Tag: Genesis

After Noah and his ark full of animals survived the flood, God made a covenant with Noah and all living things to allow them to be fruitful
and fill the Earth. This was a renewed blessing of what God had given to all living things during the creation.

The rainbow is a sign of that promise and his covenant. The covenant, or solemn agreement, with Noah remains in effect as long as the world lasts. It has not, nor will it ever be, revoked.

Abraham later wholeheartedly accepts this blessing and becomes integral to the history of salvation (see CCC, 1080). With Abraham and his descendants, God makes a covenant and a new understanding of what a relationship with him is meant to be.

In biblical times, covenants often spelled out the rules and responsibilities between a ruler and his subjects. In this covenant, God forms his People. He promises to be faithful to Abraham and his family. God assures Abraham that he will look after him and his many descendants, no matter what.

The Bible, both Old and New Testaments, centers around the covenant and the one true God who remains faithful to it. In his Son, Jesus, God establishes his covenant forever. Listen for words about this the next time you take part in Mass.

We, too, are covenant people, invited to be friends with the one true God who promised to look after Abraham and his descendants. Because of Jesus, God’s words are for us as much as they were for the first generations of God’s People:

“Do not fear, for I am with you, do not be afraid, for I am your God” (Isaiah 41:10). We are called to be faithful to God and our relationship with him. What does this mean? Synonyms for faithfulness include loyal, true, and steadfast.

Being faithful to God means remaining true and loyal to God and his laws, being honest and constant in the things we say and do. It involves making sure we honor his commands and all that his Son teaches us.

In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). Those first words of the Bible tell us of God’s act of creating the world. After God breathed life into Adam and Eve, he began to reveal to them, and to their descendants, who he is.

He therefore makes it possible for us to respond to him, to know him, and to love him beyond our natural capability (see Catechism of the Catholic Church, 52).

What we find in the Old Testament are truths God has made known to us about things that really matter. As “an indispensible part of Sacred Scripture” (CCC, 121), the Old Testament records what God reveals about himself, addresses some of the greatest questions ever asked, and includes the most enduring written works in history.

It contains much of the sacred writings of our ancestors in faith, the Israelites, and concentrates on the covenant God made with them.

We call this the “Old Covenant,” which came before the “New Covenant” established by Jesus Christ. And its books set the stage for the great culminating event of our faith—the life, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension of Jesus (see CCC, 121-123).

The biblical figures whose stories show us something about who God is, and how he relates to us give us insights into who we are as people created by God. And, they point to Jesus.

As you read, ask yourself what the major themes are and how they apply to Jesus and to your own life. What do they say about the journey of faith that these Old Testament figures were on? How do they relate to where you are on your own journey?

Every page of the Old Testament addresses the questions of “‘Who is God?’ ‘What does God do?’ ‘Why does God do it?’” While the Old Testament is the story of the people of Israel, “it is not primarily the story of God and Israel alone.

Although the people remembered what God had done for them, they also spoke about what God does for the whole world and all its nations. The Bible testifies to the universal greatness and love of God” (Reading the Old Testament, Father Lawrence Boadt, p. 544).

So we begin at the beginning with the Book of Genesis, in which we learn much about God, creation, and humans. In those divinely inspired words, we learn about “the first and universal witness to God’s all-powerful love” 30 (CCC, 288).

The creation of the world and humans is the first communication of God’s plan and his desire to be in relationship with us. Throughout history, scientists have wrestled with the origins of the universe.

We have heard of the big bang theory, credited to Edwin Hubble more than fifty years ago as well as Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution. It outlines the development of life on Earth. His theory has been around for more than 150 years.

Those scientific theories deal with how things came to be. But, what does the Book of Genesis say about why the universe and humans came to be? The biblical account of creation includes two accounts.

The first is a step-by-step description of how God created the world in seven days. The second focuses on the account of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.

The Church doesn’t debate whether creation actually happened as written in Genesis. Instead the Church looks at what is written for the religious truth that God wanted his people to know.

