Genesis Outline

## Genesis: A General Overview

Genesis is the first
book of the Bible. It is one of the most important book of the Bible because it
is a book of beginnings. It gives the account of Creation and tells of God’s
choosing of Israel. The purpose of this paper is to describe the biographical
details, writing date, historical background, group of people targeted, and
purpose of the book of Genesis.

## **Author**

Genesis is part of the canon known as the Pentateuch. A
more common name for this is the Books of Moses, or the Law of Moses. It is
called the Books of Moses because Moses is the one known to have written these
five books. Herbert Wolf stated that: “Judging from the account of Moses’ life
given in the Pentateuch, there is every reason to believe that he could have
written the book so closely linked with his name.”[1]
Elwell and Beitzel confirm this by saying, “We
may with confidence conclude that Moses was the human author of Genesis.”[2]
The best source to confirm Mosaic authorship, though, is the Bible
itself. There are several references in the Bible that support this claim, in
both the Old and New Testaments. Joshua 8:31a says, “As Moses the servant of
the LORD commanded the children of Israel, as it is written in the book of the
law of Moses,…” The Old Testament also states in Deuteronomy 31:24 that: “Moses
had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book,…” The New Testament
states in John 1:17a, “For the law was given by Moses,…” Because it is always
true and reliable, the best confirmation we have that proves Moses’ authorship
of Genesis is the Bible.

## Biographical Information

Moses’ life began with his mother hiding him in the
bulrushes of the Nile. The daughter of Pharaoh found him and raised him as her
son in the court of the Pharaoh. When Moses was forty years old, he killed an
Egyptian and had to flee into the desert. After forty years in the desert, he
was told by God to lead the Israelite slaves to the promised land. The next and
last forty years of Moses’ life was filled with amazing miracles, battles, and
tests of faith as the chosen people of God were led through the wilderness by
this man who spoke with God face to face.

## **Date**

The precise date that Genesis was written is uncertain.
The estimated time period, however, is easier to know. Since Moses was the
author of Genesis, it stands to reason that he wrote it during either his time
spent in the wilderness or during the Exodus. Elwell and Bietzen state that: “Based on the biblical data, Moses
must be placed in the 15th century b.c.
(cf. Jgs 11:26; 1 Kgs 6:1), but many scholars incline toward a 13th century
date.”[3]
Even though, the Bible doesn’t say exactly when Genesis was written, one can
still guess based upon events that we know happened.

## **Historical Background**

Genesis was written as a historical background of the
choosing of the nation of Israel. It records the account of Creation; man was
created and placed in the garden, where he ate of the Tree of the Knowledge of
Good and Evil. His eyes were opened, and he died spiritually; God cast man out
of the Garden; man no longer had fellowship with God. However, God clothed
them; this was a symbol of how Christ would later clothe believers with his
righteousness. Ross states that:

“God’s
dealings with people as sinners can be traced back to this act of disobedience
by Adam and Eve. **God** is a saving
God, however, and the fact that He **clothed**
… Adam **and Eve testifies to that. An animal was sacrificed to provide** garments of skin**, and later all**
Israel’s animal sacrifices would be part of God’s provision to remedy the
curse—a life for a life. The sinner shall die! (Ezek. 18:20; Rom. 6:23) Yet he
will live if he places his faith in **the Lord**, who has provided a Substitute.
The skin with which God clothed Adam and Eve perpetually reminded them of God’s
provision. Similarly in the fullness of time God accepted the sacrifice of
Christ, and on the basis of that atonement He clothes believers in
righteousness (Rom. 3:21–26).” [4]

Shortly after man was cast out of the Garden, man began
to spread and populate the earth. Ross says that,

=====“The subject of chapter 4 is the
spread of godless society. Here is man in rebellion against God—man who did not
obey and who destroyed the godly and denied his responsibility and culpability
for it. The ungodly here are portrayed as living on in the world (with a
protective mark of grace; cf. comments on v. 15) without being saved.” [5] =====

After the murder of Abel, Genesis 4:17 to Genesis 6:8
list the genealogies of Cain’s line and Seth’s line. Although Seth’s line was
originally a godly line, it eventually became as wicked as Cain’s line. Genesis
6:5 says that: “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth,
and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil
continually.” But God saw that there was one righteous man: Noah. God told Noah
that He was sending a flood to destroy mankind; He told Noah to build an ark so
that he and his family would be saved. Noah’s family was spared, and after the
flood they began to repopulate the earth. However, they would not spread out,
and God confused their languages. This triggered the dispersion of man.

