June 2025 – Page 2 – jeffersonvann

Genesis 6

Genesis 6

Genesis 6:1 It happened when humanity began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them.

Genesis 6:2 Sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose.

Genesis 6:3 Then Yahveh said, “My Breath will not stay with humanity permanently, since he is easily misled[1] flesh: his days will be 120 years.”

Genesis 6:4 The Nephilim were in the land in those days, and also later, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they gave birth to their children. These were the mighty ones who were ancient, famous men.

Genesis 6:5 Yahveh saw that the wickedness of man was great in the land, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

Genesis 6:6 And Yahveh was sorry that he had made man on the land, and it grieved him to his heart.

Genesis 6:7 So Yahveh said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the ground, man and living things and moving things and birds of the sky, for I am sorry that I have made them.”

Genesis 6:8 But Noah found favor[2] in the eyes of Yahveh.

Genesis 6:9 These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God.

Genesis 6:10 And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Genesis 6:11 Now the land was corrupt in God’s sight, and the land was filled with violence.

Genesis 6:12 And God saw the land, and noticed that it was corrupt, because every flesh had corrupted his way in the land.

Genesis 6:13 And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of every flesh, because the land is filled with violence through them. Notice, I will destroy them with the land.

Genesis 6:14 Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark and cover it inside and out with pitch.

Genesis 6:15 This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark 300 cubits, its breadth 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits.

Genesis 6:16 Make a roof for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above, and set the door of the ark in its side. Make it with lower, second, and third decks.

Genesis 6:17 Because notice, I will bring a flood of waters upon the land to destroy every flesh in which is the breath of life under the sky. Everything that is on the land will die.

Genesis 6:18 Now I will build my covenant with you, and you will come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.

Genesis 6:19 And from everything alive of all flesh, you will bring two of every type into the ark to keep them alive with you. There will be a male and a female.

Genesis 6:20 Of the birds according to their kinds, and of the living things according to their kinds, of every moving thing of the ground, according to its kind, two of every type will come in to you in order to keep them alive.

Genesis 6:21 Also take with you every sort of food that is eaten and store it up. It will serve as food for you and for them.”

6:22 Noah did so; he did all that God commanded him.

[1] שָׁגָג = be easily misled.

[2] חֵן = favor. Genesis 6:8; 18:3; 19:19; 30:27; 32:5; 33:8, 10, 15; 34:11; 39:4, 21; 47:25, 29; 50:4.

Genesis 6 quotes:

“According to Genesis, the Ark built by Noah was approximately 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high (Genesis 6:15). This results in an inside capacity of around 1.5 million cubic feet. Remarkably, it has been shown scientifically that it would have been practically impossible to capsize the Ark. Isn’t this a rather large vessel for eight people and some local animals, if it was only going to be a local flood?”

Forlow, Stephen Bradley. Five Evidences for a Global Flood. Institute for Creation Research, 2011. p. 13.

“This period in early civilization is called the age of conscience. There was no outward restraint upon the conduct of man, either directly from God or internally from human society. Each individual could do basically as he pleased. Thus did God test man to reveal what was in his heart. Genesis 6:5 states the result of this examination: “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth.””

Flint, V. Paul. Strangers & Pilgrims : A Study of Genesis. 1st ed., Loizeaux Bros, 1988. p. 50.

“One of the most amazing facts revealed by paleontology (the study of fossilized remains of creatures which inhabited the earth in a former age) is that nearly all modern animals were once represented by larger ancestors. One thinks of the mammoths and cave bears, giant cockroaches and dragonflies and huge reptiles like the dinosaurs. Along with these are occasionally found fossilized giant human footprints, suggesting indeed that “there were giants in the earth in those days” (Genesis 6:4). Ancient traditions seem to recall a day when giants were known on the earth, and it is only a superficial sophistication which ignores the possibility that these may contain primitive reflections of the real events and characters described historically in the Genesis records.”

Morris, Henry M. The Beginning of the World. Accent Books, 1977. p. 91.