There is a recurring theme found in the opening chapters of the Bible: “‘And God saw that it was good.’” Pope Saint John Paul II noted in his World Day of Peace message on January 1, 1990, that there is a significant change in that theme once God creates man and woman.

“At this point the refrain changes markedly: ‘And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good’ (Gen 1:31). God entrusted the whole of creation to the man and woman, and only then—as we read—could he rest ‘from all his work’” (Gen 2:3).

Scientific studies and all that come from them give us an even greater respect and appreciation for the innate goodness of our Creator. The research and findings invite us to praise God and give him thanks for all that he has created and made possible, including knowledge and wisdom of researchers (see CCC, 283).

Why does anybody tell a story? It does indeed have something to do with faith, faith that the universe has meaning, that our little human lives are not irrelevant; that what we choose or say or do matters, matters cosmically. —Madeleine L’Engle, in Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, eds., Spiritual Literacy

Storytelling serves a very important purpose. Human beings have always used stories to express themselves. The Israelites did. We know that Jesus did, drawing listeners and readers alike into the profound mystery of God through his words and actions. We still do today.

Just think about how many movies you have seen in the last year, the books read, TV programs watched, and Internet websites surfed. Many music videos tell stories or at least offer images that make a good point or send a message. Family members and friends are always good for stories, too.

Some stories passed from generation to generation address a community or group of people’s most important questions: What are our origins Where are we going? Does our existence have meaning? What is our place in the universe?

The first eleven chapters of Genesis—often using figurative language—address these questions in ways that God wants us to contemplate. In these accounts, we see Adam and Eve and their interaction with God and other creatures.

Here we meet the brothers Cain and Abel as well as people bent on building a tower to the heavens, and Noah facing the great flood. These stories are not to be interpreted as strict, literal historical facts, whereas some later biblical stories are indeed rooted in historical fact.

Was flooding commonplace in parts of the biblical world? Yes. Is it likely that we will ever find the remains of “Noah’s ark”? Not likely. Did ancient civilizations build towering structures and boast of their greatness? Yes. Is that the reason people speak different languages? Not likely.

We don’t read these stories of creation and destruction and the consequences of human pride as reflecting scientific, historical facts. The Church understands that the Bible is not meant to serve as a factually scientific or historic document.

The Scriptures are different kinds of narratives meant to convey God’s truth about who we are and who we are intended to be; their messages are not confined to one time and place.

On top of presenting such fundamental truths, these stories lay the foundation for the coming of Jesus. This is how God chose to reveal himself to humankind. This is also how he prepared us for meeting God face to face.

A genealogy starting in Chapter 11, Verse 10 of the Book of Genesis lists names of the descendants of a man named Shem. In the list, which includes some biographical information about the descendants, we arrive at a person named Abram, who the world will come to know as Abraham.

This is where Genesis turns to the account of the patriarch Abraham and his succeeding generations, including Isaac and Jacob. These chapters contain an actual historical basis as well.

Abraham came from a real place that we can find on a map. He traveled through lands that we can visit today. He drank from wells that quite possibly are still there. And he lived a life of faith that we can learn from today; the choices he made, the joys and struggles he experienced, the trust and belief he displayed in God show us something about God’s love and faithfulness, and the human ability to respond to it.

The stories of his travels and encounters give us snapshots of the various groups living at the time in lands we know today as Iraq in the north to Egypt in the south.

A model of passion for God appears early in the Bible. In the Book of Genesis, the account of Abraham serves as an analogy for all people of faith.

Abraham undergoes test after test. Leaving the security of home is a test. Being childless into old age is a test, particularly at that time, when a father depended on a son to take charge of the household when he dies.

Abraham’s greatest test comes when God tells him to sacrifice his son, Isaac. The allegorical sense of Scripture helps us to see Abraham’s test as a sign of God’s willingness to sacrifice his only Son, Jesus, on the cross.

