Roots: The Roots of Redemption in the Book of Genesis - Adam Mabry

156 Pages·2013·3.96 MB·English

Roots: The Roots of Redemption in the Book of Genesis
Copyright 2012, Adam Mabry and Donny Fisher
Published by Aletheia Resources
Aletheia Resources
820 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA, 02139
www.aletheia.org
ISBN: 978-1-105-78939-7
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Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are taken from the ESV Bible (The Holy Bible: English Standard
Version). Copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission.
All rights reserved.
Table of Contents
Introduction!! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 5
The Beginning! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 13
The Fall! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 21
The Broken Human Family ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 27
Noah and the Flood! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 33
Babel!! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 41
The Call of Abraham ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 47
Abraham, Lot, and Melchizedek!! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 53
Covenant Promise and Faith! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 61
Sodom and Gomorrah! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 67
Isaac! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 73
Isaac and Rebecca! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 79
Jacob and Esau! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 87
Jacob, Rachel, Leah, and Laban! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 95
Jacob Wrestles God!! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 103
Joseph and his Dreams! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 109
From Prison to Power! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 115
Forgiveness and Salvation! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 123
The End of the Beginning!! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 133
Appendix 1: Different Creations Views!! ! ! ! ! ! ! 141
Appendix 2: For Further Study! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 153
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- Introduction -
About the Book of Genesis
Introduction
General Information
The book of Genesis is all about beginnings. The word Genesis comes to us from the ancient Greek copy of the Old
Testament, known as the Septuagint, and the word simply means “beginnings.” This book forms the foundation
of all Christian understanding of God, and the roots of the redemption found in his son, Jesus Christ. It would not
be an overstatement to say that without the book of Genesis, Jesus makes very little sense.
This book opens with one word, “God.” Right at the beginning, the main character takes the stage. Much to our
surprise, it’s not a human. Nor is the main character God’s rules. The central figure in the book of Genesis is the
central figure in all of history, God. In it we find the story of the creation of humanity and our subsequent, tragic
fall into sin. Following this we get a glimpse into God’s unfolding plan of redemption through the covenant with
Abraham and his descendants. Genesis also includes some of the most memorable stories in the Bible, beginning
with Adam and Eve (chs. 1–4), continuing through Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and ending with the life of
Joseph (chs. 37–50), who died before 1600 b.c.1
Traditionally, Jews and Christians Moses as the author of this book. He was writing after the Exodus from Egypt,
commonly dated around 1440 B.C. though some prefer a date around 1260 B.C.2
The book of Genesis is book about the roots of humanity and the creative acts of God. God made the world and
everything in it for one, clear purpose—to know him and to follow him as their Lord and treasure. However,
creation rebelled, introducing sin into God’s world. And herein we find the beginning of God’s redemptive plan
which would be later fulfilled in Jesus Christ. As Adam fell, Jesus became a second, truer, better Adam, restoring
humanity to the God for whom they were made.
As Christians, we read Genesis through the lens of Jesus Christ. When the resurrected Jesus met his disciples on
the road to Emmaus, we are told that he read the Bible in a very specific way. “And beginning with Moses and all
the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself,” (Lk. 24:27). Therefore, we
want to read Genesis the same way that Jesus did. God is the main character of Genesis, and Jesus is the promised
hero.
Who Was Moses?
Moses is understood to have been the author of the book of Genesis. No one would have been better qualified to
write the book, since Moses was well-educated (Acts 7:22). His literary skills would’ve enabled him to collect
1 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. “Introduction to Genesis,” Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001.
2 Ibid.

