Creative Living Bible Study New Beginnings Studies on the Book of Genesis A Creative Living International Publication NEW BEGINNINGS STUDIES FROM THE BOOK OF GENESIS Copyright © 1994, 1998 by Creative Living International of the United States of America. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from Creative Living International, 11560 Brass Lantern Court, Reston, Virginia 20194. Creative Living International is a Christian organization designed to help individuals find practical biblical principles for today's living. Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible: New International Version (NIV). Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, International Bible Society. Printed in the United States of America. ISBN #1-932395-05-9 New Beginnings Studies from the Book of Genesis Part 1: The Beginning of History--Genesis 1-11 1 Creation Order in Our Lives 2 2 Adam and Eve How's Your Self Image 8 3 The Big Mistake Dealing With Nasty Habits 15 4 Cain and Abel Dealing With Anger 22 5 The Flood Taking God Seriously 29 6 The Rainbow Promise Hope in a Crisis 37 7 Babel's Tower Help for the Tongue 44 Part 2: Israel's Beginnings--Abraham, Isaac and Jacob 1 The Call of Abram Perspective on Possessions 53 2 Crisis & Covenant Conquering Impulsiveness 60 3 Ishmael is Born What Price Impatience? 67 4 Sodom and Gomorrah Current Events Speak 74 5 Isaac is Born The Gift of Joy 82 6 Isaac on the Altar Trusting God 88 7 Rebekkah Knowing God's Will 94 8 Jacob and Esau Building Love I: 101 Overcoming Prejudices 9 Jacob in Exile Building Love II: Dealing With 109 Jealousy 10 Jacob and Laban Confronting Resentment 116 11 Jacob Meets Esau Dealing With Stress 123 12 More About Jacob Disappointment & Losses 131 Part 3: Beginnings in Egypt--Genesis 37-50 1 Joseph and Brothers Handling Broken Relationships 139 2 Joseph in Bondage Performing Under Pressure 147 3 Joseph the Prime Minister In the World, Not of It 154 4 Reunited Family Controlling Those Emotions 162 5 Jacob in Egypt The Beauty of Age 170 6 The Blessings of Jacob Confronting Death & Pain 178 7 Joseph's Last Years The Positive Power of Forgiveness 186 Afterward, Easy Breakdown Review, Twelve Tribes Summary 192-193 Major Footnotes Directory Bibliography Before you begin . . . Genesis is where most people begin when they decide to read through the entire Bible. It is one of the most moving and exciting books in the Scriptures. The first book of the Bible, its events lay the foundation for the main theme running throughout the Bible: God's loving redemption of mankind. The purpose of our study of Genesis is to get a simple overview of its events, understand why it is important to the rest of the Bible, and to derive biblical principles from its pages to help us live healthier and happier lives today. What you discover in the weeks to come may be new to you, or maybe review, but my hope is that it will refresh your understanding of God's greatness, His great love for you, and His wise principles for living. Our lives are always changing . . . there are many new beginnings. May the pages of this study give you hope as you see the unchanging faithfulness of God through every change of life. Diana Schick Author Creative Living Bible Studies PART 1 THE BEGINNINGS OF HISTORY Genesis is a book of beginnings: of life, death, marriage, parenting, problems. The characters in Genesis experienced them all. Genesis is also a book of facts. It is not an exhaustive book of scientific or historical fact, but rather a book containing the facts needed to answer certain questions the author meant to address. Jewish tradition ascribes authorship of Genesis and the first five books of the Bible to Moses. Jesus Christ explicitly ascribed these writings to Moses as well (Luke 24:44). Some theologians contend that unknown authors or editors long after Moses put together these works, but these theories have many variations as well as flaws. There are many evidences, however, that the true author was Moses, although he may have used existing sources for Genesis and some minor editing may have been done after his death. With Moses as the author, we can assume Genesis was addressed to Israel during their years in the wilderness around 1450 B.C. It was written to explain to these people where they had come from, where they were going, and why. Though miraculously delivered from slavery in Egypt under the leadership of Moses, they understood very little of how and why it happened. Although they were Hebrew and had always been outcasts in the Egyptian culture, they had little knowledge of the God of their forefather Abraham. God set them apart to be a holy nation, but they had a long way to go from the pagan thinking they had developed in Egypt during 400 years of captivity. They needed to know God and His purpose in history, guides to their worship, and standards for moral and ethical decisions. 