These commentaries on Genesis were written and compiled by Gary Kukis

Updated April 22, 2019.

I have done a considerable amount of writing on the book of Genesis—well over 15,000 pages, which includes 3 different exegetical studies of that book. The purpose of this document is to help you find the right study and links.

Unless you know your way around this document, I would suggest checking the Available Studies in Genesis first.

Each chapter hyperlinked below will have the complete word-by-word exegesis of the chapter in the original Hebrew with 3 original translations (an ultra-literal translation; a reasonably literal translation; and a more dynamic translation). Also included in the chapter exegesis will be the weekly studies which have been e-mailed out on Genesis and portions of the information found in the original Genesis study (which was so brief, all chapters were included in one document).

Summary of the Chapters, posted when uploaded

Chapters 1–18 are incomplete, by my standards, and will be expanded at a later date.

Genesis Introduction (HTML) (PDF) (WPD—zipped).

This relatively short document introduces the book of Genesis. Included in the topics are Progressive Revelation, Inspiration, the correct view of the Authorship of Genesis (which includes a short exegetical study of New Testament passages to substantiate this), along with the Themes of Genesis and a few summaries of the book of Genesis.

Genesis 1 (HTML) (PDF) (WPD).

Genesis is a most amazing book. There is no ancient book like this. What other ancient book coincides with the Big Bang Theory? What ancient book suggests there was a great ice age over all the earth? As you will find in this study, there are places where the Book of Genesis disagrees with some scientific theories, but Genesis is anything but anti-science.

God speaks throughout this chapter-who is He speaking to and for what reason? Is God unable to create everything perfectly just the way He wants it? Then why does God take 6 days to restore the earth?

Doctrines included in this study: Ancient Creation Myths; The Order of Creation; Creation Verbs; God and Light and Darkness; The Angelic Conflict; Genesis Creation Theories; How Light Illustrates the Trinity; Light on Day One, the Sun on Day Four; Evolution, Creationism and Divine Design; Some Arguments Against Evolution; A New Theory of Creation and Restoration; Creation Theories; What is God Teaching the Angels?; We Are the Shadow-Image of God.

As in all chapter studies, every single word of Hebrew is found in Genesis 1, along with 50 or so translations for each and every verse. 239 pages.

Genesis 2 (HTML) (PDF) (WPD).

Genesis 2 goes back and takes a look at day 6 and what happened after day 6, when God built the woman. Although some critics try to present this as an alternate creation narrative, what we have here is simply a closer look at Day 6 and what followed. Hebrew writers often do this; they state an historic event or something, and then they go back and discuss this event in greater detail.

We cover a number of special topics here: the Sabbath, Sanctification, The Tree of Life; The Tree of Knowing Good and Evil, Timelines for the creation of the man and the woman, and the First Four Divine Institutions.

In this chapter is a very important doctrine here for apologists is Ten Amazing Statements from Genesis 1:1-2:7. What we learn from the first chapter and a half of Genesis are amazing things not found in any other creation story. These are significant enough to show that believing in the Bible is not somehow anti-science. Also fascinating is the Chiasmos found in Gen. 2:4–25. 154 pages.

Genesis 3 (HTML) (PDF) (WPD).

Gen. 3 is all about the fall of the man and the woman in the Garden of Eden. Satan plays a prominent role, so we examine Satan, Satan's Fall, Satan's appearance, the role of the cherubim, and this portion of the Angelic Conflict.

This study includes the doctrines of The Basis of Satan's Appeals, Human Good, Morality, Truth and Lies, The Seed of the Woman, Scar Tissue, and Atonement. Also in this study: What the Bible Claims for Itself and The Historicity of Adam, the Woman and the Fall. 214 pages.

Genesis 4 (HTML) (PDF) (WPD).

Gen. 4 is all about Cain and Abel, and the killing of Abel by Cain. There are two verses in this chapter which are invariably mistranslated; and one mistranslation leads to all kinds of sloppy interpretation. One of these verses is Gen. 4:7 (God is speaking to Cain) "Is [it] not [true that], if you do good, [there is] a lifting up [of your countenance]; and if you do not do good, [then] the penalty [for sin] is lying in wait at the door. And to you [is] his desire and you [even] you will have dominion over him." It is impossible for this to be interpreted as Cain having the ability to have dominion over sin. The Hebrew will not allow for that interpretation. In this study, there will be 2 explanations given for what God is saying to Cain. Like Gen. 1-3, this is a word-by-word examination of Gen. 4, with the intent that you understand nearly every word in this chapter. Although this exegesis still requires some polish, at 170 pages, it should be the most in-depth study available.

Included in this study is The Concept of Religion Comes from Cain; How to Distinguish Christianity from Cults; Jesus Christ is the Only Way to God; Cainian Parallels; The Canian population after 100 years (you will be surprised); Why Man Had Tools Early on; What Eve's Words Tell Us; and The Genealogy of Jesus Christ. Because there are some obvious textual difficulties in this chapter, we will take a look at the most prominent ancient translations of the Old Testament (and the concept of families of manuscripts will be discussed). There are several topics discussed throughout. For instance, if a person joins a cult or a movement, and that person stops taking drugs, develops a more legitimate and independent lifestyle, isn't that good enough? Why does he need to be a Christian if he solves many of his problems? Human works and why they are so repulsive to God (with a very good illustration). How exactly Cain murdered Abel. The mark of Cain, which has been discussed for millenarian. Why is Cain banished and not executed? There are modern-day illustrations and applications, such as, science and DDT; Wall Street and greed; my surprise as a young Christian not being able to simply go out and easily find a church that taught the Bible carefully and accurately; and the profound enjoyment one can get from one's profession. 170 pages.

Genesis 5 (HTML) (PDF) (WPD).

Genesis 5 is a genealogy chapter, the first chapter devoted almost entirely to the genealogy of Adam to Noah. For this reason, some would think this chapter could be skipped over, or skim-read in 2 minutes, and be dispensed with. However, this chapter should not be skipped if only to see that gospel message which is found within its pages. It is one of the many chapters which will confirm that the Bible is indeed the Word of God.

Some of the topics discussed are the longevity of those found in Gen. 5 (the lives of those in the antediluvian civilization were typically 900+ years); the various authors of Genesis; the gospel message of Genesis 5; and the timeline set by the Bible.

This study includes; Why Did God the Holy Spirit Record Gen. 5, a Genealogy?; the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the Genealogy of Gen. 5 and the Timeline Set up by the Bible. 122 pages.

Genesis 6 (HTML) (PDF) (WPD).

Gen. 6 is a very unusual chapter. Fallen angels will have the ability to have sexual unions with the daughters of men, and they will produce children who are characters of mythology that many of us have studied over the years (the half-man/half-god characters).

However, this completely pollutes the human race, and God selects seemingly the only people who remain who have not been corrupted, Noah, his wife, his 3 sons and their wives.

There are several things which we find in this chapter: a pronouncement of judgement against the corrupted human race and a promise of their destruction. God will make a covenant with Noah, which is the first mention of a covenant in Scripture. God will also instruct Noah to build an ark.

You may think that this is all just a story, a myth that was passed along for centuries. However, you are going to find out that this historical record is anything other than a myth; it is clearly not devised by someone who thought it would make a great story.

You may be surprised as to how many things in this chapter are interdependent and dependent upon the previous chapters in Genesis. For instance, in order for this to actually have taken place, there had to be an environment much different than we have today. We could not have rain; and we could not have an abundance of bacteria; otherwise, the wood of the ark would have rotted before it took its maiden voyage. And, not surprisingly, this is exactly the sort of environment that previous chapters of Genesis suggests.

This examination of Gen. 6 includes: Biblical States of the Earth; the Accuracy of the Old Testament; the Basic Mechanics of the Christian Life; and the doctrines of Satan’s Counterfeits, Sanctification, Civilizations and Anthropopathisms. 192 pages.

Genesis 7 (HTML) (PDF) (WPD).

Gen. 7 contains God’s instructions to Noah as to what he would need to take on board with his family on the ark, and is followed by the actual entering into the ark and then the flood itself.

Because people are aware that there are other flood records out there, and that some people believe that this flood account in Genesis is allegorical or exaggerated or not what Christians have made it out to be, careful attention is given to some of the other flood stories which exist, and how they line up with the record of the Great Deluge in the Bible. Also, as was done in Gen. 6, some time is spend with looking at this topic scientifically, looking at some extra-Biblical sources, and showing that the Bible record is straightforward and reasonable.

One topic which was not covered here, but will be covered in Gen. 8 is the idea that there are two flood accounts which have been woven together. This does appear to be a possibility, not because of the so-called JPED theory, but because there is a lot of repetition in this particular chapter, even though it is only 24 verses long.

