A Foundation for Scripture

The first half of Genesis, consisting of the primeval history of chapters 1 to 11 and the early patriarchal history of chapters 12 to 25, forms the foundation of the rest of the Bible.  It sets the stage upon which the drama of redemptive history is set.  A number of factors combine to present to the student of Scripture the parameters that form the basis of their existence and their relationship with God.

First, the setting is established.  In chapters 1 and 2 we read of God’s supernatural formation of the heavens and the earth.  These are the twin backdrops against which everything else in the Scriptures occur, both supernatural events in the spiritual realms and natural circumstances in the physical sphere of existence.  We are also introduced to the major characters of this true story; namely God, man at the end of chapter 1 and on into chapter 2 and beyond, and Satan beginning in chapter 3.  Next, we begin to see the scope and the shape of the conflict that emerges between these players, as God creates man in innocence, Satan distorts and twists God’s statutes, and man willfully descends into sin and rebellion.

With these primal building blocks in place, God then proceeds to lay out His meta-narrative, or His over-arching plan of redemption for the fallen pinnacle of His creation; man.  In Genesis 3:15 the Lord drops the first hint of what is to come by prophesying that the seed of the woman will crush the head of the enemy while simultaneously being bruised on the heel.  In both 2:16-17 and 9:9-17 we are introduced to the concept of covenantal relationships, both conditional and unconditional, between God and man.  This concept of covenants, or ratified agreements between two parties, is absolutely critical in order to understand how God will ultimately accomplish His plan of redemption.  And once we come to 12:1-3, 15:5-6, and 17:9-14 and we read of God’s relationship with Abraham, the covenantal paradigm bursts onto the scene in vivid clarity as God reveals the beginning of His truly redemptive covenant with which He would ultimately restore the broken relationship between Himself and man.

Now then, what would happen if what God has just described to us in these 25 chapters are not understood literally?  In short, the Bible immediately and decisively loses all of its authority, all of its relevancy, and all of its importance.  If the disobedience of Adam and Eve was not real and did not truly result in a fall from grace, then is the concept of sin even factual or is it imaginary?  If God did not actually destroy all life on earth, save for 8 humans and a selection of animals, in a universal flood, then is there genuinely anything to fear from the wrath of God?  If there is no fear of the wrath of God, then why should we care whether we have offended Him and face a hypothetical judgment that may or may not exist?  For that matter, if we have no fear of judgment because God’s wrath is not real and sin is imaginary, then is God even relevant to our lives in any way at all?  Is God even real?

Furthermore, let us suppose that we do take those aforementioned details as literal and historical fact but we discount the historicity of the Hebrew people.  Many details that form the basis of the rest of Scripture would also have to be discarded.  These include the historical record, or “toledot” in Hebrew, of Abraham’s descent from Adam, God’s establishment of a covenant of redemption with Abraham, the manner in which God built Abraham’s family from a few people into a nation to function as His mediators between Himself and man, and ultimately Abraham’s family tree providing the means by which the ultimate mediator in the person of Jesus Christ would come.  If all of these elements lose their veracity, then the very foundational elements of salvation suddenly begin to crumble.

We must understand the primeval history in Genesis as literal fact in order to have a comprehension of our own place in history, our relationship with our Creator, and therefore the necessity of repentance and restoration into a right relationship with Him for the salvation of our souls.  We must understand the beginning of the patriarchal history in Genesis and God’s covenants as literal fact in order to have a hope of properly appreciating what God has done for us in Christ and thereby giving Him the maximum amount of worship and honor that He deserves.