BEMA Episode Link: 7: The Preface
Episode Length: 20:41
Published Date: Thu, 03 Nov 2016 01:00:00 -0700
Session 1
About this episode:

Marty Solomon and Brent Billings look back over the first eleven chapters of Genesis and work to understand their significance to the greater narrative of the scriptures.

The Preface Presentation (PDF)

Discussion Video for BEMA 7

Transcript for BEMA 7

Notes

*Note: The following notes are handwritten by me, Adam, and I reserve the right to be wrong.

  • Genesis 1-11 “The Preface”
  • Prefaces are normal as you enter a world that you’re not yet used to.
    • Then these stories often have an introduction where where you’re introduced to characters and plot. Gen 12-50.
    • In the English, but definitely in the Hebrew there is a shift in type of literature and language as you move from Gen 1-11 into Gen 12-50.
    • In the preface, the author invites you to see the world in a new way.
  • What was the author attempting to accomplish in the preface
    • 8 different sections that end up being a chiastic parallelism (see the PDF).
      1. A Genesis 1: Creation
        1. Problems
        2. Chiasm
        3. Good
        4. Stop (G-d knows when to stop)
        5. Rest (A story about Rest)
      2. B Genesis 2-3: Adam and Eve
        1. Problems
        2. Chiasm
        3. Tragedy
        4. Obsessed
        5. Mistrust (A story about Mistrust)
      3. C Genesis 4: Cain and Abel
        1. Problems
        2. Chiasm
        3. Tragedy
        4. Obsessed
        5. Mistrust (A story about Mistrust)
      4. D Genesis 5: Genealogy
      5. A Genesis 6-9a: Noah’s Ark (Mirrors Genesis 1 Creation)
        1. Problems
        2. Chiasm
        3. Good
        4. Stop (G-d knows when to stop)
        5. Rest (A story about Rest)
      6. B Genesis 9b-10: Noah’s Curse (Mirrors Genesis 2-3 Adam and Eve)
        1. Problems
        2. Chiasm
        3. Tragedy
        4. Obsessed
        5. Mistrust (A story about Mistrust)
      7. C Genesis 11a: Tower of Babel (Mirrors Genesis 4 Cain and Abel)
        1. Problems
        2. Chiasm
        3. Tragedy
        4. Obsessed
        5. Mistrust (A story about Mistrust)
      8. D Genesis 11b: Genealogy (Mirrors Genesis 5 Genealogy)
        • The center of this chaiasm: Gen 5: 28-29: When Lamech had lived 182 years, he had a son. He named him Noah and said, “He will comfort us in the labor and painful toil of our hands caused by the grounds the LORD has cursed.”
          • The center of the verse: Noah which means “he rests” who is a man sent to save creation.
  • What do we learn from the preface?
    • The story is good; TRUST THE STORY.
    • The authors are serious about this message: G-d knows when to say enough and we can follow in his footsteps and we know what happens when we don’t.
    • The scriptures are brilliant. Humans can’t do this on their own.
      • Rob Bell, “It’s almost as if people had help.”
      • If there are multiple authors to this story, it’s even more impressive.
      • G-d’s fingerprints are all over this.
      • We are being invited to reframe our understanding of reality. This was true of the audience of Genesis when it was originally given and it’s true of us as well.

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