Family History and Salvation

So I know you probably think genealogy is for nerds. And you might be right. Kevin and I probably qualify for nerdhood anyway since we are STILL IN SCHOOL by choice! That's ok. We're cool nerds.

Actually though, genealogy and family history are a big deal for a lot of people. Especially the people in the Bible called the Israelites. I've always wondered why the Bible spends so much time describing who was related to who and how so-and-so had this many kids, etc. It dawned on me while I was in Virginia doing, you guessed it, family history research on Kevin's side of the family that family history is important because it describes where you come from. That sounds like a no-brainer, right? But it isn't just where you come from but how you got there. The Israelites had this whole history of God's saving acts. If you look at the various genealogies of the Bible there are subtle hints through names or one sentence descriptions that indicate that God is working behind the scenes to lead His chosen people.

In the Psalms, the writer often constructs a prayer around the saving acts of God but almost in a genealogical way: You (God) brought Abraham out of Ur, You led Isaac, You brought Jacob back from Aram, You led Israel out of Egypt and into the Promised Land, etc. Each generation had a chance to experience God's redeeming love. And each subsequent generation could look back and say, "oh yeah, God guided my parents, my grandparents, and my great-grandparents. I should probably trust Him." Sadly, that wasn't always the way it worked out, but you get the point.

I have a privilege, as a Christian, of claiming that heritage of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. I can also see how God has led, a little closer to my life-time, my own family. My father's grandparents lived in Australia, his parents moved here to America, and he ended up in California at just the right time to meet my mother who had been a missionary's kid in Nepal. Her mother was born in Los Angeles and her father was born in China to missionary parents who were from Canada!! All these people, and countless others before them, had to come into contact with each other in order for me to exist. All these people were Christians who dedicated their lives to God and allowed Him to work in and through them to spread the Gospel. I stand in their heritage, as their child and I look back and think "wow, God can do GREAT things."

Family history isn't just for nerds.