Genesis Explained

​When God was creating the heavens in the earth and he was stretching out the heavens, and he spoke and said, let there be light. And there was light, and he made all the beautiful acts of creation and said it was all good. And he did it for six days. On the seventh day, he rested.

It's important to note that when God was creating and doing this, the angels in Heaven were singing in the background. We learned that in Job 38 verse seven, which means that this book has a soundtrack behind it. When God was creating, the angels were singing and worshiping God while it was happening. I think that's pretty awesome.

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Welcome to the You Can Learn the Bible Podcast where we summarize complete Bible books in single episodes. My name is Bodie Quirk from YouCanLearntheBible.com here with Joey Rozek, Lead Pastor of Living Springs Fellowship in New Jersey. Joey, how are you today?

Bodie I'm doing great. I'm excited that we are getting ready to start hitting on the books of the Bible and we are starting right from the beginning with Genesis and this is a book to get excited about as we start this journey. So definitely feeling good today, brother and blessed to be here.

I am so excited. This is fun because now the podcast is up, you may or may not know we record a little bit ahead but, some of the feedback that we've gotten from some of these first episodes has been so encouraging, at least to me. Joey, I hope it has been to you.

We just spent six episodes summarizing the Bible, and I don't think people get a chance to hear that kind of thing very often. And I'm just, I've been so blessed and I wanted to just shoot a quick reminder before we get into this

episode, that this podcast is available both on audio which is maybe how you're listening to it right now through your podcast player, but it's also done with video.

We do have a couple slides that we'd like to put up and those are on YouTube and I wanted to make sure that if we mention something that's visual, that you know where to go and see that, and that would be on our YouTube channel.

But one of the things that we've

used in our previous episode when we just summarized the whole Bible, we used a timeline, and I wanted to make sure that if you wanted to download that timeline, that you knew where to go.

And so if you go to YouCanLearntheBible.com/timeline or even just the main url YouCanLearntheBible.com, you'll have a way where you can download the full PDF as an ebook. So if that's something that you would like as a resource that is free and that is available at YouCanLearnthBible.com right now.

But today, as Joey said, we are going to tackle the book of Genesis in a single episode. We want to equip and we want to inspire you to get into this book, but do so with excellence and with joy, and with a little bit of a plan. So that's what we're gonna do today, right Joey? Tell us about where we're gonna go as we tackle Genesis explained.

Yeah, well, as we explained in our introductory episode of this podcast, we've come up with a seven part framework that really helps to hit on every book of the Bible to get the most out of it when it comes to these particular categories, what are they? Number one, the essentials of the book.

Who wrote it when it was written? What audience? We really gotta get the original context, the storyline. What is this book telling us in the meta narrative of the Bible? And in that book, particularly the structure of the book, how is it broken down in its various chapters and some of the breakdown there.

then we get into the themes. And the ideas that are presented in those themes, which is exciting to get into. And then what does this book teach us about God? What does this book teach us about us? And then at the end, Bodie will share some of our favorite insights and some things that we love about this book.

It's

I love. Yeah, it's been fun to be able to summarize the whole Bible, but I have, so I've been so looking forward to actually getting into book by book. So let's get into number one. We wanna act as though Joey and I have about 30 minutes to sit down with you and equip you and inspire you to study the book of Genesis.

So let's start by talking about some of the essentials. First question, what do we really need to know first, if we're gonna study Genesis well? Joey, I'm gonna let you jump in and answer this. If someone wants to study Genesis, they open it up. What do they need to know about this amazing book when they just get started reading it?

Let me just say on a big picture, everybody in the world wants to know the question, where did we come from? ? What's the meaning of life? What's important? Well, Genesis is that book that takes us right to the beginning of all beginnings, which of course starts with God. And God gave us this incredible revelatory book.

And the essentials of this book is understanding who wrote it? And what are those facts pertaining to it? And what we discover is that this book was written a around 1446 to 1440 BC before Christ. It was written by Moses, and of course it covers a time span that even goes way back before then and sets the foundation for everything afterwards.

It's a book. That's in the what's known as the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible, also called the Torah, which is the Law of God. This is the key foundation books of Moses, and he wrote it in the time of the wilderness when they had left Egypt. They were wandering through and it was to really establish how Yahweh, the true and living God is different from all the other false gods and false frameworks and timelines that people had expressed to explain the origins of life.

