A New Believer's Bible Commentary: Genesis - Deuteronomy

By Dr. Judy Barrett

If you know more lines from Star Wars then you do from the Bible then this book is for you! Years ago I became frustrated with the number of commentaries that seemingly required a degree in something Biblical to be easily read by the average believer. Since I had such a degree, and was seemingly able to relate to an 'average person' people who should have known better encouraged me to write a commentary that they could read and enjoy. So I did. And I included stories from my life, and some from theirs, to help illustrate what the Bible is trying to say to us today.
Will you agree with all of it? Probably not. The Bible is a big book (actually it is a collection of books) and I can't think of one theologian I fully agree with on everything either. But at least you will understand what you disagree with, and that is valuable as well.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Oct 19, 2012
• ISBN: 9781300314493

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A New Believer's Bible Commentary: Genesis - Deuteronomy

A New Believer’s Bible Commentary: Genesis- Deuteronomy

By Dr. Judy Barrett

Copyright © 2012 Dr. Judy Barrett (all rights reserved)

ISBN# 978-1-300-31449-3

All quotations are from the English Standard Version unless otherwise stated.

Introduction

This book was written to help those who did not grow up in the church ‘catch-up.’ It is an easy-to-read commentary designed to cover what one should have learned in Sunday School and make the Bible a bit more easy to understand. It is not a major theological tome. Instead it is a down-to-earth guide to help simplify some of the harder to understand sections of the Bible.

So, if you came to Christ as an adult, or merely slept through most of your church school classes and/or decided the main purpose of youth group was to meet members of the opposite sex, this book is for you.

Will you agree with everything in it? No. If you haven't noticed, there are more than a few different denominations, and there are sections of the Bible where they disagree. I am a female Pentecostal. Luckily the sections that talk about women in ministry and the gifts of the Holy Spirit are relatively short. Ask your pastor for information on why your denomination believes what they believe. Reading differing views causes you to more fully examine your beliefs. Not a bad thing. And, you have just talked theology with your pastor. Getting used to asking a real, live human being who has studied their Bible questions will also help you grow in Christ. Also not a bad thing. So, whether you use this as a learning tool, or a tool to examine your Bible and prove why I am wrong, you now understand why you believe what you do better, and that is an accomplishment.

That being said, I hope you enjoy what I have written. I worked hard on it, and gained a bit of weight doing it, since typing on the treadmill was a bit too much for me to handle. (Ecclesiastes 12:12b- ‘much study is a weariness of the flesh’ -bet you didn’t know that was in there!)

Read well, and pass it on and make my sacrifice worth something, okay?

Blessings,

Dr. Judy Barrett

The First Five Books of the Bible

The first five books of the Bible are Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. They were written by Moses after he received instructions from God from on top of Mount Sinai in the desert shortly after God miraculously rescued the Hebrew people from slavery in Egypt. They are frequently referred to as ‘The Law,’ ‘The Law of Moses,’ ‘The Pentateuch’ and ‘The Torah.’ They are also included in ‘ The Tanakh,’ which is a Jewish term for the entire Old Testament. (T stands for the Torah, N stands for the Hebrew word for prophets, and K stands for the Hebrew word for ‘the writings.’)

Genesis

The book of Genesis is a book about relationships. While it does deal with relationships between human beings, its main focus is man’s relationship with God. It is ‘story-like,’ and you will recognize much of the Genesis account as it is a popular source for children’s books, but its ‘stories’ (and I dislike the word ‘story’ because it implies that they may be fictional) contain more instruction than one would easily grasp if you only read them as a child. (This does not mean that we should not teach them to children, we should, but there is a deeper meaning, and more adult themes in many of the ‘stories’ that children may not be ready to handle.) For this reason it is important to revisit these ‘stories’ and think about them from an adult perspective.

The book of Genesis shows us that even people of faith are not always perfect. It shows us that there are consequences to our actions as well. For example, Rebekah seeks to deceive Isaac and have Jacob, her favorite son, blessed in place of Esau, as had been prophesied. Instead of completely trusting God, she seeks to make things happen using ways that are less than upright. This causes Esau to want to kill Jacob so Jacob must leave to live elsewhere. Because she resorted to deception she was deprived of her favorite son. Had she completely trusted God, life might have turned out differently.

