Genesis

Many Bible readers are fascinated with Adam because he was the first man God created. People know him for naming animals, living in the Garden of Eden, and marrying the first woman, Eve. Yet the romantic paradise in which God placed the first couple was only temporary because of their disobedience, leading to personal shame,…

Many people know Abraham for his faith in God (Rom. 4:1-5) and as the founding patriarch of the Jewish people (Gen. 12:1-3). While the book of Genesis tells his story, other writers in the Old and New Testaments also mention him. Bible readers are not only interested in knowing about Abraham’s life but also what…

Abraham is the main character in Genesis 11:10-25:11. While the Old and New Testaments mention him outside those chapters, they refer to the stories within them. One story in Abraham’s narrative that is most memorable to Bible readers is when he nearly sacrificed his son, Isaac. Understandably, many people want to know why such a…

Abraham was the first patriarch of the Hebrew people, later called Israelites and Jews. Bible readers know him as the recipient of God’s promise of land, nation, and blessing (Gen. 12:1-3) and as Sarah’s husband and Isaac’s father. Many people want to know what the name “Abraham” means. They also want to know when and…

God’s lifelong faithfulness to Abraham was anchored in his promises to the patriarch. God declared his covenant with Abraham when he called him to leave Haran for the Promised Land. Even when circumstances threatened the promises, including Abraham’s poor choices, God kept his promises. God promised to give Abraham land for him and his descendants,…

Abraham is a central figure in the book of Genesis, whose legacy extends throughout the Old and New Testaments. Bible readers know him for the promises God gave him; for nearly sacrificing his son, Isaac; and for his faith in God. And, because of his importance, people also want to know about his family. Abraham…

Abraham, the first Hebrew patriarch, is known for being the father of the Jewish race and the nation of Israel. His wife and some of his children are central to his story in the book of Genesis. Sometimes when people refer to Abraham’s children, they mean all his descendants. Yet, others want to know how…

According to the book of Genesis, Abraham was the first Hebrew patriarch. In the Old Testament, he is known as the father of the Jewish people. In the New Testament, writers, especially the Apostle Paul, highlight Abraham’s faith in God. One event in Abraham’s life people want to know more about is when his wife…

Abraham is one of the most influential figures in the Bible. His story is told in the book of Genesis, and its themes and promises echo through the Old and New Testaments. Because of his significance, Bible readers are interested in the details of his biography, including the identity of his family members. Abraham’s father…

Jews and Christians celebrate Abraham because of his important role in the book of Genesis, which reverberates throughout the Bible. As the first Hebrew patriarch, and a great man of faith (Rom. 4), God used him to father the nation of Israel (Gen. 12:1-3). While Bible readers want to know about Abraham’s life, they are…

Abraham is one of the most significant people in the Bible. In the Old Testament, his legacy is that he was the first Hebrew patriarch, the father of the nation of Israel. In the New Testament, in addition to being the forefather of the Jewish people, his legacy is that he was a man of…

Genesis 6:1-4 is one of the most mysterious and debated passages in the first book of the Bible. Many people find that interpreting the verses is challenging because the text doesn’t directly identify the “sons of god” and the “daughters of men” or how the Nephilim relate to them. As a result, even though there…

God created the Garden of Eden and placed Adam and Eve in it to live. In the beautiful garden setting, God provided them with food, and they had fellowship with him and each other. Yet, after sin entered the world through the serpent’s temptation, God banished Adam and Eve from the garden forever. This unfortunate…

Bible readers love the book of Genesis because it explains the origins of the universe, people, sin, the nation of Israel, and more. Furthermore, the stories of the Garden of Eden, the global flood in Noah’s day, and the biographies of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph continue to fascinate people. Because Genesis is technically an…

The Garden of Eden plays an important role in the early chapters of Genesis. God created Adam, planted the garden, and placed the first man in it (Gen. 2:8). God later created Eve and placed her in the garden with Adam (Gen. 2:18-25). Sadly, God later banished the first couple from the garden after they…

Enoch stands out in Genesis even among prominent patriarchs like Noah and Abraham. Noah is the main character for four chapters in Genesis (Ch. 6-9). Abraham is the main character for about 14 chapters (Gen. 11:10-25:11). Enoch’s story consists of only three verses, yet his devotion to God is just as evident as Noah’s and…

