What I Learned in Genesis

My word for the year is focus. I get distracted easily by nonfiction books and pretty Bible studies, but what I would like to focus on for 2020 is reading the entire Old Testament. The OT is a preparation for what is to come, or who is to come—Jesus. He is the completion of all the promises made to the Israelites.

I’m not on track to finish by the end of the year, but my goal is not to give up, to continue reading the Old Testament until I’ve read all 39 books. And here I will share what I’m learning as I go. And here it is, what I learned in Genesis.

Keeping is an Active Guarding

In Genesis 2:15 we read, “Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it.” Adam’s job was to take care of the garden and to “keep” it. The Hebrew word for keep is shamar which means to guard and to protect. Adam was supposed to guard the  garden and keep out things such as evil serpents, perhaps?

I don’t know if Adam wasn’t doing his job well or not, but later after Adam and Eve are dismissed from the garden, the entrance is then guarded by cherubim with a flaming sword. “So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard (shamar) the way to the tree of life” (3:24). Adam was replaced by a heavenly being with a sword that was on fire! God takes keeping, guarding, seriously.

Proverbs 4:23 CSB reads, “Guard your heart above all else, for it is the source of life.” More important than anything else, keep the bad stuff out of your heart. Keeping is an intentional and an active guarding of the heart, the reservoir from which everything flows.

Jesus warns his apostles of this as well in the New Testament. In Matthew, Jesus asks His friends to keep watch while he prays. And they fall asleep! He then tells them, “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (24:41).

Our natural inclination is toward selfishness, or falling asleep to what God wants. It takes diligence and firmness to keep God’s Word in our hearts. Just like Adam and just like the disciples of Jesus, we must always be ready to defend against the lies and attacks of Satan.

Negative Emotions Lead to Sin

God wants us to be happy, and it’s not just for the sake of being happy. He wants us truly satisfied in Him. When God sees Cain upset, He says to him, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.”

God is telling Cain, if he does right, his offering will be accepted by God. But if Cain continues ignoring the right thing to do, then sin is just waiting to take over him. We see that Cain cannot get over his anger. His negative feelings turn into murderous thoughts, and then his actions follow.

There is another emotion working here besides anger—jealousy. And in the book of Genesis, we see a bigger story play out with jealousy at center stage. Rachel and Leah were sisters who both wanted what the other one had. Rachel had Jacob’s love, but she could only see the children that weren’t hers. Leah had sons, but her focus was on the love Jacob wasn’t giving her. This story is a clear picture of how jealousy leads to competition and heartache.

There is a reason God tells us to not be covetous. There is a reason God tells us to forgive. Because holding onto anger, jealousy, and other negative feelings makes us more susceptible to the devil’s temptations to sin. And what was Eve’s negative emotion that led to her sin? Doubt.

Our obedience is what leads to happiness. As God told Cain, if you’ll do what is right, you’ll be accepted. And then you’ll be happy.

God is the One Who Will Make Your Name Great

In Genesis 11:4, the people said, “Let us make a name for ourselves.” But God put an end to that plan. It was short-sighted to focus on themselves, and short-lived. The terrible thought was not building a tower to the heavens; the terribleness was doing it to show their own greatness.

And then one chapter later, seriously the NEXT CHAPTER, God says to Abram, “I will make your name great” (12:2). Y’all, whatever you’re doing, I hope you’re doing it for the Lord. Because if it’s for your own glory, you may be embarrassed when your tower falls.

As a writer who puts words on the Internet and social media, I have to constantly ask myself, “Am I doing this for myself or for God?” I had a blog over a decade ago that was entirely for myself. Luckily, I felt convicted and put an end to it. But I’m trying to do better with this one. I don’t write to make my name great, but to show the greatness of God.

Joseph’s story also shows how in our humility we can be exalted by God. Joseph went from favorite son to chained-up slave. But God stayed with him. Joseph had a Godly gift, and he used it to glorify God:  “It is beyond my power to do this,” Joseph replied. “But God can tell you what it means” (Genesis 41:16 NLT). God took Joseph from the prison to the palace, and made Joseph’s name great throughout all of Egypt. But Joseph made sure to reflect the glory back to God.

There is so much more I could say about what I learned in the book of Genesis:  God orders the chaos, God’s breath gives us life, God hears and sees me, God is merciful and just. There’s so much good stuff right there in the first book of the Bible. It is the beginning of the story of why and how Jesus comes to save us! But for today, let’s remember:  guarding your heart is active, not passive; your negative emotions make you more susceptible to believing Satan; and God is the one who will make your name great, when you are the one making His name great!

Download the Worksheet!

If you’d like to reflect on how these lessons affect you personally, I’ve prepared some questions for you! Just click the link to download a free worksheet with reflection questions and space to answer.

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