The book of Genesis also shows us how God interacts with man. What you see is that God has a unique and very personal way of interacting with each person. With Joseph He sends dreams and interpretations, with Jacob He also wrestles, with Moses there is a burning bush. While God is the same, the methods He uses to get the person’s attention differ. This makes sense since He created us each to be unique, and He knows us intimately.

One of the unique qualities of the book of Genesis is that it focuses on people’s mistakes. Most history books, especially those from the time of ancient Israel, leave out the mistakes of the great historical figures and only focus on their strengths and accomplishments, often exaggerating them in the process. This is not what we see in Genesis. These are real people, having real doubts, doing real things.

What I am hoping is that you will begin to see yourself in these ‘stories.’ You will identify with the characters and learn what to do and what not to do in life through their examples. 

The book of Genesis is authored by Moses, but there is evidence, as you will see, that Moses may have had access to ancient accounts about the people he is writing about. This makes sense. People tend to try to remember their history. They write it down, recite it, make up songs and poems etc. To think that this is the first time that the Hebrew people heard of Adam, Cain, Noah etc is laughable. How much was divine inspiration and how much was editing of already known histories in order to write this book however will likely not be known while we are on this earth.

Genesis 1

In the beginning God created the Heavens and the earth… Gen. 1:1

Most of us have grown up knowing this first verse of the Bible, but never knowing just how much is contained there. In the Hebrew, the word for God, Elohim, is plural, while the rest of the sentence is conjugated as if Elohim were a singular noun. This is the first hint of the triune (3 in 1) nature of our God. Verse 16 follows this theme by stating, "Let us make man in our image…"

FYI: Elohim is also a generic term for gods and will be used elsewhere in scripture for pagan gods as well. (Just like the term ‘god’ is used for both in English.) I only mention this because I have heard it taught that ‘Elohim’ (or ‘El,’ the abbreviation of Elohim) inherently means all of these wonderful things about our God. If it does, then you have to assign those attributes to the pagan gods as well- not cool.

In verse 2 we see the Spirit of God hovering over the waters. The word for hovering may also be translated as vibrated. Fans of string theory may enjoy this fact, as string theory predicts that on a micro level it is differences in vibration that make everything what it is. This would make sense scripturally.

FYI: We also see that the word for Spirit, ‘ruwach,’ is a feminine noun. Just an interesting fact. I believe that God is complete and therefore possesses ALL characteristics that are good in perfect amounts, so does God have a feminine side? Where traditionally feminine qualities are ‘good,’ I believe He has them in perfect supply! Therefore, while terms for Father, and Son are masculine, God is neither male nor female in the sense that we are, and as a perfect ‘being’ is completely endowed in all of the traditionally feminine qualities as well. So, ‘ruwach’ being feminine is not a problem.

Now we come to the seven days of creation.

Day 1: The heavens and the earth are created. Light is also created and then it is separated from the darkness. (Probably meaning that it was light everywhere, and then God made it so that some places would be shaded from the light.) The earth is ‘formless’ and ‘void’ right now, indicating that God has much work to do.

Day 2: God separates the waters from the waters and the expanse that separates them is called ‘sky.’ Some believe that there existed a canopy of water over the earth before the flood. When the flood came, this canopy of water rained down. The canopy would have protected people from the sun’s rays and would have resulted in increased oxygen pressure, which would have allowed people, and animals, to live longer. After the flood (now) this water canopy is part of the ocean, rivers and streams.

Day 3: God now separates the water on the earth so that there is dry land. Seed bearing plants and trees are created.

Day 4: The sun, moon and stars are created.

Day 5: Sea creatures and birds are created.

Day 6: Land animals and man.

Day 7: REST!

Notice that ‘day,’ in Genesis, begins in the evening and continues through the next day. This is important to remember later on, for when there is a ‘day’ of fasting, the people do not go to bed without food. As soon as the sun sets, it is a new day, and the people may eat.

FYI: The Hebrew wording, with the added mention of evening and morning also leaves little room for any long periods of time, or ‘gaps.’ These seem to be literal days being described.[1]

Genesis 1 is unique among religious documents of the time, as it treats nature (i.e. the sun, moon and stars etc.) as created entities that have no power of their own. This is in direct contrast to the religions surrounding Israel that often worshipped nature as god, or as a representative of a god with powers of their own. Later, when people begin denying that any form of god exists, Genesis again differs with the culture by stating that there is indeed a God, who created everything.

In verse 26 we meet man.