And so we are gonna hit the beginnings of what everything is built upon. And so God's covenant with man, the creation of the world, God's nature and attributes, and ways that reveal his glory.

So

Yeah.

exciting book in the essentials.

It is because the audience is both Israel, but it's also us, right? The word of God is for us, but it always has an original audience first. And so knowing that Moses wrote it during the time after in the wilderness, just helps get us in, the mindset. But as you said, Joey, This goes back to the beginning of everything.

So it's fun to be able to look at when it was written, but also what it covers and Genesis is about beginnings. So as we talk about this question, what do we need to, study the book well,? We always wanna know these beginning details, but of course we wanna ask where does this book fit in the larger story of the Bible?

You said something great in, in one of the early episodes, you said the Bible is a library, it's a collection. So where does Genesis? Fit and why does that matter for how we go about studying it?

Yes. Well, This book, Bodie, is the beginning of the entire narrative of the Bible. It actually starts with an opening verse in the beginning, God created the heavens and the Earth. Some people have asked the question, what's the first religion that ever came into the world? You can't get further back than God and you can't get further back than the first acts of creation.

So Christianity is built on Judaism and the foundations of the Jewish faith, but even before that, just the speaking fourth of our creator and how he brought everything into existence. So this book of the Bible sets the tone and the narrative of everything else that follows.

And I even wanna add this Bodie, this is a great little point. When God was creating the heavens in the earth and he was stretching out the heavens, and he spoke and said, let there be light. And there was light, and he made all the beautiful acts of creation and said it was all good. And he did it for six days. On the seventh day, he rested.

It's important to note that when God was creating and doing this, the angels in Heaven were singing in the background. We learned that in Job 38 verse seven, which means that this book has a soundtrack behind it. When God was creating, the angels were singing and worshiping God while it was happening. I think that's pretty awesome.

That is, and I, oh my goodness. I love that. I'm gonna sit and just think about the idea of the soundtrack of the angels, because it does mention in Job that they rejoiced at the creation order being, created. And so what's important about Genesis, when we look at the storyline, everything begins, and it's not just the creation order.

We've talked about a lot of the turning points in our previous episodes but I think Moses really wants us to understand that it's not just the fact that the broad universe was created, but God's relationship with man was created. Meaning he created the backdrop, which was the creation order.

He created human beings and then he made a covenant with man later extended that covenant through Israel. So creation begins, mankind begins, Israel begins, the covenants begin, but God does not. God is, the same yesterday, today, right in the beginning, God was already there.

He exists outside of time. And that is an astonishing reality to think about that he needs nothing but everything needs him. And so Genesis, it starts very broad, but then it starts to point to a specific storyline, doesn't it? And we're gonna go into kind of the structure of the book in a second, but anything else about its place at the beginning of everything, Joey, that you'd like to say? And then we can go into number three on the structure of the book?

think it's great to point out that God is the uncreated being who brings everything into being. He created "Bara" in Hebrew, which means he made something out of nothing. But what's awesome is that the very fact that we have something and not nothing shows us. That there had to be in the beginning, someone who had the mind to create everything that follows.

And so God's intelligence and his intentionality and his imagination literally brought into being everything that we see. And no wonder why he says it is good. And so he declares what is, from was not. I mean, It's awesome and, and, so I think that's a really important thing to understand that we have a God-shaped worldview, a God-centered worldview, and we are made in the image and likeness of God.

And that's what Genesis really establishes. The origins of man, as you said, the origins of even sin. How evil entered the world to mess up this plan or to, seemingly disrupt what God created, but that God always had a plan of redemption even before the foundation of the world. So this storyline is wonderful and and it's exciting that we're gonna get a chance to even dive into some of these extra details, which I think our next one we wanna talk about is the structure of the book, right Bodie?

Right.

let's go into that a little.

Yeah, exactly. So if you're sitting down and you know that Genesis is, about the beginning of the world, the beginning of mankind, the beginning of God's covenant, you're like, okay, that's great but, where do I, how do I know where some of the breaks in the book are? And that's what the, knowing a little bit of the structure can be helpful.

