Genesis (A Bible Commentary in the Wesleyan Tradition)

by Wilbur Glenn Williams

Publisher:

WPH

, 1999

Overview

Genesis, of course is the first book of the Bible. It answers fundamental questions about human existence: How did the world begin? How did it come to be populated? Where did people come from? What is the purpose of creation? Genesis describes how humanity got its beginning. But that’s not all. The book also describes how sin entered the world, the flood, and the lives of the patriarchs. More than story, however, this book contains overarching truths about how God reveals himself, and God’s purposes of salvation. No matter how far humans stray from God’s plan, God turns them back. From Adam and Eve at the beginning of Genesis to Joseph at its end, God emphasizes his covenant, and establishes binding relationship with the people whom he creates.

Contents

Top Highlights

“And God was asking Abraham to do something that He himself had planned to do for eternity—sacrifice His own son. Indeed, the whole episode was a picture prophecy of what was to come. Isaac was dead in Abraham’s mind for three days, and there was a substitution of a ram so that his son would not have to die. For Isaac of course, there was a ram; for all people since Jesus’ death, He was and is the sacrifice.” (Page 178)

“And it was not a convocation of gods as pagans might picture, but to many Christian believers, the divine Trinity. Only three are mentioned in Genesis 1:1–3: The Spirit of God brooding over the waters (1:2); God’s Word, whom John called Jesus, speaking all things into existence (John 1:1); and the Lord—by His name Elohim, its plural encompassing all three. No others existed; no others were present.” (Page 39)

“Then Noah undoubtedly gave attention, perhaps through several harvests, to obtaining the food he, his family, and all the animals would need to survive (see 6:21). Whatever occupation Noah may have had before receiving his orders from the Lord, he and his family turned their full attention to the many responsibilities that lay before them at that point. And regardless of the amount of work involved, Noah did everything just as God commanded him (6:22), in spite of likely constant daily ridicule. His faith held him steady in his obedient walk with God.” (Page 97)

“We also notice that Eve does not call it the tree of the knowledge of good and evil as God had named it (2:17). She called it the tree that is in the middle of the garden (3:3). The impression given is that, in her mind, she considered the tree to be on the same level as the other trees that were found in the garden. Her only description of it was its location. Had she said to herself, ‘I don’t see why I need to avoid that tree. What is this knowledge of good and evil anyway?’ Her faith may have already been on shaky ground.” (Page 64)

Product Details

• Title: Genesis: A Bible Commentary in the Wesleyan Tradition
• Author: Wilbur Glenn Williams
• Series: A Bible Commentary in the Wesleyan Tradition
• Publisher: WPH
• Print Publication Date: 1999
• Logos Release Date: 2009
• Pages: 324
• Era: era:contemporary
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subject: Bible. O.T. Genesis › Commentaries
• ISBNs: 9780898272055, 089827205X
• Resource ID: LLS:WESCOM01GE
• Resource Type: Bible Commentary
• Metadata Last Updated: 2024-08-30T23:55:54Z

About Wilbur Glenn Williams

Wilbur Glenn Williams has been a professor of biblical literature and archaeology at Indiana Wesleyan University in Marion, Indiana, for more than thirty years. Each year he leads group tours to the Bible lands and has visited Israel more than ninety times.