Links to the past

History and math were never my strengths, and for that reason, I would not have noticed something in today’s Scripture reading had not the notes pointed it out. Most of the reading consists of genealogies about Noah’s descendants. They look like this:

When Nahor had lived 29 years, he became the father of Terah. And after he became the father of Terah, Nahor lived 119 years and had other sons and daughters. After Terah had lived 70 years, he became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran. (Genesis 11:24-26)

Two things stand out, at least now that I’ve read the notes. One is that as time goes by, the ages of the fathers are shorter and they became fathers earlier in life. The other is that there are not very many men in the link between the first man Adam and Abram (later called Abraham).

In my mind, I’d imagined a world doing its own thing apart from God much the same after the flood as it was before. I’d also pictured many, many generations before Abram appeared on the scene. However, there are only twenty-five years between the death of Noah’s youngest son, Shem, and the birth of Abram. That is not very long.

This is significant because the Bible later reveals that God spoke to Abram (and likely his father), telling them to leave the land of Ur where they lived and go to a land He would show them. In faith, they obeyed. In those early days of human life, not everyone followed idols.

Modern people seem to think that back then, which is about 1950 - 2000 years after creation (adding up the ages given in the genealogies), that all people were primitive cave dwellers who superstitiously worshiped gods like volcanos, the sun, and the wind. It is assumed that the concept of a Creator God gradually evolved. While many did worship idols, the Bible reveals that faith in God began early. Even as Adam knew God, so did Enoch, and Noah and others, including Abram.

Of this man Abram, it says, “Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness” (Genesis 15:6). This is repeated and explained in the New Testament where Abraham is called the father of faith and held up as a model for all generations.

How is this practical for me? For one thing, it gives my faith deep roots. What I believe began a very long time ago.

This also verifies once again that faith is about believing God, not about doing works to get on the good side of Him. As Romans 4 and James 2 say, once a person’s heart is committed to believe in and trust the Lord, good deeds will follow, but they are not the way to God; I must follow to Him by faith, just as Abraham did.

The other thing is that I feel connected to Bible history. It begins what seems like eons ago, yet I feel as if I could reach out and take hold of Abraham’s hand. We are related by faith. He is my brother in the family of God, but also more. Romans 4:11 says that, “he is the father of all who believe . . . in order that righteousness might be credited to them.”

God gives me a sense of timelessness and solidarity in knowing these things. My history is connected to ancient history, and by doing the math, I realize that this connection is very close to the creation of man and the beginning of time. How incredibly cool is that!