Genesis Part 1

[NUmarcus]

I have been working on some Genesis studies myself and after executing a query via the "Advanced Search" option, I found some threads, and after asking around I thought that it might be good to post this stuff up for discussion and feedback. Anyway, the sermons I have been listening to, taking notes from, and looking up the references mentioned within them, start off covering the basis for Genesis.

This begins a chapter by chapter, verse by verse study of the Book of Genesis. The Book of Genesis has been the focus of incredible controversy over the last 300 years. There is probably not a single statement in the entire book that has not been accused by someone of being wrong.

- Six day creation
- Literal garden of Eden
- The flood and Noah's delivery with ark
- Adam and Eve - God's direct creation of them
- Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah
- Historicity of the patriarchs - Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
- Moses' authorship of the book
- and on and on

Example of these skeptics and critics - Thomas Paine

"Genesis is nothing but an anonymous book of stories, fables, traditions, and invented obsurdidites."

Why is the battle over the Book of Genesis so intense?

This idea leads to three key questions for this portion of the study:

- Does it really matter if all of Genesis is really true and accurate?
- How can we be sure that it is
- If it is true and accurate; what difference does that make?


Does it really matter if all of Genesis is really true and accurate?


Yes x 1000! Consider Psalm 11:3

Psalms 11:3 When the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?

If you destroy a building's foundations the superstructure comes down. In the same vein....the Book of Genesis is the foundation upon which the rest of the Bible is built. This book is the most referenced and quoted in all the rest of the Bible. It is key to understand that every major doctrine and theological truth that the Bible sits on is rooted in the truth of Genesis. Consider, if anything in Genesis is false then nothing that comes later in the Bible about Jesus is true.

So to provide some examples of the foundational nature of Genesis as it relates to the Bible...look at Romans 5:12 (about sin)

Rom 5:12 Just as sin entered the world through one man, and death resulted from sin, therefore everyone dies, because everyone has sinned.

Where did this come from? Genesis 3, with Adam eating of the fruit of the tree of knowledge

As a result, they both understood what they had done, and they became aware that they were naked. So they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves. (Gen 3:7)

The Bible also discusses 'death' and its derivations can be traced back to Genesis. Consider Romans once again:

Just as sin entered the world through one man, and death resulted from sin, therefore everyone dies, because everyone has sinned. (Rom 5:12)

but you are not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, because you will certainly die during the day that you eat from it." (Gen 2:17)

The Bible also looks at our sin nature and its derivation in Genesis. Romans 5 again

Just as sin entered the world through one man, and death resulted from sin, therefore everyone dies, because everyone has sinned. Certainly sin was in the world before the Law was given, but no record of sin is kept when there is no Law. Nevertheless, death ruled from the time of Adam to Moses, even over those who did not sin in the same way Adam did when he disobeyed. He is a foreshadowing of the one who would come. (Rom 5:12-14)

People were continuing to die in the intervening period between Adam and Moses (despite the absence of law) because the human race was lost regardless of the presence or absence of the Lord's law. This proves there was another problem...another reason why people were dying. Again, all people everywhere had inherited a sin nature from Adam.

There is also the curse of the Lord on creation. When Christ returns He will heal the Earth of the curse that was placed on it. See Revelation 22:3

There will no longer be any curse. The throne of God and the lamb will be in the city. His servants will worship him

There is also what the Bible says about the sanctity of human life etc. Why is racism, murder, and all the other perversions that abound wrong? See Genesis 1:27

One must also look at the need for Jesus to shed His blood for our salvation. Matthew 26:28, Hebrews 9:22. These ideas of God forgiving sin based on the shed blood of an innocent substitute come from Genesis 3:21, Genesis 4 (God rejects Cain's offering because it was not a blood offering).

Finally we must look at the idea of God being the sovereign head of the universe. Revelation 4:11 (You created all things...) Once again this comes from Genesis...in the beginning.

The point of this is that the Book of Genesis forms the foundation for everything that the Bible speaks to....EVERYTHING. If some one is able to discredit the book of Genesis then with one broad sweep they have repudiated the entire Bible.

