The first five books in our Old Testament were referred to by the early church at the end of the second century as the Pentateuch meaning five books or scrolls. The Jews refer to these same five books as the Torah meaning books of law or instruction. They are also referred to as the five books of Moses because Moses was the author.
As we begin our reading of the Pentateuch and the book of Genesis our reading will be greatly enriched if we take seriously what Jesus said to the Jewish leaders in John 5:46, “For if you believed Moses, you would believe me, because he wrote about me.”[1] Or again what Jesus said about the whole Old Testament in John 5:39, “You pore over the Scriptures because you think you have eternal life in them, and yet they testify about me.” And notice what Luke reports about Jesus in Luke 24:27, “Then beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted for them the things concerning himself in all the Scriptures.” Believing the Bible to be the Word of God means that what John and Luke wrote must be true. Our challenge then is to read the Old Testament through the lens of the New Testament and realize that the Old Testament is not just the history of Israel but rather is redemptive history pointing us to Jesus.
We naturally think of prophecies in the Old Testament of a coming Messiah that are fulfilled in Jesus but that’s not the only thing Jesus meant when He said that Moses wrote of Him. If we just think about the first three chapters of Genesis and check the cross references we find to the New Testament, we will begin to see why Jesus could say such a thing. Just on Gen. 1:1 I notice cross references to Jn 1:1-3 and Col. 1:16. What does Jesus have to do with eternity past and creation?
Some people use ALL CAPITAL LETTERS in text messages or emails to get your attention, like shouting. The Biblical authors used repeated words or phrases for that purpose. When you are reading Genesis take note of repeated words and phrases. Ask yourself, ‘Why is Moses drawing attention to this?’
This is an easy task in Genisis chapter 1 but somewhat more difficult in Genesis chapter 27.
The Hebrew word translated ‘man’ in Gen. 1:26-27 is adam. It is singular in form but can refer to ‘humankind’ or as the person ‘Adam’ and even sometimes to a town (Josh. 3:16). You’ll notice that ‘Adam’ is given dominion and is told to rule over God’s creation. Does dominion and rule imply ‘Kingship?’ How does Jesus figure in all of what we know about Adam? Paul says in Rom. 5:14 “Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who did not sin in the likeness of Adam’s transgression. He is a type of the Coming One.” And in 1 Cor. 15:45 “So it is written, The first man Adam became a living being;, the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.” So, Adam is a type of Christ and Christ is the Last Adam. Adam failed we learn in Gen. 3 but the last Adam did not. In the account of the ‘fall’ in Gen. 3 note that the serpent is cursed but the man is not. Man is shown mercy and grace although the ground is cursed, and man’s work will be much more difficult. The rest of the Old Testament keeps us in suspense looking for the seed of the woman that will crush the head of the serpent. Man after man will come on the scene but they all will fail as did Adam until Jesus.
Hosea 6:7 says that Adam (men in KJV tradition) violated the covenant. You’ll want to note covenants God makes with others as you continue reading Genesis and the rest of the Old Testament. The idea of covenant is very important in Scripture so look for articles in your reference materials to read on the subject.
If you’re not using the phone app for the reading plan you can find the first video on Genesis here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQI72THyO5I
[1] All Scripture references are from the Christian Standard Bible. 2020. Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
