Going Somewhere?

Jokshan begot Sheba and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim. Genesis 25:3

Yeah! Nothing like a good Bible verse to get us started for the day. This verse is perhaps not one of those that Christians memorize and sticky-note to their cubicle walls at work. Given this verse for today, where do we go with it? A bunch of names that we likely cannot pronounce correctly. And yet, given Genesis 25 in the timeline of the world, one or even three of these names could be way down deep in the family tree of any of us. The names in the list don't seem to go anywhere, but wait, wasn't there a Queen of Sheba who came to gain wisdom from Solomon a few years, oops, centuries later? There must be some distant relationship there, maybe the Sheba founded the nation of Sheba? To us it might seem as though Dedan didn't like his sons with the names he bestowed on them, but that is probably cultural bias.

Yet, if we read the rest of the story, we find that these are some of the family Abraham produced after Sarah was gone. Produced in his prime years approaching 150 or so years old that is. Oh ho! now we can begin to appreciate some Biblical history. One word does stand out here, begot. It seems that God's command to Adam, and then to Noah, to be fruitful and multiply was in the begetting even as man fell from his special place in the Garden. However long this took place after Noah landed, the (great) grandsons and granddaughters of Noah were getting on with begetting on. Every once in a while, the ladies got their credit too as Keturah is the wife Abraham married after Sarah had died, and those mentioned in our verse for today are listed as her sons.

Even as the end of the age approaches, we too are begetting the sons and daughters who may see Jesus our Lord coming in the clouds of His glory, or maybe that generation is us!

In Christ, Bucky