Great Moments in Genesis

1
Great Moments in Genesis

• Peter Fitch
• Part 3

2
The Patriarchs

• Abraham Father of Faith
• Isaac Child of Promise
• Jacob Father of Israel

3
Abrahams Refining

• Gen. 121-5 A partial obedience . . .
• Strength in numbers
• Trusting in wealth
• Doing Gods work in a human way
• Loving the gift of God more than God Himself
• An improper view of God as Father

4
Direct Prophecies of the One

• Gen. 315 And I will put enmity between you and
  the woman, And between your seed and her seed He
  shall bruise you on the head, And you shall
  bruise him on the heel.

5
Through the Semitic Peoples

• Gen. 925-27 25 So he said, "Cursed be Canaan A
  servant of servants He shall be to his brothers."
• 26 He also said, "Blessed be the LORD, The God
  of Shem And let Canaan be his servant.
• 27 "May God enlarge Japheth, And let him dwell
  in the tents of Shem And let Canaan be his
  servant."

6
Through Abraham

• Gen. 123 And I will bless those who bless you,
  And the one who curses you I will curse. And in
  you all the families of the earth will be
  blessed.

7
Through Isaac

• Gen. 1719 But God said, "No, but Sarah your
  wife will bear you a son, and you shall call his
  name Isaac and I will establish My covenant with
  him for an everlasting covenant for his
  descendants after him.

8
Through Jacob

• Gen 2814 "Your descendants will also be like
  the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to
  the west and to the east and to the north and to
  the south and in you and in your descendants
  shall all the families of the earth be blessed.

9
Through Judah

• Gen 4910 10 The scepter shall not depart from
  Judah, Nor the ruler's staff from between his
  feet, Until Shiloh comes, And to him shall be the
  obedience of the peoples.

10
Pictures of the One

• 321 garments of skin
• 623 ark (see 1 Peter 318-22)
• 918-17 rainbowlimitation on judgment
• 1418-20 Melchizedek
• 157-11 an upside-down covenant
• 189-15 Isaac (Laughter) Child of Promise

11
The Great PictureGenesis 22

• Sacrifice of Isaac
• 3 days into death
• wood of the sacrifice on his back
• YHWH Jireh (lit. sees)the ram
• Mt. Moriahsee 2 Chron. 31

12
More Pictures

• 2810-22 Jacobs ladder (see John 151)
• 2931-35 Messiah will ultimately come
  through Leah, the unloved wife (symbol of
  rejection)
• 3222-32 Jacobs encounter is with Someone
  he understands to be God, but who is
  distinct from God (like Isaiah 4812-16)

13
And then, Joseph

• Like Jesus in many ways . . .
• loved by a father, rejected by brothers
• punished, exiled, but righteous
• withstands temptation
• has supernatural knowledge
• begins ministry at 30
• his suffering leads to life for others

14
Still more

• forgives his tormentors
• he weeps
• says, Be not afraid
• says to brothers, you meant it for evil
  against me, but God meant it for good in order
  to bring about this present result, to preserve
  many people alive.

15
Narrative Structure

• Genealogies give evidence of importance of the
  Onelist brothers that wont carry line in sparse
  detail, then finally list the one that will in
  much greater detail (Joseph an obvious exception)
• Isolated stories included in Genesis for sole
  reason that they relate to the theme of the One

16
Jacobs Children

• Jacob (renamed Israelone who wrestles or
  strives with God) has 12 sons and a daughter by
  his wives Leah and Rachel, and their maids,
  Zilpah and Bilhah

17
Dysfunctional Family

• Leah
• Reuben looked upon (the Lord has seen my
  affliction)
• Simeon heard (the Lord has heard I am
  unloved)
• Levi attach (my husband will become attached
  to me
• Judah praise (this time I will praise the
  Lord)

18
Rachel Fights Back

• Rachels by Bilhah
• Dan judged (God has vindicated me)
• Naphtali wrestled (I have prevailed against
  my sister)

19
Leah Fights Back

• Leahs by Zilpah
• Gad fortune (how fortunate)
• Asher happy (happy am I women will call me
  happy)
• Leah
• Issachar wages (my wages for giving my maid)
• Zebulun dwell (now my husband will dwell with
  me)
• Dinah

20
Rachels Sons

• Rachel
• Joseph add to me (may the Lord give me
  another)
• Benjamin son of my right hand (renamed from
  son of my sorrow at Rachels death)

21
Stories of 4 Sons

• Aside from Joseph (whose story explains the
  presence of the Hebrews in Egypt), there are only
  stories of 4 of the 12 sons
• Reubensexual misconduct (3522 493-4
• Simeon Leviviolence . . . absence of the
  Name (341-31 495-7)
• Judah (3726 381-30 4418-34 498-12)

22
Why Judah?

• He, too, sins, but unlike his brothers, he
  accepts his sin and faces it squarely when he is
  confronted (Gen. 38)
• In this he is like his famous descendant, David
  (2 Sam. 12)
• These are the only people in the OT that face
  their sins so directly (contrast the response of
  Simeon and Levi)

23
But this is not all . . .

• Judah gives himself in the Joseph story as a
  sinless sacrifice for his younger brother,
  Benjamin (contrast Gen. 4418-34 with what Reuben
  says in Gen. 4237)
• In this Judah is like his most famous descendant
  Jesus
• Without this, you might conclude that Genesis had
  simply been written to glorify David noa
  Super-Intelligence is at work