[098]. A Message From A Poem – Genesis Synopsis

[098]. A MESSAGE FROM A POEM – GENESIS SYNOPSIS

How can you possibly put the book of Genesis into a poem? The answer is, be brief and try not to miss the main events. I had the desire to write a Genesis poem and this is the result.

The poem begins of course with Chapter 1 and works to the end.

The creation is essential in all Christian doctrine and theology. {{Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”}}

Noah has many lessons for us and the conditions will be applicable before the Second Coming. {{Matthew 24:37-38 “The coming of the Son of Man will be JUST LIKE THE DAYS OF NOAH for as in those days which were before the flood they were eating and drinking, they were marrying and giving in marriage until the day that Noah entered the ark,”}}

Abraham is the single most important figure for Israel, and covenants given to him still stand; always stand. {{Genesis 12:3 “I will bless those who bless you and the one who curses you I will curse. In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Genesis 15:18 “On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given this land from the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates”}}

Isaac, Jacob and his sons follow on and the nation is enslaved in Egypt but that was prophesied to Abraham – {{Genesis 15:13 God said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years.”}}

Genesis begins with the creation of life but ends with death – {{Genesis 50:26 “so Joseph died at the age of one hundred and ten years and he was embalmed and placed in a coffin in Egypt.”}}

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GENESIS SYNOPSIS

In the beginning of time, the heavens were made;

The universe was created,

But God was not satisfied with just that alone,

And so man was contemplated.

Let us make man in our own image God declared.

By His hand, man was located

Upon creation, to a garden God prepared,

But there, Adam was unmated.

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Now Adam was lonely so God gave him a mate,

And stated that the two were one.

The shifty snake betrayed itself to Satan’s will,

And in time Eve was to succumb.

Both our fore-parents sinned through disobedience;

There, covered in shame, and undone.

The consequence was expulsion from the garden,

Toiling, weeding, sweating – no fun.

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Be fruitful and multiply, was explained to them,

And so sons and daughters in time

Were given by God, the start of the human race.

When their numbers started to climb,

Cain and Abel brought their sacrifices to God,

But Cain committed such a crime.

Because God rejected him, he murdered Abel,

And buried him in earth and slime.

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Men multiplied on the earth, but so did their sin,

So from the Lord God a flood came,

But Noah was enabled to construct an ark.

It was such a terrible shame

That only eight were saved, ‘cause men were reprobate,

And rejected the Lord God’s Name

One hundred and twenty years given to repent,

So they must carry their own blame.

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Repopulate the earth, God ordered them, post flood.

There, they stayed put and disobeyed.

They constructed a ziggurat to reach God’s throne,

Through Nimrod’s personal crusade.

Nimrod was a vile, vile man, a hunter condemned.

God came down to judge that charade;

With their languages, they spread all over the earth.

Don’t engage in what God forbade.

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Abram was called from Ur to a land unknown.

Faithful Abraham was God’s friend.

With Sarah they journeyed on and Caanan was reached.

At first, they did not comprehend

What immense promises the Lord had in store there,

For the promised land would extend,

Way beyond the tiny area where they lived,

To the ones who were to descend.

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Abraham was the father of faith to the seed

Which would be produced from his line:

The natural seed of Israel; and sons of faith,

Who in respective times will shine.

The patriarch lived a long life; he saw Egypt,

Defeated kings, angels to dine,

And met even greater king priest Melchizedek,

To whom he offered bread and wine.

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The son of promise was Isaac, born late in life.

He took Rebekah as his bride;

A fitting type of Christ and His Church in union.

With all blessings and joy supplied,

From them stemmed Esau and Jacob, the supplanter.

Esau, a man of faithless pride,

And Jacob, who was the father of the twelve tribes.

Isaac dug well on the outside.

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Jacob’s fam’ly was busy with their sheep raising.

One son got special attention,

And wore his coloured coat when tending with the sheep.

The sons hated the pretention.

They sold Joseph to slave traders off to Egypt,

And a lie was the invention.

They deceived their father in the most hurtful way,

To suffer with apprehension.

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God guided Joseph carefully in all he did,

And watched over him with true care.

Potiphar promoted Joseph as household head;

In his hand each household affair,

But Potiphar’s wife, a mare lewd and licentious,

Lied about Joseph in her lair.

He was thrown into jail on this false, trumped up charge,

But the jailor was very fair.

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In time a baker and a cupbearer had dreams.

But their understandings were blank,

So God enabled Joseph to understand them,

And to each, his message was frank.

Pharaoh restored the cupbearer to his position,

But the hopes of the baker sank.

The cupbearer forgot Joseph’s kindness until,

Pharaoh needed someone to thank.

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Joseph, to a high position was promoted;

Second to Pharaoh in control.

Pharaoh’s dream signified years of plenty and drought;

A bad drought that would take its toll.

Joseph’s plan - storage in good years, managed in drought -

That was to keep the nation whole.

In Canaan, Jacob’s family battled with famine:

How to keep one: body and soul?

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Jacob sent ten sons to Egypt to buy some grain,

Brother Joseph, they did not know.

Joseph knew them, played along, but kept it secret.

He obtained information though,

About his family, his father and brother.

For Joseph, ‘twas heartache and woe.

In the end all of the brothers went to Egypt,

Leaving Jacob in great sorrow.

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A joyful reunion happened; sins forgiven.

To Egypt the whole fam’ly moved.

There they were sheltered by the grace of the Pharaoh.

God was guiding; God approved.

Through scheming and sly dealings, sin showed its deceit;

People were bruised but not excused.

For four hundred years they remained there and increased,

And for that time they were unmoved.

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There are many lessons derived from Genesis:

Selfish plans, God will overrule.

Faith is paramount for a pleasing walk with God,

Even faith that is miniscule.

Throughout, God is gracious, tolerant, forgiving,

For students in His learning school.

He works through cesspools of failures and conniving,

And through opponents’ ridicule.

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In the early 1970s, just the first 4 lines were written down and the poem completed on 9-11 January 2022

R E Ferguson Metre = 12-8-12-8-12-8 A-B-C-B-D-B-E-B