How must we Read Genesis 1-11, the pre-historic writings?

 

Genesis is a biography of Abraham's family. It introduces the God of the Hebrews –Abraham's descendants– and their relationship with him. Genesis 1-11 is a metaphorical and mythological introduction that leads up to Abraham. Therefore, we must not take the stories of Genesis 1-11 literally. For instance, Genesis 1 is a polemical poem, not a scientific explanation of the world's origin. It tells the Hebrews that unlike the idols of their surrounding cultures (modeled after animals, the sun, moon, and stars), their God is the invisible creator. The cosmos is his temple, and humans are his image-bearers. So, they must bear his image of love and steward his creation faithfully.

 

Genesis 2–3 is a moral story of disobedience of a couple that represents the whole of humanity set up in a mythical garden. God curses them and casts them away. Their first child murders the second out of jealousy (Gen. 4). The ancients designed these stories to help people understand the consequences of disobeying Abraham's God. The genealogies (Gen. 5) with exaggerated ages of Abraham's fathers are also mythical. Their ages, perhaps, point to Hebrew numerology. For instance, Methuselah lived 969 years. Methuselah means "God will judge." The No. 9 is the devil's number, and No. 6 is man's. Perhaps 969 means God will judge the evil among humans when this man dies.

 

Noah's flood parallels the stories of other surrounding cultures(Gen 6-10). It describes the flood as a worldwide catastrophe, leaving behind only Noah's family and a pair of each animal species. It is an embellished story with real characters. The author exaggerates the flood and its consequences –the death of all humans– to depict how dangerous it is to disobey Abraham's God. God makes a new beginning with Noah's descendants. He makes with them a covenant similar to the one he made with Adam. However, Noah fails God, and so do his children. God chooses the Shemite clan, and Shem is the great-grandfather of Abraham (Gen 12). In between, Gen. 11 includes a story introducing Chaldeans, their enemies.

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