Some of the special topics include: The Flood Timetable; the Different Environments of the Earth as Suggested by the Bible; Robbie Dean’s explanation as to why this was a worldwide flood; Fossil Evidence for Massive Graveyards; and several comparisons of the Genesis record of the flood with other flood accounts from other cultures (with an emphasis upon the Gilgamish account). 137 pages.

Genesis 8 (HTML) (PDF) (WPD).

Gen. 8 is about the second half of the flood, where the waters begin to subside to a point where Noah and his family and the animals are able to exit the ark. The person who recorded this information in the first place continues to keep us abreast of the days and the time of the month that these various events take place.

Included in this study is the Omniscient of God, the Priesthoods of the Bible, several Flood Timetables and a chiasmos organization of Gen. 7–8. One of the fascinating aspects of the flood narrative is how it is organized. Gen. 7–8 can be combined into a chiasmos format, which is quite amazing (and something which often occurs in the Bible). More than likely, you will have to see this and read it in order to fully appreciate it.

Finally, there is some discussion of how the flood may be related to continental drift and to the skewing of the earth’s axis. 133 pages.

Genesis 9 (HTML) (PDF) (WPD).

In Gen. 9, Noah and his family exit the ark to the new world devastated by worldwide flood waters. God makes a covenant (contract with Noah). At the end of this chapter, Noah will get drunk, and the way that his sons react to this will determine the general trends of history among the progeny of Noah’s sons.

Included in this study of Gen. 9 is: The Doctrine of Murder; A Comparison of Dispensationalism and Covenant Theology; the Noahic Covenant; and the Breakdown of Races to come from Noah’s sons (as per R. B. Thieme, Jr.).

Although I do intend to go back and edit this document at a future date, it includes a breakdown of every Hebrew word in this chapter accompanied by samples of over 50 translations, and is the most thorough examination of this chapter of Genesis anywhere. 154 pages.

Genesis 10 (HTML) (PDF) (WPD).

Many people skip all of Gen. 10 and a portion of Gen. 11 because these are genealogy chapters, but there is a lot to be learned in this chapter (you may recall that the gospel of Jesus Christ is hidden in the genealogy of Gen. 5—from Adam to Noah). Every believer ought to learn something about the genealogies found in the Bible.

It is worth noting that, some author did not suddenly say, “Oh, let’s throw in some genealogies here.” Their inclusion at this point is logical and actually fits well with the narrative.

One of the most amazing things is, there are perhaps a half-dozen authors of the Bible who continue the linear (straight-line) genealogy all the way from Adam to Jesus Christ. Somehow, all of these authors knew that, there is one genealogy of promise, and it is included in the Bible (there are no other linear genealogies found). It is worth asking, how did they know? And how did they know not to follow out some of the genealogical lines, like those for Moses, Aaron, Caleb, Samuel or Saul?

Some of the doctrines found in this chapter: What is the Purpose of the Bible, the Doctrine of Toledoth, several maps and alternate ways to show the distribution of the peoples of the earth; the 5 Divine Institutions; Attacks on the Divine Institutions.

This is a great study and highly recommended. 146 pages.

Genesis 11 (HTML) (PDF) (WPD).

Genesis 11 is another amazing, yet often ignored, chapter in the Bible. People are aware of the first half of Gen. 11, which is the Tower of Babel and the Confusion of Languages, but then, the second section follows the line of Shem. This portion is equally important, as are the final few verses, which describe the family of Terah. Those who read the Bible through on some kind of a schedule often speed-read through the final section of this chapter, and they miss how this sets up Gen. 12 and the call of Abram.

According to at least 2 sources, there does appear to be a three-fold breakdown of the languages, which is in agreement with the 3 clans at that time. There will be several sections in this study which deal with archeology and carbon dating and the theories of the age of mankind. The scientific achievements of the people of Ham are listed here, and you will find this to be quite amazing. Ancient man and his primitive ways will not longer seem very primitive to you. There are two kinds of genealogies found in the Bible and these will be explained. We will study the kinds of ancient manuscripts of the Bible which are available to us today. The decline in the ages of the patriarchs will be examined, because they decrease exponentially, which is quite an amazing little detail. Finally, some attention will be paid to the route of Abraham and his family, along with something that I doubt you have heard before—the idea that Abraham was called on two occasions. Also included, and possibly exclusively found here, why Abraham and his descendants are called Hebrews (there are actually several reasons for this).

Included are the following short doctrines: The Assumptions of Archeology and Paleontology, C–14 Dating and Accuracy, Scientific Achievements of Ancient Hamitic Peoples; Types of Genealogies Found in the Bible; Explaining the Age Decline; When did the flood occur?; Ancient Manuscripts of the Bible; Transitional Point in the Book of Genesis; The Two Calls to Abram.

A fascinating study and highly recommended. 175 pages.

Genesis 12 (HTML) (PDF) (WPD).

Gen. 12 is the call of Abram (Abraham), his move to Canaan, his travels through Canaan, and then his misstep of going to Egypt. Gen. 12 marks a transition point in the book of Genesis, as we suddenly focus in on one man and his life. We have studied individuals in the previous 11 chapters, but with Gen. 12, there is a sudden focus and concentration which was not found before. Interestingly enough, Abram (Abraham is not his name yet) is claimed by at least 3 different religions, but, in this study, you will begin to get a feel for the man and his thinking, as well as for his misjudgment.

We will study God’s promise to Abram, “I will bless those who bless you; and curse those who curse you;” and study a great many ancient and modern examples of this. This will lead us to the precarious position that the United States is in today. In Charan, it will be apparent that Abram and his family were successful; but this was outside of God’s geographic will for Abram. He will be blessed even more greatly in Canaan, the Land of Promise.

God appears twice to Abram, and we will study the concept of Theophanies and Christophanies in the Old Testament. We will study the subtlety of the Bible, as many people view the Bible as a book that beats individuals over the head with their own personal sins.

There are many doctrines which are studied in this chapter: How God Would Bless Abram; Should Abram have taken Lot with Him?; The Doctrine of Theophanies; Categories of Passages with a Double Meaning; The Doctrine of the Will of God; Abram and the Geographic Will of God; The Doctrine of Faith-Rest; The Goals of Communism in America; The Abbreviated Doctrine of the Laws of Divine Establishment; and Parallels to the Exodus.

This should be a study of greater depth of this chapter than you have seen anywhere else. 169 pages.

Genesis 13 (HTML) (PDF) (WPD).

In Gen. 13, Abram and his crew return from Egypt, oddly richer than before, despite Abram’s deception. Lot is still with Abram, but because of the abundance of their riches, Abram suggests to Lot that they should separate, Lot being given the first choice of which direction to go in.

After this separation, God comes to Abram and fills him in on more of His promises to Abram. God then tells Abram to continue wandering throughout the land, which Abram begins doing.

There are a great many doctrines covered in this chapter, including the Doctrine of Separation, the Concept of Blessing by Association, the Doctrine of Logistical Grace, the Doctrine of Antisemitism, and several doctrines on Dispensations and intercalation. I, like many Bible exegetes, take the Bible literally. However, there are many figures of speech found throughout Scripture, and several of the more notable ones will be highlighted here with examples.

Also included in this study is an American Heritage Special, because the history of the United States which I was taught in high school and college was inaccurate and intentionally so. Not necessarily by my teachers, but by those who wrote the texts and distorted who our founders really were. In this section, we will read a proclamation by George Washington, the preambles of several state constitutions, and the words of many founding fathers. Our founding fathers are not deists nor did they write the constitution in order to limit the religious speech of government officials. When reading their own words, this will become plain. We will also take a brief look at the Warren Court and how they changed the vocabulary just enough to begin to use the 1^st Amendment to limit free speech rather than to preserve it. It is a fascinating study.

All in all, there is a lot of important information for the believer in Jesus Christ in this chapter and a great deal of application. 182 pages.

Genesis 14 (HTML) (PDF) (WPD).

Genesis 14 is a fascinating study, thought by some to be an odd insertion in the Bible. However, once you read this, you will see just how important this chapter is to the narrative of Genesis, and how it plants more seeds for further doctrines.

The Bible is a book which includes the strategy and tactics of various armies, and that is something that we find in this chapter. You may not recognize what is going on by a simple read-through, but exactly what these armies do is clearly laid out. We also study the stages of national discipline here, laid out in the Bible for the first time. The false JEPD theory (documentary hypothesis) is alluded to in this chapter, along with links to where this false theory is explained. Imperialism, which is given a bad name today, will be studied in relationship to Gen. 14. British imperialism was a good thing; it was not evil. Furthermore, what the United States does today is not imperialism. We will note that the Bible is not anti-wealth, and not every wealthy man in the Bible is told to sell everything that he has and give it to the poor. There will be a link to a list of the wealthy men found in Scripture, none of whom had done wrong by being wealthy. We will look at the brilliance of United States policy after WWII and the great failure of George W. Bush in Iraq and Afghanistan (you have not heard this from a Biblical perspective before, I can almost guarantee you).

