Revised by Kathryn M. Schifferdecker (11/24)
BlessingBlessing is the asking for or the giving of God’s favor. Isaac was tricked into blessing Jacob instead of his firstborn Esau. At the Last Supper Jesus offered a blessing over bread and wine. To be blessed is to be favored by God. More
Blessing is pervasive in Genesis. It is a gift of God, usually mediated through creaturely agents, which empowers recipients, both elect and non-elect, to experience and bring forth life, goodness, and well-being. The story of the call of AbrahamGod promised that Abraham would become the father of a great nation, receive a land, and bring blessing to all nations. More, for instance, includes this remarkable statement: “In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:3). Abraham and SarahAbraham’s wife and mother of Isaac. More and their descendants are blessed in order to be a blessing.
CovenantA covenant is a promise or agreement. In the Bible the promises made between God and God’s people are known as covenants; they state or imply a relationship of commitment and obedience. More
Covenant in Genesis is basically divine promise. It refers to both universal promises to NoahBuilt the ark in which his family and the animals were saved from a flood. More and all creatures (Genesis 9) and specific promises to the elect family of Abraham (Genesis 12, 15, 17). God thereby assumes obligations to remain forever committed to the world and to this family, with attendant blessings. According to the Book of Genesis, God gives promises and will be faithful to them through thick and thin.
CreationCreation, in biblical terms, is the universe as we know or perceive it. Genesis says that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. In the book of Revelation (which speaks of end times) the author declares that God created all things and… More
Creation is most fundamentally the activity of God in bringing the cosmos into being and includes both originating and continuing creative activity (Genesis 1-2). Creation also includes the activity of creatures (human and nonhuman) in and through which God works to create in ever new ways.
Election
God “elects” or chooses creatures in and through which God will work in the world. The special election of Abraham (and his descendants) is for the sake of “all the families of the earth” (Genesis 12:3). This initially exclusive divine move is for the sake of a maximally inclusive end.
God
God is the primary character in the Book of Genesis. Virtually every characteristic of God that is found in the Old Testament is present here. God is seen to be present and active, among both chosen and non-chosen peoples, from the beginning of the book and throughout. God’s work is always seen as purposeful, directed toward objectives that are in the best interests of individuals and peoples involved; indeed, God acts to bless the entire creation.
Goodness and sinfulness
Human beings are created good and responsible creatures in the image of GodAccording to the book of Genesis, humans were created in the likeness, or the image, of God. The phrase is generally taken to refer to the uprightness and dignity of human nature. Because of disobedience the image of God has been corrupted or, some say,… More (Genesis 1:26-27). This reality continues (PsalmA psalm is a song of praise. In the Old Testament 150 psalms comprise the psalter, although some of the psalms are laments and thanksgivings. In the New Testament early Christians gathered to sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. More 8) even though they have chosen to violate the relationship with God and sin becomes an inevitable dimension of their life, with ill effects on all creatures.
Image of God
Human beings are created both in the image of God, the Creator, and to be the image of God in the life of the world. The image of God, whatever its roots in royal imagery, has here been universalized, indeed democratized, so that all humanity–male and female and with no regard to race or class–belongs to this sphere. All human hierarchical understandings are thereby set aside (see also Psalm 8).
The images of God in the floodThe flood refers to the catastrophic deluge in Genesis. In the biblical account Noah, his family, and selected beasts survive the flood in an ark; thereafter they received a rainbow in the sky as a sign of God’s promise. Many other cultures also have flood… More story
The images of God in the flood story are striking: God expresses sorrow and regret; judges reluctantly; goes beyond justice and determines to save some (including animals); commits to the future of a less than perfect world; is open to change in view of the divine experience with the world; and promises never to destroy the earth again.
Judgment
Judgment may be defined as the divinely mediated consequences of sin. Initially in Genesis, sin and judgment come to a climax in the flood. In the wake of this disaster, God promises never to allow for such an extensive judgment again (Genesis 8:21; 9:8-17), though more proximate judgments on sin continue (for example, Sodom and Gomorrah, Genesis 18:16-19:29). It is wise not to refer to such judgments as punishments; rather, they refer to the natural consequences of sin that are integral to God’s creational moral order, an order that God continues to mediate.
