Tied Together: A One-Year Journey Through the Bible | Day 3 | January 14, 2025

 

Introduction to Genesis

If you want to understand the Bible, you must understand the book of Genesis. It is the very foundation of the Christian faith because everything starts here—creation, sin, God's plan of redemption, marriage, family, and government all begin in these pages.

Genesis contains 50 chapters and spans approximately 2,285 years of history—more than half of the timeline covered in the entire Bible. It was originally written in Hebrew, and its Hebrew title is Bereshith, meaning "in the beginning." Around 250 BC, when the book was translated into Greek, it was given the name Genesis, meaning history, origin, or genealogy.

Moses, the great prophet who led Israel out of slavery, wrote Genesis along with the other four books of the Law. He wrote specifically for the people of Israel, sharing their history and the promises God made to their ancestors. We don't know the exact date it was written, but most scholars place the Exodus somewhere between 1445 and 1290 BC, with Genesis written shortly after. Since many events in Genesis occurred long before Moses was born, you might wonder how he knew these stories. Moses had a remarkably personal relationship with God—Scripture tells us he spoke with God face to face and was considered God's friend. Additionally, the Bible is inspired, meaning these words were divinely given by God to the human author.

The book naturally divides into two sections: the first eleven chapters and the remaining thirty-nine.

The first eleven chapters cover roughly 2,000 years of history, beginning with the foundational verse: "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." This single statement is the cornerstone of Christian faith—if you believe God was there in the beginning and created everything, the rest of the Bible becomes much easier to accept.

God created the heavens and earth, filled them with living creatures, and made man and woman in His image to care for the land and rule over the animals. Creation was perfect, and God gave humanity free will so that love for Him would be a choice, not a compulsion. But Adam and Eve disobeyed the one command God gave them and ate from the forbidden tree. Their eyes were opened to good and evil, and because of God's perfect justice, they were banished from the garden. Mankind was cursed, and that perfect relationship was broken.

Things went downhill quickly. Adam and Eve's son committed the first murder, killing his own brother out of jealousy. Wickedness spread until only one family remained honorable enough to be saved from God's righteous judgment—Noah's family. God had Noah build an ark and flooded the earth. After spending over a year on the ark (371 days), Noah's family disembarked, and God gave them a rainbow as a sign that He would never flood the earth again.

Yet humanity multiplied and again turned to wickedness. Instead of spreading across the earth as God commanded, people gathered to build the Tower of Babel, elevating their own power and pride in defiance of God. So God confused their languages, and people scattered across the earth.

The second section covers about 285 years as God shifts focus from global events to one family. It begins with God calling Abram (later Abraham) and making a covenant with him, promising great land, a great nation, and great blessings. Though part of the promise included many descendants, Abram and his wife Sarai were childless and elderly—he was 75, she was 65.

Abraham's story is remarkable. He struggled to trust God repeatedly, yet he's later called the father of faith. Through his trials and mistakes, he learned who God truly was and eventually trusted Him with his most precious gift—his son Isaac, whom God gave him 25 years after the promise.

Isaac had two sons, Jacob and Esau. Jacob had twelve sons, and through them came the twelve tribes of Israel. One of those sons, Joseph, has an incredible story that shows how God creates us for divine purposes bigger than we can see, how suffering can be used for good and God's glory, and how integrity and faith matter regardless of circumstances. Despite being sold into slavery by his own brothers, Joseph eventually rescued them and brought them to Egypt to escape a great famine. They would live there for 215 years, much of it spent in slavery—a story that continues in Exodus.

Through it all, Genesis reveals that God knew humanity would sin and had a plan of redemption from the very beginning. He established that plan through Abraham and reaffirmed it with Isaac and Jacob. Genesis sets the stage for the ultimate fulfillment of that plan—when Jesus would come to set us free for eternity.

As you read, look for God's magnificent power in creation, His righteous response to sin, and His incredible mercy and grace that allows Him to love us despite our failures.

Scripture:

Genesis 1