Encountering Grace in Genesis: A 50 Chapter Bible Study On Genesis

Author

~Forward~

Studying Genesis will answer many questions concerning life. Why are we here? What are our origins? How can we understand the world around us? What are the answers to these questions? When did evil begin? Why does suffering occur? How did civilization start? Why did God pick Abraham to start his nation? How does God work through ordinary people? How does God show us his grace, that is, his undeserved favor? The Bible confronts these questions and hundreds of others head on starting in Genesis, the first book of the Bible.

Genesis is the first book in the Old Testament. It is the first book of the Pentateuch (Greek for five scrolls), penned by Moses, the famous Hebrew leader. In it, we are introduced to God, the masterful Creator. Regarding Moses, in John 5:46, Jesus Christ said, If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. This directly suggests to the hearer that Jesus is referring to himself as the God of the Pentateuch.

The Pentateuch includes Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Jews call these same five books the Torah. Genesis has a timespan from creation to between 1700 and 1800 B.C. Early in the book of Genesis, we contemplate the mystery of the fall and redemption of man. We are amazed at God’s regard for his creation.

We learn quickly that the God of the Bible is a God of grace. He gives freely to us with unmerited favor and love. He loves us without conditions and wants the best for us. We see that he has been in the business of generating and making new his creation from the beginning of time. By his creation, I mean everything, every living and nonliving thing. It’s in his nature to restore, regenerate, and transform nature and his people for the good. This is in spite of our bend towards evil as the Bible says in Genesis 8:21. When there is a break in the relationship, God wants and for the most part, chooses reconciliation.

God has chosen to love his creation from the beginning. That is inherent in his nature. Creation and everything about it is his prize possession.

Encountering Grace is a book about HOPE. It is a fresh look at God’s redeeming grace—very evident throughout the 50 chapters of Genesis.

Over the last 2000 years, since the physical appearance of Jesus Christ (God incarnate) on the planet earth, we’ve been living in the age of grace, when his church has been built, and the gates of hell cannot prevail against it. He continues to work amazing miracles in the hearts of people. He has sovereign control of the universe; from the bumble-bee buzzing over your head to the F4 hurricane brewing in the Caribbean, to the fate of a nation in peril. He has power over everything and the ability to regenerate all life, no matter what the circumstances.

God wrote the Old and New Testament through men and women who were filled with his Spirit. Without this accurate, written record of history, the truth of God would slowly become more adulterated with the passing of each generation.

If you are a believer, you believe that the Bible is inerrant in all its ways. It is our only true compass in life. All Christianity hinges on the accuracy of the Bible. Though written over a span of 1600 years by 40 different authors, we can find no discrepancy in its ageless truths. We trust that God breathed it into the hearts of its writers. The grass withers, the flowers fade, but the Word of God stands forever (Isaiah 40:8). Be encouraged by this book, as you will see God love on us throughout history. God fills us with hope continually through the pages of the Bible by restoring his people.

Our God also shows us mercy and love. Though the earth we live in is filled with its share of tragedies, both on the individual and national levels, God has a plan way beyond what we can comprehend, because his perspective is eternal. He knows that on our own, we tend to mess up and turn away from him. In spite of this, he keeps after us. It’s in his nature. In fact, it is his nature. He tells us this throughout the Scriptures. Because of what I call the finite-infinite gap, most of mankind doesn’t get it. Our minds are finite, and sometimes we tend to see little past our noses. But the filler of the gap is faith. Without faith, which is a gift from God to us, mankind tries to figure out the universe on their own terms, only to end up frustrated. Most humanistic philosophers just give up, and say, Live for today.

In Genesis, we see amazing stories of God’s unfailing love for us, and his desire for us to be redeemed for eternity, so that we can enjoy fellowship with him. We see his desire to give our lives great purpose. We see how he gifts us incredibly with all kinds of blessings. He is the Master orchestrator of time, and he shows us his miracles along the way. It is because of who HE IS that we have a future of hope. This will become so much clearer as you read this book.

Genesis is a book of beginnings. In it, we read about God who already existed prior to the beginning, and the beginning of the material universe, the human race, sin, sacrifice, redemption, civilization, arts and sciences, nations, and the people of his chosen people of Israel. Every Christian should joyfully study Genesis for all of its wisdom that it contains. Jesus referred to events in Genesis as real history in Matthew 19:4-6, 24:37-39, Mark 10:4-9, Luke 11:49-51, 17:26-32, John 7:21-23, and 8:44, 56.