Included in the doctrines are the Strategy and Tactics of the Kings of the East; the Melchizedek Special; the Priesthoods of God; the Doctrine of Redemption; the Slave Market of Sin; and, very importantly, all the Seeds of Theology found in Genesis 1–14. Progressive Revelation, Tithing, and the Stages of National Discipline are also doctrines which are covered in this chapter.

This is truly one of the great chapters of the Bible. 217 pages.

Genesis 15 (HTML) (PDF) (WPD).

Gen. 15 is a very unusual chapter of the Bible. Twice, Abram is said to be communicating with God when in a trance state; but there seem to be a variety of real activities related to these communications which take place as well. There is a great deal of prophecy in this chapter, where God helps Abram to look forward into time, to see what God will bring to pass.

Also in this chapter is the clear statement of Old Testament salvation: And Abram had believed in the Lord and it is credited to him as righteousness. This verse is quoted 5 times in the New Testament, but each time with a slightly different emphasis (all quotations will be studied in Gen. 15).

The doctrines studied in this chapter will include Four Generation Degeneracy, with a modern example of it; Abram and the large numbers associated with him; and an argument in favor of the less-than-literal Bibles.

There are two doctrines studied at the end of this chapter which I believe are extremely important. The first is the “Lucky Guesses in Genesis 1–15.” These are 20 or so things which are amazing that anyone would have, at anytime in ancient history, recorded these things. The Bible speaks of cloning, of the Big Bang Theory and of the chemical composition of man; as well as about the atmosphere—things which make perfect sense today, and things which were found thousands of years before their discovery in the first 15 chapters of Genesis. There are also a number of very sophisticated theological concepts found in the first 15 chapters of Genesis, which, if this were not the Word of God, we should not expect to find such things.

People have a lot of misconceptions about the Bible itself. They think that the Catholic Church or this or that group snuck in and changed the Bible to conform to all of its theories. Others think that there have been so many translations of translations made of the Bible that there is no way possible to know what it said originally. Others think that, somehow, the prophecies were written after the prophecies had come to pass. All of these ideas are silly; and having some real understanding of the history of the Bible shows these ideas to be false. This is one of the final doctrines found in Gen. 15. 162 pages.

Genesis 16 (HTML) (PDF) (WPD).

Gen. 16 is the story of the birth of Ishmael, the father of many Arab groups who are alive today. Sarai, who obviously knew of the promises that God made to Abram, suggested that her personal maidservant, the Egyptian girl Hagar, function as a surrogate mother, through whom Abram would father a son, and, in this way, help God fulfill His promises to Abram. What happened instead was great discord in the Abram household, where Sarai and Hagar could not be reconciled, and Hagar ran off. God went and found Hagar, and asked her to return to Abram’s compound, telling her that He would multiply her seed greatly.

This is the first appearance of the Angel of the Lord in the Bible (that is, the first time He is given this name). The Angel of the Lord is the Revealed God and this will be shown clearly by the doctrine of the Angel of the Lord.

We also look at the Doctrine of Slavery and applications of that doctrine to today. This is an unemotional, objective examination of the practice of slavery, a practice which is still legitimate today (but not as was practiced in the United States at the time of our founding).

We also will study the Geographical Will of God; Why the Word of God was Not Supernaturally Preserved; and we compare manuscripts which we have of the Bible compared to other ancient manuscripts which have been preserved. People typically have a lot of mistaken notions about the Bible and the manuscript evidence which we have for today’s modern Bibles. This section should help set you straight on that topic.

This is a relatively short chapter (only 16 verses), but packed with a lot of important material. 138 pages.

Genesis 17 (HTML) (PDF) (WPD).

For 24 years, God has been speaking to Abram of promises for the future, which promises did not appear to have an established foundation from a human perspective—Abram had no sons, and all of God’s promises were off in the distant future based upon Abram having a son. In the previous chapter, Abram and Sarai, his wife, tried to help God along by employing a surrogate slave girl, Hagar, by whom Abram would sire a son. The result of this union was Ishmael; but this also introduced a great deal of drama to the Abram compound, due to the considerable friction between Sarai and Hagar (this is covered in Gen. 16).

13 years have passed since Gen. 16—Ishmael is a young teenager—and God again comes to Abram, introducing Himself as ʾEl Shaddai, God Almighty or God Omnipotent. God makes the unequivocal promise that Abram will have a son by his wife Sarai. God changes Abram’s name to Abraham (which means, father of many) and tells him that he will be the father of many nations and that kings would come from him. God also changes Sarai’s name to Sarah (princess).

God first tells Abraham “Walk before Me and be [spiritually] complete;” and then He tells Abraham to be circumcised—along with every other male in his compound. Furthermore, circumcision is to be perpetuated among his people, whether they be slaves or children born as descendants to Abraham.

We examine many doctrines in this chapter, including: Comparing and Contrasting the Church and Israel; Slavery in the United States; Ancient Translation of the Bible; God’s 4 Responses to Prayer; and the Doctrine of Sanctification.

We also study the following topics: Ancient Law Codes and why these codes were developed; we examine the spiritual life of Abram—what it was, and what did Abram know (most believers today do not know the first thing about their own spiritual lives—for instance, most believers today do not know how to get in and out of fellowship with God); Circumcision—just what does it mean and why did God require it; and we look forward to Acts 7 and Rom. 4 to see how our study impacts this New Testament chapters. We will also step back and see the similarities between this chapter and the Suzerain-Vassal treaties of old; and we will look at this chapter as a chiasmos. 231 pages.

Genesis 18 (HTML) (PDF) (WPD).

This study of Genesis 18 is the most doctrinally rich study that you will find on any chapter of the Bible, simply because there is so much going on in this chapter. The application of the information of this chapter to what is going on today will amaze you.

In the first half of this chapter, God and two angels come and speak to Abraham. There is a big picture view here, which I have not seen explained in any other resource.

In the second half of this chapter, Abraham speaks to God about Sodom and Gomorrah, cities which are about to be destroyed, and asks, “What if there are 50 righteous men there; will you destroy city and them with it?” This stimulates a great deal of discussion on the concepts of a national entity, a Christian nation, a client nation, the pivot and the spinoff. Are nations just random things which pop up or is there a corporate relationship between a nation and God? These topics are covered in great detail, along with a great deal of application to today’s world. A believer never has to be afraid of history or of current events; what is true in Genesis and what is taught throughout the Bible about God’s corporate relationship with various groups of people continues to be true today. There are a multitude of principles to be found here, as well as a multitude of applications.

Some of the doctrines covered in this chapter include Angelology, Human Viewpoint Thinking versus Divine Viewpoint Thinking; How Isaac’s Unusual Birth Foreshadows the Birth of our Lord; What Preserves a National Entity; The Client Nation; the Pivot; Heathenism (What about those who have never heard the gospel?); and the Seeds of Doctrines found in this chapter.

There are also discussions in this chapter about the so-called contradictions found in the Bible; the concept of the national entity; how these concepts relate to today and to recent history. Expect a great deal of modern-day application and illustration to be taught in conjunction with this chapter. 304 pages.

Genesis 19 (HTML) (PDF) (WPD).

This is the first complete chapter posted in Genesis. No major revisions or updates will be applied to this Chapter. This is a complete, word-by-word study of this chapter.

Gen. 19 has the two angels of Gen. 18 going to Sodom to both destroy Sodom and 4 other cities; and to rescue Lot and his family from the destruction.

There are a number of minor errors found in other commentaries. For instance, several commentators have Lot and family carrying out containers of wine from Sodom upon their exit. That is simply illogical and wrong. Some try to cover over Lot’s bad choices in offering up his daughters or in later having sex with his daughters. These will all be straightened out in this study.

Because of the subject material of this chapter, there will be an in-depth study of homosexuality and Christianity. The more complete Doctrine of Homosexuality has also been updated. Important information about homosexual men and their number of partners; the continuum of human attraction; the addictive nature of the homosexual lifestyle; AIDS; Will and Grace; sexual attraction is not a matter of genetics alone; the pro-homosexual propaganda which has been going into our schools to our youngest children;

Other topics explored in this chapter: the Christian and Politics; the Physical Nature of Angels; the Stages of National Discipline (there is a 6^th Stage of National Discipline which is included here); the Proportionality of the Pivot in a Nation; Why God Destroys Sodom and Gomorrah; the idea that people want to matter; the Dead Sea Scrolls; along with a great deal of artwork that Gen. 19 has inspired.

You may or may not realize that the fire and brimstone destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah actually has a scientific basis directly tied to the area of Sodom and Gomorrah.

The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah is also an extremely important topic of Scripture, and that will be explored as well.

This is an extensive study of Genesis 19 at over 385 pages of text and graphics.

Genesis 20 (HTML) (PDF) (WPD).