So what we've done here is kind of tried to break down the book and as simple as possible. So the challenge for us in doing this podcast is that there are some books of the Bible that are like one or two pages. And there are some books that are 50 chapters, and Genesis is one of those larger, longer books where a lot happens.

But if you understand the general story and where these major changes occur, then you'll really be ready to, jump in and start reading the book. So if you can see this, we have the structure as chapter structure here, but we wanna read through each of these mini sections because chapters one through four really set the stage for everything, don't they Joey?

It's the creation and the fall. So this is where we see God on the scene, he creates Adam and Eve, we see the introduction of Sin. In chapters five through 11. That line continues, but this is Adam's line. It travels all the way down. We see the genealogy, the connection between Adam and Noah up until the flood, and later the, the Tower of Babel.

And then we'll get to Abraham. Let's talk about him in a second, cuz we've already talked about him in the larger story. But in these early parts, Joey, what do people really need to make sure if they're gonna go into reading Genesis, what can't we miss in the first parts up to the arrival of Abraham? Those early chapters.

Yeah, well, as you rightly said, Bodie you know, we have been looking at the eternal purpose of God through significant turning points, and there are some of the most important turning points presented to us in the Bible, in the opening chapters. So I mean, first of all, the very fact that there was a point that could even turn is the fact that God had to create

So God creates things and he makes everything good, and that creation is such a beautiful beginning point. And everything God made was good. And in fact, there was one time God said it's not good. That man should be alone, so I will make a helper comparable to him. And we see Adam being put to sleep and, out of his side came a bride and God brought the bride to Adam.

And, that's a wonderful turning point of, that god has now established man and woman, male and female, which are both representatives of God, image bearers of God, and then there's this massive turning point. Something goes wrong, and that turning point has to do with the fact that Adam and Eve listened to a different voice than their creator.

Which was another, created being an angel who had fallen an angel, Lucifer, who became the devil, or Satan. Satan. And he posed the question, has God indeed said, and sadly, Bodie, as echoes throughout time, when we listen to the wrong voice, it often creates a turning point for the worst. And so what was once good all of a sudden starts to become bad, and that turning point is huge.

We call it the fall. We call it the fall of man, and that turning point changes everything really. What happens in Genesis three when the serpent deceives Eve by his craftiness and they eat the forbidden fruit gets recycled and repeated all throughout the Bible in how mankind will either choose to submit to God in humility, or resist God and listen to the wrong voice and bring about the repercussions and consequences of sin.

And then we see that God judges the sin through Noah, another massive turning point in the flood that judges the world, but God in his grace separates Noah and his family and his three sons and three wives, and that turning point resets everything and allows the earth to be repopulated and shows us that God is carrying out a redemptive plan.

A promise to save mankind, which of course is where Abraham comes in, the man that God makes a covenant with, that establishes the nation Israel, and sets the lineage and the line for the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ. So these turning points are huge in the opening, even 12 chapters of the Bible.

And then of course, as we get into the development of Abraham's son Isaac, and then his son Jacob. And we see in the timeline and the structure we have that's what happens. Why don't you talk about those last couple sections there,

sure. Yeah. Thank you for walking us through that part because it's really really important. A lot happens, right? Humanity happens, sin happens. God's intervention and relationship happens. And now as we follow past Adam and Eve and, and the flood as you talked about with Noah, , we now see Adam's line continue.

So sin is now a default where it used to be a disruption, right? It's almost like you said, they followed the wrong voice and it led them to the wrong choice. And if they had not listened to the wrong voice. And same with us, right? The Bible says, for us to discern, to follow the voice of God, which we find in the word of God.

And so now the original design isn't available anymore. God has to do a modified relationship with this line. He is going to eventually redeem everything, but it's not what he originally created in the garden. However, God is faithful to his covenant, isn't he, Joe? And so we see that he calls Abraham and he has, he tells him he's gonna have a son, and then he gives him a promise.

And then years and years and years go by. And there's no son. And so he, they questioned the faithfulness of God, but they eventually arrived with the son Isaac, the promised seed, the one that passes now from Abraham to Isaac. Cuz remember he promised that there was gonna be a nation. You have to have people, and Abraham was unsure if he was ever gonna be able to have a son.

