Session 1 Beginnings in Genesis Chapters 1 to 15 - talk notes

Session 1

Beginnings in Genesis Chapters 1 to 15

Introduction

Well - here goes - there’s no official video, but is there a spycam hidden somewhere?

Beginnings

How Many

I found 91 beginnings.

I think I was crossing the boundary between finding beginnings and writing a new commentary

I’ve listed them on the hand out, so that those of you that get really bored can look through and see what you think.

I’m not going to go through every one, but will pick out some that illustrate my points. I’ve highlighted some on the handout.

Features

Order from chaos (writer emulates God)

1,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14

The thing that comes out to me first is that the story of Genesis starts off by creating order out of chaos.

The writer emulates this by bringing order from chaos himself as he writes things down and sets them in place - almost a demonstration of the points he is trying to make.

There is some comment both in my NIV text notes and in the course text books that there are parallels with the Canaanite myths of the gods defeating the sea and the sea monsters. But as we read on and find the patriarchs describing God as the Creator of Heaven and Earth we realise that the sea and its monsters are actually part of God’s creation. And it was good. But before I rubbish those ideas completely, there is a parallel in the apocalyptic writing in Revelation, where various beasts come up out of the sea, only to be defeated by God.

And I suppose this brings me on to one of my pet theories about the creation story. Because when I write a long, technical engineering report at work, I put in an executive summary at the beginning, so that non technical people can read it too. And I see the first chapter of genesis as an executive summary of the whole Bible. I see that it shows God creating the whole world and its contents. I believe that we are still in the sixth day where God is creating mankind in his own image, male and female. I feel that the seventh day of Gods rest is yet to come. And that the time when God says ‘it is good’ - although it has had a prehistoric fulfilment, still awaits its final fulfilment when a new heaven and a new earth are created in which mankind lives in harmony with God and all evil has been purged.

Separation

1,4,5,6

Must rush on.

One of the themes that kept coming up for me was Separation - separation of light from dark, sea from sky, sea from land, good from evil, and as the book progresses, of righteous people from unrighteous.

57, 65, 74

But here we have a problem, as mankind keeps undoing that trend. There is intermarriage. There is continual contamination of the righteous families with evil deeds.

Repeated very soon

5,6,57,63

And as soon as one new thing happens, it is usually followed on with more of the same. If God makes something new, he usually does something else similar soon. And if mankind discovers a new sin, he usually commits it again very soon. Well that matches my experience, anyway!

Scene setting

52,57

So this is a scene setting. It presents the problems of a race that is unable to live with God, when that is the purpose for which it was created.

45,50,54,71,90

And it starts to present God solution to that problem, which will ultimately lead to a race of men that is truly ‘Good’ - there is the Protevangelium - he will crush your head and you will bruise his heel. And there is the concept of proper blood sacrifice being necessary to be accepted by God. And there is ample evidence of God’s mercy, despite human sin.

Writers Intention

And so I think that the writers intention was to set the scene for the remainder of the Pentateuch, which is primarily about God’s dealings with the righteous line represented by the nation of Israel, primarily through his covenant relationships.

Most significant for writer

And so the most significant single beginning for the writer is the first mention of God’s covenant with Abram in Chapter 8, from which the rest of the Pentateuch, and indeed the whole Bible, flows on.

Why Relevant to today

Genesis is relevant today, not least because the promise of land lies at the heart of most news reports about the middle east today. Does the Covenant refer to the modern nation of Israel? Or has the true Israel always been a community of faith, rather than the physical descent of Abraham? Or is there a dual interpretation where all the eschatological prophecies refer both to the Church today and to the nation of Israel tomorrow?

But whatever perspective you take on that the other key theme is that of God providing a pathway for reconciliation, right from the very beginning of the world story, and that the events of Calvary are not just an accident of time, but God’s plan right through the ages.

Joseph

And then changing topic completely, I promised to talk about Joseph. He is commonly known as the dreamer with the colourful coat, and also for his relationship with Potiphar’s wife. And its this latter point that I want to pick up on. Because Joseph was a man who, in extreme pressure, did what was right. Remarkable in itself, but my point is that he did not have any scriptures to guide him. He did not have the NIV Study Bible - he had not been on the foundation course. And yet he still knew that there was a God who demanded absolute righteousness, and that he was better off trusting in the care of God and risking the wrath of Mrs Potiphar, than the other way round. He must rage at us, with all our Bibles and commentaries and study aids and courses and seminars and tutor groups, when we intellectualise everything and say ‘Did God really say this? Did God’s prophet really write this and say these words?

I hope we can follow his example and remain true to our God, even when it is not quite convenient just at the moment.