《Commentary on the Book of Genesis (Vol. 1)》(Caleb Huang)
Introduction to the Book of Genesis
I. Writer
It is said the first five books of the Bible were all written by Moses, and they are called “the Pentateuch”. This book is the first one of “the Pentateuch”.
II. The Time and Location the Book was Written
Moses was a man living during about 1500-1400 BC. And the things described in this book were approximately during 4000 to 1800 BC, a total period of nearly 2300 years. How could Moses know the history long before him? Probably, he received revelations and inspirations from God when he was on the Mount Sinai and in the wilderness (see Acts 7:37-38).
III. The Importance of This Book
1. The Book of Genesis is the first book of the whole Bible as well as the most important book of the Bible. Many significant topics are mentioned in this book, such as the revelation of God Himself, the origin of the universe and all things, the relation of God with human beings, the counsel of God’s redemption, the types of Christ, the guidance of God, the process of the ancient saints’ being dealt with, etc. We can say that each important biblical fact, truth, teaching and revelation is rooted in this book, as the unformed substance of the baby chicks has been early in the eggs.
2) There are two books in the Bible which are especially hated by the devil, namely, the Book of Genesis and the Book of Revelation. In the past two thousand years, the devil always tried to destroy the credibility of these two books and overthrew its records and accused the book of either “legend” or “superstition”. That is because the Book of Genesis speaks of God’s judgment upon the devil (see Gen. 3:14-15) and the Book of Revelation speaks of the execution upon it (Rev. 20:2-3, 10).
IV. General Description
This book shows us God’s creation and the fall of man. God created all things and made the man to reign on the earth to represent Him and manifest His glory. However, man fell and failed all times in all cases. However, even though man was corrupted, God did not give up His original purpose and counsel. God always stretched out His hands to provide salvation and redemption when men fell in different stages. The fall and failure of man had presented chances to God to manifest His grace. It is revealed everywhere in this book that the coming Christ is the hope and redeemer of the fallen race.
V. Special Points
1. In the New Testament, the Spirit has quoted the words from this book through the Lord’s servants for over sixty times. Our Lord also quoted from this book for several times (see Matt. 19:4-6; 24:37-39; Luke 11:51; John 8:44, 56; etc.).
2. The seeds of all the biblical truth are sown in this book and then sprout and grow and bear fruit.
3. The name of this book “Genesis” is given according to the Septuagint in Greek. There are no names of the books of the Old Testament in Hebrew. The Jews were accustomed to name each book by its first word. The first word of the first verse of the first chapter is “beginning”, so the Jews call this book “Beginning”. This book concerns the beginning of the heavens and the earth, the beginning of all things, the beginning of man, the beginning of sin, the beginning of redemption, the beginning of religion, the beginning of murder, the beginning of civilization, the beginning of genealogy, the beginning of the destruction of the world, the beginning of nation, the beginning of Babylon, the beginning of God’s call, the beginning of faith and promise, the beginning of the people of Israel and the beginning of the elect’s coming down to Egypt.
4. Different names of God appear in this book: “God” (Elohim, 1:1), “Jehovah” 2:4, “LORD” (“Adonai”, 18:27), “Jehovah-jireh” (22:14), “the Most High God” (14:20), “the Almighty God” (17:1), “the everlasting God” (21:33), etc. God revealed His many aspects to men so that we may receive much precious light from this book.
5. Though our Lord is not once mentioned in this book directly, the book is full of types concerning Christ: e.g. the sleeping of Adam (2:21-22) is the type of the death of Christ on the cross. Skin (3:21), firstlings of the flock (4:4), the ram (22:13), etc. are the types that the Lord sacrificed for us. The ark (6:41) is the type that Christ is the only salvation of human beings. Isaac is the type of Christ who obeyed unto death (22:1-10). Melchizedek is the type of Christ who is the priest according to another order (14:17-20). Joseph (chap. 37-50) is the type of the Lord who was the beloved Son of the Father and was hated and rejected and sold by his brothers and was finally exalted to become the blessing and redeemer of his brothers and married the gentile new wife.
VI. Key Verses
“Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all[b] the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”” (1:26)
“The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil …Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (2:9b, 16-17)
“Now the LORD has said to Abram: ‘Gent out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you’” (12:1).
“Abram believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness” (15:6).
VII. Key Words
“Beginning” (1:1);
“Corrupt” (6:11);
VIII. Outlines of the Book
A. Histories of the ancient times (chap.1-10);
1. Generations of the heavens and the earth (1:1-2:3);
2. The beginning and fall of man (2:4-3:24);
3. Man became under the sin and death (4:1-6:8);
4. The world was condemned (6:9-8:14);
5. Covenant and curse (8:15-9:28);
6. Dispersion and election (11:1-32);
B. Histories of the fathers of the elect (chap.12-50);
1. Abraham’s being called and promised (chap.12-20);
2. Isaac and the greater trial of his faith (chap.21-26);
3. Jacob and the embryo of Israel (chap. 27-36);
4. Joseph and going to Egypt of Jacob’s whole family (chap.37-50)
Genesis Chapter One
I. Content of the Chapter
The Creation of God
A. God’s creation in the beginning (v.1);
B. God’s judgment (v.2a);
C. God’s restored creation:
1. The accordance of God’s creation:
a. The Spirit of God (v.2b);
b. The word of God ---- “God said” (v.3, 6, 9, 14, 20, 24, 26);
2. The first day of the restored creation ---- the separation of light and darkness (v.3-5);
3. The second day of the restored creation ---- the division between waters and waters, and the heavens were made (v.6-8);
4. The third day of the restored creation ---- the separation of waters and the earth, and the plants were made (v.9-13);
5. The fourth day of the restored creation ---- God set the lights such as the sun, the moon, the stars, etc. in the heavens (v.14-19);
6. The fifth day of the restored creation ---- God made all living creature in waters and in the sky (v.20-23);
7. The sixth day of the restored creation ---- God made all living creature and man (v.24-31);
II. Verse by Verse Commentary
Gen. 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
YLT: “In the beginning of God's preparing the heavens and the earth --”
Meaning of Words: “beginning”: first, principal; “God”: the mighty one, the supreme God; “create”: (the same word as that in verse 21 and 27) call the things which be not as being (Rom. 4:17; Heb. 11:3);
Literal Meaning: “beginning”: it is the beginning of the time.
