[Old Testament Orientation: Genesis 1-11]

Major Theological Themes in Genesis 1-11

Joo Won Lee

LU ID#:L########

OBST515

March 26, 2026

Introduction

     Throughout history of mankind, God has let His divine presence and His plan for human salvation from their utter sins known via the means of what are termed as the general revelation and the special revelation as written in the Bible: what the earlier chapters of Genesis 1-11 as the beginning part of “the Greatest Love Story Which Was Ever Told” reveal to us about God specifically are the very identity of who God is and the origin of the all things which exist in the world as the created things by the very Word of God uttered.

Major Theological Themes About God Found in Genesis 1-11

     The core themes of the narratives from Genesis 1-11 are simple: the creation (1-2),  the fall (3-11)--the eventual complete corruption of human race albeit Noah and his family who were saved from the worldwide flood which wiped away the rest of “corrupted” mankind—and a brief  introduction of chosen Noahic-Abrahamic lineage/genealogy from which the Salvation of the World would come forth several millennia later. As the author Victor Hamilton describes, “the first thing that strikes the reader of the Bible is the brevity (just two chapters) with which the story of the creation of the world and humankind is told,”[1] 

     Yes indeed, despite the brevity the weight and consequences of the proclamation made in Genesis 1:1 verse, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth”  are heavy and profound, respectively. The beginning verse is truly powerful, definitive, yet assuring to all the creationists who believe in Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. Overall, the creation account particularly regarding the human establishes the Almighty Creator God as the loving, personal, gentle, righteous, and relational being who appears to long for establishment of a one-to-one relationship with His own created human children above all else as the latter is said to be  the spitting image of His own (1:27). As Hamilton describes, “we are told that God created humans in his own “image” and “likeness.” This is the only place in the Old Testament where these two nouns appear in connection with one another, and one immediately asks about their relationship…Such qualification, it is suggested, helps to avoid the implication that human beings are a precise copy of God.”[2] This author has been told throughout his lifetime thus far that he and his dad are so alike, but we all know that I and my deceased dad are not exactly the same.

     Then, the temptation and fall account of Adam and Eve (chapter 3) establishes God as the righteous judge (Psalm 7:11; 9:8; 2 Timothy 4:8, etc.) who punishes the wicked who disobey His strict commandments (2:16-17). As Hamiton writes, “What is next after Adam and Eve cross their Rubicon? Shame (v. 7), guile (vv. 8-11, and the search for a scapegoat (vv. 12-13. Then  God speaks, not in the dialogue of vv. 8-13, but in a monologue: first to the serpent (vv. 14-15), then to the woman (v. 16), climatically and more extensively to the man (vv. 17-19).”[3]

     However, interestingly, while the perpetrators involved in the very first crime committed in history of mankind hear their individual allotted fate befitting the sins/crime committed as God the Judge sentences their rightful punishment, there is hope for eventual salvation and rescue for the generations of humans to follow worldwide—for eternity time. Ironically, the hope is intertwined in the destruction of the sly instigator serpent, the original murderer, liar, and destroyer (cf. John 8:44) as the seed of woman shall crush the head of the serpent, which will bruise the heel of the Savior (3:15; cf. Heb. 2:14; Rev. 1:18, etc.).

     Even though the encounter with the serpent in chapter 3 is brief, the theme of the Good Vs. Evil is constant throughout the rest of the Bible narratives: as the author elaborates, “…the first part of the verse boldly proclaims that this future confrontation is not an accident, an event that catches God unawares. He is actually the producer of this warfare: “I will put enmity between you and the woman” (RSV). It is an event that is as foreordained as the incarnation of the head of the serpent’s seed, but the crushing of the head of the serpent himself: “he shall crush your head.”[4]

     Thereby, consequently, through the aforementioned constant persistent, ever-present battle against the forces of darkness (cf. Ephesians 6:12) spearheaded by the serpent, one can safely draw a preliminary yet logical conclusion that in order to “crush the head of the serpent”, a mere mortal being might be inclined to borrow the divine power or rather rely on God alone, who has the over-riding and superior power over the serpent, easily, and whatever it might present to humans in coalition/federal alliance along with other reptilian enforcements and lure in their opposition and enmity toward the human race: it seems fairly logical and predictable that when humans disobey God, and go away from the presence of the face of God, the troubles are abound and visit frequently.

