Genesis: An Expositional Commentary, Vol. 2

In this commentary on Genesis 12–36, Boice traces the "new beginning" of God’s plan of redemption, which arose out of God’s relationship with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. By delving into the patriarchs’ lives, Boice demonstrates how much they are like us and how easily we relate to them, both in triumphs and failures.

The second of three volumes on the Book of Genesis, A New Beginning shows how God changed the course of history beginning with one less-than-perfect man. It reveals the patriarchs’ stories as compelling, dramatic, and true to life. As you study their stories, writes Boice, “I trust that God will use their strengths and weaknesses, victories and failures, to guide you in the true path of discipleship and to strengthen your witness.”

Topics covered include:

The Gift of Faith (12:4) Promises to Live By (15:2–5) God’s Covenant Children (17:23–27) What Made Abraham Glad? (22:13–14) A Tale of Two Sons (25:12–26) Jacob’s Wages (30:25–43)

1. Opening
2. Sixty-One - Father Abram
3. No Good In Abram
4. God's Call
5. When Faith Is Weak
6. Sixty-Two Abram's God And Mine
7. They Said, God Said
8. I Will, I Will
9. Summons And Promise
10. Sixty-Three - The Second Messianic Prophecy
11. The Gospel In Advance
12. Redemption
13. Our Blessed Redeemer
14. Sixty-Four - The Gift Of Faith
15. Most Natural, Most Unnatural
16. Faith And Obedience
17. The Steps Of Faith
18. Up From The Lowlands
19. Sixty-Five - Passing Through
20. God's Pilgrim
21. Giants And Grasshoppers
22. He Built An Altar
23. Sixty-Six - In And Out Of Egypt
24. Faith On Trial
25. Steps Of Unfaith
26. Heads Or Tails
27. Sixty-Seven - Lot's Bad Choice
28. Return To Bethel
29. Pliable's Choice
30. A Downward Path
31. Sixty-Eight - Lift Up Your Eyes
32. Two Kinds Of Looking
33. God's Harvest
34. Step By Step
35. Sixty-Nine - Four Against Five
36. Real History
37. War And The Believer
38. The Battle Is God's
39. Seventy - Priest And Patriarch
40. Two Great Men
41. Becoming Greater
42. The Greatest One Of All
43. Seventy-One - The Two Melchizedeks
44. Priest Of God Most High
45. Priest And King
46. Our Priest Forever
47. Seventy-Two - Our Priest Forever
48. A Perfect Priesthood
49. Assurance Of Faith
50. Perseverance In Hope
51. Encouragement To Love
52. Seventy-Three - Salem Or Sodom
53. The World's Desires
54. To Glorify God
55. An Absolute Commitment
56. Fellowship With God
57. The Men Who Went With Him
58. Seventy-Four - Our Defense And Great Reward
59. Our Sure Defense
60. Whom Do You Trust
61. Abram's Reward
62. Seventy-Five - Promises To Live By
63. God's Promise To Abram
64. Abram's Problem
65. God's Answer To Abram
66. Seventy-Six - Salvation's Hinge
67. Is Faith A Substitute
68. A Legal Term
69. Paul's Conversation
70. Seventy-Seven - What Did Abram Believe?
71. Paul And The Galatians
72. The Faith Of Abram
73. All Testament Examples
74. What Is Your Right
75. Seventy-Eight - No Boasting Before God
76. The Example Of Abram
77. God Hates Boasting
78. The Snake In The Desert
79. Look To Jesus
80. Seventy-Nine - God's Covenant With Abram
81. Covenant Promise
82. A One-Sided Covenant
83. An Eternal Covenant
84. God's Grace
85. God's Faithfulness To Israel
86. The Greatest Covenant
87. Eighty - God Who Sees Me
88. Undeserved Trouble
89. An Unexpected Meeting
90. Unsought Blessing
91. Eighty-One - God Of The Impossible
92. Father Of Many
93. Abram And Hagar
94. The Covenant Confirmed
95. Faith Of Abraham
96. Abraham And God
97. God's Part, Man's Part
98. The Breath Of God
99. God And The Christian
100. Blessing For Others
101. Eighty-Three - God's Covenant Children
102. The Modern Problem
103. Jewish Christians
104. Our Children Belong
105. Three Necessities
106. Eighty-Four - God's Friend
107. Jehovah Unawares
108. Being Friendly
109. You Are My Friends
110. Friends Of Jesus
111. Eighty-Five - Sarah Laughed
112. Laughing Disbelief
113. Our Gracious God
114. Three Blessings
115. Eighty-Six - When God Does Right
116. Judgment To Come
117. Intercessory Prayer For Sodom
118. For The Sake Of Ten
119. Eighty-Seven - Fleeing Sodom
120. A Foolish Believer
121. The Sins Of Sodom
122. Time To Run
123. Eighty-Eight - Sinning Just A Bit
124. A Little City
125. The Giant And The Dwarf
126. The Root Of Sin