In this chapter, Abraham lies to Abimelech the king of Gerar about Sarah, saying that she is his sister and not his wife. Abraham had done the same thing to the King of Egypt back in Gen. 12, and Isaac will pull this same stunt with Abimelech II in Gen. 26. So, you may think, this is going to be fairly repetitive with very little to offer. Wrong.

This chapter is a case study in God taking Abraham, a believer who has lied to his host king; and Abimelech, a host king with too many wives—and God will take these men and their actions and still work it altogether for good, for His glory, and for His plan.

This is a deceptive little chapter. First of all, it seems very similar to the time that Abraham went to Egypt and lied about Sarah. Later on, in Gen. 26, Isaac will lie to Abimelech about his wife. So, at first we might think this chapter to be repetitive and perhaps even disconcerting to those of us who believe in the inspiration of Scripture (is this merely a tradition handed down from 3 different sources?). And it is a scant 18 verses long. For these reasons, a great many commentators chose not to even comment on this chapter. That is a big mistake.

One of the most important aspects of this chapter is, Abraham is clearly set up as a type of Christ, both as a man who represents God to man, and as a man who represents man to God. He will intercede on behalf of Abimelech, and heal him. In all of this, Abraham illustrates the Messiah to come. Not only is this quite amazing, but I do not believe that many commentators fully appreciated this.

Fundamental to this chapter is the concept of grace. God is about to bless Abraham and Sarah with a child—a child who will be a type of Christ—who begins the line of promise and is a sign of the good things to come (that is, the fulfillment of God’s many blessings which He has promised to Abraham). And what does Abraham do, literally a month or so before his wife is to conceive—he gets himself into a jackpot in Gerar by lying to the king, and exposes his wife to another man. Abraham puts everything at risk. What Abraham potentially has done here is put his position as father of the Jews into question for all time. He could not have done anything more stupid or dishonorable. All of a sudden, Abraham is doubting God and God’s protection, despite the fact that God has been with Him for all this time. But, despite Abraham’s failure, God does not withdraw His blessing from him. God pours on the blessing. If you understand grace, you are fine with all this. If you do not understand grace, then this chapter becomes confusing. Abraham fails again, and yet, God still blesses him? And Abraham is already a rich man, and God blesses him more. This chapter should rock the world of the legalist. Furthermore, it ought to rock the world of those who believe in covenant theology. They believe that God finally just gave up on the Jews and gave their inheritance away to us, Church Age believers. Then why didn’t God do that right here? Why didn’t God say to Abraham, “Look, you are not the man I thought you were; you have failed me again and again. You just hang out here and do whatever and I will find someone else worthy of My blessings.” But God does not do that. God not only blesses this failure (and right after he failed too), but God later calls Abraham His friend.

This study also includes a number of important doctrines and graphics: several maps are provided so that you have a feel for the territory that Abraham covers; Sin Cannot Derail God’s Plan; The 20 (or so) Dreams of Scripture; The Doctrine of the Sin unto Death; Shem’s life Overlaps Abraham’s life; Examples of God’s Protective, Overruling Will; The Parallels between Abraham and the Coming Savior; The Fear of the Lord; How to avoid repeated sins; Abraham’s life seen from the standpoint of testing; Jesus Christ in Genesis 1–22. Several questions are also dealt with: Speculation: Why did Abraham move? Does God prosper Abraham for lying?

Like all previous chapters of Genesis, it is not apparent at first just how packed this chapter is with spiritual information, a significant portion of which is unique to this commentary. 200 pages.

Genesis 21 (HTML) (PDF) (WPD).

Genesis 21 is about the birth of Isaac; the casting out of Hagar and Ishmael; the provision of God for Hagar and Ishmael; and a contract between Abraham and King Abimelech of Gerar.

The birth of Isaac is quite amazing, as there are no fewer than 22 parallels between the birth of Isaac and the birth of our Lord. Interestingly enough, most of these were not stated until the past 50–100 years. Nowhere in any of the Pauline epistles does Paul stop and say, “Now, let me explain to you how Isaac’s birth is significant.” None of the gospel writers, who record all of the details of the birth of Jesus, add in a paragraph about these parallels. In fact, the recording of Scripture was done centuries before the concept of type and antitype is fully developed.

One of the things which confused and later fascinated me was, there are passages in the Old Testament which are clearly meant in a specific way in their context; but, in the New Testament, they are given a different shade of meaning; and sometimes a different meaning. In this chapter, Sarah will tell Abraham to throw Hagar and her son Ishmael out. Although we are not told of the motivation here—Sarah could be looking to protect her son and she could be looking for any reason to rid herself of her slave woman and her son by Abraham—Paul, in the New Testament, puts an entirely different spin on this situation. What happened is accepted as an historical incident (which it is), but how Paul looks at it and explains it is very different than what we might suppose. Furthermore, no one during Old Testament times would have ever explained this incident in the same way that Paul did.

The final half of this chapter has perplexed commentators for centuries, who are able to make a few accurate comments on the incidents contained herein, but have a more difficult time explaining the spiritual relevance of Abimelech and Abraham’s contract. It is reasonable to ask, what do I, as a believer in Jesus Christ in the 21^st century, get out of these incidents which occurred 4000 years ago? Hopefully, you will be able to answer this question by the end of this study.

A number of believers put themselves on some sort of a Bible reading course (they read the Bible over a period of a year or 5 years), and no doubt they come to chapters like this—particularly the second third of this chapter—and, if they are honest with themselves, wonder, what the hell? Why am I reading this? To the untrained eye, these are a series of barely related vignettes from life long ago. However, every part of the Word of God has purpose, meaning and definition. It may or may not relate directly to your life today, but it is a piece of the puzzle of the overall plan of God.

There are several sections of this chapter which are unique among commentaries: (1) Is it possible that the gospel writers used the birth of Isaac as a model for the birth of Jesus? (2) Abraham, when making a contract with Abimelech, sets 7 ewe- lambs aside. Most commentators do not discuss this; and the few which do, only superficially. In the commentary of Gen. 21, you will actually find out why God the Holy Spirit chose to place this paragraph in the Word of God. (3) Gen. 21–22 contain an odd set of incidents that are not all in chronological order (most of Genesis is set up in chronological order). However, these incidents match up with events in the life of our Lord chronologically. Near the end of this chapter will be the parallels of these two chapters and the ministry of our Lord.

There is a great deal of important material in this chapter—the concept of type and antitype; logical conclusions which we can draw about the Bible; the Doctrine of Legalism; Paul’s use of this chapter in the New Testament; the Angel of Jehovah and the Angel of God; man is designed to work; the parallels between Genesis 21–22 and the ministry of Jesus Christ; and Abraham’s life in Beersheba.

Hopefully, we answer a few questions in this exposition of Gen. 21: Was Abraham remiss in the supplies he gave Hagar and Ishmael? Did he really give them enough? Is God the greatest Egotist of all? Why do we have a contract between Abimelech and Abraham at the end of this chapter? What is that all about? What is the relevance of that incident? 270 pages.

Genesis 22 (HTML) (PDF) (WPD).

Genesis 22 is one of the most important chapters in the Old Testament; and within it are some amazing events as well as amazing statements. However, there is a verse found here which almost every believer has heard, but is incorrectly translated.

In Gen. 22, God comes to Abraham and tells him to take his son to Moriah and to offer him up as a burnt offering. This begins one of the most incredible narratives in the Old Testament.

One thing which is clearly found in this chapter is the concept of type. That is, Abraham, by offering his son Isaac as a burnt offering (and then God stopping him, and giving a ram instead to be offered) is clearly typical of God the Father judging God the Son in our stead, pouring the sins of the world upon Him.

Doctrines discussed in this chapter: The Angel of Jehovah; The Parallels between Abraham offering Isaac and God offering His Son on the cross; Operation Footstool; the Doctrine of Typology; Escrow Blessing in the Plan of God.

Subjects examined in this chapter: How can God ask Abraham to offer up his son? How can re reconcile this chapter of the Bible with God’s prohibitions of child sacrifice? Homosexuality and how it is portrayed on television. God’s blessings to Abraham and the timing of these blessings. The types of genealogies found in Scripture.

We also look at the concept of foreshadowing, in both movies and in human history; one of the most well-known verses in the Bible (God will provide) is mistranslated (the way it should be translated is much more meaningful); we take an atheist interlude during this study. At the end of this chapter, we have the genealogy of Nahor—and we discuss why it is here.

A most amazing journey, which ought to increase your faith and enhance your understanding of Who and What God is. 265 pages.

Genesis 23 (HTML) (PDF) (WPD).

Gen. 23 is one of the most enigmatic chapters of the Bible. This entire chapter seems to deal with relatively trivial information, and could be summed up in one verse: Sarah died at age 127, so Abraham purchased a plot of land with a cave from the Hittites for her grave site. There are details about Abraham’s interactions with some of the prominent Hittite men which seem excessive, to say the least. You may not realize this the first time you read this chapter; but when you read it a second time, and ask yourself, why is this chapter in the Word of God; you might find yourself hard-pressed to answer that question.

