These are Bible’s first words, so it seems fitting that Genesis is where I started copying the text. The creation account in Genesis is a story that I had read so many times. Unfortunately this familiarity caused me to skim over it and not really read every word. As I copied the text I had to slow down and observed some things that I never noticed before.
Context Matters
The book of Genesis was written to an ancient people in an ancient language. For us to truly understand the meaning of this book we must understand that fact. The customs and significance of things seem strange to us in our society. But think about it, those who were alive when Moses was writing it would have understood the references he made. Copying the text forced me to slow down so my mind began to think about the original readers and how they would have interpreted things.
Another thing I learned is that I had assumptions that were wrong about the text. I assumed Genesis was written way before Exodus. What I discovered is most scholars think that Moses wrote this book after the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt. The book of Genesis is the written and oral tradition of the Israelite nation that Moses later compiled (with the Holy Spirit’s help) into one scroll. In context, the book of Genesis is essentially the written history of the new nation of Israel.
Names of God in Genesis
In Genesis chapter 1 God is the only name seen in the text, but in chapter 2 it changes to LORD God. This made me wonder about the difference and why did the author choose to use one vs the other? So I looked up the meaning of the names and learned a few things.
- God– (Elohim) God has creative power, authority, sovereignty
- LORD (Yahweh) Closely related to redeeming acts in history, his saving power; God is self existent; God is near [notice word is in all CAPS]
- LORD God (Yahweh + Elohim) Sovereign, redeeming creator
Reading the text with these names in mind gives a deeper understanding of who God is. Thinking about why the author chose the name he used specifically for the passage gives us a depth that we would miss otherwise. In later posts we will explore other ways the Bible uses names of God.
Image of God
God created man in his own image but what does that really mean? As I copied Genesis 1-2 I noticed one way it think this is true. In Genesis 1 God names things as he creates them: Day and night, light and dark, etc. But notice, after the creation of Adam, God gives him the task of naming the animals (Gen 2:19). Since no other created being is given this responsibility, I think that God allowing Adam to name things is an example of a way the image of God is reflected in us.
Genesis is for Me
In Genesis 3 we see the fall (first sin) of man and this causes him to be separated from God. But don’t miss the beautiful fact that God did not give them what they deserve.
The rest of the book of Genesis, in fact the whole Bible, tells of the great lengths God took to provide a way back to him. This beautiful tale of love reaches through the ages to you and I. Praise be to God for his indescribable love!
What do you think?
Read Genesis 1-3 for yourself. Try to slow down and let the text speak for itself. What did you notice? Did anything stand out to you? I would love to hear your insights about this text.
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Fantastically done! Beautiful insight my Sweet Sister in Christ!
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Thanks Beverly. Miss you!
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I like how you emphasized the context and trying to think of the people it was being written to as we read it. Great job, Deb. Looking forward to more to come.
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Thanks Lynne. It really hit me when writing it down to think about who would have been reading this and what they would have been thinking and it gave me a different perspective.
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Fantastically done! Beautiful insight my Sweet Sister in Christ!
Thanks Beverly. Miss you!
I like how you emphasized the context and trying to think of the people it was being written to as we read it. Great job, Deb. Looking forward to more to come.
Thanks Lynne. It really hit me when writing it down to think about who would have been reading this and what they would have been thinking and it gave me a different perspective.