And so following Isaac, it goes down through we, so the rest of Genesis, it starts off about all mankind in chapters one through 11, but in 12 through 50 it follows a single family line, starting with Abraham through Isaac, through Jacob and eventually through Joseph. Now what's amazing is when we, these are what, we talked about is the patriarchs.

The patriarchs are not spiritual superheroes. They all make mistakes. Joseph I think I learned this from you. Joey is the only one of which no sin is directly mentioned about him in Genesis. And in fact, 25% of the entire book is dedicated to Joseph cuz he's such an important figure. I'd love to hear you talk about Joseph in a second, but understanding simply that Genesis starts broad and follows a single family line in order to set up what happens in Exodus. Joey, you want to jump in, I want to hear what you've gotta say.

Yeah. I just wanna say that point about Joseph's life, not mentioning his downfall or his sin is because we learn in scripture that everything is pointing us to Jesus. And Joseph is one of the great early types of Jesus in his whole narrative because here's a man that was given a very divine purpose.

He had it in a dream. He was betrayed by his own people, his own family, rejected, despised. He was given away or sold away to those who represented the world at this time, Egypt. He was in a sense going through hardships and trials and temptations, and yet we see Joseph actually being victorious. He's tempted but he doesn't give into it.

And of course, what, who are we thinking about as he, as we're reading all this? This is a picture of Jesus, the volume of the book speaks of Jesus and so Joseph's life, then he gets arrested, he gets put into prison, and then he gets exalted in his humility. He's exalted and his exaltation is the salvation of all the world, so to speak, cuz they're going through a, a time of famine.

So it's so important that we catch these key themes that we're not just reading about the life of Joseph, but we're seeing a foreshadowing of Jesus. And that's a key part when we read the Bible. A hermeneutic that we want to have in the study and interpretation of the Bible is that we're always looking for the thread of the gospel.

We're looking for where do we see the emphasis on God and his love for mankind, and how he is willing to fulfill his promise, his covenant, by having one that would represent the whole. So just as Adam was one representing the whole world in sin, and so the whole world has now fallen short of God's glory and sin we see in the life of Joseph, that God can, through one man, bring redemption to the nations.

And we're gonna see that later on in this story unfolding as Jesus, of course, the second man or the last Adam brings salvation to the whole world. So I just wanted to bring that out because

Oh, it's good.

is a beautiful parallel of Jesus'

It is, and I appreciated you mentioning the formal term here, hermeneutic. It just means a method of reading. Cuz when you read, we don't wanna just read aimlessly, we wanna look for what the author wants us to see and we see that the reason why Genesis starts very broad and then focuses on a single family line, is because that is the tracing of the lineage that goes through the entire Old Testament and culminates in the arrival of Christ.

So when you see the structure, when you read the story of Jacob, there's a lot of amazing, interesting little facts and details, but don't lose sight of the fact, that God wants us to see how the covenant is being faithfully preserved down through this particular generation. And then Joseph, as you meant, beautifully said, is a type of Christ,

cuz there's all these pieces, there's the dream, there's the role of Egypt and we want you to read this book. We're not here to read the book to you, but we wanna make sure you know what to look for when you do. And so that's why we wanted to talk about this structure because we always want to be mindful of Jesus while looking at the inspired text as it is.

And so, should we move on to the next one? Joey, any other final thoughts on the structure of the book? Cause I really would like to talk about some of the themes and ideas that you've actually kind of already begun to introduce us to.

into the themes.

Let's do it.

the themes have so much to talk about. So let's go into this next category.

Yeah it builds on it, right? It builds on it. So we talked about the major sections. That was number three. Let's talk about what are the major biblical concepts that we find in Genesis.

So just reading a couple of them here. God is the creator and it is about his glory. Man was made in his image, we were given dominion, then there was rebellion. We see the themes of love and judgment, covenant faithfulness, and what we just talked. Chosen seed and lineage. There's a lot that Genesis introduces. It's the Book of beginnings, isn't it, Joey?

that.

talk about these, what do we wanna make sure that if we're sitting down with somebody that they really get when they're opening the book and they're doing the reading of the book themselves.