This is quite a surprising chapter in the Bible. Gen. 22 was a landmark chapter in the Word of God, with God asking Abraham to offer up his uniquely-born son; and then, in Gen. 23, Sarah dies, and most of the chapter is devote to Abraham purchasing a plot of land with a cave where he might place her body. This is a very unusual juxtaposition of chapters, examining the mundane details of the purchase of some land in Gen. 23 as over-against the incredible narrative of Abraham offering up to God his son Isaac.

Sometimes in a narrative, it is a good idea to look carefully at the narrative. In Gen. 23, Abraham travels to a nearby city of the Hittites to purchase a fairly large plot of land, and he will place the body of his wife in a cave which he purchases. No doubt, Abraham made 2 trips to this city—but it could have been as many as 4 trips. The text is not completely clear about this. However, a superficial reading of the text would not suggest that there was more than one meeting that took place.

Although this seems like a very odd insertion into the Word of God, this chapter verifies the authorship of Abraham and indicates to us that, if Moses was the ultimate editor of Genesis, then he did not edit anything out; he simply added in a few references to geographical locations, giving them their ancient and updated names. It is this chapter, Gen. 24, and Jacob’s remembrances of Rachel which are very telling, and reveal to us the true authorship of the book of Genesis—that these events were recorded by the people who experienced these events. The minutiae of this chapter strongly argues against an historian like Moses assembling the chapters of Genesis some 400 years later, and including information that strikes him as important and leaving out things which seem trivial to him. If Moses assembled the final book of Genesis, he treated it with respect and did not leave any details out of it. In my opinion, the only thing that Moses (or Joshua) did, was update some of the geographical references (which obviously were added after the fact).

Subjects covered in this chapter: the Hittites; how the people of the land of Canaan changed; business and land deals; the value of silver today; Jewish stereotypes; and the thinking and recollection of Abraham of this time.

Doctrines covered in this chapter: Sarah’s Life; Physical Death; and Hebron. 145 pages.

Genesis 24 (HTML) (PDF) (WPD).

Gen. 24 is the longest chapter in the book of Genesis. Abraham calls in his chief servant and tells him to saddle up and go to Haran in the east to his extended family there and find a wife for his son Isaac. God’s promises to Abraham cannot be fulfilled unless Isaac has a wife and children.

Gen. 24 makes us realize just how different God’s thinking is from ours. What historian would spend time with such an extended narrative about the material found in this chapter? This is simply not historical, from man’s viewpoint. However, from God’s viewpoint, this is important. Isaac must have a wife in order for the promises of Abraham to be fulfilled; and he cannot take a wife with a heathen upbringing. He could not continue the faith of Abraham unless he is helped by a life partner who thinks the same way as he does. Isaac needs a woman who also has faith in the Revealed God.

God focuses upon what is important; and yet man often does not even see it.

Because of the length of this chapter, I made a real effort not to include many quotations from other commentators—yet the exegesis of this chapter still ended up being nearly 400 pages.

We study several important concepts in this chapter: that Jesus is not some brown revolutionary Who is giving away free healthcare; how slavery is not the evil which we have been brought up to think it is; how there are different kinds of slavery and some slaves held a higher social position in the eyes of others than you or I; typology and how this chapter continues and completes Isaac as a type of Christ; and there are references to Operation Fast and Furious, Benghazi, our present president and past presidents.

We studied the doctrines of Racial Intermarriage; Angels; the Divine Institutions; and Slavery. 434 pages.

Genesis 25 (HTML) (PDF) (WPD).

Although much of Genesis 25 deals with the Arab line from Abraham, there is a great deal about Abraham in this chapter study. In fact, one very extensive section of this chapter study, delves into all of the New Testament passages where Abraham is mentioned.

There is an excellent short section in this study called The Bible, Poverty, Inheritance, Wealth, and Spreading the Wealth Around: There has been a great deal of communist propaganda which has found its way into mainstream liberal thinking, that makes the God of the Bible to appear to be anti-wealth. Abraham, as a case history, shows that this is simply not true.

Included is an extensive section within Gen. 25: Abraham in the New Testament (this is very much a summation of all that we have covered up to this point; as well as seeing how Abraham is referenced in the New Testament). This is simply a look at every New Testament passage where Abraham is mentioned. Within this study, we get an excellent study of a great many Christian doctrines; including at least one you have not seen before.

Some commentary, from time to time, will appear to be very political. Such commentary teaches the laws of divine establishment; or is illustrative of a Biblical principle, which is brought into the 21^st century. 100 years from now, the principles will remain the same, although the people named from contemporary history will become much less relevant to future generations.

Like most chapters, which I cover, there will be extensive application to contemporary circumstances, philosophies and personalities. We will study or use as illustrations: President Obama, socialism, spreading the wealth, the Bible’s view of wealth, our actual history,

We will spend a significant amount of time in the New Testament studying all of the times that Abraham is mentioned by name. This will bring into focus stories from the Bible you may have never heard—like Jesus and the short, rich tax collector. This section is very much the reason for the unusual length of this chapter.

Regarding twin sons Jacob and Esau, Isaac and Rebekah, their parents, chose to raise them separately. Although most commentators who expressed an opinion about this was negative, I will suggest a reason why Isaac and Rebekah did what they did. This might put them in a different light for you.

There are several extremely important doctrines and studies presented in this study: Reinterpreting Old Testament Truths (the New Testament does not supplant, overwrite, or replace the Old Testament; it provides another dimension to it that was previously hidden); The Seed of Abraham and the Life of the Believer (which is a series of parallels); Canonicity—who decided what the New Testament would be.

We study the doctrines of the Human Soul, the Human Spirit, and Morality.

There are also two sets of genealogies. I understand how some people may not be that interested in those sections. However, do not neglect this chapter of the Word of God because of the genealogies. There is much more to be found in this exegetical study than named above.

This is a unique and extremely dense study of Gen. 25; it is covered nowhere else in this depth. In fact, it is remarkable to me that some commentaries, like the Bridgeway Bible Commentary, only devote 2 pages of commentary to this chapter. The idea is, you will walk away knowing about as much about Gen. 25 as is humanly possible to know. Furthermore, there are unique contributions to be found within this study of Gen. 25—things you will not read anywhere else. 400 pages.

It ought to surprise you, as it did me, that there is a lot of application to be found in the chapter. The concept of envy is examined in great deal, along with two doctrines dealing with envy (the second one deals with envy and socialism); and there is a great deal of commentary about socialism in this study. This is done because communists in Latin America were having trouble making headway with the Catholics there, so they began to teach that Jesus favored socialism and that the Bible was all about socialism and feeding the poor and the needy (even though socialism does not actually do this, it purports to do this). So, instead of communism butting heads with Catholicism, communist principles and doctrine began to be taught as if they had come out of the Bible (this is known as liberation theology). As a result, even the most recent pope (I forget his name; I write this in 2015) has a plethora of socialistic ideas (he is from Latin America, if memory serves). Many of the doctrines and commentary in this chapter put to rest the idea that the Bible teaches socialism.

There are 3 very similar incidents in the Bible, and this chapter examines all of them together. Because Isaac is moved around quite a bit, we study the geographic will of God as well as the will of God in general. We see that Abraham and Isaac both lived in a unique era, when all the survivors of the flood began to die out; and how that related to God’s promises to Abraham.

Important doctrines covered: The Doctrine of Envy; the Politics of Envy; Socialism and Envy; The Relativity of Wealth; The Doctrine of Mental Attitude Sins; The Best Use of Our Time; Relocating to Go to a Doctrinal Church; Problems with the Current Democratic Party. How to Live Your Life (as a believer). Isaac in the New Testament.

Important concepts explored: We study how God has blessed the United States; how our schools are funded. We study the dramatic change of mores in the United States where gay marriage is accepted by a majority of people; we see how an entire society can be changed by propagandizing the youth of that society. We examine the bankrupt moral system which attacks and steals from the rich and exalts the poor. We study how higher taxes on the wealthy does not make life any better for the poor. You may have noticed, when corresponding with some people, that they use the word/notation G-d. An explanation as to why they do this and why this is stupid.

This is an outstanding and very contemporary study. This not only deals with current political movements, but also answers the question, what should I, as a believer in Jesus Christ, be doing today? 345 pages.

Genesis 27 (HTML) (PDF) (WPD) Jacob Deceives his Father Isaac

Genesis 27 is a deceptively simple chapter, where everything appears to be said and explained, but there are events, conversations, and motivations which are important to this narrative which are not clearly laid out. Gen. 27 appears to be simple and it appears to have all the relevant information given to us, but as we examine it more and more thoroughly, it becomes quite clear that there is a great deal of hidden and unspoken information.

