The Book of Genesis: Expository Commentary from Sermons by Dr Peter Masters

Bible Commentary on The First Book of Moses, Genesis

by Dr Peter Masters, Metropolitan Tabernacle, London (adapted from sermons) with content from Bible Notes

Genesis is a book with all the great doctrines of the faith, everything has its foundation in this book, everything begins here. You can find every New Testament doctrine either clearly, or hinted at, in the Book of Genesis; it is so deep, so rich. There is no progressive revelation in the Bible; every doctrine found in the New Testament has its roots in Genesis. Yes, there is greater detail given by God over time, but nothing is changed; nothing is withdrawn. Genesis is consistent with all that is revealed later.

It is a book of literal history, that is how it is presented in the word of God – as literal events and history. It was given after the children of Israel had been 400 years in Egypt, and no doubt by then they were infected by all kinds of false things and wrong ideas from their time in that land.

It is the first book of Moses, though as has been pointed out many times, it is not credited to him in the New Testament, and there may well be a reason for that; but it is undoubtedly by Moses, probably – but we cannot be certain – based on pre-existing inspired histories, supplied by each generation. Possibly Adam wrote under the inspiration or guidance of God, concerning his experiences and times, and possibly Noah too, and others, Shem and Isaac, because the book of Genesis is divided into sections, and ten times you have the phrase, ‘these the generations of …’. The book proceeds to deal with Adam, then the phrase occurs again in connection with Noah and his sons, and then down to Isaac and Esau and Jacob. Some people have wanted to translate it as ‘This is the account of the generations of ...’, as though to hint that there was pre-existing material. Not that we picture Moses as having to forage about and research like an uninspired man. If there were pre-existing records, they would have been perfect and Moses, who wrote under inspiration, would have recognized them as such, and have been moved of the Spirit to take them up and to bring them together. But there are those hints and it is always important to note the sections in the Book of Genesis.

All the doctrines of grace found in this first book of the Bible. There are many people who know their Bibles very well and remember the narratives of Genesis in detail. They can tell you who lived for how long, and recall all kinds of interesting statistics, for as children they mastered endless Bible quizzes and tongue-twisters. And yet many such friends are under the impression that only in the New Testament do we find doctrine and pastoral application thoroughly suitable for us today. However the glory of Genesis is not its historical drama and detail, but its abundance of doctrine. Here we may find all the doctrines of grace, indeed all the doctrines of the apostle Paul marvellously unfolded. It is true, as the Bible itself teaches, that the full light of the gospel shines in the New Testament. But a light, much brighter than many believers realise, shines also in the Old.

We can trace every essential doctrine right through the Old Testament, and when we do, we are left simply amazed at the staggering ignorance of so-called critical scholarship on account of its complete indifference to the grandly consistent themes of the Bible. There is nothing better than a study of the doctrines in this book to prove beyond all possible doubt the magnificent unity of the Bible, and to prove that it has one author throughout – the Holy Spirit of the Living God. All the great doctrines of the Christian Faith were delivered by inspiration to Moses around 1445 BC. The landscape was clearly visible in the rising dawn of Old Testament light, and it was precisely the same landscape which sprang into even clearer view in the blazing sun of the New Testament age. Liberal theologians speak of religious ideas emerging gradually over the period of the Old Testament, but the Book of Genesis renders such a view preposterous.

The first outstanding feature which impresses itself upon us is that Genesis, as Divine revelation, begins with God. Man always starts with himself and his own ideas, ambitions, problems, achievements, whims and fancies. This is why man can never understand his world or the purpose of his existence. It is also why man-made religions always miss the mark. The authentic stamp of the one, truly revealed religion is that it speaks in the very tone we should expect – it speaks from God’s point of view.

But while speaking of one God, the Genesis narrative reveals all three persons of the Godhead. As early as the second verse of the book we read that, ‘The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.’ So the person of the Holy Spirit is identified as a glorious separate person within the Godhead. Are we reading too much into this verse? After all, the Hebrew word translated spirit is wind or breath. The line could therefore be translated, ‘the breath of God moved upon the face of the waters’. Are we entitled to identify the Holy Spirit in this reference?

