Covenant History - The Origins Of God's PeopleSample

The Book Of Genesis

What is the Book of Genesis About?

The book of Genesis is the first of five chronicles that make up Covenant History. A chronicle is a literary method of conveying historical material as a series of stories based on a list of people or places. In Genesis, the chronicle is based on a list of people. The stories about the 11 people on the list are introduced by the phrase this is the account of [person X]. The general pattern is that after briefly considering their siblings, Genesis focuses on the individuals in each generation that God is working through to fulfill his promises.

Here's What to Look for When Reading Genesis: 

This book is an ancient record of the origins of humanity and the beginnings of God’s plan to restore order in the world he created. Make it a point to Read the entire book of Genesis and look for all the instances in Genesis where it is explained how something came to be.

A Recommended Key Reading: Genesis 2:4-15

This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth and no plant had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground, but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. 

Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground — trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four head waters. The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. (The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin and onyx are also there.) The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush. The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Ashur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.

Journal Prompt:   What is something you noticed for the first time?

Excerpted from The Books of the Bible: Covenant History.  To learn more about this series visit: https://www.thenivbible.com/community-bible-experience/