Genesis 1-3: A Foreshadow of the Biblical Story
This is our final stop in Genesis 1-3 for now. Some of you may be thinking, “FINALLY!” We’ve spent many posts on these chapters because they’re very important for the biblical story. Not only do they introduce the story, but the overall plot and features of the Hebrew Bible (a.k.a. Old Testament) are foreshadowed in Genesis 1-3. In other words, by reading these three chapters, we’re already set up to know how the rest of the story will unfold. So, to see the setup, let’s summarize the plot in Genesis 1-3.
The Plot Thickens
Genesis 1-3 is a remarkable literary unit that presents two perspectives on the creation story and a tale about humanity’s forfeiture of access to God’s divine life. The plot can be summarized as:
Beginning: God creates the skies, the land, and everything within them.
Middle: The humans are presented with a choice to obey or disobey the instruction of God in the Garden of Eden.
End: The humans are exiled from the garden and lose access to the Tree of Life.
What happens outside the garden is told in Genesis 4-11, which contains unique stories that remix Genesis 1-3 in various ways—more on that in upcoming posts. As a larger literary unit, Genesis 1-11 sets up the story of Abram/Abraham and his family, which begins in Genesis 12. We will explore how Genesis 1-3 prepares us for Genesis 12 and beyond.
Abraham as a New Adam
In Genesis 1, God creates a unique land creature called “human” on Day 6. God blesses humans and gives them the authority to rule on the land, which God prepared and cultivated on Day 3. God also commands them to multiply and spread all over the land, ruling as his representative kings and queens over creation.
If we fast forward to God’s choosing of Abram in Genesis 12, we read:
1 The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.
2 “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
…
6 Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7 The LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.”
In Abram’s calling, we see similar language from God’s words and actions toward the humans of Genesis 1. God “blesses” Abram and promises to give a “land” to his future offspring, implying that Abram and Sarai will be fruitful and multiply.
Later, God reiterates his promises to Abram in Genesis 15 and 17. But look at the language that gets used in Genesis 17:
1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him, saying, “I am God Almighty. Live in my presence and be blameless. 2 I will set up my covenant between me and you, and I will multiply you greatly.”
3 Then Abram fell facedown and God spoke with him: 4 “As for me, here is my covenant with you: You will become the father of many nations. 5 Your name will no longer be Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I will make you the father of many nations. 6 I will make you extremely fruitful and will make nations and kings come from you. 7 I will confirm my covenant that is between me and you and your future offspring throughout their generations. It is a permanent covenant to be your God and the God of your offspring after you. 8 And to you and your future offspring I will give the land where you are residing—all the land of Canaan—as a permanent possession, and I will be their God.”
In renaming Abram, God promises to make him fruitful and multiply him in the land—just like the humans of Genesis 1. So, Abraham's portrait is that of a new Adam-like figure chosen to represent the Creator God on the land. However, residing in the land of Canaan has stipulations, like there were in the Garden of Eden.
The Land of Canaan as a New Eden
In Genesis 2, God forms the human from the ground outside the garden and then places him in the Garden of Eden. Later, God creates the woman from the side of the man, and two remain in the garden on one condition: they must obey God’s command not to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Bad.
If they obeyed God’s instruction, they would experience the blessing, shalom, and life offered by God in the garden. But, if they disobeyed, it would lead to chaos, death, and exile from the garden.
Fast-forward to Abraham’s family. The family grows throughout later generations and becomes known as the Hebrews/Israelites. After they’re rescued from enslavement in Egypt, God establishes a covenant with the Israelites at Mount Sinai in faithfulness to his promises to their ancestors. Mount Sinai is located in the wilderness, but God promises to bring the Israelites into the promised land of Canaan — a land flowing with milk and honey.
However, to enter and remain in the land, God gave the Israelites instructions, the Torah, to guide them into wisdom and knowledge of good and bad. They had a choice to make, just like Adam and Eve in the garden.
They can trust and obey God as their source of wisdom by obeying his instructions, or they can go about things in their own way. In Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28, Moses lays out what will happen if they choose to obey or disobey. This is their test at the tree, so to speak. If they obey, there will be blessing, shalom, and life. If they disobey, it will lead to chaos, death, and exile.
Exile to the East
In Genesis 3, Adam and Eve live in the garden, but there’s an inhabitant who seeks to disrupt everything—the snake. As we know, humans eventually cross the line after the snake's sleight of hand, and they disobey God’s instruction regarding the forbidden tree.
Sadly, the unified couple divides as they play the blame game when confronted by God. The chapter concludes with the humans being exiled out of the garden and toward the east:
23 So the Lord God sent him away from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. 24 He drove the man out and stationed the cherubim and the flaming, whirling sword east of the garden of Eden to guard the way to the tree of life.1
Fast-forward to the Israelites in the land of Canaan. As time went by, some Canaanites remained there. When we read about the many interactions between the Israelites and various Canaanite groups, we see that the Israelites crossed many lines by participating in Canaanite idolatry and practices. They disobeyed God’s instructions to refrain from doing such things—including Solomon, the last king of the unified Kingdom of Israel.
Like Adam and Eve, the unified kingdom was divided into two: the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah. Due to continual forbidden practices, the northern kingdom was eventually exiled from the land by the Assyrians. Over a hundred years later, the southern kingdom was exiled from the land by the Babylonians — to the east.
But Hope Remains
Before the humans were exiled from the garden, God promised that a future human would rise to crush the snake. Although they no longer lived in the Garden, hope remained.
Interestingly, the last book in the Jewish order of the Hebrew Bible is 2 Chronicles, which recounts the story of Solomon’s reign all the way up to the Babylonian exile. But the book (and the Hebrew Bible) ends with an incomplete statement from the Cyrus, the King of Persia:
23 Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, “The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may the Lord his God be with him. Let him go up…”
Both Genesis 3 and 2 Chronicles contain glimpses of hope for the future restoration of Abraham’s family. Their hope remains in a future figure that will complete the mission.
If you would like more of this content, please feel free to like, subscribe, and share!
Genesis 3:23-24