An Overview of Genesis

Genesis
Written By David Gooding

by David Gooding

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The biblical authors used the literary conventions of their day to convey their message. These included structures and patterns less obvious to us in our modern age. David Gooding brought his expertise in ancient literature to the biblical text, and these study notes represent his thinking about the structure, patterns and thought-flow of Genesis.

When speaking to groups of Bible students, he often said, ‘When it comes to Bible study, there is structure, pattern and thought-flow, and the greatest of these is thought-flow. Here are the thoughts of God expressed. Our job is to follow the thought-flow’. He taught that the most important thing to grasp in biblical interpretation is the way the author develops his message, and that discerning structure and patterns within the text should always be directed towards that end.

David Gooding developed these study notes over many years and distributed them at public and private talks. The study notes are not meant to be the last word on the book, and may not cover it entirely. The Myrtlefield Trust offers them to Bible students, preachers and teachers in order to stimulate further thinking about the book, so that its message may be better understood.

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Study Notes

Key Features in the First Creation Story (Genesis 1:1–2:3)

  1. Creation, not all at once, but in a progressive series of creative acts: 'And God said' (Gen 1:3, 6, 9, 11, 14, 20, 24, 26).
  2. Creation by the word of God.
  3. Creation as distinct from subsequent maintenance and development (Gen 2:1–3).
  4. The pinnacle of the series: Man, made in God's image, to be God's 'viceroy' (Gen 1:26–29).
  5. Not only creation but organization (Gen 1:4–5, 7–10, 14–18, 26–28).

A Survey of the Days in the First Creation Story (Genesis 1:1–2:3)
Gen 1:1–2 In the beginning
Gen 1:3–5 and god said one day Day 1
Gen 1:6–8 and god said a second day Day 2
Gen 1:9–10 and god said—inanimate Day 3
Gen 1:11–13 and god said—animate a third day
Gen 1:14–19 and god said a fourth day Day 4
Gen 1:20–23 and god said a fifth day Day 5
Gen 1:24–25 and god said—animals Day 6
Gen 1:26–31 and god said—man the sixth day
Gen 2:1–3 And the heavens and the earth were finished … and on the seventh day God finished his work … and he rested … from all his work that he had done. Day 7

Words with Multiple Meanings in the First Creation Story

Day, Night, Heaven and Earth
Gen 1:5 Evening and morning = one day. Day = 24 hours.
He called the light day. Day = 12 hours of daylight.
He called the darkness night. Night = 12 hours of darkness.
Gen 1:8 He called the firmament heaven
Gen 1:10 He called the dry land earth.
He called the gathering of the waters seas.
Yet in verse 1: earth = our whole planet.

An Outline of the Second Creation Story (Genesis 2:4–4:26)

The Generations of. . .

  1. The heaven.
  2. The earth (Gen 2:4).

Unifying Theme: The Ground
Man’s substance Out of the ground. Gen 2:5–7; 3:19
Man’s function To work the ground. Gen 2:5, 15; 3:23
The curse upon Adam Cursed is the ground because of you; Until you return to the ground. Gen 3:17–19, 23
The curse upon Cain You are cursed from the ground. Cain forfeits his raison d’etre. Gen 4:11

Note the difference between the curse pronounced on Adam and that pronounced on Cain:

  1. Adam: 'cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you . . . By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground . . .' (Gen 3:17–19).

  2. Cain: 'Now you are cursed from the ground . . . When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength. . . . Cain said to the Lord, . . . "Behold, you have driven me today away from the ground, and from your face I shall be hidden' (Gen 4:11–14).

Descriptions of What 'Life' Means

  1. Man's 'basic materials': a material body and a non-material soul (Gen 2:7).
  2. Function, employment, work (Gen 2:5, 15).
  3. Aesthetic sense (Gen 2:8–9).
  4. Moral sense—potential knowledge of moral values (Gen 2:9).
  5. Ability to sin and moral responsibility to God (Gen 2:16–17).
  6. Relationship to animals (Gen 2:19).
  7. Faculty of language (Gen 2:19–20).
  8. Man-woman relationship (Gen 2:18–25).
  9. Music (Gen 4:21).
  10. Metal-work (Gen 4:22).
  11. Lyric (Gen 4:23–24).

The Meaning of 'Life' and 'Death'; The Fall, Its Effect and Consequences; Sacrifice and the Values it Protects.

An Outline of the Third Creation Story (Genesis 5:1–9:29)

The Generations of. . .

