Genesis: The Story, the Allegory, the Prophecy, and What Matters

By Peter Shenouda

Even for those whose knowledge of the Bible is limited, they are familiar with the book of Genesis. It is, after all, the story of the beginning, of what has happened. It prepares us for what is and what will be. Despite what you know, however, there are areas that may remain a mystery.

Author Peter Shenoudas Genesis: The Story, the Allegory, the Prophecy, and What Matters is the culmination of his fifteen-year study of Genesis. It is a concise treatise of this book of beginnings. Shenouda has put together information that really matters to those reading the entire Scripture, including the Apocrypha. Youll learn whether Genesis is only a book of stories or if it offers any prophecies about the future. Discover what is behind the letters in the story of Joseph. Youll also develop an understanding of what Jacob said about the future of Israel.

Genesis: The Story, the Allegory, the Prophecy, and What Matters helps you develop a better understanding of the book and, as a result, of the Bible as a whole. Its an opportunity to increase and deepen your biblical knowledge and faith.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jun 23, 2015
• ISBN: 9781490876917

Peter Shenouda

Peter Shenouda earned an MBA in information systems from Pace University in New York. He participated in Bible study and research at St. Mary and St. Anthony Church in Queens, New York, and St. George Abo Elnaga Cathedral in Tanta, Egypt. He is married and has two children.

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GENESIS:

The Story, the Allegory, the Prophecy,

and What Matters

PETER SHENOUDA

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Copyright © 2015 Peter N Shenouda.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide. Used by permission. NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® and NIV® are registered trademarks of Biblica, Inc. Use of either trademark for the offering of goods or services requires the prior written consent of Biblica US, Inc.

Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, Copyright © 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

Public Domain Photos: Horne, C., & Bewer, J. (1908). The Bible and its Story: The Law, Genesis to Leviticus (Vol. 1). New York, NY: Francis R. Niglutsch.

and Wright, W. (1896). Images from The Illustrated Bible Treasury. Thomas Nelson & Sons; New York, NY.

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

WestBow Press

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

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ISBN: 978-1-4908-7692-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-7693-1 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-7691-7 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015906008

WestBow Press rev. date: 06/16/2015

CONTENTS

Chapter 1 In The Beginning

Chapter 2 In The Garden Of Eden

Chapter 3 The Fall

Chapter 4 Cain And Abel

Chapter 5 Enoch

Chapter 6 Noah

Chapter 7 The Tower Of Babel

Chapter 8 Call Of Abram

Chapter 9 Melchizedek

Chapter 10 Sodom And Gomorrah

Chapter 11 Spiritual Revival

Chapter 12 Ishmael

Chapter 13 Sarah Versus Hagar

Chapter 14 Isaac And Rebekah

Chapter 15 Esau (Edom)

Chapter 16 Jacob

Chapter 17 Jacob Flees From Laban

Chapter 18 Jacob Wrestling With The Lord

Chapter 19 Joseph

Chapter 20 Jacob’s Prophecy To His Sons

Chapter 21 Cave Of Machpelah

Chapter 22 The End Of Genesis

To the spirit of Fr. Bakhoum Zaki Bakhoum

We would like to offer many thanks and appreciation to the community of St. Mary and St. Antonios Church in Queens, New York. St. Mary and St. Antonios Church has been in Queens since 1973, and it exists to promote a biblical faith based on the early teachings of the church, which shapes both the Coptic Orthodox Church and the society in which we live, for the sake of Christ. We would like also to send a special greeting and appreciation to our Father Yohanna Guirgis for his leadership founded on the traditions of faith and the church. Thank you, Father Yohanna, for your enduring spreading out of hands in prayers to the Lord for your church. I would also like to thank Father Antonios Makaryus for putting faith into practice, for a spiritual vision, and for forbearance in supporting his sons and daughters. A spirit of praising and glorifying God has been renewed by the coming of Father Eshak Gerges. We thank the Lord for his care and his reaching out to his sheep from generation to generation and unto the ages of all ages. Amen.

Many thanks to Dr. Hani Ashamalla for the time he spent to go through the book. His notes and hints on the text are greatly appreciated. Above all, thank you, Dr. Ashamalla, for being there when we need you.

I should not forget the work of the servants in many of the other ministries and services of the church, especially at Sunday school, in the youth meetings, and in the Bible study meetings.

I also want to thank Fr. Michael Sorial for directing our attention toward seeking and getting into new challenges that should be there in our lives at all possible and conceivable levels.

I can’t forget the toil of many of the fathers and servants of St. George Abo El Naga Cathedral in Tanta, Egypt. Egypt has been in the middle of political and social changes in the last decades, and in turn that led to many spiritual challenges in the life of many. Growing up inside the Sunday school ministry, and continuing on in the Bible study groups and at the servants meetings made all the difference in shaping many of the Christian values in our lives and what we had as a foundation to begin with after our immigration to the United States.

May God compensate all who have toiled in the church of God with all blessings on earth and in heaven.

INTRODUCTION

Genesis: The Story, the Allegory, the Prophecy, and What Matters is a study of the book of Genesis over the course of almost fifteen years. It is a concise treatise of this book of the beginnings. I tried to consider only the knowledge that matters to the reader of Genesis, the knowledge that makes a difference to someone who is reading the entire Scripture, including the Apocrypha.

The intent of this book is to summarize the story of Genesis in the shortest possible manner so as to avoid any redundancy to the reader especially with his or her previous knowledge of the topic. I tried to gather the points in the book of Genesis that are essential in the study of the Bible.

You are not good to go if you do not connect the sin of man to his death as a consequence and to pride as the first cause of that death.

