INTRODUCTION TO GENESIS.

      The last lesson of 1886 is in the last chapter of the Bible; the first lesson of 1887 is in the first chapter of the Bible. The interval between the time when John wrote on Patmos and Moses wrote in the wilderness is about sixteen hundred years. The last lesson of the old year gives the farthest glimpse into the future which has been vouchsafed to our race; the first lesson of the new year gives the earliest glimpse of our race that can ever be unfolded. The entire span of its history in the world is covered in the divine record, and we have in these two lessons the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.

      In passing from a portion of the Scripture belonging to a comparatively recent age and leaping backward to a period so remote, it is needful in order to study and teach intelligently that one shall form some appreciation of the times and circumstances that surround the various characters. He must bear in mind that he is introduced to the childhood of our race; that Adam, Cain, Noah and Abraham moved about in a world of which they knew little and were surrounded on every side by the unexplored, the unknown, and the mysterious. We enjoy the accumulated wisdom of two hundred generations, while they groped their way uncertainly through the dim light of an unknown world. The account of their trials, of the Fall, and of the beginning of the preparation for Redemption is given in Genesis.

      Genesis is probably the oldest book in the world. If not the oldest book it is certainly the oldest history that presents any claims to credibility. It is possible that there are some papyrus rolls in the museums which were written in Egypt near the time when the history of Genesis was compiled, but these are barren registers and not real history. It is said that the Chinese have documents composed about 2000 B. C., but these, even if of so ancient a date, are merely calendars and possess no general interest. On the other hand Genesis is the history of our race for two thousand years, and is rich in authentic details, confirmed by ethnology, concerning the principal families of the earth. This is, however, preliminary to the account of the origin of that race whose fortunes have so large a place in the history of the Bible. The great thought that runs like a golden stream through the entire current of Bible history breaks forth in this oldest history of the race, and all that the historian records of the Creation, Eden, the Fall, the Flood, the divisions of men, is illustrative of the origin, fortunes, and history of that line which should bestow upon the world Him in whom "all the families of the earth should be blessed." Genesis is not a collection of ballads like the Iliad, or religious hymns like the Vedas, or a philosophic speculation like the Zendavesta, or a confused jumble of jargon, to which any or no meaning may be attached, like some of the earliest Chinese religious books, but it is a history, a religious history, a history with a close logical connection running from beginning to end. It is a history of the creation and fall of man, and of the beginning of the steps taken to effect the redemption of the lost race. [7] It becomes, therefore, a history of the patriarchs, the fathers of the Jewish nation, of the men to whom was made the promise of the Seed which should bless all nations. The first eleven chapters may be called a history of the early world. Then begins a history of the patriarchs. This begins in Central Asia, at "Ur of the Chaldees," and carries them to Haran, to Palestine, to Egypt, back thence to Palestine, to Padan Aram, to Palestine again, and from thence down to Egypt, where it leaves the growing family of Israel settled upon the banks of the Nile, called upon in the providence of God, to remain a few generations in the cradle of early civilization, before entering upon their national history.

      This outline explains the reason why the greatest portion of the book is occupied with the biographies of the three patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who occupy so prominent a place in the veneration of the Jews, and Mahometans, as well as Christians. It was to these patriarchs that Jehovah revealed himself, and to whom was made the promise, not only of a land, a nation, and of temporal prosperity, but the promise which was to be the hope of Israel in the darkest hours of the varying fortunes of the race. Hence there attaches an interest to the history of these wandering pastoral chieftains greater than to any of the kings and conquerors of the ancient world. The details of their lives are worthier to be chronicled than the crash of armies, the sack of cities, or the rise and fall of empires.

THE AUTHOR.

      Who wrote this venerable, wonderful, and surpassingly important history? From beginning to end it makes no allusion to its human author and we are compelled to reach our conclusions from outside testimony. It belongs to a division of the Bible, containing five books, called the Pentateuch, and ascribed by the uniform testimony of Jewish tradition to Moses. These five books, the first five books of the Bible, were called by them from the author, "Moses," and from that which constitutes their chief feature, "the law." It is stated in Deut. 10:5 that when the law was finished Moses placed a complete copy of it in "the sides" of the Ark of the Covenant for preservation. I cannot here enter into the discussions of the critics, but must content myself with the affirmation that we must ascribe Genesis to the same authorship as that of the rest of the Pentateuch. There is too close a connection to separate them. Genesis carries the history of the chosen family from Ur to Egypt and leaves Israel sojourning there in great favor, under the Pharaoh who had chosen Joseph as prime minister. Exodus opens with Israel in Egypt under a "Pharaoh who knew not Joseph," and continues the history to Sinai on the route to Canaan. The other books contain the legislation and subsequent history until Moses dies on Mt. Nebo, in possession of the country east of the Jordan and in sight of the mountains that guarded the future site of Jerusalem. It is a closely connected account from the beginning of Genesis to the end of Deuteronomy. If Moses wrote the four remaining books we are indebted to him for Genesis. That he wrote the latter books was affirmed by the Jews, is virtually conceded by Christ and his apostles, and is admitted by all who have faith in the Bible as a divine revelation. [8]

