Connecting to the Past

"This is the account of Esau(that is Edom)."  Genesis 36:1

Connecting to the Past
By Rev. William Dohle

Who are your ancestors and who are YOU related to??

It's funny when you look back on your family who you're related to...

My grandfather on my father's side came over to America during World War I, settled first in Illinois and then in Colorado, and then in New Mexico traveling with the nuns of St. Francis.  As part of a large family, he left relatives scattered throughout the states.  Wherever you find a "Dohle", you'll likely find one of our relatives.

My great-uncle, his brother, stayed in Germany during World War II and was an S.S. Officer.

My great grandmother on my mother's side came to Oklahoma and then to Kansas in a covered wagon after her family lost everything in the South following the Civil War.

Her brother was one of Roosevelt's Rough Riders and did some time in Cuba with President Roosevelt.

Oh the stories we could tell of our family!  Oh the things they have done!

Family history is fascinating to me.  To read the names of the people who literally brought you into being.  To hear their stories told and recount their lives.  And to wonder sometimes: What would they think of their descendant now?

The Bible is full of family stories.  From the time of Adam, Israel has kept record of who's in the family and who did what.  Some of those stories are fascinating!


But before we read these genealogies we have to understand: Genealogies can be VERY boring!  Some people, when reading through the Bible, will skip over the genealogies all together.  Name after name of people you don't know from Adam.  They can all be overwhelming!

We must remember two very important things:  #1: There are important points to glean from the geneologies.  And #2: These are YOUR descendants too!

#1:  There are important points to glean.  Most of the time we read the text word for word...but here that's a little hard.  Instead look for two things: women and important events.  Whenever a woman is named, underline her.  She's important.  Only important women get mentioned in the Bible.  If someone has a daughter, and she's listed in the genealogy, you know she was important somehow.  Look for women...and look for important things.  You can find important things, like, in verse 24 of chapter 36.  "Aiah and Anah.  This is the Anah who discovered the hot springs in the desert while he was grazing the donkeys of his father Zibeon."  Now you have something else to tie Anah to.  It's like a miniature story.  These snippets are everywhere in the genealogies.  Seek them out!  They will bring the text to life.

#2:  These are YOUR descendants too!  Have you ever noticed how excited WE get about reading about our family and how disinterested we are in hearing about anyone else's?  It's true.  Sometimes I think it comes from our competitive nature.  "My ancestor is better than your ancestor..." and there is a little of that, for sure.  But when you hear about YOUR ancestor doing something, you are much more likely to pay attention, to listen, and perhaps even to remember and understand.

These characters mentioned in Scripture are YOUR relatives!  They are part of YOUR family.  Their actions, or in-actions, however remembered or not remembered, helped shape your world too.  Your faith is descended from their faith.

There is a reason why the Bible is so specific about who descended from whom.  It's to bring us all together.  To connect all people together into one great family of God.  When Israel was fighting the Edomites, they were fighting distant relatives!  When they were at war with the Ishmaelites, they were fighting family.

Scientists have told us that all people are somehow related to a single female they found in Africa.  The Bible has told us that long time ago.  We are all related.  These are all of our family members!  Descended from Noah's sons, way back in Genesis, through the sons of Abraham, Issac, and soon, Jacob.  We are all connected up into one family.  The family of God.

So... praise God!   Praise God for Esau and Oholibamah, for Eliphaz and Reuel.  Praise God for Seir, the Horite and Lotan and Zibean.  Praise God for Uz and Aran, for Hadad and Shaul, for Timna and Iram, and Mibzar, and Pinon, and for the countless others, both named and unnamed.  Without them, without all of them, we would not be the people of God we are today!

God of Remembrance, as these our ancestors touched us with their lives, help us touch other people with ours, that we may be remembered by you as workers in your kingdom, through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.