In considering this, we are naturally influenced by Genesis 1.26 where we find God speaking as though he possessed more than a single personality: ‘And God said, Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness.’ To whom is God speaking? Would a singular God be represented as speaking to himself? Or is Moses here inspired to speak of the harmonious conference between members of the Godhead. (The same kind of expression occurs in Genesis 11.7, where God says, ‘Let Us go down’ in connection with the confusion of tongues at the Tower of Babel.) Other references to the Spirit of God occur in Genesis 6.3 and 41.38. But we can be sure that Moses uses the term breath or spirit of God, to describe something more than just a ‘shaft’ of God’s power. Moses uses the term breath in a way which suggests that this breath has an intelligent and independent power and identity.

Then we do not have to go far into the book of Genesis before we meet a reference to the Angel of Jehovah speaking and appearing to Abraham, Hagar, Isaac and Jacob. These references make it plain that the Angel of the Lord is distinct from the Father, and yet is one with him in the Godhead. So it becomes evident to us that God did reveal through Moses the fact of his glorious Trinity – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In two of these references the word angel is used to describe the Lord. Angel means sent one or messenger, which proves the individual and separate identify of the member of the Godhead who was sent. So we have Jehovah the appearing-Lord or sent one. The key Scripture for confirming that all the appearances (theophanies) of God in humanly recognised form were made by the Lord Jesus Christ, is John 1.18, ‘No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.’

The second great teaching to be noticed in Genesis is the creation of the world, and man. ‘And God said, Let us make man in our image’ (Genesis 1.26). Man alone was given the power of reason, and a will (which before the fall was entirely free). Man was also given dominion and direction over all nature. His unspoiled, exceptional intelligence and powers could have found glorious fulfilment. He could have been fruitful and brought to birth in his earthly paradise an everlasting, deathless family. So free was the will of our first parents that they could obey or disobey.

The creation period is described as being of six literal days. The case for a literal six-day creation and a young earth is expertly presented and argued in books such as The Genesis Flood J C Whitcomb and H M Morris, Genes, Genesis and Evolution J W Klotz, Why Not Creation? W E Lammerts, Biblical Cosmology and Modern Science H M Morris, Rocks, Relics and Biblical Reliability C A Wilson, Fossils in Focus J K Anderson and H G Coffin, Ape Men, Fact or Fallacy M Bowden.

The original freedom of will given to man was put to the test by a covenant of works. Man had to obey certain reasonable requirements. ‘And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die’ (Genesis 2.16). On the day they ate, they died spiritually, becoming estranged from God and also subject to the law of physical death. Their judgment began at once spiritually, and it began physically with the process of ageing and decay (which is merely the preliminary of death). Man’s bliss had depended upon his performance and probably failed to survive a single day. Given the supremacy over the created world and a domain of amazing beauty and perfection in which to be fruitful, man tragically abused his freedom, disobeyed God and fell. The relationship extended to man in the Garden of Eden was therefore a covenant of works, but it failed because man broke it. The vital point to grasp is that there was only ever one covenant of works and that was the one broken by man in the Garden of Eden. With the breaking of that covenant no relationship with God on the basis of man’s performance would ever be possible again. A relationship on the basis of grace (free undeserved mercy and favour) would be the only hope.

But a problem arises in connection with this. If there was now no possibility of man earning God’s favour by his performance, why were subsequent offers made in the Bible, in which the Lord God seemed to offer blessing if man performed righteous deeds? The answer is that such offers were never intended as viable schemes for salvation. They were reminders of the terms on which a man must satisfy God if he aims to do so by his own performance. Such announcements, far from being serious were designed to shock man into seeing how impossible it was for him to satisfy the holiness of God. They were designed to bring him to value the only workable way to God – the way of grace (Galatians 3.24).

The book of Genesis reveals the devil in the person of Satan. ‘Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field’ (Genesis 3.1). This serpent is shown in the chapter to be one who will employ cunning lies to draw man away from God, and into self-interest and sin. Satan’s methods are demonstrated to be, not open, direct assaults upon God, but more usually subtle. He stirs up self-pity, discontent, ingratitude, and lust. His methods are calculated to build up self-justification in the tempted party. And there is no difference between the devil of Genesis, and the devil described in the Book of Revelation. The Bible is consistent from cover to cover, and all spiritual essentials are to be found in the very first book.

Also in chapter 3 we have the record of the fall unfolded to us. We are shown that the nature of that first temptation was a combination of temptations leading to a terrible compound sin. The moment our parents looked away from God this whole compound cluster of sins leapt into the breast of man and woman. The moment man looked away from God he called into his existence the dark abyss of antivalues, where God is not. Arrogance, lust and self-justification immediately invaded his mind, his heart and his will. As sin entered in, man’s will became depraved and bound by it.

