One thing many Christians do is this: whenever they
come to any genealogical account in the Bible, they would skip reading that
portion of Scriptures. Why? Because they contain a list of many unfamiliar
names that are hard to pronounce. Some words in the list kept being repeated and
that would make the reading of the account repetitive, boring, and dull. Many
have thought that there is nothing to learn from such genealogical accounts.
But we all need to know this, that all scriptures including the accounts of the
genealogies are written by God’s inspiration. And hence, according to 2 Timothy
3:16-17 they are “…profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so
that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”
We must acknowledge
that God would never have so many of the people and families recorded in the
Scriptures if He had thought that they are unimportant. The reason there are so
many records of Genealogies underscores the importance of these accounts. They show
us how accurate the Bible is. They provide glimpses of truth concerning the
character of God. The records of genealogies actually prove that Jesus of
Nazareth is truly the Messiah whom God had promised to send. Furthermore, when
we read such records, we are also given models on what we should or should not
do if we want to please God. In that sense, these accounts are truly practical examples
for our Christian walk.
Here in Exodus
6:14-27, we are provided a brief summary of three families – The families of
Reuben, Simeon, and Levi. Of the three members of Israel’s family, Levi’s
family is given more detail because of Moses and Aaron. Here God identifies and
points them out to us readers. So, let us come to it with the perspective that
this record is more than just a list of unfamiliar names except for a few. Let
us gear our minds and be ready to accept something that God wants us to learn.
Scanning through the list, we must conclude that many of the names seem
unfamiliar and ordinary. This proves that God can use very ordinary and
seemingly unknown people. Should any one of us feel insignificant, we should
take heart from this list of unfamiliar people. God uses unknown and ordinary
people for His extraordinary purpose. We may not think too much of who and
where we are now. But we must know that God has placed us exactly where we are
to impact some people’s lives for eternity. We should learn to have a better
perspective of ourselves and our position in God.
A name has
significance. Every name tells us something about a person. Parents always name
their children from what they had experienced during the birth of their
children or the circumstances that surround their children’s birth. Here are a
few examples: Jochebed was the mother of Moses. Her name means “God’s glory.” The
parents probably had hope that God would ultimately break through gloriously in
the lives of His people. Eleazar means “God has helped” and Elkanah means “God
has created.” The parents of these two probably trusted God and knew that
whatever they were going through, and the future of their sons laid in the hand
of God. So, they named their children to remind themselves and their children that
God has helped and God has created them. Time and space do not permit us to
deal with them one by one. It sure would be challenging for us to individually
study the names of the people of God. So that through the study, we can see the
hand of God shaping the history of redemption. And through such a study, we
will surely be led to acknowledge that Jesus Christ is truly the great High
Priest of our faith.
No comments:
Post a Comment