Jewish tradition lists Moses as the author of Genesis and of the next four books. Together these books are called the Pentateuch. Jesus said, “If you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me” (John 5:46). The Pentateuch itself depicts Moses as having written extensively. See Exodus 17:14; 24:4; Deuteronomy 31:24. Acts 7:22 tells us that “Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians.” In the notes accompanying the text we observe a number of loanwords from Egyptian that are found in Genesis, a fact which suggests that the original author had his roots in Egypt, as did Moses.
Genesis 1 MSG First this: God created the Heavens and Earth—all you see, all you don’t see. Earth was a soup...We are given here the consequence of God’s first creative act—the earth was without form (lacking the order it would have when God’s commands were complete) and darkness was on the face of the deep (a further description of the lack of complete order and beauty that would emerge within six days). Both statements reveal that creation reflected God’s normal process of bringing order out of chaos. The deep is the primeval ocean that underlies the Earth (see 7:11). Hovering connotes “sweeping” or “moving” rather than staying stationary. The Holy Spirit is the “executive arm” of the Trinity, so He was quite active as God spoke each word. An alternate view, which recommends the possibility of the initial Gen. 1:1 creation becoming disordered (possibly by reason of Lucifer’s fall), is not biblically objectionable, but neither is it verifiable.
In the beginning God created is the traditional translation of what is a somewhat complex and debated Hebrew sentence structure. One approach is to take v. 1 as a temporal, subordinate clause, with the main clause in v. 3. God’s first divine command begins the process of transforming the chaos. God said will occur 10 times in ch. 1 as the means of bringing about life and order. The exact working relationship among the members of the Trinity in this process is not clearly defined in the Bible (see Col. 1:16). Light is the presence of illumination in general. The luminary bodies are created on the fourth day (vv. 14–19).
The two Hebrew words tohu and bohu in v. 2 would be rendered as “unformed” and “unfilled.” Thus the first three days of creation speak of “forming,” and days four to six of “filling.” Other translation possibilities have appeared in the last century, but they presuppose the existence of chaotic matter or even a pre-Adamic race before the creation described in ch. 1 began.
The most direct and fully acceptable translation is the traditional one adopted here. 1:4 Was good is the divine approval formula that will occur seven times to emphasize creation’s quality and aptness for its purpose. It stands in contrast to the condition described following the Fall (ch. 3).
1:5 The evening and the morning: The Hebrews began each new day at sunset. This time designation, along with the numbering of the days and the Sabbath rest on day seven, shows that the author views creation as happening in the course of six consecutive 24-hour periods, followed by a seventh of divine rest.
1:6, 7 Let it divide the waters from the waters: The water-covered Earth was apparently surrounded by vapor. God used the firmament, the space between the surface and the clouds, to separate the two “waters,” creating a massive vapor canopy high above the Earth (Hebrew mabbul). These waters which were above provided a protective greenhouse effect over the world of that period.
1:8 Heaven: See definition of firmament in note on v. 6.
1:9, 10 The third day marked the appearance of Earth by defining the boundaries (be gathered together into one place) of the Seas.
1:11, 12 God commanded the earth, with its productive power, to bring forth the plant kingdom. According to its kind: God’s laws of genetics were impressed upon the plant kingdom.
1:21 Great sea creatures are the more magnificent ocean creatures, such as whales and dolphins. According to their kind: Again, the laws of genetics that preclude any evolution into another kind; a sparrow can never produce a vulture.
1:24 Cattle is generic for all domestic animals; creeping thing represents mice, reptiles, insects, and so on; beast of the earth represents wild animals. Together with those in v. 21 they represent the totality of the animal kingdom.
1:26 Let Us: God was speaking, not only to what the NT reveals to be the rest of the Trinity, but to the entire host of heaven, the angels, as well. Our image likely refers to such qualities as reason, personality, and intellect, and to the capacity to relate, to hear, to see, and to speak. All of these are characteristics of God, which He chose to reproduce in mankind. Dominion over . . . the earth: God created man to be His kingdom agent, to rule and subdue the rest of creation, including the aggressive satanic forces, which would soon infringe upon it.
Date
The traditional date of the Exodus from Egypt is the mid-fifteenth century b.c. First Kings 6:1 states that Solomon began building the temple “in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt.” Solomon is thought to have begun construction about 960 b.c., dating the Exodus about 1440 b.c. So Moses wrote Genesis after 1440 b.c., during the forty years in the wilderness.
