Genesis
Key Learnings from Sunday School
Apr 2019 - Jun 2021
Image of God
Ability to Create, Act like God, Compassionate, Conscience, Everlasting, Free Will, Humor, Lead godly lives, Life, Love, Soul, and Personality.
“Expert” Definitions:
Pastor Jack Hibbs - A reflection of God’s moral character
Ben Shapiro - Infinitely Valuable
Some random atheist - Product of evolution
Del Tacket -
Biblical descriptions:
Authoritative, Good, Holy, Right, Righteous, Sinless, True, Truth
Image of God 2
God and Gracious Will of God:
His name be kept holy;Word be taught correctly;Sinners be brought to faith; Lead godly lives.
Original Sin distorted the image of God - the myriad of world religions is a result of Original Sin.
“Expert” Definitions:
Dr Thoenne - Made in the Image of God is what separates us from the rest of creation. Made in the image of God means we are not gods. We are defined by what we are not what we do (Essences vs Function)
Image of God 3
Three States of Humanity are: Innocent, Fallen, and Redeemed
“Expert” Definition:
Dr Heiser - Image of God given to us wholly - we are not potentially made in the image of God. It separates us from the animals. It shares with God’s nature.
Ethics say what we should do. Morals are what we actually do. Our morals does not invalidate our ethics
Stewardship Perspective
- Trusts in God
- Listen to God
- Understands we are just the stewards
Eve
- Adds to the Word of God
- Listens to her own fears
- Covets knowledge
- Takes the initiative
Adam
- Acquiesces to Eve when he should have rebuked Eve
Fruit of the Tree
- No description is given other than it looked good for food
- Unclear why the culture identifies that Apple as the symbol for sin
Consequences:
• All of creation was changed
• Total corruption of Human Nature
• Cost of sin is death - God covered Adam & Eve with animal skins
• vGenesis 3:16 “multiply pain in childbearing” may indicate Eve had already given birth
• v Genesis 3:17 surviving just got harder
The “us” in vGenesis 3:22
• God in Trinity
• Other heavenly hosts
• Guardians of the tree of life
• Angels must have been made in the Image of God
• Angels not given stewardship over creation like us
• Fallen Angels (Demons) - don’t appear to have a plan of salvation
Purpose of Scripture - To point us to Jesus
• Fallen angels or children of men and angels
• Possessed men
• Children of believers who are without faith
• Children of a believer and a nonbeliever
Book of Enoch
• Rejected books of both Christianity and Judaism (Not Inspired)
• Predates Christ
• Lost to history until found again in the Dead Sea scrolls
• Mentioned in the writings of the early Church fathers
• Parts are quoted in Scripture, Jude for example
Genesis 6 Part 2
• 1Peter 3:18-22 - connects Baptism with the Flood
• Hebrews 11:7 - A righteousness that comes by faith
• Shem, Hamm, Japheth - Where the sons the made it onto the ark
• Plenty of ideas on how the flood came about
• Clean vs Unclean - Fully defined in Leviticus but known and applied to the Ark Animals
• Moral Law and the Ceremonial Law - Jesus fulfilled the Ceremonial Law
• Uses of Numbers in the Bible: Conventional, Rhetorical. Symbolic/Mystical meaning not supported within the text.
• The Symbol of peace: A Dove with an Olive Branch - God no longer at war with man after the flood?
Is Genesis History
• History tells us what happened; Science helps explain how it happened
• Removing the early chapters in Genesis changes our understanding of History; we loose sight of the meaning; nothing is certain
• Attacking the foundation is used as a tool to undermine the Cross and Resurrection
Genesis 9 - 10
• In their zeal, advocates for plant based diets unwittingly use faulty theology
• Noah and sons together were given ordnance to be fruitful and multiply and yet no post flood children of Noah are mentioned
• Text does not support conclusions on Ham’s sin.
• Graham’s observation: Shem and Jepheth points us to Christ in that Jesus covers our shame and nakedness. Like Noah, we too need a savior
Genesis 12 Part 1
• The region of Mesopotamia could include the are between Ur and Haron
• We will learn Sari is Abram’s half sister later in the book.
