Bruce Wilkerson has the following information in his overview of Genesis:
Genesis
Genesis is the book of beginnings. Its fifty chapters sketch human history from creation to Babel (chs. 1–11) and from Abraham to Joseph (chs. 12–50). The first eleven chapters introduce the Creator God and the beginnings of life, sin, judgment, family, worship, and salvation. The remainder of the book focuses on the lives of four patriarchs of the faith: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, from whom will come the nation of Israel and ultimately the Savior, Jesus Christ.
Introduction and Title—The first part of Genesis focuses on the beginning and spread of sin in the world and culminates in the devastating Flood in the days of Noah. The second part of the book focuses on God’s dealings with one man, Abraham, through whom God promises to bring salvation and blessing to the world. Abraham and his descendants learn firsthand that it is always safe to trust the Lord in times of famine and feasting, blessing and bondage. From Abraham…to Isaac…to Jacob…to Joseph…God’s promises begin to come to fruition in a great nation possessing a great land.
Genesis is a Greek word meaning “origin, source, generation, or beginning.” The original Hebrew title Bereshith means “In the Beginning.”
The literary structure of Genesis is clear and is built around eleven separate units, each headed with the word generations in the phrase “These are the generations” or “The book of the generations”: (1) Introduction to the Generations (1:1–2:3); (2) Heaven and Earth (2:4–4:26); (3) Adam (5:1–6:8); (4) Noah (6:9–9:29); (5) Sons of Noah (10:1–11:9); (6) Shem (11:10–26); (7) Terah (11:27–25:11); (8) Ishmael (25:12–18); (9) Isaac (25:19–35:29); (10) Esau (36:1–37:1); (11) Jacob (37:2–50:26).
Author—Although Genesis does not directly name its author, and although Genesis ends some three centuries before Moses was born, the whole of Scripture and church history are unified in their adherence to the Mosaic authorship of Genesis.
The Old Testament is replete with both direct and indirect testimonies to the Mosaic authorship of the entire Pentateuch (see Ex. 17:14; Lev. 1:1–2; Num. 33:2; Deut. 1:1; Josh. 1:7; 1 Kin. 2:3; 2 Kin. 14:6; Ezra 6:18; Neh. 13:1; Dan. 9:11–13; Mal 4:4). The New Testament also contains numerous testimonies (see Matt. 8:4; Mark 12:26; Luke 16:29; John 7:19; Acts 26:22; Rom. 10:19; 1 Cor. 9:9; 2 Cor. 3:15).
The early church openly held to the Mosaic authorship, as does the first-century Jewish historian Josephus. As would be expected the Jerusalem Talmud supports Moses as author.
It would be difficult to find a man in all the range of Israel’s life who was better prepared or qualified to write this history. Trained in the “wisdom of the Egyptians” (Acts 7:22), Moses had been providentially prepared to understand and integrate, under the inspiration of God, all the available records, manuscripts, and oral narratives.
Date and Setting—Genesis divides neatly into three geographical settings: (1) the Fertile Crescent (1–11); (2) Israel (12–36); (3) Egypt (37–50).
The setting of the first eleven chapters changes rapidly as it spans more than two thousand years and fifteen hundred miles, and paints the majestic acts of the Creation, the Garden of Eden, the Noahic Flood, and the towering citadel of Babel.
The middle section of Genesis rapidly funnels down from the broad brim of the two millenia spent in the Fertile Crescent to less than two hundred years in the little country of Canaan. Surrounded by the rampant immorality and idolatry of the Canaanites, the godliness of Abraham rapidly degenerates into gross immorality in some of his descendants.
In the last fourteen chapters, God dramatically saves the small Israelite nation from extinction by transferring the “seventy souls” to Egypt so that they may grow and multiply. Egypt is an unexpected womb for the growth of God’s chosen nation Israel, to be sure, but one in which they are isolated from the maiming influence of Canaan.
Genesis spans more time than any other book in the Bible; in fact, it covers more than all sixty-five other books of the Bible put together.
Utilizing the same threefold division noted above, the following dates can be assigned:
A 2000 or more years, 4000–2090 b.c. (1–11)
1 Creation, 4000 b.c. or earlier (1:1)
2 Death of Terah, 2090 b.c. (11:32)
B 193 years, 2090–1897 b.c. (12–36)
1 Death of Terah, 2090 b.c. (11:32)
2 Joseph to Egypt, c. 1897 b.c. (37:2)
C 93 years, 1897–1804 b.c. (37–50)
1 Joseph to Egypt, c. 1897 b.c. (37:2)
2 Death of Joseph, 1804 b.c. (50:26)
Theme and Purpose—The theme of Genesis is God’s choice of a nation through whom He would bless all nations.
