Ok, this is it! You've committed to reading the Bible in two years (or at least, at whatever pace works for you). But you're pretty sure you're going to need help getting through the more confusing parts. Not to worry! I'm here to help you navigate those verses of Scripture which disturb, shock, and perplex us. There also might be verses and stories that are so familiar that you would be surprised to learn new things about them.
So to begin, I recommend you take the time at some point during the book of Genesis to get the "big picture" overview from the wonderful Lutheran website "Enter The Bible". Here's the link.
Perhaps the first bit of shocking information for you is to find out that Genesis took somewhere around 500 years to write! The book may be 50 chapters long, but one chapter every ten years seems excessively slow!
Well, that's actually not how it happened. Just like all ancient cultures, the Hebrew people were storytellers who passed down these great stories about creation, their ancestors, and the God who is always with them, through oral traditions. There were different strands and variations of all the popular favorites, and then sometime after the Babylonian Exile in (538 B.C.) the scribes and scholars realized they had better write down all that great material. It must have been some job piecing together all the versions everyone knew and putting it together in a way that made sense.
For our study purposes, what you need to know for the book of Genesis is that there are "basically" two different oral traditions that were edited together. That's the reason why many of these stories are repeated, or at least, the narrative of the story is flowing nicely to only be interrupted by something that seems like a tangent. Blame the editors. Oh well, they did their best to weave all those great oral tradition sources together!
Examples: Two creation stories
God promises the covenant to Abraham twice
Abraham tries to disguise Sarah as his sister two different times
So to begin, I recommend you take the time at some point during the book of Genesis to get the "big picture" overview from the wonderful Lutheran website "Enter The Bible". Here's the link.
Perhaps the first bit of shocking information for you is to find out that Genesis took somewhere around 500 years to write! The book may be 50 chapters long, but one chapter every ten years seems excessively slow!
Well, that's actually not how it happened. Just like all ancient cultures, the Hebrew people were storytellers who passed down these great stories about creation, their ancestors, and the God who is always with them, through oral traditions. There were different strands and variations of all the popular favorites, and then sometime after the Babylonian Exile in (538 B.C.) the scribes and scholars realized they had better write down all that great material. It must have been some job piecing together all the versions everyone knew and putting it together in a way that made sense.
For our study purposes, what you need to know for the book of Genesis is that there are "basically" two different oral traditions that were edited together. That's the reason why many of these stories are repeated, or at least, the narrative of the story is flowing nicely to only be interrupted by something that seems like a tangent. Blame the editors. Oh well, they did their best to weave all those great oral tradition sources together!
Examples: Two creation stories
God promises the covenant to Abraham twice
Abraham tries to disguise Sarah as his sister two different times
Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel gives us the REAL big picture! Which scenes from Genesis can you find in this photo?
But now it's time we move on into the actual writing of Genesis!
Chapter 1:
While it is possible to interpret from Genesis 1 that God creates the world out of nothing, the actual Hebrew text is ambiguous and it could also mean that in the beginning was chaos, and God then separated the waters, light and darkness, and made ORDER.
I want you to hold that theme in mind as we continue through Genesis, because the ongoing story of humanity will be to rebel against God's good order and drag creation back into chaos.
Although the story of creation is a familiar one, you should notice that the images described in the story don't add up at all with what we know from modern science.
The author of Genesis describes the world as a dome with water above and below. We now know the world is round and there is no water in the sky. This along with our knowledge of how old the universe really is could be upsetting. Does this mean that Genesis isn't true?!
Not at all! As an ancient story written down by God's ancient people, the Hebrews, it cannot answers questions of modern science. But Genesis is True with a capital T in that this story tells the profound story of WHO made the universe and the universe's relationship with that Creator. Don't get bogged down in the HOW.
Chapter 1:
While it is possible to interpret from Genesis 1 that God creates the world out of nothing, the actual Hebrew text is ambiguous and it could also mean that in the beginning was chaos, and God then separated the waters, light and darkness, and made ORDER.
I want you to hold that theme in mind as we continue through Genesis, because the ongoing story of humanity will be to rebel against God's good order and drag creation back into chaos.
Although the story of creation is a familiar one, you should notice that the images described in the story don't add up at all with what we know from modern science.
The author of Genesis describes the world as a dome with water above and below. We now know the world is round and there is no water in the sky. This along with our knowledge of how old the universe really is could be upsetting. Does this mean that Genesis isn't true?!
Not at all! As an ancient story written down by God's ancient people, the Hebrews, it cannot answers questions of modern science. But Genesis is True with a capital T in that this story tells the profound story of WHO made the universe and the universe's relationship with that Creator. Don't get bogged down in the HOW.
