Thinking on Scripture with Dr. Steven R. Cook

Genesis Chapter 2

“The LORD God” (Yahweh
Elohim) is the major subject of chapter two, as His name appears 11 times
in the text (2:4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 15, 16, 18;
19, 21, 22). The six-day creation account in Genesis 1:1-2:3 is followed
in Genesis 2:4-24 by a more careful consideration of the creation of mankind. The
central idea of this section is that God created mankind in His image with the
capacity to understand and obey Him.  

Genesis Chapter 3 Part 1

Operation “fig leaves”
was Adam and Eve’s attempt to cover up their sin; however, God provided a
better solution (Gen. 3:21). The animal skins provided to Adam and Eve
signified the first atoning death in Scripture, in which blood was shed that
another might be covered.  

Genesis Chapter 3 Part 2

God's judgment on Adam, Eve, and Satan.

Genesis Chapter 3 Part 3

God's judgment on Adam, Eve, and Satan.

Genesis Chapter 4

The Way of Cain
refers to the ways of the world with its godless values and methodologies.  It is self-righteous religion in which
arrogant men play the pipe and expect God to dance.  It is morality based on relative values
rather than the absolutes of God’s word. 
It is society functioning independently of God in every respect,
excluding, silencing, or perverting His truth in government, law, education,
music, literature, art, or any other institutions or activities in which men
regularly engage.  For the average man it
is his whole life, all he sees and hears, and all he will ever know so long as
he continues in unbelief.  To live for Christ is to be set against the world
– The Way of Cain (Jo. 15:18-19; Jas.
4:4; 1 Jo. 2:15-17; 5:4-5).

Genesis Chapter 5

Both Enoch and Noah “walked with God” (Gen. 5:24; 6:9). To
“walk with God” is the ideal standard for a believer (Lev. 26:3-12; Col.
2:6-7; Gal. 5:16, 25; cf. Rev. 3:4). 
Walking with God does not mean sinless perfection, but does mean that
when the believer sins, he handles it in a biblical manner (e.g. David 2 Sam.
12:1-23; cf. 1 Kings 11:4; 1 Jo. 1:8-10). 
Walking with God means we go in the same direction God is going, and
like a friend, we are glad to share in His fellowship (1 Jo. 1:1-10).  Walking with God means He is regularly in our
thoughts, and we live every day conscious of Him and His will for our lives
(Rom. 12:1-2; Col. 3:16).  Walking with
God means we are open and honest with Him about everything, and agree to let
His light shine in our lives, not fearing what it exposes (1 Jo. 1:5-7). Walking
with God means being sensitive to what may offend Him, and making every effort to
please Him through a life of faith (Heb. 11:6). Walking with God means learning
His word and living by faith in every area of our lives (Rom. 1:17; 10:17; Heb.
11:6; cf. Gal. 5:16, 25). 

Genesis Chapter 6 Part 1

God judges the earth because of the corruption of men. 

Genesis Chapter 6 Part 2

God judges the earth because of the corruption of men. 

Genesis Chapter 6 Part 3

God judges the earth because of the corruption of men. 

Genesis Chapters 7 & 8

God commands Noah to build the ark and enter the ark. God then saves Noah and his family from the flood He sends on the earth. 

Genesis Chapter 9

Noah after the flood and the establishment of the Noahic Covenant. 

Genesis Chapter 10

The genealogies
were to show how the nations of the earth came into being.

Genesis Chapter 11:1-9

God disrupts the human arrogance at the tower of Babel. 

Genesis Chapter 11:10-32

The genealogy of Shem to Abram. 

Genesis Chapter 12:1-3

The promises of the Abrahamic Covenant are given in Genesis 12:1-3. The
Abrahamic Covenant is ratified in Genesis 15. The sign of the Abrahamic
Covenant is provided in Genesis 17. The promises of the Abrahamic Covenant (and
their amplifications) find fulfillment only when Christ is seated on David’s
throne in Jerusalem for His one thousand year reign (Rev. 20:4-6).

