Genealogies

This past Sunday, I had the privilege to preach Genesis 5. Genesis 5 is the first genealogy or list of names in the Bible. Genesis 5 links Adam, the first human created, to Noah, the man who lived during the great flood and survived by God's grace on a large boat. Most of Genesis 5 is a list of names, 10 generations of names beginning with the dad Adam and working its way down to the final Dad, Noah. This chapter can be a challenge to understand. And even much harder a challenge to grow in faith from. Which means it is also a challenge to preach and teach through. But I have found 3 ways to understand and teach from the genealogies in the Bible.

The first helpful way to work through and learn from a genealogy is to notice and dig deep into the extra words that a genealogy adds. Many genealogies in the Bible, add a sentence o two around a particular name on the list. In the case of Genesis 5, this genealogy adds important points about image to Adam, truths about walking with God to Enoch, and a piece of dialogue to the birth of Noah. Catching these extra words to the list of names is very important for the theology of the passage. In the case of Genesis 5, the passage wants the reader to catch the flow of the image through the generations, the righteous life in a world of death and the hope that is to come from the generation of Noah. A few of the genealogy list in the Bible add extra words or descriptors like Genesis 5. This is the first helpful tool in understanding the value and theology the list of names are supposed to produce.

The second way to dig deeper into a list of names, is to study a particular person in the list of names. Many of the genealogy list in the Bible include people that have stories about them recorded in other places. For example, if I was going to teach from the genealogy list in Matthew 1 (Abraham to Jesus), I would focus and teach on the 4 women who are listed in the chapter. Thinking about each of these 4 women (all of whom have stories in the Bible about them) would be a good place to find the theology of the passage. In Mathew 1 the 4 women have sin issues, are poor, broken and hurting, are Gentiles, and all need redemption. These 4 women point to the type of person that Jesus came to save and all 4 of these women were in the line and genealogy of Jesus. Understanding the life of these 4 woman can help point to the truths the list of names is getting at. Why are these particular names included?, is a great question that helps the list of names come alive. A second way to find deep theology then from a list of names in the Bible, going form one person to the next, is to study a particular person or a group of people from the list.

A third way to find the deep theology of a genealogy in the Bible, is to find the 2 people the genealogy connects. For example, the genealogy in Genesis 11 is an important genealogy becasue it links Shem to Abram. Shem is the son of Noah and thanks to Genesis 5, we know Noah is a son (many generations removed) of Adam. The final name in Genesis 11 is Abram. Abram is the man God chose from among the pagans to fulfill his plan of redemption. Abram is the father of God's people and the one who ultimately leads to the life of Jesus. Genesis 11 links Adam, through Shem down to Abram. This linking is critical to understand because it reflects on God's choice and the human nature in that choice. So understanding the Genealogy in Genesis 11 can be found in understanding the importance of the link between Adam/Shem to the man chosen by God, Abram. Working through this link, digging deeper into the connection and the importance of the connection, and then tracing the theological argument in the connection, helps bring to the surface the importance and thrust of the genealogy. This third tool of linking people in a list of names can be done in many of the genealogy list in the Bible (and doing so with many of the list will begin to point to a pattern of God's choice and the nature of man).

So whether you focus on a particular person in the genealogy. Or whether you connect the people who are linked by the genealogy. Or whether you study the extra words and phrases that are added to the genealogy. A genealogy and list of names in the Bible is a place that truth and theology can be discovered. The many different list of names throughout the Bible are not passages we can just throw away or skip over. As Jesus states, "Ever single word in the Bible is important and must be studied". This means that even a list of names and genealogy can be important for our faith and life in Christ. So what have you learned from the many different genealogies in the Bible?