Introduction 

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The people of Israel spent 400 years in Egyptian slavery. After this, Moses led them out of slavery and then into the Promised Land.  During this time, the Jewish people had lost knowledge of much of their history and did not specifically know how to live for God. Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible – called the Law – to teach them about their history, God’s promises to them, and how they should live as God’s people. In their history, they learned how their ancestors had done some very bad things, how God continually reached out to them and brought them back to himself, and how God’s promise never failed in spite of their ancestors’ shortcomings.

 

The Book of Genesis is the first book of the Law. Moses wrote it to help lay the foundation for what he would write in the next books of the Law including Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Ultimately Jesus would come from this ancient Jewish heritage. Jesus is God, who took on human flesh. When Jesus, the Jewish God-man died and was resurrected, he ascended into heaven and created a new humanity. This new humanity is made up of Jewish and non-Jewish people who believe in him. This means the story of Genesis becomes part of our story even though we are not Jewish by birth.

 

In this study, we will look at what God did from the beginning and how he accomplished his promises even with evil opposition and imperfect humans.