Matthew 1

Well I'm back up in the morning for the first time since I returned from Australia.  Sorry for the long break, between Thanksgiving and returning to the CST timezone I just have not got rolling like normal.

So I thought for the Christmas season we could start our new journey following completing the bible for the first time in my life in the New Testament.

17 Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah.

Funny how after reading the entire bible I found even the first 16 verses listing the genealogy of Jesus interesting--I probably blew through this in the past.  But now I read the names and while I don't recall all the stories I know that we have read about many of these people and it gives depth to the importance of this section.  I love how thoroughly interconnected God's word is from one end to the other.

So I didn't pick the sexist verse, it just caught my eye because of the symmetry of the years and made me wonder--so I Googled it an of course others before me have wondered as well.  So below is the first thing I clicked on--

How long is a generation and is this the final generation?

We are told, in Matthew, that there are 14 generations between Abraham and David, between David and captivity to Babylon, and between Babylon and Christ. This equals 42 generations between Abraham and Christ. It is suggested that there are about 2,160 years between Abraham and Christ. 2,160 divided by 42 equals 51.4 years per generation.

Other speculations about the length of a generation include 70 years, 100 years or even 40 years because that is how long the Israelites wandered in the wilderness. Some say the "final generation" began when Israel became a nation. Others contend that, while Israel becoming a nation was extremely important, it wasn't until 1967, when it reclaimed Jerusalem, that it could be considered to have "bloomed." It is clear that we cannot know for sure the timing of the Lord's return. But it is obvious that we are close--close enough to count the days!

I don't get into trying to predict the final day, and I like that this site isn't trying to do that either but as it points out it sure seems like we could be in a period where it won't be long.  Maybe not during out earthly lifetime but still it seems relatively near.

There is certainly more important lessons in this chapter like how Joseph behaved after getting startling news from an Angel but today my attention was captured but other details God chose to share.

sorry for the rambling, getting back on the horse--

knut