‘By faith, Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place which he was to receive as an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was to go.’ 24 By faith, he lived as a stranger and pilgrim in the promised land. 25 By faith, Sarah was given to conceive the son of the promise. And by faith Abraham offered his only son in sacrifice. 26 —CCC, 145

It was Abraham’s faith that led him from home, and through his faith and obedience to God, promises of land and descendants came to him
through Isaac, then Jacob to the present.

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were great examples of faith for the Israelites and succeeding generations. Through faith, “Abraham became the ‘father of all who believe’” 27 (CCC, 146).

This extraordinary faith led to something even better from God: “the grace of believing in his Son Jesus, ‘the pioneer and perfecter of our faith’” 28 (CCC, 147).

Abraham “lives by faith” in two ways. He obeys God, and he also trusts in God. Abraham undergoes hardships. His hopes appear to be dashed, yet he remains faithful to the God of his promise and trusts that God will provide.

This message sustained those who chronicled the stories about him, just as it has sustained Hebrew, Christian, and Muslim communities ever since. All three consider Abraham the father of their faith.

Where the conditions are right, that is, where a heart is open in faith, the seed of God’s word takes root and has a sure effect. . . . It is ‘the word of God, which is now at work in you who believe.’ (1 Thes 2:13) —Jerome Kodell, OSB, The Catholic Bible Study Handbook, page 26

Abraham is said to be the father of our faith; as followers, we are his descendants. A literal interpretation would assert that we are genealogically linked to Abraham. Catholics have always found a spiritual, analogical meaning in the story of Abraham.

Understanding how to interpret any biblical text helps us to realize its importance in our lives. Biblical truth is conveyed through multiple
means. In stories like that of Abraham, God reveals his message to us through human authors who were products of particular times and places.

History and culture, techniques and senses, and correct interpretation or scripture give us insights and perspective. They help us understand the bigger picture or context.

But they can come across as technical or detached if we lose sight of their purpose: to get closer to Christ by better understanding and applying Scripture’s divine message to our lives. To learn about God’s commands and his will for us so that we can live as he made us to, so that we can find a true happiness that would not be possible otherwise.

Yes, you could say the Bible is a story like no other, but it’s far more than a piece of literature. The following contrast between two of classes in school may help you appreciate a truth revealed to us in Scripture that we would otherwise lack.

Say you have biology class, followed by religion class. Your biology textbook has a series of diagrams in it. The first diagram depicts a human skeleton. A second shows the various organs of the body. Subsequent ones illustrate the muscular system, circulatory system, and so forth.

Does this series of diagrams give us “the truth” about being human? In one sense, the answer is yes. But don’t we wonder if there is more to being human than many semesters of biology classes could tell us? Is there a “beyond” to the human condition that science can’t reveal to us?

So now make your way to religion class. There you open up another book, quite different from your biology book—the Bible. Near the beginning it states that human beings are created in God’s image (see Genesis 1:26).

That’s a very powerful statement. It holds many implications for how we view ourselves, how we treat one another, and how we understand our relationship to the ultimate mystery, God.

The information we get from biology class can give us a literal sense of who we are. Yet there is more to us than a set of transparencies can show. The inspired writers of the Bible tell us there is indeed more to reality than what meets the eye.

The Bible gives us the spiritual sense (allegorical, moral, and anagogical). There is a spiritual side to our existence. This is the deep wisdom of the Scriptures. The source of this wisdom is the ultimate source of all truth, God.

The biblical writers chronicle the struggles of the Israelite people. In the anagogical sense, the Israelites try to understand what it means to be human in light of their relationship with God.

What does it hold for their future and eternal reality? Then, in the fullness of time, what it means to be made in the image of God is revealed most completely in the Person of Jesus Christ.

All Sacred Scripture is but one book, and that one book is Christ, ‘because all divine Scripture speaks of Christ, and all divine Scripture is fulfilled in Christ’ 29 —CCC, 134

Words can be empty or filled with meaning, or they can confuse or inspire us. Above all, words are vehicles that point to something else. For example, the word “driver” conjures up an image of particular realities: one behind the wheel of a car and the other hitting a golf ball off the tee.