God’s Promise to Abram are ultimately fulfilled in Christ Jesus
• Great Nation
• Great Name
• Blessing to Others
Genesis 12 Part 2
- Sojourn to Egypt because of a famine
- Pharaoh’s household afflicted
- An exodus with Egyptian wealth
Promise (Nation, Name & Blessing) given in Mesopotamia
Promise of land in Canaan - Even here food and clothing come from the Lord and His blessing
Egypt:
• Out of fear, Abram & Sari’s relationship is concealed
• The nature of the plagues are unknown
• How Abram & Sari’s true relationship was revealed is unknown
• The gods of Egypt are not mentioned
• God alone saves Abram & Sari from a situation of their own making
• War of the Nine Kings
• A description of what Abram was up against
• Landmarks descriptions describe desolation in contrast to the initial valley description
• Abram’s small task force rescues Lot and the King of Sodom
• Glory to God Alone
• Melchizedek - contextual evidence that Abram was not the only follower of God
• Jesus is a high priest in the order of Melchizedek
• Abram’s offering of a 10th was generations before Moses
Genesis 19 Part 2
• Lot’s daughters - Gross - Broken boundaries
• Ruth, grandmother of King David, is a descendant from this union.
The Lord's Prayer
Matthew 6:9-13
The Lord’s Prayer in post Christian culture
• Pope Francis has suggested an updated translation to the 6th petition to avoid confusion. His suggest is in line with what we teach.
• Missed opportunities: On a good Sunday only 25% are in Sunday School
English translations examined (ESV, KJV, NIV, TNIV, TEV, NLT, Beck, NRSV, Message)
• Each translation made different word choices
• The prayer version we use in corporate worship more closely follows the KJV
Lutheran hymnals examined (LH, LBW, LW, LSB)
• Subtle changes in the prayer were made over time concerning word choices and punctuation.
• The Lord’s prayer is spoken as the conclusion of the Prayer’s of the Church
The language of the church is criticized for being archaic
• Tradition and personal preferences
Nov 2019 class version of the Lord's Prayer
Our Father who in Heaven
1. Holy be Your name among us
2. Your Kingdom come
3. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
4. Give us our daily bread
5. Help us forgive those who sin against us as You have forgiven us
6. Do let us not fall into temptation
7. But deliver us from evil.
For Yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Genesis 25 Part 1
Abraham’s 2nd marriage to Keturah (3rd if you count Hagar)
• not political expedient - She is not an Egyptian nor a Canaanite based on her name
• 6 more sons
• Young enough to provide Abraham all those kids
Biblical Genealogies
• Reminders that God keeps his promises
• Connections to the past
God made Isaac and Rebekah wait, even after she seemed to be the chosen one
Genesis 25 Part 2
• Can not rely on human customs/natural laws
• Unknown how the revelation was reveled to Rebekah
• Not about predestination
• In faith alone can we be called obedient. Justification.
• Reliance on God through difficult circumstances
• Esau marries girls from the very people persecuting his parents adding to his parent's troubles
• What were they thinking
• Isaac tries passing Rebekah off as his sister
• The perception of King Abembilic is wrong again
• The Blessing is passed onto Jacob; Jacob and Esau are the only sons of Rebekah that are named.
• The calamity ensues when people take it upon themselves to move God onto their schedules.
• No one comes out of this chapter lookin good
• Did Isaac perceive the prophecy of “the older serving the young” as settled at the time of birth?
• Esau seems more interested in his primogeniture than his father
• Rebekah and Jacob deceive a blind old man
• Isaac allows himself to be deceived (A fitting description of ourselves)
Genesis 28 Part 2
Jacob's Ladder:
• Visual affirmation of Abraham's blessing
• Visual representation of the fellowship between God and Man
• Affirms that the Messiah will be a descent of Jacob
• TLSB connects this vision to John 1:51
• Mandrakes - unclear on why Rachel wanted them. Leah has several more children before Rachel finally concedes after the Mandrake episode.
• Divination - no consensus here either on what Laban means other than the obvious fact that he was prospering because of Jacob.
• Animal Husbandry with those sticks - ???
• God alone gives children
- Take our troubles to God in prayer
- Jacob may have been worried that God was through with him
- Wrestles with God — Foreshadowing of our on going relationship?
- Okay to struggle with God - we can only prevail with His help
- After this chapter God is referred to as the God of Jacob
- Simeon (Leah’s 2nd son) conspirator to murder and looting
- Levi (Leah’s 3rd son) conspirator to murder and looting
Shechemites
- Rape Culture
- Try to do the right thing (after the fact)
- Jacob wants peace
Family Dynamics (Leah’s children vs Rachel’s)
Betrayals
- Jacob non-reaction betrays his daughter
- Brothers deceitfulness betrays the Shechmites (“when they were sore”)
- Brothers in murdering the Shechmites betray their father
The Red Tent
Another movie with more heresy than scripture (Part 1)
“Maybe that’s how the goats and sheep do it…”
The patriarch is bad.