Genesis’s main concern is conveying the working out of God’s plan of salvation for man through Jesus Christ. It shows the need of salvation by giving the record of the entrance of sin into the world. In fact, the first prophecy of Christ is in Genesis 3:15. Jesus would eventually crush the head of the serpent, which represents Satan, the king of evil. Genesis prepares the way of Jesus by showing that the Savior is to be the God-Man; by tracing his family line through Seth; then of Noah; then of Shem, one of Noah’s three sons; then of Abraham; then of Isaac; then of Jacob; and then finally Judah, one of the twelve sons of Jacob (49:10).

Honestly, the first several chapters of this book are not a scientific treatise on the creation story. If you are looking for a technical view of creation, then I would recommend that you read The Genesis Flood, The Biblical Record and its Scientific Implications, by Whitcomb and Morris published in 1961. Encountering Grace is a palatable book for the non-scientist.

God has a plan for his creation and it is spelled out throughout the Bible and will become very evident in the years to come. For those whose hearts are filled with outright rebellion against God, this book may give you a new perspective on God’s love and hope for you. God came to earth over 2,000 years ago as Jesus Christ and transformed our despair to hope. That’s totally radical from the other monotheistic God religions of Judaism and Islam.

Look at all of the wonderful subjects discussed in this first book of the Bible. You will see hundreds of discussion topics listed in the Topical Index in an easy, alphabetical listing, excellent for individual study or small group discussions.

This book will illuminate God’s grace and how he blesses us by showing his ability to: renew, transform, restore, create, give hope, and show mercy. The book will be marked by the following:

**God renews

** God transforms

**God restores

** God creates

** God gives hope

** God gives mercy

** God shows grace

** God blesses

Look for these ** throughout this book, as markers for our God who is always working in a special way. Almost 300 meaningful topics are discussed.

This book is meant to be companion to Genesis, no matter what version of the Bible that you utilize. Use the book as you read Genesis, and review the Further Study questions after each chapter to dig deeper into Bible study.

Robert M. Gullberg, MD

Racine, Wisconsin

Robert is author of Principles for the Christian Life, Principles for the Christian Life: Bible Study Edition, Practical Insights for Christian Living: 40 Bible Studies from the book of Proverbs, Proverbs for Kids Series, and Wisdom from the Word.

Topical Index

Structure of Genesis: Basic categories

The simplest way to view the 50 chapters of Genesis is that of two primary divisions.

The first division covers an extended period of history from the creation to the scattering of the people and the beginning of nations at the tower of Babel. The second division contains the true stories of the lives of four generations of one family- the family of Abraham. It is this family that God, in his infinite wisdom, chooses the all- important line of descendants historically to Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son. The basic summary is this:

The earliest history of creation and the human race: Genesis 1-11

The history of Abraham’s family: Genesis 12-50

The sub-contents of the book of Genesis if further divided into two

parts and eight categories:

First part:

Creation: Genesis 1 and 2

The fall of mankind and bend towards evil: Genesis 3-5

The cleansing flood: Genesis 6-9

The development of nations: Genesis 10-11

Second part:

Abraham: Genesis 12-20

Isaac (Abraham’s son): Genesis 21-26

Jacob (Abraham’s grandson): Genesis 27-36

Joseph (Abraham’s great grandson): Genesis 37-50

Remembering these eight categories in two parts will help you with the big picture in your study of Genesis.

Timeline of Genesis*

?–––––––––Creation of the earth

?–––––––––Adam and Eve- then nine generations to Noah

6-7000 B.C.––––-Noah and the flood

6-7000 B.C.––––-Gobekli Tepe- first temple found near Mt. Ararat

2500 B.C.–––––-Egyptians discover papyrus and ink

2300 B.C.–––––-Horses domesticated in Egypt

2300 B.C.–––––-Chickens domesticated in Babylon

2166 B.C.–––––-Abraham born, raised in the city Ur of Babylonia

2100 B.C.–––––-Glass made by the Mesopotamians

2091 B.C.–––––-Abraham enters Canaan

2066 B.C.–––––-Isaac born

2006 B.C.–––––-Jacob an Esau born

2000 B.C.–––––-Native Americans immigrate to North America from Asia

1929 B.C.–––––-Jacob flees to Haran

1915 B.C.–––––-Joseph born

1900 B.C.–––––-Egyptians use irrigation systems and spoked wheels

1898 B.C.–––––-Joseph sold into slavery

1885 B.C.–––––-Joseph rules Egypt

1805 B.C.–––––-Joseph dies

End of the book of Genesis- covering over 4000 years of history

1750 B.C.–––––-Babylonian mathematicians- cube and square roots

1700 B.C.–––––-Egyptians document medical procedures

1526 B.C.–––––-Moses born

1500 B.C.–––––-Sundials used in Egypt; pyramids built in Mexico

*adapted from NIV Life Application Study Bible

Chapter 1: Creation of the earth, in the beginning

The first chapter in the book of Genesis give answers to two of the biggest questions humans ever ask about creation: 1) Is there a beginning to our planet earth? And 2) What/who is responsible?