As soon as man fell, the compassion and mercy of God was revealed in the first promise of redemption. When we think of it, this promise alone is clear vindication of the inspired nature of Holy Scripture. These words were, after all, penned by Moses about 1445 BC. The promise itself was made several thousand years previously to Adam, but recorded in writing more than fourteen hundred years before the coming of Christ. Setting aside for the moment our belief in the inspiration of God’s Word, how could Moses have possibly known about a future person, who would come with power to engage man’s spiritual enemy in terrible conflict, and prevail? If the manuscript of the book of Genesis had first been found in the year 100 AD, liberal critics would very soon have decided that the author was a disciple of the Christian period who fashioned the narrative to suit the coming of Christ. The statement speaks of someone who would be a man, of the human race, and yet clearly divine, for he would be able to do what no man could ever do, in gaining the victory over the serpent which brought about the fall of man.

Following the chapter containing the promise of a future deliverer, comes a chapter on the theme of grace, and we are given the clearest possible teaching that acceptance with God is by grace alone. Right at the beginning of the Old Testament this is made so very plain that we can be sure that if a Jew was truly saved in olden times it was by this way of salvation. We see the covenant of grace as well as the covenant of works in Eden. These are two entirely different approaches to the Lord God. We see that from earliest times some men understood that they must be justified not by their own righteousness or works but by the pardoning mercy of the Lord.

Throughout the Bible our Holy God declares the same, unchanging standards for man. No human literature can match God’s word for this unchanging, unwavering, perfectly consistent teaching. When we further remember that the Bible was revealed over a period of 1500 years it is a clear vindication of its claim to be God’s word. In Genesis 6 the righteous demands of God are announced, and the clear warning of judgment is issued. Noah is commanded to build an ark because God will judge mankind. The very construction of the ark was a testimony and a witness against that generation, so Noah is elsewhere called a preacher of righteousness. It is obvious that this mammoth vessel would have taken him a long time and would have attracted much attention, right up to the involved procedure of getting creatures of every kind into the ark. What we are really seeing in chapters 6 and 7 is that God not only judges sin, but goes to great lengths, through his servants, to warn sinners to repent and return.

We move to a great passage at the end of chapter 11 which reveals the effectual call of God. How will the Lord bring men to know him? If men, so perfectly represented by the lost generation which refused to heed Noah, will not respond, then how will God save any? It is made perfectly clear to us that God suddenly intervened in Abraham’s life and demanded from him a complete break with all his past, all his ties with the world, all his old habits and standards, and claimed him for himself. By God’s power he was made willing to obey.

When the apostle Paul wants to prove that his doctrine of justification by faith is not an invention of his own, he goes back the God’s dealings with Abraham to prove it. Abraham did not decide to seek God by his own will or wisdom. He did not somehow produce in himself integrity and character so that God became pleased with him. No, God called him out; the Lord took the initiative. And what brought Abraham into favour was not his righteousness but his believing response to God – his belief that God would keep his promises. God called him to believe in him, and it was counted to him for righteousness. Abraham had it confirmed to him that the relationship which he enjoyed with God was something which was entirely in God’s hands. It was a covenant of sheer grace. He did nothing; God did everything.

Genesis teaches the need for revelation from God. In chapter 17 (where Abraham is 99 years old) the Lord appears to him, announces himself, and then reaffirms the covenant. Then, in chapter 18, when the Lord appears to him in a still more intimate manner in the plain of Mamre, Abraham receives a deep and detailed revelation of the Lord’s plans and purposes.

In chapter 22 we are reading the Gospel according to Abraham (or Moses). Ever since the fall of man faith has been the basis of any relationship with God, faith and spiritual conversion. The testing of Abraham brings this into sharp focus. The subject of the Lord’s command was Isaac, through whom God was due to keep his promise that Abraham would have descendants. And though the Lord has made that promise, he tests Abraham by requiring the sacrifice of his only son. It was a test of his faith. We are being shown that from earliest times, the just shall live by faith. We see Abraham’s consistent attitude throughout. When Isaac asks, ‘Where is the lamb for a burnt offering?’ Abraham replies, ‘My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering’. That is what Abraham always believed, that God would provide the sacrifice. Calvary was still in the distant future, but Abraham’s theology anticipated that God would find a way, and provide for salvation by means of a substitutionary sacrifice. Just as Abraham saw it, God did provide the sacrifice. The day came when, on Calvary’s hill, the substitutionary atonement for man’s sin was made.

