Introduction to Genesis

Genesis is the key that unlocks the whole Bible. It gives us the foundational events: creation, the fall, and God’s promise of grace through a coming Offspring. The first promise of the gospel in Gen 3:15 is then traced through the genealogies from Adam to Noah, and from Noah to Abraham. God reiterates the promise and expands upon it in his special revelation to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The rest of the Bible shows how God fulfills those promises in two stages—a provisional, temporary fulfillment in types and shadows (the rest of the OT), and an eschatologically final fulfillment in Christ (the NT).

1. Creation (Gen. 1–2)
2. Fall (Gen. 3:1–13)
3. Promise (Gen. 3:15; 12:1-7; etc.)
4. The Fulfillment of the Promise (Exodus–Revelation)
   • First-level fulfillment (Exodus–Malachi): Type / Shadow
   • Second-level fulfillment (Matthew–Revelation): Reality / Substance (Col. 2:17)

Outlines of Genesis

One common way of outlining Genesis is to note the 10 occurrences of the phrase “These are the generations (toledoth) of …” (2:4; 5:1; 6:9; 10:1; 11:10; 11:27; 25:12, 19; 36:1; 37:2). These occur at the beginning of the ten divisions of the book. The Hebrew word for “generations” (toledoth) has a wider significance than literal offspring and can include events that occurred in the lives of those offspring. In other words, it means something like “The following describes the subsequent developments of …”

Meredith Kline takes this approach, and sees the very first block of material (1:1–2:3) as a Prologue to the whole book. Here are his headers for each section:

• Prologue (1:1–2:3): Covenant of Creation
• Division 1 (2:4–4:26): City of Man in the Old World (Cain)
• Division 2 (5:1–6:8): Community of Faith in the Old World (Seth)
• Division 3 (6:9–9:29): Redemptive Judgment and Re-creation (Noah)
• Division 4 (10:1–11:9): City of Man in the New World
• Division 5 (11:10–26): Community of Faith in the New World (Shem)
• Division 6 (11:27–25:11): Covenant with Abraham
• Division 7 (25:12–18): Dismissal from the Covenant (Ishmael)
• Division 8 (25:19–35:29): Isaac, Covenant Patriarch
• Division 9 (36:1–37:1): Dismissal from the Covenant (Esau)
• Division 10 (37:2–50:26): Jacob, Covenant Patriarch

Biblical texts can have more than one objectively valid outline or structure. The literary craftsmanship is intricate and multi-faceted. Different outlines highlight different perspectives on the material.

Another way of outlining Genesis is to observe that it basically falls into two main sections, with the call of Abram (12:1-4) as the turning point:

• The Primeval History (chs. 1–11)
  1. The Creation Account (chs. 1–2)
  2. The Fall and First Promise of the Gospel (ch. 3)
  3. The Post-Fall, Pre-Flood World (4:1–6:8)
  4. The Flood and the Post-Flood World (6:9–11:32)
• The Patriarchal History (chs. 12–50)
  1. Abraham, Sarah, and Isaac (12:1–25:18)
  2. The story of Jacob and Esau (25:19–37:1)
  3. The story of Joseph and his brothers (37:2–50:26)

I prefer this outline, without denying the validity of the 10 toledoth outline, since it has the advantage of highlighting the fact that the second half of Genesis (12–50) is focused intensely on God’s promise covenant with the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The book of Genesis is really all about that—the patriarchal promise. The main thrust of the book of Genesis is to tell us about God’s covenant promises to Abraham (12:1-7; 13:14-17; 15:1-21; 17:1-8, 21; 22:16-18; 24:7), which promises were then repeated and confirmed with Isaac and Jacob (26:1-5, 24; 28:3-4, 13-15; 35:11-12; 48:4; 50:24). The promise, in its most succinct form, is: “To your offspring I give this land” (Gen 12:7; 15:18; 24:7; cp. 13:15; 17:8).

This then forms the basis of the redemptive-historical narrative of Scripture, which tells the story of how God fulfilled those promises. (The fulfillment will occur in two stages: the first stage is the provisional, typical fulfillment in the nation of Israel; the second stage is the anti-typical fulfillment in Christ.) The primeval history (1–11) is critical to the book of Genesis as well, but primarily to set the stage for the promise by telling us about God’s original purpose for creation, how man fell into sin, and therefore, how God is going to overcome man’s sin and fulfill his original purpose for creation through his redemptive plan.

New Testament Quotations of Genesis

Genesis	New Testament
1:1 — “In the beginning …”	John 1:1–2
1:27 (= 5:2) — From the beginning God “made them male and female.”	Matt. 19:4; Mark 10:6
2:2 — “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.”	Heb. 4:4
2:7 — “The man (Adam) became a living being.”	1 Cor. 15:45
2:24 — “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.”	Matt. 19:5; Mark 10:7–8; 1 Cor. 6:16; Eph. 5:31
5:24 — “Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.”	Heb. 11:5
12:1 — “Go out from your country … to the land that I will show you.”	Acts 7:3
12:3; 18:18; 22:18; 26:4 — “In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”	Acts 3:25; Gal. 3:8
12:7 — “To your offspring I will give this land.”	Gal. 3:16
14:17–20 — Melchizedek	Heb. 7:1-10
15:5 — Look up; number the stars: “So shall your offspring be.”	Rom. 4:18
15:6 — “Abram believed the LORD, and it was counted to him as righteousness.”	Rom. 4:3, 9, 22; Gal. 3:6; James 2:23
15:13–14 — “Your offspring will be sojourners [in Egypt] … but I will judge the nation they serve, and afterward they shall come out.”	Acts 7:6–7
17:5 — Abraham: “I have made you the father of many nations.”	Rom. 4:17–18
17:8 — “I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land.”	Acts 7:5
18:10, 14 — “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife shall have a son.”	Rom. 9:9
21:10 — “Cast out the slave woman (Hagar) with her son (Ishmael).”	Gal. 4:30
21:12 — “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.”	Rom. 9:7; Heb. 11:18
22:16–17 — “By myself I have sworn … I will surely bless you and multiply you.”	Heb. 6:13–14
25:23 — Jacob and Esau in the womb: “The older shall serve the younger.”	Rom. 9:12
47:31 — Jacob “bowed in worship over the head of his staff” (LXX).	Heb. 11:21
50:25 — Joseph: “You shall carry up my bones from here” (into the promised land).	Heb. 11:22