Genesis

By reading through the whole book of Genesis I have picked up certain themes;

1. God has a plan. Ever since creation, God had everything together. I know this is a bold claim seeing as we screwed up in the Garden of Eden and everything got all crappy. But God knew exactly what to do as soon as Adam and Eve did it. And he knew exactly what to do once Cain killed Abel; He knew exactly what to do when Noah was the only righteous person left in the world. And it was by no mistake that he told Abraham he was going to bless him and (this is important!!) through Abraham, God promised to be a blessing to the rest of the world. God had this whole thing air tight. And he knew from the beginning that our freewill would keep us from being perfect and would become self destructive. But, He was going to bring redemption--He was going to bring a blessing to the world through Abraham.
2. God is faithful and keeps his promises He keeps his original promise to Abraham about filling the land with offspring and blessing him with livestock and possessions. We see this promise through the following generations after Abraham all the way to Joseph. Also, even though he isn't completely finished with the promise of the Hebrews living in the land of Canaan, the promise is being passed from generation to generation and they believe that it will come to pass. 
3. God cares for the human race. God is trying to bless Abraham and his descendants because he wants to restore a right relationship with his creation. He picked Abraham because he was righteous and obedient and 'called upon the name of the Lord'. which leads me to my next point:
4. God wants people to 'be righteous'. Now there is no God given law for mankind at this point so I use the phrase 'be righteous' as a loose meaning for having a moral conduct--not being wicked. Certain times in Genesis people trust God and it is counted as righteousness, or they act righteously and it pleased God. But on the other hand some people or whole cities acted wickedly and God reacts by killing them or wiping them off the face of the earth. (I would also like to note that when God did these things it wasn't considered unfair of him to do so) So God created us to be righteous and he doesn't like it when we are not righteous.
5. God wants to take care of his creation. God is constantly taking care of people and looking out for them. For example, he wants to bless Abraham and through Abraham, He wants to be a blessing to the rest of the world. Examples of him taking care of people include: God protected Lot from being wiped out with his city; God protected Jacob from Esau by means of escaping to Laban (note here Jacob probably did not deserve this protection); God protected Joseph and his family by giving them the means to get food in a famine; God also protected Joseph while he was a slave and gave him dream interpretations and blessed his work no matter where Joseph lived.
6. God has a crazy way of balancing human's freewill and his will for the human race (that i still don't understand). He is constantly talking and engaged with his people and constantly saying, 'I will be with you' but He also lets things happen through people instead of doing things himself. (I'm not talking about the plagues in Egypt yet cause that is in Exodus=P)
7. God is forgiving. Even though God likes it when people are righteous and do not act wickedly, He still works with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when they make mistakes (like lie about who they are married to). It is an example of how God is patient with humans--He understands the difficulty for us to achieve perfection but he still wants us to strive to 'be a blessing and be blessed'

How will I personally apply what I have learned?

 This is a tough question to mull over in my head. I am torn between personal application and viewing the text as the original reader (most likely the Israelites at Mt. Sinai). I know this book's design challenges a whole nation's mindset and changes how they view themselves; are they a creation from the many gods of Egypt? or do they come from this one god of their ancestor's;  Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? Are they simply slaves, viewed as nothing more than cheap labor? Or are they a people group with a rich heritage and a faithful,eternal god who's hand is in everything that occurs in their life's story? Can they know this god personally like their forefathers did?...
 To say the least, the Hebrews have quite a bite to chew. And honestly, so does the rest of the world.  I have heard it said before how the Hebrew slaves are a wonderful symbolism for people today--we are all slaves to something weather it be our work, our relationships, our leisurely activities, you name it, we can be a slave to it. But just like the slaves in Egypt, we have a deliverer who can take us out of our unhealthy bond to that something.
 But what do we do once we are free? Now, finally, we are like the Hebrews in the desert. Which leads me back to the beginning of my personal application; I feel like the Hebrews in the desert, I have read the book of Genesis.Through reading the whole book, I'm starting to grasp the personality of this one true God, and now I have observed his consistent character traits. So now comes my new-found knowledge...are you ready for it? The one thing that I am going to take away from the book of Genesis and attempt to personally apply for the rest of my life!?
 Mistake and forgiveness. By reading the countless stories in Genesis about human mistakes and forgiveness I realized how often people make mistakes. And how often forgiveness is required to keep the world turning. I'm not just talking about forgiveness by God. Humans forgive too. And without that special ingredient to the recipe of life, God's redemptive plan for the world takes 10 steps backwards. If we don't forgive our family, our friends, and other nations, we would have only burnt bridges with nowhere to advance. As a world joined by one creator, we need to be united.
 So ending this long thought process, people make mistakes, duh! But in order for the human race to 'be righteous' we must forgive each other's mistakes and move on.
And I'm guessing the 'moving on' will come in the next books=D So I'm so excited to read the rest of the bible now!!

xoxo