The Israelite People In Genesis

At the beginning of Genesis God created man. God created man to glorify him and to protect his creation. The first man God entrusted with this task was Adam and later his wife Eve. God is using the people he creates to eventually establish a nation. Every patriarch is fulfilling the covenant in a different way and this leads to the beginning of the Israelite people. God establishes the first covenant with Adam. This covenant is acted out throughout Genesis. The covenant with Adam sets up all the future covenants. Adam is portrayed as a father figure over the world and someone who begins man's dominion over earth. The next patriarch in the covenant line is Noah. After the fall of man, however, sin begins to reign over the earth and God sees Noah as the only good man left on the earth. God uses Noah to continue man's dominion after he sends a flood which wipes out all of humanity except Noah’s family. The next important patriarch and the father of all of the next generation is Abraham. In Genesis
Noah is saved from destruction because of God’s love and mercy. Noah’s example shows that God will keep his covenant no matter the circumstances. At the beginning of the Genesis God establishes the first major covenant with Abraham. God uses Abraham to grow his people into a mighty nation. God protects Abraham and blesses his. Genesis is the beginning of God's people and through the covenant relationship God will bless and protect his people. Near the end of Genesis when God blesses Joseph he is showing that he will bless his people even in a foreign and non covenantal land. God from the beginning has a true friendship with the patriarchs of the covenant line. God walks with Adam in the garden, he wrestles Jacob, and he saves Isaac from death. These are three examples of God showing up in a major way. God sets this precedent early on in the Old Testament and continues to do it