I think Genesis wonderfully shows us that when God is the one acting, everything is good. and it brings glory to God. When creation is in its rightful natural place, it reflects the glory of God. The heavens declare the glory of God. Mankind as image bearers reflect the glory of God. All of the beautiful parts of creation, as Romans one 20 says, for since the creation of the world, God's invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made.

Even His eternal Godhead and power, leaving all men without excuse we're gonna see that the things that God does and when God's will is being carried out, everything goes to the glory of God. What we see in Genesis is what happens when man deviates from God's will.

We see what sin brings about. Bible says, the day you eat of that forbidden tree, you shall surely die. We learn in Romans 6 23 that the wages of. Is death. So we really see through the whole Genesis story that when mankind acts independently of God and does not do his will and follow his word, it produces things that are not a part of God's original created plan.

So sickness and sorrow disease and death. Destruction and division. All of these things that happen. are the result of man's will against God and how we're listening to the wrong voice, usually Satan's voice and the voice of this fallen world rather than the voice of our creator and maker. So that's a really key thing.

As you look at every single story in Genesis, you're gonna need to see it through that lens so that you see when we're bringing glory to God and when mankind is falling short of the glory of God. And so I think that's a really key piece, Bodie.

I think another thing I would just add before you jump in with some other themes. Is what God speaks after sin enters the world. If you remember when sin entered the world, Adam, and ever hiding. They're hiding behind fig leaves. And that's a picture of self-imposed religion where mankind is trying to cover their sin and shame and guilt, and they're hiding from God. But God sees past that obviously.

He sees into our hearts and he asks the question Where are you to Adam. And I think what's really important is that God gave consequences to Adam and Eve for the sins that they committed, and the earth was cursed. There was thorns and thistles. Men will work by the sweat of their brow. Women will have pain in their childbearing, et cetera.

But he also spoke to Satan, and I think it's worth noting this Bo, he spoke to Satan, cursed, are you, and on your belly, you shall go to the serpent he represented. But to Satan himself, he says, I will put enmity between your seed and her seed, and there shall be a separation, so to speak between the two.

And of course, what is Satan's seed? That's evil and sin and destruction. What is her seed that speaks about the gospel all the way in the beginning. How there'll be a virgin who will conceive a child by the Holy Spirit and that seed will be Jesus. And, that's a word you'll keep seeing throughout the whole book of Genesis, right, Bodie?

You'll keep seeing that through your seed, all the nations of the earth will be blessed and we discover the seed that God spoke to Abraham, was actually not just Isaac or Jacob or any of these human men, but the God-man that'll eventually be born in the world, Jesus, who saves the world from our sin as illustrated by the life of Joseph as well. So I think that's a, That's a really important picture of the whole book in that sense.

Absolutely. I love that because a seed is the beginning of a journey of growth in life, right? It's a promise in a tiny little package. You, don't end with the seed, you start with it. And so Genesis, to read Genesis alone is to like watch the first 10 minutes of a movie and stop.

Whereas we want you to know what's in Genesis so that when you read Leviticus, when you read Joshua, you have the themes, the ideas of what we have just been introduced from the book of Genesis, resonating in your heart and mind. God's faithfulness, his covenant faithfulness man's rebellion and how God will, judge them, but only to bring them back into relationship.

And that's what Israel represents for us, isn't it Joey? It is man, going their own way. God lovingly allows some of the consequences and God's fatherly heart bringing them back so that they could experience what he created them for in the first place. Which is relationship with him. I also love the idea that people make massive mistakes.

Abraham he almost like sells his wife. It says say, tell, say that you're my sister, cuz he's afraid when he goes down into Egypt. Jacob is a deceiver. These are not perfect people. So if there's anything that, that we can get to what we talk love later at the end of the episode, but I think it's it. Just talk about the idea of God's patience and his faithfulness in the midst of man's rebellion and how the, our rebellion brings consequences. It will not thwart the mission that God has begun through this promise seed and ultimately in the coming of. Christ, which he is the ultimate seed.

So there's just, there's way too many themes and ideas in Genesis, what you get. The final word on this section, cuz if this is gonna lead us into our next one, is that what does this teach us about God, which you've already kind of talked about, but specific themes in Genesis, that's just one of the ones that I love, that man is not perfect. Patriarchs are not heroes, they're flawed humans like we are. What else do we wanna make sure people get in this idea of the themes and ideas of Genesis that we haven't covered already?

