What is the Book of Genesis About?

Genesis is a history book. The first book of the Pentateuch, or the first five books of the

Bible. These were all written by the prophet Moses in the 15th century BC. Genesis means origins, and that's what this book is about.

The origins of creation, the human race, sin, and the Jewish people. It opens with one of the most famous sentences in history.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Chapter 1 is of the six -day creation, with chapter 2 focusing on the first man and woman,

Adam and Eve, made in the image of God. In chapter 3, we read of the fall of man.

When a serpent tempted Eve to eat of the one tree God told them not to eat from, Eve gave some of the fruit to Adam, and he ate.

This was the original sin. And as a result, all creation is cursed. Death enters the picture, and man is separated from God.

Yet it's here that we have the first mention of the gospel. In Genesis 3 .15, God said to the serpent,

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. This is like the thesis statement of the

Bible, foreshadowing the coming of a Savior, Jesus Christ, whom the whole Bible is about.

In chapters 4 -11, we read about Cain and Abel, Noah and the great flood, the Tower of Babel, and the

Table of Nations. Chapters 12 -50 tell us about the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob called

Israel, Jacob's sons who fathered the twelve tribes of Israel, and we finish with Joseph in Egypt.

Genesis features three main themes, land, seed, and covenant. For example, God promises

Abraham land, gives him children or seed, and makes a covenant with him. The book ends with promises not yet fulfilled, but even

Genesis looks forward to that ultimate promise, Jesus Christ, who will defeat death and undo the curse of sin for all who believe by faith when we understand the text.