MULTIPLE FACULTY CONTRIBUTORS
OUTLINE
Introduction
I. Primeval History: Establishing the Need for Redemption (1:1–11:26)
A. Perfect Creation: The Absence of Sin (1:1–2:25)
1. An Overview of Perfection (1:2–2:3)
a. Inanimate Perfection (1:1-19)
b. Animate (Animal) Perfection (1:20-25)
c. Human Perfection (1:26–2:3)
2. A Close-Up on the Human Ideal (2:4-25)
a. The Ideal Creation of Man (2:4-7)
b. The Ideal Place of Man (2:8-14)
c. The Ideal Responsibility of Man (2:15-25)
B. Fallen Humanity: The Advent of Sin (3:1-21)
1. The Lead-up to Sin (3:1-6)
a. Step One: Wrongly Recalling God’s Word (3:1-3)
b. Step Two: Wrongly Assessing God’s Purpose (3:4-5)
c. Step Three: Wrongly Approving What Seems “Good” (3:6)
2. Humanity’s Response to Sin (3:7-8)
a. Conviction (3:7a)
b. Division from Each Other (3:7b)
c. Division from God (3:8)
3. God’s Response to Sin (3:9-21)
a. Gentle Confrontation (3:9-13)
b. Merciful Chastisement (3:14-20)
c. Gracious Forgiveness (3:21)
C. Dire Consequences: The Aftermath of Sin (3:22–4:26)
1. Exile: The Communal Aftermath of Sin (3:22-24)
a. The Problem (3:22)
b. God’s Gracious Solution (3:23)
c. The “Eastward” Paradigm (3:24)
2. Murder: The Personal Aftermath of Sin (4:1-22)
a. The Priority of Heart Attitude (4:1-8)
b. God’s Mercy, Again (4:9-12)
c. Cain’s Repentance and God’s Grace (4:13-22)
3. Injustice: The Legal Aftermath of Sin (4:23-26)
a. Injustice as a Result of Ignoring God’s Example (4:23-24)
b. Injustice Not Preclusive of God’s Blessing (4:25)
c. Injustice as a Catalyst for Turning People to God (4:26)
D. Fallen World: The Attachment of Sin (5:1–11:26)
1. Break in the Prosecution: God’s Blessing Despite Depravity (5:1–6:8)
a. Hope of Redemption (5:1-32)
b. God’s Gracious “Cap” on Depravity (6:1-4)
c. Measure of True “Spirituality” (6:5-8)
2. The Flood: Humanity’s Chance to “Come Clean” of Depravity (6:9–9:29)
a. Prelude: A Righteous Remnant in a Depraved World (6:9-10)
b. Corruption of the Land (6:11-12)
c. God’s Covenant with Noah (6:13-20)
d. God’s Provision for Life (6:21-22)
e. Entering the Ark (7:1-9)
f. Prevailing of the Flood (7:10-24)
g. Subsiding of the Flood (8:1-14)
h. Exiting the Ark (8:15-22)
i. God’s Provision for Life (9:1-7)
j. God’s Covenant with Noah and All Life (9:8-17)
k. Corruption of the Land (9:18-19)
l. Postlude: A Righteous Remnant in a Depraved World (9:20-29)
3. The Depth of Depravity in Post-Flood Humanity (10:1–11:26)
a. Setting the Stage for Universal Rebellion (10:1-32)
b. Rebellion Expressed: The Rise and Fall of Universal Human Pride (11:1-9)
c. Transition to Pardon (11:10-26)
II. Patriarchal History: Delineating the Path of Redemption (11:27–50:26)
A. Descendants of Terah: God Making His Own Name for Man (11:27–25:11)
1. The Abrahamic Covenant: God’s Promise for Israel and the Nations (11:27–12:20)
a. God’s Sovereign Choice: Abram’s Passivity (11:27-32)
b. God’s Gracious Promises: Resetting Abram’s Direction (12:1-9)
c. God’s Unshakable Hold: Abram’s Deep Depravity (12:10-20)
2. Living in the Land: God’s Affirmation of the Covenant (13:1–14:24)
a. Affirming Abram’s Right to the Land (13:1-18)
b. Affirming Abram’s Might and Prosperity (14:1-16)
c. Affirming Abram’s Blessing and Status (14:17-24)
3. Ratifying the Covenant: God’s Compromise with Weak Faith (15:1-21)
a. Answering Abram’s Doubt about the Son (15:1-5)
b. Affirming Abram’s Imperfect Faith (15:6)
c. Answering Abram’s Doubt about the Land (15:7-21)
4. Doubting God: The Fall Reprised (16:1-16)
a. The Temptation (16:1-4a)
b. The Human Consequences (16:4b-6)
c. The Divine Response (16:7-16)
5. Circumcision: The Sign of the Covenant (17:1-16)
a. The Effected Covenant as the Basis of the Rite (17:1-8)
b. Content of the Rite (17:9-16)
c. Abram’s Response to the Rite (17:17-27)
6. An Expression of Divine Fellowship (18:1-33)
