No, Abram comes from the nations who were scattered by God at Babel, as Chapter 11, particularly verses 27-32, show us. It’s not as though Abram came from nowhere, like the mysterious Melchizedek later in Genesis. While I reject that simple distinction, it is definitely true that Genesis 1-11 has to do with humanity in general, while the following chapters focus on the chosen people beginning with the sudden and inexplicable election of Abram. Sometimes it is alleged that the primeval history is not really history, just myth. ![]() We need to be careful with that distinction. Chapters 1-11 are called primeval history, while chapter 12 to the end of Genesis is salvation history. Indeed, all scholars point out that this story marks an important transition in the book of Genesis. Thus, the human race is not terminated, although we see again and again that the “soul that sins shall die.”īut God keeps intervening in grace even after his judgment, never more spectacularly than in this simple story of one man and his wife. Interestingly, and thankfully, each successive downward movement by the human race is met with a gracious act of God. ![]() ![]() The early chapters of Genesis show us the steady downhill slide of humanity beginning with the Fall in Eden, with some terrifying secondary falls along the way-Cain and Abel, the increasing depravity of humans resulting in the massive cleansing of the Flood, the building of Babel resulting in the scattering and confusion of the nations.
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