The answers are 1) It was created from nothing (1:1) and 2) God the Spirit (1:2) is responsible. The universe had a beginning. But God did not. He is eternal. The Bible has the answers. Believing it completely is the pertinent to the faith of the believer.

Simple, straight-forward to-the-point answers to the world’s anti-creationists.

**God creates and transforms: He creates order out of disorder, and something that matters (matter) out of nothing.

He created the earth and later mankind because he wanted to. He desired to love his people and have a relationship with each and every one of them. We wants to speak to his creation, and he does in this first chapter of Genesis! He is not just some impersonal force in the universe. He created the universe so that his people would have a place to live and enjoy his creation.

Look at the following:

Also, think about these questions:

What was God’s view of His creation? We would be remiss not to tell you. Five times he tells us in 1:10, 12, 18, 22, 25 that He was pleased. God, the master designer, had created a masterpiece, and it was excellent in every way. (1:31) He thought of everything. He got immense pleasure from His creation.

How did he know how big to make earth’s orbit around the sun?

How did he know how fast to make the earth rotate?

How did he know how far to tilt the earth off its vertical axis?

How did he know how much iron to place in the core of the earth?

How did he know what temperature to make the center of the earth?

How did he know how far to make the moon from the earth?

How did he know how big to make the sun?

How did he know how far to place the sun from the earth?

How did he know how to produce wind on the oceans?

How did he know how salty to make the oceans?

How did he create clouds?

How did he create the concept of air and the different molecules in it?

How did he pick the colors for everything on the earth?

How did he produce migration for fowl and great fish?

How did he know what temperatures to make the oceans?

How did he create the gill system in fish?

How did he create the concept of mountains and valleys?

How did he create the senses: vision, hearing, taste, smell, and feel?

How did he create the soul in man that contains emotion, imagination, will, heart and intellect?

To recap, here is the order of things as noted in chapter one:

In the beginning, the heavens and the earth were created. Initially, the earth was formless and empty (Genesis 1:1). God puts form into a chaos of nothingness, but then he also fills the form with order and beauty.

The planet earth was spoken into existence, with its horizontal diameter of 7917.5 miles, and its vertical diameter of 7899 miles, third planet from the sun. It the only planet with water on it, and 21% oxygen to sustain life as we know it. Its surface is split into plates (tectonic plates) which float on a rocky mantle – the layer between the surface of the earth, its crust, and its hot liquid iron core. The inside of the Earth is active and earthquakes, volcanoes and mountain building takes place along the boundaries of the tectonic plates. The earth takes 365¼ days to complete its orbit round the sun, and 24 hours to revolve around once, traveling at a speed of about 1,040 M.P.H. It is tilted at 23.5 degrees as it travels through space at a speed of 67,000 M.P.H. Talk about complex geophysics. Only God could ordain these intricacies!

Let’s look at a survey of the creation:

1st day- morning, evening, day, night, light and dark were created

2nd day- sky and water were created. God creates space on this day and places a solid barrier or firmament between waters above and below. Firmament is a little used term. It is a translation of the Hebrew verb raqa, meaning to beat out or hammer out, conveying an image of a metal surface being hammered out like a copper bowl. The book of Job (see Job 37:18) later describes that God spread out the skies, hard as a molten mirror. God named the solid dome heaven. It was this dome that God set the sun, moon, and stars, across the firmament.

3rd day- land, vegetation, trees, and seas were created. God makes the soil fertile. Soil would need to contain the necessary elements of nitrogen, phosphorus, chlorine, carbon, oxygen, calcium, sulfur, boron, iron, magnesium, manganese, zinc, copper, nickel, and molybdenum to support plant growth. Just the right combinations would be needed to sustain proper sustenance.

4th day- stars, sun, moon, seasons were created.

5th day- fish and birds were created. God blesses them and in 1:22 says (to them) to be fruitful and multiply. Yes, God can communicate with his creatures in the sea and air!

6th day- animals, man, woman were created. These living beings were characterized by breathing, having flesh and blood, senses, hormones, and sexual reproduction. Blood is the life-giving liquid that delivers oxygen to tissues because of hemoglobin. No blood; no life! Very complicated chemistry. Man’s dominion over animals was meant to be benevolent, and until Noah, he was to only eat the plants of the earth (1:29, 30).

