Bible lessons
Published 10/06/2019
How many modern readers attach importance to the ancient culture, history, gods and goddesses that are the primary material of the first eleven chapters of Genesis? (Most of them have been carefully studied and described in this book.) Probably not much, which is a shame because it misses all the important points! Truly exciting insight occurs when we tune into the right frequencies. All of Genesis 1-11 criticizes ancient culture and beliefs, and by understanding this, we will not only be better able to grasp the message of Genesis, but we will also be better prepared to engage with our own culture.
Modern and Ancient Agendas
As we teach the Bible around the world (often in academic settings), we encounter contemporary concerns about Genesis. The concerns are expressed in questions that are not necessarily addressed in his text:
How long was the “day”? How could a snake speak? Was there room for giraffes on the ark? How did the kangaroos get there? Was the flood global or local? Was Eden destroyed during the flood? What about evolution? Where did fossils come from if all species were the same from the beginning? How could Methuselah live to be 969 years old? Were there really giants, the offspring of gods and men? Where is the original Tower of Babel? And Noah's Ark? What about dinosaurs?
However, ancient problems are often at odds with our own. People were worried about the terrifying primordial chaos of water ("Are we safe?"), as well as fear of the forces of nature ("Are they gods? Can they harm us? How can we calm them?"). Their concerns were reflected in the following questions:
Which gods should we follow? How many gods are there? What do the gods require? How can we be sure that everything will be fine with the harvest? How should we treat other groups of people? Will I have children - particularly sons - to continue the line, or will it end with me? Is idolatry such a terrible thing? How can we keep our faith when we are exiled from our land? (And should we still keep the Sabbath?) Are world systems (such as Babylon) all-powerful? Maybe Marduk really is the king of the gods?
These are all questions that the Book of Genesis addresses. In other words, with a little effort, we can understand the problems of our spiritual brothers and sisters of the past millennia.
Genesis chapter 1
I. THE EARLY AGE OF THE EARTH (Ch. 1 - 11)
A. Creation (Ch. 1, 2)
1:1 “In the beginning God created...” These first four words of the Bible form the basis of faith. Believe these words and you can believe the whole Bible. Only the Book of Genesis contains a reliable account of the Creation. This book should be read by everyone, both old and young. But its depth is inexhaustible. This book makes no attempt to prove the existence of God - it is accepted as a fact. For those who deliberately deny the existence of God, the Bible has a special name - “fools” (Ps. 13:1 and 52:2). From the very first lines, the Bible talks about God. This means that in our lives God must come first.
1:2 One conservative interpretation of the Genesis creation story, called creationism-reconstructionism, insists that a great catastrophe occurred between verses 1 and 2. Perhaps this was the fall of Satan (see Ezek. 28:11-19). As a result of this, God's creation, which was originally perfect, became “formless” and “empty.” This is not how God created the earth (Isa. 45:18), so the chaos described in verse 2 can only be explained by a cataclysm on a cosmic scale. Proponents of this theory also argue that the word translated “was” (khaeta) can also be translated “became.” Thus, the earth, in their opinion, “became formless and empty.”
The Spirit of God hovered over the waters before the greatest events began: the acts of creation and restoration. The following verses describe the six days of Creation and re-creation that made the earth suitable for human life.
1:3-5 On the first day, God commanded light to shine from the darkness and established the cycle of day and night. This moment should not be confused with the creation of the sun, moon and stars on the fourth day. In 2 Corinthians (chap. 4:6), the Apostle Paul draws a parallel between the separation of light from darkness at the beginning of creation and the turning of the sinner to God.
1:6-8 Before the second day of creation, the entire earth appears to have been surrounded by a thick layer of water, most likely in the form of thick steam. On the second day God divided this layer with a or dome). That part of the water that remained under the atmosphere covered the Earth with water. The other part contributed to the formation of clouds. God called the firmament heaven. The word “heaven” here should be understood as the space above the earth (we are not talking about space, and not about the third heaven, where God dwells). From verse 20 it is clear that here the sky is a sphere in which birds fly.
1:9-13 God causes dry land to rise from the water that covered the entire earth. This is how seas and land appeared. On this day, the third day of Creation, God also created all kinds of plants and trees that began to grow on the earth.
1:14-19 Only on the fourth day do the sun, moon and heavenly stars appear. They are designed to provide light and serve as the basis for a calendar.
1:20-23 On the fifth day, fish appeared in the water, and birds and insects appeared on the land. The word translated "birds" means "flying," so it could also mean bats and possibly flying insects.
1:24, 25 On the sixth day God created mammals and reptiles. The law of reproduction is constantly repeated in the words “according to its kind.” Within a biological genus, various forms of life can be observed, but they cannot move from one genus to another.