THE DAY IS COMING – jeffersonvann

Maranatha Daily Devotional – May 16, 2015
Maranatha Daily Devotional – May 17, 2015
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Maranatha Daily Devotional – Tuesday, January 16, 2018
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Tuesday, January 5, 2021
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Wednesday, January 17, 2018

Maranatha Daily Devotional – Thursday, August 15, 2024

GENESIS in Jeff’s library

Genesis 5

Genesis 5

Genesis 5:1 This is the book of the history of Adam and his generation. When God created a human, he made him in the likeness of God.

Genesis 5:2 He created them male and female, and he blessed them and named them humanity when they were created.

Genesis 5:3 When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth.

Genesis 5:4 After he fathered Seth, the days of Adam were 800 years; and he had other sons and daughters.

Genesis 5:5 So all the days that Adam lived were 930 years, and he died.

Genesis 5:6 When Seth had lived 105 years, he fathered Enosh.

Genesis 5:7 After he fathered Enosh, Seth lived 807 years and had other sons and daughters.

Genesis 5:8 So all the days of Seth were 912 years, and he died.

Genesis 5:9 When Enosh had lived 90 years, he fathered Kenan.

Genesis 5:10 After he fathered Kenan, Enosh lived 815 years and had other sons and daughters.

Genesis 5:11 So all the days of Enosh were 905 years, and he died.

Genesis 5:12 After Kenan had lived 70 years, he fathered Mahalalel.

Genesis 5:13 Kenan lived after he fathered Mahalalel 840 years and had other sons and daughters.

Genesis 5:14 So all the days of Kenan were 910 years, and he died.

Genesis 5:15 After Mahalalel had lived 65 years, he fathered Jared.

Genesis 5:16 Mahalalel lived after he fathered Jared 830 years and had other sons and daughters.

Genesis 5:17 So all the days of Mahalalel were 895 years, and he died.

Genesis 5:18 After Jared had lived 162 years, he fathered Enoch.

Genesis 5:19 Jared lived after he fathered Enoch 800 years and had other sons and daughters.

Genesis 5:20 So all the days of Jared were 962 years, and he died.

Genesis 5:21 After Enoch had lived 65 years, he fathered Methuselah.

Genesis 5:22 Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters.

Genesis 5:23 Thus, all the days of Enoch were 365 years.

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

Genesis 5:25 After Methuselah had lived 187 years, he fathered Lamech.

Genesis 5:26 Methuselah lived after he fathered Lamech for 782 more years and had other sons and daughters.

Genesis 5:27 So all the days of Methuselah were 969 years, and he died.

Genesis 5:28 After Lamech had lived 182 years, he fathered a son,

Genesis 5:29 called him Noah and said, “Out of the ground that Yahveh has cursed, this one will bring us relief from our work and the painful toil of our hands.”

Genesis 5:30 Lamech lived after he fathered Noah 595 more years and had other sons and daughters.

Genesis 5:31 So all the days of Lamech were 777 years, and he died.

Genesis 5:32 After Noah was 500 years old, Noah fathered Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Genesis 5 quotes:

“The opening verses of Genesis 5 take us back to the creation of man himself by using the language of 1:26-28. Just as God created man in His own image and likeness, so also Adam became the father of a son “in his own likeness, in his own image” (5:3). Such proverbs as “like begets like” and “like father, like son” gain a great measure of their power from biblical texts like these.”

Youngblood, Ronald F. How It All Began: A Bible Commentary for Laymen. GL Regal Books, 1980. p. 84.

“The Bible addresses the broad themes of redemptive history through the various sets of genealogies. For example, Genesis 5 records Adam’s genealogy—ten generations from Adam to Noah. Genesis 11 records Shem’s genealogy—ten generations from Shem to Abraham. Together, these genealogies reveal the order from Adam to Abraham, delineating how the Messiah would ultimately come as a descendant of Abraham. The uniqueness of the genealogies in Genesis 5 and Genesis 11 lies in the fact that they include a complete list of each person’s birth, age at procreation, and life span even though they lived four thousand to six thousand years ago. The completeness of the genealogies affirms that God’s redemptive work did not cease in any generation, but continued throughout history.”

