Westside church of Christ - Irving, Texas

Getting Good out of Genealogies

by Warren Berkley

In both public and private reading of Scripture we typically neglect genealogies. When you combine strange names, long lists, no apparent plot or narrative and only passing mention of genealogies in our preaching and teach- ing, our reaction is to be bored and just skip them. This is our usual approach to Genesis five, ten and eleven; Matthew one, Luke three and various other lists (1 Chron.). We need to take a little more time and try to better understand the purposes of these passages.

Biblical genealogies fall into certain categories according to their purpose: domestic data (family trees); legal-political; religious and Messianic. Domestic genealogies were con- cerned about inheritance and privileges of firstborn sons. Legal-political genealogies were centered on claims to hereditary office; establishing ancestry for land ownership; territorial groupings and military service. Religious genealo- gies were primarily used to establish membership in the Aaronic and Levitical priesthoods. Great importance is discovered in the Messianic genealogies of Matthew one and Luke three. Matthew emphasizes Jesus as the fulfillment of God's promises to Israel, so his list begins with Abraham, the father of the people (Gen. 12:1-3). His list moves through David, Israel's model king, and through leaders of the Jewish people when they returned from exile (Matt. 1:17). The list in Luke goes backwards beginning with Joseph, Jesus' legal father, through David the king, Jacob, Abraham, and all the way back to Adam. This line shows that Jesus was important, not only for Israel, but for the whole human race.

Genealogies are simply "a fitting expression of the continuity of fundamental elements of human life - birth, death, [and] the continuation of the family line," (Robinson, R.B. "Literary Functions of the Genealogies of Genesis," p. 598). As God carried out His scheme of redemption, He worked through people and families. And He told man "to be fruitful and multiply, to fill the earth." "These genealogies document the fruitfulness of humanity and thus become the expression of the fulfillment of God's mandate . . . Thanks to the genealogies, virtually every character of Genesis can be related to every other by specific degrees of kinship," (Ibid., 600-601).

The use of genealogies for constructing chronology is to be noted and is legitimate, but the mathematical process can be cumbersome. Trying to use genealogies of the Bible to precisely peg an exact date for Creation is futile. Some biblical genealogies have gaps (compare Ezra 7:3-4 with 1 Chron. 6:6-14, and compare Matt. 1:8 with 1 Chron. 3:11-12). These "skips" prevent us from constructing objective chronologic formulas, yet do not allow the vast amount of time required by want to impose human scientific theories onto the text of Scripture.

What Messages Ring Out From These Lists of Names?

  1. These lists remind us that real people were involved in the scheme of redemption. God's eternal plan was not a cold impersonal system, mechanically executed. God used people (good and bad). He built nations, caused families to be formed and otherwise superintended people and events to bring Christ to the world in the fullness of time. The long genealogical lists stress this.
  2. Man has been on the earth since the sixth day of Creation. Many contend that the earth is billions and billions of years old, and that man has been on the earth for only a few million years. The lengthy biblical genealogies that extend from Jesus all the way back to Adam reveal otherwise. Even accounting for generational gaps, the popular evolutionary models just don't fit the Biblical history. Attempts to impose them run against the testimony of these genealogies.
  3. Genealogies are part of the "connective tissue" of the Bible story. Glance through the genealogy of Matthew and you'll see many familiar names: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, Boaz, Rahab, Ruth, David and Solomon. Through the line of his legal father, Joseph, Jesus does indeed trace back to David and to Abraham. So when you are reading about these people in the Old Testament, you are being led from generation to generation to the greatest event in God's plan, the coming of Christ.
  4. Genealogies should not be the center of endless quarrels. While this would rarely become an issue today, it shows the ungodly tendency of men to distract and divide. "But avoid foolish disputes, genealogies, contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and useless," (Titus 3:9, see also 1 Tim. 1:4).

Nothing was put in the Bible to bore you. It all has a purpose; it all fits together under the overall theme of redemp- tion. Even the sections that may not prompt initial interests have a function inside this high purpose. Read the Bible. Learn the purpose. And you'll see the value of these lists of people. God reminds us of His wise use of people to bring the Messiah into the world. Though imperfect, you can be used by God for good purposes, His glory and your eternal secu- rity

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Abundant Life: July/August 2008