O The Genealogies!

Catching up on my Scripture reading according to the ENGAGE plan from The Journey in St. Louis, I came to Genesis 10.  A genealogy.  A long list of names of members in the family.  So and so begot so and so.  This guy has 3 sons, A, B, and C.  To A was born G and H, from which the Ginitites were from.  ... etc.  When arriving at one of these genealogies, there is GREAT temptation to skip over it... or skim over it.  I did read it... but I admit I had the help of the ESV Listener's Bible on my iPod as I read along.  This made it easier to read through, for certain.

Yet there is no denying the importance of these genealogies.  It is part of what separates the Bible from fairy tales and folklore in many cases.  When you sit down to hear the story of Hansel and Gretel, there is no mistaken it is a mere fable.  These stories are set, for good reason, Once Upon A Time, In A Land Far, Far Away... (George Lucas would masterfully remix this famous opening to: "A Long Time Ago, In A Galaxy Far, Far Away...").  It is because they have no real setting in reality.  The stories themselves exist not within reality, but only in the context of a make-believe story.

The Biblical narrative, by stark contrast, is firmly grounded in reality.  The Genealogies in Genesis, in Matthew and Luke attest to this.  It is not as if these characters, for the most part, appear out of thin air.  This is not to say that everyone in the biblical story are given a deep back story.  They aren't.  But the core of the biblical narrative is grounded, if read plainly, in a historical reality.  Noah really did live - here is his family line, and here are his list of children and family line after him.  Jesus really existed and was born of Mary.  Here is his family tree to show the legitimacy of him being a real figure.  It gives enormous credibility to the Bible.

So don't just read over it as fast as you can or merely ignore it.  The Holy Spirit chose to reveal it in this way for a reason, and it is therefore important.  The Bible is not a mere collection of fables and folklore.  It is truth - the most important truth to ever be conveyed in this history of the universe.