Jesus in the Book of Genesis

Here are 23 instances in the Book of Genesis that prophesy, foreshadow, and point to Jesus.

1. Seed of a Woman

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. – Gen 3:15

Fullfillment:

But when the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons – Gal 4:4-5

He will bruise Satan’s head

Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same nature, that through death he might destroy him who has the power of death, that is, the devil – Heb 2:14

He who commits sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. – 1 John 3:8

2. The bodily ascension to heaven illustrated

Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him. – Gen 5:24

Fullfillment:

So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. – Mark 16:19

3. The God of Shem will be the Son of Shem

He also said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem! Let Canaan be his slave. May God expand Japheth, and may he dwell among the tents of Shem; and let Canaan be his slave” – Gen 9:26-27

Fullfillment:

the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech, – Luke 3:36

4. Seed of Abraham will bless all nations

 I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. All the families of the earth will find blessing in you. – Gen 12:3

Fullfillment:

Scripture, which saw in advance that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, foretold the good news to Abraham, saying, “Through you shall all the nations be blessed. – Gal 3:8

You are the children of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your ancestors when he said to Abraham, ‘In your offspring all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ For you first, God raised up his servant and sent him to bless you by turning each of you from your evil ways.” – Acts 3:25-26

5. The Promise made to Abraham’s Seed

The Lord appeared to Abram and said: To your descendants I will give this land. So Abram built an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him. – Gen 12:7

Fullfillment:

Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his descendant. It does not say, “And to descendants,” as referring to many, but as referring to one, “And to your descendant,” who is Christ. – Gal 3:16

Note: Descendant: literally, “and to his seed.” The Hebrew, as in Gn 12:7; 15:18; 22:17–18, is a collective singular, traditionally rendered as a plural, descendants, but taken by Paul in its literal number to refer to Christ as descendant of Abraham.

6. A priest after the order of Melchizedek

Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine. He was a priest of God Most High. – Gen 14:18

Fullfillment:

where Jesus has entered on our behalf as forerunner, becoming high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. – Heb 6:20

7. King of Peace and Righteousness

Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine. He was a priest of God Most High. – Gen 14:18

Fullfillment:

And Abraham apportioned to him “a tenth of everything.” His name first means righteous king, and he was also “king of Salem,” that is, king of peace. – Heb 7:2

Note: The messianic blessings of righteousness and peace are foreshadowed in the names “Melchizedek” and “Salem.”

8. The Last Supper foreshadowed

Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine. He was a priest of God Most High. – Gen 14:18

Fullfillment:

The Lord’s Supper. While they were eating, Jesus took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and giving it to his disciples said, “Take and eat; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed on behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, from now on I shall not drink this fruit of the vine until the day when I drink it with you new in the kingdom of my Father.” – Matt 26:26-29

9. Seed of Isaac

God replied: Even so, your wife Sarah is to bear you a son, and you shall call him Isaac. It is with him that I will maintain my covenant as an everlasting covenant and with his descendants after him. – Gen 17:19

But God said to Abraham: Do not be distressed about the boy or about your slave woman. Obey Sarah, no matter what she asks of you; for it is through Isaac that descendants will bear your name. – Gen 21:12

Fullfillment:

nor are they all children of Abraham because they are his descendants; but “It is through Isaac that descendants shall bear your name.” – Rom 9:7

10. Cross Foreshadowed

So Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac, while he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two walked on together – Gen 22:6

Fullfillment:

and carrying the cross himself he went out to what is called the Place of the Skull, in Hebrew, Golgotha. – John 19:17

11. The Lamb of God promised

“My son,” Abraham answered, “God will provide the sheep for the burnt offering.” Then the two walked on together. – Gen 22:8

Fullfillment:

John the Baptist’s Testimony to Jesus.  The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. – John 1:29

12. As Isaac’s seed, will bless all nations

and in your descendants all the nations of the earth will find blessing, because you obeyed my command. – Gen 22:18

