Genesis in One Sentence

Tim Davis

“Genesis is a book about beginnings—from the beginning of creation and human sin to the beginning of God’s chosen people and their time in Egypt.”

That’s my best attempt to summarize the first book of the Bible. So if you really want to stop reading this article you could; of course, I encourage you to keep going! After all, if you struggle to see how all the puzzle pieces—all the individual stories that make up this book—fit together, this article will help!

My single-sentence summary has four parts to it, so I’ll briefly discuss each part below.

BEGINNING OF CREATION

Ancient Israel lived in a cultural context that’s very different from our own. Scholars refer to this time period as the “ancient near east”. And sure enough, other ancient near east people groups had creation accounts, too. But many of these stories describe creation as the work of multiple “gods” or the result of conflict. But the Biblical account is different.

God alone creates. And he does so through his creative power; creation is not the outcome of an eternal power struggle.

And when he creates, it’s good.

In the ancient near east, temples were constructed with imagery from creation. They represented sacred space where the “god’s” heavenly space overlapped with human space. Temples, then, resembled a microcosm—that is, a micro-creation. Along these lines, “the cosmos [then] could be seen as a macro-temple—that is, the dwelling place of the… one, true, living Creator God.”[1] Understood within its ancient cultural context, creation—God’s cosmic dwelling place—is good because it’s a suitable place for God and his image bearers to dwell. 

BEGINNING OF HUMAN SIN

Throughout Genesis 1, God said, “it was good.” But when you get to Genesis 3:6, someone other than God defines what’s good. This is where the story begins to unravel because sin enters the scene.  

Genesis 3-11 captures the downfall of humanity and human civilization. To use a word picture, reading Genesis 3-11 is like watching an avalanche rip down a mountain. But instead of snow, sin erupts.

Sin’s influence is deep and wide: it pollutes every part life for every human, it affects the earth, and it saturates human society.[2]

BEGINNING OF GOD’S CHOSEN PEOPLE

As previously noted, an avalanche of sin ensues throughout Genesis 3-11. It concludes with God dividing the nations at Babel. Following this scene, God calls Abram who’s later renamed Abraham. 

God makes three promises that eventually form Israel’s identity; yet, these three promises are also foundational to God’s redemptive goals. First, God promises to make Abraham a great nation. Second, God promises blessing. He’ll bless Abraham, Abraham will be a blessing, God will bless those who bless Abraham, and all the families of the earth will be blessed through Abraham. Third, God promises land. They arrive just outside the promised land by the end of Numbers, and they enter the land of Canaan in the book of Joshua.

Of course, God’s chosen people enter the land after the most monumental story in the Old Testament: the exodus. 

BEGINNING OF THEIR TIME IN EGYPT

The book of Exodus begins with the Israelites enslaved in Egypt. They’ve been fruitful and increased in the land. Unfortunately, a new pharaoh arose in Egypt who was unfamiliar with Joseph.

This brings us back to the book of Genesis.

Genesis 37 is the start of one of the most well-known stories in the book. Joseph was more loved by his father, so his brothers hated him for it (Gen. 37:4). By the end of the scene, his brothers throw him into a pit and sell him to the Ishmaelites. The Ishmaelites then took Joseph to Egypt (Gen. 37:24-28). 

Joseph rises through the ranks in Egypt, and at thirty years old, he enters the service of Pharaoh (Gen. 41:46). God providentially directs Joseph’s life to save many people from seven years of famine. Joseph summarizes his life well when he tells his brothers, “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive as they are today” (Gen. 50:20).

So there you have it… 

“Genesis is a book about beginnings—from the beginning of creation and human sin to the beginning of God’s chosen people and their time in Egypt.” 

And this leads us to the book of Exodus.