Genealogy, Again

"So all Israel were reckoned by genealogies" (1 Chronicles 9:1)

So, I've said it a bazillion times, so here goes bazillion-and-one: genealogy is important. Books were devoted to it. Yes, it helped because when the Israelites came back from Babylon it helped to know what tribe you were from, or if you could serve in the temple or not. It helps Jews nowadays who are returning to Israel to know the same thing. Genealogies help gather God's people.

But, let's not make a mistake, an individual is worth more than their ancestors. So, why was Israel "reckoned" by genealogies? Remember, Israel wasn't some city that Abraham started, it was a family. He didn't seek out to set up a church or state, but a family that would grow so big it was its own nation. That was the covenant of Abraham, not that he would help build Zion on earth, but that he would start an eternal family of righteous men and women. Family was the special covenant, genealogy was a record of God keeping His covenant.

Also, let's think for a moment: if family is important, and where we come from is important, then let us go back all the way to our first family, to where we first came from. If we trace our genealogies back to the beginning, we find God. And so we are "reckoned" by our divine ancestry, which yes, implies a divine potential.

If we go all the way back in our genealogies, we find God; if we go all the way forward in our genealogies, we find ourselves.