Bodie, that was great to point that out because I think we often forget that God doesn't expect us to live out his standards in our own ability and strength, because we are fallen beings. And you really see not just the fall in Genesis three, but you see the effects of the fall from Genesis four all the way to Genesis 50.

But I love how in the end of Genesis, when you get to chapter 50, you have Joseph you know, reconciling with his brothers after a time of redemption and deliverance, and he says what you intended for evil, God has worked it for good to bring about a great deliverance to save us all on this day.

And I, I think that really is so key because that theme just encapsulates same thing with the flood mankind is being exposed for their hidden sins and their hearts and the evil that they're manifesting through their lives. And God washes it away with the flood, but at the same time preserves mankind through an ark in Noah's what we call the flood of Noah.

We see Noah preaching righteousness to them, and we learned that in the New Testament. That's what he was doing while he

was building the arc over that a hundred

years. And then of course, the rainbow that was placed in the sky as a part of the covenant God made with Noah that he would never judge the earth this way in a flood.

And so you have promises being made. You have God's faithfulness to the covenant, as you already mentioned, Bodie, and I would just guess add this one last thing, which is that, you know, we have to really identify with the characters in Genesis because they get quoted from it in the New Testament all the time, as, a way to go back, what was God's original plan with marriage? What was God's original plan with family? And for this reason, a man shall leave his father and mother and join his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. All of these foundational truths are there.

And in Psalm 11, three it says, if the foundations are destroyed, What can the righteous do? I'll tell you what the righteous can do. They can reread the foundations, they can relearn the foundations, and they can rebuild the foundations. And that is all presented to us in Genesis.

And that takes

Yep.

into, what does it teach us directly about God? Why don't you start that off, Bodie.

It's amazing to know that God has put his image into us, i, used to quote this, that the human person is the only being in creation that is desperately broken and at the same time infinitely valuable, because everything in our world, if you buy a broken computer or a broken car, its value goes down.

But sin, though it has, left every part of us stained and broken, it doesn't mean that we are as bad as we can possibly be. I think sometimes people think well, I'm kind of better or whatever than this person, that's not what it means. To be a sinner means that there's no part of your life that remains untouched from sin. It doesn't mean that you're as bad as you could possibly be. It means that our whole person needs regenerating, needs saving, needs, rescuing, and I just love how God will allow us to live out the consequences.

And then f. faithfully come in and show his patience, to us when we are ready to see it. Because sometimes people aren't ready to hear the truth of scriptures, are they? Joe? And but God is always ready. He's always patient. He's always seeking out people. And I see in Genesis, I see these people that, like you mentioned are quoted in the New Testament.

Abraham's faith is the model that Paul uses in Romans chapter four that that he's the father of faith, but goodness sakes, he blows it big time. Like I don't see that as a loss. I see that as a gain cuz now I can look at it, see that maybe there's hope for me.

Because I've blown it, but I still have faith and I think that we sometimes approach our Christian life with an all or nothing, either I'm a faithful person or I'm a wretch, and I love how our value is not determined by our performance, but by whose image we are made in.

And that doesn't mean that we can live however we want, that's different, but our value comes from our creator, and his love for us is unfailing and our performance can't ruin it. And I think there's one things that we see about God, as you mentioned when he says, where are you? Those three haunting words in the Book of Genesis. It's his love that is pursuing them.

And that's one of the wonderful things I see in Genesis's, God's pursuing heart for his creation, who's already wandering off the path, starting in two chapters in the whole thing. What do you love? I'd love to hear your answer to this question.

Well, So Genesis really introduces God to us not only as a creator. in the very beginning, but the word for God in the opening verse of the Bible is Elohim, and we discovered that God is triune. I think it's important to say for what did we learn about God in Genesis? We start to learn about the fact that God is one yet more than one.

He is triun, and we see that even when God is speaking to make mankind in his image, he says, let us make man in our image, and likeness. So we see in Genesis 1:26 that God is one, yet more than one and he is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We also see, and you alluded to it earlier, Bodie, that God is outside of time, space, and matter.