Isaac Blessing Jacob by Gerbrand van den Eeckhout (Oil on canvas) 1642; from Web Gallery of Art; accessed August 7, 2016.

Gen. 27 is rarely understood, despite its being about a fairly simple series of events. For this reason, few commentators have correctly explained all of what is going on. This chapter is all about words; it is all about the words that Isaac will say regarding his two sons. That is what the entire conflict is over.

The key to understanding this chapter, the blessing given to Jacob and then the blessing given to Esau is the very fact that the words spoken by Isaac have power. They are meaningful, even when they are spoken in a gathering of only two or three.

To understand Gen. 27, you have to understand that, when Isaac blesses Jacob, that blessing has meaning and power. Once it has been said, it is out there, already in effect; and it cannot be withdrawn. If Isaac could simply withdraw his words, then his words would have been meaningless in the first place. Extenuating circumstances do not nullify the words spoken by Isaac.

It is clear that Jacob is one of the least deserving men of Scripture, who has received some of the greatest blessings of God. This is grace; this is the plan of God. It is men like Jacob who often give us very imperfect believers more hope than a man like Abraham.

Jacobian narratives typically leave out a great many details which can often be supplied using a little logical deduction. Sometimes his narratives are accused of being contradictory not because they are, but because they leave out some details. Much of this narrative is helped along with a few details that may be deduced, and which help explain any questions about the accuracy of the narrative. At the end of this chapter, there will be a summary, where the motivations and actions of the principal characters are clearly laid out, so that everything that happens makes perfect sense. At the end, you will understand what each principal knows (and doesn’t know) and what motivates them to do what they do.

This narrative is about the foibles of man, the free will of man, and the sovereignty of God; the actions of man playing out according to their volition; and the plan of God moving forward, despite the things which man does.

As a personal aside, I have worked on this particular chapter on and off for 3 years (2013 to 2016). 505 pages.

In Gen. 27, it has been determined that Jacob will go east to marry a woman from their family rather than a Canaanite woman, as his brother Esau had married. Gen. 28 begins with his father, Isaac, giving him a blessing before he goes—a blessing which recognizes Jacob as being the line of God’s promise.

Esau, his twin brother, takes notice of this and the importance of marrying someone from the family, so, even though he was already married to two women of Canaan, Esau then married a daughter of Ishmael (Isaac’s half brother).

One thing that I have observed is, some commentators make an attempt to tell you why Esau was a terrible person and why Jacob was a pretty good guy; and so, God chose Jacob and did not choose Esau for the line of promise. This is simply incorrect and there are problems with both men. Twice in Scripture, God says, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” This verse is correctly explained within this chapter.

Meanwhile, Jacob traveled north, going through Luz, where he had a dream-vision of angels going from earth to heaven and back again; and God is above all of this (this is often referred to as Jacob’s ladder). God speaks to Jacob and gives him the promises previously delivered to Abraham and to Isaac; and then God promises to be with Jacob wherever he goes; and that He would bring Jacob back to this land.

When Jacob awakens the next morning, he is amazed at the place where he is, and renames it Bethel (which means, house of God). At the end of this chapter, Jacob makes a vow to God about tithing. Many commentators do not appear to get Jacob, and he is given far too much credit for his spiritual perspicacity. Remember, Jacob had only just left his family a day or so after he had gone to great lengths to deceive his own father in order to get a better blessing than his brother. He has not changed dramatically in the space of a few days. This chapter allows us, to a limited degree, to get into Jacob’s head. This study attempts to do that, without assuming too much.

There are a lot of fascinating topics which are brought up in this chapter. Have you ever seen someone spell God as G-d or as G*d? This will be explained. Jacob has quite a wild vision, of angels going up and down some sort of ladder/elevator/escalator; after this vision, God tells Jacob what he needs to know. So, why the vision of the angels? What was that all about? Jesus suggests that one of His disciples might have a vision similar to what Jacob saw; so why did He say that? In this and the previous chapter, Jacob was blessed three times. What is that all about and what are we to make of it?

Another topic of discussion is, did Jacob experience great spiritual growth after his vision of God and the ladder to heaven? Some commentators interpret this to mean that Jacob left Beersheba as a self-centered schemer, but arrived at Haran spiritually mature. Is that a reasonable and true theory?

There is a great deal of supplementary material covered in this chapter. Many have alleged that the Bible is filled with contradictions—therefore, many pages are devoted to taking some of these contradictions and explaining them; which set of doctrines is followed by The Uniqueness of the Bible. There are several other very important doctrines in this chapter: The Spiritual Life in the Old and New Testaments; Jacob's Clarifying Moment; and A Spiritually-Empowered Jesus Christ is our Spiritual Model. Also presented: a new understanding of the assembling, writing, and ordering of the book of Genesis.

This study is essentially complete and it includes a word-by-word exegesis from the Hebrew, 3 original translations, 90+ translations, 3 sets of original notes from the exegesis, from Genesis & Basic Exegesis, and commentary from about 40 other commentators. 361 pages.

In Gen. 29, Jacob arrives at his destination in Padan-aram, coming upon some shepherds who know Laban (Jacob’s uncle) and the Laban family. When discussing the use of the well, Rachel, Jacob’s first cousin, comes onto the scene, leading a flock of sheep. Jacob tells her who he is and she runs back to her family to tell her father. Her father immediately comes out to meet Jacob, to invite him into their home.

A month goes by and Jacob is apparently helping with the sheep and Laban’s ranch, and Laban asks what he would like to be paid. Jacob suggests that he work for 7 years in order to marry Rachel, with whom he was in love. Laban accepts this offer.

7 years later, Laban throws a wedding party for Jacob, and, at the end, Jacob goes to the bed of his new bride. In the morning, Jacob awakens to find that he has married Leah, the older sister, and not Rachel. He goes immediately to Laban and confronts him, and Laban gives him a phony excuse. Laban proposes that Jacob work another 7 years, and that he would also be allowed to marry Rachel. Jacob agrees to this. At the end of Gen. 29, Leah has given birth to 4 of Jacob’s sons.

One dispute out there in the theological world is, how old is Jacob at this time? Whereas I expected this to be a very difficult question, it is not (as long at you are not expecting a specific and definitive answer). The issues here are not complex.

An important topic of discussion is, Jacob’s spiritual growth or lack thereof. We know what Jacob was like—he was a scheming manipulator. However, before leaving the land of Canaan, Jacob had a meeting with God (Gen. 28). This certainly impacted his life. The question is, how much? In the theological world, there has been a lot of discussion of this. And, related to that question is, how much growth or impact does personal interaction with God do for us? That is, why doesn’t God appear to me and give me a spiritual boost?

This leads us to consider the fact that there are some believers who somehow think that they got the short end of the stick, because they have been born into a time where they will never hear Jesus teach the sermon on the mount or one of His many parables; and we will never have some great vision of God where God speaks to us from heaven. On the contrary, that is what is amazing about living in the Church Age—we have all of that and more in our lives! Right now is the greatest time for the believer to be alive! We have it better than Peter and John did, who learned Bible doctrine directly from Jesus Christ. This will be one of the very important topics of discussion in this chapter, and one which few teachers discuss. Too many believers today are trying to recreate Pentecost; are trying to present our God as a God Who is doing many visible miracles today. Their approach to the Christian life means that they neuter themselves.

Another issue of interest is, we know in this chapter that Laban intentionally deceived Jacob, so that Jacob ended up marrying both of Laban’s daughters. An unanswered (and often, unasked) question is, what part did Leah and Rachel play in the deception of Jacob? I attempt to answer this question (although that will require some speculation).

It is also fascinating that the first 4 sons of Leah both parallel the events of the Exodus and the gospel message.

Finally, the text of this chapter, combined with the narrative in later chapters, suggests to me how the book of Genesis was written. At a point in this chapter, I will give what I believe is a unique explanation as to how Genesis was compiled.

Complete at 400 pages.

Genesis 30 can be broken down into two sections: (1) The sons born to Jacob in Haran and (2) the labor agreement entered into between Laban (management) and Jacob (contract worker). Although there is an odd continuity between these topics, they would have more logically been separated into two chapters.

In fact, both Genesis 29 and 30 are oddly divided. Jacob begins to sire children by Leah near the end of Gen. 29 and this is continued into Gen. 30, along with fathering children by Rachel and by the personal maids of Leah and Rachel. The final 6 verses of Gen. 29 should have been combined with the first 24 verses of Gen. 30, and a chapter assembled devoted strictly to the sons of Jacob.

The latter half of Gen. 30 (vv. 25–43) outlines an agreement that Jacob and Laban came to regarding Jacob’s future wages; and both men try to cleverly improve on their part of the agreement.

