Ron Rhodes - 40 Days Through Genesis. Discover the Story That Started It All

HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS

EUGENE, OREGON

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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40 DAYS THROUGH GENESIS

Copyright 2015 Ron Rhodes

Published by Harvest House Publishers

Eugene, Oregon 97402

www.harvesthousepublishers.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Rhodes, Ron.

40 days through Genesis / Ron Rhodes.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 978-0-7369-6096-0 (pbk.)

ISBN 978-0-7369-6098-4 (eBook)

1. Bible. GenesisDevotional use. I. Title.

BS1235.54.R46 2015

222'.1106dc23

2014021861

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To Kerri with love and appreciation

Kerri, David, and Kylie

Words are inadequate to express my continued gratitude for your enduring love and support. I am truly blessed!

All my friends at Harvest House Publishers

Thanks for your collective hard work. You are hugely appreciated! It is always a delight to partner with you.

Contents

Thank you for joining me on this exciting journey through the book of Genesis. You are in for a spiritually uplifting time! My hope and prayer is that as you read 40 Days Through Genesis , you will make many discoveries. For example

Genesis is a book of beginnings, including the beginnings of the universe and humankind.

God is a personal being who personally interacts with His people.

God is sovereign, and He providentially controls the universe and human history.

God not only makes promises but also is a relentless promise keeper.

God blesses righteous living.

Gods people need to maintain faith in Him regardless of what outward circumstances may look like.

God can providentially bring good out of evil.

The Bible in general and the book of Genesis in particular are completely trustworthy.

I want to let you know right up front that the book of Genesis is absolutely foundational to a proper understanding of the rest of the Bible. After all, Genesis not only tells us about the origins of the universe and humankind but also informs us where human sin, suffering, and death came from. Gods work of redemption, as recorded throughout the rest of Scripture, would make little sense if we did not first understand these foundational truths in the book of Genesis. So we might say that Genesis sets the stage for all that follows in the rest of Scripture.

As we begin our journey together, I wish to address a few things that will lay a foundation for better understanding the book of Genesis. Lets look at the big picture first, and then we will zero in on the details in subsequent chapters.

Two Primary Streams of Thought in Genesis

The book of Genesis is based on two streams of thought:

Genesis 111 documents the creation of the universe and humankind, and then it broadly traces the peoples and nations as they turn away from God.

In Genesis 1250, God zeroes in on one familyAbraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph and his brothers. This family will become the nation of Israel, through which all the other nations of the earth are to be blessed.

I will provide a more detailed outline below, but these two broad concepts help us to easily conceptualize the book of Genesis in broad terms.

The Author and Date of Genesis

Moses is the author of the book of Genesis. This is confirmed throughout the rest of the Old Testament (see Exodus 17:14; Numbers 33:1-2; Deuteronomy 31:9; Joshua 1:7-8; 1 Kings 2:3; 2 Kings 14:6; Ezra 6:18; Daniel 9:11-13; Malachi 4:4) as well as the New Testament (Matthew 19:8; Mark 12:26; John 5:46-47; Romans 10:5).

One might naturally wonder how Moses could know the universe was created if he wasnt there to witness it. The answer is simple. The book of Genesis is a book of divine revelation. God Himself gave special revelation to Moses regarding how He created the universe. The book was written between 1445 and 1405 BC.

The Truth of Genesis

Liberal critics typically argue that the book of Genesis is mythological and does not contain real truth. They note that similar creation accounts have been discovered among the Babylonians, Sumerians, Greeks, Hindus, Chinese, and many others. Here are a few examples.

The Ebla Tabletsa library of 16,000 cuneiform clay tablets discovered at Tell Mardikh, Syriacontain an account of the creation that is strikingly close to Genesis. It speaks of one being who created the heavens, earth, moon, and stars, all out of nothing.

The Atrahasis Epic, a Babylonian document, contains many details that are similar to the biblical account of both the creation and the flood.

The Enuma Elish presents a Mesopotamian account of the creation.

Such facts, however, do not mean that Genesis is mythological. The truth of the matter is that Genesis gives the original story, and the other versionsall dated latercontain elaborations, thereby introducing corruptions into the original account.

Later Bible writers confirmed that Genesis is not full of myths. They interpreted its contents literally, including

the creation of the universe (Exodus 20:10-11)

the creation of Adam and Eve (Matthew 19:6; 1 Timothy 2:13)

the fall of Adam and his resulting death (Romans 5:12,14)

Noahs flood (Matthew 24:38)

The verses in Matthew indicate that Jesus Himself took the events in Genesis as literally true. Therefore, Christians should not allow their faith to be shaken by the claims of liberal critics who seek to undermine a literal interpretation of Genesis.

The Title of the Book

Genesis literally means beginning. This book contains an account of the beginning of the world, the universe, and humankind. It also contains an account of the beginning of human sin, suffering, death, and redemption.

A Summary Outline of Genesis

1. The Creation and the Fall (13)

God created the entire universe, including the earth and human beings (1:26-27). Even in a perfect living environment, Adam and Eve sinned against God and catapulted the entire human race into sin (3).