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Faith in Genesis

Hebrews 11:6 states, “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes
to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. (NASB) The
concept of faith is integral in understanding Christianity. The writer of Hebrew makes a bold
statement saying that it is impossible to please our Creator without faith. Regardless of what
religion one believes in, all requires faith. If you believe in the theory of evolution, you must
believe that the Big Bang happened by faith. No one was there to observe the Big Bang. It is by
faith one accepts that the Scripture is God-breathed. It is on the basis of the revelation of God we
believe in what has revealed to us. I can certainly assert that the weight on faith is the most in
Christianity than in any other religions in the whole wide world. It is through faith that one gets
saved, not by work. All the other religions in the world are based on work some way or the other,
but Christianity is a religion that believes that one can reach heaven by faith in Jesus Christ. Thus
faith is an integral concept that is seen throughout the Bible. However, it is sad to see how today
faith is preached in the churches, but how little the people understand the depth of the word.
Many believers have seen God’s mighty faithfulness in their lives over and over again, but when
the hard time comes knocking on the door they resort to thinking that the Lord has abandoned
them. It is widely preached that the first sin that was committed by Eve was that of disobedience.
The act of disobedience is stemmed out of a lack of faith in God.(2) The serpent was very clever
in asking her few good questions which led her to believe that God was holding out on her. That
is the very tactic that the enemy incites in the lives of the many believers in the world today that
the Lord is holding out on them. The fall was caused because of the lack of faith Adam and Eve
had in God who has given them all they needed and sought their best interest. Thus faith is very
important to God and those who want to come to Him must do so in faith.
This paper intends to take a position on what faith is. The paper is written in the context
of the book of Genesis and the characters in the book. The author intends to define faith and
draw illustrations from the characters found in Genesis. The paper will be divided on each aspect
of the definition of faith.

Definition of Faith
In the Old Testament the word faith does not occur that frequently. However the lack of
the word does not mean that concept of faith is lacking. As the paper argues, that the concept of
faith is an integral thread that runs throughout the whole Scripture. Even though the word is
lacking, the idea of faith “is usually expressed by verbs such as ‘believe’, ‘trust’ or ‘hope’, and
such abound.”1 Faith is composed of four basic pillars. The paper argues that the definition of
faith is based on knowledge, assent, love commitment, and hope. (2) The author holds a position
that faith is a process of going through all the pillars of faith established. The Easton’s Bible
Dictionary states that “faith is the result of knowledge, which includes in its assent, which is an
act of the will in addition to the act of the understanding.”2

1
L. L. Morris, “Faith,” ed. D. R. W. Wood et al., New Bible Dictionary (Leicester, England; Downers Grove,
IL: InterVarsity Press, 1996), 357.
2
M. G. Easton, Easton’s Bible Dictionary (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1893).
Knowledge
The first pillar of faith is knowledge. One cannot trust in something or someone in they
do not know. “Faith is the result of teaching (Rom. 10:14–17). Knowledge is an essential
element in all faith, and is sometimes spoken of as an equivalent to faith (John 10:38; 1 John
2:3)”3 To have faith in God one must strive to know the person of God and the plans of God
which in turn helps them grow in their walk of faith. It is to be stated that the full knowledge of
God is impossible. No one can understand the ways of the Lord fully because it is higher than
our comprehension. (Isaiah 55:8-9) However, the God has given us knowledge of Him through
the revelations in the Scripture. One can attain the knowledge of who God reveals Himself to be
and what His plans are for His creation.
After the initial accounts of creation, the next major character we see in Genesis is Noah.
Genesis 6:9 recounts of Noah walking faithfully with God. As the story continues, it is revealed
that Noah is asked to build an ark to preserve God’s creation from the flood. It is important to
understand that walking with God is the how Noah was righteous in a generation filled with
hearts that were corrupt.4 Walking with God is how Noah’s faith in God increased significantly
because this is how Noah’s knowledge of God was obtained. Noah’s faith was made strong in
the knowledge of the Creator of the world and his plans for His creation. In Genesis 6 and 7 God
reveals to Noah the plans He has for the world which Noah preaches to the people.
The next major figure of faith that appears in Genesis is Abraham. Abraham has been
called the father of faith in many occasions. In Genesis 12 Abraham’s story begins as God spoke
to him for the first time. He is commanded to up and leave to a land where God will lead him to.
“In a sense, then, God’s voice comes to Abraham without warning. The patriarch is perceptive
enough to recognize that voice the first time he hears it.”5 The Scripture states that God promises
Abraham that he will be great among the nations. In hearing the Lord and perceiving that it is
God who is speaking, Abraham increases his knowledge of who God is and His plans for his life.
God through His interactions with Abraham proved to be a God of relationship to Abraham. In
all this Abraham did not have a full comprehension of who God was but he started to increase his
knowledge of who God was. This was the inception of faith in Abraham.

