Genesis

If a friend asks you to watch a series, wisdom says you start with season one, episode one. It would be unwise to begin at season three or anywhere else other than the beginning.

The book of Genesis is season one of the history of the world.

Genesis was compiled by a man called Moses and is part of a collection of five books he put together. These five books are called the Pentateuch, from the word penta, meaning five. Jews call it Torah, which means instructions. To them, this were scrolls of instructions.

Genesis received its current name around 250 BC, when the Scriptures were being compiled and translated. Before that, it was simply known as “In the beginning.” This was because the Scriptures were written on scrolls—long pieces of material that were rolled open to read and rolled back to close. Scrolls were often named after the first words written on them, and Genesis begins with those famous words: “In the beginning…”

Genesis was written by Moses, but its beginning is unique. It is mysterious because no human being was present to observe creation. Yet this mystery is explained simply: God was present. God existed before the beginning, and He revealed to Moses how it all started. Moses wrote what he was shown and told. The rest of it, are tales passed down from one generation to another mostly around evening fires and under trees as the old men told stories to the younger ones. This is why it's mostly hero stories or something that stood out. Before Moses wrote them, this were stories in the lips of the old and in the ears of the young. Then came Moses the Israelite who could write.

Moses was uniquely suited for this task. Among the Israelites, he was the most educated. Though born a slave, he was raised as royalty in Pharaoh’s palace. He lived as a king’s son and would have had personal tutors. In modern terms, Moses had the best education available. The rest of the Israelites were born as slaves, raised as slaves, and lived as slaves.

Moses could read and write fluently, making him the ideal leader and the perfect scribe. God used him to:

- write their history (Genesis),

- record their journey (Exodus),

- give guidelines for priestly life (Leviticus),

- and write and rewrite their laws (Numbers and Deuteronomy).

Humanly speaking, Moses was the obvious choice.

Genesis does not begin by introducing us to the Jews; it introduces us to God. You can often tell the theme of a book by its opening words, and Genesis opens with:

 “In the beginning, God created…”

This is a story about God and what He does.

As you read Genesis, don’t stop at “God is the Creator.” Watch carefully. You’ll see that:

 God speaks

 God walks

 God sees

 God hears

 God blesses

 God judges

 God shows mercy

 God becomes angry

 God makes promises

The list is long...

The word God appears more than 200 times in Genesis, making it the key word of the book. Genesis is not primarily about creation, sin, or nations—it is about God revealed through beginnings.

As you read, compile a list of the attributes of God that stand out to you.

This is not just ancient history.

This is how God chooses to introduce Himself.