In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." The book of Genesis is preeminently a book of "beginnings." In it are recorded the beginning of all creation--the creation of the material universe, vegetable life, animal life, and human life; the entrance of sin into the world, the beginnings of redemption. [16]

      It is the A B C's in God's course of study. When a child enters school he is given a book with letters and the very simplest of words. Having completed this simple book he is prepared for one that is a step in advance, and so on as he learns. God has had to deal with man upon the same principle. Isaiah stated this principle: "For it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little." It is absolutely necessary for one to have a fairly accurate knowledge of this book in order to understand the succeeding books.

      The contents of the entire book may easily be divided into ten natural divisions each of which clusters around the word "generations," which occurs ten times in the course of the narrative.

      In this book are found all the great Bible doctrines which are developed in the New Testament. These doctrines are found only in the embryonic or undeveloped state. Genesis has very properly been called the seed-bed of the Bible. To illustrate, there was once a man visiting a noted flower garden. The visitor, as he was passing among the lovely flowers and admiring their beauty, asked the gardener where he got all of these flowers. To which question the gardener replied that he would show him. They went to the back corner of the garden where was a small seed-bed. Pointing to it he said that all of the flowers which were in the garden had been planted in it and later transplanted to the different beds as he saw them. The book of Genesis is this seed-bed back in the far corner of the Bible. If we are to understand the great Bible doctrines, we must go back to this primitive revelation, and studying the plain statements trace out the development of them through the Old Testament and then into the New.

      In order to understand a word properly and fully, it must be traced back to the root-form. Having discovered the idea inherent in it one may follow its history and arrive at its exact meaning at the present day. So it is with the great Bible doctrines. We go back to the book of Genesis and study the etymology of these different doctrines and trace them through their history and find them fully revealed and set forth in the New Testament. God's revelation is a progressive one. As one would have to observe the construction of a building from the time the foundation is laid until the building is completed in order to understand it thoroughly, so he has to observe God's building, His great structure of Divine Revelation from the time He lays the foundation stones in Genesis is until He completes the building in Revelation. So for example, Gen. 3:15 gives a faint promise of ultimate victory to "the seed of the woman," the Christ (Gal. 3:16), in his conflict with the serpent. Rev. 12:9, 20:2. This 15th verse of Gen. 3 is the text of the Bible. All the rest is but the development of this subject. The goal Is reached in Rev. 20:10. In the meantime God by his overruling providence is steadily moving on toward this goal. [17]

["Genesis." Word and Work 9 (January 1916): 16-17.]

      The electronic version of David L. Cooper's "Genesis" has been produced from microfilm of Word and Work for 1916.

      Pagination in the electronic version has been represented by placing the page number in brackets following the last complete word on the printed page. Inconsistencies in spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and typography have been retained; however, corrections have been offered for misspellings and other accidental corruptions. Emendations are as follows:

            Printed Text [ Electronic Text
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
 p. 16:     "beginings." [ "beginnings."
 p. 17:     there a little. [ there a little."
 

      Addenda and corrigenda are earnestly solicited.

Ernie Stefanik
Derry, PA

Created 26 January 2002.
Updated 2 July 2003.