Journey through
Genesis
Theme
Beginnings
Time of Writing
1445-1405 B.C.
Genesis is the book of beginnings – the beginning of the universe, the atmosphere, the biosphere, man, animals, evil, marriage, family, work, and covenants. Genesis reports on the first murder, the origin of diverse languages at the Tower of Babel, and the origin of the nations that resulted. It exposes the beginnings of sin and its results. It prescribes the nature of marriage, manhood, and womanhood. It displays the judgment of God – banishment from the garden, the flood, and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. These are types of the final judgment. There are 165 passages from Genesis quoted in the New Testament. Christ quoted Genesis six times. If you reject the historicity of Genesis, you have thrown away the historicity of the entire Bible and the integrity of Jesus Christ Himself.
In Genesis, God is glorifying Himself as the Creator of all things, so that He might demonstrate His superior goodness in the salvation sinners, the damnation of the wicked, and for the preservation of His people for His eternal glory, and their eternal joy.
The clear and consistent teaching of Scripture is that Moses wrote the Pentateuch (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy). The Bible confirms Mosaic authorship in the following ways:
In the final analysis, one cannot deny Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch without calling the bulk of the Bible’s testimony into question.
Genesis was written sometime between Israel’s Exodus from Egypt (1445–1447 B.C.) and Moses’ death (1405 B.C.).
“Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”
Genesis 1:26–27
“And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her Seed;
He shall bruise your head,
And you shall bruise His heel.”
Genesis 3:15
“Joseph said to them, ‘Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God? But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.’ ”
Genesis 50:19–20
The fact that Jesus Christ created all things is clearly taught in the New Testament. The Genesis creation account itself—written long before the New Testament—records the Creator speaking as a plurality of persons: “Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.’ ” This Scripture shows us that, while God alone made the world, all three persons of the Trinity were involved.
When cursing the serpent in Genesis 3:15, God foretold the coming of Christ:
“And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her Seed;
He shall bruise your head,
And you shall bruise His heel.”
This verse predicts three details of Christ’s coming:
The Lord promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that He would bless all the nations of the earth through their seed. Both Peter and Paul recognized the fulfillment of these promises in Christ.
What is the central theme of the book of Genesis?
Beginnings.
What are the four major events that take place in the book of Genesis?
Who are some of the major figures that appear in the book of Genesis?
Chapters 1–5
How many days did it take God to create the whole universe and everything in it?
Six, 24-hour days (Gen. 1:31–2:3).
What was God’s assessment of creation when He looked upon it?
It was very good (Gen. 1:31).
In what way were Adam and Eve made different than the animals?
They were made in the image of God (Gen. 1:26–27).
How did God create Eve?
He caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam and made Eve from one of his ribs (Gen. 2:21–22).
What are the three kinds of trees that God placed in the Garden of Eden?
What was God’s command to Adam regarding the trees?
Adam could eat of every tree of the garden, except for the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 2:16–17).
What was the consequence if Adam disobeyed God by eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil?
Death (Gen. 2:17).
Whom did Satan deceive: Adam or Eve?
Eve (Gen. 3:1–6).
What was the lie that Satan told Eve?
“You will not surely die” (Gen. 3:4).
What did Eve observe when she looked at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil?
How was the serpent cursed?
He would travel on his belly, and be bruised by the Seed of the woman (Gen. 3:14–15).
How was the woman cursed?
She would experience pain in childbirth, and be ruled by her imperfect husband (Gen. 3:16).
How was the man cursed?
He would find his work to be more toilsome, because God had cursed the ground for his sake (Gen. 3:17–19).
Where did God send the man and the woman after the fall?
He sent them out of the Garden of Eden (Gen. 3:23–24).
Who said, “Am I my brother’s keeper?”
Cain (Gen. 4:9).
Why did Cain kill Abel?
Because Abel’s works were righteous and his own were evil (Gen. 4:3–8; 1 John 3:12).
What did Cain say about the judgment that God brought upon him?
“My punishment is greater than I can bear” (Gen. 4:13–14).
Who took the place of Abel?
Seth (Gen. 4:25).
Why did Enoch not see death?
Because he walked with God (Gen. 5:24; Heb. 11:5).
How old was Methuselah when he died?
Nine hundred and sixty-nine years old (Gen. 5:27).
What did Noah’s father say at his birth?
“This one will comfort us concerning our work and the toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord has cursed” (Gen. 5:29).
Chapters 6–10
How old was Noah when the flood came?
Six hundred years old (Gen. 7:6).
How old was Noah when he died?
Nine hundred and fifty years old (Gen. 9:29).
What was the behavior of the people in Noah’s day?
Their wickedness was great, and their thoughts were evil continually (Gen. 6:5).
What was Noah’s moral character?
He was a just man who walked with God (Gen. 6:9).
How many people survived the flood?
Eight people: Noah, his three sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives (Gen. 7:7, 13).
How long were Noah and his family in the ark?
One year and ten days (Gen. 7:11; 8:13–19).
Where did the ark come to rest?
On the mountains of Ararat (Gen. 8:4).
What did the dove bring back when Noah sent it out the second time?
