Summary Of Genesis


summary of the book of genesis

A summary of the book of Genesis as recorded in ‘The Bible Brief’ Bible summary book

Outline Of The Book Of Genesis

When: Written at the time of Moses, around 1445-1406 B.C.

Who: Generally attributed to Moses, but with events recorded much further back in time.

People & Places:

Adam & Eve; Cain & Abel; Methuselah; Enoch; Abraham; Isaac; Jacob (Israel); Ishmael; Rachael; Esau; Joseph; Pharaoh.

The Garden of Eden; Babel; Egypt; Sodom & Gomorrah; Salem; Canaan.

Sound-Bites:

Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. (Gen 1:3)

Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. (Gen 2:7)

“No longer shall your name be called Abram,
But your name shall be Abraham;
For I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. (Gen 15:5)

 But his wife, from behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt. (Gen 19:26)

As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive. (Gen 50:20)

The Messianic Link:

Messiah would be born of the seed of a woman (Gen 3:15)

Descendant of Abraham, Isaac & Jacob. (Gen 12:3, 17:19, 28:14)

He would come from the royal line of Judah (Gen 49:10, John 1:49)

Isaac represented him in Genesis 22

He was typified in Joseph in Genesis 37

Summary of The Book:

The story of Genesis is one of the creation of the universe and all living things; to the subsequent rebellion and fall of man and the redemption offered by God through the coming messiah.

Sin enters through the eating of the fruit of the ‘tree of the knowledge of good and evil’ in the garden—something which had been expressly forbidden by God, and through it the expulsion from the garden of Eden and the first murder by Adam’s son, Cain, of his brother, Abel.

Mankind is condemned thereafter to struggle with sin and death, whilst awaiting the promised redemption in the form of a Messianic Saviour (Gen 3:15).

The whole Earth is flooded to destroy all but Noah and his family in chapter 7, and the Tower of Babel is built – and the people scattered – in chapter 11.

Throughout the book of Genesis we see a record of the birth and growth of the human race, from the early days of Adam & Eve to the later chapters where we see the entrance of the Patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—later Called Israel; and the entry into exile in Egypt.

Brief Summary:

  • God creates the heavens and the Earth and all living creatures over a period of 6 days, to rest on the seventh day
  • Adam and eve cause the whole of creation to fall into the curse after they disobeyed God and ate the forbidden fruit
  • The first murder, Cain kills his brother able and is forced into exile
  • Noah builds the Ark to escape the coming flood of judgement
  • Nimrod builds the tower of Babel to reach up to the heavens
  • The dealings with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as they guide and lead Gods people finally down to Egypt to escape famine

Notes & Quotes:

Genesis is the first of the five books of the Pentateuch, each being mainly attributed to Moses.

There are many people today who would seek to place the book of Genesis firmly in the field of mythology; this would be a great mistake. This book offers Christians (and the rest of the world) an explanation for the mess that we are now all in; in a word SIN. To treat the book of Genesis as anything other than the divinely inspired Word of God is to fall into error. Remove Genesis and you remove the concept of sin, and therefore the need of a saviour.

It is natural for Satan to try this line of attack, for the best way to collapse a building is to erode away the foundation. Genesis is the foundation of the Bible; to remove it is to collapse the building.

This is a strong book, easily able to defend itself—even against the pseudo-science of evolution, now itself on the back-foot with the revelations of genetic science and the move towards ‘creationism’.

Extracted with permission from The Bible Brief – available on Amazon Here

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