The Bible is the Sacred Scripture, the Holy Book. It is holy because:

 its principal author, God, is holy

 the truths it reveals are holy

 the way God wants us to live is holy

 its words are holy

The three major monotheistic religions of the world can be called “Abrahamic religions” because of the role of Abraham in each of the
religious traditions. All three religions—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—claim Abraham as an ancestor who made a covenant with God.

While all three acknowledge God as Creator and claim ties to Abraham, the relationship between the Jewish People and the Catholic Church has a unique position. We trace our roots back to the Jewish faith, and our link to Judaism is special. Jesus, the Son of God and our Savior, was born and raised a Jew.

The first mention of Abraham in the Old Testament occurs in a genealogy, or family tree, following the final primeval story in Genesis Abraham’s name in the genealogy is “Abram,” and he is married to “Sarai.” The text specifies that “Sarai was barren; she had no child” (Genesis 11:30). Genesis 12 begins immediately with the call and covenant promise made with Abraham, then known as Abram.

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” —Genesis 12:1-3c

Abraham is obedient to the Lord’s will. He takes Sarai and heads into Canaan. The Lord appears to Abraham again and makes an additional promise: “To your offspring I will give this land” (Genesis 12:7).

At this early stage, the promise made to Abraham is that he will have a great nation, land, and descendants. He will be a blessing to all the communities of the Earth. But how could Abraham have descendants when his wife Sarai is barren and cannot have children?

Sarai is the first woman named in the Bible to be unable to have children. This starts to become a pattern with the mothers of the patriarchs. Rebekah, the wife of Isaac; Rachel, the wife of Jacob; the mother of Samson in Judges 13:1-24; and Hannah, the mother of Samuel in 1 Samuel 1:1-28 all have problems having children.

Hannah’s prayer of thanksgiving after she gives birth to Samuel bears similarity to the Magnificat, which is the prayer Mary offers after she conceives Jesus.

In the New Testament, John the Baptist’s mother, Elizabeth, an aging woman, has no children. Despite her age, she does give birth to John the Baptist. Mary, a young woman and a virgin, conceives Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit. The miraculous nature of these birth stories emphasizes the different roles that John and Jesus have in the history of the salvation of the world.

Each of these accounts from the Old and New Testaments remind us that only God creates and gives new life, in any situation he chooses. Through the Resurrection of his Son, God bestows eternal life on all who believe that Jesus, whose name means “God saves,” is the Savior of the world.

Christian hope fulfills that of the Chosen People of God, which has its origin in Abraham. Abraham’s many blessings come from God’s promise fulfilled in Isaac. Before any of that takes place, God tests Abraham’s faithful obedience, and that test places the promise of God’s covenant and the descendants of Abraham in jeopardy. God asks Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac, the one through whom the covenant is to continue.

Abraham was purified by this test. “Hoping against hope, he believed, and thus became the father of many nations” (CCC, 1819). Saint Paul is the first to make a connection between the sacrifice of Isaac and the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross. Abraham acts on behalf of Israel, in obedience to God’s command, and God acts on behalf of all humanity through the sacrifice of his only Son.

“By faith Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac. He who had received the promises was ready to offer his only son, of whom said he had been told, ‘It is through Isaac that descendants shall be named for you.’ He reasoned the fact that God is able to raise someone from the dead—and figuratively speaking, he did receive him back” (Hebrews 11:17-20).

Scripture makes the connection between the sacrifice of Isaac and the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross. Saint Irenaeus uses the story to encourage Christians to carry the Cross of their faith as Isaac carried his own wood. Tertullian reinterprets the story by saying that the reason Isaac carried his own wood to the sacrifice was a mystery kept secret until Christ was asked to carry His wooden Cross to his sacrifice.