Man is made in the image of God and in His likeness. Verse 27 clarifies that man includes both the male and female versions, so both men, and women, are created in the image, and likeness of God.

God has also given man authority over the fish of the sea, birds of the air, over the livestock, the earth, and all creatures that move along the ground. In ancient times this was further emphasizing that the creation was not to be worshipped, but was in man’s care and for man’s use.

Man, male and female, are then blessed and told to ‘be fruitful and increase in numbers.’ This means that sex was created before sin and is ‘good.’ (In the proper context.)

God also gave man ‘fruit’ to eat, and to the animals he gave green plants for food. Since there was no ‘death’ yet this means that man was a vegetarian in the original creation.  (But, since everything was still perfect, the fruit was most likely amazing!)

Genesis 2

On the seventh day God rested, and that made the day holy. There is not much here to define exactly what holy is, except that ‘rest’ is involved.

Point to Ponder: The fact that God rested, and commanded us to rest as well is a point often overlooked in many Christian lives. Human beings, man, need rest. By overworking ourselves we are not trusting God and the example He set for us. There is a time to work hard- in six days God did, well, everything- but there is also a time for a hard worker to rest, and it is holy to do so.

Verse 4 lets us know that the text is returning to the creation account and will be giving us more details about certain events. This is not a ‘new’ creation, but rather we are now going to learn the specifics of what went into a few aspects of the creation week.

Now we learn that shrubs and field plants have not yet sprung up. This was to happen after man ‘worked’ in the field. Even in the Garden of Eden man had a job, gardening, that produced food and he had responsibilities to care for God’s creation. (Gen. 1:29-30) Work and responsibility are therefore part of the ‘very good’ that God had created. (This means that we will not be lying around playing harps for all eternity! We are made for work, and to have responsibility, and it is ‘very good’ for us.)

The rivers in Eden are also mentioned. Although some of the names are similar to rivers of today it is silly to look for them for two reasons: First, God put an angel there to guard against us returning, and second, the flood in Noah’s time destroyed all of the original landscape so these rivers are not likely to have remained where they once were. It is more likely that the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers of today were merely named after the rivers listed in Genesis by the people after the flood since the original four rivers, and Eden, were destroyed in the flood with everything else.

The creation of man and woman is now explained in more detail. We learn that man (the male this time) was made from the dust of the earth and that God ‘breathed’ life into his nostrils. (It is also interesting that the Hebrew word used for Spirit literally means ‘breath.’ )

Man was then put into the garden and told not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for ‘when you eat of it, you will surely die.’ Now, in the Hebrew ‘die’ is more of a continuing process. Most people say that it literally means, ‘in dying, you shall die.’ Even more simply put, God is not saying that man will immediately drop dead, but rather that the process of dying will begin. Anyone who has reached the age of 40, or above, can tell you that dying is indeed a process that becomes evident as you realize you have less energy, heal slower and discover strange things happening to your body that are not at all of the pleasant variety. This is what God was promising Adam, and this IS what happened.

God then decides that it is not good for man to be alone. This happens on the 6th day, since they were created, male AND female, at that time. (Some may ask how man could have named all the animals before evening. To this I would answer that God probably did not need a huge amount of the day for creating, there were probably less varieties of animals (the original dog’s babies likely became mastiffs, poodles etc.) and man probably did not dilly dally and have trouble making up his mind, after all, he was still ‘very good.’)

In a typical God fashion, God does not just make man a helper. He leaves man to discover his need for a helper, and that there is not a suitable one for him among the animals. This further emphasizes man’s superior position to that of an animal. It also shows us something about how God deals with us. He seems to like us to figure some things out for ourselves. (i.e. He gave us a brain and even from the beginning God expected us to use it!)

So man realizes that there is no ‘helper’ suitable for him. He is then put to sleep and a rib, or more correctly ‘side part,’ is removed and woman is formed.

FYI: The word translated as ‘helper,’ or ‘help-meet’ in some translations is the Hebrew word ‘ezer.’ This is no ordinary ‘helper.’ Where this word is used elsewhere in scripture it denotes God, or a strong king, being there to defend you in times of battle. It is a military term describing someone who ‘has your back.’ This is no shrinking violet. The ‘helper’ God created for Adam stands with him, ready to do battle and protect his back if necessary.

