We’ve talked about reading family trees before, and I think if we could chat in person we’d all agree that most people don’t like reading them, especially in the Bible. It’s probably the number-one complaint: they’re sooooo boring. As I’ve made well known, though, I find them fascinating! Granted, they would make a whole lot more sense if I were familiar with these crazy names that my tongue just will not pronounce correctly and if I could envision all these little towns and villages being founded under each ancestor’s name. I do try to picture the lands, or at least what I know about them now, and kind of divide them up like cities and counties in the US. Call me a weirdo American, but it helps me picture what’s happening here. God is giving us a picture of how far and wide this one family is spreading. It’s getting so out of control, I can’t keep up anymore!
Now, I’m down to circling names that sound familiar or I see mentioned more than once within the chapter, which weren’t many. I underlined Amalek, Korah and Teman (Temanites). I guess the point of this chapter, though, is not that we remember each and every clan and descendant of Esau, but it’s that we remember the very last line of the chapter: they all descended from Esau, the ancestor of the Edomites. ‘Nuf said.
If your known ancestor happened to appear in that list of names, this chapter would suddenly get way more exciting. That’s why these “boring” chapters are so necessary. Think about what it would be like to discover a long lost ancestor, or maybe you already have. If so, wasn’t it exciting??? And that person was likely discovered on some boring list like this. Can I get a witness? Whether it was a census or handwritten family history or a short clip in the newspaper about a family reunion, where no doubt “a fun time was had by all,” somebody took the time to write this stuff down and record it in history. And truly what fun their ancestors have reading those accounts now!
Writing prompt: boring
Record your “boring” family history, and try to dig a little deeper into your roots. That is all for today. ☺️
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