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Introduction to Genesis
I attach my notes from Sunday's preach below.
The talk was an introduction to a book of the Bible
My suggestion for the Word section of home group this week would be to gather some questions that people are asking in relation to Genesis, maybe to discuss what it might mean to study a book of the Bible and how you might go about that and help one another with that. In my talk, I outlined three ways that Genesis speaks - maybe run through them together and share what challenges or encourages you about that + pray for each other in groups.
Introduction to Genesis
Intro.
Half Hour Introduction to Genesis!
Book review...
Q. How would you describe Genesis?
Rock Band!
Last week - New Year, New Beginnings
This Week - Book at the Beginning of the Bible
Book All About Beginnings
Hebrew title - uses first words: ‘In the beginning’
Eng. Genesis is taken from Greek (via Latin) word meaning: ‘origin, source, race, creation’
[title hints at what we can expect over the coming weeks - chance to reflect upon the source of life, the universe and everything, and alongside a chance to consider the origins and bases of our faith!!]
Q. What questions are you asking from this book? are they valid questions to ask...?
Genesis quoted so many times in the NT
Importance of stories - e.g. Cain and Abel
Heb. 11:4 ¶ By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.
Aim of today - give us some helpful pointers to maximize our engagment with the book over coming weeks
Mainly Big Picture, but touching on a couple of specific verses
Talks coming up will expand on the details
Couple of seminars planned
Three Ways that Genesis speaks:
1. Genesis spoke as a Tract to Israel and the other Near Eastern Cultures
Example of a tract
Genesis and earlier oriental tradition of primeval history:
1. - Background
Genesis shares many theological presuppositions of the ancient world
e.g. parallel of creation to flood story with Atrahasis epic or Sumerian flood story
some common ground:
shared outline of history
reflects contemporary culture - e.g. belief in invisible supernatural world, existance of God or gods, they were personal, could think, speak and communicate with men, impact human affairs. Parallels with creation of man from clay; man being made on God’s image, creation as act of separation of light from dark, land from water, and by the word of God.
Assumption: invalidates the Bible, based on other, earlier faiths! Bible is merely typical of primeval mythology OR supports an argument that actually all ways lead to God!
2. Discourse -
Genesis presents an alternative world-view to those generally accepted in the Near East
similarities between biblical and non-biblical thinking overshadowed by the differences
example
Sumerian text - ‘Eridu Genesis’
affirmative and optimistic view of existence - things not as good at beginning as since
Bible
things began perfectly from God’s hand and grew worse through mankind’s sin > Noah and flood
moral judgement and viewpoint totally different
Gen 1-11 is a ‘tract for the times’ (Wenham) challenging ancient assumptions re: the nature of God, the world and mankind
pretty terrible times - Brit Museum
“Modern man makes assumptions about the world that are completely different from those of the second millennium BC.” Wenham Intro. pxlv
result: grab peripheral and overlook fundamental
help:
a) consider rel. of Genesis to oriental tradition
b) consider over-arching story of the book as a whole and the Pentateuch [and Bible]
BUT relationship to our day when many people question whether any real difference between faiths!!
2. Genesis speaks as Family history
Septuagint translates the title as ‘generations, family history’ - term used repeatedly
Focus narrows
ch. 1 world
ch.2-11 origins of the nations
ch.12-50 origins of Israel
First of five-volume work - The Pentateuch (Gen, Ex, Lev, Num, Deut)
background to history of exodus from Egypt and the lawgiving at Sinai - dealt with in great detail in Exodus-Deuteronomy
Genesis covers two thousand years, next 4 books just 120 years
Story of primeval history prepares us and provides context for Story of patriarchs, prepares us for national history of Israel as God’s covenant people
e.g. God of Abraham is also God who created the whole universe!
Gen. 2:4 ¶ This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created.
‘account’ = toledot
5:1 Adam
6:9 Noah
10:1 Noah’s sons
11:10 Shem
11:27 Terah
25:12 Ishmael
25:19 Isaac
36:1 Esau
37:2 Jacob
Genealogies - speed up the accounts and fill in the gaps
Family Tree?
BBC website
BBC - Take an exciting and rewarding journey into your own past with the Research Timeline, an easy-to-use tool for delving into four fascinating areas of your family history.
Family Secrets Timeline - Find out how to discover the skeletons and scandals in your ancestors' closets
Working Life Timeline - Hard graft or easy living - how did your predecessors make a crust?
Military Timeline - Discover how wars and conflicts have coloured your family history.
Migration Timeline - From country to town to the other side of the world - why did your ancestors move?
All these found in Genesis’ family histories
disclosure on lies, deceit, unfaithfulness, murder, drunkenness, ambition, aggression, fear, folly, arrogance and pride, prosperity and poverty
Happy about your family, your family history - God can break in and turn it around and he has a history of using unlikely candidates!!
Story-telling
Book designed for oral recitation - for telling aloud
Possibly collated by an editor from a number of sources, some of which may have been oral??
Point: imbibed by families and their community
Which stories are we imbibing?
3. Genesis speaks to us today (to modernity and postmodernity)
God speaks with challenge and encouragement
God challenges modern man and woman
Modernity celebrated the achievements of man
challenge of Genesis is because the recurring message of the stories is that without God mankind is without hope
challenge to trust God
Gen. 18:12 So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?”
Gen. 18:13 ¶ Then the LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’
Gen. 18:14 Is anything too hard for the LORD?
Genesis speaks to Post-modern man and woman!
encouragement because God never left mankind
encouragement that brings definition and a name to hope - sought by post-modern man in many different places
Genesis as biography of a faithful God!
Fulfillment of Promise of Blessing in God’s Creative Purpose
[Clines - theme running through the Pentateuch]
(Blessing that will restore man to what God intended when He created him)
anticipate the ultimate fulfilment of the creator’s ideals for humanity
Gen. 12:2 “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.
Gen. 12:3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
Our blessing through Jesus! - fulfilled on His return |
Robin Plummer, 12/01/2010 |
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