Park, Abraham. Genesis Genealogies : God’s Administration in the History of Redemption (Book 1). Periplus Editions, 2016. p. 38.

“You may prepare a possibility proposition. This will be a statement which gives an attainable goal in a person’s life. It will express an optimistic outlook. The possibility proposition of Genesis 5:24 would be: You can have a closer walk with God.”

Bryson, Harold T. Building Sermons to Meet People’s Needs. Broadman Press, 1980. p. 65.

THE MAN WHO WAS TAKEN AWAY – jeffersonvann

GENESIS in Jeff’s library

Genesis 4

Genesis 4

Genesis 4:1 Now Adam was intimate with Eve his wife, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain, saying, “I have gotten a man with the help of Yahveh.”

Genesis 4:2 And again, she gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel shepherded sheep, and Cain was a worker of the ground.

Genesis 4:3 In the course of time Cain brought to Yahveh an offering of the fruit of the ground,

Genesis 4:4 and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And Yahveh had regard for Abel and his offering,

Genesis 4:5 but for Cain and his offering, he had no regard. So, Cain was very angry, and his face fell.

Genesis 4:6 Yahveh said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen?

Genesis 4:7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must control it.”

Genesis 4:8 Cain called for Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose against his brother Abel and killed him.

Genesis 4:9 Then Yahveh asked Cain, “Where is Abel, your brother?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother’s watcher?”

Genesis 4:10 And Yahveh said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground.

Genesis 4:11 So now you are prohibited from using the ground, which has opened its mouth to drink your brother’s blood from your hand.

Genesis 4:12 When you try to work the ground, it will no longer produce what it can for you. You will be a fugitive and a wanderer in the land.”

Genesis 4:13 Cain told Yahveh, “My guilt is greater than I can carry.

Genesis 4:14 Notice, you have driven me today away from the ground, from your face I will be hidden also. I will be a fugitive and a wanderer in the land, and whoever finds me will kill me.”

Genesis 4:15 Then Yahveh said to him, “Not so! If anyone kills Cain, he will receive revenge seven times.” And Yahveh put a mark on Cain so that anyone who found him should not attack him.

Genesis 4:16 Then Cain left Yahveh’s presence and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

Genesis 4:17 Cain was intimate with his wife, and she conceived and gave birth to Enoch. When he built a city, he called the city’s name after the name of his son, Enoch.

Genesis 4:18 To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad fathered Mehujael, Mehujael fathered Methushael, and Methushael fathered Lamech.

Genesis 4:19 And Lamech took two wives. The name of the one was Adah, and the other was Zillah.

Genesis 4:20 Adah gave birth to Jabal; he fathered those who lived in tents and raised livestock.

Genesis 4:21 His brother was Jubal; he fathered all who played the lyre and pipe.

Genesis 4:22 Zillah also bore Tubal-Cain; he was the forger of all instruments of bronze and iron. The sister of Tubal-Cain was Naamah.

Genesis 4:23 Lamech said to his wives: “Adah and Zillah, listen to my voice; you wives of Lamech, listen to what I say: I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for striking me.

Genesis 4:24 If Cain’s revenge is seven times, then Lamech’s is seventy-seven times.”

Genesis 4:25 And Adam was intimate with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son and called his name Seth, for she said, “God has provided for me another seed in place of Abel because Cain killed him.”

Genesis 4:26 To Seth also a son was born, and he called his name Enosh. At that time people began to call upon the name of Yahveh.

Genesis 4 quotes:

“As for the woman, she showed her hope when she named her firstborn “Cain,” a name that in the Hebrew conveyed her conviction, “I have given life to a man with the Lord’s help” (Genesis 4:1). I am impressed by Eve’s sense of partnership with God. She saw her role as a divine assignment, carrying on God’s breath of life. More than that, I hear her hope. She saw this child as the one who would strike the head of the serpent. By contrast, no special significance is given in the name of the second son, “Abel”; indeed, he is simply “Cain’s brother” (4:2).”