  1. Adam (Gen 5:1–6:8).
  2. Noah (Gen 6:9–9:29).

Begins: This is the Book of the Generations of Man

  1. Hebrew adam means:

    • The name of the species i.e. man, human being.
    • The name of the first male human being, Adam.

  2. In Gen 5:1–2 adam = human being. Note: 'he blessed them and named them Man (adam) when they were created' (Gen 5:1).

  3. So in Genesis 6:1–7:

    • 'Man began to multiply' (Gen 6:1).
    • 'Daughters of man' = female human beings (Gen 6:2, 4).
    • 'My Spirit shall not abide in man for ever, for he is flesh' (Gen 6:3).
    • 'The Lord was sorry that he had made man on the earth' (Gen 6:6).
    • 'I will blot out man . . . man and animals' (Gen 6:7).

The Development of the Human Race from Adam

  1. Man's constitution: spirit and flesh (Gen 6:3).
  2. Man's perversion (Gen 6:1–6).
  3. The nature and effect of man's destruction by water (Gen 6:13; 7:23).
  4. The means of man's salvation: the ark (Gen 6:13; 7:23).
  5. Cf. the leading terms of 1 Peter 3:17–4:6: flesh and spirit.

The New Beginning for the Human Race in Noah (Gen 6:9)

  1. Sacrifice: the basis of security (Gen 8:15–22).
  2. The new mandate (Gen 8:15–9:17).
  3. The covenant and its token rainbow (Gen 9:8–17).
  4. Noah's indiscretion (Gen 9:20–29).

The Section Ends with the Death of Noah (Gen 9:29)

The Creation, Constitution, Development, Destruction and Salvation of Man (Genesis 5:1–9:29)

Genealogy (Gen 5:1–32)

Adam to Noah. Man made in the likeness of God (Gen 5:1).

Perversion (Gen 6:1–8)

Of the human race. 'I will blot out man' (Gen 6:7).

Sons of Noah (Gen 6:9–12)

Noah righteous, perfect. His three sons: 'all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth' (Gen 6:12).

The Flood (Gen 6:13–8:22)

God's Blessing on Noah and his Sons (Gen 9:1–7)

Man made in the image of God (Gen 9:6).

God's Covenant with Noah (Gen 9:8–17)

'Never again . . . destroy all flesh' (Gen 9:15).

Sons of Noah (Gen 9:18–29)

Noah's drunkenness: his sons' behaviour!

The Rise of the Hebrew Nation from Among the Gentiles (Genesis 10:1–25:11)

The Generations of. . .

  1. The sons of Noah (Gen 10:1–11:9) and of Shem (11:10–26).
  2. Terah (Gen 11:27–25:11).

Overview

  1. Nimrod and the great and famous cities: Babel, Erech, Accad, Calneh, Nineveh, Rehoboth-Ir, Calah, Resen (Gen 10:9–12). The building of the city and tower of Babel (Gen 11:1–9).
  2. The call of Abram, the promise to make a nation of him, and the purpose of it: 'in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed' (Gen 12:1–3; 18:18; 22:18).
  3. The promised seed (Gen 12:7; 15:1–6; 18:10–18): the birth (Gen 21:1–7), sacrifice (Gen 22:1–19) and marriage (Gen 24) of the promised seed. The covenants made with Abram and his seed, of inheritance (Gen 15:7–21), of circumcision (Gen 17:1–27).

The Three Major Areas in Abraham's Training and Testing

Genesis 12–15

The choice between 'goods' and 'life'. The denial of Sarah. The choice of Lot, the capture and recovery of Lot. The ministry of Melchizedek. Justification by faith and the covenanted inheritance.

Genesis 16–19

Faith in the promise, or the works of the flesh?

The taking of Hagar instead of Sarah, and the birth of Ishmael.

The covenant of circumcision, 'the seal of the righteousness of faith'.

The renewal of the promise.

Lot's experience in Sodom, its destruction and Lot's rescue.

Gen 20–24

The search for security; the second denial of Sarah.

The birth of the promised seed, and the expulsion of the bondwoman and her son.

Abraham's oath granting security to the Philistine and his son.

Justification by works and God's oath granting security to Abraham and his son.

The purchase of a burial-ground for Sarah.

The second 'calling-out' from the Gentiles—a bride for Isaac.