Bible readers love to learn about Enoch even though Genesis doesn’t reveal much about him. The fact that the genealogy in Genesis 5 interrupts its pattern of names and ages to describe Enoch’s relationship with God has given readers pause for thousands of years. One question that readers of Genesis wonder about is when Enoch…

Enoch is one of the most fascinating people in the Bible, even though Genesis barely mentions him. Though the description of him is brief, it’s also edifying, instructive, and a little mysterious. Enoch even stands out among the patriarchs of Genesis like Noah and Abraham, because he never died. This fact makes many readers to…

A serpent plays an important role in Genesis, the first book of the Bible, and in Revelation, the last book. Scripture also mentions them in other places in the Old and New Testaments that are important to doctrines like sin and salvation. However, the term “serpent” is not a scientific designation, which leaves many readers…

Noah’s ark is one of the most iconic structures in the Bible. It was 450 feet long (137.6 m), 75 feet wide (22.86 m), and 45 feet high (13.71 m). God commanded Noah to build an ark to save him, his family, and thousands of animals from the floodwaters he would send upon the earth…

The story of Noah’s ark, though sometimes represented as a children’s fairytale, is a powerful act of judgment that God rendered against a godless and rebellious world. Noah is the lone righteous figure in the narrative, and only he and his family are saved from the floodwaters. The story of Noah’s ark (Ch. 6-9) is…

According to Genesis 3, God placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden to live and have fellowship with him and each other. But then the serpent appeared in paradise. It targeted the first couple, tempting them to sin, telling them lies, and planting doubts about God in their hearts and minds. This scene…

Knowing when a Bible character lived helps readers understand their social context, personal challenges, and faith in God. For example, knowing when Abraham was born and died is important to his story. The same is true for Moses, Joshua, Ruth, David, Solomon, Esther, Jesus, and Paul. Yet Noah lived before these biblical figures, leading to…

Noah is the central human figure in the flood story in Genesis. Bible readers know him as the patriarch who built the ark and for being righteous and faithful in the midst of a godless generation. Because Noah is so important to Genesis and the rest of the Bible, and because the New Testament praises…

The flood story in Genesis highlights the righteousness of Noah and his faith in God. However, the narrative ends in a tragic scene that includes Noah’s drunkenness, Ham’s unrighteousness, and a generations-long curse that the patriarch imposes upon Canaan and his descendants. Many readers find Noah’s curse on Ham to be one of the most…

Noah is a prominent figure in the book of Genesis. The first book of the Bible devotes more space to his narrative because of the flood story than it does to Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Seth, Enoch, Methuselah, and other important characters. Noah is known for his righteousness (Gen. 6:9) and his faith…

After the floodwaters dissipated and the ark came to rest in the mountains of Ararat, some readers may have expected Noah and his family to live happily ever after with the animals. Sadly, this isn’t the case. Sin still existed in the world after the flood, as the first story that Genesis tells after it…

Noah is a central figure in the book of Genesis. The New Testament praises his faith (Heb. 11:7), which he demonstrated in the story of the flood that God sent to destroy the earth. Because Noah is such a towering figure in Genesis and plays a central role in one of the most fascinating and…

Noah’s ark still fascinates Bible readers several millennia after its voyage because of its important purpose, enormous size, and the human and animal passengers it carried. Animals are a special part of God’s creation that he called “very good” (Gen. 1:31). It’s not surprising that he told Noah to build a vessel large enough to…

The story of Noah and the ark has fascinated Bible readers for millennia. Old and New Testament writers referenced the story, and Jesus mentioned it in his teaching (Matt. 24:37-28). Those who know the story in Genesis are likely familiar with Noah’s family, who is referred to throughout the narrative (Gen. 6-9). One question people…

What would cause God to destroy the world he created and called “very good” (Gen. 1:31)? Why would he undo his separation of the seas and the land? Why would God drown the human and animal life he fashioned for his glory? The flood story is one of the most powerful narratives in the Bible…

