THE BOOK OF GENESIS

Written by Rachael

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STUDY ON - THE BOOK OF GENESIS

T R E A S U R E... S E E K E R S ... I N ... T H E ... O L D ... T E S T A M E N T - GENESIS

'Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path......Where your treasure is

there is your heart also'

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TREASURE SEEKERS IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

GENESIS

Matthew 6

21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

'Treasure seekers' in the Old Testament/in the New Testament is borne, our hearts being in the nutrition of the Bible, focussing on getting to know more about the Word of God.

'Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path'...................this is the line i got, and will be 'Treasure Seekers' motto, i did a search for it and found the psalm:

Psalm119

97 Oh, how I love your law!

I meditate on it all day long.

98 Your commands make me wiser than my enemies,

for they are ever with me.

99 I have more insight than all my teachers,

for I meditate on your statutes.

100 I have more understanding than the elders,

for I obey your precepts.

101 I have kept my feet from every evil path

so that I might obey your word.

102 I have not departed from your laws,

for you yourself have taught me.

103 How sweet are your words to my taste,

sweeter than honey to my mouth!

104 I gain understanding from your precepts;

therefore I hate every wrong path.

105 Your word is a lamp to my feet

and a light for my path.

106 I have taken an oath and confirmed it,

that I will follow your righteous laws.

This reminded me of the study that Guardian did on Psalm1:

1 Blessed is the man

who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked

or stand in the way of sinners

or sit in the seat of mockers.

2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD,

and on his law he meditates day and night.

3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water,

which yields its fruit in season

and whose leaf does not wither.

Whatever he does prospers.

4 Not so the wicked!

They are like chaff

that the wind blows away.

5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,

nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

6 For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous,

but the way of the wicked will perish.

This is a kind of meditating on the Word, learning the ways, promises and words of God...this is what i believe God has layed on my heart for Faithwalk, you need to look back at all the 'dreams' and various posts and studies, things people have had over the past 12 months, God has been building this up all of last year, if you put them all together, that will send you on a 'Treasure Hunt' of the forums... He has already given us the building blocks, His plans for 2009! this is putting it all together!

So i pray we all open our hearts and minds to receiving Gods teaching and understanding of His Word, also pray that anything not of God be not planted in your hearts and mind and that they be disregarded....

Let us learn how to meditate on His word, so that it becomes a light unto our path, and that it will hold us upright in His love, He will grant the desires of your hearts, so pray we desire to know Him deeper being brought deeper through His word with understanding and clarity.......

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Okay so we will start with the book of Genesis, remember this is just an overview type of study not an indepth one.

The Author of Genesis is Moses......He was born in Egypt, and died in the land of Moab.....which is in modern Jordan at the age of 120

Moses wrote Genesis to the people of Israel....Why would YOU read this book?....

To reflect on the beauty and wonder of God's Creation (Gen 1-2)

Learn how God responds to rebellion against Him (Gen3-11)

Discover how God keeps His Promises (Gen 12-24)

See how God works for good even during bad times (Gen37-50)

...“So God made man like his Maker. Like God did God make man: man and maid did he make them” {1:27}

“God had told Abram….I will cause you to become the father of a great nation; I will bless you and make your name famous, and you will be a blessing to many others” {12:2,3}

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Lets have a look behind the scenes on Genesis...

The purpose of this book is to record Gods Creation of the world and His desire to have a people set apart to worship Him...also note that in the beginning it puts together Creation and how man came into being, there was a kind of 'restart' with Noah and the flood, where only him and his family survived the flood, then was set to repopulate the earth....

For weeks, you work in art class creating a clay sculpture...you take great care and time detailing this sculpture...you leave it on the friday not quite finished just needs the hardening the setting.....then after the weekend you go back to it to find that it has been twisted into a chaotic unrecognisable blob, you feel rage and sadness well up in you and then you have to set to starting all over again......

You are probably thinking what has this got to do with Genesis? well Genesis tells you a similar account of God's loving care in creating the world, but the story has a dark twisted side to it, of human rebellion, murder and other human evil as people rebel against God....where they have twisted it into something it wasnt sculptured to be...

Up to about chapter 11 Genesis talks about the beginnings of the world. You will find the well known accounts of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Noah and the tower of Babel....in each of these accounts, they show you how people twist and/or destroy the gifts that God has given to them, and how God has to 'put that straight'

Chapters 12 through to the end chapter 50, talks about the beginnings of the Hebrew people....who we know as the Israelites.