Over two thousand years are covered in Genesis 1–11, but this represents only one-fifth of the book. By contrast, four-fifths of Genesis (12–50) covers less than three hundred years. It is clear that Genesis is highly thematic, concentrating on the course of God’s redemptive work. Genesis is not a complete or universal history.
Genesis was written to present the beginning of everything except God: the universe (1:1); man (1:27); the Sabbath (2:2–3); marriage (2:22–24); sin (3:1–7); sacrifice and salvation (3:15,21); the family (4:1–15); civilization (4:16–21); government (9:1–6); nations (11); Israel (12:1–3). It was also written to record God’s choice of Israel and His covenant plan for the nation, so that the Israelites would have a spiritual perspective. Genesis shows how the sin of man is met by the intervention and redemption of God.
Keys to Genesis—
Key Word: Beginnings
Key Verses (3:15; 12:3)—“And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall, bruise His heel” (3:15).
“I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and; in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (12:3).
Key Chapter (15)—Central to all of Scripture is the Abrahamic covenant, which is given in 12:1–3 and ratified in 15:1–21. Israel receives three specific promises: (1) the promise of a great land—“from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates” (15:18); (2) the promise of a great nation—“and I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth” (13:16); and (3) the promise of a great blessing—“I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing” (12:2).
Christ in Genesis—Genesis moves from the general to the specific in its messianic predictions: Christ is the Seed of the woman (3:15), from the line of Seth (4:25), the son of Shem (9:27), the descendant of Abraham (12:3), of Isaac (21:12), of Jacob (25:23), and of the tribe of Judah (49:10).
Christ is also seen in people and events that serve as types. (A “type” is a historical fact that illustrates a spiritual truth.) Adam is “a type of Him who was to come” (Rom. 5:14). Both entered the world through a special act of God as sinless men. Adam is the head of the old creation; Christ is the Head of the new creation. Abel’s acceptable offering of a blood sacrifice points to Christ, and there is a parallel in his murder by Cain. Melchizedek (“righteous king”) is. “made like the Son of God” (Heb. 7:3). He is the king of Salem (“peace”) who brings forth bread and wine and is the priest of the Most High God. Joseph is also a type of Christ. Joseph and Christ are both objects of special love by their fathers, both are hated by their brethren, both are rejected as rulers over their brethren, both are conspired against and sold for silver, both are condemned though innocent, and both are raised from humiliation to glory by the power of God.
Contribution to the Bible—Genesis provides a historical perspective for the rest of the Bible by covering more time than all the other biblical books combined. Its sweeping scope from Eden to Ur to Haran to Canaan to Egypt makes it the introduction not only to the Pentateuch but to the Scriptures as a whole. Genesis gives the foundation for all the great doctrines of the Bible. It shows how God overcomes man’s failure under different conditions. Genesis is especially crucial to an understanding of Revelation, because the first and last three chapters of the Bible are so intimately related.
Survey of Genesis—Genesis is not so much a history of man as it is the first chapter in the history of the redemption of man. As such, Genesis is a highly selective spiritual interpretation of history. Genesis is divided into four great events (1–11) and four great people (12–50).
The Four Great Events: Chapters 1–11 lay the foundation upon which the whole Bible is built and center on four key events. (1) Creation: God is the sovereign Creator of matter, energy, space, and time. Man is the pinnacle of the Creation. (2) Fall: Creation is followed by corruption. In the first sin man is separated from God (Adam from God), and in the second sin, man is separated from man (Cain from Abel). In spite of the devastating curse of the Fall, God promises hope of redemption through the seed of the woman (3:15). (3) Flood: As man multiplies, sin also multiplies until God is compelled to destroy humanity with the exception of Noah and his family. (4) Nations: Genesis teaches the unity of the human race: we are all children of Adam through Noah, but because of rebellion at the Tower of Babel, God fragments the single culture and language of the post-Flood world and scatters people over the face of the earth.
The Four Great People: Once the nations are scattered, God focuses on one man and his descendants through whom He will bless all nations (12–50). (1) Abraham: The calling of Abraham (12) is the pivotal point of the book. The three covenant promises God makes to Abraham (land, descendants, and blessing) are foundational to His program of bringing salvation upon the earth. (2) Isaac: God establishes His covenant with Isaac as the spiritual link with Abraham. (3) Jacob: God transforms this man from selfishness to servanthood and changes his name to Israel, the father of the twelve tribes. (4) Joseph: Jacob’s favorite son suffers at the hands of his brothers and becomes a slave in Egypt. After his dramatic rise to the rulership of Egypt, Joseph delivers his family from famine and brings them out of Canaan to Goshen.
Genesis ends on a note of impending bondage with the death of Joseph. There is great need for the redemption that is to follow in the Book of Exodus.
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