Genesis, The Beginning

So last week's entry was about the Bible, specifically what the Bible actually is. We established that the Bible is an extraordinary document with the primary purpose of pointing people to Jesus. We also discussed just how incredible it is that the Bible is made up of so many different parts, yet manages to stand strong as a whole.

This is the first of 66 blog posts that will cover every single book of the Bible. Each book has something unique and powerful to teach us about God. I can also think of no better way to explore the character of God than to go piece-by-piece through the Bible. The Bible's purpose, after all, is to point people to God.

So each of these blogs will be comprised of three sections. The first is some background information on each book. This will include things like the author, date, and significant events surrounding the book. Remember that each one was written in a specific time and place in history with various events, people, and ideas floating around that the original recipients of the book would have been a part of.

The second section will be about the main themes of the book. This will cover significant events within the book itself, recurring motifs, and generally what the author would have wanted the readers to pick up on.

Finally the last section will be the theological point of the book; what is this book trying to teach its recipients/us about God. This section will often be very similar to the second section, but this is about one, singular point.

Let's get started with the book of Genesis.

Background

Genesis is the very first book of the Bible, which is appropriate since it deals with the beginning of all things. It was written by Moses, most likely when the Israelites were camped out at  Mt. Sinai. There is significant debate about when that would be, but the two numbers that pop up are around 1400 BC and 1200 BC. Truth be told it doesn't make that much of difference which one you subscribe to. 

The name of the book is also fitting. Genesis literally means "beginning." The original Hebrew name for the book comes from the very first words of the book; "In the beginning." It works really well with this book, but later on it doesn't hold up as much.

Genesis is written to the people of Israel who have just been freed from slavery in Egypt. This is very important. This is a people who have been steeped in Egyptian culture and religion for hundreds of years. They have been slaves living in a land that is not their own. It is important to keep this in mind when reading the book. 

Themes

The primary theme for the book of Genesis is beginning. This book shows the beginning of many of the important concepts for the whole Bible. A lot of things that come to fruition in the Old and New Testaments had the seed planted here in Genesis. Here are some of the important things that have their beginning in Genesis.

The Universe: Genesis describes the beginning of all things. 

Humanity: Genesis describes how we were made and, more importantly, why we were made.

Sin: Genesis tells the story of how sin entered into the world, ruining everything.

Covenant: Genesis contains the very first covenants between God and man, something very important to who we are as the people of God.

Nations: Genesis tells of the beginning of nations and political structures. It is surprising to see just how much the Bible talks about such things.

Salvation: Genesis holds the beginning of God's rescue plan (Jesus).

Israel: This is perhaps the biggest, most important beginning that Genesis emphasizes. We today usually don't see it that way, but to the original audience this was very important. Remember this book was written to the newly formed nation of Israel. They had been slaves for centuries. They didn't remember who they were or who God was. Genesis addresses this.

As you can see the theme of beginnings is very important in the book of Genesis. It is the beginning of everything. This is where our story begins, both as the human race but also as the people of God. 

Theological Point

If there is one thing that the book of Genesis is trying to teach us about God, it's that God is the Creator. Not only is he the creator of the world (what we usually think of) he is the creator of Israel. It is God who called Abraham. It is God who kept the covenant. It is God who led the people of Israel to Egypt. 

The only thing God didn't have a hand in creating was sin. The thing that destroyed the planet and our lives is our doing; not God's. What Genesis also shows us is that God is the one who created salvation, not us. It was God who reached out to humanity, not the other way around. 

Conclusion

I hope you learned something from this post. This is a good example of Biblical theology, while previous posts have primarily been systematic theology. As you can see, besides the introduction, this kind of post will be shorter. The goal is to provide a general overview of a book's themes and points, not to go in depth. Hopefully this will provide a sort of lens to help you study the book in depth on your own.