The boring bits

 

There are long lists in the Bible, which I often referred to as the “boring bits”, much to my shame!   Lists of genealogical registers were definitely included as  some of these.

However, nothing in the Bible is ever there without some definite purpose, or meaning, even though this meaning is mostly hidden from the casual reader.

The list in Genesis 5 is a good example.  Bearing in mind that the Hebrew names in the Bible have very specific meanings, let’s consider these names written down here:

Adam means  ‘Man’.   Seth means ‘Is appointed’.  Enosh:  Mortal.  Kenan:  Sorrow.  Mahalalel:  The blessed God.  Jared:  Shall come down.  Enoch:  Initiate or speech.  Methusalah:  His death shall bring.  Lamech:  The despairing.  Noah:  Rest and comfort. 

If you read the meanings of these names in the order given in the Bible, it reads as follows:  Man puts on mortal, sorrow, at his dwelling, but the praiseworthy God shall come down to teach that His death shall bring the despairing ones, rest and comfort.

The gospel in a list of names!  Wow!  Let this strengthen your belief in the Bible as the firm foundation for your faith.  It seems as if every effort is made these days to pull that foundation out from under our feet.  But you may stand firm in the knowledge that everything mentioned in the Bible can be trusted to be true;  you may believe everything written down there with the confidence that it is truly the Word of God; it is truly trustworthy and accurate to the very last little detail.  In fact, science and archaeological findings are only now starting to catch up to what the Bible has reported since for ever!

So be encouraged that the Bible does not need defending – you can believe the historical facts recorded there, you can believe the wonder-working miracles reported there; you can believe the prophecies and the fulfilment of them as recorded there, and you can surely believe that all future prophecies written there will also be fulfilled to the letter.

 

13 December 2021

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