The Section Ends With the Death of Abraham (Gen 25:8–11)

The Call and Training of Abraham the Hebrew (Genesis 10:1–25:11)

Background to Abraham's Call Out of the Gentiles (Gen 10:1–11:26)

  1. The great cities of the Gentiles (Gen 10:8–12).
  2. The city and tower of Babel (Gen 11:1–9).
  3. The other Semitic nations and Abraham's forebears.

First Major Period (Gen 11:27–15:21)

  1. Denies wife among the Egyptians.
  2. Main issue: goods–vs–life.
  3. Justification and inheritance by faith without works.

Second Major Period (Gen 16:1–19:38)

  1. Despairs of wife and takes slave-girl, Hagar.

  2. Main issue: the works of the flesh–vs–the life of faith:

    • Abraham and Sarah's fleshly attempt to produce the promised seed.
    • Lot's daughters and the maintenance of Lot's seed.

  3. Justification by faith apart from the works of the law.

Third Major Period (Gen 20:1–22:24)

  1. Denies wife among the Philistines.
  2. Main issue: security: in man or God?
  3. Abraham, justified by works, discovers the anchor of the soul.

The Sequel: Rebekah's Call Out of the Gentiles (Gen 24:1–25:11)

  1. Winning of wife for Isaac.
  2. Abraham's other wives.
  3. Abraham's death and burial.

Abram and the Two Kings: The King of Salem and the King of Sodom

The King of Salem

The King of Salem (Melchizedek) meets Abram

  1. Who Melchizedek met: Abram, not Lot.

  2. When Melchizedek met him: not before the battle with Chederlaomer but before meeting the King of Sodom.

  3. Where Melchizedek met him: near Jerusalem. The King of Salem came down to meet him. The King of Sodom came up.

Who was Melchizedek?

  1. King of Righteousness = Melchizedek.
  2. King of Salem = Peace.
  3. Priest of the Most High God = El Elyon.
  4. Date of birth? Parents? Family? Death?
  5. Made like unto the Son of God.

  6. The Melchizedek priesthood of Christ will not:

    • Fail: Christ cannot sin.
    • End: Christ cannot die.
    • Be changed: God has sworn that He is to be a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

What did Melchizedek do?

  1. He met Abram.
  2. Brought forth bread and wine.
  3. Blessed Abram: on behalf of God.
  4. Blessed God: on behalf of Abram.
  5. Accepted tithes from Abram.

The result of the meeting with Melchizedek

  1. It energized him after the battle with Chederlaomer.

  2. It enlarged his vision of God:

    • El Elyon = God, the Most High: Sovereign of all, who had delivered his enemies into his hands.
    • Possessor of heaven and earth: Sustainer, upholder and controller of all things, worlds, peoples.

  3. It encouraged him for his meeting with the King of Sodom.

The King of Sodom Meets Abram

Temptation

The request of the king of Sodom:

  1. Give me the persons: the souls.
  2. You take the goods: the spoils.

Triumph

The reply of Abram:

  1. His oath: 'I have lifted my hand'.
  2. To whom he swore: 'To the Lord, God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth'.
  3. What he swore: 'That I would not take a thread or a sandal strap or anything that is yours'.
  4. Why he swore: 'Lest you should say, 'I have made Abram rich'.

The reward for those who went with him.

The Lord Jesus Christ: High Priest Forever in the Order of Melchizedek (Hebrews 6:20–7:28)

Melchizedek—Greater than Abraham

What Scripture tells us about him

  1. Who he was:

    • King of Righteousness (= Melchizedek).
    • King of Peace (= Salem).

  2. He met Abraham.

  3. He blessed Abraham.
  4. He received tithes from Abraham (and therefore from Levi); because he is greater than Abraham, he is greater than Aaron.

What Scripture DOES NOT tell us

  1. Who his father was.
  2. Who his mother was.
  3. Who his forefathers were.
  4. When he was born.
  5. When he died.

In these details, he resembles (= made like unto) the Son of God (Heb 7:3).

The Melchizedek Priesthood is Superior to the Levitical/Aaronic Priesthood

The Aaronic priesthood

  1. It made no one perfect (Heb 7:19).
  2. Its priests were: mortal (Heb 7:23); defilable (Heb 7:26); sinful (Heb 7:27)—might be unable to act because of their own death, defilement, sin.
  3. It brought no one near to God, but kept people away from God (Heb 7:19).
  4. Its sacrifices were for the sins of the people and the sins of the priests (Heb 7:27).
  5. Its high priests were appointed according to a 'carnal commandment' (i.e. the right nation, tribe, family, etc).
  6. Its high priests were not appointed by an oath (Heb 7:21).