This is why Dr. Andrew Snelling of the Institute for Creation Research wrote "It is impossible to reject the Book of Genesis without repudiating the authority of the entire Bible." Furthermore, Jesus' credibility as the messiah is 100% linked to the reliability of the Book of Genesis. How? If we look at the NT we find that Jesus believed all of the elements in the OT to be true. For example, Matthew 19:4 it is clear that Jesus believed that Adam and Eve existed; were created directly by God and in Matthew 12:24 Jesus believed that there is a literal devil; In Matthew 11:23 it is clear that Jesus believed that Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by fire just as Genesis stated; In Luke 17:32 it is clear that Jesus believed the story of Lot and his wife being turned into a pillar of salt; Luke 17:26 it is clear that He believed the Bible on the flood and Noah; John 8:36 (Abraham existed and forefather of Jewish people)

Dr. John Whitcomb and Henry Morris (wrote Genesis Flood): if the book of Genesis is not dependable then Jesus is not dependable and then we are not saved.

How do we Prove that Genesis is True?

Genesis 8 through 50 is bullet proof. We cannot go back and verify Genesis 1 through 7 due to the ways in which the flood altered the Earth. However, if the elements/truths/history in Genesis 8 through 50 is accurate then it is the same for Genesis 1 to 7 as the Lord is not changing through chapter and verse etc.

To beging with, the critics say that the Hittite Empire that existed in Central Turkey (that the Bible speaks of) during the time of Abraham never even existed (contrary to the Bible). That is until Hugh Winkler excavated the city of Boghazkoy (Hittite Capital) in 1906 and recovered thousands of texts. The result being that this was a huge empire at the time of Abraham and backs up what Genesis says about that civilization's existence AND location.

Critics also used to say that the Joseph story was false. Now we know that the account of Joseph's experiences with Egyptian customs was right from that time. For example in Genesis 41 which states:

Pharoah sent word to summon Joseph quickly from the dungeon, so they shaved his beard, changed his clothes, and then sent him straight to Pharaoh. (Gen 41:14)

We now know that in the ancient near east that was clean shaven was the Egyptians.

Critics also used to say that the Abraham stories were all wrong because they mentioned domesticated camels which did not exist in the ancient near east. In 1961, French archeologist Andre Parott dug up an entire camel skeleton in Palestine dating exactly to the time of Abraham. Another criticism states that the home town of Abraham, Ur of the Chaldees, never even existed. That is until 1922 when Leonard Woolley dug it up and found that it was a large flourishing city at the time of Abraham just as Genesis records. An additional ciriticsm centered on Sodom and Gomorrah. They state that, that part of the Jordan Valley was uninhabited at the time of Abraham. Later in time, archeologist Nelson Gleuck found in his excavations in the southern Jordan Valley 70 cities of enormous wealth and prosperity that date to the time of Abraham and Lot. Further studies at the site of the ancient city of Nuzi (near Kirkuk Iraq) have found that the customs that Bible speaks of were in perfect keeping with the customs indicated by the ruins at Nuzi. Some examples of this are (1) it was allowable to sell one's birth right at the time of Abraham (e.g. Esau, Genesis 25); (2) a chidless wife could legally give her handmaiden to her husband to produce children; (3) If the wife went on to have children of her own it was illegal to throw the handmaiden out (e.g., why Abraham pushed back when God told him to remove Hagar).

William F. Albright: "It is becoming increasingly clear that the traditions of the patriarchal age preserved in the Book of Genesis reflect with remarkable accuracy the actual conditions of the ancient near east at that time."

Dr. H. H. Rowley: "It is not because scholars of today begin with more conservative presuppositions that they have much greater respect for the stories in Genesis, but rather because the evidence warrants it."

This brings us back to the point that it makes no sense that God would tell us the truth about the events in Genesis chapters 8 throught 50 and then lie about chapters 1 through 7. Therefore, we are on solid ground in dealing with Genesis as absolute truth.


What is the Point?

If the Genesis is really true, then there are enormous implications for every day life for you and me. it means there really is a living God in the universe that is personal, involved, and did create all that we view and see. Further, the implications of original sin, the curse and so on are absolutely true. That also means that God is serious about rescuing sinners. Look at the 100 years that passed while Noah built the Ark. God waited for people to repent during that period. Today, the rescue that is offered is through the faith we place in the blood of Christ shed on the cross. Nothing else works. If you have never turned to Christ then now is absolutely the time to do so. I know that most if not all of the Rapture Forums members are well aware of this latter point, but I placed this comment in here due to the fact that there are always visitors reading the forums and I would like to post this stuff on other message boards after refining the material herein through discussion with you wonderful folks.