     All throughout the ensuing panoramic rampant widespread permeating human depravity and utter corruption at every conceivable levels, e.g., fratricide (4:8), polygamy & retaliation (4:23-24)/murders, an epic gigantic apocalyptic tale of the “Sons of God” and the “Daughters of Men” (6:1-4; cf. Matthew 24:37-39; Luke 17:26, “), the flood/the salvation of “blameless in his generation” Noah and his family of eight inside the ark (6:55, 11-12), the Tower of Babel account (11:1-9), the overriding consistent theological theme about God presents Him as the Rescuer, Redeemer of the World as YHWH alone can save us, cf. Ps. 62:1-2; Jonah 2:9; Isaiah 43:11; Acts 4:12; Rev. 7:10, etc. Amen. That is absolutely the most important theme besides the fact that He is the Provider, the original Sources of everything, Righteous Judge, et al.

Theological Relevance in My Life and Vocation Stemming from Genesis 1-11

     It is huge: it actually means everything to this author not only in his personal life but in his vocation as well as he realizes and recognizes that God is his only shield and salvation (cf. Ps. 18:2). God created him and is the protector and his eternal reward as written by the psalmist,  “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou are with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.” These verses encapsulate just about everything there is to know as how it relates to this author’s personal life and his vocation. Through the good times and bad times, God has been there with me, for me as He has always extended His rod and His righteous right-hand comforting, rescuing, and providing solace, comfort, and sources of the very living for this author and his loved ones. He is the reason that this author breathes and lives. And he knows that someday his enemies will be vanquished too under God’s rightful judgment in due time and space.

     Also, this author recognizes that the burden of the discipleship still falls (weighs) heavily as the Good News of the gospel still needs to be preached and proclaimed until the day Jesus returns in power and glory accompanied by the heavenly hosts (cf. Luke 21:25-28; Acts 1:11; 1 Cor. 15:53; John 5:28-29).

Bibliography

Hamilton, Victor P., Handbook on the Pentateuch, Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2005.

[1] Victor P. Hamilton, Handbook on the Pentateuch, (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2005), 21.

[2] Ibid., 27.

[3] Ibid., 43.

[4] Ibid., 45.

**My response to someone named Ryan:

Dear Ryan,

Thanks for your post: I’d like to say a few things in response:

First, on your comment: “The revelation I have come to understand is that the reason for this was an attempt to corrupt the bloodline of God’s crowning creation of man. The case for giants explains how a lot of ancient structures were built in an age with limited tools.  Because of this corruptive sin, “God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually (Genesis 6:5).” 

Personally, what a delight it was to have read your post and this specific comment as someone who shares the same sentiment/opinion as you regarding the “corrupted bloodline” which Satan tried to insert into humanity in order to sabotage and subvert the God’s grand salvific plan, i.e., coming of the serpent’s head crushing Messiah in the person of “the Seed” of woman as mentioned in Genesis 3:15. As you alluded to in your post, a great deal of revelations and fulfilment of old prophecies of the apocalyptic proportion did seem to have occurred coinciding with (the ushering of) the Covid-19 era and onward in the midst of the Great Deception which some observant people like to term it. For one thing, the continuous worldwide uncovering/discovery of the Nephilim giant remnants in light of what is going on with the cabal’s all-out transhumanism projects of late et al has been eye-opening as it logically seems to point to the direction of and support the union between the fallen angelic beings and the earthling females (Gen. 6:4-6) opposed to the traditionally-held notion of marriage between the godly sons of Seth and ungodly daughters of Cain as taught at the seminaries for the past centuries. How scandalous. Needless to say, most likely, generations of seminarians and theologians & the laity alike have been taught the wrong doctrines/interpretations as they have been utterly deceived or lied to for nearly a millennium. How tragic is that with monumental dire consequences…Do we agree? (Cf. James 1:5; Proverbs 1:7, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,”; Ephesians 5:6-10; 1 John 4:1, etc.) As the Lord said, “Let those who have ears hear,” (Matt. 13:9; Mark 4:9).

On the contrary, we should all count it as our blessing pertaining to our individual natural legitimate academic and religious freedom/rights that we can even be expressing and discussing this very topic (w/o the fear of any retribution, retaliation/disciplinarian actions) at Liberty U so that our understanding of scripture and our faith in God can even deepen and broaden as we become enlightened and educated further. It was joy, relief, elation, and surprise all in one, Ryan. Great job.

