Troublesome TopicTHE PURPOSE OF GENEALOGIES

The purpose of any genealogy was to show a connection.

1. It showed connection to the promise of land or the inheritance of land. Land was very important to them because it was their ticket to freedom and independence (instead of slavery). Most of the genealogies of I Chronicles chapters 1 through 9 were recorded because the people were returning and beginning to occupy the land again. It was important that the process of occupying the land was done correctly in order to produce as few quarrels as possible.

2. It showed connection to rights of lineage, e.g.  the priesthood, or David’s throne, or the expectation of the Messiah. I Chronicles 6 and part of I Chronicles 9 serve this purpose.

3.  It carried responsibilities of lineage – e.g. the separation they were to maintain from the pagan world. The Samaritans were shunned because they had not maintained this purity of lineage.

4. It showed who the bad guys were (people who did not follow the God of the Bible) and who was connected to them, as well as who the good guys were (those who followed the God of the Bible). This seems to be the emphasis of Genesis chapter 5.

It is possible that genealogies were more important to Hebrews than any other people.

The first thing Zerubbabel did when he returned from Babylon was take a census by genealogy. Nehemiah also took a census.

Females were included if there was something remarkable or noteworthy about them, showing connection, not just blood lines. A king’s mother was often mentioned because of her level of influence.

Consider the Book of Life in Revelation. It was not a Genealogy in the sense of lines of connection, but the names in the book of life do prove one’s connection to God and His saving work.

The genealogies of the Bible were not intended to be used to conclusively determine the age of the earth, although they give us a basic idea. However, I also disagree with modern dating methods. The reality is we don’t know exactly how old the earth is. In my opinion the Bible gives us a basic idea, but not a precise age, of the earth.

There are some key spiritual lessons we can learn from the way genealogies were used to show connections.

1.  Who are we connected to?

2.  How can we show we are connected to God?

3.  How deep are our connections to God and other people?

4. What responsibilities come with these connections?

The next lesson is: The Key Genealogies of the Bible are: