No 11

(Prophecies in Genesis)

The book of Genesis is a book of beginnings but, it is also a book of prophecy; actually, the prophecies in Genesis are some of the most important in the Bible. By important, I mean that they are at the very foundation of the Christian faith. The Messiah, Jesus Christ is first spoken about in Genesis 3 : 15 when God, in speaking to the serpent about the consequences of sin said : “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman and between thy seed and her seed; It shall bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise His heel”. This prophecy sets the stage for several other prophecies about the Messiah such as from who He will descend : Abram (ch 12 : 2, 3); Isaac (ch 26 : 4); Jacob (ch 28 : 14) and from what tribe of Israel will He come : Judah (ch 49 : 10). Also, Genesis contains prophesies where God made covenants with various people : Noah (ch 9 : 13 – the rainbow); Abram (ch 15 : 18 – the land of Canaan); Rebekah (ch 25 : 23, 24 – twin sons); Jacob (ch 35 : 10 – name changed to Israel). There are even prophecies in Genesis that were fulfilled in Genesis; Noah made these prophecies to his sons after the flood. Noah prophesied that his son Ham and his descendants would be cursed (ch 9 : 24 – cursed be Canaan) because of the shame he had brought on his family. Noah also said that the Lord God of Shem would be blessed (ch 9 : 26). And, lastly Noah said that Japheth would be enlarged (ch 9 : 27). These prophecies were fulfilled to the letter within the chronology of the book of Genesis. We will look at this last group of prophecies in our next study on prophecy.