 

[JC1949]

In my opinion the lord has left the bible for the believers in Jesus, he laughs at the so called wisdom of man, I believed in Jesus 40 years ago when I heard that He died for my sins, in the 40years he also has taught me the wonders of His Word and I love it and whoever attacks the truth of the Bible is damaging him/herself and just plainly proving to be a desperate soul.... of course Genesis is true accurate and reliable just like every word recorded in His book.... but I repeat the book is for the believers and I think

 

[JC1949]

I think that attacking Genesis has been the pastime of Satan just like attacking revelation because declares his final sure defeat..
Shalom

 

[NUmarcus]

I think that attacking Genesis has been the pastime of Satan just like attacking revelation because declares his final sure defeat..
Shalom

Yep...if you can attack and refute Genesis, then everything that comes after Genesis is also refuted. Therefore, the attacks from academics, intellectuals, sophists, and other haters abound. Sad really. I took a walk early this morning and witnessed an absolutely beautiful spring dawn here in Nebraska. It struck me...once again...how utterly perfect this planet is. I know it is cursed and that sin is ever present for now...BUT...I still marvel at every thing that exists in it because it is so perfect from my perspective. I cannot even fathom what the perfect Garden was like or what the future holds after the millennial kingdom.

 

[Meg]

For a long time, the only part of the Bible I couldn't accept was the 6 day creation account in Genesis. The common assumption was that the viewpoint of the story of the creation of the Earth and stars has always been that it was being seen from above, ie God's point of view. So when looking at creation from that point of view, it was scientifically impossible. I shrugged it off, as this isn't a Salvation issue, and it remained an uncomfortable, but not faith breaking issue in the back of my mind along with such questions as why does evil prosper... Then one morning a few years back, while driving to work, the Holy Spirit -- out of nowhere, actually, -- impressed on my mind that the Genesis creation account would match the scientific understanding of the origins of life if the point of view of the story were from the surface of the Earth. When I got home, I compared notes between Scripture and science with that in mind and got a match. So I wrote an essay I call The Genesis Discourse:

First, I have a deep and abiding respect for God Almighty and His Son Jesus Christ. Second, I am firmly convinced that A. the Book of Genesis is every bit as inspired as the rest of Scripture, and B. science is held to a high enough standard of proof that it is safe to consider science valid. That being said, we do have a seeming conflict of interest between Genesis Chapter 1, verses 1-13 and gravitational science -- or do we? What if we look at these passages of Scripture from a different angle? What if, instead of viewing the Earth in her early phases of creation from above. we shifted the view angle to show us what happened as seen from the surface of the planet? Now these verses look totally different indeed...

Genesis 1:1-8

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

3 And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

6 And God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water." 7 So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called the expanse "sky." And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.

If we take this view being seen from the surface of the Earth, and if we filter this picture through the understanding of modern science, it will start to make a lot of sense. Verse 6, very notably says that water was separated from water by an expanse called "sky". This implies an extraordinarily dense steaming humidity which can be reasonably explained by a covering of water on a very hot planet. As the planet begins to cool, though, the water is beginning to separate; the first clue would be the ability of sunlight to penetrate the dense mists for the first time, and the second clue would be the rising and condensation of the upper levels of steam, forming the first clouds.

Genesis 1:9-13

9 And God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear." And it was so. 10 God called the dry ground "land," and the gathered waters he called "seas." And God saw that it was good.

11 Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds." And it was so. 12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.

As the process of condensing water continues, land begins to appear, and then vegetation as well. The best scientific comprehension of the beginnings of life on Earth agree with this sequence perfectly. First there must be water; if there is enough water, and if the fluid is dense enough, it can and will be partly vapor, partly very dense liquid, resembling the description in Genesis 1:1-8.

Genesis 1:14-19

14 And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth." And it was so. 16 God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, 18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.

Now our theoretical atmosphere is really clearing, probably because of the emerging plant life. The Genesis account can and does agree with astronomical science because as the atmosphere clears yet more, the smaller points of moonlight and starlight would become visible.

Genesis 1:20-23

20 And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky." 21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth." 23 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.

Now the water has fish, matching perfectly with the best theories of the sequence of the development of life on Earth. Plus the air has birds, which nobody dares suggest, with the notable exception of the One Who made them and put them there...


Genesis 1:24-25

24 And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind." And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

Followed by life on land.


Genesis 1:26-28

26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."

27 So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.

28 God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."

Followed by humanity. I rest my case...