This chapter is often noted by critics of the Bible for two reasons: (1) Jacob marries more than one woman and is coerced into impregnating his wives’ personal servants; and (2) Jacob apparently has some odd breeding theories which he puts into practice (these theories would not have been unusual for his day and time). Proponents of gay marriage point to Jacob’s polygamous marriage and conclude, “If he can marry more than one woman, then two men can marry.” Critics point to Jacob’s breeding schemes and say, “This is stupid and unscientific and it is in the Bible!” These objections will be met head-on and explained within the exegesis of this chapter.

The concept of polygamy will be fully examined in Gen. 30—including modern-day polygamy (as it is very likely that it will become legal in the United States in the not-to-distant future).

There are two odd topics found in this chapter, which are closely related. Rachel attempts to use mandrakes in order to cause a child to be born to her; and Jacob cuts up branches and places them in the water of Laban’s sheep and goats, hoping to affect their breeding outcomes. Both of these schemes have caused commentators no little consternation over the years—why is this goofy stuff found in the Bible? As we will find, these two odd topics are very closely related and teach us a marvelous bit of doctrine. I believe that the development of this particular relationship is unique to this commentary.

Jacob’s Goats (a photo); from The Scripture Says.org; accessed September 15, 2017. Because of this incident, oddly-colored goats are often called Jacob’s goats in the Middle Eastern world.

Also, I believe that this chapter is key to explaining why Joseph is so different from his older brothers. Why does he have personal integrity when they seem to have none? There are many clues in this chapter. This is also unique to this chapter, but the germ of this idea came from Milton Spenser Terry and Fales H. Newhall (two men you have never heard of), whose work is found in Whedon's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments.

Quite frankly, you will be hard-pressed to find another chapter in the Bible with as many applications to real life as will be discussed in this chapter.

Complete at 433 pages.

Jacob has worked for Laban for 20 years and it has become clear to him that his work and his faithfulness are not really valued by his employer. Furthermore, God has told Jacob to take his family back to the land of Canaan. Genesis 31 is all about circumstances and dream from God which will guide Jacob to move his family back to the Land of Promise. Unfortunately, Jacob will use his tried and (un) true approach of deception and sneakiness. He convinces his wives to leave with him (which does not require much convincing); so they sneak out of Haran, having a 3-day

head start. However, Laban, when he sees that Jacob has left with his family, and that his deity figurines are missing as well, chases down Jacob and catches up to him in the hill country of Gilead (which is east of the Jordan River). The end of this chapter is their final confrontation where both men air out their grievances with one another, and then manage to find a way to go their separate ways, establishing a non-aggression pact (covenant) between them.

The following studies and short doctrines are found in Genesis 31: The Doctrine of Envy; What God Achieved in Jacob's Life; Standards of Behavior Agreed to before the Mosaic Law; When Societal Norms Change; What about Jesus' warning not to judge?; When the most fundamental laws are changed; The Husband's Responsibility in Marriage; and Romans 8:28 in the Life of Jacob; The Wealth Inequality Movement and Socialism/Communism; Standards of Behavior Agreed to before the Mosaic Law;

There are some important applications, which come about as a result of Jacob’s polygamous marriage. First, we have to determine just how sinful his polygamy was (if at all—many commentators think this is the worst thing ever that Jacob has done). But then we have some interesting applications. Let’s say you are in a polygamous marriage and 1 or more in the marriage believe in Jesus Christ. What happens next? Let’s say you are in a gay marriage, and 1 or both people believe in Jesus Christ—what then? Also discussed in this chapter, relating the envy of Laban’s sons and how this relates to the current 99% versus the 1% movement. Another topic which you may relate to is, what do you do when you have a bad job and/or a bad boss (as Jacob did). We also examine the problem of, When Societal Norms Change. A little speculation was done on, Was Laban willing to execute one of his daughters? We study, Human works in the plan of God; technology in Communist/socialist countries; will Rachel die the sin unto death; most of us are more blessed than we realize; and American society and homosexual attractions.

Exegesis from the Hebrew, 3 original translations, 90+ translations, 3 sets of original notes from the exegesis, from Genesis & Basic Exegesis. About 50 commentaries have been consulted.

Complete at 620 pages.

After sorting things out with his Uncle Laban, Jacob nears the Land of Promise, where he will have a scheduled meeting with his brother Esau, from whom Jacob is estranged. This chapter is all about Jacob’s anticipation and worries. He gives a most marvelous prayer, and then he falls back to manipulative, human viewpoint solutions. Finally, because Jacob has spent his life in conflict with Jesus Christ, he will find himself actually wrestling with the Lord right before dawn.

Readers can be easily confused by Gen. 32, because this is Jacob acting positively schizophrenic. On the one hand, he prays this most marvelous prayer to God; and on the other hand, he keeps trying to solve his own problems with human viewpoint solutions. In a sense, he finds himself in conflict with God—does he depend upon God or does he search for a human viewpoint solution to the problems in his life? In his own soul, Jacob cannot seem to decide, does he place his faith in God or in himself? He is wrestling in his soul and God brings this point home by actually wrestling with Jacob in his real life. In any given circumstance, will Jacob be guided by his sin nature or will God prevail [= Israel] over Jacob’s sin nature?

There is a major assumption made by commentators concerning the end of Gen. 32. Jacob finds himself in a wrestling match with the Lord. The faulty assumption made is that Jacob is a mediocre believer at the beginning of this wrestling match; but, by the end of it, he becomes a great spiritual giant (I exaggerate the opinions of commentators but little). That mistaken notion causes the smartest of commentators to flail three-quarters of the way through the next chapter. The proper understanding of God’s wrestling with Jacob is, Jacob left that match with enough spiritual confidence to get him through the next 5 or 6 hours. He is able to face up to meeting Esau, the brother he had treated so badly years before. Essentially God told Jacob, “Stop fighting Me on this,” and Jacob, for a short while, stopped fighting God when it came to meeting his brother and then returning to the land. Having such limited expectations of Jacob makes subsequent chapters much easier to understand.

Gustave Doré, Jacob Wrestling with the Angel (1855) (a graphic); from wikipedia; accessed March 7, 2019.

Exegesis from the Hebrew, 3 original translations, 90+ translations, 3 sets of original notes from the exegesis, from Genesis & Basic Exegesis. About 50 commentaries have been consulted.

Complete at 395 pages.

20 years previous, Jacob escaped Canaan with his life, having just deceived his father in order to claim Esau’s blessings. When Esau found out, he was angry, threatening to kill Jacob at a later date.

Here, the two brothers meet, both men separated from Isaac their father, and both men have apparently matured and put their past behind them. It was a congenial meeting between former rivals, despite Jacob’s apprehension the night before. In fact, Esau invites Jacob to join him in Seir, and Jacob appears to agree to this, but he goes in a different direction, remaining in the land promised to his father and grandfather.

I this study, there are several examinations of Esau, determining as best as we can his thinking and motivation. Very few commentators give him any credit or respect. Speaking of commentators, most of them completely misunderstand Jacob wrestling the Angel of God in the previous chapter; and, therefore, they are confused about Jacob’s spiritual maturation level in this chapter.

Exegesis from the Hebrew, 3 original translations, 90+ translations, original notes from the exegesis, from Genesis & Basic Exegesis. About 50 commentaries have been consulted.

Complete at 259 pages.

Genesis 34 is a chapter where the plan of God moves forward, despite the actions of the people in the chapter (we will see this same sort of thing in Gen. 36, 37 and 38). God’s plan always moves forward, whether man is cooperative or not.

This chapter also foreshadows the future. The sons of Israel (Jacob) cannot remain in the land because (1) they will either be subsumed by another family or (2) they will be destroyed by the people around them. Or, another way to say this, they will become corrupted and then destroyed. At the end of this chapter, Jacob bemoans his situation: “Levi and Simeon, you have made me odious to the people of this land, and they will gather together and destroy us because we are few in number.” And this is why God will have to remove them from the land.

Exegesis from the Hebrew, 3 original translations, 90+ translations, original notes from the exegesis, from Genesis & Basic Exegesis. 211 pages.

Gen. 35 is a chapter of milestones: (1) Jacob and his family move to Bethel; (2) Deborah, Rebekah’s maid dies; (3) God reappears to Jacob and Jacob worships Him; (4) Rachel bears Jacob’s 12^th son but then dies during childbirth; (5) Reuben is intimate with one of Jacob’s mistresses; (6) the 12 sons of Jacob are listed; and (7) Isaac dies.

What is remarkable is the great grace that God had given to both Jacob and Esau (recounted in this chapter and the next). How petty and ridiculous had been their undue competition and jealousies 20 years previous.

Exegesis from the Hebrew, 3 original translations, 90+ translations, original notes from the exegesis, from Genesis & Basic Exegesis. 208 pages.

This is the genealogy of Esau. Esau is Jacob’s twin brother, of whom God has said, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” Gen. 36 is Esau’s line, including the many rulers who have come from his loins. The line of Esau seemed poised to become great in the land.

