Day 3 (1/3/22)

[Daniel Yaeger]

This morning was a tough one. A lot of names/lineages. No way I'll keep them all straight. Any thoughts on why we are provided these lineages in such detail?

[Tom Tighe]

The names aren't as important as the lineage. These people didn't have obvious world changing roles in God's plan, but without them the Bible 'heros' would not have been born. The really important part for me is that the lineage shows the Bible 'heros' are not fictional. Many people put Noah "in the same boat" with fables like Paul Bunyan. If we can trace Noah's family back to Adam, then we prove he was a real person and didn't just make him up as a marketing scheme for children's books and nursery furnishing.

[Tom Tighe]

Also, a lot of the people in the first generations after Noah were founders of tribes and nations that are geographically recognizable. We can see where these people settled and that maps the rest of the (gentile) world directly to the Genesis story. This direct connection to people out side the culture the story was written for (Jews) sets up Jesus' message and Paul's work to the Gentiles.

[Tom Tighe]

Poor Ham. Did he really get cursed for just noticing his dad was naked? His line becomes the peoples that seem to always be against God. Many of his nations (esp, Canaanites) are notorious for lewd behavior.
Nimrod was a "mighty hunter before the Lord." I had a study Bible that explained that passage as something closer to he was a brutal and ungodly ruler, but I don't have that quote in front of me now.