Genesis INTRODUCTION
God at Work
Everything-literally everything-begins here
2:3 And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of
creating that he had done.
The Bible begins with words that have become famous: "In the beginning God created." God, like an
artist, fashioned a universe. How can we grasp the grandeur of this?
Michelangelo, perhaps the greatest artist in history, may help us to understand. He painted Rome's
famous Sistine Chapel to retell Genesis' story of creation. His experience proves one thing: Creativity
is work.
An Exhausting Effort
Michelangelo had 6,000 square feet of ceiling to cover-the size of four average house roofs. Anyone
who has painted a ceiling with a paint roller has caught a hint of the physical difficulty of such a task.
But Michelangelo's plan called for 300 separate, detailed portraits of men and women. For more than
three years the 5'4" artist devoted all his labors to the exhausting strain of painting the vast overhead
space with his tiny brushes.
Sometimes he painted standing on a huge scaffold, a paintbrush high over his head. Sometimes he
sat, his nose inches from the ceiling. Sometimes he painted while lying on his back. His back, shoulders,
neck and arms cramped painfully.
In the long days of summer, he had light to paint 17 hours a day, taking food and a chamber pot with him
on the 60-foot scaffold. For 30 days at a stretch he slept in his clothes, not even taking off his boots. Paint
dribbled into his eyes so he could barely see. Freezing in the winter, sweating in the summer, he painted until
at last the ceiling looked like a ceiling no more. He had transformed it into the creation drama, with creatures
so real they seemed to breathe. Never before or since have paint and plaster been so changed.
The Miracle of Life
But, as Michelangelo knew very well, his work was a poor, dim image of what God had created. Over the
plaster vault of the Sistine Chapel rose the immense dome of God's sky, breathtaking in its simple
beauty. Mountains, seas, the continents-all these, and much more, are the creative work of God, the
Master Artist.
God's world, so much bigger and more beautiful than Michelangelo's masterpiece, is the product of
incomparably greater energy. As author Eugene Peterson has written, "The Bible begins with the
announcement, `In the beginning God created,' not `sat majestic in the heavens' and not `was filled with
beauty and love.' He created. He did something." In the beginning, God went to work.
Genesis focuses attention on this creative, hardworking God. The word God appears 30 times in the
31 verses of chapter 1. He grabs our attention in action. Genesis is an account of his deeds, ringing
splendidly with the magnificent effort of creation.
Mending Broken Pieces
Genesis also talks about the work of humankind-but the tone changes abruptly. God had barely finished
creating the universe when human rebellion marred it, like a delinquent spraying graffiti on the Sistine
Chapel. Chapters 3-11 of Genesis portray a series of disasters: Adam and Eve's rebellion, Cain's
calculated murder of his brother, the worldwide wickedness leading to the great flood, and human
arrogance at Babel.
God immediately began to mend the pieces his creatures had broken. He narrowed his scope from
the whole universe to a single man-not a king or wealthy landowner, but a childless nomad, Abraham.
Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob, Rachel, Joseph-the upward thrust from chapter 12 on came
When the Lord God made the earth and the
heavens- 5 and no shrub of the field had yet
appeared on the earth and no plant of the field
had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not
sent rain on the earth and there was no man
to work the ground, 6 but stream came up
from the earth and watered the whole surface
of the ground- 7 the Lord God formed the man
from the dust of the ground and breathed into
his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became
a living being.
8 Now the Lord God had planted a garden in
the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he
had formed. 9 And the Lord God made all kinds
of trees grow out of the ground-trees that
were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In
the middle of the garden were the tree of life
and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
10 A river watering the garden flowed from
Eden; from there it was separated into four
headwaters. 11 The name of the first is the Pishon;
it winds through the entire land of Havilah,
where there is gold. 12 (The gold of that
land is good; aromatic resin and onyx are also
there.) 13 The name of the second river is the Gihon;
it winds through the entire land of Cush.
14 The name of the third river is the Tigris; it
runs along the east side of Asshur. And the
fourth river is the Euphrates.
15 The Lord God took the man and put him in
the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of
it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man,
"You are free to eat from any tree in the garden;
17 but you must not eat from the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat
of it you will surely die."