A freshly plucked olive leaf (Gen. 8:11).
What did Noah do as soon as he came out of the ark?
He built an altar and offered sacrifices to God (Gen. 8:20).
What covenant did God make with Noah after the flood?
He promised to never again destroy all flesh with a flood (Gen. 9:8–11).
What was the sign of God’s covenant with Noah?
The rainbow (Gen. 9:12–17).
What was the curse put upon Ham’s son, Canaan?
He would be a “servant of servants” to his brothers (Gen. 9:25–27).
Who was Nimrod?
He was “a mighty hunter before the Lord” (Gen. 10:9).
Who led the construction of the Tower of Babel?
Nimrod (Gen. 10:10).
Chapters 11–15
Why did the people start building the Tower of Babel?
They wanted to make a name for themselves (Gen. 11:4).
Who said, “Come let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech”?
The Lord (Gen. 11:6–7).
What did God say when He called Abram?
He told Abram to leave his father’s country and journey to a land that He would show him. He promised to bless Abram, make of him a great nation, and bless all the families of the earth through him (Gen. 12:1–3).
Why did Abram go to Egypt?
Because there was a famine in the land (Gen. 12:10).
What sin did Abram commit in Egypt?
Fearing for his life, Abram told Sarai to say that she was his sister (Gen. 12:11–13).
What was the conflict between Abram and Lot?
They each had so much livestock that the land was not able to support them both (Gen. 13:6–7).
What did Abram propose in order to resolve the conflict?
That he and Lot separate (Gen. 13:8–9).
What was the first thing Abram did when he moved to Hebron?
He built an altar there to the Lord (Gen. 13:18).
Who was Melchizedek, King of Salem?
He was the priest of God Most High (Gen. 14:18).
What did the king of Sodom offer Abram?
The plunder of Sodom (Gen. 14:21).
Finish the verse: “Do not be afraid, Abram ...”
“I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward” (Gen. 15:1).
Chapters 16–20
What did Sarai tell Abram to do in order to have children?
She told him to take her maid, Hagar, as his wife (Gen. 16:2).
How did Sarai treat her maid, Hagar?
She dealt harshly with her (Gen. 16:6).
What was the name of Hagar’s child?
Ishmael (Gen. 16:15).
What kind of a man did God say Ishmael would be?
A wild man (Gen. 16:12).
Why did God change Abram’s name to Abraham?
Because of His promise to make of Abraham “a father of many nations” (Gen. 17:5).
How old were Abraham and Sarah when God told them that they would have a son?
Abraham was one hundred years old and Sarah was ninety (Gen. 17:17, 24).
What was Sarah’s reaction when God announced that she would have a child in her old age?
She laughed within herself (Gen. 18:12).
What did Abraham name the son that Sarah bore to him?
Isaac (Gen. 21:3).
What does the name “Isaac” mean?
“He laughs.”
How old were Abraham and Ishmael when they were both circumcised?
Abraham was ninety-nine, and Ishmael was thirteen (Gen. 17:24–25).
What was God’s purpose for Abraham’s life?
That he would command his descendants to keep the way of the Lord (Gen. 18:19).
How many righteous people in Sodom would have been sufficient to spare the city?
Ten (Gen. 18:32).
How did God warn Lot about the destruction of Sodom?
He sent two angels into the city (Gen. 19:1, 12–13).
What did the angels do to the evil men who were trying to break into Lot’s house?
They struck them with blindness (Gen. 19:11).
What happened to Lot’s wife when she looked back?
She became a pillar of salt (Gen. 19:26).
What were the names of the sons of Lot’s daughters, and what nations descended from them?
Moab, the father of the Moabites, and Ben-Ammi, the father of the Ammonites (Gen. 19:36–38).
What did Abraham do while he was staying in Gerar?
He told everyone that Sarah was his sister (Gen. 20:2).
In what way did God punish Abimelech for taking Sarah to himself?
He closed up all the wombs of Abimelech’s household (Gen. 20:17–18).
Chapters 21–25
What was Ishmael’s skill?
Archery (Gen. 21:20).
Where was Sarah buried after her death?
In the cave of the field of Machpelah, in the land of Canaan (Gen. 23:19).
How did Abraham find a wife for Isaac?
He sent his oldest servant to his own country, to find a wife for Isaac there (Gen. 24:2–4).
What was the test that Abraham’s servant created to help him find a wife for Isaac?
He asked the Lord to show him the right woman by her offering to give his camels a drink (Gen. 24:12–14).
What did Rebekah’s brother and mother say when they blessed her?
“Our sister, may you become
The mother of thousands of ten thousands;
And may your descendants possess
The gates of those who hate them” (Gen. 24:60).
How old was Isaac when he got married?
Forty years old (Gen. 25:20).
Who was Isaac’s favorite son?
Esau (Gen. 25:28).
Who was Rebekah’s favorite son?
Jacob (Gen. 25:28).
Chapters 26–40
Which son received the blessing, and how did he obtain it?
Jacob received the blessing by deceiving his father, Isaac (Gen. 27:1–29).
Why did Simeon and Levi kill the Shechemites?
