Theological Commentary: Click Here
Discipleship Focus: Rhythm, Semi-Circle
- Rhythm: We are designed to work from rest, not rest from work. God has created us to be a people of rhythm in which we rest (abide), grow, work (bear fruit), and prune. The better we understand this natural rhythm in life, the more satisfied we will feel in life and the more we will be able to be in tune with succeeding in what God desires our life to be about.
Chronologies
can be interesting passages. Sometimes
we read over them and feel very unengaged.
Other times we read over them and see something different about one or
two people. For example, see the point I
bring out in the theological commentary for this passage with respect to Enoch.
But the
one thing that chronologies truly remind us about is rhythm. So-and-so was born. They lived for this many years. While they lived, these were their sons. Then they died. If you write that pattern enough times, you
will get a chronology. Chronologies are
about communal rhythms in their very core.
What I
respect about chronologies is that they give us a huge perspective on
rhythm. For so many of us, it is easy to
focus on the small cycles of rhythm: daily life, maybe even weekly life. But it is easy for us to forget the big
cycles of life: seasonal, yearly, and lifelong rhythm. Chronologies allow us to set stories in the
bigger context of the rhythm of life: God’s rhythm.
What is
the big picture rhythm that we can gain from this chronology today? Each of the people listed here went through
their life while living, rearing children, and raising them up to know
God. I’m sure they made their
mistakes. I’m sure they had their
successes. But God was with them all
every step of the way. Through their
rhythm, faith in God was passed one generation to the next until we get to
Noah. It is in this context of rhythm
that we can place the story of Noah. God
was with His people generation after generation after generation.
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