In Galatians 3.9 the apostle Paul referred to Abraham as “the man of faith”. So far in our short study of the patriarch’s life we’ve seen his faith on display as he obeyed the Lord’s command to leave his country, family and father’s house and journey to an unspecified land (Genesis 12.1-3; Hebrews 11.8). However,... Continue Reading →

From man’s perspective, leaving Ur would not have made much sense. If we date Abram’s migration to Canaan at approximately 2050 B.C., then Ur would have been at the height of its wealth and power. Ur-Nammu founded a small empire at Ur around that time and the city boasted a population of ~25,000. It’s location... Continue Reading →

Once before man had completely removed God from his calculations and had suffered the consequences. When “every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” the Lord determined to “blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land” (Genesis 6.5,7). And while the Lord had preserved the human... Continue Reading →

This section is an important pivot point in the Genesis account. So far the narrative has been about God’s dealings with all of mankind. He created man (chapters 1-2), revealed the hope for man after his fall (3.15), punished all men for their wickedness (6.5-7) while saving the righteous (6.8-9). The universal scope continues in... Continue Reading →

The flood is one of the best known stories in all of Scripture, and perhaps one of the hardest to fathom. We have witnessed the devastating affects of various storms (hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, etc.) and perhaps our knowledge of just how destructive those localized storms are makes it even harder to comprehend a flood which... Continue Reading →

Tragic though the events of chapter 3 were, the Lord had provided hope: “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.” (Genesis 3:15, ESV) The beginnings of those two lines (the offspring of woman and the... Continue Reading →

“God gave them up” (Romans 1.24,26,28) are some of the saddest words in all of Scripture. While Paul was speaking of the world’s departure from God in general, his words in Romans 1.21-22 would have application to Adam and Eve: “For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks... Continue Reading →

“Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—” (Romans 5:12, ESV). There is no tragedy greater than the one recorded in Genesis 3, for this chapter reveals how God’s “very good” creation left the light for darkness. It... Continue Reading →

The focus of chapter 1 was the creation of all things, beginning with an earth that was formless, void and dark but ending with a fully formed, filled and enlightened heavens and earth. All that God created was good, but the pinnacle of His creation was man, created in God’s own image. God could look... Continue Reading →

The creation account in Genesis 1 has never been compatible with man’s worldview. The cultures of the Ancient Near East believed in creation, but a radically different creation from the one presented in Genesis. The Sumerian account Enuma Elish depicted creation occurring when primordial gods of water gave birth to younger gods, but these gods... Continue Reading →