The Book Of Genesis

About Genesis

• Typically irreverent, Woody Allen says that the Bible suffers from an unbelievable main character. This may be so, but God/Yahweh dominates the Bible, and western civilization as well.
• Genesis has two sections: the foundation myths – creation, what God is, how we resemble God, and then the family sagas of Abraham, Jacob and Joseph – quite unpleasant people sometimes, but with an underlying pattern and purpose they don’t comprehend
• These two sections have extraordinary symmetry (see below)
• You will notice that there is no speculation about the characters in Genesis or their motives, no guesses about the psychology or what the people are thinking.

• ‘Poetry makes an art of leaving a lot unspoken’ – in the Bible, silence can be almost as important as what is said
• There is very little description of Nature or the settings of the story – the concentration is focused on human beings and their stories, not on any background
• Place names are given as a way of staking a claim on property and rights; in a pre-literate society, traditional stories describing ownership could be used to settle disputes
• The genealogies are a register of births and deaths, a record of inheritance rights
• A constant theme: human beings are the dominant animals on this planet – but we are not God. When we try to be God, we come to grief.

Where to find the stories in Genesis

1:1-2:4              CREATION OF THE UNIVERSE
2:5 – 2:25         MAN AND WOMAN CREATED, GARDEN OF EDEN
3:1-24               SIN, EXPULSION
4                        CAIN AND ABEL
5                        FROM ADAM TO NOAH – THE GENERATIONS
6                        BUILDING THE ARK
7                        THE FLOOD
8                        AFTER THE FLOOD
9                        COVENANT WITH NOAH
10                      GENEALOGY
11                      BABEL
12                     ABRAM AND SARAI
13                     ABRAM AND LOT
14                     ABRAM RESCUES LOT
15                     COVENANT WITH ABRAM
16                     BIRTH OF ISHMAEL
17                     ABRAHAM AND SARAH – THE PROMISE

Book of Genesis: Jacob and Esau wrestling in the womb, by Charles Sherman

18:1-15           THREE ANGELS
18:16-33         ABRAHAM BARGAINS FOR SODOM
19:1-29           SODOM/GOMORRAH DESTROYED
19:30-38         INCEST WITH LOT
20                   ABRAHAM AND SARAH AT GERAR
21:1-7             BIRTH OF ISAAC
21:8-21           EXPULSION OF HAGAR
21:22-34        BARGAINING FOR WATER RIGHTS
22:1-24          SACRIFICE OF ISAAC
23                   SARAH DIES
24                   ISAAC AND REBEKAH MARRY

25:1-18          DEATH OF ABRAHAM
25:19-34        ESAU AND JACOB
26                   ISAAC AND ABIMELECH
27                   STEALING THE BLESSING
28:1-9            FAMILY PLANS FOR ISAAC
28:10-22       JACOB’S DREAM
29                  JACOB, LABAN AND HIS DAUGHTERS
30:1-24         JACOB AND HIS CHILDREN
30:25-43      JACOB PROSPERS
31                  JACOB FLEES
32:1-21        RECONCILING WITH ESAU
32:22-32     WRESTLING WITH THE ANGEL
33                 MEETING OF JACOB AND ESAU
34                 RAPE OF DINAH
35                 RACHEL AND ISAAC DIE
36                 GENEALOGY
37                 JOSEPH IS SOLD AS A SLAVE
38                 JUDAH AND TAMAR

Nebamun, Egyptian official, from a wall painting

39                JOSEPH AND POTIPHAR’S WIFE
40               THE PRISONERS DREAM
41                PHARAOH DREAMS
42               JOSEPH’S BROTHERS TRAVEL TO EGYPT
43               BENJAMIN TAKEN TO EGYPT
44               BENJAMIN IN CAPTIVITY
45               JOSEPH REVEALS HIS IDENTITY
46               JACOB’S FAMILY IN EGYPT
47               LIFE IN EGYPT
48               JACOB’S BLESSING
49               JACOB’S DEATH
50              JOSEPH RECONCILED, DIES

If you look closely, you’ll find that the episodes in the story of Abraham have a complex symmetry. Each story is balanced by a parallel story later in the text. Materials that do not fit this pattern are given in square brackets.
A Genealogical framework (11.10-32)
B Migration from Haran; separation from Nahor ([12.1-3] 12.4-5a)
C Building of altars; land promised (12.5b-9 [13.14-18])
D “Wife-sister” episode (12.10-20)
E Border agreement with Lot (13.1-13)
F Sodom episode and rescue of Lot (14.1-24)
G Covenant of sacrifice (15.1-21)
X Expulsion and rescue of Hagar (16.1-16)
G Covenant of circumcision (17.1-27)
F Sodom episode and rescue of Lot (18.1-19.38)
E Border agreement with Abimelech (21.22-34)
D episode (20.1-18)
C Building of altar (22.6); land secured (22.17b; 23.1-20
B Migration to Haran; reunification with Nahor’s line (24.1-67)
A Genealogical framework ([22.20-24] 25.1-18)

No More Excuses!!!

Noah was a drunk
Abraham was too old
Isaac was a daydreamer
Jacob was a liar
Leah was ugly
Joseph was abused
Moses stuttered
Gideon was afraid
Samson had long hair and was a womanizer
Rahab was a prostitute
Jeremiah and Timothy were too young
David had an affair and was a murderer
Elijah was suicidal
Isaiah preached naked
Jonah ran from God
Naomi was a widow
Job went bankrupt
Peter denied Christ
The disciples fell asleep while Jesus prayed
Martha worried about everything
Mary Magdalene was, well you know
The Samaritan woman was divorced, more than once
Zaccheus was too small
Paul was too religious
Timothy had an ulcer…AND
Lazarus was dead!!
…no more excuses now. God can use anyone.