In the beginning, God made a BIG BANG!
Chapters 2-3
In the second creation story, we are introduced to Adam (which, in Hebrew, means "dust creature" and is a generic word for "human being) and Eve (in Hebrew, this name resembles the word for "living").
There is so much good stuff in these two short chapters, but right now, I want to focus on a couple of misconceptions that Christians have made about this book over the centuries.
1) Original Sin: The great theologian St. Augustine in the 4th century A.D. articulated the doctrine that, from birth, all humans are innately sinful because of the fall of humanity as described in Genesis. Christians believe this, but it is important to note that the original authors of Genesis would not have had this in mind when they wrote down the story. This is a later interpretation.
2) The serpent is usually associated with Satan. This, again, is a much later idea. The authors of Genesis wrote the serpent merely as a crafty animal who plays the role of tempter.
3) Over the centuries, particular blame for sin has been assigned to Eve. However, the story is not written in a way to justify this idea. Adam is equally culpable in their fall from grace; he was told by God what to do and not to do. He consented to sin just as Eve did. By no means are women more sinful then men.
In the second creation story, we are introduced to Adam (which, in Hebrew, means "dust creature" and is a generic word for "human being) and Eve (in Hebrew, this name resembles the word for "living").
There is so much good stuff in these two short chapters, but right now, I want to focus on a couple of misconceptions that Christians have made about this book over the centuries.
1) Original Sin: The great theologian St. Augustine in the 4th century A.D. articulated the doctrine that, from birth, all humans are innately sinful because of the fall of humanity as described in Genesis. Christians believe this, but it is important to note that the original authors of Genesis would not have had this in mind when they wrote down the story. This is a later interpretation.
2) The serpent is usually associated with Satan. This, again, is a much later idea. The authors of Genesis wrote the serpent merely as a crafty animal who plays the role of tempter.
3) Over the centuries, particular blame for sin has been assigned to Eve. However, the story is not written in a way to justify this idea. Adam is equally culpable in their fall from grace; he was told by God what to do and not to do. He consented to sin just as Eve did. By no means are women more sinful then men.
Adam blames Eve and Eve blames the serpent. Genesis 2: 12-13
Chapters 4-5
The original purpose of the story of Cain and Abel is to explain where the Kenite people, a tribe of nomadic people who lived in the deserts south of Judah, came from. But from this origin story comes a most profound truth. Am I my brother's keeper? Cain says it sarcastically with deceit in his heart. Don't we do the same? If the story of Adam and Eve is the first disobedient act against God, then this story is the first act of violent sin of a human against another human. We should not think of Cain as a literal ancestor to humanity, but a dark part of ourselves that lives on in each of us. We all sin against our brothers and sisters.
But most wonderful of all is that the story ends in grace. Yes, Cain suffers consequences for the sin he committed, but he is not condemned to death. God marks him as his own and offers him protection from violence.
What follows Cain and Abel is a long genealogy (no one blames you if you just skim this part!) Just like families today who research their ancestors, the Hebrews were also interested in their ancient relatives. Don't take the ages literally. It's all part of the story-telling!
Ok, that's it for now! What parts of Genesis 1-5 stuck out to you? Was there anything you didn't understand? What do you find meaningful in these stories? Post your responses on the Christ's Lutheran Facebook page!
-Pastor Kristen Van Stee
The original purpose of the story of Cain and Abel is to explain where the Kenite people, a tribe of nomadic people who lived in the deserts south of Judah, came from. But from this origin story comes a most profound truth. Am I my brother's keeper? Cain says it sarcastically with deceit in his heart. Don't we do the same? If the story of Adam and Eve is the first disobedient act against God, then this story is the first act of violent sin of a human against another human. We should not think of Cain as a literal ancestor to humanity, but a dark part of ourselves that lives on in each of us. We all sin against our brothers and sisters.
But most wonderful of all is that the story ends in grace. Yes, Cain suffers consequences for the sin he committed, but he is not condemned to death. God marks him as his own and offers him protection from violence.
What follows Cain and Abel is a long genealogy (no one blames you if you just skim this part!) Just like families today who research their ancestors, the Hebrews were also interested in their ancient relatives. Don't take the ages literally. It's all part of the story-telling!
Ok, that's it for now! What parts of Genesis 1-5 stuck out to you? Was there anything you didn't understand? What do you find meaningful in these stories? Post your responses on the Christ's Lutheran Facebook page!
-Pastor Kristen Van Stee