# 97 The Righteous Line of Shem

The Book of Genesis Day 97 Ge 11:10 This is the genealogy of Shem: Shem was one hundred years old, and begot Arphaxad two years after the flood. 11 After he begot Arphaxad, Shem lived five hundred years, and begot sons and daughters. 12 Arphaxad lived thirty-five years, and begot Salah. 13 After he begot Salah, Arphaxad lived four hundred and three years, and begot sons and daughters. 14 Salah lived thirty years, and begot Eber. 15 After he begot Eber, Salah lived four hundred and three years, and begot sons and daughters. 16 Eber lived thirty-four years, and begot Peleg. 17 After he begot Peleg, Eber lived four hundred and thirty years, and begot sons and daughters. 18 Peleg lived thirty years, and begot Reu. 19 After he begot Reu, Peleg lived two hundred and nine years, and begot sons and daughters. 20 Reu lived thirty-two years, and begot Serug. 21 After he begot Serug, Reu lived two hundred and seven years, and begot sons and daughters. 22 Serug lived thirty years, and begot Nahor. 23 After he begot Nahor, Serug lived two hundred years, and begot sons and daughters. 24 Nahor lived twenty-nine years, and begot Terah. 25 After he begot Terah, Nahor lived one hundred and nineteen years, and begot sons and daughters. 26 Now Terah lived seventy years, and begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran. 27 This is the genealogy of Terah: Terah begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran begot Lot. 28 And Haran died before his father Terah in his native land, in Ur of the Chaldeans. 29 Then Abram and Nahor took wives: the name of Abram's wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor's wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran the father of Milcah and the father of Iscah. 30 But Sarai was barren; she had no child. 31 And Terah took his son Abram and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram's wife, and they went out with them from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan; and they came to Haran and dwelt there. 32 So the days of Terah were two hundred and five years, and Terah died in Haran. Lots of names as God the Holy Spirit moves Moses to go to ancestry.com and record the righteous line of Abraham. (Just kidding of course,) but when you think about it, this is amazing! How does one trace a family line from the time of the flood to the time of Abraham with such detail? I mean, I can go as far back as my grandparents and that’s it! A couple of things stand out in this genealogy. Notice that the average lifespan has slowly but surely decreased and the age of recorded child bearing is getting younger, and note also the first mention of a barren woman, namely Sarai. The barrenness of Sarai will come into play big time in the faith story of Abraham! And also note that marriage of a man and his half sister was permissible. It would not be specifically forbidden by God until the time of Moses. With this more detailed genealogy of Shem, the story of redemption that had been promised to Adam and Eve begins in earnest with a man named Abram, about 2000 years after the fall of man. 400 years after the flood, God called Abram to become the founder of a nation having for its object the reclamation and redemption of mankind! We pick the story up with Terah, the father of Abram. Terah had three sons. Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran was the father of Lot and he died while Terah was still living in Ur of the Chaldeans. Abram marries Sarai, but she is barren and they have no children. At this point Terah decides to take Abram, Sarai, and Lot to the land of Canaan, but he gets no further than the city of Haran. He died before they could get to Canaan. That leaves Abram, Sarai and Lot. The stage is now set for the call of Abram. The example of righteousness by faith is about to be demonstrated for all people for all time! Lord, prepare our hearts to learn the lesson anew! Reflect: How far back can you trace your family tree? Any interesting characters? Pray: Lord thank You for the gift of faith. Help us to understand it to an even deeper level as we look at the story of Abram.