On the surface, Gen. 36 appears to be nothing more than a list of names, most of whom are lost to history and not found in the Bible again. However, there are a great many lessons that we can take from this chapter—contemporary and spiritual.

Exegesis from the Hebrew, 3 original translations, 90+ translations, original notes from the exegesis, from Genesis & Basic Exegesis. 183 pages.

Gen. 37 begins the final section of the book of Genesis, which centers on the life of Joseph (with the exception of Gen. 38). From the beginning, young Joseph is clearly at odds with his older half-brothers, who resent the favoritism of their father towards Joseph. Joseph has 2 dreams which particularly irritate his older half-brothers because they indicate that he would rule over them. When the brothers confront Joseph next, away from their father, they plot to kill him. Reuben convinces them not to kill him, but to simply throw him into a pit (hoping to rescue the boy later). Judah suggests that Joseph be sold as a slave and the other brothers agree to this.

Because Joseph is sold to traders, his older brothers send back Joseph’s bloodied and torn tunic, to make it appear that he had been attacked and killed by a wild animal. Jacob is heartbroken to receive this tunic and mourns inconsolably afterwards.

Exegesis from the Hebrew, 3 original translations, 90+ translations, original notes from the exegesis, from Genesis & Basic Exegesis. 267 pages.

Judah leaves his family and takes up with a Canaanite woman, having 3 children by her. Judah decides to choose a wife (Tamar) for his first son, but he dies. The wife is given to his second son in order to raise up seed for his deceased brother (aka, a levirate marriage), but then he dies. Then Joseph has to figure out what to do about Tamar.

Exegesis from the Hebrew, 3 original translations, 90+ translations, original notes from the exegesis, from Genesis & Basic Exegesis. 228 pages.

Meanwhile, Joseph becomes the slave of Potiphar, an official high up in Egyptian government. Because of his competence and hard work, Joseph becomes the highest-ranking slave, in charge of everything to do with Potiphar’s house. Potiphar’s wife attempts to seduce Joseph, and when she has no luck, she false accuses him of attempted rape. Potiphar throws Joseph into Pharaoh’s prison as a result.

Exegesis from the Hebrew, 3 original translations, 90+ translations, original notes from the exegesis, from Genesis & Basic Exegesis. 175 pages.

While in prison, Joseph impresses the warden with his intelligence and competence and his is given the highest rank in prison, being in charge of all the prisoners. Two special prisoners come to him from Pharaoh: the Chief Cupbearer and the Chief Baker. Both men have similar dreams and they are both similarly disturbed over these dreams. Joseph hears them out, and then gives them the interpretations of their dreams. The Chief Cupbearer would be restored to his office and the Chief Baker would hang. Before the men are removed, Joseph pleads his case to the Chief Cupbearer, hoping that he will use his influence in the future to get Joseph out of prison. The Chief Cupbearer is restored to his former position and he forgets all about Joseph.

Exegesis from the Hebrew, 3 original translations, 90+ translations, original notes from the exegesis, from Genesis & Basic Exegesis. 150 pages.

Two years pass, and Pharaoh has a pair of disturbing dreams, and no one in his realm is able to interpret them. Then the Chief Cupbearer suddenly remembers Joseph, so Joseph is fetched from prison. He puts on clean clothes and shaves and stands before Pharaoh. He interprets Pharaoh’s dreams, the accuracy of the interpretation being accepted by Pharaoh immediately. There would be 7 good years followed by 7 bad years. In order to mitigate the disaster of the second 7 years, Joseph suggests that a man of great wisdom be sought to impose a temporary tax upon the people, and to collect grain over the first 7 years, and then to distribute this grain in the 7 years of famine. Pharaoh is certain that Joseph is the right man for this responsibility. He names Joseph as the #2 man in all Egypt.

Exegesis from the Hebrew, 3 original translations, 90+ translations, original notes from the exegesis, from Genesis & from the Basic Exegesis. 341 pages.

When the first year of famine comes upon the land, Jacob and his family are hit hard, and he directs his sons to go to Egypt to buy grain. They go to Egypt and are put face to face with their half-brother Joseph, whom they do not recognize. He accuses them of being spies in the land, and uses this ruse (1) to find out about the family and (2) to find out how guilty his brothers felt about selling Joseph into slavery. Joseph keeps one son behind in prison (Simeon) and sends the rest home with their grain and with the silver that they brought to buy grain. Their instructions are to return with Benjamin, the youngest brother and Joseph’s only full brother. When they arrive home and discuss this with their father, Jacob forbids it.

Exegesis from the Hebrew, 3 original translations, 90+ translations, original notes from the exegesis, from Genesis & Basic Exegesis. 274 pages.

In the second year of the famine, it became clear that, they must return to Egypt to purchase more grain or all of their families would starve. Jacob reluctantly allows his youngest son, Benjamin, to return with the men. All appears to be well. The brothers brought the money back that had been returned to them, along with additional silver for more grain. They bring Benjamin to confirm their stories and they all even enjoy a wonderful meal together.

Exegesis from the Hebrew, 3 original translations, 90+ translations, original notes from the exegesis, from Genesis & Basic Exegesis. 233 pages.

The brothers are sent on their way with the grain and everything appears to be fine. However, when they are scarcely out of Joseph’s city, he sends men to stop them. His silver chalice is discovered in Benjamin’s bag of grain and Joseph threatens to put Benjamin into jail and let the rest of them return. Judah steps up and offers to remain in jail in Benjamin’s stead.

Exegesis from the Hebrew, 3 original translations, 90+ translations, original notes from the exegesis, from Genesis. 187 pages.

Because Judah offers up himself for Benjamin (Gen. 45), Joseph, known to his brothers only as the prime minister of Egypt, can no longer hide his identify from his brothers. He tearfully reveals himself to them, being so moved by Judah’s offer. He explains to them how, despite their actions against him 20+ years ago, God had a purpose in all of it, which purpose is being fulfilled before their very eyes—delivering them and Egypt from the great famine.

Joseph invites his entire family to live with him in Egypt because of the great famine. Pharaoh also order Joseph to send a caravan of ancient world U-Haul’s for his family in Canaan. His brothers return to Canaan to fetch their father Jacob.

Exegesis from the Hebrew, 3 original translations, 90+ translations, original notes from the basic exegesis and from Genesis. 200 pages.

As Jacob (Israel) travels toward Egypt, he stops off in Beersheba to offer up sacrifices to the Revealed God, and God appears to Jacob and tells him that it is okay to be leaving the Land of Promise and moving to Egypt.

A list of all the males descended from Jacob, along with the two females, are given. His wives are also named.

Joseph meets his father Jacob after 20 years.

Joseph gives his family instructions in case Pharaoh asks them about their livelihoods.

Exegesis from the Hebrew, 3 original translations, 90+ translations, original notes from the basic exegesis, and from Genesis. 214 pages.

Joseph brings his family into Egypt permanently in Gen. 47, introducing them to Pharaoh. Pharaoh assigns to his family the land of Goshen, which is apparently not too far from the palace of Pharaoh.

The famine continues in the land, and Joseph continues to sell the available grain, eventually taking the people of Egypt and their lands for Pharaoh. The priests of the land were not subject to these payments. Joseph institutes what is essentially an income tax in perpetuity.

Jacob, near the end of his life, makes Joseph swear to bury him in Canaan. This final section might have been better placed with Gen. 48.

Basic exegesis; original 3 translations. Exegesis, 90+ translations, original notes from the basic exegesis, and notes from Genesis. 249 pages.

In Gen. 48, Jacob blesses Joseph’s two sons, but placing the younger brother before the older.

Basic exegesis; original 3 translations. Exegesis, 90+ translations, original notes from the basic exegesis, notes from Genesis (my original study). 182 pages.

In Gen. 49, Jacob gives his final words to each of his 12 sons, prophesying in many cases of the future of each tribe. What he says is based very much upon the behavior that these sons have exhibited over the years. Jacob then commands his sons to bury him in Canaan, at which point he dies.

Basic exegesis; original 3 translations. Exegesis, 90+ translations, original notes from the basic exegesis, notes from Genesis (my original study). 268 pages.

In Genesis 50, Jacob is buried in the land of Canaan, with great pomp and circumstance. Many Egyptians go with Joseph and his brothers for this funeral. Upon their return, Joseph’s brothers express personal concern that, now that Jacob is dead, Joseph will extract his revenge and kill them all. Joseph allays their fears with the marvelous statement, “You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good, to preserve many lives.” Joseph later dies, and extracts an oath from his brothers to bury his bones in Canaan, knowing that God would come to visit Israel in Egypt.

Basic exegesis; original 3 translations. Exegesis, 90+ translations, notes from my original Genesis study; notes from exegesis lessons. 193 pages.

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Chapters and Stage of Completeness