Baylor University

George W. Truett Seminary

Introduction to Christian Scripture THEO 7340
Professor Andrew Anterbury
Eli Gutierrez Briseño

Genesis 12-50, the beginning of the

fulfillment of God’s promise

Hellenistic Jews who named the book of Genesis hit the spot. Genesis means “origins” and they

gave this name to the book when they translated their scriptures from Hebrew to Greek. Indeed,

this is the central theme of the book: the origins. The first two chapters narrate the creation of a

good world, a good nature, and a good humanity. Then, chapters 3-11 describe the origins of evil

and the corruption of such world. From chapters 12-50 the narrative focuses on a particular family;

however, the theme is still the same, the origins. Now it is about the origins of the solution of God

to the problem of corruption. If the narration focuses on one family, it does not mean that it has

forgotten the original theme of the previous stories. It means that, in continuity with the first

chapters, God’s answer to human depravity is to choose a group of human beings who are going

to be blessed in order to be a blessing to all the nations of the earth. In this essay I will show that

one of the major themes in the ancestral stories narrated in Genesis 12-50 is the promise of God

and the beginning of its fulfillment, and that the purpose of this promise is to solve the problem of

the human corruption.

The second part of the book of Genesis narrates the story of a family in four generations,

to whom God made the same promise. In Genesis 12:2-3 God promised Abraham, the first of these

patriarchs, that he will be blessed in order to bless “all the families of the earth” (Gen 12:3 NASB).

God reaffirmed his promise to Abraham after he did not withhold his son, and again was present

the theme of being blessed to bless all the nations (Gen 22:18). The promise to Isaac, son of
Abraham, also included this theme: “in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed”

(Gen 26:4). Likewise, the God’s promise to Jacob, son of Isaac and grandson of Abraham,

contained the blessing to all the families of the earth (Gen 28:14). The story of Joseph is quite

different in form and style; however, it is present this same theme. In fact, Joseph began to fulfill

the promise in his own story, since, as he himself notes, he was a blessing to many people (Gen

50:20). In my opinion, one of the major themes of the book of Genesis is that the purpose of God

to bless one family was to bless all the nations in order to bring a solution to the main problem of

human kind, the corruption of their originally good state.

God promised blessings to Abraham, that he would be a great nation, and that his offspring

would possess “this land” (Gen 12:7). Also, God said to Abraham that his descendants would be

countless as the stars and the sand (Gen 22:17). In a nutshell, what God promised to Abraham was

blessings, descendants and land. It was the same promise that later was made to Isaac and Jacob.

Indeed, God said to Isaac that the promise was “the oath that swore to Abraham your father” (Gen

26:3). And later, Isaac said to Jacob: “may he (God) give the blessing of Abraham to you” (Gen

28:4). It was the same promise for them as for all their descendants. Although the story of Joseph

is different, it shows the theme of blessing and prosperity too. In fact, God fulfilled his promise on

Joseph’s life, because God was with Joseph in everything he made (Gen 39:2, 21-23). Thus, the

promise that God made to Abraham was the same for Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and all their

descendants. And, as I have stated, this blessing had a special purpose, to bless all the nations of

the earth. But it was a not a promise that would be fulfilled overnight, as we shall see, it would go

through many difficulties.

There were some events that threatened the fulfillment of the promise of God to Abraham.

Barrenness is the first problem, and it threatened each of the first three generations. Sarah,
Rebekah, and Rachel were sterile until God blessed them with a son. It was a major impediment

to the fulfillment of the promise of God because the promise was all about descendants. The second

threat was the enmity within the household: between Abraham’s and Lot’s herdsmen, Sarah and

Hagar, Ishmael and Isaac, Esau and Jacob, Jacob and Laban, Leah and Rachel, and finally Joseph

and his older brothers. It is interesting how the problem is the same in three generations, quarrel

between brothers. And it was a problem because it endangered the inheritor of the promise, even

with a possible death. The third threat is famine, which appeared in Abraham’s story (Gen 12:10),

in Isaac’s story (Gen 26:1), and also in the story of Jacob and Joseph. The famine was a threat

because made them move from the land that God had promised. The third threat is the presence of

local people in the promised land. This threat took many forms: the war in which Lot was captured,

the depravity of the people of Sodom, the danger of taking wives from the daughters of the

Canaanites, the envy of their neighbors (Gen 26:14), and, of course, that these local people were

not Yahweh’s worshippers. It threatened the fulfillment of God’s promise because other people

occupied the promise land, and their depravity could corrupt the people of God. And finally, the

fourth threat is what I refer to as the human incompetency to understand the will of God. It is

shown in the Abraham’s repeated habit of saying that his wife was his sister, and he inherited this

habit to his son Isaac. It is also shown in the attempt of Abraham and Sarah to help God keep his

promise when they used Hagar for that purpose, in Isaac’s favoritism for Esau, in Jacob’s habit of

cheating and in the story of Judah and Tamar. This human incompetence of understanding the will

of God threatened the fulfillment of his promise because made humans trust in their own forces

rather than in God’s promise. These threats endangered the fulfillment of God’s promise; however,

he began to fulfill his word.

 There are some themes that are constantly repeated. In each generation, the younger brother

is the blessed one: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, and Ephraim. As I have said, in three

generations there is barrenness. Also, in three generations there is famine and its subsequent

movement from one land to another. In the story of Jacob, as well as in Joseph’s, there is reunion

and forgiveness of brothers. I could speculate if sometimes it is the same story with different

characters, especially when even details are so similar. For example, the story of Abraham’s

servant in the well of water looking for a wife for Isaac (Gen 24) is similar to the story of Jacob

meeting Rachel, both have a scene almost identical (Gen 24:28; 29:12). Another example is the

narrative of Abraham saying that his wife is his sister, which repeats in his own life and in the

story of Isaac as well. I cannot explain these similarities, but what I can do is to conclude that these

stories have one same message, that there is one same promise to one same family from one same

God.

The tale of the promise of God to his chosen people comes just after the narratives of the

origins of human corruption. I can say that this second part of Genesis narrates the origins of God’s

will to solve the problem of humanity. Furthermore, it is the beginning of God’s fulfillment of his

promise. Within the narratives, his promise had already begun to be fulfilled. At the end of the

book, the descent of Abraham was numerous, as the text itself make it clear (Gen 46:26), the threat

of barrenness was gone, brothers had forgiven each other, and even the rivalry with other nations

has been appeased for the moment. At the end of the book of Genesis, the people of God were

numerous and safe, and some of the threats had gone. God had begun to fulfill his promise. It is

not completely fulfilled yet, but the narrative shows confidence that it will be completed. Genesis

12-50 narrates the origin of the God’s promise, his will to solve the problem of humanity, and the

beginning of the fulfillment of such promise.