THE GENESIS GENEALOGIES - God's History of Redemption and the Genealogies

God's History of Redemption and the Genealogies

This is the summary of the Rev. Abraham Park(2007)'s book,
"The Genesis Genealogies"

Most genealogies in Bible are concentrated in the Book of Genesis à "Book of genealogies" or "story of lineages". The first of the 66 Bible books and reveals the origin of mankind as well as God's sovereign work and providence over each godly offspring. Genesis covers 2,300 years of history in fifty chapters à creation of Adam to death of Joseph. Because it is impossible to record detailed accounts of God's providence in just 50 chapters, God compressed the 2,300 years into the form of genealogy. The essential message of the genealogical stories in Genesis is that God will accomplish His divine plan to save mankind through the godly offspring and that He will fulfill this promise.

1. STRUCTURE OF GENESIS

⧠ PART Ⅰ (Chapters 1-11)

○ Theological term for history outlined in Genesis 11 is "primeval history".
○ Covers 2,023 years
○ From creation of heaven and earth, creation and fall of Adam, story of Cain and Abel, the great flood, Tower of Babel, lives of Adam, Noah and Abraham
○ God continued His Work of Salvation despite rebellion.
○ Rebellion climaxed with construction of Tower of Babel.
○ God's Work of Salvation from Genesis 1 to 11 closes by singling Abraham out of all Adam's descendants and commanding him to leave Ur and migrate to Haran.

⧠ PART Ⅱ (Chapters 12-50)

○ Outlines period of time that encompassed birth of the chosen people.
○ Part one is from creation to Abraham's life, part two focuses on 4 patriarchs; Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph.
○ 280 years, a seventh of part one.
○ But writing is 5 times longer
○ Part one of Genesis was shortened because many generations were put into genealogies; Genesis 4, 5, 10, 11.

2. 10 GENEALOGIES (TOLEDOTH) IN GENESIS

1. Genealogy of heaven and earth (Genesis 2:4 to 4:26)
2. Genealogy of Adam's family (Genesis 5:1 to 6:8)
3. Genealogy of Noah's family (Genesis 6:9 to 9:29)
4. Genealogy of Noah's sons (Genesis 10:1 to 11:9)
5. Genealogy of Shem (Genesis 11:10 to 26)
6. Genealogy of Terah (Abraham) (Genesis 11:27 to 25:11)
7. Genealogy of Ishmael (Genesis 25:12 to 18)
8. Genealogy of Isaac (Genesis 25:19 to 35:29)
9. Genealogy of Esau (Genesis 36:1 to 37:1)
10. Genealogy of Jacob (Genesis 37:2 to 50:26)

1st five are listed in part one and last five are listed in part two. Toledoth is used to introduce each genealogy. This structure provides important understandings:

A. Genealogies in Genesis narrate history of fall, judgment and restoration of man.
－ Genesis 5 introduces Noah as central figure of salvation work during judgment of the flood after the fall of Adam
－ Genesis 11 introduces Abraham as central figure of salvation work; he was singled out by God among all the scattered nations that challenged God with the construction of the Tower of Babel.

B. Genealogies of Genesis channel their focus on Abraham as central figure in redemption work.
－ He is the benchmark for division within the 10 genealogies in Genesis à 5 before and 5 after Abraham.

C. Genesis 1 to 11 is considered the introduction of the entire Bible and contains prophecies about the beginning and the end of the redemptive history.
－ The genealogies do not simply list the lineage of the person or family but establish the structural framework for redemptive history.

3. SEPER TOLEDOTH (BOOK OF THE GENERATIONS)

All 10 genealogies in Genesis begin with the Hebrew word "toledoth()" à "account", "order of birth", "generations", "descendants" or "biography". But Genesis 5:1 uniquely pairs it with another word that means book, "seper()" à Seper Toledoth.
"Seper Toledoth" = "Book of generations", signifies "a record of family history", "lineage dating back to the ancestors" and "a record of people's bloodline or an order of academic/philosophical system".
"Seper" = "writing". "letter" or "scroll".
Other genealogies start with "Toledoth" but Genesis 5:1 starts with "Seper Toledoth".

NKJGenesis 5:1
This is the book of the genealogy of Adam. In the day that God created man, He made him in the likeness of God.

Adam's genealogy in Genesis 5 is not a simple list of names, but a book which contains a significant amount of detail. This genealogy is not just an addendum but can be considered a whole book itself. From the perspective of God's redemptive history, it holds great covenantal value à treaty or legal binding document.
"Seper toledoth" appears not only in the genealogy of the first man, Adam, in Genesis 5:1 but also in another place in genealogy of second Man, Jesus Christ in Matthew 1 (1 Corinthians 15:45 to 47).

NKJMatthew 1:1
The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham

In Matthew 1:1, it is not just Greek for genealogy, "Geneseos" but book of genealogies, "Biblos geneseos(Βίβλος γενέσεως)".
Genealogies of first man and second Man both use the modifying word, book. Emphasis on book implies both genealogies hold sufficient amount of importance to be considered a complete book on its own.
Only crucial information is compressed into the genealogies; replaces an immeasurable amount of writing needed to record a detailed narrative of all the great works that each person performed in his generation as he battled against the wickedness of the world (Psalm 40:5, 71:15-16, 139:16-18, Hebrews 11:32, John 21:25).
What was the common message of the representatives of each generations? What inspired them to continue their solitary struggle?
It was for God's divine plan for the salvation of mankind. For this, the godly descendants of Seth and Shem continued to take the baton and faithfully run their courses in the redemptive history even through the tears, agonies, loneliness and pain of being forsaken by the world.
The deeper we delve into the study of Genesis genealogies, the more we can appropriate God's overflowing grace and love. They are full of traces left behind by the godly descendants who fought the good fight until the coming of the Promised Seed. Ultimately, it was God's fervent zeal that achieved salvation for mankind through the incarnation of Jesus in the Flesh and His Atoning Work on the Cross.