### ***Abraham***

Abram was called out of Ur by God and told to “Get thee
out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a
land that I will shew thee:” Through a long process of testing that lasted most
of Abraham’s life, God established His covonent with him and chose him to be
the first of the Hebrews. God’s promise to Abraham about a son was fulfilled in
the birth of Isaac. Abraham’s greatest test of faith was when God told him to
sacrifice his son; God spared Isaac and renewed his covenant with Abraham.

### ***Isaac***

Isaac was Abraham’s son of promise. He married Rebekah,
whom Abraham’s servant was directed to by God. Although Rebekah was barren,
Isaac prayed to God, and God answered his prayer. Jacob and Esau were born;
Genesis 25:23 states: “And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb,
and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels: and the one people
shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the
younger.” The younger son was Jacob, who became the next Hebrew patriarch

### ***Jacob***

Jacob tricked Esau into giving him the birthright. He
then fled into the wilderness, where God visited him in a dream and reiterated
the Abrahamic covenant to him. He lived with his uncle, Laban, and married both
of his daughters, Rachel and Leah. From these two and their handmaidens came
the twelve tribes of Isreal.

### ***Joseph***

Joseph was the first son of Rachel. His brothers were
jealous of him and sold him into slavery; however, God used him and he became
Pharaoh’s second-in-command. He stored up food in preparation for the famine
that God had warned Pharaoh about in a dream, and was reunited with his
brothers when they came to buy food. He received a double blessing from Jacob
before his father died. That is why Ephraim and Manasseh, his sons, became
tribes of Israel.

## **To Whom it was Written**

To
whom was Genesis written? Today, Genesis is written to and available to all who
want to read it. However, it was originally intended for the Hebrew slaves that
left Egypt during the Exodus, and later to the Jewish nation that was a result
of the Exodus. Exodus 34:27 says, “And the LORD said to Moses, ‘Write down all
these instructions, for they represent the terms of my covenant with you and
with Israel.’” Joshua 22:5 states: “But take diligent heed to do the commandment
and the law, which Moses the servant of the LORD charged you,…” The Bible
states that the books of the Law, which included Genesis, was given to the
Israelites by Moses.

## **Why it was Written**

All things have a purpose, and the book of Genesis is no different. Herbert Wolf gives an excellent summary of the purpose of Genesis:

“Genesis was written as a prologue to the rest of the Bible, for it gives us an account of the origin of the universe, of the physical world, of human life and cultures, and of the nation of Israel. Many of the great questions that have puzzled mankind through the ages are dealt with deftly and succinctly in the opening chapters. Not only are we given a brief and majestic account of Creation, but we also learn how sin
entered the world and how it ruined God’s original creation. After the judgment of the flood, Moses described the growth of the nations and how they were scattered in the wake of the sad attempt to build the Tower of Babble. Mankind wanted to build that tower to “make a name” for themselves (Gen. 11:4) but instead God chose Abram and promised to make his name great and to build him into a great nation.”[6]

Ross also gives an excellent reason as to why Genesis was written: *“The real theme of the*
Pentateuch is the selection of Israel from the nations and its consecration to the service of God and His Laws in a divinely appointed land*.” [7] Genesis records the beginning of nations and the choosing of Israel from among those nations. After the flood, Noah and his family repopulated the earth. Civil Government was first established by God in Genesis 9:5-6, when God required man’s blood if he shed another’s blood.*

As one can see, the book of Genesis is undoubtedly one of the most important books in the Bible. Its author, background, and purpose is fascinating, and should fuel one’s desire to study more deeply into what this book has to offer.

[1] Wolf, Herbert*. An Introduction to the Old Testament Pentateuch.* Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 1991, pg. 60

[2] Walter A. Elwell and Barry J. Beitzel, *Baker*
Encyclopedia of the Bible *(Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1988), 851.*

[3] Walter A. Elwell and Barry J. Beitzel, *Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible* (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1988), 852.

[4] Allen P. Ross, “Genesis,” in *The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures*, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 33.

[5] Allen P. Ross, “Genesis,” in *The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures*, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 33.

[6] Wolf, Herbert*. An Introduction to the Old Testament Pentateuch.* Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 1991, pg. 94

[7] Allen P. Ross, “Genesis,” in *The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures*, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 21.

## For further studies, see also:

Exodus Outline

Leviticus Outline

Numbers Outline

Deuteronomy Outline

Joshua Outline