18 The Lord God said, "It is not good for the
man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable
for him."
19 Now the Lord God had formed out of the
ground all the beasts of the field and all the
birds of the air. He brought them to the man to
see what he would name them; and whatever
the man called each living creature, that was
its name. 20 So the man gave names to all the
livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts
of the field.
But for Adam no suitable helper was found.
21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a
deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took
one of the man's ribs and closed up the place
with flesh. 22 Then the Lord God made a woman
from the rib he had taken out of the man, and
he brought her to the man.
23 The man said,
"This is now bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called `woman,'
for she was taken out of man."
24 For this reason a man will leave his father
and mother and be united to his wife, and they
will become one flesh.
25 The man and his wife were both naked?
and they felt no shame.
The Fall of Man
3 Now the serpent was more crafty than any
of the wild animals the Lord God had made.
He said to the woman, "Did God really say, `You
must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"
2 The woman said to the serpent, "We may
eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God
did say, `You must not eat fruit from the tree
that is in the middle of the garden, and you
must not touch it, or you will die.'"
4 "You will not surely die," the serpent said to
the woman. 5 "For God knows that when you
eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will
be like God, knowing good and evil."
6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the
tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye,
and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she
took some and ate it. She also gave some to her
husband, who was with her, and he ate it.
7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened,
and they realized they were naked; so they
sewed fig leaves together and made coverings
for themselves.
8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound
of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden
in the cool of the day, and they hid from
the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
9 But the Lord God called to the man, "Where
are you?"
10 He answered, "I heard you in the garden,
and I was afraid because I was naked; so I
hid."
11 And he said, "Who told you that you were
naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I
commanded you not to eat from?"
12 The man said, "The woman you put here
with me-she gave me some fruit from the tree,
and I ate it."
13 Then the Lord God said to the woman,
"What is this you have done?"
The woman said, "The serpent deceived me,
and I ate."
14 So the Lord God said to the serpent, "Because
you have done this,
"Cursed are you above all the livestock
and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your belly
and you will eat dust
all the days of your life.
15 And I will put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head,
and you will strike his heel."
16 To the woman he said,
"I will greatly increase your pains in
childbearing;
with pain you will give birth to children.
Your desire will be for your husband,
and he will rule over you."
17 To Adam he said, "Because you listened to
your wife and ate from the tree about which I
commanded you, `You must not eat of it,'
"Cursed is the ground because of you;
through painful toil you will eat of it
all the days of your life.
18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
and you will eat the plants of the held.
19 By the sweat of your brow
you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
since from it you were taken; for dust you are
and to dust you will return."
20 Adam named his wife Eve, because she
would become the mother of all the living.
21 The Lord God made garments of skin for
Adam and his wife and clothed them. 22 And
the Lord God said, "The man has now become
like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must
not be allowed to reach out his hand and take
also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever."
23 So the Load God banished him from
the Garden of Eden to work the ground from
which he had been taken. 24 After he drove the
man out, he placed on the east side" of the Garden
of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword
flashing back and forth to guard the way to the
tree of life.
Cain and Abel
4 Adam lay with his wife Eve, and she became
pregnant and gave birth to Cain.
She said, "With the help of the Lord I have
brought forth a man." 2 Later she gave birth to
his brother Abel.
Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the
soil. 3 In the course of time Cain brought some of
the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord.
4 But Abel brought fat portions from some of the
firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor
on Abel and his offering, 5 but on Cain and
his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain
was very angry, and his face was downcast.
6 Then the Lord said to Cain, "Why are you
angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 If you do
what is right, will you not be accepted? But if
you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at
your door; it desires to have you, but you must
master it."
8 Now Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let's go
out to the field." And while they were in the
field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed
him.
9 Then the Lord said to Cain, "Where is your
brother Abel?"
"I don't know," he replied. "Am I my brother's
keeper?"
10 The Lord said, "What have you done? Listen!
Your brother's blood cries out to me from
the ground. 11 Now you are under a curse and
driven from the ground, which opened its
mouth to receive your brother's blood from
your hand. 12 When you work the ground, it will
no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a
restless wanderer on the earth."
13 Cain said to the Lord, "My punishment is
more than I can bear. 14 Today you are driving
me from the land, and I will be hidden from
your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on
the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me."