Genesis is full of events which clearly teach profound principles. In chapter 24 we read of how Abraham gave instructions for finding a wife for Isaac. The purpose of this chapter is obvious, for it enshrines the principle that the people of God are a separated people. Any wife will not do for Isaac. She has to be special. The right wife will be of the right blood, of the right family, of the right belief, the right persuasion. The people of God are to be a called-out people, a separated people. Abraham was called out of Ur of the Chaldees, and became a stranger and pilgrim, as far as this world was concerned.

Another great doctrine of grace appears in Genesis 25.21, where God reveals to Rebekah why the twins inside her are struggling. ‘And the Lord said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.’ We do not need the letter to the Romans to explain to us that that is about the doctrine of election. The Lord God knew exactly who would be in what position, and what was going to happen to those boys. Both were bad. One of them, Esau, was selfish, carnal – indeed completely unprincipled. He was ‘of the earth, earthy’. What of Jacob? Was he any better? No, in his own way he was cowardly and deceitful. Yet one was called by God, his sins were washed away and he was redeemed. God knew he would do it, and he tells the boy’s mother even before they were born that he would do it. Was that fair? Yes, it was more than fair because both should have perished, for both were sinful. But God in his graciousness is determined to save a line in that family, and so he will be more than fair, and will save some. There it is, the glorious doctrine of predestinating love, grace flowing from the heart of a God who is determined to save a great host which no man can number.

Genesis 28 is about conversion, New Testament conversion. Jacob must be called and converted to God. He must have a personal experience of the Lord. The chapter tells us how he ran from his home, afraid of his brother and doubtless carrying in his heart the suppressed shame of his deceit. Completely alone and probably exhausted and afraid he settled down for the night in the open air. Exposed to the voice of conscience and the stirring of the Spirit of God, he began to see himself, and felt his spiritual need as never before. God told Jacob in this deep experience that there was a great gulf between them. Jacob was a sinner on earth, while God was a holy God in heaven. But there was a mediator; a way for man to get from the ground, into heavenly communion with God.

Genesis 32 gives a clear picture of true conversion as leading to prayer and personal relationship with God. The Saviour appears to wrestle with Jacob. Jacob was terrified of meeting Esau. But the Lord planned that Jacob should be made more earnest. Because he was a true believer, God would never turn Jacob away. But because he needed discipline, God appointed a great struggle for him. Jacob was to discover that he could not skip lightly into the presence of God to ask for protection, and then go back to his own ways.

Genesis 37, penned by Moses, could equally have been written by John Calvin. It could easily be headed, God’s plan and purpose in predestinating love. When Joseph was a young man he ‘dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren’. Long before he understood, God showed that his entire life was planned out. Perhaps God gave this shadowy glimpse of things to come so that Joseph would be held and encouraged through hard times. What is the life of Joseph? It is God saying that when he calls and converts a person he has a great plan and purpose in predestinating love. Joseph, as we know, experienced very pronounced ups and downs, but God was in it all, as the narrative shows us.

In Genesis 48.15-16, we read of Jacob blessing his grandchildren, and referring to the Angel which redeemed him from all evil. The Angel was the one who had wrestled with him, the one he had met face to face. Jacob knew he was a redeemer, which means that Jacob saw himself as having been purchased, bought, or redeemed, from all evil.

Genesis 49.8-10 contains a most wonderful and detailed promise about the line of Judah and her survival for (and only until) the coming of Christ, who would be the centre of all future blessing. This is clear prophecy that God will not finally withdraw from Judah, however rebellious they are, until the Messiah has been born from her line. Then, when Messiah comes, the sceptre (the special priesthood) shall be terminated. The Book of Genesis indicates the tribe from which Messiah would come.

Finally, Genesis 50.24 brings us to the doctrine of assurance. Joseph knew exactly what would take place, and that God would keep his promises. Repeatedly through the record we are shown that these worthies proved the Lord, both in their personal communion and also in answered prayer. As they lived, they grew in certainty and assurance. The ringing tones of triumphant assurance sound a constant harmony throughout this first book of the Bible. Assurance – the great confidence which is the privileged experience of every believer walking closely with God and proving his power and his, promises.

When we read the Book of Genesis, may we never overlook the themes of grace. The opening portion of God’s word, is truly a foundation for all the teaching of both Testaments. In interpreting all of the Bible, we must go back to this foundation, because everything else must be consistent with this foundation.