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Genesis – When God Began Everything
What’s this book about?
Genesis isn’t just about how the world began—it’s about how every story begins. It’s the book that sets up everything: why we’re here, what went wrong, and why we need rescue. Think of it as the ultimate origin story that makes sense of all the mess and beauty of human existence.
The Full Context
Genesis was likely compiled during Israel’s exile in Babylon (6th century BCE), though it draws from much older oral traditions and possibly written sources. Moses is traditionally credited as the primary author, weaving together ancient narratives that had been passed down through generations of Hebrew families. The original audience was a people who had lost everything—their land, their temple, their identity—and desperately needed to remember who they were and whose they were.
The book serves as both historical foundation and theological manifesto for the people of Israel. Genesis answers the big questions every culture asks: Where did we come from? Why is there suffering? What’s our purpose? But it does so through the lens of covenant relationship with the one true God. The literary structure moves from universal (creation, flood) to particular (Abraham’s family), establishing the framework for understanding how God works through chosen people to bless all nations. For modern readers, Genesis provides the essential backstory for understanding not just the rest of Scripture, but the human condition itself.
What the Ancient Words Tell Us
The very first word of the Bible, bereishit, is more loaded than most English translations let on. Usually rendered “in the beginning,” it literally means “in the head of” or “at the start of.” But here’s what’s fascinating: this isn’t describing some abstract moment before time (which by the way was day 4 with the sun, moon and stars)—it’s describing the beginning of God’s creative activity. The Hebrew suggests not “once upon a time in a void” but “when God began to create.” Thus literally could be translated ‘When God began to create the skies and the land…’
Grammar Geeks
The Hebrew word bara (create) appears only with God as the subject in the Hebrew Bible. When humans make something, Hebrew uses different words like yatsar (form) or asah (make). But bara? That’s exclusively God activity—creating something from nothing but God, or bringing order from chaos in ways only God can do.
The word tohu va-vohu (“formless and void”) in Genesis 1:2 is one of those Hebrew phrases that sounds almost nonsensical—like “helter-skelter” in English. But it’s describing something profoundly unsettling: a state of chaos and emptiness that exists before God speaks order into being. The ancient audience would have heard echoes of the primordial chaos that all ancient Near Eastern cultures feared.
What Would the Original Audience Have Heard?
When an ancient Hebrew heard Genesis read aloud, they weren’t thinking about scientific debates or trying to reconcile faith with evolution. They were hearing a radical counter-narrative to every other creation story in their world. The Babylonian Enuma Elish told of ‘gods’ fighting cosmic battles, with humans created as an afterthought to be divine slaves. The Egyptians had stories of ‘gods’ masturbating worlds into existence.
But Genesis? Genesis presented something revolutionary and honorable: one true God, creating deliberately and purposefully, making humans not as slaves but as image-bearers with dignity and responsibility. When the text says God “rested” on the seventh day (Genesis 2:2-3), it wasn’t because He was tired—it was a royal enthronement, a king taking His place on the throne of a completed creation.
Did You Know?
Ancient Near Eastern creation stories often involved ‘gods’ defeating sea monsters or dragons of chaos. Genesis 1 mentions the tanninim (great sea creatures or monsters) almost as an aside in verse 21. They are not seen as enemies to be defeated, but as creatures God simply made. It’s a quiet but revolutionary statement: chaos doesn’t threaten God; He creates with it.
The genealogies that seem so boring to modern readers (Genesis 5, Genesis 10) were actually profound statements of hope. In a world where people groups claimed divine or legendary origins, Genesis was saying: we’re all human, all descended from the same created beings, all equally made in God’s image.
Wrestling with the Text
Here’s where Genesis gets uncomfortably honest about human nature. The fall in Genesis 3 isn’t just about one couple’s bad decision—it’s about the universal human tendency to want to be God. The Hebrew word for the knowledge of good and evil (da’at tov va-ra) isn’t just about moral awareness; it’s about the power to define what’s right and wrong for ourselves.
And then there’s the strange story of the “sons of God” in Genesis 6:1-4. Who are these mysterious figures? The text is deliberately cryptic, but the point seems clear: when fallen supernatural and human boundaries get blurred, chaos follows. It’s a warning about the dangers of trying to transcend our created nature.
Wait, That’s Strange…
Why does God seem to change His mind about humanity (Genesis 6:6-7)? The Hebrew word nacham doesn’t mean God made a mistake—it means He felt deep pain, like a parent whose heart breaks over a child’s choices. God’s “regret” is actually a window into divine emotion, not divine error.
The patriarchal narratives raise their own questions. Why does God choose Jacob over Esau when Jacob is clearly the schemer (Genesis 25:27-34)? Why does Joseph’s story end with Israelites in Egypt when God had promised them the land of Canaan? Genesis doesn’t shy away from the messiness of how God works through deeply flawed people to accomplish His purposes.
How This Changes Everything
Genesis establishes the foundational truth that changes how we see everything else: humans are made in God’s image (Genesis 1:27). This isn’t just ancient poetry—it’s a revolutionary worldview. Every person you meet, regardless of their background, beliefs, or behavior, carries the imprint of God. This changes how we treat others, how we see ourselves, and how we understand our purpose.
The concept of covenant, introduced with Noah (Genesis 9:8-17) and developed with Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3), becomes the organizing principle for understanding God’s relationship with humanity. God doesn’t just rescue individuals; He creates a people through whom blessing flows to all nations.
“Genesis isn’t trying to explain how the world was made—it’s explaining why the world was made and what it means to be human in it.”
The promise to Abraham that “all families of the earth will be blessed” through his descendants (Genesis 12:3) sets the trajectory for the entire biblical narrative. This isn’t just ancient history—it’s the mission statement that culminates in Jesus and continues through the church today.
Key Takeaway
Genesis teaches us that we’re neither accidents nor ‘gods’—we’re image-bearers with a purpose. Every human struggle with identity, meaning, and relationships finds its roots in these ancient stories, and every promise of redemption begins here.
Further Reading
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