Theme Of Patience In Genesis

Throughout the Book of Genesis, there is a subtle but recurring theme of patience. This theme appears in many stories within Genesis, including those of Adam, Abraham and even God himself. In Genesis, patience is not only a means through which God tests people, but also an important part of nature which goes hand in hand with God’s will.

The theme of patience begins with God and the creation. The biblical view of God is all-powerful and all-knowing; God himself asks Abraham, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” (18:14) But yet, the creation is not immediate; Genesis says that God created the world in 6 days, and “blessed the seventh day... because on it God rested from all his work” (2:3). I would argue that the time God takes in creation reflects his own patience. God is not in a rush, because creation is imminent and part of his will.

God’s patience is also demonstrated in the story of Eden, when he tells Adam and Eve that they may “eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” (2:16-17). By doing this, God gives them the responsibility of being patient and restraining themselves. They fail this test. Yet, when God sees how disobedient his creation is, he does not decide to give up on his creation entirely, but instead he makes them deal with the consequences of their actions. In this way, the impatience of

When God promises Abraham a reward, he responds by asking “how [he is] to know that [he] shall possess it?” (15:8) In addition, Abraham is told that his offspring “will be afflicted for four hundred years,” but that “afterward they shall come out with great possessions” (15:13-14). For the covenant to be fulfilled, Abraham must trust God and be patient. The same idea is present in Isaac’s story, when he “[pleads] with the Lord for his wife, because she [is] barren,” but waits 20 years for God to respond to his plea