7th day- God rested and declared all he had made to be very good. Called the Sabbath, which is based on a Hebrew verb for rest. It is a sacred time, belonging especially to God. It was meant as a day of worship.

We don’t know that each day was a literal 24 hour period or not. That’s been debated for centuries. The key is this: the infinite God created finite time in his creation of earth and all the universe around it. This time warp between infinite and finite has always been a mystery of contemplation for us humans. That will never stop until we meet him face to face, and get the final answer then.

Notice the ten times in Genesis 1 the repeated phrase, And God said…, in verses 3, 6, 9, 11, 14, 20, 24, 26, 28, and 29. He spoke things into existence. Something out of nothing. That makes him God.

Chaos and void was first in existence. God brings form and beauty with each day. Seven times it says, God saw that it was good. The forms had beauty. Sun, moon, stars, seas, dry land, ocean, fish, birds, etc. Form without beauty would be sterile. Only God the artist could paint an incredible sunset.

God made order out of the creation also. Everything was made to have neat distinctions. Light and dark, morning and evening, day and night, sea and land, fish and birds, animals and humans, male and female. Distinctions are a key aspect of a God-made creation.

We are now living in a culture that says that a woman can declare herself a man, and a man can declare himself a woman. This transgender indistinction is counter to God’s creation. In a way, it puts us back into chaos before order was instilled into it.

God reminds his people throughout the Old Testament that he alone is the Master Creator. Look at these verses:

Job 9:8- Who alone stretches out the heavens and tramples down the waves of the sea?

Psalm 104:2- Covering Yourself with light as with a cloak, stretching out heaven like a tent curtain.

Isaiah 40:22- It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers. Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in?

Isaiah 48:13- Surely my hand founded the earth, and my right hand spread out the heavens; when I call to them, they stand together.

Jeremiah 10:12- It is he who made the earth by his power, who established the world by his wisdom; and by his understanding He has stretched out the heavens.

Zechariah 12:1-The burden of the word of the Lord concerning Israel. Thus declares the Lord who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him.

Another important phrase found in Genesis 1 is according to their various kinds, in reference to vegetation- vs. 11-12, sea creatures- vs. 21, birds- vs. 21, and land creatures- vs. 24-25. This allowed God to get incredibly creative in each category of living things. We don’t know where the limits are between kinds of plants of animals, but it has become obvious that we are still, to this day, discovering new species of plants, animals, and birds!

**God creates: In creating the world as we know it, God simultaneously created the natural sciences: such as astronomy, biology, marine biology, meteorology, physiology, reproduction, geography, physics, photosynthesis, magnetism, and the like, to name a few. Even though the Bible isn’t a science book, everything in it is confirmed and not contrary to God’s own laws of nature. By creation, God converted his energy into physical matter. Amazing.

Don’t miss what happens in 1:26. God gives to man the gift of authority over the earth. Man was made for authority and dominion. Paul Billheimer in his book Destined for the Throne says that man was given control and mastery over all of the earth and its resources. (page74) Since God is a God of order, it doesn’t surprise us that God made the universe to be governed by just laws. Yes, we have a legal foundation. God legally handed earth over to man, and so he could do with it as he pleased.

Man is created in the image of God and this involves the fact that man is a moral being, capable of having fellowship with God.

The Trinity

The other key about 1:26 is God uses the pleural! Let us and ourselves. It’s just not God making things while up in heaven alone. Jesus and the Holy Spirit are there with Him, the Trinity three in one.

God the Father is the Creator; God the Son is Creator; and God the Holy Spirit is Creator (see Genesis 1:2, 5:1-5, John 1:1-3, Hebrews 1:2, Hebrews 11:3, Revelation 4:10-11). Genesis 1:2 implies that God the Spirit commanded the creation. Hebrews 11:3 and John 1:1-3 imply that the Lord Jesus Christ, the Word, was in the beginning as Creator as well.

The term Trinity is not used in the Bible. But the concept is an inherent belief of the Christian faith. And the fact that almighty God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit are One in Three (or Triune) is no doubt a difficult concept for our finite minds to understand. What does the Bible say about our triune Godhead? Here are some key verses:

Jesus speaks of the unity of the Trinity–John 15:26 Jesus said, When the Counselor (Holy Spirit) comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me. John 17:21, 23 Jesus prays for the unity of future believers; just as Jesus and God are one.