Because he created time, space, and matter, but we see that he's intervening in time, space, and matter. Eventually when he becomes a man, he enters into that realm completely as a human creation, so to speak, when he takes on the likeness of man.

But we learn the attributes of God in Genesis, we see his mercy and we see his grace as shown to Adam and Eve when he clothes them with skins as we see in Noah when he allows them to survive the flood in the ark. We learn that God is just and holy. We learn that in the Tower of Babel, when mankind is trying to build a tower to the heavens and God says, let us go down and confuse their language.

We see God's making a judgment at that point because mankind is trying to use their skills to actually build a name for themselves, no longer for the glory of God. And that is a huge lesson for us. So we learn all the important attributes of God and how glorious he is, Bodie, throughout all of his dealings with man, and of course he has the final word on all things.

Yeah, he does. That's so good. And, like the next question that is, that is great because again, the next question, what does Genesis offer our Christian life? It offers us, God, it offers us a God who is holy, but who is loving a God who will wipe the planet clean of his precious creation that bears his image because of their wickedness.

It means that sin is not to be trifled with, and so one of the things personally that I see it offers our Christian life is a call to repentance and to reverence the Holy God of, all creation. I also love how, like I said, God pursues people, but he does not tolerate their sin. He also does not cast them aside when they make mistakes, he's a forgiving, loving God, but he is a God of, righteous and holy judgment as well.

I think our culture wants to either go one way or the other, right Joey? He's either all judgment or he's either all loving, but Genesis shows us both. And anybody who says that the New Testament God is loving and the Old Testament God is vengeful and wrathful, is simply reiterating something that you're just hearing from our culture. That's not what we see in Genesis. We see hope, we see joy, but we see God on display.

Amen. Bodie, that's so well said. And I think that when we understand the gospel, we understand God's unfailing love for a creation that is rebelling against Him time and time again, perhaps just diving right into Genesis 22 is perhaps what we can learn so much about the Christian life because in Genesis 22, God tells Abraham at this time, Abraham has his son, Isaac, the son of Promise, and he tells him to go up to a mountain and to offer his son there on that mountain.

the miracle son that he gave him. . Yeah.

the, yeah. Amazing, right? It's the first mention of love and it tells us how Abraham loved his son Isaac, and it's also the first mention of worship because Abraham is going up on the mountain to worship and what is his worship? Not singing with songs in music, but obedience and sacrifice unto God in his surrendered will

And, so I think, what did we learn in the Christian life? That true worship is a lifestyle of obedience and love toward God and others. And in Genesis 22, it's shown through Abraham and Isaac following God's command to go up on that mountain. But it's a beautiful illustration because just when Abraham is about to sacrifice his son, Isaac and Isaac willingly lays himself on the altar and he's asking the question , where is the offering?

And we hear this beautiful statement where it says, but God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering. Other translations say, God will provide Himself, the lamb for the offering. The answer is both. God is providing a lamb in the future, and he's doing it for himself and he's doing it by himself and, what we discover is that Genesis 22 passage is a foreshadowing of how God so loves the world, that he sends his only begotten son who he loves, and Jesus will be the one that actually is the sacrifice for all mankind.

So Abraham didn't have to sacrifice his son, he was just being tested, and Christians go through tests to see if we really believe and trust God. In the end, it's God who's doing the work of salvation, providing atonement for us, and that's why Jesus is the lamb that takes away the sin of the world, and he's the son that God sent to die in our place and to represent humanity for our salvation. That is awesome. That's what we learn about the Christian life in the book of Genesis.

Oh that, and a thousand other things we don't have time to cover. But, and one of the cool things, I this could be one of my answers to number seven, what are some of our favorite things about this book? One of the things I had learned was that the location where Abraham is called to offer his son Isaac, is very near geographically, the location where the Father offers his Son Jesus, which is where the location of Jerusalem would later be, thousands of years later, Mount Moriah, later as Jerusalem. So I haven't verified that. I've heard that. I know it's the same region, but goodness, if, if Genesis 22 friends, if you've not read this, the entire gospel is found there.

And I, Joey, I love that you brought us to that point because again, Genesis is starting so many things that we're gonna now trace the thread as we go book by book on this journey. But man, to miss some of these things, to understand God's covenant faithfulness through the patriarchs, his holy and righteous judgment, you are gonna be prepared to encounter the beauty, the holiness, the wrath of God.

