Genesis is loaded with fascinating characters and intriguing places. First among the colorful individuals are Adam and Eve, whose choice to rebel plunged all their descendants into a fierce battle with sin. Their children, Cain and Abel, provide us with a dramatic interplay between pleasing God and incurring his wrath. Noah and his family survived God's judgment of a worldwide flood. Beginning with chapter 12, God selected a man named Abram (later changed to Abraham) from whom he would birth a nation. When they were well past the age for bearing children, Abraham and his wife, Sarai (later changed to Sarah), finally bear a son whom they name Isaac. Isaac and his wife Rebekah have twin sons, Esau and Jacob, with the younger (Jacob) receiving the birthright and blessing. Jacob (whose name is changed to Israel), fathers twelve sons who eventually become the twelve tribes of the new nation. Next to last of those sons is Joseph, who is sold into Egypt as a slave.
These are merely the most prominent people and places. Others that add considerably to the drama include Enoch, Lamech, Lot, a mysterious man named Melchizedek, Hagar, Ishmael, the crafty uncle Laban, Rebekah, Rachel, a courageous woman named Tamar, and Potiphar and his wife.
The places within Genesis are no less captivating. They range from the pristine Garden of Eden to the wicked and cursed towns of Sodom and Gomorrah. Also significant is Babel, the city of rebellion and confusion, out of which Babylon emerges. From Abraham on, our attention is focused on the Promised Land, also known as the land of Canaan. The region of Moriah is where Abraham nearly sacrificed his only son. Paddan Aram is the location where Jacob goes to find a wife and stays for twenty years. Jacob met God at two significant spots: Bethel, the "house of God," and the Jabbok river. Egypt plays a prominent role especially toward the end, as the descendants of Israel find a new home there.