Assent
The knowledge of God and the plans He has for one’s life is not enough to fulfill faith.
The second step in the process of faith is having the knowledge move from the head into action.
As the definition defines, “it is the act of will in the addition to the act of understanding.”6 It is
putting the understanding of the knowledge into actions. Having the knowledge is one thing, but

3
M. G. Easton, Easton’s Bible Dictionary (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1893).
4
John H. Sailhamer, “Genesis,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Genesis–Leviticus (Revised Edition),
ed. Tremper Longman III and David E. Garland, vol. 1 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2008), 118.
5
Victor P. Hamilton, Handbook on the Pentateuch: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers,
Deuteronomy (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1982), 92.
6
M. G. Easton, Easton’s Bible Dictionary (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1893).
faith starts taking shape once you have to really trust and believe in that knowledge. “God’s
responsibility is promise and performance; humankind’s responsibility is belief.”7
Noah knew God and walked faithfully with Him, but when he was commanded to build
an ark, he obeyed. “Noah represents the obedience of faith.”8 Obedience is an assent of the
knowledge that Noah possessed. Obedience shows the fruition of the second component of faith.
The obedience came from knowing and being familiar with the voice that spoke with Noah.
Noah had the knowledge that God was going to bring a judgment on the wicked world and
trusted the Lord to follow through on His words. He acted upon the knowledge he had of
knowing that God is a true God. He followed the instructions laid out by God which resulted in
the safety of his family and preservation of God’s creation.
Abraham was informed by God that he was going to be father of many nations. He was
promised lands and prosperity. Abraham was getting pretty old and there was no sign of any
offspring. In Genesis 15 Abraham questions God in how God intends to bless him since he is
childless? God in reply promises him a son. The Bible says, “Then he believed in the Lord; and
He reckoned it to him as righteousness.” (Gen 15:6) God counted Abraham righteous because of
his assent to the knowledge of God’s promise. Abraham acted on the promise and was rewarded
with Isaac. Did Abraham get impatient? Yes, he did and made few mistakes of his own. At the
end of the day he stayed his course and had faith in God. “Abraham’s righteousness is not the
result of any accomplishments…Rather it is stated programmatically that belief alone has
brought Abraham into a proper relationship to God.”9 Abrahams trust in his knowledge of God
resulted in his righteousness.

Love Commitment
James 2:20 states, “But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith
without works is useless?” The third wheel of the process of faith is Love Commitment. As the
knowledge of faith is translated to belief and trust the third result is a changed behavior and part-
taking in risks in the one who has faith. As one learns of God’s faithfulness and trusts in Him,
their lives change radically as they start to rely on God fully. The love commitment comes with
the hardest part of faith. It is taking the risk that comes with faith. Faith requires one to take risks
that they are not comfortable taking. God uses faith to draw them out of their comfort zone. In
reality, there are no risks with God. God holds the plan in His hands and His hands does not slip.
There are no true risks with God. (class notes)
The epitome of risk was portrayed when God asks Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. Abraham
waited hundred years to get his son. He loved Isaac with all his emotions and God commands
Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. Abraham’s world probably stood still when he heard God’s
command. The boy that he dearly loved and cared for, the apple of his eyes, the one through