The ancestry of Jesus Christ is important to the New Testament Gospels. Knowing who Jesus came from helps readers understand who he is. Two of the four Gospels — Matthew and Luke — even include genealogies. Readers of name lists often note famous Old Testament figures like David, Abraham, and Adam. One question people ask…

Noah is an iconic figure in the Bible who is known for his righteousness and faith. After God decided to destroy the world with a flood because of how sinful humanity had become, he called Noah to build an ark. The ark’s was to save Noah, his family, and animals from the floodwaters to start…

Noah is one of the most important characters in the Bible. His story stands alongside other central figures in the book of Genesis, like Adam, Abraham, and Joseph. Noah’s life is also significant to the Bible’s broader narrative, similar to the biographies of Moses and David in the Old Testament and Peter and Paul in…

Noah stands out to Bible readers because of the flood story. Yet, he first stood out to God because of his righteousness (Gen. 6:9). The New Testament mentions Noah, along with Abraham, Moses, and David, as a person of extraordinary faith (Heb. 11). His story in Genesis primarily relates to the worldwide flood. One question…

In the first chapter of Genesis, God called the world that he created very good (Gen. 1:31). However, by the sixth chapter, sin had corrupted creation so badly that he decided to destroy it with water (Gen. 6:7, 17). At this time, God told Noah to build an ark to save himself and thousands of…

For many Bible readers, the story of Noah’s ark never gets old. They are in awe when they read about the magnitude of the floodwaters, thankful when imagining how God saved the animals, and hopeful when he chose Noah to build the ark and start a new world with his family. A common question people…

The New Testament praises Noah as a man of extraordinary faith (Heb. 11:7), which is apparent in the story of the flood (Gen. 6-9). In addition to the flood account, the Bible reveals many fascinating details about Noah, such as that his grandfather was Methuselah (Gen. 5:25-32) and that he was a preacher of righteousness…

The story of Noah, the flood, and the ark is one of the most iconic narratives in the Bible. Not only does the magnitude of the floodwaters leave readers awe-struck, but so does the faith that Noah has amid a godless generation. Readers of Genesis often have many questions about the flood story, one of…

Noah is one of the most well-known figures in the Bible because of the profound faith he exhibited during a time of extreme moral and spiritual corruption in the world. The Old and New Testaments regularly commend Noah for his faith. His story is found in the book of Genesis. Noah’s family plays an important…

The book of Genesis devotes more space to the story of the flood, Noah, and the ark, than to the creation account or the story of Adam and Eve. The size of the flood story doesn’t necessarily make it more significant than others in the first section of Genesis, but it does reflect its importance…

The story of the global flood in the days of Noah is one of the most important in the Bible. The narrative reveals the nature of people, the nature of God, and the unparalleled worldwide catastrophe that occurs when the two intersect. In the story, Noah is set apart from the rest of humanity, as…

The story of creation in the first chapter of Genesis is a highly-organized, masterfully-written account of the origin of the universe, including the earth. Each of the seven days is unique and corresponds to the other days in the sequence. What did God create on the fourth day, and how does it relate to what…

The creation account in the book of Genesis not only begins the story of the Bible, but it’s also referred to throughout the Old and New Testaments as a supernatural act of God that revealed his power and glory. The seven days of creation unfold in a sequence. The third day of creation, which is…

The creation account in the first chapter of Genesis is one of the most beautiful and powerful passages in the Bible. It explains to readers how God created the world, including what he spoke into being and when. Each day of the creation account is important. The second day of the creation account is important…

The Bible teaches that God didn’t use already-existing matter to create the universe but spoke into existence what he willed (John 1:3; Col. 1:16). The first chapter of Genesis sequentially describes the seven-day creation account. What God created on the first day of creation had an important purpose and set the stage for everything he…

The seven-day creation account in the first chapter of Genesis is the foundation of the Bible. Not only does God stretch out the sky, put the sun and moon in their place, and fashion animals and people, but he reveals himself in the process (Rom. 1:20). The climax of the creation account is the sixth…

The creation account that unfolds in the first chapter of Genesis leads to a profound climax that completes God’s creative work. The text of Genesis portrays the sixth day as God’s crowning achievement, a depiction that doesn’t apply to anything he already created, like the stars, animals, or vegetation. So what did God make on…