Point to Ponder: Now, I have a theory regarding the ‘side-part.’ This is not strictly Biblical, but it is fun to think about. What does a man not have, that a woman does? The tiny arm that makes the difference between an X and a Y chromosome. Could this be the ‘side-part’ scripture is referring to? Just one more thing to ask God when we see Him…

Point to Ponder: Another thing I see in scripture is in the order of creation. Women were to be the bearers of life. I see man being created first, and woman being created from man as a way of evening that all out. Woman comes from man originally, then all men come from women. If it were the other way around, it would be very easy to fall into a culture where women are worshipped as creators, or originators, of all life. And this did indeed happen in some goddess worshipping cults, as we will see in the New Testament. The creation, where woman comes from man, and man is created first, but woman becomes the mother of all to follow evens the playing field.

God then gives a reason for the creation of man from woman. They are to become ‘one flesh,’ and in the original creation they were literally from ‘one flesh.’ Scripture explains that man will leave his father and mother and start a new family with his wife, and become one with the woman. (Not the wife and her family, but one with the man.) Even in the perfection of Eden children were to leave the house and begin their own home in which to raise their children in. The extended family home is therefore not God’s perfect plan! Mom and Dad are to raise their children together, as one.

Practical Application: When the two become ‘one’ the most important person in your life becomes your spouse. So when your parents want one thing, and your spouse wants something else, unless one of the ‘wants’ is sinful, you go with your spouse. This is harder to do in some situations than it seems!

Assumed Command: In many instances there are ‘assumed’ commands in scripture. These commands are not stated, but given the context, it is assumed that the other party is doing something. In this case the assumed command is for parents to view their married children as a separate entity and to not try to micromanage their lives, which would make it harder for them to become one.

We are then told that they were naked, and not ashamed of it. Naked, without shame, is also part of God’s perfect plan.  (I am guessing that it did not get overly cold in Eden either!)

Genesis 3

The Fall

Now we know from Revelation 12:9 and 20:2 that the serpent is the devil. What we do not know is whether ‘serpent’ is a metaphor used to describe the devil, or whether he literally inhabited the body of a serpent.  As this makes little difference, it becomes another of the questions we can ask God when we meet Him…

What we do know is that the serpent talks to the woman and asks her about what God said regarding the fruit in the garden. Now pay close attention to her answer and compare it to what God said in Genesis 2:15 to the man, before the woman was created. The words are not the same. Now this could be that Genesis 2:15 was merely a summary and that Eve’s response was the ‘full’ version of what God said. Or it could be that Adam, in his wish to protect his wife, added a few conditions of his own. (i.e. Do not touch the fruit either.) Since scripture says not to add, or subtract from God’s Word, this could be part of what went wrong, (The beginning of Adam’s sin) or maybe not.

The devil then lies to the woman. It is a lie mixed with truth. The fruit will give her the knowledge of good and evil, as he says, but she will also begin to die, which he says will not occur. The woman then reasons that the devil must be right, eats, and gives it to her husband who is there with her. Whether Adam was there to hear the serpent’s words, or whether he shows up shortly thereafter we do not know. But we do know that Adam was told, by God, not to eat the fruit and he ate it.

Point to Ponder: Exactly why Adam ate the fruit we are not told. The point here is not about Adam’s motives, but about the problems that come from willfully disobeying God. (i.e. Knowing something is wrong and doing it anyways.)

Pet Peeve: This verse has NOTHING to do with watching what you eat! I have a problem with Bible studies that use Eve (never Adam- men can apparently be as fat as they want…?) as an example, and then say something like, This is why you need to watch what you put in your mouth. Right now under the new covenant there are no forbidden foods, and Eve’s problem was not overeating an otherwise allowable meal; it was eating one item that she was told not to eat. (And the calories count for the item is never mentioned. It may be low cal. But like many lo-cal foods on the market, it came with a high price!)  So, while there are scriptures that do say we should take care of our bodies and not overeat, this is NOT one of them! –Just a pet peeve….

Immediately Adam and Eve wish to cover themselves since they are naked, which is somehow now bad.

Point to Ponder: I have a theory about this. It may not be right, but here it goes… I believe the reason that our reproductive organs suddenly became shameful was due to the knowledge that their decision to eat the fruit was to negatively affect their offspring as well. This was what was shameful- that they had just condemned their entire lineage to a lifetime of death and separation from God. So, now any body part associated with reproduction was now a shameful reminder of what their disobedience had done to their children.