7
Victor P. Hamilton, Handbook on the Pentateuch: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers,
Deuteronomy (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1982), 94.
8
John H. Sailhamer, “Genesis,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Genesis–Leviticus (Revised Edition),
ed. Tremper Longman III and David E. Garland, vol. 1 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2008), 118.
9
Victor P. Hamilton, Handbook on the Pentateuch: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers,
Deuteronomy (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1982), 94.
whom he shall be the father of the nations, God asked as a sacrifice. The Bible tells us that
Abraham obeyed God. The devil must have tempted Abraham by trying to make him think that
God does not care for him. However the Scripture states that Abraham was willing to take the
risk of sacrificing his son. It is amazing to see this unfailing commitment to God by great man of
faith. When he raised the knife to plunge into Isaac, Abraham’s heart must have trembled, but he
went to the extreme extent of being ready to sacrifice his son. What Abraham did that fateful day
came out of his unfailing love commitment to God. He was happy and comfortable when Isaac
was born unto him, but God quickly called him out of his comfort zone to challenge him.
Abraham exhibited the willingness to risk throughout his life because he trusted the Lord with all
his heart.

Hope
“Hope does not depend upon what a man possesses, upon what he may be able to do for
himself, nor upon what any other human being may do for him…Biblical hope inseparable
therefore from faith in God.”10 Faith is incomplete without hope. Faith gives us the confidence in
future which is translated into hope. “The lesson conveyed is that God’s faithfulness in the past
can be counted on in the present and the future.” 11
When Noah got into the ark, he got into it with faith that God is going to sustain them
however long He desires them to be out in the water. Noah also needed to have a certain hope
during the time of immense rain and flood that God is going to make everything right. Without
hope, one might suppose the ark might have been a very depressing place. Being stuck in a
confined space with all kinds of animal must have a horrible situation. Noah had faith in God,
which meant the hope of getting out of the ark and seeing land once again. It is by faith alone
that Noah and his family had a hope of a future on earth.
Abraham must have been full of hope since the first time God spoke to him. He was
promised a generation as numerous as the sky! Imagine the wait Abraham had to go through to
receive his first son. Abraham’s faith was perfected in the hope of his offspring. God promised
Abraham a generation and Abraham knew with all his heart that God was going to deliver on His
promise. That is the hope that Abraham lived his life with. Even with just one offspring,
Abraham knew that God is going to fulfill His promise of a generation numerous as the stars of
the sky. He did not get to see it in his life time, but he had the hope in knowing that God is good
on His words.

Conclusion
Faith is a process that is ingrained in the Scripture. Anyone who truly reads and
understand the Bible cannot fail to miss the importance of faith. The author argues that the
process of faith is four prongs. Faith is the knowledge of God and His plans, the assent of faith,

10
R. V. G. Tasker, “Hope,” ed. D. R. W. Wood et al., New Bible Dictionary (Leicester, England; Downers
Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1996), 480.
11
John H. Sailhamer, “Genesis,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Genesis–Leviticus (Revised
Edition), ed. Tremper Longman III and David E. Garland, vol. 1 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2008), 227.
the love commitment of faith, and hope of faith. The understanding of the holistic perspective of
faith helps understand God better. It helps one to serve God better.

M. G. Easton, Easton’s Bible Dictionary (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1893).

John H. Sailhamer, “Genesis,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Genesis–Leviticus (Revised Edition), ed.
Tremper Longman III and David E. Garland, vol. 1 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2008), 118.

L. L. Morris, “Faith,” ed. D. R. W. Wood et al., New Bible Dictionary (Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL:
InterVarsity Press, 1996), 357.

Class Notes, Survey of The Pentateuch, Old Testament History I, Dallas, Texas, February, 2017.

Victor P. Hamilton, Handbook on the Pentateuch: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers,


Deuteronomy (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1982), 92-94.

R. V. G. Tasker, “Hope,” ed. D. R. W. Wood et al., New Bible Dictionary (Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL:
InterVarsity Press, 1996), 480.

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