Thinking on Scripture with Dr. Steven R. Cook

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. 

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

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

God disrupts the human arrogance at the tower of Babel. 

The genealogy of Shem to Abram. 

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).

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). 

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”

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 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. 

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 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.  

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. 

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).

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

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).

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.

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).

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.

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

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).

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

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).

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).

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).

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).

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.  

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.  

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.  

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.  

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.

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

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.

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).

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

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).  

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).

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).

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

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).

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.

The
Central Idea of the Text is that God
controlled the circumstances that led Joseph’s brothers to Egypt, to
unwittingly bow to him, and thus fulfill His prophetic promise (Gen. 37:5-8;
42:6, 9).

The Central Idea of
the Text is that Joseph tested his brothers to see if jealousy still
motivated them to treat others harshly; especially Benjamin (Gen. 43:31-34). 

The
Central Idea of the Text is that Joseph
tested his brothers one last time to see if there was love in their hearts for
one another, and discovered they had matured; especially Judah (Gen. 44:33-34).

The Central Idea of
the Text is that Joseph reveals himself to his brothers, stating it was
ultimately God’s sovereignty and not their sin that brought him to Egypt in
order to preserve Jacob’s family and the lives of many others (Gen. 45:5-7).

The Central Idea of
the Text is that God providentially brought Jacob and his family to Egypt
to live in the land of Goshen (Gen. 46:1-7; 28-34).

The Central Idea of
the Text is that God settled Jacob in Egypt, in the land of Goshen, and
caused him to prosper there (Gen. 47:1-12, 27-31).

The Central Idea of
the Text is that Jacob blesses Manasseh, Ephraim, and Joseph and assures
them that all God had promised him regarding land, seed, and blessing would be
theirs (Gen. 48:3-4; 12-16; 21).

The Central Idea of
the Text is that Jacob provides his sons with prophetic foresight regarding
the future of their offspring (Gen. 49:2-28).

The Central Idea of
the Text is that Jacob’s sons buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the
divinely promised land of Canaan, as Jacob requested (Gen. 49:29-30; 50:1-13).