Introduction to The Book of Genesis
The name Genesis comes from the Greek word meaning “beginning” This word was the title of the book in the Septuagint, the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament.
The Hebrew name for Genesis was רֵאשִׁית rêʼshîyth, ray-sheeth' “in the beginning.” the Hebrews often identified the books of the Old Testament by the first word of the text.
In this way when a scroll was unrolled, they were able to tell immediately which book it contained.
Aside from Genesis, there are no other writings that inform us of the events which predated Moses.
The first part of the book describes the key events in the early history of man. The remainder of the book records the history of the patriarchs.
Genesis was written in a pre-scientific age and was not meant to be a scientific document. Consequently, only divine inspiration can account for the perfect accuracy of its technical information.
In Genesis, it is made clear that all things were designed and created by God and continue to operate within the boundaries of His purpose.
Although the human race departed from God's original plan, God has lovingly provided a way for men to be reconciled to Him.
Though the book of Genesis contains no express record as to who wrote the book, there are no logical reasons for denying that Moses is the author, not only of Genesis but of all five books of the Pentateuch.
The unity of the Pentateuch is attested two in various portions of the Old Testament, as well as in portions of the New Testament.
Even the opening phrase of the Book of Exodus, “Now these are the names,” provides clear evidence of that unity.
The Hebrew prefix that is translated as “now” is the common form of the conjunction in Hebrew (most often translate it “and” or “but”) and indicates that there was some other book that preceded the Book of Exodus.
Jesus refers to Moses as an author of scripture in Luke 16:31; 24:44; and John 5:46-47. In John 7:23, the New Testament refers to circumcision as a part of the law of Moses (see Genesis 17:12; Exodus 12:48; Leviticus 12:3).
It has also been suggested that Moses made use of certain documents and oral traditions to write the book. Certain terms have been cited as proof of the previous authorship of certain portions.
For instance, the term (Toldoth is תּוֹלְדָה tôwlᵉdâh, to-led-aw' meaning generations), is said to be used to identify the author or the possessor of certain portions (Genesis 6:9; 11:27).
The “looking over” or “familiarity with” other writings not unheard of among the biblical writers, nor is it contrary to biblical inspiration (see Luke 1:1-4).
However, it must be remembered that the actual writing of the book of Genesis was done by Moses, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
The Book of Genesis is an appropriate introduction to the entire Bible. It provides answers to the universal questions of the origin of all living things, the universe, sin, and evil in the world.
More than half of human history is covered in its 50 chapters. However, the Book of Genesis is not merely the introductory book of the Pentateuch, but rather the foundation of the whole Old Testament, yea of the whole of the scriptures.
Without the Book of Genesis, what would be known of the creation of the universe, the fall of man, God's judgment of man, or the promise of redemption? Since God is invisible, man may know of Him only through His works which are seen in nature, revealed in scripture, and accomplished in the life of the believer.
And how deficient would our knowledge of God be without this book?
And not “His eternal power and Godhead” displayed in His creation (Psalm 19:1; Romans 1:20)?
Yet the creation, in all that it portrays of the divine Creator, is not sufficient in its instruction to provide man with the knowledge necessary to attain salvation.
At this point as well, however, the Book of Genesis lays the foundation of all Scripture.
The book is not limited to the account of creation but rather emphasizes the fact that the world was founded by God, that man was created in Righteousness and true Holiness, but that man fell by his own disobedience and therefore was cursed by God.
Furthermore, the first promise of a Redeemer, by whom the curse of death would be vanquished, is found in this Book (Genesis 3:15-16).
The remainder of the Book of Genesis is in fact the first chapter of the history of redemption, in which God chose the seed of Abraham to be the line of the Messiah and the heirs of the promise (Genesis 12:1-3; Matthew 1:17; Galatians 3:6-9,29).
Extended Notes:
The Cross
As we continue to study The Book of Genesis, we will see The Cross of Christ as the firm foundation of our faith that God has intended from the very beginning of creation, The Cross in fact is the foundation of all doctrine.
Let the reader understand if we do not look at things from the perspective of The Cross, then we cannot see correctly or interpret the Word of God as God has intended from the very beginning, anything interpreted in the flesh will not be interpreted correctly.
So as we continue to go through The Book of Genesis we will see scripture and see how it is presented in the way of The Cross as the Holy Spirit opens our eyes to the divine nature which is in Christ Jesus.
The importance of The Book of Genesis
The Book of Genesis, being the very first Book of the Bible, contains the foundation on everything else that it's built on and it sets the stage for the redemptive work of Christ and depicts The Cross perfectly.
From The Book of Genesis we have the account of creation and man's place in that creation, the first three chapters record that event plus the fall of man; that it adversely affected the entirety of the creation of God, at least what man knows of that creation.
The remaining 47 chapters of The Book of Genesis record the plan of God respecting the redemption of mankind.
Love created man, so love must redeem man in fact the balance of the entirety of the Bible is the story of redemption regarding this great Book of Genesis.
As we go through The Book of Genesis, we will see God's answer to man's dilemma (which is sin) and that is Jesus and Him Crucified who is Lord of all.
He appears on every page of the Bible and in every act of God He alone is the theme of all that is said and done in fact, Jesus Christ is God's redemption plan for all mankind.
But yet as we will see it is not merely the person of Christ which is held up, but as well what He would do to redeem humanity which is The Cross.
He is not presented, but He is presented in this fashion therefore, from the beginning pages we see the type, the shadow if you will, of the great word of the apostle Paul, in 1 Corinthians 1:23; 2:2 “Jesus and Him Crucified”.
If we do not begin our study of the Word of God from that perspective, then as previously stated, our understanding will be flawed.
The authorship of The Book of Genesis was written by Moses as Jesus verifies in Luke 24:27, as also Moses wrote all five books of the Pentateuch, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.
What Moses wrote was definitely historical and one might even say that it is definitely scientific however, it is far more than that, It is Revelation.
As a result, it could only be given by inspiration of the Holy Spirit as the Holy Spirit gives guaranteed accuracy and also gives guarantee accuracy to the fuller understanding of Jesus and Him Crucified, the finished work of The Cross to all those who put their faith completely in Him.
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