Sunday Evening Bible Study
April 6, 2003
I.
Introduction
a. Most important this about an Ox cart? Answer, the blue print.
b. Genesis is a blueprint of the rest of the Bible
c. Blueprints have a scale to equate them to the
real world
d. This info is the scale
i. Author
ii. Date
iii. Purpose
iv. Outline
v. Timeline
e. We will deal with these in reverse order.
II.
Purpose
a. As a book of Beginnings (From “Origins” p. 60)
1. Work
2. Labor
3. Capital
4. Marriage
5. Family
6. Government
7. Nationalism
8. Israel
b. To show the origins of all that is good (Things
given pre-fall to man)
1. Heaven
2. Earth
3. Light
4. Water
5. Land
6. Plants
7. Animals
8. Man (and the masculine role)
9. Woman (and the feminine role)
10.
Sexuality
11.
Reproduction
12.
Order
13.
Gold
14.
Aromatic
Resins
15.
Onyx
16.
Gardens
17.
Tree of Life
18.
Tree of the
Knowledge of Good and Evil
19.
Wind
20.
Work
21.
Marriage
22.
Names
23.
Helpers
24.
Caring
25.
Sleep
26.
Satan
27.
Questions
28.
Answers
29.
Nakedness
30.
Walking
31.
Communication
32.
Home
33.
Food
34.
Eating
35.
Law
c. Introduce the History of the World
i. Ravi Zacharias poses that man asks four basic
questions.
1. Origin
2. Morality
3. Meaning
4. Destiny
ii. This is not unusual, and most cultures have some
idea that answers these questions.
1. Pluralism of Egyptians
2. Dualism of Orientals
3. Pantheism of Mystery Religions
iii. Moses records a history for the burgeoning nation
of Israel. It answers the questions of:
1. Origin: Mans
Creation
2. Morality: God’s
demands and provision for man
3. Meaning: Man’s
need for relations ship with God
4. Destiny: The
Promises of Reconciliation with God
III.
Date
a. The dating of this book falls some time in the
period of the wanderings any time between 1446 and 1406 BC. More liberal dating will be discussed and
discouraged later on.
IV. Author
a. Genesis is a book that was written by an
individual
b. We are always careful to understand that the
Bible was written by the Holy Spirit and recorded by man
c. Liberal scholars have spent much paper discussing
how Genesis was written. They seem to
fixate on a the work of redactors:
i. A redactor is basically an editor who receives a
certain amount of text, refashions it and passes it on to the next
redactor. There can be several in a
process that are usually in one of four categories:
1. The Elohist
2. The Yahwist
3. The Priestly
4. The Dueteronomic
ii. Another main theory involves Several people
including Moses wrote it and was assembled in its final form around 400BC.
d. In spite of these theories (which are the product
of men) the Bible seems to indicate a more unified approach.
i. Six times Moses says he wrote it
ii. Ten times the Old Testament says he wrote it.
iii. Jesus says he wrote it
1. Matthew 19:18
2. Mark 12:26
3. John 5:46-47
4. John 7:19
iv. Paul thought Moses wrote it
1. Romans 10:5
v. It is possible that only 4 people from creation
to the recording in 1446-1440 BCE (see “Dipensational” p. 33 ˝)
V.
The Names of
God in the book of Genesis is used show a definite picture of who God is to
this world:
a. Elohim or “Strong One” in Gen 1:1
b. El Elyon or “God God Most High” in Gen 14:22
c. El Shaddai or “God Almighty” in Gen 17:1
d. El Olam or “Everlasting God” in Gen 21:33
VI.
A Basic
Outline
(from “The Ryrie Study Bible” 1995)
I. The Creation of the
World, 1:1-2:25
A. The
Beginning of Creation, 1:1-2
B. The
Days of Creation, 1:3-2:3
C. The
Beginnings of Man and Woman, 2:4-25
II. The Sin of Man, 3:1-24
A. The
Temptation, 3:1-7
B. The
Judgments, 3:8-24
III. The Beginnings of
Civilization, 4:1-5:32
A. Cain
and His Descendants, 4:1-24
B.
