Essentially this is a listing of the genealogy of Abraham...
that is, from Adam to Abraham, as well as some of Abraham's descendants down
through his grandson Esau. Esau was the father of the Edomites. Among other
things this chapter and other chapters like this serve to bind together many of
the characters in the stories which we have already been reading.
Some of the main characters on the "good side"
were Adam, Seth, Enoch, Methuselah, Noah, Shem, Abraham and Isaac. Of course,
we can also find a little bit of information about Ham, Cush, Nimrod, Ishmael
and Esau: all who were men of somewhat less commendable reputations.
One thing that always strikes me when I read these long
lists of names is that names and people do matter to God (Luke 10:20,
Philippians 4:3 & Revelation 21:27). He cares. In all His infinite
greatness and power, He cares about individuals. He, through His Holy Spirit,
kept a record of the names of the men who were the main characters in His
story. And, He included even more names of individuals about which we know
nothing other than their name and spot in the ordering of descendants and
ancestors. Doubtless they each had an
interesting life-story as well, but God chose which stories to include for us.
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