Encountering God in Genesis

In the Book of Genesis we are introduced to God, the Creator of everything. Throughout the book, we learn many things about God as He interacts with and reveals Himself to His creation. In this book we see God interacting with many people, those who believe and know God, such as Adam and Eve, Cain, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, and those who don't know God such as Pharaoh and Hagar. The Book of Genesis is quoted or referred to more than 100 times in the New Testament, and by Jesus Himself. Genesis is the foundation of the entire Bible. Therefore understanding Genesis is crucial to understanding the rest of Scripture. Because many of the stories of Genesis are familiar, it is easy to just skim over them and miss much of the rich lessons that can be found in them. From this book we can learn many lessons about relating to God as well as family relations and lessons for living every day life. This guide is designed to get the reader to dig in deeper to gain new insights and principles. This study is organized into eleven weeks, which are divided into five days of studies.The study is divided into several different sections. In the section titled Observation are questions based on the text which is being studied. The section titled Correlation we will look at other texts in the Bible which cover topics found in the section which we are looking at. There will be a brief Commentary given. Under Vocabulary we will cover the meaning of important words. Under Application there will be questions that will apply what we've studied to our personal lives. I hope that this study will help you to mine the gems which the Bible contains for living our lives. In Genesis are portraits of the Patriarchs from which many lessons can be learned. We are told in 1 Corinthians 10:6,11 These things happened as a warning to us, so that we would not crave evil things as they did,... These things happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us who live at the end of the age. We are also told in Romans 15:4 Such things were written in the Scriptures long ago to teach us. And the Scriptures give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God’s promises to be fulfilled. From these people we can learn positive lessons such as faith, obedience, forgiveness, as well as things we should avoid, such as anger, hatred, and vengence. The Bible is God's love letter to us. In it we find many principles for living life the way God intended for us to live. The Bible is life's instruction book. If we live by it we will find life better than if we go our own way. May God speak to you and bless you as you spend time with His Word.