Genesis Chapter 12:4-20

By faith, Abram understood and obeyed God’s call to leave his homeland
and go to a land that was promised to him (Gen. 12:4-6; cf. Acts 7:2-4). By
faith, Abram received the promise that his “descendants” would inherit the
Promised Land, and he openly worshiped God. Once in the land of Canaan, God
tested Abram’s faith with a famine, and Abram failed by looking to Egypt rather
than God (Gen. 12:10-20; cf. Isa. 31:1). Abram was driven by fear of being
physically hurt rather than by faith in God’s promises. In his failure to live
by faith in God, Abram practiced deception which resulted in the wrongful
accumulation of wealth (which later caused him problems), and judgment on the
house of Pharaoh (Gen. 12:11-20). 

Genesis Chapter 13

This section of
Scripture opens with an account of a conflict between Abram’s
herdsman and Lot’s herdsman.  Apparently
their great wealth brought unintended and unforeseen problems into their lives.
Though Abram had the promise of God that the whole land was his by divine
right, yet he graciously offered to Lot a section of it in order to resolve a
family conflict. Lot—unlike Abram—lived not by faith, but by what
his human eyes saw before him.  The text tells
us that Lot “lifted up his eyes” and “saw” and “chose for himself” what
appeared best to him.  God
spoke to Abram after Lot had departed and confirmed His promises of land and seed.  God said to
Abram “now lift up your eyes” and “look” for “all the land which you see, I
will give it to you and to your descendants forever”

Genesis Chapter 14

Abram won two victories in one day: He won a military
victory over those who captured his nephew Lot. 
In his victory, Abram used all his resources (the trained men in his
house), called on friends with whom he had entered into a covenant (the
Amorites), and employed tactical skill in his military efforts to win the
battle (attacked on two fronts under the cover of darkness).  He won a spiritual victory by continuing in
God’s promises rather than accepting the financial reward of a wicked
king.  For Abram, the promises of God
were of greater value than the treasures of the world. Abram was greeted by
Melchizedek—a spiritual brother—who blessed him with refreshments and a
prophetic word that it was God who gave him his victory (Gen. 14:18-20).  

Genesis Chapter 15

Genesis 15:1-6
shows Abram to be a man of faith, trusting God at His word. Genesis 15:7-21
reveals the ratification of the Abrahamic Covenant. 

Genesis Chapter 16

God had promised a son to Abram (Gen. 12:2; 13:15-16; 15:5), but Sarai was
never specifically identified as the woman who would give him that son.  After ten years, they apparently felt the
conflict between God’s promise of a son and Sarai’s inability to conceive; and
because of impatience, Sarai proposed the marriage with Hagar as a
solution to their problem.  It appears
God intentionally created a dilemma in which Abram and Sarai were helpless to
produce a son, so that it would be obvious in the end that what God had
promised them, only He was able to execute (cf. Rom. 4:18-21).  Delay in fulfillment should not be seen as a
denial of God’s promise.

Genesis Chapter 17

Genesis 17
reminds us that what is recorded in Genesis 12-25 is not a biography of the
life of Abraham, but a theological history of God’s sovereign workings in the
life of a man through whom He chose to bless the world.  Some of the chapters have large time gaps
between them, because God wants us to pay attention to Him, and His working in
the life of Abraham.  

Genesis Chapter 18

The Central Idea of the Text is the display of righteous hospitality
and prayerful intercession in contrast with the wickedness and selfishness of
those in Sodom and Gomorrah. 

Genesis Chapter 19

The Central Idea of
the Text is that God is righteous to judge and destroy the cities of
Sodom & Gomorrah for its wickedness, and to deliver Lot who is
counted among the righteous (2 Pet. 2:7).

Genesis Chapter 20

The Central Idea of the Text is that God providentially intervened to
preserve Abraham and Sarah’s marriage in spite of their deceptive practices.

Genesis Chapter 21

The Central Idea of the Text is that God is
faithful to Abraham and Sarah, providing a son as He had promised twenty five
years earlier (Gen. 12:1-3; 15:5; 17:15-16, 19; 18:10, 14; 21:1-3).

Genesis Chapter 22

The Central Idea of the Text is that Abraham feared God and obeyed His
command to offer up his most precious possession: Isaac, the miracle son of
promise.

Genesis Chapter 23

The Central Idea of the Text is that Sarah
died and Abraham grieved her passing and buried her in the land of Canaan (Gen.
23:19).

Genesis Chapter 24

The Central Idea of
the Text is that God providentially selected Rebekah as a wife for
Isaac.  In the actions of God, He
directed both Abraham’s servant as well as Rebekah to meet at a specific
location, a well, in order to manifest His will to them both.

