We are going to be looking at some more genealogy today. Previously we studied the descendants of all of Noah's three sons, but from now on the Bible mainly concentrates only on the Messianic family line. The Lord Jesus Christ is descended from Noah's son Shem, and today we study the lineage from Shem down to Abram.
It's important that we don't skip over genealogical records in the Bible. Vital information is embedded in them. I know these portions of Scripture can seem a bit dry to us, but the Lord placed them here for a reason. He knows we would wonder about how all the different nations, races, and languages got their start. He knows we would wonder about the genealogy of the Lord Jesus. If He hadn't provided all this information to us, doubt might have begun to grow in our hearts. We wouldn't have been able to put the puzzle pieces together, and humans want to be able to put the puzzle pieces together. We are curious creatures and it's important to us to understand how and why things happened. Let's take a look now at the family line from Noah's son Shem down to Abram (who will later be called Abraham) and learn a few new and interesting things today.
"This is the account of Shem's family line. Two years after the flood, when Shem was 100 years old, he became the father of Arphaxad. And after he became the father of Arphaxad, Shem lived 500 years and had other sons and daughters." (Genesis 11:10-11) Remember how people often lived into their 900s prior to the flood? From this point on we are going to see lifespans decreasing by several centuries. People are also going to start having children at a younger age. Previously the Bible told us that men were 100 years old or more before they begat children; now they will begin having children in their 30s and sometimes even younger.
"When Arphaxad had lived 35 years, he became the father of Shelah. And after he became the father of Shelah, Arphaxad lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters." (Genesis 11:12-13) Arphaxad lived a total of 438 years.
"When Shelah had lived 30 years, he became the father of Eber. And after he became the father of Eber, Shelah lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters." (Genesis 11:14) Shelah lived a total of 433 years.
"When Eber had lived 34 years, he became the father of Peleg. And after he became the father of Peleg, Eber lived 430 years and had other sons and daughters." (Genesis 11:16-17) Eber lived to be 464 years old.
"When Peleg had lived 30 years, he became the father of Reu. And after he became the father of Reu, Peleg lived 209 years and had other sons and daughters." (Genesis 11:18-19) Lifespans decrease even more rapidly now. Peleg only lived to be 239 years old. You'll recall that earlier in Genesis we were told that the earth was divided around the time Peleg was born; his name literally means "divided". Climate change is continuing to take place swiftly here in Genesis 11 in the post-flood world. Continents are drifting apart. The entire human race no longer speaks the same language and they are beginning to spread out across different areas of the world. This means each group has to start over with establishing homesteads, with getting agricultural pursuits up and running, and with the building of society. We don't know exactly how all these things may have contributed to shorter lifespans, but it's evident that something is changing---and changing quickly.
"When Reu had lived 32 years, he became the father of Serug. And after he became the father of Serug, Reu lived 207 years and had other sons and daughters." Genesis 11:20-21) Reu lived to be 239 years old.
"When Nahor had lived 29 years, he became the father of Terah. And after he became the father of Terah, Nahor lived 119 years and had other sons and daughters." (Genesis 11:24-25) Nahor only lived 148 years.
"After Terah had lived 70 years, he became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran." (Genesis 11:26) Terah is noticeably older than all these other men were when they became fathers. The Bible doesn't explain to us why this happened. Perhaps Terah married late. Or maybe he and his wife struggled with infertility. Terah's son Abram and his wife will also struggle with infertility. When Terah does become a father, the Bible lists all three of his sons at once as if all three of them were born the year Terah turned 70. Some scholars take this to mean they were triplets. If Terah's wife was getting older like he was, the likelihood that she would have had twins or triplets would have increased. Twins, for example, are more often born to older moms than to younger moms. The ovaries sometimes release more than one egg each month as a woman nears the end of her fertile years, and this can result in more than one egg being fertilized. Another possibility that these sons of Terah were not triplets but that they are listed together, almost as equals, because the future of each of them is going to be mentioned later on in the Bible. We are going to see Nahor and Haran, and their descendants, again.
Tomorrow we are going to begin studying the life of Abram, and the narrative is going to slow down a lot. Up til now we've seen centuries go by with just a simple sentence or two. But starting tomorrow we are going to begin a section of Genesis, from Chapter 11 on into Chapter 25, that details the life of a man who forsook the pagan gods of his hometown and struck out for parts unknown because he believed in and trusted the God who spoke to him.
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