Kalas, J. Ellsworth. Genesis. Abingdon Press, 2011. p. 23.

“The way you feel and the way you view yourself, your relationships, and your circumstances are often indications of whether you are living to please yourself or living to please God (Genesis 4:6-7; Psalm 119:165; John 14:27, 15:10-11; Romans 14:17-18; II Corinthians 7:10; Philippians 4:6-7; I John 4:18-21).”

Broger, John C, and Biblical Counseling Foundation. Self-Confrontation: A Manual for In-Depth Discipleship : Based on the Old and New Testaments As the Only Authoritative Rule of Faith and Conduct. Biblical Counseling Foundation, 1991. p. 97.

“The story of Cain and Abel as well as the genealogy tucked into Genesis 4 are powerful reminders that though sin abounds, we can choose to be people who call on the name of the Lord. We do not have to allow sin to get the best of us.”

Feinberg, Margaret. Pursuing God’s Love: Participant’s Guide: Stories from the Book of Genesis. Zondervan, 2011. p. 37.

WORSHIP CULMINATED – jeffersonvann

Maranatha Daily Devotional – Monday, January 15, 2018

GENESIS in Jeff’s library

Genesis 3

Genesis 3

Genesis 3:1 Now the snake was cleverer than any other living thing of the field that Yahveh God had made. He asked the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You will not eat of any tree in the garden’?”

Genesis 3:2 And the woman said to the snake, “We are allowed to eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden,

Genesis 3:3 but God said, ‘You will not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you will not touch it, or else[1] you will die.'”

Genesis 3:4 But the snake said to the woman, “You will not become mortal and die.

Genesis 3:5 You see, God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Genesis 3:6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was pleasant to look at, and that the tree was craved to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her man who was with her, and he ate.

Genesis 3:7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves skirts.

Genesis 3:8 And they heard the sound of Yahveh God walking in the garden in the breeze of the day, and the man and his woman hid themselves from the presence of Yahveh God among the garden’s trees.

Genesis 3:9 But Yahveh God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”

Genesis 3:10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, so I hid myself.”

Genesis 3:11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I instructed you not to eat?”

Genesis 3:12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate.”

Genesis 3:13 Then Yahveh God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The snake deceived me, and I ate.”

Genesis 3:14 Yahveh God said to the snake, “Because you have done this, you are cursed above all livestock and all living things of the field; you will crawl on your belly, and you will eat dust all the days of your life.

Genesis 3:15 I will put hatred between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he will harm your head, and you will harm his heel.”

Genesis 3:16 To the woman, he said, “I will surely multiply your hardship in childbearing; in hardship you will give birth to[2] children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will have influence over you.”

Genesis 3:17 And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, and this is what I said, ‘You will not eat of it,’ the ground is cursed because of you; in hardship, you will eat of it all the days of your life;

Genesis 3:18 It will bring forth for you thorns and thistles, and you will eat the plants of the field.

Genesis 3:19 By the sweat of your face you will eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you will return.”

Genesis 3:20 The man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.

Genesis 3:21 And Yahveh God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.

Genesis 3:22 Then Yahveh God said, “Notice,[3] the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, or else he might reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live permanently-“[4]

Genesis 3:23 therefore Yahveh God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken.

Genesis 3:24 He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubs and a flaming sword that turned each way to prevent access to the tree of life.

[1]פֵּן = or else Genesis 3:3, 22; 11:4; 19:15, 17, 19; 24:6; 26:7, 9; 31:24, 31; 32:12; 38:11, 23; 42:4; 44:34; 45:11.