The apostle Paul talks of the Trinity or triune God –Father-God, Son, and Holy Spirit– Galatians 4:1-7 God sent his Son to redeem us, that we might receive the full rights of sons. Because you are sons, God sent the Holy Spirit of his Son into your hearts, the Spirit who calls out, Abba, Father. So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir. (we inherit eternal life) Ephesians 2:18 For through Jesus Christ we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. Ephesians 2:21-22 In him (Jesus), the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him, you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

Further study:

The first chapter in the book of Genesis give answers to two of the biggest questions human beings ever ask: 1) Is there a __________________________ to the earth? And 2) What/who is ____________________________________?

The answers are 1) It was created from __________________________ (1:1) and 2) God ________________________________ (1:2) is responsible.

What was God’s view of His creation? Five times He tells us in 1:10, 12, 18, 22, 25 that He was __________________________. God, the master designer, had created a masterpiece, and it was ___________________in every way (1:31).

We don’t know that each day was a literal 24 hour period or not. The key is this: the infinite God created finite time in his creation of earth and all the universe around it. This time warp between __________________ and ______________ has always been a mystery of contemplation for humans.

Don’t miss what happens in 1:26. God gives to man the gift of ________________ over the earth. Man was made for _______________________ and dominion.

Discussion questions:

Chapter 2: Creation, work, and companionship

**God creates: This chapter further elucidates some of the creation details, and embellishes on Genesis 1. In Genesis 1, the bare facts of the creation of man and woman is asserted on the sixth day; but in Genesis 2, the manner of creation is outlined.

In Genesis 1, the creator is designated by the word God (Hebrew, elohim). However, notice that in Genesis 2, the personal name of God Yahweh is introduced, and used along with the name God. Most Bible translations follow a reverent use of the name of God and call him Yahweh-Elohim as Lord God (2:4, 2:5, 2:7, 2:8, 2:9, 2:15, 2:16, 2:18, 2:19, 2:21).

The LORD God is used 20 times in Genesis 2—Yahweh Elohim, and only 11 times in the rest of the Old Testament. Yahweh- LORD; the personal, covenant relational name of God. Elohim implies his infinite greatness and that he is the one true God. The creator God of the universe is the same God who wants to relate to his people.

Interestingly, Genesis 2 has a different slant on creation compared to Genesis 1. It places the creation of man before that of animals and vegetation. It states that man was created "when no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no herb of the field had yet sprung up (2:5)." In 2:7, man was formed. The Hebrew word for formed was used for a potter working clay. Then the Lord God blew his own breath into the nostrils of the man he had formed, the figure became a living being (2:7).

At the end of Genesis 2, we see that Adam is the name of the first man. The Hebrew word for man is adam. It is used over 500 times in the Hebrew Scriptures, and was used to distinguish man from other living creatures. Adam was formed from adamah, or the ground (2:7). This is antagonist to the evolutionists, who say man came from the ape.

Once man is formed, Yahweh planted a garden in Eden, in the east (2:8). Eden was filled with trees, some of which provided food for the human’s consumption in order to live. Yes, they were initially vegetarians. At the center of the garden were two prime trees: the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Yahweh commanded man not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die (2:17).

In 2:15, the Lord God gives the responsibility of tending and caring (work) for the Garden of Eden to man. Don’t gloss over this fact. God knows that people need to work and stay active. Otherwise, boredom and laziness would set in. He could have created some kind of a garden utopia that didn’t require any upkeep, but He didn’t. He gave man some duties. What was tending and caring for the garden all about? Well think about your vegetable garden or your perennial garden. They require constant attention in order to assure each plant’s proper growth. We don’t know how big the Garden of Eden was, but Adam had to take care of trees as well. We don’t know if Adam had an instruction manual, but surely God gave him some helpful hints. Work was never meant to be drudgery. Humans would also have to learn how to do the work of farming and tilling the land in 2:5.

The responsibility of work is a gift from God to us to help us stay productive in our lives. No work enhances the likelihood of laziness. God didn’t want a bunch of humans sitting around looking for trouble with nothing to do.

Work

Later in Genesis 3:18-19, we will see that work will become part of the curse. Working by the sweat of our brow will be part of life. As we search the Bible, here are some relevant verses on our attitudes toward work:

Later in the Old Testament, Nehemiah and Ezra led the Israelites in rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem after it had been destroyed by the Babylonians. It took focused work to get it rebuilt in a timely fashion. Nehemiah 4:6 says: The people under Nehemiah rebuilt the wall around Jerusalem and worked with all of their heart. Putting everything you have into your work is an honored perspective. Later in Nehemiah 10:31: Be disciplined in your career. Staying to task with good discipline is key.

Solomon, the ultimate hard worker, statesman, sage, builder, king, land baron, cattle rancher, and renaissance man, wrote these proverbs about the subject of