15 But the Lord said to him, "Not so; if anyone
kills Cain, he will suffer vengeance seven
times over." Then the Lord put a mark on Cain
so that no one who found him would kill him.
16 So Cain went out from the Lord's presence
and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
17 Cain lay with his wife, and she became
pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. Cain was
then building a city, and he named it after his
son Enoch. 18 To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad
was the father of Mehujael, and Mehujael was
the father of Methushael, and Methushael was
the father of Lamech.
19 Lamech married two women, one named
Adah and the other Zillah. 20 Adah gave birth to
Jabal; he was the father of those who live in tents
and raise livestock. 21 His brother's name was Jubal;
he was the father of all who play the harp
and flute, 22 Zillah also had a son, Tubal-Cain,
who forged all kinds of tools out of bronze and
iron. Tubal-Cain's sister was Naamah.
23 Lamech said to his wives,
"Adah and Zillah, listen to me;
wives of Lamech, hear my words.
I have killed a man for wounding me,
a young man for injuring me.
24 If Cain is avenged seven times,
then Lamech seventy-seven times."
25 Adam lay with his wife again, and she
gave birth to a son and named him Seth, saying,
"God has granted me another child in
place of Abel, since Cain killed him." 26 Seth
also had a son, and he named him Enosh.
At that time men began to call on the name
of the Lord.
From Adam to Noah
5 This is the written account of Adam's line.
When God created man, he made him in the
likeness of God. 2 He created them male and female
and blessed them. And when they were
created, he called them "man."
3 When Adam had lived 130 years, he had a
son in his own likeness, in his own image; and
he named him Seth. 4 After Seth was born,
Adam lived 800 years and had other sons and
daughters. 5 Altogether, Adam lived 930 years,
and then he died.
6 When Seth had lived 105 years, he became
the father of Enosh. 7 And after he became the
father of Enosh, Seth lived 807 years and had
other sons and daughters. 8 Altogether, Seth
lived 912 years, and then he died.
9 When Enosh had lived 90 years, he became
the father of Kenan. 10 And after he became the
father of Kenan, Enosh lived 815 years and had
other sons and daughters. 11 Altogether, Enosh
lived 905 years, and then he died.
12 When Kenan had lived 70 years, he became
the father of Mahalalel. 13 And after he became
the father of Mahalalel, Kenan lived 840 years
and had other sons and daughters. 14 Altogether,
Kenan lived 910 years, and then he died.
15 When Mahalalel had lived 65 years, he became
the father of Jared. 16 And after he became
the father of Jared, Mahalalel lived 830 years
and had other sons and daughters. 17 Altogether,
Mahalalel lived 895 years, and then he died.
18 When Jared had lived 162 years, he became
the father of Enoch. 19 And after he became
the father of Enoch, Jared lived 800 years
and had other sons and daughters. 20 Altogether,
Jared lived 962 years, and then he died.
21 When Enoch had lived 65 years, he became
the father of Methuselah. 22 And after he became
the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked
with God 300 years and had other sons and
daughters. 23 Altogether, Enoch lived 365 years.
24 Enoch walked with God; then he was no
more, because God took him away.
5:24 The Man Who Did Not Die
All but one of the brief biographies in chapter
5 end with the words "and then he died." We
know very little about the exception, Enoch,
except that he walked with God. Enoch did not
die; he "was no more, because God took him
away." Based on this evidence, Hebrews 11:5-6
commends Enoch as a man of faith, since
"without faith it is impossible to please God."
25 When Methuselah had lived 187 years, he
became the father of Lamech. 26 And after he
became the father of Lamech, Methuselah lived
782 years and had other sons and daughters.
27 Altogether, Methuselah lived 969 years, and
then he died.
28 When Lamech had lived 182 years, he had
a son, agile named him Noah and said, "He
will comfort us in the labor and painful toil of
our hands caused the ground the Lord has
cursed." 30 After Noah was born, Lamech lived
595 years and had other sons and daughters.
31 Altogether, Lamech lived 777 years, and then
he died.
32 After Noah was 500 years old, he became
the father of Shem, Ham and Japheth.
(Continues.)