[2] יָלַד = give birth to, be born, father. Genesis 3:16; 4:1, 2, 17, 18, 20, 22, 25, 26; 5:3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 12, 13, 15, 16, 18, 19, 21, 22, 25, 26, 28, 30, 32; 6:1, 4, 10; 10:1, 8, 13, 15, 21, 24, 25, 26; 11:10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27; 16:1, 2, 11, 15, 16; 17:17, 19, 20, 21; 18:13; 19:37, 38; 20:17; 21:2, 3, 5, 7, 9; 22:20, 23, 24; 24:15, 24, 36, 47; 25:2, 3, 12, 19, 24, 26; 29:32, 33, 34, 35; 30:1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 10, 12, 17, 19, 20, 21, 23, 25, 39; 31:8, 43; 34:1; 35:16, 17, 26; 36:4, 5, 12, 14; 38:3, 4, 5, 27, 28; 40:20; 41:50; 44:27; 46:15, 18, 20, 22, 25, 27; 48:5, 6; 50:23.

[3] הֵן = notice. Genesis 3:22; 4:14; 11:6; 15:3; 19:34; 27:11, 37; 29:7; 30:34; 39:8; 44:8; 47:23.

[4] עוֹלָם = permanent, permanently, ancient, future. Genesis 3:22; 6:3, 4; 9:12, 16; 13:15; 17:7, 8, 13, 19; 21:33; 48:4; 49:26.

Genesis 3 quotes:

“Here in Genesis 3 the death of an animal to cover the man and the woman is a picture of what is to come, the first step of an entire institution of sacrifices that points us finally to the supreme sacrifice and what Jesus did to take away our sin and cover up our shame.”

Carson, D. A. The God Who Is There : Finding Your Place in God’s Story. Baker Books, 2010. p. 39.

“The higher critics attacked the books of Genesis and Revelation because the subtle serpent within them knew that no other books exposed him as much. If you want to know how the serpent came in and what his destiny will be, you need to read the first chapters of Genesis and the last chapters of Revelation. Revelation 12:9 mentions “the ancient serpent, he who is called the Devil and Satan.” The word “ancient” that describes the serpent refers to the time of Genesis 3. Therefore, if we did not have the books of Genesis and Revelation, the subtle serpent would not be fully exposed. Thus, the serpent invented the so-called modern criticism in an attempt to discredit these two books.

Lee, Witness. Life-Study of Genesis. 1st ed., Living Stream Ministry, 1987. p. 227.

” We therefore insist that Genesis 1 to 3 is a literal account of the creation of the world, its inhabitants, and man. It is a literal account of how sin and death and sorrow entered the race. It is a literal account of the strategies of Satan, of the curse of God on creation, and a literal account of God’s plan of redemption in the slaying of a substitute to atone for man’s sin (Genesis 3:21). To deny the literal account of creation is to destroy the reality of sin, and death, and sorrow. If the record of Genesis 3 is not literally true, then what explanation can we give for the fact of sin, disease, violence, death, destruction, and war? Then how can we account for the depravity of human nature? Then how do we know the records of the Gospel to be literally true?”

DeHaan, M. R. Genesis and Evolution. Zondervan, 1962. p. 33.

WILL YOUR WORK LAST- – jeffersonvann

the battling seeds – jeffersonvann

JOB’S HOPE – jeffersonvann

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GENESIS in Jeff’s library

FINDING YOUR ROOTS

FINDING YOUR ROOTS

1 Chronicles 1:1-4 NET.

¹ Adam, Seth, Enosh, ² Kenan, Mahalalel, Jered, ³ Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, ⁴ Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

We began reading 1 Chronicles this week and started with an always-exciting genealogical list. Since we have committed to reading through the Bible in eighteen months, I should have warned you about genealogical lists. We find several of them in the Bible. Consider this sermon your warning. You can also view it as special instructions for when you encounter such lists. They are not like the fine print in the instructions for a product you buy. You know, the fine print that the manufacturer has to include, but nobody reads?

I titled today’s sermon “Finding Your Roots” after the PBS series of the same name. I genuinely enjoy watching that show. I appreciate how Louis Gates Jr. reveals interesting facts about a celebrity’s family tree. Some of the Black guests discover they have slave ancestors, while some of the White guests find they had slave-owner ancestors. Others realize they have a king, a general, or a preacher in their lineage. Conversely, some uncover murderers, horse thieves, and deserters among their relatives. Some hear a mix of good and bad news. The show is fascinating because it teaches so much about history connected to real people and real families.

