10-15 This is the family history of Shem. Two years after the flood, when Shem was 100 years old, his son Arphaxad was born. After that, Shem lived 500 years and had other sons and daughters. When Arphaxad was 35 years old, his son Shelah was born. After that, Arphaxad lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters. When Shelah was 30 years old, his son Eber was born. After that, Shelah lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.

16-25 When Eber was 34 years old, his son Peleg was born. After that, Eber lived 430 years and had other sons and daughters. When Peleg was 30 years old, his son Reu was born. After that, Peleg lived 209 years and had other sons and daughters. When Reu was 32 years old, his son Serug was born. After that, Reu lived 207 years and had other sons and daughters. When Serug was 30 years old, his son Nahor was born. After that, Serug lived 200 years and had other sons and daughters. When Nahor was 29 years old, his son Terah was born. After that, Nahor lived 119 years and had other sons and daughters. 26 After Terah was 70 years old, his sons Abram, Nahor, and Haran were born.

27-29 This is the family history of Terah. Terah was the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran was the father of Lot. While his father, Terah, was still alive, Haran died in Ur in Babylonia, where he was born. Abram and Nahor both married. Abram’s wife was named Sarai, and Nahor’s wife was named Milcah. She was the daughter of Haran, who was the father of both Milcah and Iscah. 30 Sarai was not able to have children. 31-32 Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot (Haran’s son), and his daughter-in-law Sarai (Abram’s wife) and moved out of Ur of Babylonia. They had planned to go to the land of Canaan, but when they reached the city of Haran, they settled there. Terah lived to be 205 years old, and then he died in Haran. Genesis 11:10-32 New Century Version

Once again we come across one of those lists of family trees that we may be tempted to rush over. But, apart from reminding us the Bible is real history, they often point the direction God's plan of salvation was taking. The spotlight moves away from Noah's other two sons, Ham and Japheth, and focuses now on Shem. It traces his descendants to a man named Terah. Why was Terah the next man whose 'family history' is specified? (vs26)

Because it was to Terah and his wife that a man named Abram was born and, from Chapter 12 onwards, Abram was to play a major part in God's plan of salvation that would spread to all nations. We already get a hint of what was to come in what we read about Abram's wife, Sarai, in vs 30. God was going to miraculously enable her to have a child when she was well advanced in years, who would be the next link in salvation's chain. Which leads to a last question before we finish this first section of the book of Genesis. What can be noticed about the ages of the people described in the above family trees?

Their years of life were diminishing. Before the flood, Adam and others had lived to over 900 years. Now we read of the man named Nahor dying at about 150 years. Are the earlier ages of over 500 correct? A site called 'Got Questions' suggests: “Adam and Eve were created without sin. In that state of perfection, they were meant to live forever in paradise on earth. After the fall of man and the introduction of sin, death began to exert its destructive influence on all humankind. But with the degeneration process just in the beginning stages, there would be less illness and fewer genetic defects affecting the young race. It would've taken time for corruption and diseases to spread and increase throughout the earth.” So yes, the long lifespans before the flood really happened.

We mustn't ignore any part of the Bible. The lovely outcome of Abram's life is told by the apostle Paul when he said: “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham.” Galatians 3:6-7. It was all in God’s plan.