And this is God. The Bible is a book about God, but your life is an invitation into life with God. That doesn't begin in the New Testament with Jesus. It begins at Genesis 1:1, and so one of my favorite things about Genesis is that it is as relevant to us as New Testament Christians today as it was to the original audience, because as you said, So many times in the New Testament it, points back to Abraham, it points back to Isaac.

It points back because we have got to know where the story starts and why it matters so much that the God that's revealed in Genesis is the same God who is available to be known, to be worshiped, and to transform your life where you are, and whatever you're facing today.

Joey, you get the last word, man. Tell us some of your favorite things that we haven't covered. This has been a tremendous episode. We're probably going over time and I don't care cause I'm having too good of a time. This is a wonderful book. I love it. I love it. What are some other final, any final thoughts that you've got on Genesis?

yeah. Well, Since this is the book of beginnings and obviously we knew we were gonna have to cover a lot of ground today, I think it's wonderful that when you know that God is with you. , then you're always on holy ground. And I think one of the beautiful sayings that comes outta Genesis in the life of Joseph is how it says the Lord was with Joseph.

And I wanna say to all of you who are listening right now, the Lord is with you. And so I think that's one of . My favorite sayings that I see through the Book of Genesis, and I also wanna add one last thing because I, we've already shared so many of our favorites, Bodie, but I would not be able to end this episode without saying perhaps my most favorite thing in the whole book, which is that, in the very beginning when we see the creation order where God created man first, and then he created the woman by putting the man to sleep.

And as Adam was asleep out of his side, God formed a bride and Adam said, this is bone in my bones and flesh of my flesh, because she was taken out of man. I shared this in the, in the early episodes when we did the whole meta narrative of the Bible, but I wanna remind you that in that first story before sin is even in the scene, we discover that God was showing his greater eternal purpose because one day the second Adam, the last man, Jesus would also be put to sleep, so to speak.

He would have his appearance of death and he would die on a cross for us, and out of his side would come a different bride. A bride, which is you and me, Bodie, and all Christians all over the world. And that bride is the church made up of Jew and gentile slave and free, rich, and poor, male and female. Everybody who's in Christ is a new creation. And just like Eve was brought to Adam, the church will one day be brought to Jesus.

And just like Adam and Eve joined together in one, as Jesus prayed in John 17, that we would be one in him as he's one with the Father. So we will be one with God forever, and that's all contained in Genesis and explained when you read the rest of the Bible, as we let scripture interpret Scripture and get the picture of Jesus. That's exciting, that's awesome. And that's what we learn in Genesis in the beginning of beginnings. Amazing.

Yep, Genesis explained. So we hope that this inspires you and, and maybe gives you some tools for you to go read, again, this is You Can Learn the Bible. We don't call it, we can teach the Bible because this is about you and your journey. But we want to be here with you. We're thankful for your time and attention.

And so Joey Genesis ends with Joseph in a coffin in Egypt. And so the story is just getting going. And so what we're gonna do in our next episode is pick up what happens after the final patriarch, Joseph, and what, where his life goes. And we're gonna look at the Book of Exodus.

And so I am so excited in episode eight where we're gonna talk about Exodus Explained, we're gonna try and summarize the entire book of Exodus, all the key moments and turning points for you so that when you go to read it, and you go to study it. Not only do you understand it, but you love it and you connect with God in that book. Any final thoughts? Joe? You get the last word and we're gonna sign off from here.

Well, I think all of you who are listening realize the Bible is an amazing book. It's a library of books, and that's why we're not stopping with Genesis. We're just getting this train going, so next week or next time you're hear the podcast, it'll be the Book of Exodus, and you're gonna see how the narrative of the Bible continues.

And we're gonna go just like we did today. We're gonna cover all of this seven part framework to equip and inspire you in your Bible study. So keep subscribing, keep sharing with the friend, and made the Lord Jesus reveal himself to you more and more. In Jesus name, amen.

Amen. Yep. Remember, just if you wanna watch on YouTube, the videos are there, subscribe, and we are just so blessed if you would leave a review if this has been a blessing to you. God bless you. And until next episode we'll see you later. Grace and Peace.

Amen.-

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