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Introduction
Israel’s records and traditions and arrange them in the five books of the Pentateuch (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus,
Numbers, and Deuteronomy). He penned the work, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, providing the
historical and theological context for God’s people after they were freed from their slavery in Egypt.
Here’s what scholars are saying about Moses and Genesis,
Although the author of Genesis is not identified in the book, its integral part in the Pentateuch (Genesis—Deuteronomy)
suggests that the author of these five books was the same person. The books of the Pentateuch give evidence of unity
through their common plot, theme (divine promises), central figure (Moses), and literary interconnections. Jewish and
Christian traditions attribute the Pentateuch to Moses, whose life paralleled the events of Exodus—Deuteronomy (ch. 2
Ch 23:18; Lk 16:29, 31; Ac 28:23). Passages in Exodus—Deuteronomy testify that Moses authored diverse materials (Ex
17:14; 24:4–8; Nm 33:2; Dt 31:9, 22). Although we cannot be certain about the contents of the “book of the law [of
Moses]” (Jos 1:7–8; 8:31; 23:6; 2 Kg 14:6), its association with Moses established a “psychology of canonicity” that set
the pattern of divinely authoritative writings (Nm 12:6–8; Dt 18:15; 34:10). Scholars have usually recognized that
minor post-Mosaic contributions must exist in the Pentateuch, such as the
“In the beginning God” is the opening freeze-
report of Moses’ death (Dt 34). Some have contended that the first-person
frame of the Bible. If we try to go back before
(“I”) sections were written by Moses and that another author set them in a
the world sprang into being, we find God. If we
third-person (“Moses”) narrative frame. Before the nineteenth century, the
ask where the world came from, Genesis consensus remained that Moses wrote the essential whole, probably during
answers: God. If we wonder why the universe the wilderness sojourn. 3
continues to operate in an orderly, timely,
Where did Moses get his Information?
predictable fashion, the answer in Genesis is
Because many of the events of the book of Genesis predate the life of
God. And as we ponder how all this ancient
Moses, it’s natural to ask where Moses got his information. It has been
information has been preserved and passed the consensus of Jewish and Christian scholars that Moses compiled
down to us, the answer again is God, who gave this information through divine revelation, coupled with the
availability of solid written records such as genealogies, etc.4
this book to Moses and had him write it down
for the ages. So perhaps the best modern title
Who was Moses, anyway?
for the book of Genesis would be “In the Moses was the leader of the people of Israel who, through God’s
beginning … God.” miraculous power, delivered them from slavery in Egypt, moving
them toward their own promised land. He was born in Egypt as a
(Strassner, Kurt. Opening Up Genesis. Opening Up
Commentary. Leominster: Day One Publications, 2009)
3 Cabal, Ted, Chad Owen Brand, E. Ray Clendenen et al. The Apologetics Study Bible: Real Questions, Straight Answers, Stronger Faith. Nashville, TN:
Holman Bible Publishers, 2007.
4 Critical scholars of the Old Testament dispute this claim from the presupposition that God could not have given Moses or his compatriots the
revelation to compile this book. In their view, supernatural acts like revelation are not possible, so they go to great lengths to explain the authorship
of the book differently. For more information on this topic, check out Bruce Waltke’s Genesis: A Commentary. and Dillard and Longman’s An
Introduction to the Old Testament.

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Introduction
slave and adopted into the royal family. You can read the account of Moses in the book of Exodus, where he is the
main human character.
History or Myth?
The book of Genesis covers an immense amount of time, perhaps longer than the rest of the Bible put together.
Reaching all the way back to beginning of the universe itself, and ending with the death of Joseph, this text is
majestic in its breadth. No other book exists like it in all human history, seeking to explain the origins of
humanity, and God’s redemptive purposes.
All the events recorded in this book predate the time of Moses. The origin of the book (outside of the primeval
history of creation, etc.) lies within the second millennium BC, which can be confirmed alongside other ancient
texts from the time.5
The book appears to come to us in the genre of narrative prose, a style whose main function is to recount actual
events in history. Unlike ancient mythologies of the time, Genesis is fundamentally different in that it seeks to
promulgate a singular worldview in which Yahweh is God over all creation. This is history with a purpose—to
provide a prologue and foundation of the founding of the nation of Israel and the giving of the law in the book of
Exodus. It recounts how God chose Abraham and guided his family as his special people.6
It is not appropriate to characterize the book of Genesis as mythological because it simply doesn’t fit that kind of
genre. The book approaches the events it describes as actual, historical events with a supernatural, theological
significance. Well meaning Christian scholars have a range of agreement on the particulars, but in this they are
unified: the signals we get from the text force us to read it as an explanation of Israel’s past, a work of history.7
Genesis and Science
What about the common objection that Genesis flies in the face of modern science? First, it’s important to note
that the matter isn’t nearly so simple. Genesis gives an accurate history of the events it describes, and is therefore
historical. But Genesis is pre-scientific (not antiscientific), and thus presents truth in that way. The narrative comes
5 “the parallels from this time of ancient history confirm that the history recorded in Genesis is quite reliable.” See T. Desmond Alexander in
“Genesis,” The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. “Introduction to Genesis,” Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001.
6 Dillard and Longman, An Introduction to the Old Testament. (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2006) 54.
7 Ibid., 55.

