HISTORY BOOKS | GENESIS
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GENESIS | GENERATION A
Genesis is the first of 39 books that form what is called the 'Old Testament.' It was penned by Moses but authored by God through divine inspiration. Genesis is one of 17 books that form part of the historical section of the Old Testament. There are 17 books of History, 5 books of wisdom and 17 books of prophecy. In the Hebrew bible the writings of Moses take their name from the first word or line in the first chapter of the book. Genesis means 'beginnings.' Chapters 1-11 record the beginnings of all human nations while Ch 12-20 the beginnings of the Hebrew nation, Israel - God's chosen people.
The time period
No book of the bible covers such a large time period. The first 11 chapters cover almost 2000 years alone. The first chapter sets out a literal six day creation with the seventh as a day of rest. The spiritual application of Genesis 1 rises above the scientific and a close reading of the first three verses will show God establishing the spiritual eternal existence of Deity 'in the beginning' before anything physical came into being. The physical came from the spiritual and it is the 'spiritual' that science on it's own fails to address. Science may explain gravity but not love, God explains both. The great truth of Genesis 1 is that the Spiritual transcends the physical. Before there was anything visible or tangible God existed in Spirit eternally. His Spirit moved, He spoke and with the power of His word, He spake and it was done. This requires faith on our part to believe that the Heavens were framed by the word of God. (Her 11). The Spirit of God and the word of God always work in tandem as is seen on the first day.
The key to the book
A key word in the book of Genesis is 'generations.' It is mentioned 10 times and gives a structure to the forward moving purposes of God from Creation to the birth of the nation of Israel. The word has behind it the idea of 'bringing forth' or 'giving birth to'. We still like to label generations according to age or time of birth. Generation X is 1965-1980 while Gen Z is 1997 - 2012. But the first generation came from the hand of God, - the generations of the Heavens and of the earth (Gen 2:4). But God's word is unique, it is living and powerful and therefore the generations of Genesis are in fact a revelation through God's word of the essential movements of one God in His great plan of redemption. against the background of an Egyptian culture of Pantheism (the worship or tolerance of many gods.) This is the book of the generations of Adam (5:1) and with no cover up God unfolds man's wilful rebellion and our subsequent link with that fallen first generation is undeniable as we see how the sentence of death has affected every generation without exception. This key word 'generations' in Genesis stands in contrast to the opening of the New Testament which is 'the book of the generations of Jesus Christ.' That is ultimately where the book of Genesis is heading towards for the key to the bible is always Christ. He is the redeemer announced as 'the seed of the woman' in Gen 3:15, the lamb of God and the Saviour of the world seen in Joseph the final character of 4 that dominate the second half of Genesis. These 4 men have four dominating features in their biography: Abraham - four altars, Isaac four wells, Jacob and his four pillars while Joseph moves through four unique changes of garment and visits 4 houses though the storehouse is a fifth.
The time period
No book of the bible covers such a large time period. The first 11 chapters cover almost 2000 years alone. The first chapter sets out a literal six day creation with the seventh as a day of rest. The spiritual application of Genesis 1 rises above the scientific and a close reading of the first three verses will show God establishing the spiritual eternal existence of Deity 'in the beginning' before anything physical came into being. The physical came from the spiritual and it is the 'spiritual' that science on it's own fails to address. Science may explain gravity but not love, God explains both. The great truth of Genesis 1 is that the Spiritual transcends the physical. Before there was anything visible or tangible God existed in Spirit eternally. His Spirit moved, He spoke and with the power of His word, He spake and it was done. This requires faith on our part to believe that the Heavens were framed by the word of God. (Her 11). The Spirit of God and the word of God always work in tandem as is seen on the first day.
The key to the book
A key word in the book of Genesis is 'generations.' It is mentioned 10 times and gives a structure to the forward moving purposes of God from Creation to the birth of the nation of Israel. The word has behind it the idea of 'bringing forth' or 'giving birth to'. We still like to label generations according to age or time of birth. Generation X is 1965-1980 while Gen Z is 1997 - 2012. But the first generation came from the hand of God, - the generations of the Heavens and of the earth (Gen 2:4). But God's word is unique, it is living and powerful and therefore the generations of Genesis are in fact a revelation through God's word of the essential movements of one God in His great plan of redemption. against the background of an Egyptian culture of Pantheism (the worship or tolerance of many gods.) This is the book of the generations of Adam (5:1) and with no cover up God unfolds man's wilful rebellion and our subsequent link with that fallen first generation is undeniable as we see how the sentence of death has affected every generation without exception. This key word 'generations' in Genesis stands in contrast to the opening of the New Testament which is 'the book of the generations of Jesus Christ.' That is ultimately where the book of Genesis is heading towards for the key to the bible is always Christ. He is the redeemer announced as 'the seed of the woman' in Gen 3:15, the lamb of God and the Saviour of the world seen in Joseph the final character of 4 that dominate the second half of Genesis. These 4 men have four dominating features in their biography: Abraham - four altars, Isaac four wells, Jacob and his four pillars while Joseph moves through four unique changes of garment and visits 4 houses though the storehouse is a fifth.
39 OLD TESTAMENT BOOKS
GENESIS / Exodus / Leviticus / Numbers / Deuteronomy / Joshua / Judges / Ruth / 1 Samuel / 2 Samuel / 1 Kings / 2 Kings / 1 Chronicles / 2 Chronicles / Ezra / Nehemiah / Esther / Job / Psalms / Proverbs / Ecclesiastes / Song of Solomon / Isaiah / Jeremiah / Lamentations / Ezekiel / Daniel / Hosea / Joel / Amos / Obadiah / Jonah / Micah / Nahum / Habakkuk / Zephaniah / Haggai / Zechariah / Malachi
GENESIS / Exodus / Leviticus / Numbers / Deuteronomy / Joshua / Judges / Ruth / 1 Samuel / 2 Samuel / 1 Kings / 2 Kings / 1 Chronicles / 2 Chronicles / Ezra / Nehemiah / Esther / Job / Psalms / Proverbs / Ecclesiastes / Song of Solomon / Isaiah / Jeremiah / Lamentations / Ezekiel / Daniel / Hosea / Joel / Amos / Obadiah / Jonah / Micah / Nahum / Habakkuk / Zephaniah / Haggai / Zechariah / Malachi