1:26-28 The crown of God's creation was man, created in the image and likeness of God. This means that a person must be a representative of God on earth, while possessing some of the qualities inherent in God. The Triune nature of man (spirit, soul and body) reminds us of the Trinity of God (Father, Son, Holy Spirit). Like God, man has reason, morality, the ability to communicate with other people, as well as emotions that are higher than instincts. We are not talking about physical similarity here. Unlike animals, man can worship God and communicate by transmitting thoughts. Man is endowed with creative abilities, which is also a manifestation of divine nature.
Verse 26 points to the Trinity of God: “And [singular verb] God [Heb. Elohim, plural]: Let us make [plural] man in Our image.”
The Bible explains that both sexes (male and female) were created by God. The theory of evolution has never been able to explain the origin of the sexes. Humanity is given the commandment: “be fruitful and multiply.”
God has also commanded us to have dominion over creation—but not to harm it. Modern environmental crises are the result of greed, selfishness and careless attitude towards nature.
1:29, 30 From these verses it is clear that all animals were herbivores in the beginning. The man was also a vegetarian. The situation changed after the Flood (see chapter 9:1-7).
Were these six days of Creation literally days of 24 hours each, or are we talking about geological periods? Or were these days of “astounding visions” in which the truth about Creation was revealed to Moses? There is not a single scientific fact that would refute the concept that days are meant literally. The expression "evening and morning" refers to a twenty-four hour day. In all other places in the Old Testament these words mean an ordinary day. Adam survived the seventh day and died at the age of 930, so the seventh day could not possibly be a geological period. Whenever the word “day” in the Old Testament is used with a numeral (for example, “the first day”), the day is meant in the literal sense of the word. Having given Israel the commandment of Sabbath rest, God justifies this by the fact that He Himself also rested on the seventh day, after six days of Creation (Ex. 20:8-11). In order for the interpretation to be consistent, it is necessary to use the word “day” in the same meaning.
The difficulty, however, is that since there was no sun in the first three days, these days were not ordinary in our understanding (vv. 14-19).
The Bible does not give a date for the creation of the earth and heavens. It is not said how long ago man was created. But there are genealogies in the Bible, and even taking into account possible gaps in them, we still see that man could not have appeared on earth millions of years ago, as evolutionists insist.
From In. 1:1,14, Col. 1:16 and Heb. 1:2, we learn that Jesus Christ took an active part in the Creation. He is worthy of all praise for all the countless miracles of His creation.
1:31 After the six days of Creation, “God saw everything that He had made; and behold, it’s very good.”
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MacDonald's commentary on Genesis 1
Note . Verse numbers are links leading to a section with comparisons of translations, parallel links, texts with Strong's numbers. Try it, you might be pleasantly surprised.
Common questions about the book of Genesis
MODERN (irrelevant):
- Was Adam a Neanderthal?
- Did the flood cover Mount Everest?
- Have you found the ark?
- How long was a “day” in Genesis?
ANCIENTS (central themes):
- Who is Yahweh?
- What about other gods?
- Is God with us during exile?
- How can we please Yahweh?
In short, there are many differences between their concerns and ours: between what aroused their curiosity and what attracts ours. But the gap between us is not as great as we might think. We have many common problems, especially existential ones.
A little about the Mark of Cain
For his murder and unrepentant sin, Cain was cursed by God, a special distinctive mark was placed on him: “...And the Lord made a sign for Cain, so that no one who met him would kill him” (Gen. 4:15).
The Bible does not tell us what exactly it was, but it is probably not as important as the sign looked outwardly. The main thing is whether you and I today do not bear this mark of sin on ourselves: in our soul, character, actions, thoughts. Are we not the spiritual children of the eldest son of Adam: envious, rebellious, earning salvation by our own works, without needing Christ. “And Cain went away from the presence of the Lord; and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden” (Gen. 4:16). Since then, Cain's family began to live separately. It was his descendants who invented musical instruments, discovered the secrets of obtaining metals, and built the first cities (see Archaeological commentary on this chapter). But among his descendants, polygamy also appeared for the first time: “And Lamech took for himself two wives...” (Gen. 4:19) and the sins sown by Cain flourished.
The problem of authorship
The most mysterious question remains who is the author of this scripture, since the author of the text is not precisely indicated.
Scholars suggest that Genesis was written by Moses. It is believed that the first five books of the Bible were written down by him during the forty-year wandering of the Jews in the Sinai desert. Initially, all the writings of Moses constituted one collection of God's revelations, the book “TORAH”, which means: Law, or under the name “book of Moses”
If the author of the text is Moses. The immediate addressee was the Jews - the contemporaries of Moses.
But it is necessary to take into account the fact that perhaps before Moses there was some person who wrote this story (Genesis 9: 1-17). Since the text reports events that occurred shortly after the Flood, that is, long before Moses. The author's name is not given in the text itself.
“Genesis” could have been written by Noah and his immediate circle. If the author of the text is Noah or a person from Noah’s inner circle, then the immediate addressee was Noah’s family.
