Expositions of Holy Scripture: Genesis

Expositions of Holy Scripture: Genesis gathers Alexander Maclaren’s selected sermons from the opening creation narrative through the death of Joseph. Rather than commenting on every verse, Maclaren chooses passages that reveal the major spiritual movements of Genesis: creation, the entrance and growth of sin, judgment and preservation, covenant, the life of faith, divine guidance, testing, providence, reconciliation, and hope. The volume is especially strong in its sustained treatment of Abraham and in its later series on Joseph.

The opening expositions begin with Genesis 1:26–2:3 and humanity made in the image of God. Maclaren emphasizes God as Creator and the dignity and responsibility of human life under Him. Genesis 3 then receives direct treatment through the entrance of sin and the loss of Eden. The following sermons on Cain, Enoch, Noah, the flood, and the covenant of Genesis 9 trace the widening consequences of sin while also showing divine judgment, preservation, and mercy.

Noah becomes a significant early example of faithful life amid a corrupt society. Maclaren develops the meaning of walking with God, obedience before visible fulfillment, deliverance through judgment, and the covenant sign given after the flood. These passages introduce a pattern that continues through the patriarchal narratives: faith rests upon what God has said before circumstances make the promise easy to see.

Abraham occupies the largest sustained section of the volume. Beginning with the call in Genesis 12, Maclaren follows Abraham’s departure, pilgrimage, worship, choices, battles, covenant, waiting, intercession, and testing. Genesis 15 receives special attention through God’s covenant promise and Abraham’s faith being counted for righteousness. Maclaren repeatedly describes Abraham as the man of faith, showing faith not as a momentary emotion but as a life of going forward, waiting, failing, learning, and returning to dependence upon God.

The testing of Abraham in Genesis 22 becomes a climactic study of trust. Isaac represents the promised future, so the command concerning him appears to place God’s promise and God’s command in conflict. Maclaren treats Abraham’s obedience as faith that trusts God beyond its ability to understand the means of fulfillment. The name Jehovah-Jireh then becomes a statement of divine provision discovered in the path of obedience.

Jacob’s story is treated through Bethel, Mahanaim, prayer, wrestling, and the return to an earlier vow. Maclaren uses these passages to show the long process by which God deals with a divided and self-reliant person. Genesis 32 in particular joins fear, prayer, divine encounter, and transformation as Jacob learns that blessing cannot finally be secured through manipulation or natural strength.

The final large section follows Joseph from the dreams of Genesis 37 through betrayal, imprisonment, exaltation, reunion, and death. Maclaren repeatedly emphasizes divine providence working through human wrongdoing without making evil good. Joseph’s suffering, faithfulness in obscurity, rise to authority, and reconciliation with his brothers show a purpose larger than the intentions of any individual actor.

Genesis 45 receives substantial treatment through recognition and reconciliation. Joseph becomes both pardoner and preserver, refusing revenge and interpreting his history through God’s overruling purpose. The final chapters develop Jacob’s retrospective view of divine shepherding and Joseph’s faith concerning Israel’s future. His command concerning his bones becomes a final expression of confidence in God’s promise beyond his own lifetime.

The volume addresses readers seeking exposition of Genesis, creation and the Fall, Noah, Abraham’s life of faith, God’s covenants, Genesis 12–22, Jacob’s spiritual formation, Joseph and providence, forgiveness and reconciliation, and the practical meaning of trusting God when His promise is not yet visible.