      One question remains. How did Moses become acquainted with facts that transpired long before his time? There axe reasons based on the style of Genesis and terms used that have convinced most scholars that he made use of written documents still older than his day. It is now known that the art of writing is much older than the time of Moses. It is not unlikely that manuscript histories of an older world were in the tents of the patriarchs. Abraham had probably talked with Shem, and learned from him of the world before the flood. These earlier histories may have been committed to writing by the patriarch who had now been called to the high honor of being the Friend of God, and the Father of the children of Faith. Whatever may have been their origin there is reason to believe that records of the past were carried down by Israel into Egypt and were used by Moses in the compilation of Genesis, under the supreme guidance of the divine inspiration. This inspiration would reveal all that lay beyond the reach of human ken, but it is probable that much of the account of the antediluvians, of the story of the flood, and of the dispersion of the nations and of the genealogy of the patriarchs was gathered from these older documents that came into the hands of Moses from the forefathers of his race.

ANALYSIS OF GENESIS.

      Genesis divides itself by subjects into sections. Five principal persons are the pillars upon which the whole superstructure of its history rests. These are Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Around the history of these great representatives the history is grouped and may be divided into the following sections:

      I. Adam. The earliest history of mankind.--Ch. I-V.

      II. Noah. The history of Adam's descendants until the death of Noah, including the flood.--Ch. VI-IX.

      III. Abraham. The history of Noah's posterity until the dispersion of the nations, and then that of Abraham. In this section we have an account of the peopling of the earth by the three sons of Noah. Then the history of two sons is dropped and the line of Shem followed to Abraham. Then all other offshoots are dropped and the history centers itself around him.--Ch. X-XXV.

      IV. Isaac. The history drops the other children of Abraham and confines itself to the heir of the promise. The life of Isaac is calm, peaceful, uneventful. It is with his sons that the final separation begins and the chosen race commences its development into a nation.--Ch. XXVI-XXXV.

      V. Jacob. Esau is dropped and Jacob is followed. This history is continued until the death of Joseph.--Ch. XXXVI-L.

      It will thus be seen that a certain and well defined plan is in the mind of the author throughout. The purpose is never forgotten. God's relation to the chosen seed, the gradual separation of that seed from the rest of mankind, the successive stages of the revelation of Jehovah, and the various steps of the covenants which finally made Israel a covenanted race, are never lost sight of. The book is no confused compilation but has a lofty aim and a systematic plan. Whether compiled by the aid of older histories, or by divine inspiration alone, the one thought of its author is the [9] development and history of the chosen race to whom were committed the promises and the oracles of God.

CHRONOLOGY.

      It has long since been conceded by those whose studies fit them to form a trustworthy judgment that the chronology of the ages before Moses is extremely uncertain. Those who have attempted to form a definite chronology of the events, especially before Abraham, have reached their conclusions with insufficient data. The Bible gives no dates for these earlier periods and the effort to construct a chronology from the genealogies is idle, from the fact that often there are links omitted in the chain, and leaps from the son to an ancestor much more remote than his father. No two chronologists who have attempted to fix the dates agree. The Septuagint version, Josephus and the Samaritan Pentateuch differ from the copy which has been followed by English translators. It is certain that the Bible has not attempted to inform us when Adam, or Seth, or Noah lived, and no man can say whether our race has been six or ten thousand years upon the earth. Hence, although upon the current chronology of these ancient periods, that of Usher differs from Josephus, the Septuagint, Hales, Bunsen, and other authorities, I have not seen fit to modify it, but have in the main followed it; not as trustworthy, but as ordinarily received. Certain outline facts are reasonably certain as, for instance, that Abraham lived near four thousand years ago, and that Moses wrote about fifteen hundred years before Christ.

HOW TO STUDY GENESIS.

      It is well to keep in mind that this book was written at least thirty-three hundred years ago for a state of society and a condition of knowledge and science far different from ours. It was written in such language that its readers could understand it. Had it adopted strict scientific statements it would have been a sealed book to all who lived preceding modern scientific discoveries. The language is popular rather than scientific, because it was written for the instruction of mankind rather than the men of science. Hence, while its great outlines are in harmony with modern discovery, those who insist that its language should be technically scientific, simply illustrate their own want of appreciation of what would be appropriate in a book written for the instruction of ancient races.

      The student must also keep in mind that the life described is that of the early stages of society, and must endeavor to picture the times in which Abraham, Isaac and Jacob move as chief figures. They are nomadic chieftains, dwelling in tents, and pasturing their flocks from Lebanon to Egypt. It is only when we descend into Egypt that we come in contact with a well established government and civilization. Elsewhere we follow the patriarchs through a thinly settled region with abundant unappropriated room for pasturage, with scattered and independent tribes, and no fixed form of government. Unless we realize this rude, wild, turbulent state of society we cannot appreciate their immense superiority to their contemporaries, and to the times in which they lived, nor ascribe the credit due to the elevating power of the revelation of Jehovah they enjoyed; though imperfect it might have been compared with that of later ages. [10]

Source: Barton Warren Johnson. The Christian International Lesson Commentary for 1887. Des Moines, IA: