The Book of Genesis is the Book of Beginnings. In terms of content, the Book of Genesis has two major sections, chapters 1-11 and chapters 12-50. The first section is the Prologue to the book, with descriptions of four great events: (1) Creation, (2) the...

People throughout time have developed traditions about the origins of the world. In the ancient Near East, the stories that developed over long periods of time involved complex myths often describing cosmic deities in conflict, with the creation of...

Babylon is mentioned more than 250 times in the Bible, the vast majority of those referencing her as the oppressor and captor of the southern kingdom of Israel in the sixth century B.C. She surfaces again in Revelation as the emblem of a world system...

The patriarch Abraham left the city of Ur of the Chaldeans because God was relocating him to another place. Abraham may have occupied a fabulous home in Ur. Extensive excavations have been done in that ancient site, and many of the artifacts are now in the...

Some Bible scholars have suggested that the promise of land to Abram's (Abraham's) descendants should not be taken literally. They say the promise of the land is merely a symbol that indicates a general blessing or perhaps the promise of heaven....

Genesis 15:19-21 lists 10 ancient nations that once inhabited Canaan and who opposed the intrusion of Abraham's descendants after their exodus from Egypt. None of those nations exists today. But the descendants of one man, who was also an opponent of...

Aside from Abraham's statement to Abimelech, "Surely the fear of God is not in this place" (Gen. 20:11), the first use of the expression "to fear God" in Genesis comes at the climax of the story of the binding of Isaac (Gen. 22:12)....

Potiphar's wife referred to Joseph as "the Hebrew servant." The designation Hebrew first occurs in Genesis 14:13 with reference to Abram. It was applied to the descendants of Abraham, and more specifically, to the descendants of Jacob.

Two ideas exist for...

Judah's plea is a very moving passage within Scripture. It demonstrates God's wisdom in moving the messianic line move from Jacob through his fourth son, Judah.

The way Judah advocated for his brothers before Joseph is a picture of how we should intercede for...

When Jacob's 12 sons were young men, 10 of the sons sold Jacob's favorite, Joseph, into slavery in Egypt. Joseph remained there for years, rising to become the second most powerful man in Egypt. (The 11 sons lied to Jacob, saying a wild animal had killed...