Content
Genesis opens with the formation of the solar system, the preparation of the land for habitation, and the creation of life on the Earth. All of the eight acts of creation are accomplished in six days.
The subsequent ten chapters explain the origins of many mysterious qualities of life: human sexuality, marriage, sin, sickness, pain in childbearing, death, the wrath of God, man’s enmity toward man, and the dispersion of races and languages throughout the Earth.
Genesis, beginning in chapter 12, recounts the call of Abraham and the inauguration of God’s covenant with him, a glorious, eternal covenant renewed with Isaac and Jacob. Genesis is remarkable for its exquisite narrative, highlighted by the inspiring account of Joseph and the divine preservation and multiplication of the people of God in Egypt. It is a lesson in divine election, as Paul recounts in Romans 9.
Genesis in many ways anticipates the New Testament: the very personal God, the Trinity, the institution of marriage, the seriousness of sin, divine judgment, and righteousness by faith. The Tree of Life, lost in Genesis, is restored in Revelation 22.
Genesis concludes with the blessing of Jacob upon Judah, from whose tribe was to come the Messiah: “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes; and to Him shall be the obedience of the people” (49:10). Many centuries and many struggles will follow before this prophecy finds its fulfillment in Jesus Christ.
Personal Application
Genesis immediately brings into question many secular world views, so serious Genesis students must become accustomed to thinking differently. We must perceive the world and its history as the ancient biblical authors reveal it. For example, the narratives of chapters 1—3 are not to be understood allegorically but as actual history. The Word of God must always stand above the word of man; we are not to judge His Word, but rather, it judges us. Therefore, ancient Hebrews should not be thought of as primitive simply because they relate reality differently. Rationalized Greek thinking about world realities may be our heritage, but it is not always true.
Genesis teaches many other lessons as well: Abraham is our example of faith (15:6; Gal. 3:7); Joseph’s life is an exquisite sermon for all who suffer unfairly and is a challenge to faithfulness in this age of undisciplined permissiveness.
Finally, we understand human nature properly only as we grasp the truth of “original sin.” When Adam sinned, all of us not only sinned but inherited a resident sin nature (8:21; Rom. 5:19; 7:18). Only a Savior can deal effectively with this inherited natural corruption.
Christ Revealed
The preexistent Christ, the living Word, was very much involved in the creation. “All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made” (John 1:3). Jesus’ ministry is anticipated in Genesis 3:15, suggesting that the “Seed” of the woman who will bruise the Serpent’s (Satan’s) head is Jesus Christ, the “Seed” of Abraham mentioned by Paul in Galatians 3:16. Melchizedek is the mysterious king-priest of chapter 14. Since Jesus Christ is both King and High Priest, the letter to the Hebrews makes this appropriate identification (Heb. 6:20).
The greatest revelation of Christ in Genesis is found in God’s establishment of His covenant with Abraham in chapters 15 and 17. God made glorious promises to Abraham, and Jesus is the major fulfillment of those promises, a truth explained in detail by Paul in Galatians. Much of the Bible is built upon the Abrahamic covenant and its flowering in Jesus Christ.
The dramatic story of Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice Isaac at God’s command bears a startling similarity to the crucial event of the New Testament. “Take. . .your only son Isaac, whom you love. . .and offer him there as a burnt offering” (22:2) reminds us of God’s willingness to sacrifice His only Son for the sins of the world.
Finally, Jacob’s blessing upon Judah anticipates the coming of “Shiloh,” to be identified as the Messiah. “And to Him shall be the obedience of the people” (49:10).
The Holy Spirit at Work
“The Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters” (1:2). Thus we find the Spirit involved in creation. The Holy Spirit also worked in Joseph, a fact obvious to Pharaoh: “Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom is the Spirit of God?” (41:38).
Although the Holy Spirit is otherwise not mentioned in Genesis, we see His work in drawing the animals from the four corners of the Earth into Noah’s ark. We also perceive His working throughout the lives of the patriarchs as He protected them and their families and as He blessed them materially. All sorts of difficulties and impossible situations beset the chosen family, frustrating, if possible, the fulfillment of God’s promises to Abraham; but the Spirit of God supernaturally resolved every challenge. ~ NSFL BIBLE STUDY
