The story of the first human beings in the Garden of Eden and the Temptation
Cain and Abel
The Flood
The Tower of Babel
Genesis 12-50: The History and the Patriarchs
The Patriarchs are the founders of the Nation of Israel (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob)
Jacob's Twelve Children, among which is Joseph
Genesis 1-3: Creation, Adam and Eve
Two accounts of Creation
Genesis 1: The Priestly Account (ca. 5th Century BC)
Genesis 2: The Yahwistic Account (represents the oldest account ca. 8th Century BC)
Differences:
Genesis 1, God is a powerful King in Heaven ordering things to come into creation. He created ex nihilo (out of nothing) and does it by the power of His Word. He doesn't move from heaven or descend on earth, but He commands and everything appears.
Genesis 2, God takes dust from the ground, makes man, breathes to make him a living being.
In Genesis 1, God is transcendent (transcends the material universe) and in Genesis 2, God is imminent (working inside the material universe)
In Genesis 1, God is a deliberator ("Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness") - according to Jewish interpretation, God is talking to His angels. In Genesis 2, God is like a potter Who shapes humanity from the ground. He is not deliberating, He is doing.
Each account gives us something about God and they complement each other
The Creation of Humanity in Three Steps
God took dust out of the ground and created humanity (Adam - not specifically a man or a woman)
God takes this humanity and places it in the Garden of Eden (Garden of Delight)
God fashions Eve (woman) and brings her to the humanity (Adam) - This is a woman, taken from a man. And there is a unity between them - marriage.
Genesis 3 - The Fall of Man
God planted many trees including the Tree of Life, and in the middle of the garden, the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (knowing everything) and He commanded Adam and Eve not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil
They were not tempted to eat from the Tree of Life (immortality and living forever) but rather in the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (power and control - even at the expense of transgressing the commandment of God)
God takes them out of the garden so that they do not eat from the Tree of Life and live forever in this depravity. He gives them an opportunity to have a limited number of years (mortality)
Death has entered into the world
Genesis 4:1-16: Cain and Abel
God looks favorably at the offering of Abel, but not that of Cain. Cain becomes angry and God tells him "if you did something good, be happy" but Cain goes and kills his brother
Genesis 12: Call of Abraham
Abraham living in Ur of Chaldea and with his family is journeying north toward Syria and establish themselves in the region of Haran
God calls Abraham to follow Him in a different country; Abraham left everything and followed God
Follow God to Canaan (modern day Israel/Palestine)
He received from God a threefold promise: the first Covenant between God and Israel - represented by Abraham.
Abraham will become the father of a great nation
Abraham's offspring will inherit the land of Canaan
In Abraham, all the nations will be blessed by God
Interpreted by Christian interpreters as the Gentiles embracing Christ and His teachings, and becoming His disciples.
Genesis 18: The Three Heavenly Visitors
In one of the days Abraham spent in Canaan, he receives the visit of three heavenly visitors whom he identifies one with the noun: Adonai (my Lord)
The three visitors were God (Yahweh) and two angels
Genesis 22: The Sacrifice of Isaac
God puts Abraham to the test, to see if he is an obedient servant.
Abraham does not contest God or fight back - he takes Isaac and two servants and sets off for a long journey (3 days) to a mountain called Moriah. At the mountain, Abraham is ready to sacrifice his son, Isaac, but when he is about to kill him, God stops him from heaven and tells him to sacrifice a ram instead.
It is a story about a father who loved his son, who is obedient to God, and a story about God who tests his servants
Theological Story: Explicative story to show us why Ancient Israelites didn't offer human beings as sacrifices - all the other Canaanite nations were sacrificing human sacrifices to their gods, except for Israel (because of this episode with Abraham).
Genesis 28: Jacob's Dream at Bethel
Between Abraham and Jacob, we have the patriarch Isaac who had two sons - Jacob and Esau.
Jacob stole the birthright from Esau for a soup... Esau is trying to kill Jacob because he felt humiliated.
Jacob's mother asks him to leave the Promised Land (Canaan) and to go to her relatives in Haran (northern part of Mesopotamia).
During this journey, Jacob stops at a place called Bethel (house of God) and had a dream. He saw something raised (i.e. ladder) uniting earth to heaven. On top of that raised ladder, Jacob saw God Himself.
This ladder means that God will provide an intermediary between heaven and earth, between God and man.
Ancient Christian interpreters saw in this ladder a symbol of Christ who is human and divine at the same time, and he is the true intermediary between God and man.
Another interpretation is that the ladder is the Theotokos St Mary. Some icons show St Mary at the top of the ladder representing the ladder as being the unity between heaven and earth.
Genesis 37, 39: Joseph and His Brothers; Joseph and Potiphar's Wife
Joseph is one of the 12 sons of the patriarch Jacob. Joseph is smart and wise, but his brothers sell him to some Ishmaelites going to Egypt, and they sold him to Potiphar. Joseph becomes slave in Potiphar's house for a number of days.
Potiphar's wife comes to Joseph and asks him to sleep with her - he refused. Because of this, she accuses him in front of Potiphar for bringing shame on his house. Joseph is sold in a dungeon/prison.
Joseph meets the baker and cupbearer of Pharaoh in prison. He prophesies about the fates of these two, and for this he was released later on.
Pharaoh makes him vizier because he is wise.
Joseph's brothers came to Egypt, but could not recognize him. But he was not vindictive or seeking revenge, but he held them, gave them food to survive.
The lesson of this story is that God provided - God made everything possible for the people of Israel to survive and become the people of the Messiah.
Exodus
Exodus 1-3: Moses
Exodus 12: Passover
Exodus 14-15: Crossing the Red Sea
Exodus 19-20, 24: The Sinai Covenant
Exodus 33: Moses' Intercession and God's Face/Glory
