The Field's Musings

We have already seen: 1) Primeval History: 1-11:9 2) Patriarchal Times including Abraham, Isaac, Jacob: 11:10-36:43 Now we look at the Life and times of Joseph (37-50) The Basic Overview 1) Literary Structure Joseph and his brother struggle about the future (dream, Joseph being sold) Joseph’s rise in Egypt Joseph and his brother are at peace about the future Jacob’s death Joseph’s death 2) Intra-tribal relations The Joseph stories teach the tribes of Israel how to relate to each other. 3) Disunity and Egypt Joseph and his brother’s struggle, Joseph gets sold to Egypt. These brothers are the heads of the tribes of Israel. Joseph is a proud guy. When in Egypt the dreams of Joseph become true. The brothers start to understand why bad things happen to them. They repent and have humility. 44:16-34 shows us that the brothers had guilt. V16- God uncovered the guilt. The brothers have violated the law-they need reconciliation. 45:4 ‘Come near to me’ says Joseph to his brothers. In chapter 50 J...

We are going to continue in the Patriarchal History (Genesis 11:10-36:43). Overview Abraham’s Life 11:10-25:18 Jacob’s Life 25:19-36:43 Isaac’s life does not have a separate section. His life is combined in these sections as Abraham’s Son and Jacob’s Dad. Typical Concerns Jacob’s ladder Jacob’s deceit Jacob’s personality- he doesn’t seem to be a good by Jacob’s wrestling with God Literary Structure Jacob and Esau Jacob with Laben Jacob with Esau Jacob and Esau: The Names and the Nations (Genesis 25 and 35:16-36:43) Pre-natal struggle-25:21 Rebekah has twins who are fighting inside. 25:23- two nations are in Rebekah’s womb- the older shall serve the younger. Descendants of: Jacob =Israel Esau = the Edomites Jacob means trickster or deceiver. Esau means hairy or red. 25:27-34 The selling of the birthright Esau was the expected air as the first-born son. 25:33 Esau swears an oath selling his birthright. The Israelites have a right to the inheritance because he gave it over by oath. The ...

The Structure of Abram’s Life 11:10-12 Abram’s election and blessing (i) 13-14 Abram and surrounding people (ii) 15-17 Abram’s covenant relationship with God (iii) 18-21 Abram and surrounding people (iv) 22-25 The future of Abraham’s blessing (v) We’re going to be looking at (iii) and (v) (iii) The Literary Structure of Genesis 15-17 15: The promises that God makes to Abraham 16: Abraham fails by going in with Hagar 17: God comes back to Abram and renews the covenant 1) The Covenant Promises It was important for the Israelites to have children. God assures Abraham of the promise. 15:7-21 God confirms the promise to Abram that he will receive the Promised Land. Abram prepares a ceremony cutting up animals. Abram falls asleep and has a trance. God assures Abram of His promises in the dream. God promises that He will be cursed if He doesn’t keep up to His promises. God promises on the basis of grace and not works. . 16- Abraham’s failure Galatians 4 tells us that Abram turned away from th...

The Life of Abraham: Starting at Genesis 11:10 An Overview 1) The Exodus Readers We want to know what Moses was teaching the Israelites through this section. 2) Literary Structure There is not an easy to discern pattern. But we can say an overarching structure. 11:10-12 Abram’s election and blessing (i) 13-14 Abram and surrounding people (ii) 15-17 Abram’s covenant relationship with God (iii) 18-21 Abram and surrounding people (iv) 22-25 The future of Abraham’s blessing (v) Gen 12:1-3 = the call of Abram by God V1: God’s command (12:1 = should be ‘the Lord had said’) V2a-c: God’s blessing on Abram V2d-3: Abram’s relation to others. Others will be blessed or cursed through him. (i) 11:10-12:20 Abram’s election to blessing 11:10-11:32 the background to Abram’s life 1) Genesis 12:1-9 Abram is called to the land of Canaan. This is not an abstract land. 12:7 God says that Abram’s offspring would gain the land. Moses is saying to the Israelites ‘this is your land’. 12:6 The Canaanites were i...