127. Lot's Wife
128. Eighty-Nine - Come Look At Sodom
129. The Day Will Come
130. Like Lightening
131. On All The Living
132. More Tolerable For Sodom
133. Ninety - Sinning Shamefully
134. An Unspeakable Incident
135. How Low Can You Go
136. Sins Of The Fathers
137. Death Or Resurrection
138. Ninety-One - Pilgrim's Regress
139. Only A Sinner
140. An Old Sin Repeated
141. When Faith Fails
142. Nine-Two - The Birth Of Isaac
143. Our Great God
144. Isaac And Jesus
145. The New Birth
146. Ninety-Three - God's Good Or God's Best
147. A Family Parting
148. Faith Or Good Works
149. God's Word Or Man's Words
150. God Or Family
151. Ninety-Four - The Prince And The Patriarch
152. Mutual Respect
153. Mutual Interest
154. Two Men Two Ways
155. Ninety-Five - The Names Of God
156. The Lord, The Eternal God
157. All Generations
158. Do Not Worry
159. Walking With God
160. Ninety-Six - Faith On Trial
161. Faith In Crisis
162. Is God A Liar
163. Faith In Bloom
164. Faith Rewarded
165. Ninety-Seven - The God Who Provides
166. God Will See To It
167. God's Lamb
168. Palm Sunday
169. The Logic Of Faith
170. Ninety-Eight What Made Abraham Glad
171. Seeing Christ's Day
172. The Happy Father
173. Trace The Joy
174. Day Of Resurrection
175. Joyful Christians
176. Ninety-Nine - The Obedience Of Faith
177. Here I Am
178. A Long Obedience
179. Your Will Be Done
180. Settled Obedience
181. Contagious Obedience
182. Obedience Rewarded
183. One Hundred - The Burial Of Sarah
184. We Who Remain
185. Doing Business With The World
186. A Better Country
187. One Hundred One - A Bride For Isaac
188. From Faith To Faith
189. Praying Always
190. The Use Of Signs
191. I Will Go
192. A Bride For Jesus
193. One Hundred Two - The Death Of Abraham
194. Moral Excellence
195. Knowing God
196. Self-Control
197. Sustained Obedience
198. Godliness
199. Brotherly Kindness
200. The Greatest Of These
201. One Hundred Three - A Tale Of Two Sons
202. Ishmael And Isaac
203. Jacob Have I Loved
204. All Of Grace
205. One Hundred Four - Concerning Birthrights
206. What Good Is The Birthright
207. Eat, Drink, And Be Merry
208. Door Of Hope
209. Refuse Not Him Who Speaks
210. One Hundred Five - Sins Of The Fathers
211. Isaac's First Failure
212. Isaac's Second Sin
213. The Way Home
214. Three Final Lessons
215. One Hundred Six - The Stolen Blessing
216. The Willfulness Of Old Age
217. Power In The Home
218. Lying Jacob
219. An Unexpected Conversion
220. The Other Brother
221. One Hundred Seven - Ordinary People
222. The Will Of God
223. Fruits Of Deception
224. Extraordinary People
225. One Hundred Eight - The Gate Of Heaven
226. A Stairway Reaching To Heaven
227. God's Blessing
228. Heaven Open
229. One Hundred Nine - Noble Jacob
230. The First Vow
231. Inadequate Commitment
232. Our Gracious God
233. One Hundred Ten - School Of Hard Knocks
234. Love At First Sight
235. The Deceiver Deceived
236. Growth In Grace
237. One Hundred Eleven - The River Widens
238. Frustrated But Fruitful
239. Beautiful But Barren
240. Mandrakes
241. Give The Glory To God
242. One Hundred Twelve - Jacob's Wages
243. Others Before Self
244. Work Before Leisure
245. Faith Before Worry
246. One Hundred Thirteen - The Long Way Home
247. Knowing The Will Of God
248. Heading Home
249. A Stirring Drama
250. The Mizpah Blessing
251. One Hundred Fourteen - I Surrender All
252. Conscience Makes Cowards
253. When All Else Fails
254. Surrendering The Goats
255. One Hundred Fifteen - Wrestling With God
256. Alone And Trembling
257. The Heavenly Wrestler
258. Cleanse My Soul
259. Limping Forward
260. One Hundred Sixteen - My Lord Esau
261. Changed Lives
262. Changed Yet Unchanged
263. Succoth And Shechem
264. One Hundred Seventeen - A Shameful Incident
265. Home Is Where The Lord Is
266. Chaperone Your Children
267. It's A Wicked, Wicked World
268. The Righteous Also Sin
269. God Does Not Give Up
270. One Hundred Eighteen - Jacob's Sunset Years
271. Past Blessings Remembered
272. Purification And Commitment
273. A New But Old Revelation
274. Life Goes On
275. One Hundred Nineteen - The Generations Of Esau
276. A Double Account
277. Esau And Jacob
278. Godless Like Esau
279. Applying The Passage
280. One Hundred Twenty - Esau And Edom
281. History Of Edom
282. The Sins Of Edom
283. Growth Of Sin
284. The Way Of The Cross