Seth, 4:25-26
C. Adam
to Noah, 5:1-32
IV. The History of Noah, 6:1-9:29
A. The
Causes of the Flood, 6:1-13
B. The
Course of the Flood, 6:14-8:19
C. The
Events After the Flood, 8:20-9:29
V. The Descendants of Noah and
the Tower of Babel, 10:1-11:26
A. The
Sons of Japheth, 10:1-5
B. The
Sons of Ham, 10:6-20
C. The
Sons of Shem, 10:21-32
D. The
Tower of Babel, 11:1-9
E. The
Descendants of Shem, 11:10-26
VI. The History of
Abraham, 11:27-25:11
A. The
Family of Abram, 11:27-32
B. The
Call of Abram, 12:1-20
C. The
Separation of Abram and Lot, 13:1-18
D. The
Deliverance of Lot by Abram, 14:1-24
E. The
Covenant with Abram, 15:1-21
F. The
Birth of Ishmael, 16:1-16
G. The
Circumcision of Abraham, 17:1-27
H. The
Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah,
18:1-19:38
I.
Abraham and Abimelech, 20:1-18
J. The
Birth of Isaac, 21:1-34
K. The
Offering of Isaac, 22:1-24
L. The
Death and Burial of Sarah, 23:1-20
M. The
Marriage of Isaac, 24:1-67
N. The
Death of Abraham, 25:1-11
VII. The Descendants of
Ishmael, 25:12-18
VIII. The History of Isaac and
His Sons, 25:19-36:43
A. The
Birth of Jacob and Esau, and Selling of Esau’s Birthright, 25:19-34
B. Isaac
and Abimelech, 26:1-35
C. The
Blessing of Jacob by Deception, 27:1-46
D.
Jacob’s Flight to Paddan-aram (Mesopotamia), 28:1-9
E.
Jacob’s Dream at Bethel,
28:10-22
F. Jacob
and the Daughters of Laban, 29:1-30:43
1. Jacob
meets Rachel, 29:1-14
2. Jacob
marries Leah and Rachel, 29:15-30
3. Jacob
begets children, 29:31-30:24
4. Jacob
bargains with Laban, 30:25-43
G.
Jacob’s Return to Canaan,
31:1-33:20
1. His
separation from Laban, 31:1-55
2. His
reconciliation with Esau, 32:1-33:20
H.
Jacob’s Later Life, 34:1-36:43
1. The
massacre at Shechem, 34:1-31
2. The
renewal of the covenant at Bethel,
35:1-15
3. The
deaths of Rachel and Isaac, 35:16-29
4. The
descendants of Esau, 36:1-43
IX. The History of Joseph, 37:1-50:26
A. Joseph
Sold into Slavery, 37:1-36
B. Judah
and Tamar, 38:1-30
C. Joseph
in Potiphar’s House, 39:1-23
D. Joseph
Interprets the Dreams of the Cupbearer and the Baker, 40:1-23
E. Joseph
Interprets Pharaoh’s Dream, 41:1-57
F.
Joseph’s Brothers in Egypt,
42:1-45:28
1. The
first visit of his ten brothers,
42:1-38
2. The
second visit of his eleven brothers,
43:1-44:34
3. Joseph’s
revelation of his identity, Gen 45:1-28
G.
Joseph’s Family in Egypt,
46:1-47:31
H. The
Blessing of Joseph’s Sons, 48:1-22
I.
Jacob’s Blessing of His Sons,
49:1-27
J. Jacob’s
Death and Burial, 49:28-50:14
K. The
Last Days of Joseph, 50:15-26
VII. A Timeline (to help keep things in perspective
the book of Genesis records a period of some 2200 years.)
a. ?(4004 BC) Creation
b. 2563 Flood
c. 2165 Abram
born
d. 2065 Isaac
born
e. 2056 Destruction
of Sodom and Gomorrah
f. 2006 Jacob
born
g. 1897 Joseph
sold into slavery
h. 1804 Death
of Joseph
VIII.
Additional
good books on the subject of Genesis
a. “The Big Picture” by Tom Nelson
b. “Origins of Destiny” by W.G. Smith
c. “Dispensational Truth” by Clarence Larkin
d. “In The Beginning” by Dr. John Rice
e. “The Pentateuch” by Dr. John Sailhamer
IX. Conclusion
a. Hopefully this scale will help us as we embark on
this study of Genesis. Let us keep in
mind the:
i. Author
ii. Date
iii. Purpose
iv. Outline
v. Timeline
b. Questions?
c. Pray
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