After all, God somehow communicated His righteous truths to people. Perhaps through direct communication (Genesis 3:8-11; Genesis 4:4; Genesis 18:1-3) or some other form of revelation. (For example, a dream, a vision - Genesis 15: 1-2; Genesis 28: 10-16;).
The problem of authorship haunts scientists to this day
The first chapters of Genesis are inspired by God, as is all of Scripture. Then the Lord continued to communicate His righteous truths. The chosen ones were able to complete what 50 chapters of Genesis look like now. That is, the first chapters of Genesis could have been written before Moses. And, for example, Deuteronomy 34:5-12 was written by inspiration, but not by Moses. And after the death of Moses. All parts of Scripture were written not by human will, but by divine inspiration.
Biblical story about the Flood
The biblical account of the Flood is the most exciting. Noah's family of 8 was righteous. Perhaps members of Noah’s family also had some sins. But they did not lead them to death. Now the human race is already beginning to descend from this family.
Thus, the grace of the Lord can be traced, since humanity, in the person of the Noah family, survived the Flood, leading to complete destruction and destruction. And God gave his grace to Noah and his family, and subsequent descendants, by the way, to us too.
“...And every other living thing on the ark was also blessed” ( Genesis 9 ).
“...And the whole planet is blessed by God.” ( Genesis 9-10 ).
“...We live thanks to God's Grace. We even breathe, move and exist by the grace of God, and not by ourselves.” ( Acts 24-28 ).
The first eleven chapters of the Book of Genesis depict the “beginning” in the most literal sense of the word: the beginning of the universe, the beginning of humanity.
Starting from the 12th chapter, another theme of the book is revealed - the prehistory of another beginning - the people of Yahweh. The heroes of the story, the biblical “patriarchs”, or “forefathers”, are Abraham, a native of Mesopotamia, the chosen one of God and the founder of a new people, his relatives, sons, grandsons and great-grandsons. Of the two sons of Abraham, God rejects Ishmael and chooses Isaac (Genesis, 7-8, 19, 21; 21:14; 25:6; 26:3-4); the process of election is then repeated for the descendants of Isaac (Genesis 35:9-12). The divine blessing received by Isaac's second son, Jacob, ends the period of the patriarchs and opens the era of the formation of the Israeli nation, for which God has destined a special party in the history of the world.
They are depicted as elders of small family-tribal communities wandering in the spaces of Canaan between Mesopotamia and Egypt. According to the biblical narrative, the distant descendants of these clans were destined to become the core of the Jewish people in 500 years.
The hypothesis has been repeatedly expressed that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are mythological figures in the narrow sense of the word, that is, local or tribal deities of pagan Palestine, only later “humanized” in accordance with the principle of monotheism. However, this hypothesis is becoming inconclusive as a result of recent archaeological evidence.
In general, the world of the biblical patriarchs corresponds quite closely to what has recently become known about northern Mesopotamia and Canaan of the Middle Bronze Age. Establishing the real basis of the saga of the patriarchs allows us to determine the genre affiliation of the corresponding eyes of the Book of Genesis. The whole nature of the presentation says that this is a saga, a family tradition, a historical legend, sometimes a historical fairy tale, but no longer a myth in the proper sense of the word.
Among the stories about the patriarchs, the episodes dedicated to Joseph stand out, they are very large in volume (chapters 37-50) and are distinguished by their novelistic details. These chapters describe how the virtue of the wise Joseph is rewarded by God and Divine Providence turns evil into good ( Genesis 50:20 ).
Many authors used the type of Joseph in their works
The image of Joseph has become widespread in literature, since his biblical story has had an exceptionally wide influence on entire eras of literary creativity in line with the Judaic, Islamic and Christian traditions.
Syrian literature of the 4th century gave the “Word of Joseph the Beautiful” by Ephraim the Syrian (Aphrem), where the image of an innocent sufferer developed its expressive capabilities, turning out to be a symbol and prototype of the suffering of Christ. The famous 12th sura of the Koran is dedicated to Yusuf (the Arabic version of the name Joseph), to which the poets of Islam looked back, singing the love of the biblical hero and Zuleika. For the entire range of literature of the Christian Middle Ages from the Euphrates to the Atlantic, “Chaste Joseph” is one of the popular characters; It is worth special mentioning the rich folklore tradition of Russian “spiritual poems” - folk tales, laments and lamentations about the sorrows of a righteous man sold to his brothers, dating back to the “Word” of Ephraim the Syrian.
Modern European literature also reflected a variety of stories related to the life of Joseph. In just one decade after 1532, many plays about Joseph appear ( S. Birkk, T. Hart ). Goethe wrote about the development of this topic . T. Mann turned to it (the novel tetralogy “Joseph and His Brothers”, 1933-1943), turning the biblical topic into a subject for the application of psychoanalytic and religious scholarship and at the same time into an instrument for the establishment of liberal humanism.
The end of Genesis leaves the family of Jacob in Egypt; The Book of Exodus begins with this situation.