Genesis Chapter 25

God faithfully blessed Abraham right up to the time of his death.

Genesis Chapter 26

The Central Idea of the Text is that God was
faithful to bless Isaac as the son of Abraham through whom the promises would
come (Gen. 26:3-5, 24).

Genesis Chapter 27

The Primary Idea of
the Text is that Jacob was blessed as the rightful heir of Isaac (Gen.
27:33).

Genesis Chapter 28

The
Central Idea of the Passage is that
God is faithful to keep His promise to Abraham, Isaac, and now Jacob, regarding
property, descendants, and Gentile blessing (Gen. 28:13-15; cf. Gen. 12:1-3;
13:16; 15:18; 17:8; 22:15-18).

Genesis Chapter 29

The Primary Idea of the Passage
is that Jacob (the deceiver) was deceived by his uncle Laban into marrying Leah
before Rachael (Gen. 29:25).

Genesis Chapter 30 Part 1

The
Central Idea of the Passage is that
God was faithful to bless Jacob with sons according to the covenant promise
spoken at Bethel (Gen. 28:13-15).

Genesis Chapter 30 Part 2

The
Primary Message of the Passage is
that God blessed Jacob as He said he would do according to His sovereign
promise (Gen. 28:13-15).

Genesis Chapter 31 Part 1

The Central
Idea of the Passage is that God protected Jacob from Laban as he obeyed the
command to return to the land of Canaan.  

Genesis Chapter 31 Part 2

The Central
Idea of the Passage is that God protected Jacob from Laban as he obeyed the
command to return to the land of Canaan.  

Genesis Chapter 31 Part 3

The Central
Idea of the Passage is that God protected Jacob from Laban as he obeyed the
command to return to the land of Canaan.  

Genesis Chapter 31 Part 4

The Central
Idea of the Passage is that God protected Jacob from Laban as he obeyed the
command to return to the land of Canaan.  

Genesis Chapter 32

The Central Idea of
the Text is that God reveals Himself to Jacob as he leaves one difficult
situation behind with Laban, and faces a greater situation ahead with Esau.  God’s presence with Jacob is manifest 1) in
the camp of angels who meet him as he enters the land (Gen. 32:1-2), and 2) in
the wrestling match with the preincarnate Jesus Christ (32:24-32).  By the end of the chapter Jacob knows that
God is with him.

Genesis Chapter 33

The
Central Idea of the Text is that
Jacob is reconciled with Esau after twenty years of separation (Gen. 33:1-16).  

Genesis Chapter 34

The
Central Idea of the Text is that the
sons of Jacob used deception to gain justice and rescue Dinah from her captors
after she’d been raped by Shechem.

Genesis Chapter 35

The
Central Idea of the Text is that
Jacob was obedient to God’s command to go to Bethel and build an altar to
worship Him (Gen. 35:1-15).

Genesis Chapter 36

The
Central Idea of the Text is that Esau
is the progenitor of the Edomites (Gen. 36:1, 8, 9, 19, 43).  

Genesis Chapter 37

The Central Idea of
the Text is that God chose young Joseph to be the leader of his family
(Gen. 37:5-10).  God’s election of Joseph
was rejected by his brothers who hated and wanted to kill him, but eventually
sold him into slavery (Gen. 37:11-36).  

Genesis Chapter 38

The Central Idea of
the Text is that Tamar obtained her right to have children in the family of
Judah, albeit by deception (Gen. 38:26-30).

Genesis Chapter 39

The
Central Idea of the Text is that God
was with Joseph while he was in Egypt, and God showed him favor among those he
came into contact with (Gen. 39:2, 3, 21, 23).

Genesis Chapter 40

The Central Idea of
the Text is that God used Joseph to interpret the divinely inspired dreams
of others.   

Genesis Chapter 41:1-36

The Central Idea of
the Text is that God gave Pharaoh of Egypt a disturbing dream that was
prophetic in nature, but which could only be interpreted by Joseph, and
resulted in his release from prison and elevation to power (Gen. 41:1-57).

Genesis Chapter 41:37-57

The
Central Idea of the Text is that God
sovereignly elevated Joseph in Egypt and used him during the seven years of
prosperity to prepare the country for the seven years of famine He would bring
on the land.