We should not be surprised that God provided us with so many genealogies in the Bible. He had the most important message ever to share through the pages of His word. However, He did not simply give us a bullet list of facts and philosophical ideas. Instead, He wrapped His message in the stories and everyday events from biblical times. He ensured that those who would listen to and read His word had a context that helped them see its significance. They could understand His story because it was part of their own story. The opposite was also true. Everyone could see how important they were to God because He revealed how their story was part of His story. In both the Old and New Testaments, the truth of God’s word is conveyed within the context of the history of His people.

Today’s short text reminds us that all roots are connected. If you go back far enough, everyone is related. Everyone’s family tree begins with Adam. He and Eve were my first parents and yours too. 1 Chronicles is all about David, the greatest king of the United Kingdom, not Britain, but Israel. So we would expect it to begin at David’s coronation. But that is not recorded until chapter eleven. The first ten chapters trace the history of God’s people from Adam to David, doing so primarily through genealogical lists.

God wanted the people of the United Kingdom under David to know that they were important to him, so he wrote their names down in his holy book. The book also included their stories—good and evil, famous and infamous. As we read these stories, we need to recognize that they are our stories, too. We may not trace our ancestry back to King David, but we could trace our lineage back to Father Adam. To make that point, the Holy Spirit began this book not in Jerusalem, but in Eden. Everyone’s story begins there. The spiritual message of 1 Chronicles is not about one ethnic group. It’s about God’s purpose for every nation and every language. The sons of Noah produced children from three major language groups all across the planet: the Semitic, the Hamitic, and the Indo-European. We’re all in there.

As we read through the genealogical lists, we often come across names that are hard for us to pronounce, even though they were not hard to pronounce by the people who named them. Names are root clues, clues to the culture of the owner. For example, the Hebrew word for God is El, short for Elohim. Lots of Hebrew names in these genealogies contain that name. It shows up in Eldad, Eleazar, Eli, Eliakim, Elihu, Eliphaz, Elisha, Ariel, Bethel, Daniel, Gabriel, Immanuel, Ishmael, Israel, Nathaniel – and these are just a small percentage. You will also find the name Yah – short for Yahveh in many Hebrew names. Yahveh is the proper name of the God of the Bible. Yah is in Jason, Jehu, Jesus, Joanna, John, Jonathan, and Joshua.

The deity names point to the people’s connection with God. Other names emphasize the connections they had within their families. Many Hebrew names contain the syllable ‘ab. Names like Abigail, Abihu, Abner, Absalom, Ahab, Joab, Moab, and Aholiab point to the father of the person named. The syllable ben is also in many names. It means son. It is found in Benjamin and Reuben. Lots of other names became place names, and people began naming themselves after that place.

The names appearing in genealogical lists serve as clues to the culture from which those people emerged. One way archaeologists authenticate a document or inscription they find is by comparing the included names. If the document contains personal or place names that don’t correspond with the period it is supposed to have been written in, that indicates the document may be a forgery. Many books written around the same time as biblical texts were excluded from the biblical canon because they were found to be inauthentic, and the names they included offered significant clues.

When we start doing our genealogical research, we are sometimes embarrassed by what we find. Every family seems to have some bad apples. But the biblical genealogies highlight a helpful truth. Roots are not prophecies. You don’t have to match your roots. You don’t have to follow in the footsteps of your father. As we examine the kings of Israel and Judah, we find that some kings established dynasties that turned away from the covenant with God and sought other gods. Yet, even in those dynasties, occasionally a king would emerge who did not walk after the pattern established by his ancestors. There were some good kings, like Asa, Hezekiah, and Josiah. They did not follow the bad examples set for them.

The lesson for all of us is that we are free to be nonconformists as well. If it is evil, and everybody is doing it, then we do not have to be like everybody. If we have alcoholics in our family, we do not have to drink alcohol. If we have horse thieves in our family tree, we do not have to become thieves.