“God”: the faithful and mighty one. It is in the plural in the original, suggesting God is the God of Holy Trinity.
“Heavens” include the sky and the space and the third heaven (see 2Cor. 12:2).
“Earth”: the earth in which we are inhabited.
This verse mentions the creation of God in the beginning. In modern times, the ancient fossils dug out of the earth were creatures created in the beginning.
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) God is the God existing “in the beginning”. He is before all and is the God of I AM THAT I AM (Ex. 3:14).
2) “In the beginning God” ---- Let everything of us be started by God and let Him have the preeminence in everything of us (Col.1:18).
3) God is the creator of all things. He is the almighty God (Gen. 17:1) who calls the things which are not as being.
4) God stretches forth the heavens and lays the foundation of the earth for the preparation of forming man (Zech. 12:1; Is. 45:18). Man is the center of God’s creature.
Gen. 1:2 “The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.”
YLT: “the earth hath existed waste and void, and darkness [is] on the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God fluttering on the face of the waters,”
Meaning of Words: “was”: become, turn to; “without form”: empty place, vain, confusion; “void”: empty, void, vacuity; “deep”: abyss; “hover over”: move gently, shake, flutter, brood;
Literal Meaning: there was an interval of rather long time between verse one and two. In the original there is a “but” in the beginning of verse two, which shows that the earth God had originally created was not “without form and void” but became so afterwards.
According to the Holy Scriptures, the earth God created was kept in beautiful order after precise measurement and was not as waste (Is. 45:18). Therefore, the condition of waste was because of the judgment of God, because the archangel desired to life up him to God and led some angels and living creatures on the earth to rebel against God. Therefore, they were judged by God and the earth became without form and void. And the archangel himself became Satan, and the angels became the evil and unclean spirits (Is. 14:12-15; Ezek. 28:15-19; Rev. 12:49).
“The deep”, the word shows that God judged the previous world by waters and the waters had deeply covered the whole earth (2Pet. 3:6).
“Darkness”, it indicates that God had sealed up the lights in the heavens when he judged (Job. 9:7).
The last half of this verse is a turning point ---- after the judgment of God, God began to do the restoring works. And the restoring works were done by His Spirit ---- “the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters” ---- “was hovering over”, it contains the meaning of loving-kindness and tenderness (Deut. 32:11).
Spiritual Meaning: the first half of this verse typified our condition before we were saved. Concerning our personal situation, it was “without form”: poor and ugly. And as regards our function before God, it was “void”: useless and barren. Therefore, man was under the waters of God’s judgment ---- “the deep”, and fell in the power of “darkness” (Eph. 6:12; Col. 1:13) ---- what a miserable condition!
This verse also mentions our regeneration by water and the Spirit (John 3:3-6). We have been buried with the Lord by baptism unto His death (Rom. 6:4). And the Spirit makes united with Christ and raises us up with Him together (Rom. 6:5; Eph. 2:5; Col. 2:13).
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) God is a God of judging sins ---- after the judgment of God, the earth became without form and void (Ex. 20:5-6).
2) God is a God who turns death to life ---- He turned vanity into fullness of life and light (Rom. 4:17).
3) God is a God who is both the leader and completer ---- He created and restored (Rev. 21:6).
4) God is a God who is righteous and kind ---- He judged and then restored (1John 1:9).
5) The Spirit is working continually in believers’ hearts so that we are enabled to lead a holy life according to His will (Eph. 3:20; Phil. 2:13).
Gen. 1:3 “Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.”
YLT: “and God saith, `Let light be;' and light is.”
Literal Meaning: “God said”, the worlds were framed by the word of God (Heb. 11:3).
“Let there be light”; and there was light”, “light”, the “light” was always there, not created afterwards. Here it emphasizes that the restoring works of God started from light which was opposite to darkness. God recovered everything by light. The modern science has also proved that light is indispensible to all creatures.
Spiritual Meaning: “light” typifies that Christ is the light of the world (John 9:5; 8:12; 1:4-9; 12:46). Only when the light of the glory of Christ’s gospel has shone upon us, will we be saved (2Cor. 4, 6).
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) God spoke, and it was done. He commanded, and it stood fast (Ps. 33:9). Nothing shall be impossible with God (Luke 1:37).
2) Our regeneration is by the living and abiding word of God (1Pet. 1:23).
3) God’s word is the light of man’s life (John 1:1, 4). The entrance of God’s word gives light (Ps. 119:130).
4) Light is not only the source of life but also the source of truth (2Cor. 4:6) and joy (Eccl. 11:7) and purity (1John 1:5-7).
5) We were the people sitting in darkness and in the region and shadow of death, but there was a great light shinning upon us (Matt. 4:16).
6) When the light shines upon us, the nature of darkness will be exposed and then we will turn from darkness to God.