a. God Affirming His Empathy with Abraham (18:1-8)
b. God Affirming His Grace toward Abraham (18:9-15)
c. God Affirming His Justice to Abraham (18:16-33)
7. A Paradigm of Corporate Judgment (19:1-29)
a. Cause of Judgment (19:1-11)
b. Distinction of Judgment (19:12-22)
c. Purpose of Judgment (19:23-29)
8. Persistence of Sin (19:30–20:18)
a. Struggles of Lot’s Household (19:30-38)
b. Struggles of Abraham’s Household (20:1-16)
c. God’s Faithfulness and Grace in Sanctification (20:17-18)
9. Sovereignty of God in Blessing (21:1-34)
a. God’s Sovereignty in Blessing Abraham and Sarah (21:1-8)
b. God’s Sovereignty in Blessing Hagar and Sarah (21:9-21)
c. God’s Sovereignty in Blessing Abimelech and His People (21:22-34)
10. The Pinnacle of Abraham’s Faith (22:1-19)
a. God’s Call to Faith (22:1-2)
b. Abraham’s Expression of Faith (22:3-9)
c. The Angel’s Affirmation of Faith (22:10-19)
11. Family Matters (22:20–23:20)
a. Keeping Up with the Relatives (22:20-24)
b. Mourning Sarah (23:1-2)
c. Purchasing the Family Burial Plot (23:3-20)
12. Finding Rebekah in Mesopotamia (24:1-67)
a. Abraham’s Petition (24:1-9)
b. God’s Answer (24:10-49)
c. The People’s Response (24:50-67)
13. Transferring the Torch to Isaac (25:1-11)
a. Abraham’s Affirmation of Isaac (25:1-6)
b. Isaac and Ishmael’s Burial of Abraham (25:7-10)
c. God’s Affirmation of Isaac (25:11)
B. Descendants of Ishmael: A Locus of Conflict with God’s People (25:12-18)
C. Descendants of Isaac: Learning to Wait on God (25:19–35:29)
1. Jacob and Esau: The Sons of Isaac (25:19-34)
a. Barrenness of Rebekah (25:19-21a)
b. Birth of Jacob and Esau (25:21b-26)
c. Sale of Esau’s Birthright (25:27-34)
2. Isaac: Struggles of a Patriarch (26:1-33)
a. Struggling to Trust in God’s Promises: Isaac Lies about Rebekah (26:1-17)
b. Struggling to Live with Sinful Men: Isaac Quarrels with the Men of Gerar (26:18-25)
c. Struggling to Recognize the Sovereignty of God: Isaac Makes a Covenant with Abimelech (26:26-33)
3. Jacob: Successor of Isaac (26:34–35:29)
a. In the Land: Striving with Esau (26:34–28:9)
(1) Prologue: Esau Marries Foreign Women (26:34-35)
(2) Body: Jacob Strives for a Blessing (27:1–28:5)
(3) Epilogue: Esau Marries Foreign Women (28:6-9)
b. Outside the Land: Striving with Laban (28:10–31:55)
(1) Jacob’s Journey (28:10-22)
(2) Jacob’s Marriages (29:1-30)
(3) Jacob’s Children (29:31–30:24)
(4) Jacob’s Prosperity (30:25-43)
(5) Jacob’s Flight (31:1–32:2)
c. Return to the Land: Striving Resolved with People and God (32:3–35:29)
(1) The Restoration of Jacob and Esau (32:3–33:20)
(a) Jacob’s Fear of Esau (32:3-23)
(b) Jacob’s Fight with God (32:24-32)
(c) Jacob’s Restoration with Esau (33:1-17)
(d) Jacob’s Restoration to the Land (33:18-20)
(2) The Rape of Dinah (34:1-31)
(3) The Close of the Jacob Story (35:1-29)
D. Descendants of Esau: Another Locus of Conflict with God’s People (36:1–37:1)
E. Descendants of Jacob: God’s Providence over Joseph and Israel (37:2–50:26)
1. Joseph in the Pit (37:2–40:23)
a. Joseph Is Sold into Slavery by His Brothers (37:2-36)
b. Judah Receives a Male Heir by Deception (38:1-30)
c. Joseph Is Falsely Accused by Potiphar’s Wife (39:1-23)
d. Joseph Is Forgotten by the Cupbearer (40:1-23)
2. Joseph as Prime Minister (41:1–50:26)
a. Joseph Becomes Prime Minister (41:1-57)
b. Joseph Tests His Brothers (42:1–44:34)
(1) The Conscience Test (42:1-38)
(2) The Character Test (43:1-34)
(3) The Compassion Test (44:1-34)
c. Joseph Reconciles with His Brothers (45:1-28)
d. Joseph Cares for All Egypt (46:1–47:26)
(1) Joseph Provides for the Family of Israel (46:1–47:12)
(2) Joseph Provides for the People of Egypt (47:13-19)
(3) Joseph Provides for Pharaoh (47:20-26)
e. Joseph Receives the Blessing for His Sons (47:27–48:22)
f. Jacob Blesses the Twelve Tribes (49:1-33)
g. Joseph Believes God to the End (50:1-26)