Genesis 11:10 This is the account of Shem. Two years after the flood, when Shem, was 100 years old, he became the father of Arphaxad.
Genealogy is important to God. I am not sure why it is so important to him, but throughout the Bible we see God keeping track of who lived where and when. In this part of Scripture, we are given the genealogical record of Abram. One might say this is important to show the history of Jesus, and I would agree. But, I find it interesting that we are given the ages of these men, their births and deaths. They can be accounted for in history.
We can be assured God knows us. He is concerned about our past, where we are from, and about our future, where we are going. He has said that our ancestry, our heritage, affects who we are today. We are defined by it. In Numbers 14:18 he says that he is slow to anger and abounding in love, a theme found multiple times in both the Old and New Testaments. Yet he does not leave the guilty go unpunished; he punishes the children for the sins of the parents to the third and fourth generations. But, he shows love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments.
A and K, learn your heritage. Your spiritual strengths and weaknesses are derived from it. You can change the direction of its affects, its curse or its blessing, by the way you live for God (read chapter 18 of Ezekiel. Verse 3 says The souls that sin is the one that dies). I believe the church minimizes the affect that our past plays in our spiritual struggles. Psychology talks about the affects it plays in our lives and relationships, and the Bible shows it to be true, especially spiritually. Daughters, your heritage matters. Be thankful for and carry on the good traits and make right the bad. Give to the next generation a blessing of righteousness, for the things you are doing now matters to them.
~Dad
No comments:
Post a Comment