STU D

ITH
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THE–BOOK–OF
GENESIS
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C O NTE XT A B I B LE STU DY JOU RNAL M EAN I N G

 THIS GUIDE TO THE BOOK OF
GENESIS PROVIDES CONTEXT,
KEY SCRIPTURES, AND A PLACE
TO JOURNAL. READ THE BOOK
OF GENESIS FOR YOURSELF AND
WRITE DOWN ANYTHING YOU
THINK GOD MIGHT BE TRYING TO
TEACH YOU.

YOU CAN FOLLOW ALONG WITH

SCRIPTURE READING IN THE
CROSSROADS APP.
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GO TO WWW.CROSSROADS.NET/APP/
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 STU D
ITH
W COM E S Y
GROWTH

THE–BOOK–OF
GENESIS

C O NTE XT A B I B LE STU DY JOU RNAL M EAN I N G

 STU D
ITH
W COM E S Y
GROWTH

THE–BOOK–OF
GENESIS
4

CONTEXT A B I B LE STU DY JOU RNAL M EAN I NG

 WHAT I S IT?
Genesis is the first book of the Bible. Its name means
“origins” or “beginnings.” Genesis is also part of the
first group of books in the Bible—Genesis, Exodus,
Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. This group
is known by several names: the Torah (Hebrew for
“Teaching”), the Pentateuch ( Greek for “five tools”),
or simply The Law. These five books are the founda-
tion of both the Jewish and Christian faiths.
Genesis gives an account of all the beginnings. The
beginnings you’ll read about in Genesis are:
► Universe
► Life
► Man & Woman

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► Marriage & Family
► Sin & Suffering
► Sacrifice
► Death
► Salvation
► All the nations
► Israel
Genesis is beautifully designed and makes use of
an ancient Hebrew writing tactic called “Chiasm”
which blends parallelism with a build to a climax.
Basically, it’s an elegant form of repetition, to point
out major themes in the book. If you read Genesis out
loud, you might notice this even more.
 WHY I S TH I S BOOK SO I M PORTANT?
Genesis is the foundation of the rest of the Bible. All
the other writings in scripture assume the knowl-
edge and truth of the origins and explanations found
in Genesis. If the Bible’s a tree, Genesis is the trunk.
None of the other 65 books can stand without it. If
you want to understand the Bible’s view on God, on
life, and even on yourself—start in Genesis.
Genesis recounts the origins of the earth, its con-
tents, and of humanity. Humans, made in the image
of the Creator God, display his glory and are set apart
for a relationship with Him. This book explains the
origin of the Christian worldview on pain and suf-
fering due to the sin that entered creation through
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the first humans and humanity’s impending revolt

and disobedience against God. The first 11 chapters
of Genesis set up a snowballing deterioration of
evil, sin, and wrath for humanity to which there is
no answer or escape on their own.
The other 39 chapters of the book of Genesis pro-
vide the foundation and beginning of God’s answer,
explaining the covenant with the nation of Israel
originated in Abraham and his descendants who
were chosen sovereignly by God out of all the other
nations and made righteous by faith. In this book we
see grace triumph through God’s redemption which
will echo throughout all of scripture.
 WHO WROTE IT?
Tradition says that Moses wrote the first five books
of the Bible. Many scholars believe he may have had
some source material for parts of Genesis or was
given direct revelation by God. Moses was also the
author and direct eyewitness for all that took place
in the other four books of the Pentatuech. (Except
for the part at the very end of Deuteronomy where it
says that Moses died; it’s assumed that Joshua added
the ending of that book.)

WHO WAS TH E BOOK WR ITTE N FOR?

Genesis (and the entire Torah / Pentateuch / Law)
was written for the generation of ancient Israelites
about to go into the Promised Land. These books

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challenged the Israelites to live faithfully, and re-
ceive the promises given generations before them.

ORGAN I ZATION OF TH E BOOK:

THE HISTORY OF THE HISTORY OF

HUMANITY ISRAEL
CHAPTE R S 1–11 CHAPTE R S 12–5 0

CREATION, 1–2 ABRAHAM, 12–24

FALL, 3–5 ISAAC, 25–26
BLOOD, 6–9 JACOB, 27–36
BABEL, 10–11 JOSEPH, 37–50
 KEY FIGURES
MOST I M P ORTANT

God CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE.

Adam &
THE FIRST MAN AND WOMAN.
Eve

Noah THE ONLY FAITHFUL MAN OF HIS TIME.

