From Shem to Abram

“These are the generations of Shem: Shem was an hundred years old, and begat Arphaxad two years after the flood: And Shem lived after he begat Arphaxad five hundred years, and begat sons and daughters. And Arphaxad lived five and thirty years, and begat Salah: And Arphaxad lived after he begat Salah four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters. And Salah lived thirty years, and begat Eber: And Salah lived after he begat Eber four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters. And Eber lived four and thirty years, and begat Peleg: And Eber lived after he begat Peleg four hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters. And Peleg lived thirty years, and begat Reu: And Peleg lived after he begat Reu two hundred and nine years, and begat sons and daughters. And Reu lived two and thirty years, and begat Serug: And Reu lived after he begat Serug two hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters. And Serug lived thirty years, and begat Nahor: And Serug lived after he begat Nahor two hundred years, and begat sons and daughters. And Nahor lived nine and twenty years, and begat Terah: And Nahor lived after he begat Terah an hundred and nineteen years, and begat sons and daughters. And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran.” Genesis 11:10-26 (KJV)

If you will notice that one of the things missing from this genealogy is, “And he died”, which is in the genealogy from Seth to Noah in Genesis five. It is probably because we realize that by now, death is inevitable. All men, are going to die. That includes women too.

In this genealogy we have the age of Shem. He was 100 years of age at the time of the flood, then two years following the flood he had a son whom he named Arphaxad, and he “lived after he begat Arphaxad five hundred years” putting him at the approximate age of six hundred and two years of age. This genealogy uses a more positive sounding term in announcing their death, “… lived after he begat…”. This is the lineage of people whom God would choose to bring the Messiah, Savior of all mankind, into the world.

Just a Note: We have the only Gentile genealogy in the Bible in chapter 10:2-20. There is only two genealogies given in the New Testament. The first is in the gospel of Matthew giving the genealogy of Jesus through the lineage of Joseph. The second is in the gospel of Luke giving Jesus’s genealogy through Mary the mother of Jesus. Even though Joseph was not the blood father of the child Jesus the genealogy is given to prove He is heir to the throne of David the king.

Of this genealogy can be noted also that the ages of the men continue to drop as they die. The life span has went down. No one is living nine hundred plus years. The power of sin has taken over the bodies of sinful men. That is why we are all perishing. From the moment we come from our mother’s womb we are dying. We are in fact born spiritually dead. And except for the miracle of grace from God we are doomed.

Eber (v. 14) is where the “Hebrew” people got the name “Hebrew”. It is also Eber who was the father of Peleg whose name means “Earthquake”. This earthquake could be speaking of the division which was brought about by God’s judgment to separate the people across the earth. It seems more likely though that there was a major earthquake the year of Peleg’s birth which was a source of actully dividing the newly languaged people as God directed. Both would be quite possible when it is directed by the providential hand of the Most High God.

Terah was an idol worshipper. Some may question this, but there is Scriptural evidence for it. For example, “And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor: and they served other gods.” Joshua 24:2 (KJV). Now, we should be more able to understand from where Abram came. Called out by God from a life of idolatry, to worship, love and serve the living and true God.

There are not many people of the Bible whom we cannot find an example of some sin in their lives. The people of Scripture are not super saints. They too, were called to worship God. Called from lives of sin. Called of God, by grace, through faith in the Promise of God. So too, are you and I.