Zion Evangelical & Reformed Church

There you are, working through your daily Bible reading, when you come across a section that seems frustrating. Unending, unpronounceable names. A family lineage of unfamiliar, seemingly insignificant relations. If you’re reading in the King James Version, the word “begat” appears a lot.

Many people skip over the genealogies, assuming they have little relevance to their life, and are therefore unimportant. But doesn’t II Timothy 3:16 remind us, “all Scripture is God breathed, and useful for teaching, reproof, correction, and training for righteousness…”? Paul was under the inspiration of the Spirit and knew of these passages, and yet still assures believers in every age that even genealogies are useful for Christians. But how?

Believers must learn to appreciate all parts of Scripture, even those that don’t seem immediately relevant to us. Here are several things that genealogies teach Christians to strengthen their faith today:

1. The historical truth of Scripture. Genealogies show that God’s Word isn’t mythic or a fable; it is historical fact. When we read the family lineages, we are reminded this is not “once upon a time” or “long ago in a galaxy far, far away.” Instead, we read “this took place during the reign” of a certain historical king (see Daniel 1:1), “in the third day, of this month, in the sixth year” (see Ezra 6:15), or “while Quirinius was governor of Syria” (see Luke 2:2).
2. Our God is a God of families. In the genealogies, we read of fathers begetting sons. The Lord of Scripture reveals Himself as a Father with a divine Son. His earliest commands to Adam were “be fruitful and multiply,” and His covenant promises were made “to you and your children.” God works in families, and He works over the generations. We are not isolated individuals, but children of a family of faith that reaches back over the generations. This forces us to ask ourselves, “Am I being faithful in my generation?” Since I am a link in an inter-generational chain, with a responsibility to receive “the faith once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3) and to “teach transgressors Your ways” (Psalm 51:13), do I live in a way to faithfully transmit a living faith to others? Genealogies might not always spark our imagination, but they are God’s divine Word that summons our faithfulness.

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