As we read the Bible, we also discover that roots matter in both Testaments. Both have genealogies. In fact, the New Testament begins with the genealogy of Jesus. Matthew did his research and found that God had been at work in the family of Christ for millennia. Jesus descended from Abraham, the man to whom God promised that he would be a blessing to many nations and would father many nations. Jesus was going to be the ultimate fulfillment of those promises. Jesus descended from Jacob, a deceiver whom God blessed despite his character. God inspired him to become more than he was. Jesus descended from Ruth, a foreign woman who found grace in the eyes of Boaz, and in God’s eyes. She was rescued by love. Jesus descended from David, a man after God’s own heart, a king whom God established, and to whom God promised a descendant who would rule eternally. Jesus is that descendant.

The Bible does not contain your family tree or mine. What is essential is not that we can be traced physically to Jesus’ family. Jesus himself said that his mother and his brothers are those who hear and do the word of God. When we repent of our sins and put our faith in Christ, we become part of his spiritual family.

Roots connect us. They show us our context. One of the fallacies that Jesus encountered during his earthly ministry was the belief among the physical descendants of Abraham that they were automatically saved due to their lineage. However, Jesus told them that God could raise children for Abraham from the rocks. What truly matters is our connection to Christ, which is established not by a blood test but by our faith in Him.

However, some Christians fall for another fallacy: that since we are saved by faith in Christ, all the Jewish elements in the Old Testament are irrelevant. They view the Old Testament as a shell from which they can extract the gospel, ignoring the shell itself. Those who embrace this fallacy essentially treat 77% of the Bible as unimportant. But God’s word is not merely directed at a group of ancient Jews; it is meant for us—every part of it, one hundred percent. The ancient roots preserved in the family trees recorded in the Old Testament are our roots. We are connected to them through Christ, making them significant for us because of Him.

That is why, even when we consider the 23% of our Bibles known as the New Testament, we find over 300 direct quotations and hundreds more allusions and indirect quotations. These references indicate that Jesus fulfills Old Testament prophecies. They demonstrate that the New Testament apostles utilized the Old Testament as Scripture to teach theology to the New Testament church. They reference the Old Testament to explain the person and work of God, since God remains constant in both testaments. Even when the New Testament authors discuss the old covenant, they do so to help their listeners understand the new covenant by comparing the two.

We decided to embark on a project to read the entire Bible this year and part of next year. We chose not to skip ahead to the more familiar passages of the New Testament because we wanted to become skilled in using the whole sword, not just the handle. It’s a shame to be a Christian and not know the entire Bible.

In the television show, guests talk with Dr. Gates because they want to find their roots. They aim to learn more about themselves by researching their family tree. Most of the time, they are astonished by what they discover. They uncover where their families originated, what they experienced, and who they interacted with. Sometimes, they find ancestors who made choices similar to their own. Other times, they encounter ancestors who faced different challenges and made distinct decisions. However, nobody finishes the show and says, “What a waste of time.” They seek to find their roots because pieces of the puzzle of their present lives are missing.

The Bible can guide you and me. It serves as the voice of God addressing our current circumstances. We might be Cain, tempted to respond violently when things don’t go our way. We might be Enoch, choosing to walk with God when the surrounding culture has turned away from Him. We could be Noah, listening to God and taking on the impossible simply because we know God desires it. Naturally, there are also many negative examples in the Bible. Those poor choices and the ensuing consequences can serve as warnings if we encounter similar temptations.

We have chosen to read through the Bible. We have had those Bibles on our shelves or in our phones, tablets, and computers. We have had the lights, but we might not have turned them on when we needed them. Once we turn to the biblical records and find our spiritual roots, we will be more likely to make the right choices and avoid the wrong ones. We will gain what King Solomon called wisdom. The more we dig into God’s word and make it a light for our path, the more we will understand why Solomon called wisdom a treasure worth more than gold and precious gems.

Month: June 2025

Genesis 6

Genesis 6

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Genesis 5

Genesis 5

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Genesis 4

Genesis 4

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Genesis 3

Genesis 3

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FINDING YOUR ROOTS