Names are Important!

Genesis 36:1-5 - These are the descendants of Esau (that is, Edom).  Esau took his wives from the Canaanites: Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite, Oholiba'mah the daughter of Anah the son of Zib'eon the Hivite, and Bas'emath, Ish'mael's daughter, the sister of Neba'ioth.  And Adah bore to Esau, El'iphaz; Bas'emath bore Reu'el;  and Oholiba'mah bore Je'ush, Jalam, and Korah. These are the sons of Esau who were born to him in the land of Canaan. 

God told Rebekah that Esau would become a great nation.  And so we see God keep his promise to Rebekah…even though she did not live to see all these children. And thinking back…maybe she wouldn’t have cared anyway..since Jacob was her favorite from their birth.  Nevertheless…Esau’s descendants become a powerful nation that we read about many times again in the bible. It may seem boring and inconsequential reading …but God had Moses record this genealogy for a reason….maybe even three reasons.

God values every life…and even though he knew that Esau’s heart was never going to fully embrace God…he allows him to become the father of Edom….and God had Moses record every child and grandchild in this chapter. He had Moses record the names of each wife…child…and grandchild of the nation that Esau fathered…and where they were born. You even find a condensed list in 1 Chronicles 1…because God really wants us to know that he thinks we all have value…we all have hope…we all have the choice to follow him or choose the world.

This seemingly long genealogy is also important because it helps to maintain the historical integrity of the bible as a whole. We may never learn to pronounce all those names….or who was Teman’s grandmother. In actuality we tend to skip over these long lists of names…thinking that they just don’t have a meaning to us. But if we know that Amalek was Esua’s descendent…his attitude toward the peole of Israel start to make since….the hatred must have built for years when Esau split to make his own way in the mountains of Seir. And other lists later in this great book will connect Jesus to Abram…fulfilling the many prophecies that predicted the Messiah.

One other thing that you might think about as you skim over those long genealogies that are coming up later.  You might miss some tidbits of information that are only mentioned one time in the bible. I would love to know more about Anah…in verse 24…who discovered a hot spring of water in a wilderness land. I bet he had some stories to tell when he brought those donkeys home…and became a popular man because of his discovery.  You might have missed that Esau left for the mountains of Seir in verses 7-8…because the land could not support the cattle of both brothers. Who knows…maybe this was the start of another time of bitterness against his brother.

I sat in a funeral home with strangers yesterday.  I had to go meet my facebook friend …whose sister passed away this week. The lady who passed away…at a much earlier age than her family thought was appropriate….shared my name. I thought maybe we were connected in some way by marriage…distant cousins perhaps. So I watched as a small family said their goodbyes to a 42 year old mother….sister…foster mom…and daughter. I chatted with strangers to find that she had a very sweet spirit….one that loved everyone and took in sweet foster children that will miss her terribly….but we had no family connections…except that her name was connected to God’s genealogy…her name written in the lamb’s book of life…and so she was reunited with her maker.  I am sure her name will be remembered for many years…and become a part of a family genealogy….one that will carry on her sweet nature and need to help others.

Father…I thank you for this chapter of names.  I thank you that you value who I am and where I came from. I thank you that you took me in and wrote my name in the lamb’s book…so I too will be able to sit at your feet someday. I pray that you send this sweet family some extra angels…to help them through this hard time….to help then find places for all her children to live and flourish in your love. And father…help me the next time I come to a long list of names in your bible…to stop and ask you to help me sort through all the information for the things you want me to learn from all those names.  Amen.