God Sustains a Family (Gen. 11:10-26)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 05/04/2006

My Worship Time:                Focus:  God Sustains a Family

Bible Reading & Meditation             Reference:  Genesis 11:10-26

            Message of the verse:  “10 These are the records of the generations of Shem. Shem was one hundred years old, and became the father of Arpachshad two years after the flood; 11 and Shem lived five hundred years after he became the father of Arpachshad, and he had other sons and daughters.  12 Arpachshad lived thirty-five years, and became the father of Shelah; 13 and Arpachshad lived four hundred and three years after he became the father of Shelah, and he had other sons and daughters.  14 Shelah lived thirty years, and became the father of Eber; 15 and Shelah lived four hundred and three years after he became the father of Eber, and he had other sons and daughters.  16 Eber lived thirty-four years, and became the father of Peleg; 17 and Eber lived four hundred and thirty years after he became the father of Peleg, and he had other sons and daughters.  18 Peleg lived thirty years, and became the father of Reu; 19 and Peleg lived two hundred and nine years after he became the father of Reu, and he had other sons and daughters.  20 Reu lived thirty-two years, and became the father of Serug; 21 and Reu lived two hundred and seven years after he became the father of Serug, and he had other sons and daughters.  22 Serug lived thirty years, and became the father of Nahor;

23 and Serug lived two hundred years after he became the father of Nahor, and he had other sons and daughters.  24 Nahor lived twenty-nine years, and became the father of Terah; 25 and Nahor lived one hundred and nineteen years after he became the father of Terah, and he had other sons and daughters.  26 Terah lived seventy years, and became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran.”

           

            These verses give the generations of Shem unto Abram, who became Abraham and was the father of the nation of Israel.  As noted before, the Bible is giving a line from Adam to the Messiah and this is a part of that line.  Another thing to be noted in this section is that the lifespan of these people is steadily going down.  At the beginning of these verse Shem is becoming a father at 100 years old and living for six hundred years and near the end most of these men are in their thirty’s when they father a child.  I have read and I believe that the reason for living less time after the flood is because the water that was over the earth and came down during the flood was a shield to protect mankind from the harmful rays of the sun.  Later on in the Bible it is recorded that man’s time on earth is seventy years and eighty years if he is blessed by God.

           

            In Genesis 10 there is another list of the descendents of Shem, but this one in Genesis 11 is a bit different in that its focus is on getting to Terah and his son Abram, while the other one focuses on another side of the family.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  In some of the lists of people such as the one seen in this section which is part of the list of the genealogy of the Lord Jesus Christ it is easy to see the faithfulness of God and his promise that He made to Adam and Eve in Genesis 3:15 where it is first mentioned about the coming Redeemer.  God is faithful in all of His promises to me and I want to be faithful to Him too.

The Word of God has been refreshing to my heart as I read it this morning.

My Steps of Faith Today:  Continue to trust the Lord through all of these storms that He is sending me through, trust that He will see me through to the other side, but also trust that He will teach me the things that He wants me to learn as I go through these storms so that I will be a better person who is more faithful to my Lord.  I trust that the Lord will be directing my path and teaching me contentment along the way, and also He will give me the grace needed each day.