GENESIS The Book of Beginnings

367 Pages·2011·1.36 MB·English

G
ENESIS
The Book of
Beginnings
Version 2.1
Dr. Brian J. Bailey
“Genesis: The Book of Beginnings”
© 1996 Brian J. Bailey
Front cover design:
© 2000 Zion Fellowship, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
All Scripture quotations in this book are taken from the
King James Version Bible unless otherwise stated.
Revised December 2010
Reprinted [ ] in the United States of America
ISBN 1-59665-006-0
For more information, please contact:
Zion Christian Publishers
A Zion Fellowship ® Ministry
P.O. Box 70
Waverly, New York 14892
Phone: [phone]
Toll free: 1-877-768-7466
Fax: [phone]
www.zionfellowship.org
Acknowledgements:
Editorial team: Carla Borges, Paul & Betsy Caram, Suzette
Erb, Mary Humphreys, David Kropf, Justin Kropf, Lois Kropf,
Caroline Tham, and Paul Tham.
We wish to extend our thanks to these dear ones for without
their many hours of invaluable assistance, this book would
not have been possible. We are truly grateful for their diligence,
creativity, and excellence in the compilation of this book for
the glory of God.

Table of Contents
Introduction
P 1 – The Creation 15
ART
P 2 – The Fall of Man 53
ART
P 3 – The Plan of Redemption 61
ART
P 4 – The Lines of Good and Evil 67
ART
P 5 – The Flood 83
ART
P 6 – The Dispersion of the Nations 121
ART
P 7 – The Life of Abraham 133
ART
P 8 – The Life of Isaac 207
ART
P 9 – The Life of Jacob 223
ART
P 10 – The Life of Joseph 285
ART
Conclusion

Introduction
Book of Beginnings
In the Jewish Bible, Genesis is called “The First Book of
Moses” as the prophet Moses was the author of this precious
book. The word genesis actually means “origin.” It is named
Genesis because it has the seed thoughts and truths of all
biblical doctrines, as well as the recording of the origin of
good and evil in this world. Genesis is a book of beginnings.
A.The beginning of heaven and earth
B.The beginning of all animate and inanimate life
(animals, vegetation, etc.)
C.The beginning of man and woman, and marriage
D.The beginning of sin in man
E.The beginning of redemption by the shedding of blood,
and promise of a coming Redeemer
F. The beginning of war and murder
G.The beginning of man again, after the earth was
destroyed by a flood
H.The beginning of the races, nationalities and languages
at Babel
I. The beginning of a special holy nation—with Abraham
J. The beginning of the 12 tribes of Israel with the 12 sons
of Jacob
The above beginnings (and many more) are seeds with
numerous other seeds within them. We see the beginnings of
creation, and the first family, followed by the entrance of sin
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into this world. Then God’s glorious plan of redemption is
revealed. After that we see the lines of Cain and Seth, which
formed the genealogy of the sons of men and the sons of God.
Thus, we see the division between the children of the righteous
and the children of the wicked.
After the judgment of the Flood in which Noah and his family
were the only survivors, the Book of Genesis focuses upon
Abraham and God’s desire for a new and separated nation.
Thus, the lives of his descendants—Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph—
are treated extensively in this book.
It is important to understand origins. For example, when a doctor
attempts to treat a disease, he first tries to locate the source of the
problem in the body, which is why he does a case history of the
patient. Similarly, when we are trying to solve someone’s spiritual
problem, we have to find the root of his problem.
As a book of origins, Genesis is the source of everything.
Therefore, it is essential to understand Genesis in order to
comprehend the other parts of the Word of God. It is absolutely
imperative to understand God’s original intention for man, for
marriage, for sacrifice, for tests, and for everything else. Unless
we understand the original purpose, we cannot properly
interpret any subject in the Word of God.
A Message from the Beginning
In 1 John 3:11 it clearly states, “For this is the message
that you have heard from the beginning, that we should
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love one another.” What beginning is he talking about? Is
he referring to the Law of Moses, or the teachings of Christ?
The Apostle John is going all the way back to the first
family, because in the next verse he says: “Not as Cain
(this is the first family), who was of that wicked one…”
Cain had chosen to harden his heart and listen to the voice
of the wicked one. Therefore, he became like the wicked
one. We must take heed to ourselves, for if we listen to
the wrong people and to the adversary, we will become
like them.
“Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his
brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works
were evil and his brother’s righteous.” People who do not
live right are cursed and tormented with the spirit of jealousy.
This terrible spirit vexes those whose motives and lives are
corrupt, even as it did Cain.
The Apostle John is going back to the beginning! The
message we have heard from the beginning goes all the
way back to the Garden of Eden. In Matthew 22:36-40,
we see that the Lord summed up all of the 31,102 verses
of the Bible in just two phrases—How we treat others
and how we treat God: “Master, which is the great
commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt
love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy
soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great
commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt
love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two
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commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
Everything stems from these two issues.
The way we treat others, the condition of our hearts, and
our attitudes toward them, as well as the condition of our
hearts, and our attitudes toward God—this is the message
we have heard from the beginning. It is also the message of
the new covenant.
In Matthew 7:12 the Lord said, “Therefore all things
whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye
even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.”
Certainly we will find that this is the greatest struggle of
life. Keeping our hearts soft and our relationships open
requires much effort, and a lot of grace. Even with pious
saints, the greatest battle is in monitoring their words and
attitudes toward others.
In His teachings, the Lord Jesus always went back to the
beginning because He came to rescue man from the fall to
bring him back to the original purpose. Matthew 19:3 says,
“The Pharisees also came unto him tempting him, and
saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife
for every cause?”
To answer their question, the Lord did not draw their
attention to what Moses said on Mount Sinai (when he
gave the Law thousands of years after Adam and Eve were
formed), rather, He drew it back to the beginning to the
Garden of Eden, to God’s original purpose for marriage.