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Introduction
from a human perspective, using the five normal senses to describe events. It is succinct, lacking scientific detail,
but accurate.
The simple fact is that the text of Genesis does not need to be exhaustive to be true. It’s as true to say, “The Sun
rose this morning,” just as it is to say, “the earth rotated to face the sun this morning.” The latter is more accurate
from a scientific perspective, the former is accurate from a human sense perspective. They are both obviously
true. The early chapters of Genesis work in a similar way.
The author of Genesis is not writing to give us a how-to manual of the particle physics and cosmological science
related to the origins of the universe. His purposes are to
explain that God made the world, while describing
experientially how he did so. This observation is actually
crucial for science to even get off the ground. For if God
did not make the world and maintain it according to
laws, what assurance would we have that those laws are
universally expressed? In other words, science cannot
explain the law-like nature of the universe, it can only
observe the laws themselves. Genesis seeks to explain
how science is even possible: a good God spoke order
into chaos and created a good, ordered, understandable
universe. For this reason, science should love Genesis—it
explains how the discipline is even possible.
The modern reader reads Genesis best when he
cooperates with Moses’ purpose in penning it: to explain the origins of the universe and therein to find the roots
of God’s promised redemption.
Genesis is About Jesus
Genesis is all about Jesus Christ. But how? Jesus isn’t featured directly in the book of Genesis, so how can the
book be about him? Simply put, Jesus explained how the entire Old Testament was about him (Lk 24:27). But the
reasons go deeper than that. Genesis sets up the drama of redemption, but never resolves it. Genesis speaks of a
future redeemer in prophecy (ch. 3), types, and shadows. But we never actually meet the redeemer in the pages of
the book itself. Like a sign which is never more important than what it points to, Genesis is important for a host of
reasons related to history, Israel, and the stories of the founding fathers of the faith. But Genesis fulfills its highest

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Introduction
[It] cannot be set down as fancy. The author role as a work which points us to God the Son, Jesus Christ,
the promised seed of Abraham who would bless the world,
retells the events in his own inimitable way; he
and rescuer of God’s fallen people (Gen. 3, 18).
does not invent them. What is thus committed
to writing is tradition, in the reverent care of
literary genius. Where the tradition can be Why Study Genesis?
independently checked, it proves to be
authentic. This much has been evident for some Without the book of Genesis, Jesus makes no sense
whatsoever. The theology of the New Testament is utterly
time in respect to a number of incidental details.
dependent on the writings contained in this book.
It now turns out that the main framework of the
patriarchal account has been accurately What you believe about Genesis, and how familiar you are with it,
presented” decisively shapes your worldview. And your understanding of
Genesis also goes a long way towards determining how well you
(E.A. Speiser,“The Biblical Idea of History in the Common
Near Eastern Setting,” Israel Exploration Journal 7. understand the rest
of the Bible. What,
Does Genesis 1 record a true account of the
really, is sin—and why is it so bad? What does Paul mean when he
origin of the material universe? To that question,
styles Jesus as the second Adam (Rom. 5)? Was God’s sending of his
the answer must be yes. On the other hand,
Son merely a reaction to human sin? Or was this the plan all along? Is
does Genesis 1 provide information in a way that
the idea of a Trinity simply a New Testament realization? Who was this
corresponds to the purposes of modern science?
Abraham who is mentioned so often as an example of faith (Rom. 4;
Heb. 11; etc.)? And what was Jesus talking about when he urged his To this question the answer is no ... This account
disciples to “remember Lot’s wife” (Luke 17:32)? All these Bible is well cast for its main purpose, which was to
questions, and more, can only be fully answered by opening up
enable a community of nomadic shepherds in
Genesis.8
the Sinai desert to celebrate the boundless
In short, if we truly wish to understand God, his purposes, Jesus, sin, creative goodness of the Creator; it does not
and the future, we must start with Genesis. say why a spider is different from a snake, nor
does it comment on what genetic
relationship[s] might be ... It is crucial to affirm
A Brief Outline
its historical account and its God-centered
worldview in order to provide a foundation for
Genesis can be outlined briefly in this way:
I. Early History: Good Creation and Ruinous Fall (Chapters 1-11) doing good science.
A. Creation of the World (1-2)
B. The First People (2:4-4:26) (T. Desmond Alexander, Ph.D. Union Theological College)
8 Kurt, Opening Up Genesis.

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