Here’s some notes from my studies on Genesis. They are in no way
fleshed out but I put them up in an effort to update them as I go
along. That being said, the HTML may be a bit fuzzy and there may be
other posts that come out added to this. It will not preempt my Romans
series but it will reinforce some of the things I’ll be saying when I
get to Romans 14.
The Book of Genesis
Structural |
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Founding |
Founding |
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Creation |
Fall |
Humanity |
Abram |
Isaac |
Israel |
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Creation |
Adam |
Life |
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Land |
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Cain |
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Noah means |
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Joseph |
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preserving |
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preserving |
Major Theme(s):
The Fall and the Reconciliation of People with God
God’s Word is Good: From the creation of the heavens and the
earth to the saving of Jacob, his family and the nations, God’s word continues
to stand proving to be Good.
Sub-theme:
The Creation of God and how he deals with it
- God
makes promises of setting things in order and will make sure such promises
are kept from the Fall to the Saving of the Seed by Joseph
The Calling out of a People
- The
Fall of Man - The
Wickedness of Man - The
Setting Apart for blessing - The
Keeping the promise for blessing
The Living God reveals Himself
Structure:
The Thematic Structure consists of almost a
compartmentalization process from the overall picture to the specific box of
the Israelites and their saving from famine by Joseph. The Fall of Man was
something that affected all of mankind and was apparent in the Wickedness of
Man in Gen 6. The issuing out of an edict for man to judge wickedness was only
supplanted by Man making a great name for themselves and subsequent confusion. But
in each of these events, there was a promise. In the garden a promise of the
seed of women crushing the serpent’s head, to Noah a promise of destruction no
more by water, to Abraham a promise of blessing to himself and all the nations
through himself and yet a promise of judgments on wickedness by the very distant
smokes of destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. The promise of the land,
compartmentalized down to Isaac instead of Man’s Provision in Ishmael and
further by God’s Choosing of Jacob (the younger) instead of Esau. Finally, the
tribes are preserved by Joseph in the close of the book, set apart from the
Egyptians and multiplying.
This doesn’t specifically define the structure but the way
the structure progresses. The book can actually be divided in two from chapters
1-11 then 12 onwards; the first section dealing with The Creation of Man and
the second The Calling of a People. The first section consists of three major
movements summarized in the creation headers (1:1; 2:4 and 5:1) while the
second section consists of three major movements summarized in the patriarchal
headers referent to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Each of the sections have a major
calamity which can spell an end to some aspect of God’s revelatory word. In
section 1 God’s Word creates and with His Word He saves a man to preserve the
creation: Noah. In section 2 God’s Word calls out Abraham and with His Will He
overrules Joseph’s situation so as to save Joseph’s family and the nations. The
Noahic story is part of the greater story of the Generations Of Men while the
Joseph story is part of the greater story of the Generations of Israel.
So technically we can say the Structure of the Book is
defined by the differentiation of World vs. A People divided at 11:27. My chart
would specify this as the Found of the World vs. The Founding of A People. This
of course can also show further progress by seeing the element of a genealogy
which may be viewed as a structure or at the very least, a pattern that hints
at the structure.
Setting:
The setting of the book starts at the Garden and moves out
to the World and progressively centralized in Canaan, only ending in Egypt with a promise still awaiting
fulfillment…to acquire the land
of Canaan.
Some Patterns:
Generations—
(This may also attest to the Structure) Generational lines: Heavens
and Earth (2:4); Adam (5:1); Noah (6:9); Shem, Ham and Japheth (10:1); Shem
(11:10); Terah (11:27); Ishmael (25:12); Isaac (25:19); Esau (36:1 and 9) and Jacob
(37:2).
The Generational patterns also seem to pair off. Heavens-Earth
and Adam; Noah and Shem, Ham, Japeth; Shem and Terah; Ishamael and Isaac; Esau
and Jacob. This pattern leads me to wonder if the structural break in Genesis
is actually Gen 11:10. In light of the stories being told there’s almost a
chiastic structure to the generations meeting up at that point. Heavens and
Earth were cursed but Adam survived. Noah was shamed but Shem, Ham and Japheth
went on. 11:10 switches that about putting the line that is not the called line
up front. Shem’s line is ends in ambiguity but through Terah comes Abraham; Ishmael
is sent out as a wild man while Isaac remains; Esau will bow to Jacob (although
we don’t see it in this book) and eventually leaves the land to Jacob.
Of course, there are other genealogies mentioned but not
with the distinctive character of “the record of the generations of”
Murder—
Cain and the murder of Abel
Done out of Jealousy
One was doing it his way the other was doing it God’s way
Punished by cursing and no one can touch him
Indicative of the fall of man
Lamech and the murder of a young man
Done for no stated reason
Completely situated in his own self-defined morality outside
of God’s way
Justification that no one can touch him
Indicative of the wickedness of man (He wrote a poem about
it)
Relationships—
God and Adam n’ Eve vs. Satan and Adam n’ Eve
Truth vs. Lying
Life vs. Death
Noah vs. the People
Righteous vs. Wickedness Continually
Belief vs. Unbelief
Salvation vs. Death
God vs. the Babylonians
Down vs. Building Up
Abram vs. His Family
Called vs. Not-called
Covenant vs. Non-Covenant
Sarah vs. Haggai
Freewoman vs. Bondwoman
Barren/Dead Womb vs. Fertile/Living womb
Child of Promise vs. Child of Flesh
Isaac vs. Ishmael
Young vs. Old
Promised vs. Not-Promised
Berated vs. Wild Man
Lot vs. Sodom
Upright vs. Proud n’ Perverse
Life vs. Death
Jacob vs. Esau
Promised higher position vs. lower position
Dwelled in the Tents vs. Hunted in the Field
Deceiver vs. Disparager
Jacob vs. Laban
Liar vs. Dishonorable
Joseph vs. His brothers
Blessing for all
Provider vs. Provision for
Exalted position vs. Lowered position
Love vs. Jealousy
Marriages—
Adam and Even
Lied to by the serpent
Eve’s children would eventually all die—(The Flood)
Eve’s promise as mother encompassed by a younger son—Seth
Abraham and Sarah
Lied when potential problems would come instead on relying
on God
Sarah was barren and at the appointed time her womb was
opened
The Promise came through a specific child—Isaac
Isaac and Rebekah
Lied when potential problems would come (same king
Abimelech, but no pharaoh) instead of relying on God
Rebekah was barren until Isaac prayed that her womb would be
opened
The Promise came through a specific child—Jacob
Jacob and Rachel, Leah, Kilbah and Bizpah
Lied to when a promise came to get a wife
Rebekah was barren and Leah bore children. Rebekah gave her
handmaiden and Leah did likewise. Jacobs favored children came from
Rachel—Joseph and Benjamin.
Salvation for the people came from Joseph in Egypt
although it was through much pain.
Er, Onan,
Judah and Tamar
Judah
lies and doesn’t give Tamar his last son after Er and Onan die.
Tamar lies and sleeps with Judah
Tamar’s children come through Judah.
Series link. Tags: Bible, Bible study, Simple Bible Study Methods, Genesis, Creation, Evolution, Adam, Eve, Cain, Abel, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Israel