Gen. 11:10 – 26 – Descendants from Shem to Abraham
It is generally acknowledged that the book of Genesis shifts its focus in Ch. 11 or so. The 1st 11 chapters are written with the whole world as its backdrop, its creation, the flood, and its repopulation. But now we are shifting focus as the writer directs us to a single city, a single family, and ultimately to a single individual, Abraham. God remains active but his strategy becomes clearer. As we move forward the differences and continuities will become even clearer. The notes provide a wonderful way to expand our horizon, allowing us to read the text in a more intelligent manner. http://www.usccb.org/bible/genesis/11.
We are presented with the genealogy from Shem to Terah that mirrors the genealogy from Adam to Noah. The parallels are evidence of the literary art of the writers / editors. We are confronted by writers who have something to say, yet it is critical to hear the writers as persons of faith writing to your faith for the sake of your faith. It is equally critical to realize that the writers cannot escape the historical times in which they wrote with its given cultural reality.
Religious values and cultural values are not identical, discerning their differences frequently occurs only over time and such discernment is a function of intelligent, authentic questioning. The differences are not always clear until much later in time. And when the differences emerge, they emerge in real personal and social settings that cause clashes. We are living in one of those times. If you’ve been following this study, you can recognize some of the clashes in terms of religion and science, in terms of relationship with women, in terms of the modern world with both its tremendous advances and its clear declines. We don’t agree on these matters at this time and that is why there is a great need for adult education if we are to rise to the level of our times. Otherwise we stay mired in a past that no longer exists and worse create a future that does not honor that past.
So what does this passage have to say? Here are some of the thoughts that emerged from our group.
I reflected on the fact that God begins with establishing a relationship with Abraham and a promise rooted in faithfulness, his faithfulness and Abraham’s. But there is something troubling, here is the God of all of creation narrowing down his attention to one person, eventually to one people. Over time with its actual history of triumph and collapse we come to learn that this one person, this one people are for the sake of all the people. I concluded my remarks by reminding the group of Paul’s incredible words in Gal. 3: 28 “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” For Christians, the fulfillment of this story breaks down all the barriers among human beings in the person of Christ.
Tim pointed out one difference in this genealogy, the age of the fathers gradually declines as well as the age at which they gave birth to their son. There continues to be a focus on the male descendant but the age of the father more closely resembles our own experiences.
Ken assumed correctly though the text did not actually state it, that the age of marriage seems to hover close to what we experience. His reference to “marriage” once again raised the cultural issue of it be written in a patriarchal society. They took wives. Jodie pointed out from her Humanities course that such was the case in the cultures of other peoples of the time, it wasn’t limited to the Israelites.
Topics quickly emerged from marriage, to polygamy, to concubines, to adultery. We moved from the time of biblical account to our own time only to note how much change has gone on in our own life time. Roseann pointed out that when she went to work out side the home, family life had to change. As she reflected the woman who works outside the home cannot be expected to carry on all the same functions as she might have done before. She divided up roles for the kids and it took a while for her husband to get use to it.
Carol pointed out how the Canton police would do a bust onCherry Street but only charge the women but that has changed too.
It seemed evident to me that we have lived through incredible social change. We have different evaluations of those social changes. And whether we agree or not these social changes impact us as individuals and we as the church; a church that cannot escape from its own time. This is the context in which we often express our different and at times clashing opinions. The biblical stories allow us to confront ourselves and our times in the context that God has revealed in Christ Jesus. The challenge is multiple but it begins in part with an understanding of the biblical context.
Your thoughts, questions, etc. are welcomed.