Opening Question
How might the beginning of God’s story in the Genesis hint at how the Bible ends with Revelation?

Introduction
Commentators have frequently noted Revelation’s allusions to Genesis and the rest of the Torah (books of Moses). But provides much more than simply ideas for John to use in the apocalypse; it provides the context and origin from which the rest of the Bible’s farthest reaching and deepest issues are developed and concluded. Every major topic in theology has it’s roots here. Themes (systematic categories) such as God, Man, Creation, Marriage, Sabbath, the Fall, Sin, Death, Judgment, Destruction of Wicked, Prophecy, Covenant, Atonement, Salvation, Mission, Great Controversy, and others all start here. For this reason, much of the Genesis naturally finds conclusion in Revelation. They two books function as book-ends on the story of God’s dealing with human sin and frailty.

Genesis
The Quarterly points out the principle of “first mention.” Based on the idea that inspiration builds on previous material, and thus is progressive, this may at first seem like a false premise or overstated approach to scripture. Later revelation unveils new ideas, and the fullest revelation comes later, not first.

However, later revelation was always to be tested by the first, later prophets were to be judged by what was previously revealed. Isaiah 8:20 conforms this principle when addressing the potential of false prophets and spiritual mediums: “19 When they say to you, “Consult the mediums and the spiritists who whisper and mutter,” should not a people consult their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living? 20 To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn.” (NASB) There had to be a standard to gauge or authenticate prophetic pronouncements because false prophets would (and did) arise; inspiration’s foundation cannot just be “because I say it is inspired.”

What is the value of a standard (such as units of measure) when accounting, cooking, doing chemistry experiments, or driving on the highway? How can we use the earlier stories as foundations for the later ones in the Bible?

Genesis Doctrines and Teachings
As noted above, it has been noted by Biblical scholars that there is no significant Christian doctrine that is not introduced in Gen 1-11, with many outlined in chs. 1-3 alone. This week’s lesson highlights several of them, especially some that influence Revelation directly.

God – Genesis assumes the existence of the divine before any humans appear or any of the material universe we apprehend with our senses. This God exists in “the beginning.”

Creation – Genesis 1-3 demonstrates the fundamental act of God – creation out of nothing, and the pinnacle of creation, humans. Made in His image (with ability for male-female to create new individual life as well), Genesis indicates all was “very good.” Humankind’s origins are in the mind of a benevolent, creative, caring maker; any hint of long ages of predation and cycles of death and life are absent from Genesis 1-3, and the rest of the Biblical account for that matter. And the God who creates wants a relationship with His creatures—very cool!

Evil – The tree of the knowledge of good and evil is not simply an attempt by God to keep humans from good knowledge, but a lesson that not all knowledge is worth knowing, and some brings the worst kind of pain. Behind that evil is also a face, multiple faces, in an accuser and his fallen comrades. He is depicted in Genesis as the “serpent” but identified in later Revelation 12 as also the Devil (diabolos) and Satan.

The Fall – The fall quickly reveals the reason for human misery and woe—a curse, mentioned again in Revelation 22:3 that comes as a result of human faithlessness. Curses on nature is reversed in Revelation and the curse on the serpent ends with his demise. Revelation reverses the fall, where humans were removed from the garden, they are now admitted freely to the holy city.

Death – The first death (Abel), as the quarterly notes, parallels that of Jesus Christ, and later the saints in Revelation. All of these die at the hands of their own family; those who “were their own,” but like Judas, betray them to death. Revelation 21 says that the former things such as death, pain, mourning, and weeping all find their end in the world made new.

What parts of the human knowledge-void does the creation account seek to fill? How does it compare with secular or naturalistic accounts of origins? Do you find the Genesis 1-3 stories convincing as a means of explaining human origins and evil? How do naturalistic explanations of evil stack up?

Other Doctrines Originating in Genesis
Other spiritual, social, physical and great-controversy worldview issues that arise include: sin, judgment, final state of man, covenant, salvation (atonement and sacrifice), eschatology (final or last-day events), Sabbath, family/marriage, re-creation/restoration, etc.

Genesis lays out through the stories of the death of Abel, the lineages before the flood, the Noahic Covenant, the tower of Babel, and the call of Abraham the broad plan of God to redeem His faithful ones in the face of evil.

Why are these stories so moving for us? Some argue against their historicity and seek only a meta-narrative behind them. Can these stories be both arch-typal stories while also being anchored in history? What value might they lose if they are not historical events, especially when later Biblical narratives assume their authenticity via historical event?

Closing Comments
The Old Testament, far from being primitive or merely arch-typal myth, roots itself in time and place as an anchor for later stories. It becomes hard to believe in God at all if one takes Genesis as primitive myth. Who would be to say if the “god” figure there wasn’t just a symbol of something else, like “reality” or other abstract concept. Rather, the personal, approachable God of creation who can both speak into existence but also gets hands dirty making people is the God we want and need!