Jonathan D. Sarfati. The Genesis Account. Second ed. Powder Springs GA: Creation Book Publishers, 2015. Print.

Over the years I have read a few books relating to or about the Book of Genesis, the first book in the Bible. This may be the book to top them all, at least for the first eleven chapters. The Genesis Account is very thorough. It covers the first eleven chapters and even the first four verses of Chapter 12 in great detail.

Nearly any significant word in the Hebrew is translated for us, often with the Septuagint (LXX) Greek. Sometimes related words are used to help illustrate the meaning. I am not exaggerating when I say that hundreds of commentaries and interpretations are referred to. Especially prominent are Rabbinical commentaries, Reformers, and scientists.

Yes, Sarfati clearly presents his own interpretations, but he lets others speak as well. Even if the reader does not agree with his understanding of a certain point, he understands the author’s position and normally sees the positions that others take.

Since Genesis is mostly history and not prophecy, the book does take a stand. With prophetic books like Ezekiel or Revelation, we may understand different ideas concerning them and appreciate them, but we also realize that we will not completely understand the prophecies until they have been fulfilled. Not so with Genesis. It is detailed history and genealogy.

Yes, different individuals may interpret historical events differently—see, for example, our review of Confederates in the Attic—but it is hard to deny that the Civil War occurred. So Sarfati devotes much of The Genesis Account to present evidence that these events did indeed occur.

Until Lyell, who consciously mocked the “diluvialists,” nearly everyone around the world regardless of religious belief or lack thereof believed in a relatively young earth and a worldwide flood. Sarfati presents much evidence for both. Evolutionists have too many unanswered questions. Sarfati is not afraid to ask them.

Here is one simple example. Sarfati documents about forty various historical sources that give a young age of the earth from China, India, Greece, Egypt, Babylon, Native Americans, as well as Jews and Christians. I recall years ago that the Babylonians had an age of the earth of about 100,000 years B.C. instead of the 4,000-6,000 B.C. dates of most ancient sources. Sarfati explains that was due to a misreading of the Babylonian numbers which are base sixty. (Our 360 degree circle originated there). When read according to base sixty, the Babylonian dating also corresponds to roughly 4,000 years B.C. for the earth’s beginning.

There is so much information in the book that it is hard to put down—a quality not typical of most commentaries. I recall reading an editor’s introduction to one of Isaac Newton’s books on Bible prophecy (yes, that Isaac Newton was a Bible scholar) which said that Newton was an Arrian who did not believe in the Trinity, though he identified with the Puritans. Sarfati documents that was not the case. Newton did question whether a few parts of the Bible were canonical (notably I John 5:7 KJV, which nearly all serious scholars today say was added later) but this book quotes some writings of Newton which show his orthodoxy on the doctrine of the Trinity.

Yes, from ancient Babylon to some of the most recent discoveries in physics and genetics, Sarfati demonstrates how it all reflects what the first quarter of the Book of Genesis tells us. He mentions D. Russell Humphreys a few times, for example. I confess that no one can say Sarfati is 100% accurate. His interpretation of Nephilim (Genesis 6:4) is weird—but so are nearly everyone else’s. So what else is new? That 2014 film about Noah showed a much weirder idea…

There is a lot to absorb, possibly even to re-read, but there is a lot to remind the reader that God is truly awesome.