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Looking up content for: Biblical Book of the Month: Genesis (posted on 10/9/2006)

Introduction

The Bible’s first book is as familiar to most churchgoers as any part of Scripture. Or so people think. As with so much of the Old Testament, a key challenge to preaching on Genesis is to move people beyond Sunday school caricatures and simplifications so as to get at the gritty, startling nature of these stories. Sometimes a way to approach these passages and stories in a fresh way is to ask good questions. What follows is a sampler of some questions that may spark new ideas in your imagination (and lead to other, even better, questions to ask!):

  1. In Genesis 1, what do we learn when we notice that God created light before the sun and produced green plants also before there was said to be a sun?
  2. What does God do regarding all those “waters” and how does this relate to what later happens in Genesis 6-9?
  3. Why does the account of creation differ so markedly between Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 (and what does that tell us about the nature of these accounts)?
  4. Compare Genesis 6:5 with Genesis 8:21. Why does God’s observation of the same phenomenon lead to anger in chapter 6 but grace in chapter 8?
  5. How can it be that Abram obeys God so swiftly in Genesis 12 but then sputters and fails so much in subsequent chapters? (And what does that tell us about the nature of grace?)
  6. Wasn’t it risky to put the scandalous story of Genesis 22 so early in the Bible?
  7. Why does God favor Jacob when he’s clearly such a trickster and crook?
  8. What is behind Jacob’s outburst in Genesis 33:10 that Esau’s face reminds him of the face of God?
  9. Is Joseph really the innocent naif we usually imagine, or was he initially a bit arrogant and condescending toward his brothers? (That is, did he REALLY think that reporting his dreams would sit well with the rest of the family?)
  10. How is the whole Book of Genesis summed up and dramatically climaxed when old Jacob crosses his hands in blessing in Genesis 48:14?

Introduction

Links

Listen to Eugene Peterson’s reflections on Genesis 22, the well-known but finally shocking story of “The Sacrifice of Isaac.” Click here: to hear the lecture from the 2006 Symposium on Worship sponsored by our ministry partner, the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship.

Read the scholarly paper “Waiting for the Land: The Journey Begins in and Ends with Exile” by Dr. Arie C. Leder of Calvin Theological Seminary and note what Professor Leder sees as the main structure and leitmotif of the book of Genesis.

Also, read the paper by Dr. Arie C. Leder of Calvin Theological Seminary on the Structure of Genesis.

See the Sermon Series on Genesis and on Abraham that CEP Director Scott Hoezee preached while pastor at Calvin Christian Reformed Church. Click on this link and then click on the individual links to see the sermons.

Read or Listen online to some sermons by Brian Elfick from the Saint Andrew the Great Church in Cambridge, England. Click on this link to see recent sermons delivered from Genesis by Rev. Elfick:

Recommended Commentaries

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Genesis: A Bible Commentary for Preaching and Teaching
By, Walter Brueggemann, Interpretation, 1982.

Excellent for preaching. Brueggemann nicely highlights key textual features that fit nicely into sermons.
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The Book of Genesis 1-17; 18-50
By Victor P. Hamilton, NICOT, 1990, 1995.

American evangelical. Interaction with historical methodologies.
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Understanding Genesis
By Nahum M. Sarna, Jewish Theological Seminary of America, 1966.

A good commentary from a Jewish perspective.
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Genesis: A Commentary
By Bruce K Waltke with Cathi J. Fredricks, Zondervan, 2001.

Explores the first book of the Bible as "theological literature."
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Genesis 1-15 and Genesis 16-50
By Gordon J. Wenham, Word, 1987, 1994.

British evangelical. Interaction with historical methodologies. Excellent exegesis and interpretation. Each section contains both technical textual information and sermon-friendly "Explanation" sections.
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Genesis 1-11; 12-36; 37-50
By Claus Westermann, Augsburg, 1984, 1985, 1986.

Very historical. Classic. Very detailed exegesis.
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Genesis: A Commentary
By Gerard von Rad, OTL, 1972.

Source critical orientation but richly theological.

Also Recommended: A General Reference Work titled Notations on the Pentateuch and the Psalms by Henry Ainsworth, Soli Deo Gloria, Ligoner, PA.

Recommended Reading

Look at the section “Christ Plays in Creation” on pages 49-130 in Eugene Peterson’s book Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places (Eerdmans, 2005) for some insights into the Genesis text and into creation theology generally.

Commentary Resources in Spanish

Estudios sobre el Pentateuco

García López, Félix. El Pentateuco. Introducción a la lectura de los primeros cinco libros de la Biblia. Introducción al estudio de la Biblia. Verbo Divino, 2003.

Ska, Jean Louis. Introducción a la lectura del Pentateuco. Traducció n por Francisco Gordón. Verbo Divino, 2001.

Estudios sobre Génesis

Alegre Aragües, J., et. al. Personajes del Antiguo Testamento. Vol. 1. Verbo Divino, 1998.

Alonso-Schökel, Luis. ¿Dónde está tu hermano? Textos de fraternidad en el libro del Génesis. Verbo Divino, 1990.

Croatto, Severino. El hombre en el mundo - 1. Creación y designio. Estudio de Génesis 1:1-2:3. La Aurora, 1974.

Croatto, Severino. Crear y amar en libertad. Estudio de Génesis 2:4-2:3. La Aurora, 1986.

Mesters, Carlos. Abrahán y Sara. Segunda edición. Ediciones Paulinas, 1981.

Michaud, Robert. Los patriarcas. Historia y teología. Traductor Jesús M. Asurmendi Ruiz. Verbo Divino, 1976.

Rad, Gerhard von. El libro del Génesis. Segunda edición. Salamanca, 1982.

Voth, Esteban. Génesis. Primera parte. Comentario Bíblico Latinoamericano. Caribe, 1992.

Estudios sobre los demás libros del Pentateuco

Guillén Torralba, Juan. Exodo. Texto y comentario. El Mensaje del Antiguo Testamento 2. Sigueme, 1992.

Wiéner, Claude. El libro del Exodo. Cuadernos bíblicos 54. Sexta edición. Verbo Divino, 2000.

García López, Félix. El decálogo. Cuadernos bíblicos 81. Cuarta edición. Verbo Divino 2002.

Buis, Pierre. El Levítico. La Ley de santidad. Cuadernos bíblicos 116. Verbo Divino, 2003.

Buis, Pierre. El libro de los Nùmeros. Cuadernos bíblicos 78. Tercera edición Verbo Divino, 2000.

García López, Félix. El Deuteronomio. Una ley interpretada. Cuadernos bíblicos 63. Quinta edición. Verbo Divino 2001.

Teología del Antiguo Testamento y otros temas

Holwerda, David E. Israel en el plan de Dios. Traducción: Ezequiel Romero Sánches-Concha. Libros Desafío, 2000.

Rad, Gerhard von. Teología del Antiguo Testamento. Tomo 1. Las tradiciones históricas de Israel. Séptima edición. Traducción: Victorina Martín Sánchez. Sigueme, 1993. Tomo 2. Sexta edición. Sigueme, 1986.

Ruiz de la Peña, Juan L. Teología de la creación. Presencia Teológica 24. Cuarta edición. Sal Terrae, 1988.

Ska, Jean-Luis, Jean-Pierre Sonnet y André Wénin. Análisis narrativo de los relatos del Antiguo Testamento. Cuadernos bíblicos 107. Verbo Divino, 107.