Secondly, I thought funny per your comment “In the case of Eve, the apple from the tree of knowledge of good and evil covered all three sin groups in one,” that why everyone thinks that it was an apple which Adam ate after disobeying God’s words against it. Could have been just a point of reference as relating to Adam’s apple or perhaps imagining things beyond the scope of what is actually written/presented in the bible per se.

Lastly, per your comment on “Hamilton describes the possibility of “while Noah was asleep, Ham had intercourse with his mother, and a child, Canaan, was produced by this incestuous relationship”: I knew about this line of incestual accusation deduction in connection with Leviticus 18, 20 reference (18:7-8: “The nakedness of thy father, or the nakedness of thy mother, shalt thou not uncover: she is thy mother…The nakedness of thy father’s wife shalt thou not uncover: it is thy father’s nakedness.”). Hamilton goes on to describe the pros and cons of this particular line of reasoning Vs. other possibilities where Noah could have been a victim of sexual assault himself.

As it was with the case of Jacob being deceived by Laban when Leah was married off to him instead of Rachel, some specific things are not directly mentioned in the bible but instead left out for the readership to pause and wonder. Hamilton describes, “Is Ham’s sin simply the accidental viewing of his naked father; which subsequently he related to his brothers? The text implies more…”[1] we can only wonder “what could have been? What might have been” as this particular passage re: Noah and his three sons seems to contain something far more problematic, sinister and damning at the core from the simple naïve view of simple “nakedness” amongst the pastorship which taught so at church pulpits. What is the lesson in all this? Hamilton even brings up a view of the Tower of Babel having the language Franca at the time vs. the universal language as he notes, “the point of ch. 11, then as argued by Cyrus Gordon (Before Columbus: Links between the Old World and Ancient America [New York: Crown, 1971], 107, 165-66), would be not that God divided one language into many languages, but he made incomprehensible the one common language that was understandable to everyone engaged in the building program.”[2]

The textbook thus far is exciting to read as it seems to be more comprehensive, less assuming but more objective and rational as it presents and argues plausible interpretations from diverse angles and dimensions Vs. (falsely-held) traditional viewpoints/conclusions, which can be critical and vital for Christians immersed in this day and age of fast-changing landscape of diverse culture and society with cutting edge technology and communication tools at ready disposal. One constant theme to our much gratitude and joy, however, is the awesomeness and greatness of the Creator God, who is our Rock and Salvation through ages. He is the Almighty YHWH.

P.S. For you Ryan, I recommend the following “spill the beans Red Pill” books if you would if you haven’t done so already:

 ‘Genesis and the Synchronized, Biblically-Endorsed, Extra-Biblical Texts’ (Rob Skiba), ‘Babylon Rising’ (Rob Skiba), ‘Aquarius Conspiracy’/’Aquarius Now’ (Marilyn Ferguson), ‘Nephilim Stargates’ (Thomas Horn), ‘’A Companion to the Book of Enoch’ (Michael Heiser), ‘King Dethroned’ (Gerrard Hickson),  ‘On the Path of the Immortals’ (Thomas Horn), ‘Archon Invasion: the rise, fall and return of the nephilim’ (Rob Skiba), ‘Judgment of the Nephilim’ (Ryan Pitterson), ‘Apocrypha: authorized (King James) version’, ‘Unearthing The Lost World of the Cloudeater’ (Stephen Quayle & Thomas Horn), ‘The Wormwood Prophecy’ (Thomas Horn), ‘Fallen Angels, Giants, Monsters & the World Before the Flood: How the events of Noah’s ark and the flood are relevant to the end of the age’ (Rick Renner), etc.

Plus, potentially controversial but (no longer forbidden) complementary books on the Covid-19 such as ‘Needle’s Secret’ (Marc Giradot) et al, would be helpful as they are all connected to bring it all home safely and proactively. 

Blessings,

Joo Won

[1] Victor P. Hamilton, Handbook on the Pentateuch, (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2005), 73.

[2] Ibid., 76.

**My response to someone named Julie:

Dear Julie,

Thanks for  your post: I did enjoy reading the part concerning your son and grandson in particular as the reference did bring a real family life story into the classroom of learning (& past chapters in my own life) vividly and what we are trying to accomplish here at LU through the true discipleship of Jesus Christ our One True King and Lord.