You are not good to go without linking the stories, the men, and the women of Genesis to what was recorded about them in the other books of the Bible, including the Apocrypha. We used the term linking; however, it is the same Scripture that is revealed to us from God. All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right (2 Timothy 3:16 NLT).

It can be said that we generally look for Christ only in the New Testament; but Christianity, in one sense, is very near as old as the creation. It is wonderful to observe how gradually God revealed his Son to mankind. He began with the promise in the text, and this elect lived upon, till the time of Abraham. To him, God made further discoveries of his eternal council concerning man’s redemption. Afterwards, at sundry times, and in divers manners, God spoke to the fathers by the prophets, till at length the Lord Jesus himself was manifested in flesh, and came and tabernacle amongst us.¹

You also have to see what is behind the letters, the typology, and the allegory of the text. The ark was a type of Christ. Noah also was a form of the Savior. Whom does Melchizedek represent? How can we compare the offering of Isaac by Abraham on the altar to the offering of Christ on the cross by the Father?

Does Genesis offer any prophecies about the future, or was Genesis only a book of stories of the beginnings and of history? What is behind the letters in the story of Joseph? What did Jacob say about the future of Israel?

What did we learn from the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, especially in our spiritual life and our repentance? We also will know that God doesn’t spare wickedness, and after all that talk about sin and the consequences of sin, we will conclude our conversation with some words about the spiritual revival.

To write everything about Genesis, we would have needed a book at least ten times bigger in size than the one in your hands; however, that was not the plan before writing this book. Such a project would be done in a group of researchers and scholars in an academic institution or in the realm of the church with members of the Bible study ministry.

I have tried to avoid any extra material in this book. However, at times it was necessary to repeat certain things or verses to confirm the message in the story or to make sure the reader understood the point being discussed.

Some of the sayings of the church fathers and other quotes from various authors have been added to support what was discussed and shared in Genesis and to give affirmation to the reader that we haven’t drifted away. The church fathers have different approaches in the interpretation of the Scripture and in conveying its meaning. These approaches and insights are complementary to each other and so beneficial to the reader of the Bible.

This book is for everyone who studies the Bible regularly. It can be used by laity or clergy, and also by researchers and academic readers. Some theological points have been added to the manuscript to fit the advanced readers and the Bible scholars.

There was no intent to portray any racial anti-Semitism effects or the modern standards of misogyny while composing the words in the manuscript. Hatred has only one meaning: hatred. We can’t get around it or try to justify it.

Also, I tried to stay away from turning a spiritual talk into a philosophical or a psychological study. This was a priority in the way this treatise was presented. The reader can definitely consider this manuscript a strict piece of a spiritual research on Genesis.

And in all, if the reader considered any point valuable and much liked, it would be deemed a work of the Holy Spirit in guiding our souls to the truth that is revealed in the Scripture.

But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

(John 14:26 NIV)

Let me finally make a quick disclosure for the reader: It is dangerous to use one verse, one sentence, or one paragraph to get to the interpretation of an entire topic. The topic usually gets interpreted in a chapter or in a book or in many books to get to the facts surrounding the topic that is under discussion. The reader can’t get an interpretation of one verse while ignoring how this verse fits the other verses of the Bible. Researching and studying all the angles of the topic is then mandatory to getting to the meaning of the verse, what the sentence or the paragraph tried to convey, or what ideas needed to be conveyed in this context of the discussion.

CHAPTER 1

In the Beginning

God created all things for your spirituality … Heaven and earth are not only for your material benefit, but for your spiritual benefit also, if you are able to extract what they offer of spiritual lessons: The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament … shows His handiwork (Psalm 19:1).

—Pope Shenouda III

The Wisdom of God

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

(John 1:1–5 NIV)

In the beginning was Christ, and Christ was with God, and Christ was God. Christ was with God in the beginning. Through Christ all things were made; without Christ nothing was made that has been made. In Christ was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

Christ himself was the beginning. Didn’t he say, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End (Revelation 22:13 NIV)?

However, he is the beginning that our human ability could see when time began, although he was born of the Father before all ages. That’s what goes beyond the measures the human brain can reach and investigate because it’s a relationship beyond time and space—the coeternity of Christ with the Father.

In the beginning (or say in Christ), God created the heavens and the earth. All things were created through him and for him. God finished his work as the Creator in six days and rested on the seventh day. Through his Word, the person of wisdom, God created the world.

Origen explained the coeternity of the wisdom as follows:

It is probably in this way that, so far as our weakness allows, we shall maintain a reverent belief about God, neither asserting that his creatures were unbegotten and coeternal with him nor that he turned to the work of creation to do good when he had done nothing good before. For the saying that is written, In wisdom you have made all things, is a true one. And certainly if all things have been made in wisdom, then since wisdom has always existed, there have always existed in wisdom, by a prefiguration and preformation, those things which afterwards have received substantial existence. This is, I believe, the thought and meaning of Solomon when he says in Ecclesiastes, What is it that has been made? The same that is to be! And what is it that has been created? The same that is destined to be created! And there is nothing fresh under the sun. If one should speak of anything and say, Behold, this is new: it already has been, in the ages that were before us. If then particular things which are under the sun have already existed in the ages which were before us—since there is nothing fresh under the sun—then all universal categories have forever existed, and some would say even individual things; but either way, it is clear that God did not begin to create after spending a period in idleness.

—Origen, On First Principles, 1.4.5²

The coeternity of the Son with the Father also is manifest in the Son’s powers and miraculous works. Christ ruled over all the earth and the ocean waves, over every nation, over every people. Christ proved that everything came into being through him, and in regard to that, Severian of Gabala recorded the following:³

If he had not made a paste out of mud and smeared the blind man, there would have been no belief that he is the one who took the dust of the earth to make