1 © Copyright Creative Living International • All Rights Reserved So the five books of Moses were written to help the Israelites make a clean break with their past in a pagan society and begin to look at life from God's perspective. They were to become a new culture, out of which the world would be blessed. They needed, as we do, answers to the questions: Who is God? What is my relationship to Him? How did it come about? How does this affect the way I live? Why should I live this way? As we follow the history and people of this book, we will receive, as the Israelites did, God's great answers to these questions. Easy Breakdown of Genesis I. Beginnings of Mankind (Chapters 1-11) Creation Fall Flood Babel II. Founding Fathers of Israel (Chapters 12-50) Abraham Isaac Jacob Joseph Lesson 1 CREATION Genesis 1:1-2:3 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” There is nothing here about the details of creation, just that in the beginning, however distant that may have been, God called into being everything. The Genesis creation account is not a technical review, rather it is written in everyday language, as its events would have appeared to the average person. First, God prepared the earth to be life sustaining. Then He made plant and animal life and finally man. The process involved six stages described as days.1 One brought light, another atmosphere, another the establishment of 2 © Copyright Creative Living International • All Rights Reserved land, sea, and plants, yet another the functioning of the sun, moon, and stars, another fish and birds, and finally animals and other land life. When the earth was ready God created man, the crown of His work, and gave him rule and dominion over all the earth. All that had been made was declared “very good,” and God ended the six days with a day of rest. Read Genesis 1:1-2:3. 1. What was the earth like in the beginning (1:1-2)? 2. What did the commands of the first three days produce (1:3-13)? 3. What was the result of God's commands in the next three days (1:14-25)? 4. How were man and woman different from the rest of creation (1:26-27)? 5. What did God commission the man and woman to do, and how did He provide for them (1:28-30)? 6. How was the seventh day of creation unique (2:1-3)? 3 © Copyright Creative Living International • All Rights Reserved 7. What does the creation account and God's creation around you tell you about the character of God? BUILDING ON THE BASICS Order in Our Lives Imagine the judge in an unruly courtroom pounding his gavel and shouting, “Order in the court!” Wouldn’t it be nice if we could bring order to the sometimes chaotic arena of our individual lives just by pounding a gavel? A turmoil-filled world can easily take over our inner world as well. As we look at this first chapter of Genesis, we see God bring order, beauty, and purpose to a lifeless planet in space. He began here to reveal Himself as a God of order with infinite power to bring life where there was none and meaning out of chaos. Let’s look at what this can mean in our lives today. 1. What do these verses say about God’s way of doing things? 1 Corinthians 14:33a 1 Corinthians 14:40 2. What are your observations about God’s order in the massive project of Genesis 1? 4 © Copyright Creative Living International • All Rights Reserved 3. What confusion do you see in the world around you regarding: Relating to God Marriage, family, and other relationships Meaning in life Work Sexuality Mental and emotional stability 4. What do you think causes disorder in our world? 5. What was the result of God’s ordering of things according to Genesis 1:4,10,12,18,21,25? 6. What do these verses suggest regarding the order God can bring to our lives? Proverbs 3:5-6 5 © Copyright Creative Living International • All Rights Reserved Isaiah 48:17 Psalm 48:14 7. What can stand in the way of God bringing order to our lives? Proverbs 12:15a Proverbs 28:26a 8. a. When God created the world, one seventh of His time went to rest. What significance might this have on ordering our lives? Exodus 23:12 b. How might Exodus 34:21 be rewritten for us today? S U M M A R Y 9. When you have sought to order your own life apart from God’s wisdom, what have you found? 10. In what areas do you need to trust God to produce order, beauty, and harmony? Perhaps you would like to take a moment now to ask Him to do this. 6 © Copyright Creative Living International • All Rights Reserved