Fullfillment:

Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his descendant. It does not say, “And to descendants,” as referring to many, but as referring to one, “And to your descendant,” who is Christ. – Gal 3:16

13. The Seed of Isaac promised as the Redeemer

The Lord appeared to him and said: Do not go down to Egypt, but camp in this land wherever I tell you. Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you and bless you; for to you and your descendants I will give all these lands, in fulfillment of the oath that I swore to your father Abraham. I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky, and I will give them all these lands, and in your descendants all the nations of the earth will find blessing— this because Abraham obeyed me, keeping my mandate, my commandments, my ordinances, and my instructions. – Gen 26:2-5

Fullfillment:

of whom it was said, “Through Isaac descendants shall bear your name.” – Heb 11:18

14. The Bridge to heaven

 Then he had a dream: a stairway rested on the ground, with its top reaching to the heavens; and God’s angels were going up and down on it. – Gen 28:12

Fullfillment:

And he said to him, “Amen, amen, I say to you, you will see the sky opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” – John 1:51

15. The Seed of Jacob

 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and through them you will spread to the west and the east, to the north and the south. In you and your descendants all the families of the earth will find blessing. – Gen 28:14

Fullfillment:

 the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor, – Luke 3:34

16. The time of His coming

The scepter shall never depart from Judah,
or the mace from between his feet,
Until tribute comes to him,
and he receives the people’s obedience. – Gen 49:10

Fullfillment:

And Joseph too went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David that is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. While they were there, the time came for her to have her child, and she gave birth to her firstborn son. – Luke 2:4-7

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, – Gal 4:4

17. The Seed of Judah

The scepter shall never depart from Judah,
or the mace from between his feet,
Until tribute comes to him,
and he receives the people’s obedience. – Gen 49:10

Fullfillment:

 the son of Amminadab, the son of Admin, the son of Arni, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah, – Luke 3:33

18. Called Shiloh or One Sent

The scepter shall never depart from Judah,
or the mace from between his feet,
Until tribute comes to him,
and he receives the people’s obedience. – Gen 49:10

Fullfillment:

Now this is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ. – John 17:3

19. Messiah to come before Judah lost identity

The scepter shall never depart from Judah,
or the mace from between his feet,
Until tribute comes to him,
and he receives the people’s obedience. – Gen 49:10

Fullfillment:

So the chief priests and the Pharisees convened the Sanhedrin and said, “What are we going to do? This man is performing many signs. If we leave him alone, all will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our land and our nation.” But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing, nor do you consider that it is better for you that one man should die instead of the people, so that the whole nation may not perish.” He did not say this on his own, but since he was high priest for that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, and not only for the nation, but also to gather into one the dispersed children of God. – John 11:47-52

20. Unto Him shall the obedience of the people be

The scepter shall never depart from Judah,
or the mace from between his feet,
Until tribute comes to him,
and he receives the people’s obedience. – Gen 49:10

Fullfillment:

I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. These also I must lead, and they will hear my voice, and there will be one flock, one shepherd. – John 10:16

21. Joseph prefigured Jesus

 Even though you meant harm to me, God meant it for good, to achieve this present end, the survival of many people.  – Gen 50:20

Fullfillment:

This man, delivered up by the set plan and foreknowledge of God, you killed, using lawless men to crucify him. But God raised him up, releasing him from the throes of death, because it was impossible for him to be held by it. – Acts 2:23-24

22. Foreshadowing the Messiah’s Sacrifice for Sin

The Lord God made for the man and his wife garments of skin, with which he clothed them. – Gen 3:21

Fullfillment:

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. – John 3:16

In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins. – 1 John 4:10

He himself bore our sins in his body upon the cross, so that, free from sin, we might live for righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. – 1 Pet 2:24

23. The door of the Ark

Then the Lord said to Noah: Go into the ark, you and all your household, for you alone in this generation have I found to be righteous before me. – Gen 7:1

Fullfillment:

I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. – John 10:9