The Melchizedek priesthood

  1. Its high priest came from the tribe of Judah, not the tribe of Levi.
  2. The Melchizedek priesthood of Christ commenced when he went back into heaven (Heb 5:10; Ps 110:4).
  3. It brings us a better hope (Heb 7:19).
  4. Through it, we draw nigh to God (Heb 7:19).
  5. It was established by an oath—so it will not be changed.
  6. Christ continues ever, lives ever—so it will not end.
  7. Christ cannot sin—so it will not fail.
  8. Christ is perfectly equipped to be a high priest—so He will save to the uttermost.
  9. As an unchanging high priest, he is the guarantee that the terms of the new covenant will be fulfilled (Heb 7:22).
  10. It has made the Levitical/Aaronic priesthood obsolete (Heb 7:12, 18).

  11. Its priestly functions are:

    • to make reconciliation for the sins of the people, i.e. believers only (Heb 2:17).
    • to make intercession for believers (Heb 7:25).
    • worship (Heb 2:12; 13:15).

The Maintenance of the Hebrews' Vision and their Development into Israelites (Genesis 25:12–35:29)

The Generations of. . .

  1. Ishmael (Gen 25:12–18).
  2. Isaac (Gen 25:19–35:29).

Details

  1. The pre-natal struggle of Esau and Jacob; Jacob's election; Esau despises and sells his birthright (Gen 25:20–34); Isaac's struggle to maintain himself in the land, his denial of Rebekah, the fight for water, the renewal of the promise (Gen 26); Isaac's blessing of Jacob, Jacob's deception, Esau's anger, the nature of blessing (Gen 27).

  2. Three periods in Jacob's life:

    • In the land of promise (Gen 25:19–27:34).
    • Out of the land among the Gentiles (Gen 28:1–31:55).
    • Back again in the land (Gen 32:1–35:29) but still attended by many difficulties in his relations with the surrounding tribes.

  3. The subject-matter of Jacob's training: leaving home to make a future for himself; the vision of the house of God and of the gate of heaven; marriage-deals; the birth and naming of his children; the need to amass capital; trade-secrets, their use and abuse; the jealousy and anger of the Gentiles; Jacob's flight; problem of reconciliation with Esau; wrestling with the angel, the vision of the face of God, Jacob becomes Israel; the abuse of religion by Jacob's sons.

The Section Ends With the Death of Isaac (Gen 35:28–29)

The Generations of Ishmael and Isaac (Genesis 25:12–35:29)

The Names of the Sons of Ishmael (Gen 25:12–18)

Isaac in the Land; Maintaining the Vision (Gen 25:19–26:33)

  1. In the family: God's sovereignty: human struggle, faith, greed, profanity, birthright sold (Gen 25:19–34).
  2. Among the Gentiles: God's sovereignty: human fear, envy, strife, covenanting (Gen 26:1–33).

The Question of the Blessing (Gen 26:34–33:17)

  1. Esau enraged: Jacob pretends not to be Jacob: steals blessing from man.

Bethel

  1. Flight to Laban: God's government: Human love, deceit, faith, rivalry.
  2. Flight from Laban: human cheating, rivalry, love, faith: God's government.

Peniel

  1. Esau reconciled: Jacob admits being Jacob: wrestles with God for blessing. Jacob gives Esau a blessing (Gen 33:11).

Jacob Back in the Land: Attempting to Fulfil the Vision (Gen 33:18–35:22)

  1. Among the Gentiles: human cruelty with human frailty: God's insistence on repentance (Gen 33:18–35:8).
  2. In the family: God's power and sufficiency: human weakness, suffering, faith, sin, birthright forfeited (see 1 Chr 5:1–2) (Gen 35:9–22).

The Names of the Sons of Jacob (Gen 35:23–29)

The Development of Israel's Sons into a Nation (Genesis 36:1–50:26)

The Generations of. . .