• Monotheism
• Authoritarian (un flexible)
• Judgemental
• Laban is an abusive drunk and gambler
• Jacob was not hoodwinked on his wedding night
The matriarch is good
• Polytheism
• Authoritative (flexible)
• Accepting
• Jacob’s wife’s are all half-sisters
• Rachel fearful of her wedding night, has Leah take her place.
• Leah was the mastermind not Jacob
• Tamar was Levi’s wife?
God Himself is marginalization
• Pilgrims visit Rebeca because she is an oracle
• Joseph practices divination
Dinah and Joseph are apparently very close.
The Romance of Dianah
• Dianah is in love and freely gives herself to Shechem
• They “elope”
• Schechem is murdered in bed with Dinah sleeping beside him
Circumcision
• Dianah is offended
• Egyptians are circumcised “when their voices change”
• Jacob’s family tradition
• Joseph proposes the idea that the town be “cut”
Genesis 35:7 and there he built an altar and called the place El-bethel, because there God had revealed himself to him when he fled from his brother.
Genesis 35:14 And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he had spoken with him, a pillar of stone. He poured out a drink offering on it and poured oil on it.
Genesis 35:20 and Jacob set up a pillar over her tomb. It is the pillar of Rachel’s tomb, which is there to this day.
Monuments
A rich and complex history is a threat to simple, one-dimensional narratives.
Insidious narratives are used to shape identities
• Narratives overcome strong resistance to persuasion
• Acceptance more likely without time for reflection
Defending the right of the past to speak to us and to future generations.
• Erasure of monuments is insidious because erasure is to limit interpretations
• Keeping monuments allows a multiplicity of interpretations and meanings
Destruction of monuments
• Breaks the tactile link to the past
• Removes collective memory and thereby cultural identity
• Removes the ability to assess and reassess history
• Harder to understand the place of these monuments with a culture context
• Eliminates identities that are unlocked, validated, and explained
Genesis 36, more or less, concludes the account of Jacob (now called Israel) as the narrative shifts its focus to Jacob's son, Joseph. But before Joseph's story can properly begin Genesis wraps up the account of the twin brothers with the genealogy of Esau to remind us that God is faithful to His promises.
• A cost to faithfulness (The Cost of Discipleship)
• Glory to God alone (The Five Solas)
• Potiphar’s anger could have been toward his wife over loosing Joesph
• Was there a professional relationship between the captain of the guard and the keeper of the prison that benefited Joseph?
Seven Deadly Sins:
• Sloth= Sadness+Apathy; Unwillingness to work; Not issue for Joseph
• Beware of dreamers (interpretations belong to God)
- 1Thessalonians 5:21 but test everything; hold fast what is good.
- Ecclesiasticus 34:1 A man of no understanding has vain and false hopes, and dreams give wings to fools.
- Deuteronomy 13:3 you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams.
• Sources of dreams: The devil, me, and God
• The Cupbearer and Baker - heads of their departments (Wait Staff & Kitchen Staff?).
Similarities with post resurrection appearances and Joseph’s reveal to his brothers.
• Attitude adjustment for the Abrahamic Promise (2Corinthians 12:7-9)?
• Will of God: Name kept holy; Word taught correctly; Sinners brought to faith; lead godly lives
• God tests us to bring us closer to Himself (John 6:5-6; James 1:2-3)
• Christ motifs? (Judah leading the way, Shepherds, in the world but not of the world)
• Genealogy to show God fulfilling His promises
• The Septuagint: efficacious of God’s Word is not dependent on the original languages
• Scripture places no stress upon the number itself, and makes no particular application of it.
• Nothing else in the Bible is affected whether the number is 70 or 75
• Differences likely caused by a different way of counting (wives & daughters; Joseph's sons)
• Bless others without regard to their station
• Hold fast to the promises of God
• Was Pharaoh asking if Jacob was one of the “immortals”? (Noah 950; Schemm 600; Arpachshad 438; Shela 433; Eber 464; … Abraham 175; Isaac 180)
• Under Joseph’s stewardship, Egypt now owns everything.
• Non biblical sources and archaeological evidence to Joseph’s story:
• The Famine Steal; Imhotep = Joseph?
• Ancient grain bins found Seqqaral necropolis
- Validation of our conclusions of Genesis 28
- Manasseh and Ephraim are adopted into Israel
- Adoption
- Based on the Promise
- a full share
- Inclusion of all people
Open Questions
- Under which tribe do Joseph’s other children belong?
- Could have the Messiah come out of Ephraim?