By Peter Krol
Have you wondered what to do with the genealogies of the Bible? In his piece “Why Genealogies?” Jacob Toman explains what role the Bible’s genealogies play, along with examples of some of the most significant genealogies in the Bible. Toman looks at Genesis 11, 1 Chronicles (with implications for Ezra-Nehemiah), and Matthew 1.
These lists give the reader of the Bible a historical account that shapes an overarching story worthy of reading, worthy of remembering, and worthy of our study.
By Peter Krol
Jacob Toman has a thoughtful post on how to think about Bible interpretation. It is quite common and tempting to interpret the Bible in a way that focuses on “what it means to me.” However:
When we read and interpret the Bible, we should seek to do so in a manner that if we were to have a conversation with God, God would have no corrections for us. This means our interpretation should defer to what God intended in a passage, and also how God chose to communicate that passage, through a historical writer.
Any meaning that God himself would disagree with, however meaningful it may be to the reader, fails to dignify God or do justice to his truth.