Because Shechem had violated their sister, Dinah (Gen. 34:2, 31).
What did Jacob give to Joseph that caused his brothers to hate him?
A tunic of many colors (Gen. 37:3–4).
What did Jacob’s other sons call Joseph when he came to see them?
“This dreamer” (Gen. 37:19).
What did Joseph dream about the first time?
He dreamed that he and his brothers were all binding sheaves in the field, and that his brothers’ sheaves all bowed down to his own sheaf (Gen. 37:7).
What did Joseph dream about the second time?
He dreamed that the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars all bowed down to him (Gen. 37:9).
What did Jacob’s other sons do to Joseph?
They stripped him of his tunic, cast him into a pit, and then sold him into slavery (Gen. 37:23–28).
How old was Joseph when his brothers threw him into the pit?
Seventeen years old (Gen. 37:2).
Which one of Jacob’s sons tried to save Joseph?
Reuben (Gen. 37:21–22).
Why wasn’t Reuben able to save Joseph from being sold into slavery?
Because Joseph’s other brothers sold him while Reuben was away (Gen. 37:28–30).
How much money did Joseph’s brothers sell him for?
Twenty shekels of silver (Gen. 37:28).
What did Jacob’s other sons do with Joseph’s multi-colored coat?
They dipped it in the blood of a goat, to make Jacob think that a wild animal had devoured Joseph (Gen. 37:31).
What did God do to Judah’s sons, Er and Onan?
He killed them (Gen. 38:7–10).
To whom did the Ishmaelites sell Joseph?
Potiphar, the captain of Pharaoh’s guard (Gen. 39:1).
To what position did Potiphar promote Joseph?
Overseer of his house (Gen. 39:4).
Why did Potiphar promote Joseph?
He saw that the Lord was with him, and caused everything he did to prosper (Gen. 39:3).
What was Joseph’s life like in prison?
The Lord gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison, who committed all the other prisoners to Joseph’s hand (Gen. 39:21–23).
Who was in prison with Joseph?
Two of Pharaoh’s officers: the chief butler and the chief baker (Gen. 40:1–4).
What did Pharaoh’s butler dream about?
He dreamed that he was pressing grapes into Pharaoh’s cup from a vine that had three branches, and giving the wine to Pharaoh (Gen. 40:9–11).
What did Pharaoh’s baker dream about?
He dreamed that he had three baskets full of baked goods on his head, which the birds ate (Gen. 40:16–17).
How long after the cupbearer’s release from prison did he tell Pharaoh about Joseph?
Two years (Gen. 40:23–41:1, 9–13).
Chapters 41–45
What caused the cupbearer to remember Joseph?
Pharaoh’s dreams, which his magicians and wise men were unable to interpret (Gen. 41:8–9).
What happened in Pharaoh’s first dream?
He was standing by the river when suddenly seven fat cows came out of the water. Then seven thin and ugly cows came out and ate up the fat cows, but remained just as thin and ugly as before (Gen. 41:17–21).
What happened in Pharaoh’s second dream?
He saw seven heads of grain grow up healthy, which were then devoured by seven withered and thin heads (Gen. 41:22–24).
What was Joseph’s advice to Pharaoh?
That he set a wise man over the land of Egypt, and collect food to prepare for the seven years of famine (Gen. 41:33–36).
How much food did Joseph tell Pharaoh to gather during the seven plentiful years?
One-fifth of the produce of the land (Gen. 41:34).
Why did Pharaoh promote Joseph over his house and people?
He recognized that the Spirit of God was in Joseph, and that no one was as discerning and wise as him (Gen. 41:38–39).
How old was Joseph when Pharaoh put him in power?
Thirty years old (Gen. 41:46).
Why did Joseph name his first son “Manasseh”?
Because God had made him forget all his toil and all his father’s house (Gen. 41:51).
Why did Joseph name his second son “Ephraim”?
Because God had caused him to be fruitful in the land of his affliction (Gen. 41:52).
Why did Jacob send his sons to Egypt?
Because the famine was severe, and he had heard that there was grain in Egypt (Gen. 41:56–42:2).
Why didn’t Jacob send Benjamin with them?
He feared that some calamity might befall him (Gen. 42:4).
What did Joseph do to his brothers when they came to Egypt?
He accused them of spying, demanded that they bring their youngest brother to him, imprisoned them, bound Simeon, filled their sacks, and sent them home to get Benjamin (Gen. 42).
What did Joseph’s brothers find in their sacks on the way home?
Their money (Gen. 42:27–28).
Chapters 46–50
Who was Jacob speaking of when he said, “But his bow remained in strength”?
Joseph (Gen. 49:22–24).
How long did the Egyptians mourn Jacob’s death?
Seventy days in Egypt (Gen. 50:3), and then seven more days in Canaan (Gen. 50:10).
How did Joseph respond to his brothers when they feared his revenge?
He comforted and spoke kindly to them, pointing to the good that God had accomplished through their evil actions (Gen. 50:19–21).
How many generations of Ephraim’s children did Joseph see?
Three generations (Gen. 50:23).
How old was Joseph when he died?
One hundred and ten years old (Gen. 50:26).