Overview of Genesis 12-50

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God’s Promise to Abraham

Genesis 1-11 talks about God and the world, and the way that humans continually disappointed God and break his heart. However, hope begins to be restored in Genesis 12, where God makes his promise to Abraham. God calls Abraham to go to the land of Canaan, which would be his, and promises to make Abraham’s line into a great nation, which will later be called, “Israel.”

Abraham

This is important because when Babylon wanted to make a name for themselves, God humbled them, but instead gave a name to a “no-name” guy like Abraham. Not only that, but God’s blessing of Abraham echoes the blessings he gave humanity in the beginning that they wasted. This leaves us with the question, “Why Abraham?” We find out in Genesis 22:18. Here, God tells Abraham that in him, all the families of the earth would be blessed. Again, we see God driving the message that his plan is to rescue and bless his rebellious world through Abraham’s family.

Genesis 12-25 explains the way that Abraham betrayed his wife and slept with Hagar because he and his wife couldn’t have children, so rather than waiting for God’s timing, he tried to have a child with his servant. However, God bails Abraham out every time. In chapters 15 and 17, God reaffirms his promise to Abraham when he tells him to look up at the night stars, and that all of the stars in the sky added up to the number of descendants that would come from Abraham, and that is exactly what happened.

Isaac and Jacob

We are then introduced to Isaac and Jacob in chapters 25-36. Jacob steals Esau’s birthright and blessing by deceiving their father. He goes on to take four wives, though he really only loves Rachel, and he is not humbled until his uncle, Laban, cheats him out of years of his life. Chapter 32 shows Jacob literally wrestling with God, as he has been humbled, but still believes that he deserves blessings. God honors Jacob’s determination, and renames him “Israel” which means “wrestles with God.”

Joseph

Jacob has many sons, but Joseph is his clear favorite. His other sons are jealous, and they sell him into slavery, which eventually lands him in jail. However, Pharaoh likes Joseph, and he makes him second in command, which allows Joseph to save all of Egypt from famine, including his family.

Genesis 50:20 You planned this for evil, but God planned it for good, to save many lives.

This verse summarizes not only Joseph’s story but all of mankind’s story so far. Then we go back to the poem about the snake that got stepped on and the one human that would destroy evil altogether. We learn more about this mysterious person when Jacob gives his final blessing to Judah, which is that he would have a king in his bloodline that would command obedience from the nations and restore God’s blessing to the world. This is to force you to read on about how God fulfills that promise, but we know that the fulfillment comes in the form of Jesus, the Messiah.