study

Sunday 9:45 - 10:45 in the Parish Hall

Genesis

Goal

This course will provide an overview of the major sections and themes of Genesis.  It will also examine man's quest for identity, purpose and meaning in relationship to God's purposes.  Then it pursues the relationships that characterize human existence, with other people and with the rest of creation.  Finally it will relate all of this to our life in Christ.

Study Outline

I.  Introduction

II.  Unit A, The Primeval Story

1.  Prologue, 1:1-2:3

2.  The account of the heaven and the earth, 2:4-4:26

    tree of knowledge of good and evil, the fall, 3:15, 4:1

3.  The account of Adams line, 5:1-6:8

    genealogy, sons of God & daughters of men,

4.  The account of Noah, 6:9-9:29 

    food, curse of Canaan

5.  The account of Shem, Ham, and Japheth, 10:1-11:9

    Semitism, Babel

6.  The account of Shem, 11:10-26

    Ancient Middle Eastern history

Review and IaMS

III.  Unit B, The Patriarchal Story

7.  The account of Terah, 11:27-25:11

    Chapters 15 and 16

    Chapters 17, 18,  and 19

    Chapters 20 - 22

    Chapters 23 - 25:11   

    covenant & circumcision, child & inheritance

8.  The account of Ishmael, 25:12-18

9.  The account of Isaac, 25:19-35:19

    theophany, marriage, Israel and his descendants

10.  The account of Esau, 36:1-37:1

      Edom

IV.  Unit C, The Joseph Story

11.  The account of Jacob, 37:2-50:26

      dreams, Egypt

VII.  Conclusion

Introduction

Name

According to ancient usage, books received their titles from the opening words.  In Jewish tradition the first word of the book serves as its name, thus the book is called Bere'sit.

The English title for the book is derived from Genesis 2:4a in the Greek translation:  "This is the book of the origins (geneseos) of heaven and earth."

Place in Scripture

Its first word places it in the pre-eminent position.  And that Exodus begins with the word "and" implies that Exodus was meant to follow another book.

New Testament Usage

Genesis is quoted about 40 times in New Testament;  this does not count allusions, such as 2 Corinthians 4 ("let there be").  Exodus, Deuteronomy, Psalms and Isaiah are quoted more often

Basic Theological Concerns

>  Confession of one true God and His creation;  introduces the God who made covenants with Abraham, Israel and David;  sets Israel apart from rest of world (positive and negative theses).

>  God's gracious dealings with man, and how He narrows the focus to Abraham and carries it through to the end.  That the less important lines are explored first and more briefly suggests that an element of gracious election is at work.

>  In our study we keep in mind that we cannot investigate its history as readily as later epochs.  As far as extra-biblical myths are concerned, they are garbled reflections of the Biblical accounts.

>  The individual is not a spectator but a participant in creation.

>  God alone is Creator;  radical seriousness of sin;  God's judgment meets human sin at each point;  God's preserving sustaining grace

Theological Pattern in Chapters 1-11:

Sin:  fall       judgment:  death grace:  promise

Sin:  murderjudgment:  expulsion    grace:  sign

Sin:  cosmic confusion  judgment:  flood  grace:  Noah

Sin:  Babel  judgment:  confusion   grace:  Abraham