In Genesis 17, both Abram and Sarai have their names changed to Abraham and Sarah. A name change often reflects a new relationship with God. For example, the Lord changed Simon’s name to Peter when he was named the “rock” of the Church (see Matthew 16:18).

Abraham and Sarah’s name changes mark a turning point in the history of Israel, and coincide with God promising a child to Abraham through his barren wife Sarah. Abraham laughs at God’s promise: “Can a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Can Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” (Genesis 17:17).

God tells Abraham that Sarah will give birth to a son, and they will call him Isaac. “I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him” (Genesis 17:19).

Lessons from Abraham

We can take the following lessons from the Abraham story:

Abraham is called by God to leave his homeland and enter a “strange” land. Often, God acts powerfully in moments of transition and change, especially when it involves a physical move to a different geographical location.

Abraham is obedient to God’s will. Through his obedience, God makes an everlasting covenant with him of land and countless descendants. The promise will continue through his descendants, up to and including Jesus and his Christian followers, who receive the fulfillment of his promise through the Death and Resurrection of Jesus.

For Jews, Christians, and Muslims, Abraham serves as a father and role model of faith. Abraham continues to have faith even when faced with the impossible. God promises him many descendants, yet his wife Sarah is of an advanced age and has no children. Abraham continues to trust God, and his faithfulness is rewarded with the arrival of his son Isaac.

Ishmael, the son born to Abraham through his Egyptian maidservant Hagar (see Genesis 16:1-15), is also blessed by God in this passage. “As for Ishmael, I have heard you; I will bless him and make him fruitful and exceedingly numerous; he shall be the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. But my covenant I will establish with Isaac” (Genesis 17:20-

Muslims claim Ishmael as the one with whom God makes his covenant promise. Despite differences of interpretation and tradition, it is clear in Scripture that Isaac receives the promise of the covenant beyond the life of Abraham and the lives of Isaac, Jacob, and the other Patriarchs, for it will be “an everlasting pact.”

It is Sarah’s turn to laugh when she overhears three messengers of God tell Abraham that she will have a son. But the Lord says to Abraham: “Why did Sarah laugh, and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too wonderful for the Lord? At the set time I will return to you, in due season, and Sarah shall have a son” (Genesis 18:13-14).

The child’s name will be Isaac, a name that means “he will laugh.” After Isaac is born, Sarah says: “God has brought laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me” (Genesis 21:6). The Catechism calls the birth of Isaac one of the “divine blessings” in salvation history (see CCC, 1081).

The final primeval story in the Book of Genesis 1:11, is the Tower of Babel.

The Babylonians were known to build temple towers or ziggurat step pyramids to honor their gods. God punishes the tower builders by confusing their language. In Hebrew, the term “Balal” refers to confusion of languages. Today, we use the word “babbling” to refer to speech that is not understood.

The lesson in the Tower of Babel focuses on the sin of pride. The story points to a deeper truth: Our human pride can cause us to go so far as to think we don’t need God. He punishes the tower builders because of their pride. This story is reversed in the Acts of the Apostles in the story of Pentecost. Instead of confusion, everyone understands the languages that are being spoken. The words spoken are of the “mighty acts of God” (Acts 2:1-13).

The Book of Genesis mentions four rivers that meet in the Garden of Eden. Two of the rivers—the Tigris and the Euphrates—still exist.

• The locations of the other two rivers—the Pishon and the Gihon—are not known. Some have speculated that the Pishon once flowed from Kuwaiti highlands, but it is now a dry riverbed. Others have made guesses about the Gihon, and have claimed that all four rivers fed into the Persian Gulf. Some have even suggested that the Garden of Eden could have existed in the Gulf.

• The Tigris and Euphrates both begin about fifty miles apart in eastern Turkey. They wind through northern Syria and Iraq almost meeting each other in Bahgdad. They finally converge near Basrah, Iraq, seventy-five miles from the Persian Gulf.

• In world history class, you may have learned that the lower region between the rivers was the ancient cradle of civilization known as Mesopotamia.