BUILT AN ARK.
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Abraham THE FATHER OF THE NATION OF

ISRAEL. FORMERLY NAMED ABRAM.

ABRAHAM’S SON, MIRACULOUSLY

Issac BORN TO HIM AND HIS WIFE SARAH IN
OLD AGE.

ISAAC’S SON. TWIN OF ESAU. KIND

Jacob OF A SCOUNDREL. WRESTLED WITH
GOD AND WAS EVENTUALLY RENAMED
ISRAEL.

JACOB’S YOUNGEST AND FAVORITE

SON. HAD A BROADWAY SHOW
Joseph WRITTEN ABOUT HIM (“JOSEPH AND
THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR
DREAMCOAT,” OBVS)
 KEY FIGURES
ALSO VE RY I M P ORTANT

ADAM AND EVE’S ELDEST. KILLED HIS

Cain YOUNGER BROTHER ABEL OUT OF
JEALOUSY.

Abel SON OF ADAM AND EVE, KILLED BY HIS

OLDER BROTHER CAIN.

ADAM AND EVE’S THIRD SON. EVE

Seth NAMED HIM SETH TO SIGNIFY HE
REPLACED ABEL.

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AN EARLY PATRIARCH. GENESIS SAYS
THAT “GOD TOOK HIM,” AND THE BOOK
Enoch OF HEBREWS TELLS US ENOCH “DID
NOT SEE DEATH.”

NOAH’S FATHER. ALSO MENTIONED

Lamech IN JESUS’ GENEALOGY. NOT TO BE
CONFUSED WITH ANOTHER LAMECH,
ONE OF SETH’S SONS.

ONE OF NOAH’S BELIEVING SONS.

Shem THE BOOK OF LUKE MENTIONS JESUS
AS A DESCENDANT OF SHEM.
 KEY FIGURES
ALSO VE RY I M P ORTANT

NOAH’S SECOND SON. SAW NOAH

Ham PASSED OUT DRUNK AND TOLD HIS
BROTHERS. NOAH WAS NOT HAPPY
ABOUT THAT.

HAM’S SON, NOAH’S GRANDSON.

Canaan NOAH CURSED CANAAN BECAUSE OF
WHAT HAM DID.

NOAH’S GREAT-GRANDSON. A MIGHTY

Nimrod RULER, THOUGHT TO HAVE BUILT THE
TOWER OF BABEL (BUT IT DOESN’T
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SPECIFICALLY SAY THAT IN THE BIBLE).

ABRAHAM’S FIRSTBORN SON. BORN

TO ABRAHAM’S SECOND WIFE HAGAR
Ishmael BECAUSE HIS FIRST WIFE SARAH
COULDN’T CONCEIVE. LOTS OF FAMILY
DRAMA HAPPENING THERE.

ISAAC’S OLDEST SON, JACOB’S TWIN.

Esau SUPER MANLY GUY. TRADED HIS
BIRTHRIGHT TO JACOB FOR A HELP-
ING OF STEW.
 KEY WOR D S & PH RAS E S & SU B-PLOTS:
Watch for these repeated over and over! When you
find these ideas, pay attention in order to enhance
your understanding of both Genesis and the rest of
scripture.
► “God said”
► Life
► Rest
► Good, Fruitful, Blessing
► Evil, Curse, Sin
► “This is the account of….”, Generations, seed
► Land

Covenants -

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With 1) Noah and 2) Abraham, whose is repeated
to Isaac & Jacob and is God’s promised plan of
redemption and blessing for all the earth as well as
the land that is promised. This land—its battles and
occupants—is a major theme in the rest of the Old
Testament.

Enmity -
God “put enmity between” first the serpent and hu-
mans (Adam and Eve). Through Genesis we see this
enmity develop between individuals and families.
Ultimately this grows and helps make sense of the
wars between nations in the rest of scripture.
 Choice of the Unexpected/Weak/Young -
Throughout Genesis you encounter God bypass-
ing the obvious choice; the oldest or strongest. He
frequently chooses what is flawed, even regularly
choosing barren women to bear the godly seed.
Trust in God is more important than flaws and is
the unifying factor of the godly seed.

Judah as leader -
The long Joseph narrative establishes the theme of
the tribe of Judah taking a leading role in Israel and
protecting and providing for the others. It climaxes
in Jacob’s blessing of the twelve sons/tribes at the
end of the book and links to the coming Davidic
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Kingdom in the rest of scripture.

