Genesis

In the beginning the Bible creates controversy, for it says: God created the heaven and the earth. (Genesis 1:1)

It continues in controversy, giving us the circumstances and a time frame.

And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. (Genesis 1:31)

Genesis introduces us to a wealth of characters. Adam, Eve, Cain, Able. With the latter two we see a pattern that is repeated over and over again – the younger serves God and becomes more important to the future than the older.

Not until Genesis 4:26 do we read: then began men to call upon the name of the LORD. (Genesis 4:26)

We learn a lot about Noah and his trust in the Lord, but not until chapter 11 do we reach the beginning of God’s covenant with the people of Israel, with the introduction of Abram. His father’s family left their home in Ur and moved to Haran, then on to Canaan. And we’re only a quarter of the way through the book.

Chapter 17 gives Abram a new name, and at ninety Abraham receives his covenant with God:

And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations. (Genesis 17:6-9)

Yet Sarah laughs at God’s plans: Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also? (Genesis 18:12)

Seems as though things haven’t changed much since then, for we still laugh when we hear what God has in store for us. We cannot imagine the reality of what He promises. With all that has been laid before us, you would think we’d learn.

Ishmael, Isaac, Esau, Jacob, Reuben, his brothers down to Joseph and Benjamin. The tribe increases before reaching Egypt. Even then, at the death of their father, the brothers feared retribution for the evil they had done to their brother. For the pain they had caused their father. Joseph, as we should today, understands the workings of God’s will in the lives of men:

But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive. (Genesis 50:20)

Genesis continues but six more verses, ending with a coffin in Egypt.

I think I need to read Genesis in a reference Bible and take time to look at the cross-reference verses, too. Not just reading, but studying in more depth. Pastor will start the weekly series January 25, so I have some time to work out a good weekly schedule before starting on Exodus.