LUKE
3:34-38
GENEALOGY
OF JESUS:
WHAT’S
IN A NAME – PART 3
Luke
3:34 Which was the son of Jacob, which was the son of Isaac, which was the son
of Abraham, which was the son of Thara, which was the son of Nachor,
Susan: Jacob
means “He grasps the heel. Supplanter.” He was given this name because when
they were born, he was grasping the heal of his twin brother, Esau.
Susie: You
may remember that Esau sold Jacob his birthright as firstborn for some stew (Genesis
25:29-33) and that Jacob and his mother, Rebecca, deceived his father into
giving him the blessing reserved for the firstborn (Genesis 27), thus living up
to his name once more.
Susan: God
eventually gave Jacob a new identity and a new name—Israel which means “May God
prevail. He struggles with God. God perseveres; contends,” after he wrestled
with the angel of the Lord (possibly a theophany) and suffered permanent hip
dislocation (Genesis 32).
Susie: He
would be the heir to the Abrahamic covenant and his descendants would be the
nation of Israel.
Susan: Isaac
(He laughs) was the son promised to Abraham and Sarah in their old age at which
both of them laughed (Genesis 17:17; Genesis 18:12). He was a “type” of Christ
in that Isaac was the only begotten son of Sarah, and Abraham was asked to
sacrifice him as a burnt offering (Genesis 22:2).
Susie: The
angel stopped Abraham just as he raised the knife to slit Isaac’s throat and
provided a substitutionary sacrifice of a ram caught in a thicket (Genesis
22:13-14). Isaac’s descendant, Jesus, would become the perfect sacrificial Lamb
and serve as the substitutionary sacrifice for the sin of all who trust in Him
(John 1:29).
Susan: Jesus’s
death on the cross and subsequent resurrection put an end to the daily
slaughter of animals in the Jewish sacrificial system that God had previously
required (Hebrews 10).
Susan: Abraham means “Father of a multitude” which was
the new name God gave Abram (High father, Exalted father) after revealing to
Him that he would father not only a son in his old age, but an entire nation
(Genesis 17:5). Thara, Tarah, or Terah means “wild goat or turning, wandering.”
Susie: Terah
had begun the journey to Canaan with his sons and their wives, but he died in
Haran (Genesis 11:29-32), so perhaps he was a wanderer.
Susan: Nachor
means “noble or burning.” It seems Abraham’s brother, Nahor, was named after
his grandfather.
Luke
3:35 Which was the son of Saruch, which was the son of Ragau, which was the son
of Phalec, which was the son of Heber, which was the son of Sala,
Susan: Saruch
means “branch.”
Susie: I was
thinking, “Why on earth would a person name their son branch?” when I
remembered I had friends in elementary school whose actual given names were
Space and Rocket.
Susan: I did
not recall that in Mary’s genealogy there was someone whose name would remind
me of spaghetti sauce! Ragau means “friend.” Phalec means “division” and is
sometimes listed as Peleg meaning “brook or sect.” Heber or Eber means “fellowship,
production or one that passes.” Sala or Salah means “uncertain, perhaps firm.”
Luke
3:36 Which was the son of Cainan, which was the son of Arphaxad, which was the
son of Shem, which was the son of Noah, which was the son of Lamech,
Susan: Cainan
or Kenan means “acquisition.” Arphaxad or Arpachshad
means “one that releases.” Does Cainan
acquire what Arphaxad releases? Sem or Shem means “renown or name.” We found an
interesting tidbit on him in All the Men
of the Bible as quoted at www.biblegateway.com
From
his name, it is to be inferred that Shem was a distinguished person. The men of
Babel sought to make themselves a name (Gen. 11:4) and become, thereby, rivals
of Shem. The greatness of Shem arose from the fact that he was a forerunner of
Christ. Shem’s name meaning “renown” foreshadowed the greater name “above every
name” before which every knee shall bow (Luke 3:36). In offering praise to God,
Noah said, “Blessed be the Lord God of Shem” (Gen. 9:26).
Susie: When
Ham saw their father, Noah, drunken and naked, it was Shem and Japheth who
walked in backwards to cover him up. Noah means “rest,” and his father
explained why he gave him that name:
Genesis
5:29 And he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning
our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord hath
cursed.
Susan: We
remember Noah as the man who built and ark before it had ever rained in order
to save his family and the animals from the flood.
Susie: One of
my favorite songs as a child was Tennessee Ernie Ford singing, “Noah Found
Grace in the Eyes of the Lord.” Click the link below to hear it.
Susan: Lamech means “overthrower, a
strong young man or who is stuck.” I have no idea why his father named him
this.
Luke
3:37 Which was the son of Mathusala, which was the son of Enoch, which was the
son of Jared, which was the son of Maleleel, which was the son of Cainan,
Susan: Mathusala
or Methuselah means “man of the javelin or it shall be sent (deluge).” Another
interpretation of his name was “when he is dead it shall be sent (flood).”
Susie: He has
the distinction of being the person with the oldest recorded age in the Bible,
969 years (Genesis 5:27). The flood did not occur until after his death.
Susan: Enoch
means “teacher, initiated, dedicated.” He was one of two men in the Bible who
did not see death but were taken directly to Heaven by the Lord. The other was
Elijah. Enoch is one of my favorite Biblical figures because he walked with
God. I walk with God as Enoch did through my relationship with Jesus.
Genesis
5:21-24 21 And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah: And
Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat
sons and daughters: And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five
years: And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.
Susan: Jared
means “descending or he that descends.” Maleleel means “praise of God.” We have
another Cainan meaning “acquisition.”
Susie: It was
and still is common to name a child after his father or a favorite or famous
ancestor.
Luke
3:38 Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of
Adam, which was the son of God.
Susan: Enos
or Enosh means “man is his frailty.” The Bible connects the birth of Enos with
the beginning of prayer:
Genesis
4:26 And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name
Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the Lord.
Susie: Seth
or Sheth means “compensation, appointed or substituted.” Eve named him Seth
because he was born after Cain slew her second born son, Abel.
Genesis
4:25 And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name
Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom
Cain slew.
Susan: Adam
means “of the ground or taken out of the red earth,” and God indeed formed him
from dirt.
Genesis
2:7 And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into
his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
Susan: Adam
and his wife, Eve, were the first to receive the promise of a Savior who would
defeat Satan.
Genesis
3:15 (AMP) “And I will put enmity
(open hostility) Between you and the woman, And between your seed (offspring)
and her Seed; He shall [fatally] bruise your head, And you shall [only] bruise
His heel.”
Susan: Sin
entered the world through the first man, Adam. But Jesus, the Son of Man, the
Messiah, reconciled us to God through His death and resurrection (Romans 5).
Ponder
this: God formed the first man out of dirt and breathed the
breath of life into Him. One of Adam’s sons murdered the other, but God sent
him a replacement in his son, Seth. Seth had a child he named Enos because in
some way he reminded him of the frailty of man and the need to call out to the
Lord. Throughout the Bible, the names of people remind us to rely on God who
provides for us. What’s in a name? Look back over a few and meditate on God’s
hand in your own life.
No comments:
Post a Comment