Relationality
God is a relational God, present and active in the world, who enters into a relationship with a world that is created as an interrelated entity. The relationship between God and the world is a living and dynamic reality, more comprehensive than covenant, within which both parties are affected by the realities of genuine relatedness over time. This is why the only image of God allowed in creation is humanity, and humanity in community (“male and female he created them” Genesis 1:27; cf. Exodus 20:4). Human beings, unlike idols, are relational creatures, which is why they can “image” the relational God.
The Problem of the Brother
Genesis is full of stories about brothers: CainThe elder son of Adam and Eve, Cain murdered his brother Abel. More and AbelThe second son of Adam and Eve who was murdered by Cain. More, IshmaelThe son of Abraham and the Egyptian woman Hagar. More and IsaacSon born to Abraham and Sarah in fulfillment of God’s promise. More, EsauSon of Isaac and Rebekah and the older twin brother of Jacob. More and JacobThe son of Isaac and Rebekah, renamed Israel, became the father of the twelve tribal families. More, Joseph and his brothers. It therefore addresses what biblical scholar Walter Brueggemann calls “the problem of the brother” (Genesis, Westminster John Knox, 2010, p. 61). How does one live with God and with the brother? This is one of the theological questions that the Book of Genesis raises. When one brother (the younger) is favored by parents or by God over the other(s), envy can lead to murder (Cain and Abel) or enslavement (Joseph and his brothers), among other things. But from the first conflict to the last, God’s will is for brothers (and sisters) to turn from sin and toward reconciliation with one another (Genesis 4:8-16; 33:4-11; 45:1-15; 50:15-21).
Righteousness
Righteousness has two different, though related, understandings in Genesis. On the one hand, it refers to being in a right relationship with God (so, for example, Abraham is righteousA righteous person is one who is ethical and faithful to God’s covenant. Righteousness in the Old Testament is an attitude of God; in the New Testament it is a gift of God through grace. In the New Testament righteousness is a relationship with God… More, Genesis 15:6). On the other hand, it refers to the actions of those in such a relationship who in acting do justice to the relationship with God in which they stand (so Abraham’s descendants, Genesis 18:19).
Sin, Judgment, and MercyMercy is a term used to describe leniency or compassion. God’s mercy is frequently referred to or invoked in both the Old and New Testaments. More
Genesis is full of stories about humanity’s tendency to sin, from disobeying God (3:1-19), to murdering a brother (4:1-12), to corrupting the earth with wickedness (6:5), to sexual assault and other violence (19:1-11; ch. 34), to selling a brother into slavery (37:12-36). God warns Cain about the sin lurking at his door and tells him he can “master” it (4:6-7). But when humanity fails again and again to conquer sin, they bear the consequences for that sin: banishment from Eden, becoming a fugitive, the flood, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and exile from family and homeland, among other things.
In all of these stories, however, God’s response to humanity’s sin leans toward mercy. Though AdamThe first human God created. More and EveThe name of the first woman, wife of Adam. More are told that “in the day you eat of it [the tree of the knowledge of good and evil] you shall die” (2:17), that is not, in fact, what happens. God has mercy, banishing them from Eden but providing them with clothing and with the means to live. Cain becomes a fugitive, but God marks him with a sign to protect him from those who would harm him. The flood comes, but God preserves a remnant of human beings and animals and vows never to destroy the earth again, even though the human heart has not changed nor forsaken its wicked tendencies (6:5; 8:21). Finally, God chooses one family to be a conduit of God’s blessings to the whole world (12:1-3). And even when that family fails again and again to do God’s will, God continues to be faithful to them and to use them to bless the world (45:5; 50:20).
In other words, Genesis (like the rest of the Bible) takes sin and its consequences seriously. There are no rose-colored glasses here. But it also speaks of God’s mercy and faithfulness in the face of humanity’s sin. God will remain faithful to God’s promises and will act to preserve life.