You come across Abraham, the father of the nation and his sons...and Genesis concludes with Joseph whom God was able to use for great things even after his brothers had sold him into slavery

Genesis shows you how God has used special people right from the beginning of Creation to play important roles in the world, world turning roles...

Some key people in Genesis, the more 'well known': Adam, Eve, Noah, Abraham. Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob, Joseph

Lets break it down a little more...

A. THE STORY OF CREATION

“Because God created people, we have dignity and worth.”Genesis 1:1-2:3

B. THE STORY OF ADAM {2:4-5:32}

“Through Adam and Eve we learn about the destructive power of sin and its bitter consequences”

Adam and Eve

Cain and Abel

Adam’s descendants

C. THE STORY OF NOAH {6:1-11:32}

“Just as God protected Noah and his family, he protects those who are faithful to him today.”

The great flood

Repopulating the earth

The tower of Babel “Pride is making ourselves more important than God”.

D. THE STORY OF ABRAHAM {12:1-25:18

“Through sharp testing, Abraham remained faithful to God. Abrahams example teaches us how to live a life of faith”.

God promises a nation to Abraham

Abraham and Lot “We are to trust God completely, even if it hurts”.

God promises a son to Abraham

Sodom and Gomorrah

Birth and near sacrifice of Isaac

Isaac marries Rebekah

Abraham dies

E. THE STORY OF ISAAC {25:19-28:9}

“Isaac did not resist when he was about to be sacrificed, and he gladly accepted a wife chosen for him by others. We must put God’s will ahead of our own as Isaac did”.

Jacob and Esau, Isaac’s twin sons

Isaac and King Abimelech

Isaac blesses Jacob instead of Esau

F. THE STORY OF JACOB {28:10-36:43}

“Although Jacob made many mistakes, his hard work teaches us about living a life of service for our Lord”.

Jacob starts a family

Jacob returns home “God is in the business of changing lives, despite our inadequacies”.

G. THE STORY OF JOSEPH {37:1-50:26

“Through Joseph, we learn that suffering, no matter how unfair, can develop in us a strong character”.

Joseph is sold into slavery

Joseph is thrown into jail “God can turn even our greatest defeats into victory”.

Joseph is placed in charge of Egypt

Joseph and his brothers meet in Egypt

Jacob’s family moves to Egypt

Jacob and Joseph die in Egypt

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Thats the end of the overview, we will now look further into a character, so i chose Noah, there are many characters could have picked, they all would be good including the author, but thought would leave the author to next weeks facilitator

So we will have a look at Noah .....

Noah was the most innocent person of the time, a good man, he pleased God and walked with God. He had three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth...

At this time the world was disobediant towards God they did what was evil in Gods eyes, they were a violent people....God saw all of this as He does all things and knows all things...so God instructed Noah to build an ark, a boat....

Now Noahs boat would have been humungous for its time.........about 108 metres long, the length of one and a half football fields for you to visualise it....thats five times as long as the Mayflower in which the pilgrims sailed to North America in 1620, its more than half as long as a modern 206 metre ocean liner!

God made an agreement with Noah...a covenant...that Noah, his sons, his wife and his sons wives will all go in the boat.....in addtition the animals so when the flood came, and eventually subsided there would be all the different animals, and humans to repopulate the earth.......a second beginning...

Gen7... 1 The LORD then said to Noah, "Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation. 2 Take with you seven [a] of every kind of clean animal, a male and its mate, and two of every kind of unclean animal, a male and its mate, 3 and also seven of every kind of bird, male and female, to keep their various kinds alive throughout the earth. 4 Seven days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature I have made." 5 And Noah did all that the LORD commanded him.

5 And Noah did all that the LORD commanded him......this is a crucial verse..............Noah walked with God, Noah talked with God, Noah listened to God, Noah then obeyed God and did His bidding.......imagine the mockery he would have had by the locals at time of building that boat, 'look at that fool over there' but also imagine their reactions to the finished product, and also then when the rains come, saw that Noah was far from a fool!

He was 600 years old when the floods came, he werent no spring chicken!

7:11 In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, on the seventeenth day of the second month—on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. 12 And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights.

By the time that the flood water went down enough for Noah and his family to leave the boat he had turned 601.....after the flood Noah lived 350 years. He lived a total of 950 years, and then he died, not quite the oldest in the Old Testament, but very nearly, Methuselah being the oldest ... he lived to be 969 years...which to think about......if he were born when Christopher Colombus discovered the Americas in 1492, he would only be middle aged today!

Genesis 49:10....The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor a lawgiver from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes; And to Him shall be the obedience of the people.

God bless