Bible Dictionary Project Template Essay

Old Testament Bible Dictionary Project: Genesis is the book of beginnings. It tells the story of the beginning of the human race, in general and the beginning of the Hebrew race. The Hebrew Bible titles the book bereshith (â€Å"in the beginning†) The Author: Moses, and the Recipients: Israelites, Date: 1445 BC. (â€Å"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth† Gen 1:1) Genesis introduces God is an absolute personal being who cares about his creation and the human struggle of the fallen world. God speaks, creates, calls, blesses, promises, and visits his creation. Genesis tells the story of the successes and failures of his people like Adam and Eve, Noah’s family, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacobs’s wives and his twelve sons. Genesis shows its heroes as they really were. Genesis covers more time than any other biblical book. Genesis also emphasizes the importance of the Abrahamic Covenant, which gave Israel a right to the land (Gen 15: 18-21) the book was written so Moses, generation would trust God by better understanding Israel’s past Heritage, Present Purpose, and Future Destiny as they anticipated entrance into the Promised Land. The first two chapters of Genesis describe Gods original work of creation (Gen 1:1-2:25) The biblical description of creation is â€Å"EX nihilo† (from nothing) The beginning of Genesis is to teach us about the of all that God created and the rest of the book is about Patriarchal History (Gen 11; 10-50:26) Genesis 1 and 2 explain the good within the world, Genesis 3 explains the bad within the world. Genesis quickly moves from the world as God made it, to the world as we know it today. It traces how the human race, spoiled by Adam and Eve’s first sin, steadily deteriorated as it  increasingly ignored God until he decided to wipe out everyone and start over again. Abraham, The adventure begins with the friend of God. His name was Abram, and later he was called Abraham (â€Å"Great Father†) Abraham was from UR. One of the great cities of Sumerian civilization, Abraham worshipped the moon God before he met the living God. Abraham was born (c.1800 BC.) and died at the age of 175, and he was buried in a cave in Hebron. (Gen 13:18, 25: 7-10) When God asked Abraham to help him with his plan for the world, Abraham was 75 years old and his wife Sarah was 65 years old. They didn’t have any children, but God promised them a child of their own if Abraham trusted and believed the plan God had for their life. Abraham left UR, to follow the will that God had planned for his life. So he traveled north until he reached Canaan, the land to which God was leading him. God said if you do this for me, I promise you that you will have your own family and your descendants would become a great nation. (Gen 12:1-3, 15:5) And through him every nation on earth will be blessed through him. (Gen12:3, 18:16-19) So now Abraham was just a wandering traveler of the land that would one day belong to his descendants forever (Gen 15:12-21) However for these promises to come true, Abraham needed a son, and needed to trust in God and God only. Abraham and Sarah got tired of waiting on God, so Abraham fathered Ishmael by the handmaid Hager. That was not Gods plan, it was the plain of Sarah because she did not believe Gods plan. Abraham learned that only God could bring about what had been promised to him. And so it was, at that ripe old age of 90 years old, Abraham’s wife had a son (Isaac) just as God had promised. The Promise and family had begun and everyone was overjoyed. And years later God tested Abraham’s faith in the promise, and asked Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac, Abraham was afraid but got his son Isaac and told the servants they will return, and so it was. He passed the test of faith. Canaan (KAY nunn), was during the 2nd millennium BC, Its original pre- Israelite inhabitants were called Canaanites. Canaan area variously defined in Historical Biblical Literature, but always centered on Palestine. The human habitation of coastal Canaan can be traced back to Paleolithic and Mesolithic times 8,000 BC, The Promised Land Canaan that was later to be  called (Israel) this is the land God chose for his people. God could have chosen anywhere on earth to start outworking his plan, but chose this tiny land. The land was between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea and north of Philistia, Old name for Palestine. Canaan was a place to potentially influence sitting as it did, at the crossroads of all the great trade routed in the ancient times. In Canaan, God gave Abraham three big promises. That his descendants would become a great nation (Gen 12:1-3, 15:5) That every nation on earth would be blessed through him (Gen 12:3,18:16-19) That the land where he was now just a wandering traveler, would one day belong to his descendants forever (Gen:15:12-21) But God didn’t say it was going to be easy. Before it became the Promised Land. It went though many challenges.† Canaan† Encompassing all of the Palestine and Syria, sometimes only the land west of the Jordon River, and sometimes just a strip of coastal land northward, The Israelites occupied and conquered Palestine or Canaan, beginning in the late 2nd millemium BC. Or perhaps earlier, and the Bible justifies such occupation by identifying Canaan with the Promised Land, the land promised to the Israelites by God. 2013 Ed Hindson ISBN:978-1-4336-8221-6 2006 Mike Beaumont ISBN:978-0-7459-5628-2 2003 Ed Hindson ISBN13:978-089957132-4 ISBN10:0-88957-132-8 2000 Karen Dockrey,Johnnie Godwin ISBN:978-1-57748-485-6