In this lecture we’re going to be looking at the last portions of the primeval history. Life in Egypt was opposite to life in Eden. The fallen world is paralleled to Egypt. The Garden of Eden is parallel with Canaan. The Overview 1) The Basic Content 6-9:17 The Flood as judgement 9:18-11:9 2) Competing Viewpoints Moses is dealing with different viewpoints The Israelites saw their deliverance as trouble not restoration. The judgement and deliverance of the flood 6:9-9:17 1) Typical concerns: Where is the ark? What about the stability of seasons (end of chapter 8)? Was the flood global or local? We will answer the last question. 2) Reasons to believe in a universal flood: i) 2 Peter 3:5-15 Peter divides time into 3 separate ages Creation of the earth (pre-flood) v5-6 Present heavens and earth (post-flood) v7 New Heaven and Earth at the 2nd coming v13 Peter saw the food as parallel to the 2nd coming of Christ. Is the 2nd coming of Christ local or global? It is a global judgement therefore...

Recap: 2 Cor 5:17- becoming a Christian is being remade back into the original cosmic order Hebrews 4:9- there is a Sabbath rest for the people of God Therefore Genesis 1 is not just about the creation then. It’s about our new nature now and what we have to look forward to in the new creation! Genesis 1 teaches us about salvation. The passage wasn’t only intended to instruct about history, it is meant to teach about today and the future! Overview: 2nd part of the Primeval Period Expulsion from paradise 2-3 Corruption of paradise 4-6:8 Moses looks at Egypt as a place of curse. He saw the movement toward Canaan as a place of blessing and rest. 1) Expulsion from Paradise: Chapters 2-3 Answers questions about marriage, death, hardness of life, the root of evil. These questions are not going to be answered by using the Literary analysis. (A) Literary Structure 2:4-3:24 Beginning: Man is commissioned to cultivate the garden End: Expulsion from the garden V18-25 Conditions get better with the...

The Primeval period is Genesis 1:1-11:9 Content of the Primeval Period 1) Overview of the Primeval History 1-2:3 Ideal cosmic order (creation story) 2:4-3:24 Corruption of the cosmic order (the fall) 4-6:8 Corruption of humanity and genealogies of Cain and Seth 6:9-9:17 Judgement of the flood 9:18-11:9 Stories after Noah (future/new order) 2) Ancient near-Eastern Background to the Primeval History The book does not stand alone-other texts sound similar to Genesis. Moses wrote things in Genesis which resembled other stories in the ancient eastern background Other texts: Anooma-elish: Babylonian creation myth Gilgamish epic: flood legend Anti-levian Kings: Primeval Kings roaming the earth before the flood Optra-Housis text: One big story featuring information from the other texts. (Don’t copy these spellings! I tried to write down the sounds I heard) 3) The Original Meaning of the Primeval History People used the texts to guide current national policies. The texts establish the authority...

The Extrinsic Agents Who is the writer of the book? 1) The Critical Documentary Hypothesis of the OT Pentateuch Julius Wellhausen (1844-1918) a German Scholar used a set of criteria to find the supposed four main traditions behind the Pentateuch. These criteria are as follows: · Divine Names used in a particular passage · Doublets used. These are sections of scripture that say the same thing. · The Theological emphases in a passage. The four sources are known as J, E, D, and P. Jawist · Refers to God as YHWH (Jehovah) · The writer of the Davidic period (1000BC) · Supposedly wrote the stories of creation and the fall · Wrote to support David’s monarchy Elohimist · Used Elohim to refer to God. · Northern Writer · Writing 800-700BC · Emphases the background of the northern tribes Deuteronomist · Wrote the book of Deuteronomy · Wrote to support Josiah’s reforms in 622BC Priestly · Authored by ...