Good morning, happy Monday and welcome to June. The ushering in of June is both exciting and scary for me. It means that I only have about 30 day until I leave for Asia. In fact, I will be gone for almost the entire month of July. I mean, how do you even pack to be gone for an entire month? Especially to a whole different country? Regardless, it’s very exciting. What a trip it will be, especially when it’s to serve others through love.
This morning we walk right into Genesis chapter 5. Genesis is a fascinating book in itself because it is truly a book of firsts. I mean how do you write about something when nothing existed before it? Think about it. The book of Genesis has no precursor, no past, nothing. It is the beginning. As a result, we see today something that is necessary to document a true beginning. A genealogy.
God goes to great lengths to make sure that we know every single step in the history of the people He uses in His Word. Nowadays we have ancestors.com and other sites that we can use to trace our lineage, but God was way ahead of the game and He knew the importance of providing us with factual and proper genealogies. God is very thorough indeed.
Did you know that there are over 25 different genealogies listed in the Bible? Wow, that’s a lot. Why so many? They must be important for God to put so many in there right? Well, yes. You see, the genealogies help substantiate the Bible’s historical accuracy. These lists confirm the physical existence of real people in the Bible. By knowing family histories, we understand that the Bible is far from a mere story or a parable for how we should conduct our lives. It is authentic, historical truth.
What’s funny about these genealogies is how we treat them. Yawn….here it comes, another long list of names I can’t pronounce…quick, turn the page! Come on, you know it’s true, it is with me too. As soon as I read the first “begat” I tune out. But “All Scripture is God-breathed” (1 Tim 3:16) and therefore even the long somewhat boring genealogies are important to God and therefore should be important to us.
Speaking of ancestors.com, I’ve never done one but if I did do you think it would go all the way back to Adam? Ha, I somehow very seriously doubt it. But the genealogy we see this morning does just that. From Adam, the first man directly created by God, to Seth to Enosh to Kenan to Mahalel, to Jared to Enoch to Methusaleh to Lamech to Noah. And Noah of course ushers in the flood and the destruction of the world by water and then mankind starts over. What I love about God’s genealogies is that they are very thorough and very accurate. God leaves nothing to supposition, His Word is not just a spiritual book but a very accurate historical book.
As you read through chapter 5 today, don’t just skim through and discount all of the names, but see them as lives. Lives just like yours and mine. Lives lived for God, lives spent searching for God’s plan and will within the walls of their existence. I praise God for His exact history and accounting. Because of this thorough accounting we know the exact genealogy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. My Savior goes all the way back to Adam. (Luke 3:23-38) And I know because God clearly tells me through the exact genealogies right here in His Holy an true Word.
Praise God for His Word and the lives contained within.
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