  1. Esau (Gen 36:1–43).
  2. Jacob (Gen 37:2–50:26).

Details

They become a blessing to the Gentiles through Joseph, the saviour of the Egyptians and of the Hebrews:

  1. The welding of Jacob's twelve sons into a nation. Unlike what it was with Abraham and his sons, it was not a question of taking one of Jacob's sons and discarding the rest, but of taking all twelve of his sons and welding them into a cohering nation. At first the brothers' treacherous jealousy against Joseph and his dreams of administrative supremacy, and the irresponsibility of Judah (Gen 38)—head of the tribe destined to bear the royal sceptre—and his mercenary attitude (Gen 37:25–27) threatened to divide and scatter Jacob's sons before they could be developed into one nation. But they are preserved, re-united and made a blessing to the nations through Joseph's innocent suffering and Judah's readiness to suffer vicariously (Gen 44:18–34).

  2. Jacob's rediscovery of Joseph, and his recovery of his sons Simeon and Benjamin. The preservation of the twelve sons and their families, the beginning of their multiplication into a nation in Egypt, and the maintenance of their prophetic hope in their future destiny.

The Section Ends With the Deaths of Jacob (Gen 49:33–50:13) and of Joseph (Gen 50:26)

The Generations of Esau and Jacob (Genesis 36:1–50:14)

Generations of Esau: Esau went into a land away (Gen 36:1–43)

Jacob Dwelt in the Land (Gen 37:1)

  1. Joseph's dreams: Joseph sold: Joseph's coat, false evidence: Jacob's false deduction: please identify (Gen 37:32).
  2. Judah goes down: the prostitute: false dress: Judah's signet, cord and staff: 'please identify . . .' Judah's confession: Judah's sons! (Gen 38:25).
  3. Joseph in Egypt: Potiphar's wife: Joseph's garment: false evidence; Joseph interprets dreams: Pharaoh's signet, chain, robes: Joseph's two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh (Gen 39:1–41:52).

Jacob Saw That There Was Corn in Egypt (Gen 42:1)

  1. First expedition: climax: Jacob: 'Joseph is no more, and Simeon is no more, and now you would take Benjamin?' No!
  2. Second expedition: climax: Judah, as surety, pleads to be allowed to suffer as substitute for Benjamin.
  3. Joseph made known: sends for father: climax: Jacob discovers truth: evidence of wagons: decides to go to see Joseph.

And Israel Took His Journey (Gen 46:1)

  1. Beersheba–well of oath: God: 'I myself will go down with you . . . and I will also bring you up again'. Names of sons–Egypt.
  2. Judah sent in front to arrange meeting with Joseph: climax: Jacob blesses Pharaoh.
  3. Joseph's treatment of Egyptians and of Israelites: Joseph buys all Egypt and Egyptians for Pharaoh: Israel prospers.

And Jacob Lived in Egypt (Gen 47:28)

  1. Takes oath of Joseph: 'Do not bury me not in Egypt, but let me lie with my fathers'; Joseph introduces his sons to Jacob: 'Who are these?' (Gen 48:8–9). Jacob blesses them.
  2. Jacob's prophetic blessing of twelve sons: Judah to have the sceptre (Gen 49:10); final charge regarding burial.
  3. Jacob dies: taken back to Canaan and buried there: Egyptians accompany and join in mourning.

Joseph Returns to Egypt (Gen 50:14)

  1. Renewed promise to preserve brothers.
  2. Dying charge: 'God will visit you and bring you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham . . . carry up my bones from here' (Gen 50:24–25).

Creation: What We Know by Revelation

  1. The universe had a beginning (Gen 1:1; John 1:1–4).
  2. The universe was created by God's word (Heb 11:3).
  3. God is other than the universe: not part of it. The Word 'was'; the universe 'became'; cf. 'before the world was' (John 1:1, 3; 17:5).
  4. The agent in creation was God, no less (John 1:1–3).
  5. The universe was made in stages, not all at once (Gen 1:1–2:3).
  6. Each stage was initiated by a word of God (Gen 1:3, 6, 9, 11, 14, 20, 24, 26).
  7. The universe is upheld by God's 'powerful word' (Heb 1:3).
  8. History was intended to make progress towards a goal; cf. the phrase 'the fullness of the time'.
  9. Creation to be eventually 'released' (Gal 4:4; Rom 8:20–21).
  10. The beginning, agent and goal of the universe is Christ (Col 1:16–17; Heb 1:3).

  11. Stages in the 'progress' of humanity:

    • The Word became flesh: the resurrection, ascension, glorification of the man Christ Jesus.
    • Creatures of God by receiving Christ become children of God: the formation of the Body of Christ. Their eventual glorification (Col 1:18; Rom 8:29).

  12. The new heavens and the new earth (Rev 21).

 
David Gooding
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