God arrives, to walk with them as He usually does, and they hide from Him. As I noted before, when God deals with man, He likes man to participate, so God asks man where he is. Man replies that he was afraid because he was naked. God then asks another question that He surely knows the answer to. He asks Adam who told him he was naked- and the blame game begins.

Point to Ponder: Let us ask ourselves why God would ask questions He already knows the answer to. To answer this, think about why you would ask your child what he or she had done, when you already have a pretty good idea what has occurred. Confession is good for us. Owning up to what we have done shows a repentant spirit. Lying and blaming others does not. By asking our child what they have done, we are really trying to see how bad the state of their crime is. If they tell the truth and show remorse we know that they are not likely to repeat the crime, and we can punish them lightly. If they lie or try to deceive us, we know that they are not fully repentant and are apt to repeat the crime, or at least think they can get away with it in the future. Further talking and punishment are then necessary.

So let’s see what Adam and Eve did.

First, they both hide. They know they have done wrong, but they are not going to God and ‘fessing up on their own. When God calls though, Adam does answer. He does not fully admit to his crime though and tries to shift the blame onto the woman, and then onto God for putting her there with him.  God then speaks to the woman. She does not lie when she says that she was deceived. 1 Timothy 2:14 attests to the fact that she was indeed deceived, but she is not quite taking responsibility for her actions either and is trying to shift the focus to the serpent.

So God begins to dole out the punishments.

First to the serpent.

He is to crawl on his belly and eat dust, implying that perhaps the actual serpent did allow the devil use of his form, and that serpent may not be a only a metaphor. Or it could merely mean that the devil’s powers are being curtailed a bit from what they were[2]. There will also be hatred between the serpent and the woman, and not just between him and this woman, but with her children as well. There will however be a child from the woman who will one day crush the serpent’s head (a death blow), even though the serpent will hurt the child by striking him in the heel (a less than crippling wound- though seemingly fatal if the serpent were of the poisonous variety, which this serpent likely is).  We know from the New Testament that this child of the woman is Christ, and that this is the first Messianic prophecy (Rev. 12).

Now the woman gets cursed.

Point to Ponder: You may ask, why, if she was deceived, does she still get punished? In reading Leviticus and other areas where laws are found you will see that even though some actions are unintentional, there are still consequences if you do them- even if you didn’t mean to, or didn’t know better. The consequences are not as great, but they are still there. This is why Adam, not Eve, brought sin into the world. He sinned knowing full well what he was doing. (1 Cor. 15:21-22, 2 Cor. 11:3, Romans 5:12-19) So let’s see what punishment Eve received.

Pain, or at least increased pain, in childbearing.

Desire for her husband and her husband to rule over her. (Male headship was not part of God’s perfect plan- sorry guys. It is part of the curse. In Eden both male and female submitted fully to God- no need for male rule because they were both on the same page- fully submitted to God!)

Point to Ponder: Now the ‘desire for her husband’ needs some explaining. This is not a sexual desire, since that was ‘very good.’ Instead this line is linked to having her husband rule over her. Depending on who you read it is either a desire for him to be what God was for her, a perfect leader, and this is ‘not good’ because no man can be as good as God as a leader. Or it is a desire for the woman to completely rule over the man in a marriage and have everything her way. Neither of these attitudes is good, and both will lead to some marital issues….

Another Pet Peeve- Bible Studies that claim that ‘male headship’ is God’s ‘perfect plan.’ No, God’s ‘perfect plan’ was for us to have direct access to Him.

And now for Adam.

The ground will be cursed and the work he will do will be painful, and less than perfectly profitable. His ‘return on investment’ has just decreased. There will be thorns and thistles to deal with and his ‘sweat equity’ will not produce what it once had.

Eve is then named officially by Adam. Her name means ‘mother of all living.’ Before she was ‘woman,’ –literally, ‘of man,’ in Hebrew. (Adam’s name means ‘earth,’ or ‘ground’ by the way, which is fitting, since he was created from the dust of the ground.) God makes them clothes of animal skins and the first death (of the animal used to clothe them) occurs.

Point to Ponder: Some hypothesize that the animal killed by God to make the first clothing was a lamb, as this is the sacrifice Jesus represents when He covers their sin forever. The lamb’s sacrifice in Exodus also protects them from the angel of death. It would be fitting that the lamb would then be the first sacrifice that covers their sin, and their bodies, as well.

By the Way: God occasionally names people in scripture. Among the people God specifically