WE ARE FAMILY
DAY 17: I came across one of those chapters today in my daily reading that most of us think about skipping. After some narratives, it launched into a family lineage of the brothers Jacob and Esau. Personally, I like these passages because they often contain intriguing little tidbits that make me think of my own quirky family.
Take for instance some of the things I found as I was reading Genesis 35 and 36 today. First, we find out that Jacob gets a name change. God tells him, "You will now be called Israel." I can relate to that. If you dig far enough back in just about any family you will find that your current surname is probably some variation of your family's original name. My Uncle Bob, who is now in the presence of Jesus, spent his entire long life investigating our family's genealogy. Bob was one of nine brothers and sisters of Mayward and Ludie Hembree, a couple who participated in the Oklahoma Land Rush of 1889. It turns out, that like Jacob, our family also had a name change; our ancestors were actually Emorys before it somehow morphed into Hembree. I have an entire book Uncle Bob filled with the narratives of all the folks who are part of my heritage.
There are all kinds of fascinating stories in those pages. For instance, we found out that the very first person to die on the Oregon Trail was my ancestor, young Joel Hembree in 1843. He was only six years old when he fell off the wagon and was run over by the wheel and killed. There is a rock marking his grave that has been shown in the National Geographic Magazine. But more than that, there is a real life family at the heart of that story. So I wonder, what kind of kid was little Joel? I picture him a lot like my middle child Bailey - rowdy, rambunctious and extremely ADD. I bet his mom told him many times to get back into the bed of the wagon, but he just had to be as close to the edge as possible. What must it have been like to bury your little child on a lonely hostile stretch of land that you would never see again? There is so much more to the tale of Joel's demise than the two or three lines in our genealogy book or a historical picture in a magazine.
When I see an ancestry list in the Bible, I try to remember that behind every entry is a real story of real people living real lives and making real impacts on those around them and those to come. Some of the details are mundane and ordinary, some are mysterious, and quite frankly some of the entries reveal family secrets.
Today I read about a son who went way too far and slept with his father's concubine. Talk about awkward dinners after that. Then there was that man's uncle who married his own cousin. We have lots of family in the mountains of Tennessee and even we don't have that problem. There are stories of relocation that help explain how families got separated. And then some that you know refer to age old family stories that every one knows, like the one in Genesis 36:34. In the midst of listing out who married whom and whose son is whose, there is this:
24 The sons of Zibeon:
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.
How many times must that story have been told? Probably every time the hot springs came up. Can't you just hear it? "Yeah, I know the hot springs you're talking about; in fact it was my Uncle's brother's father who discovered that place... you'll never guess what he was doing when he found it..."
We all have those stories. Some glorify our ancestors. Some are family secrets. Some are just interesting pieces of history. All together, though, they are our roots in this world. They are part of the story line God used to get us to the place we are. It is right that we know these stories and honor them. And it is right since God used His people Israel to be the family through which Christ would enter the world, that we know and honor their stories as well. No, I never skip the genealogies. There is some good stuff there about the family God has used to bless all of us.
I think I'll go call cousin Danny now and see if he remembers the time Lester short-sheeted Uncle Ivan's bed at the family reunion. Good times!
What did you hear from God today?
Day 17 of 365
Genesis 35
Genesis 36
Matthew 12:1-21
Psalm 15:1-5
Proverbs 3:21-26
Take for instance some of the things I found as I was reading Genesis 35 and 36 today. First, we find out that Jacob gets a name change. God tells him, "You will now be called Israel." I can relate to that. If you dig far enough back in just about any family you will find that your current surname is probably some variation of your family's original name. My Uncle Bob, who is now in the presence of Jesus, spent his entire long life investigating our family's genealogy. Bob was one of nine brothers and sisters of Mayward and Ludie Hembree, a couple who participated in the Oklahoma Land Rush of 1889. It turns out, that like Jacob, our family also had a name change; our ancestors were actually Emorys before it somehow morphed into Hembree. I have an entire book Uncle Bob filled with the narratives of all the folks who are part of my heritage.
There are all kinds of fascinating stories in those pages. For instance, we found out that the very first person to die on the Oregon Trail was my ancestor, young Joel Hembree in 1843. He was only six years old when he fell off the wagon and was run over by the wheel and killed. There is a rock marking his grave that has been shown in the National Geographic Magazine. But more than that, there is a real life family at the heart of that story. So I wonder, what kind of kid was little Joel? I picture him a lot like my middle child Bailey - rowdy, rambunctious and extremely ADD. I bet his mom told him many times to get back into the bed of the wagon, but he just had to be as close to the edge as possible. What must it have been like to bury your little child on a lonely hostile stretch of land that you would never see again? There is so much more to the tale of Joel's demise than the two or three lines in our genealogy book or a historical picture in a magazine.When I see an ancestry list in the Bible, I try to remember that behind every entry is a real story of real people living real lives and making real impacts on those around them and those to come. Some of the details are mundane and ordinary, some are mysterious, and quite frankly some of the entries reveal family secrets.
Today I read about a son who went way too far and slept with his father's concubine. Talk about awkward dinners after that. Then there was that man's uncle who married his own cousin. We have lots of family in the mountains of Tennessee and even we don't have that problem. There are stories of relocation that help explain how families got separated. And then some that you know refer to age old family stories that every one knows, like the one in Genesis 36:34. In the midst of listing out who married whom and whose son is whose, there is this:
24 The sons of Zibeon:
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.
How many times must that story have been told? Probably every time the hot springs came up. Can't you just hear it? "Yeah, I know the hot springs you're talking about; in fact it was my Uncle's brother's father who discovered that place... you'll never guess what he was doing when he found it..."
We all have those stories. Some glorify our ancestors. Some are family secrets. Some are just interesting pieces of history. All together, though, they are our roots in this world. They are part of the story line God used to get us to the place we are. It is right that we know these stories and honor them. And it is right since God used His people Israel to be the family through which Christ would enter the world, that we know and honor their stories as well. No, I never skip the genealogies. There is some good stuff there about the family God has used to bless all of us.
I think I'll go call cousin Danny now and see if he remembers the time Lester short-sheeted Uncle Ivan's bed at the family reunion. Good times!
What did you hear from God today?
Day 17 of 365
Genesis 35
Genesis 36
Matthew 12:1-21
Psalm 15:1-5
Proverbs 3:21-26
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