Egypt & Canaan -

Genesis explains how Israel ends up in the nation
of Egypt from which God will rescue them in the
book of Exodus. Both these nations become near
neighbors of Israel and are linked to the genealogy
of Noah’s son, Ham. Both are found in constant
conflict with Israel and play a major role through
the Bible. In Genesis, you also learn the origin of the
other nations that reappear throughout scripture;
Moab, Ammon & Edom.
 KEY QUOTE S FROM G E N E S I S:
These are key verses we are studying in the book of
Genesis. These aren’t the only ones, but they really
help us get a grasp of the major parts of the story.

1:1–3
In the beginning, God
created the heavens and
the earth. The earth was

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without form and void, and
darkness was over the face
of the deep. And the Spirit
of God was hovering over
the face of the waters. And
God said, “Let there be
light,” and there was light.
 KEY QUOTE S FROM G E N E S I S:

1:26–28
Then God said, “Let us make
man in our image, after our
likeness. And let them have
dominion over the fish of the sea
and over the birds of the heavens
and over the livestock and over
all the earth and over every
creeping thing that creeps on the
earth.” So God created man in
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his own image, in the image of

God he created him; male and
female he created them. And God
blessed them. And God said to
them, “Be fruitful and multiply
and fill the earth and subdue it,
and have dominion over the fish
of the sea and over the birds of
the heavens and over every living
thing that moves on the earth.”
 KEY QUOTE S FROM G E N E S I S:

2:7–8
then the Lord God formed the
man of dust from the ground
and breathed into his nostrils
the breath of life, and the man
became a living creature. And
the Lord God planted a garden
in Eden, in the east, and there
he put the man whom he had
formed.

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2:15, 24
The Lord God took the man
and put him in the garden of
Eden to work it and keep it.
Therefore a man shall leave
his father and his mother and
hold fast to his wife, and they
shall become one flesh.
 KEY QUOTE S FROM G E N E S I S:

3:15
I will put enmity between you
and the woman, and between
your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head, and
you shall bruise his heel.”
6:5, 9
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The Lord saw that the wicked-

ness of man was great in the
earth, and that every intention
of the thoughts of his heart was
only evil continually. These are
the generations of Noah. Noah
was a righteous man, blameless
in his generation. Noah walked
with God.
 KEY QUOTE S FROM G E N E S I S:

21:6
And Sarah said, “God has made
laughter for me; everyone who
hears will laugh over me.”
22:1–2, 14
After these things God tested
Abraham and said to him,
“Abraham!” And he said, “Here
I am.” He said, “Take your son,

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your only son Isaac, whom
you love, and go to the land of
Moriah, and offer him there as
a burnt offering on one of the
mountains of which I shall tell
you.” So Abraham called the
name of that place, “The Lord
will provide”; as it is said to this
day, “On the mount of the Lord it
shall be provided.”
 KEY QUOTE S FROM G E N E S I S:

25:23, 34
And the Lord said to her, “Two
nations are in your womb, and
two peoples from within you
shall be divided; the one shall be
stronger than the other, the older
shall serve the younger.” Then
Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil
stew, and he ate and drank and
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rose and went his way. Thus Esau

despised his birthright.
32:27–28
And he said to him, “What is
your name?” And he said, “Jacob.”
Then he said, “Your name shall no
longer be called Jacob, but Israel,
for you have striven with God and
with men, and have prevailed.”
 KEY QUOTE S FROM G E N E S I S:

33:4
But Esau ran to meet him
and embraced him and fell
on his neck and kissed him,
and they wept.
41:41–42

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And Pharaoh said to Joseph,
“See, I have set you over all
the land of Egypt.” Then
Pharaoh took his signet ring
from his hand and put it on
Joseph’s hand, and clothed
him in garments of fine
linen and put a gold chain
about his neck.
 KEY QUOTE S FROM G E N E S I S:

50:22–24
So Joseph remained in Egypt,
he and his father’s house. Joseph
lived 110 years. And Joseph saw
Ephraim’s children of the third
generation. The children also of
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Machir the son of Manasseh were

counted as Joseph’s own. And
Joseph said to his brothers, “I am
about to die, but God will visit
you and bring you up out of this
land to the land that he swore to
Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.”
Use this space for notes, prayers, or journals.

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CI NCI N NATI, OH IO