I’d like to make couple observations:

First, regarding your comment on “We are trying to instill some Godly guidance in our grandson to counter his love of science.”: imo, science and bible can be allies, not antagonists if I read the stated implication correctly as they can perfectly complement each other to steer, guide, convict, encourage, and enlighten a person toward the Creator God Almighty in his/path of finding truth. There are several books which can aid in this search for the ultimate truth and knowledge such as  ‘Return of the God Hypothesis’ (Stephen Meyer), ‘Signature in the Cell’ (Stephen Meyer), ‘Darwin’s Doubt’ (Stephen Meyer), ‘Darwin’s Blackbox’ (Michael Behe), ‘Navigating Genesis’ (Hugh Ross), ‘Genesis and the Big Bang’ (Gerald Schroeder), ‘Creation, Evolution, and Intelligent Design’ (Stanley Gundry), ‘Why the Universe is the Way It Is’ (Hugh Ross), ‘Hidden Treasures in the Book of Job’ (Hugh Ross), ‘The Science of God’ (Gerald Schroeder), ‘The Left Hand of Creation’ (John Barrow & Joseph Silk), ‘The Creator and the Cosmos’ (Hugh Ross), ‘Can Science Explain Every Thing?’ (John Lennox), etc. Cambridge-educated Intelligent Design proponent creationist scientist Meyer and a first-rate astrophysicist Ross of “Reasons to Believe” Ministry in particular have been some of my favorite authors over the years as they did help with my own search and questions.

Well, at the end, ultimately, as the “Faith Chapter” in particular points out as in, “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear,” (Hebrews 11:3) and psalmist sings, “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork,” (Ps. 19:1), our conviction in God would come down to our faith in the invisible God, not through scientific proof/evidences. If you have not already, but as you take apologetics courses offered at LU, you will get a chance to collect and present your case against/for science as it relates to Christian faith/biblical claim in organized and coherent manner soon enough. The aforementioned books were put to good use when I did take Apologetics class last year here at LU.

JFYI: at the time when I was an undergraduate science major at a private university in Boston area, an Ivy league school educated young ambitious professor came in and said the following things to the whole class on our very first day of class: “(paraphrased) If there are those who don’t believe in evolution or oppose to the idea, then you will not pass this class. I advise you to get up and walk out of this class right now.” Well, I needed to pass the class so that even though I (vehemently) opposed to the evolution theory and everything it entails, I remained quiet in class and marched on for the rest of semester as a non-binding participant to everything the pro-evolution class had to offer. That was the exciting? time when this specific department (and the institution as a whole) was breaking a new ground in the field of Developmental Biology/Neurobiology as a pioneer, and they did not need any bible-thumping creationists to get in their way.

Secondly, on your comment/footnoted quote on “Mankind is defined by his relationships and work. God created man for manual labor and for relationship with Himself. "...humankind neither is created as an afterthought nor is consigned to drudge as a substitute for recalcitrant deities. Manual labor is a God-given privilege, not a sentence or a penalty.": absolutely and therein lie our destiny and responsibility as beings created in the image of God to originally manage the affairs at the Garden of Eden. I think back to a quote (in the reformed tradition) from a certain book which I read some years ago, which states that Adam was created to be a manager of the earth kingdom in a vassal king to the Suzerain God in a covenantal relationship. As long as Adam obeyed what was outlined in the Adamic covenant he would be given the rights and allowed to keep the title. However, Adam did sin, fell, and was eventually driven out of the paradise, but not before God announcing the restoration and salvation to mankind in the form of the seed of woman to come later. As Victor Hamilton writes, “In the New Testament this verse does not appear anywhere except in Paul’s comment that “the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet” (Rom. 16:20 NIV). And it is clear in this text that Paul is speaking not of Christ’s feet, but of the feet of those to whom he is writing (“your feet”), the believers in Rome, and by extension, all of Christ’s followers...In the Old Testament, clustering around David, are the promises of God that David is but the start of something new, something that God will perpetuate through David’s “seed” (2 Sam. 7:12; Ps. 89:4, 29, 36)”[1] Hamilton goes on, “The uniqueness of the construction becomes even more apparent in the Sepuagint, with its reference to the woman’s sperm (“her sperma”)! (Where is the man, the father?)”[2] About right here, I’d like to insert Isaih 7:14 (“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel” and Isiah 9:6 (“For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called wonderful Counselors, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

Well, as I close, if you haven’t already, then go watch a YouTube video on Barry Schwortz and the amazing “out of this world” DNA evidence found on the Shroud of Turin.

Blessings to you Julie,

Joo Won

[1] Victor P. Hamilton, Handbook on the Pentateuch, (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2005), 45.

[2] Ibid., 45.